The Beavers defetaed the Golden Bears on a warm, crazy night in Berkeley. Here are my thoughts on the game.
Quarterback
Sean had yet antoher great game, following up on his performances against USC and UCLA. He went 29 for 39, with one interception, 342 yards, and two touchdowns. His throws lookd very sharp and his one int was just a little underthrown.
Like I said above, another great game for Sean, I think he is becoming one of the premier QB's in the Pac-10.
Running Back
Jacquizz Rodgers didn't have a very good day, mostly because California was using the "spy" defense, where one person was assinged to him all game. But the little brother did break off soup wime good runs. His final stats were 25 carries for 67 yards and one touchdown.
Look for Jacquizz to find his groove again in the next couple weeks against the Washington schools.
Recievers
Tight End Joe Halahuni lead the recievers with 6 catches for 128 yards. Damola Adeniji also had a big game, coming up with 5 big catches for 87 yards. James Rodgers contributed 6 catches for 80 yards, including a touchdown pass from Sean Canfield. Jacquizz Rodgers came out of the backfield to record 9 catches for 30 yards, and Jordan Bishop had a three yard touchdown grab.
Overall, another pretty good day for the recieving corps. Joe Halahuni is becoming one of the best Tight Ends in the Pac-10 and is taking some of the load off of James.
O-Line
I thought the O-Line had another pretty good game. They didn't give up any sacks, but they didn't open up many holes for Quizz either.
Overall though, another soild outing for Mike Cavanaugh's bunch.
Defense
The Beaver defense improved drastically after a bad appearence against UCLA. They forced two sacks on Quarterback Kevin Riley, and also pcked off the Beaverton native once.
Considering that the first Cal touchdown was after a bad PI call that negated an interception, and the only other touchdown was in garbage time, I thought Mark Banker's bunch did an outstanding job.
Special Teams
The Special Teams Unit did a great job once again. Justin Kahut continued to impress, with one field goal and four extra points. All of our returns were good except for the muffed punt by Taylor. He did a good job of falling on it though and the Beavers were able to advert disaster.
California
The Golden Bears did not look good at all on Saturday. I'm not sure if that was because the Beavers were so dominant, or if Cal was that bad. Probably a mixture of both.
I don't think Kevin Riley was as good as everyone made him out to be, going 19 for 34 with one interception, 200 yards, and one touchdown. Their only real weapon of course is Best, who will be out for some time. Thank god he was okay though. The Locker hit was scary, but I thought this was 10 times worse.
The Crowd
The Memorial Stadium crowd of 56,495 was loud as usual, but they didn't have much effect in the Beaver offense. Maybe because there were so many Beaver fans in attendance, an estimated 2,500. After the Cal offense took over on their own one yardline, you could definitely hear the Beaver fans right behind them. The OSU chant could also be heard at times throughout the stadium.
Short Pac-10 Recap
Washington-The Huskies lost a 24-23 heartbreaker in LA Saturday. They now need to win out to goto a bowl game.
Washington State-The Cougars got hammered in Tucson on Saturday, losing 48-7. WSU takes on UCLA next.
Oregon-The high-flying Ducks got a reality check in Palo Alto, falling 51-42 against Stanford. UO plays ASU next.
Oregon State-The Beavers won their fifth straight in Berkeley Saturday, defeatig the Golden Bears 31-14.
California-Jahvid Best had to be taken off the field in the middle of a 31-14 loss to the Beavs. Cal plays Arizona next.
Stanford-The Cardinal got a huge win over the Ducks on Saturday. The Cardinal take on the Trojans Saturday.
USC-The Trojans were taken to the wire against the Sun Devils on Saturday, but they came out on top, 14-9.
UCLA-The Bruins got their first Pac-10 win of the year against Washington, winning 24-23.
Arizona-The Wildcats got an easy win over the Cougars on Saturday. Arizona travels to California next.
Arizona State-The Wildcats gave SC all they could handle on Saturday, but still fell 14-9. They travel to Eugene next.
Pac-10 Power Rankings
1. Arizona
2. Oregon State
3. USC
4. Oregon
5. Stanford
6. Arizona State
7. California
8. UCLA
9. Washington
10. Washington State
Final Thoughts
In my mind, the Beavers played their most decisive, best Football of the year in Berkeley. We all know the scenarios for the Rose Bowl, and I think it's fine to talk about those during the week. But come Saturday, we've just got to take care of our opponent and treat every game like it's the National Championship. If we do that, then we absolutely deserve to go to Pasadena.
What I'm trying to say is, go out there and play 60 minutes of Football and then let the chips fall where they may.
Today's Poll
Should the University of Oregon have reinstated LeGarrette Blount?