San Jose Mercury: Grading the Week in Bay Area Football

Here’s the link.

CAL

Result: Lost to Washington 42-10

Grade: F

Comment: More troubling for Cal than four Pac-10 losses is four Pac-10 losses by an average of 28.8 points. That shouldn’t be happening to a team as talented as the Bears … This was the worst of the bunch, a wipeout at the hands of a sub-.500 team whose only win since early October was against Washington State … The passing game was off-key (sound familiar?) and the defense submitted a terrible performance (463 yards allowed) to aptly end an underachieving regular season … Cal was simply not prepared to play in any manner, and that’s on the coaching staff and the seniors … Last two trips to Seattle: Washington 79, Cal 33.

Up next for the Bears: vs. Utah in Poinsettia Bowl (Dec. 23)

The matchup: The Utes run a spread-option attack that’s similar to Oregon’s. In fact, Utah nearly beat the Ducks in Eugene the week before Cal got humiliated there … But it’s more about attitude than style for the Bears. If they’re ready to play (think: Big Game), they should win. If they aren’t ready to play (think: Washington), they won’t.