Realfootball365
By Darrell Laurant ; 09/09/05
Cal has Marshawn Lynch. Washington has Tyrone Willingham. Just about everything else about Saturday's Pac-10 meeting between these two teams at Husky Stadium in Seattle (12:30 p.m. EDT kickoff) is up in the air. Yet up in the air was where Cal coach Jeff Tedford hated to look last Saturday. Even though his Bears beat 1-AA Sacramento State 41-3 in their opener, starting quarterback Nate Longshore broke his left ankle in the first half and backup Joe Ayoob misfired on all 10 of his pass attempts. Fortunately for 16th-ranked Cal, sophomore tailback Marshawn Lynch became the offense, rushing for 147 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries. Now, Tedford has to decide between junior college transfer Ayoob and third-string QB Steve Levy, a converted fullback who burned Sac State for a 46-yard touchdown aerial to Noah Smith. Obviously, either will be quite a drop-off - not only from 2004 starter Aaron Rodgers, a first-round draft pick of the Green Bay Packers, but the from redshirt freshman Longshore. Lynch, however, is a rising star, and highly anticipated freshman receiver DeSean Jackson scored on a 31-yard pass from Longshore and a 49-yard punt return. Washington has shown some slippage in recent years, and lost last week's opener, 20-17 to Air Force. The Huskies' new quarterback, homegrown (Seattle's Garfield High) junior Isaiah Stanback, had a strong start with 19 of 27 completions for 242 yards. Another newcomer, Louis Rankin, rushed for 112 yards in 23 carries. This is the oldest series in the Pac-10, with these the only original conference members left from 1916. Washington had won 19 straight before Tedford coached Cal to victories in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Willingham, meanwhile, was 7-0 against Cal in his former coaching job at Stanford.
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