USC’s loss to Oregon State last week left Cal sitting squarely in the driver’s seat for the Pac-10 championship.
Cal (7-1, 5-0 Pac-10) comes off its bye week to host UCLA in this Saturday’s premier Pac-10 matchup. The Bears are looking to establish a little more dominance this week, after squeaking out a 31-24 overtime victory over the Washington Huskies in their last game.
“We can play better, no question about it.” said coach Jeff Tedford. “To beat UCLA, we’re going to have to be very consistent offensively, throwing the ball and staying away from the turnovers.”
The Golden Bears have started the Pac-10 season 5-0 for the first time since 1950 and should they win Saturday, will have won eight straight for the first time since 1950.
Further fallout from the USC loss was a shakeup of the BCS picture enough to give the Golden Bears an outside chance at a BCS National Championship appearance. The Bears, who are currently No. 10 in the BCS standings, will have to leapfrog several teams to get there, but many of these teams will have to get unscathed through matchups with other top-10 teams and conference championship games. The only formidable challenge Cal will face on their way to the Pac-10 crown is a trip to USC on Nov.. 18.
UCLA (4-4, 2-3 Pac-10) is a program headed in the opposite direction, having dropped their last three games, including a 37-15 loss to Washington State last week. A win over Cal could save the Bruins from a lackluster season, at least in the eyes of their fans. They currently sit tied for sixth in the Pac-10 with Arizona State.
One of UCLA’s problems this year has been the quarterback position. They were decent offensively with sophomore Ben Olson at the helm, winning four of their first five games, including their first two Pac-10 games, but were forced to switch to sophomore Patrick Cowan early against Arizona when Olson suffered a tear of his medial cruciate ligament. The Bruins won that game, but haven’t won since. Not all the blame can go to Cowan though, he has thrown more touchdowns than interceptions (5 TD, 4 INTs) for the season, and he had a remarkable performance against Notre Dame, despite losing the game, completing 16-of-32 passes for 217 yards and 2 touchdowns.
UCLA’s schedule has also grown increasingly difficult. The Bruins had defeated Rice, Utah and Pac-10 doormat Stanford with Olson, while Cowan has had to face much stiffer competition in losses to Oregon, Notre Dame and Washington State.
Cowan will face possibly his toughest test to date in the Cal defense. The Bears rank second in the country with 18 interceptions this season. Senior cornerback Daymeion Hughes leads the team and is second in the country with seven interceptions while linebacker Desmond Bishop and safeties Brandon Hampton and Bernard Hicks each have two INTs.
The defense, considered a Bruin strength early in the season, has also performed poorly. Last week they allowed a season high 515 yards to Washington State, including 400-plus passing yards.