Cal Faces Tough Test Against UW
California football coach Tom Holmoe considers himself a student of the game. However, Cal’s history against Washington isn’t a favorite subject.
The Golden Bears (2-2, 0-1 Pac-10) will be trying to end a two-game losing skid today against No. 10 Washington (3-1, 1-0 Pac-10), which has won its last 14 games against Cal.
The Huskies are 16-point favorites to extend the streak.
“That history is not anything to me,” said Holmoe, who is in his first season as Cal’s coach. “As far as I’m concerned, we have a history of losing to Louisiana Tech (last week). I don’t have a history of losing to Washington. Maybe that’s something the alumni do, or the fans do.”
Cal hasn’t beaten Washington since winning 7-0 in 1976. Washington coach Jim Lambright attributes the Huskies’ dominance to stability.
A former Washington assistant who succeeded Don James five years ago, Lambright noted that the Huskies had only three coaches in 30 years. Holmoe is the third coach at Cal in the past three years.
“I think our program has been on a good roll because of that stability,” Lambright said. “I think that makes a difference. When you look at Cal’s program, you’ve seen some ups and downs, but you haven’t seen the consistency and stability we’ve had.”
It doesn’t help that Cal is struggling to recover from successive losses after opening the season 2-0. Meanwhile, Washington has come back strong from a loss to Nebraska, beating defending Pac-10 champion Arizona State 26-14 last week.
Lambright said as much as Washington was buoyed by getting back on the winning track, Cal probably was questioning itself in the aftermath of consecutive defeats to Southern California and Louisiana Tech.
“This is dramatic,” Lambright said. “They started off great and now they have two losses in a row. There have to be some question marks there and some people must be asking, ‘What are we doing?”’ Cal figures to have a tough time containing Brock Huard, the nation’s top-rated passer, as well as a Huskies defense that registered nine sacks last week.
“As you look at them on paper, you know that they have probably the best talent in the Pac-10, and as they play the season, you see they’re special,” Holmoe said. “They have aggressive fronts, both offensively and defensively, and their skill guys are doing a tremendous job. They’re a complete team.”
xxxx Top 25 at a glance vs. opp. Team Rec T25 Rec. Today Quick kicks 1. Florida 5-0 1-0 14-6 at LSU, 4p 9 straight wins vs. LSU 2. Penn St. 4-0 0-0 6-12 vs. Oh.St., 12:30p 7-5 vs. Ohio St. 3. Nebraska 4-0 2-0 9-6 at Baylor, 4p Green 193 yds, 4 TDs 4. Florida St. 4-0 2-0 8-7 at Duke, 4p 5-0 vs. Duke 5. N. Carolina 5-0 1-0 9-9 vs. Wake Forest, 9a Keldorf 415 yds, 3 TDs 6. Michigan 4-0 1-0 5-9 vs.N’western,9:30a Lost last two in series 7. Ohio St. 5-0 1-0 16-6 at Penn St., 12:30p Cooper 3-1 vs. Penn St. 8. Auburn 5-0 1-0 13-7 vs. La Tech, 11a 5-0-1 vs. La. Tech 9. Tennessee 3-1 0-1 12-3 vs. Georgia, 12:30p 6 str. wins vs. Dawgs 10. Washington 3-1 2-1 10-4 at Cal, 12:30p 14 str. wins vs. Cal 11. Michigan St. 4-0 0-0 7-10 at Indiana, 12:30p 15-8-1 at Indiana 12. Wash. St. 5-0 1-0 9-10 idle Best rank since 9-22-58 13. Georgia 4-0 0-0 8-9 at Tenn., 12:30p 5-7-1 at Knoxville, Tenn. 14. LSU 4-1 0-1 11-9 vs. Florida, 4p Mixon saves the day! 15. Texas A&M 4-0 1-0 5-8 vs. Iowa St., 11a Eight TOs vs. Colorado 16. Stanford 4-1 0-1 10-8 at Arizona, 7:15p 3-5 at Arizona 17. Iowa 4-1 0-1 7-12 idle T. Banks held to 84 yds 18. UCLA 3-2 1-1 11-7 at Oregon, 3:30p 66 points again 19. Air Force 6-0 1-0 12-8 at Navy, 9a Best start since 1989 20. Oklahoma St. 5-0 0-0 7-14 vs. Colorado, 4p First rank since ‘88 final 21. BYU 3-1 1-1 8-7 at Rice, 6p Beat Rice 49-0 in 1996 22. Kansas St. 3-1 0-1 11-6 vs. Missouri, 9:30a 4 straight wins in series 23. Virginia Tech 4-1 0-0 9-13 vs. Boston Coll., 9a 2-2 vs. Boston College 24. Colorado 2-2 1-2 13-2 at Oklahoma St., 4p 8 straight wins vs. OSU 25. Georgia Tech 3-1 1-1 7-9 vs. N.C. St., 12:30p Last rank Oct. 13, 1996