If there's one opponent Oregon State might fear at home, it's California. The Golden Bears handed the Beavers two of their worst home losses in recent seasons, 49-7 in 2004, and 41-13 in 2006. The losses were low points for the Beavers, whose quarterbacks in those games -- Derek Anderson in 2004 and Matt Moore in 2006 -- were booed by the Reser Stadium crowd. But last season's matchup had a different outcome. When the teams played in Berkeley on Oct. 14, the Golden Bears were ranked No. 2 in the country and probably would have moved up to the top spot as No. 1 Louisiana State lost to Kentucky earlier in the day. But OSU pulled off a 31-28 win, and the Golden Bears' season quickly spiraled downward. The loss was one of six Cal took in its last seven regular season games.
This season, Cal (6-3, 4-2) would have to reverse a bothersome trend to win Saturday. All three of the Golden Bears' losses have been on the road, and their only win away from Berkeley was against woeful Washington State. Any ill feelings the Golden Bears might have about OSU won't carry over to coach Jeff Tedford and his relationship with Beavers coach Mike Riley. Although Tedford went to Cal from Oregon, where he was offensive coordinator under Mike Bellotti, he is close to Riley, for whom he played with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League. Tedford also played for Riley's father, Bud Riley, when he first entered the CFL. "I have a lot of respect for Mike," Tedford said. "We hang out and talk whenever we have Pac-10 functions or whatever."
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