Rivals Reunited Bay Area Buddies To Get Together In Secondary

Terrell Henderson was watching television the other day when the camera zoomed in on California receiver Bobby Shaw, an old friend from the neighborhood.

“I’m watching ESPN and they’ve got Steve Mariucci, Pat Barnes and Bobby Shaw on,” marveled Henderson, Washington State’s senior cornerback. “And Bobby’s trying to act all conservative, and I’m like, ‘That ain’t even him.”’

Henderson laughed, knowing he’ll get to meet the other Bobby Shaw, the one who likes to make cornerbacks look foolish, soon enough. Shaw is the big-play receiver for 19th-ranked California, which visits Martin Stadium tonight in a pivotal matchup of Pacific-10 Conference football upstarts.

Henderson and Shaw grew up in San Francisco and went to the same Geary Boulevard day-care center. They attended different high schools - Henderson went to an all-boys school across town - but have been looking forward to their impending matchup.

The anticipation intensified during the summer, when they crossed vocal cords at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, Calif.

“I seen Bobby at a concert this summer and we was talking mess back and forth about the game,” Henderson said. “And so he was like, ‘Nah, nah - you not going to be able to hold me, you not going to be able to hold me.’

“I told him I was going to put him on lock-down. So, you know, all the fellas around were like, ‘Ooooo, we gotta watch that game, ooooo.”’

Good, clean fun. “Just a little old-friends type of talk,” Shaw assured.

Lock-downs aside, WSU’s self-appointed warden considers Shaw underrated, meaning Henderson and the Cougars can’t afford to issue any weekend furloughs.

“I don’t think he gets the respect or notoriety that he deserves,” Henderson said, “but he makes big plays.”

So does Na’il Benjamin, one reason Shaw may be overlooked from afar. Benjamin leads the Bears with 20 catches - three more than Shaw - but hasn’t found the end zone.

And while Benjamin continues his climb in the Cal record book - he’s eight catches from second on the receiving list - long touchdowns have been Shaw’s specialty.

It was Shaw who burned the Cougars for the game-breaking 51-yarder in Cal’s 27-11 victory last season, when Henderson was mostly a backup safety and special-teams player.

“I know I’m not going to just line up and just jog with the guy,” the 5-foot-11, 188-pound Henderson said. “He has good routes, he’s a little bigger than me - every time I see him, it seems like he’s put on a little more solid weight.

“And he has that deceptive speed, too, from what I see on film.”

Added strength, more than speed, has helped Shaw lead the unbeaten Bears in touchdowns (five) and yards per catch (17.8).

“I’ve definitely hit the weights,” the 6-1, 190-pound junior said. “You realize that you have to if you want to be able to stay healthy.”

Shaw is on pace to match last season’s 38-catch effort, making him a constant on a team that has undergone a remarkable makeover.

Less than a year after losing to Stanford and finishing 3-8, Cal is within reach of its first 6-0 start since 1950. First-year coach Steve Mariucci is widely credited for the turnaround, although Shaw isn’t so sure.

“I think it has a lot to do with attitude,” Shaw said “And a lot of that is things that don’t even concern the coaches. The team attitude, I think, was developed regardless of who the coach would have been.

“Guys got tired of losing and saw how important it was and guys really took that to heart - regardless of who the coach was - that they wanted to do a lot better and win more games this year.”

Shaw said the Bears are more confident under Mariucci than they were under Keith Gilbertson, who was fired after a 20-26 tenure.

“Maybe they came in and installed some things that gave us more confidence,” Shaw said. “I don’t know what it was.”

Was Gilbertson the problem?

“He’s a great coach - he just may not have been right for this team,” Shaw said. “Everybody is not made for every situation.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Color Photos