Sac Bee: Five things to watch: No. 16 Cal at Washington

Bee Sports Staff and wire reports

1 Is Ayoob ready? - Joe Ayoob certainly didn't look much like a junior college player of the year in his debut last Saturday. Still, Cal coach Jeff Tedford has confidence in the junior quarterback, enough to name him the starter for today's Pac-10 Conference opener against Washington. "I've never had a worse day in any kind of sport in my life," Ayoob said of his 0-for-10 performance last week against Sacramento State.

2 Rare for Bears - The Bears will be attempting a rare feat - four straight wins over the Huskies. It's happened only three times since the teams started playing regularly in 1915, the last coming from 1973-76.

3 Tyrone's advantage - Washington coach Tyrone Willingham went undefeated (7-0) against Cal while coaching at Stanford. Those wins came between 1995 and 2001, when the Bears were under .500 all but one season.

4 Lynch on the loose - Cal tailback Marshawn Lynch rushed for a career-high 147 yards and a touchdown, despite playing sparingly in the second half against Sac State. He could be a Heisman Trophy candidate.

5 Huskies' defense hurting - There are defensive concerns for the Huskies, which could benefit Ayoob. Defensive backs C.J. Wallace and Roy Lewis both were injured against the Falcons. Lewis is expected to play despite an arm injury, but Wallace's concussion could keep him out, making a thin secondary even more vulnerable.