Go-To Receiver Comes Back To Reality Shaw Sets Cal Record, But Doesn’t Phase WSU

Washington State’s defensive backs didn’t need to be introduced to Bobby Shaw.

The all-conference receiver for California burned them for 10 receptions for 108 yards last fall, and Cougar cornerback Dee Moronkola worked out with the All-America candidate in the Bay Area last summer.

So the 13th-ranked Cougars were prepared for Shaw, who caught 61 passes for 927 yards last year and entered Saturday’s game at Martin Stadium averaging 16.4 yards for his 39 receptions.

Shaw went out and caught nine passes for 158 yards, including a 52-yard touchdown, becoming the Bears’ all-time leading receiver.

But those were just some of the numbers that meant absolutely nothing considering the way the Cougars dominated Cal in their 63-37 win.

“Long, boring day,” WSU cornerback LeJuan Gibbons said. “We were expecting a lot more. We prepared for a lot of stuff but they didn’t show it, which was good.”

Shaw had six catches for 68 yards when the Cougars called off the dogs with a 56-6 lead in the third quarter.

“He’s a good receiver but I expected a lot more from him,” Gibbons, a 5-foot-9, 178-pound sophomore, said. “I guess last week they said they were going to spread the ball around more. I don’t know why, he’s their go-to guy. You can spread the ball around but when you need him, you’ve got to go to him.”

The Cougars didn’t do anything surprising against Shaw, a 6-1, 190-pound senior.

“They pretty much did what we’ve seen on film,” Shaw said. “They didn’t do like Washington did (last week); they had more double-team on me and sent more guys at me. They didn’t really do that. They stuck to their game plan and relied on their defense to step it up. They played a great game.”

Moronkola, a 5-9, 194-pound junior, agreed.

“He did his part toward the end of the game. At the beginning of the game, we shut him down. I wanted to … play around with him, bump-andrun. They seem like they have a lot of trouble getting off the bump-andrun,” he said. “I talked him out of his game and he was frustrated. I guess that’s another reason they were scared to throw my way.”

Shaw, who now has 2,437 yards receiving to replace Brian Treggs (1988-91) as Cal’s all-time leader, didn’t have quite the same impression of Moronkola or Gibbons.

“No, not really,” he said. “Not to say I’m not impressed with them. I’m just saying that I really didn’t get a feel for either-or. They both are really good corners. They’ll do well the rest of the season. There was nothing that made me say, ‘Wow.’ But they played a really good game, they did a good defensive job.”

The numbers don’t reflect how well the Cougars covered Shaw, but WSU coach Mike Price didn’t care.

“That’s OK,” he said. “That showed he’s even more of a competitor. He could have just tubed it and said, ‘I’m just going to put my feet up and wait for the NFL,’ instead of trying to help his team win the game… . He’s in danger of getting himself hurt, spraining an ankle when it’s late in the game. I’ve got a lot of respect for that kid. I think an awful lot of Bobby Shaw. I think he’s an All-American player, an All-American person.”

Pac-10 standings

League Overall

W L PF PA W L Wash. St. 4 0 152 105 6 0 Washington 3 0 114 45 5 1 Arizona St. 3 1 93 57 5 2 UCLA 3 1 147 105 5 2 Stanford 2 2 121 132 4 3 USC 1 2 55 80 3 3 Oregon 1 3 109 130 4 3 Arizona 1 3 92 136 3 4 Oregon St. 0 3 44 74 3 3 California 0 3 57 120 2 4

Saturday’s results

Washington St. 63, Cal 37

Washington 58, Arizona 28

Arizona State 31, Stanford 14

Oregon 31, Utah 13

UCLA 34, Oregon State 10

USC 20, Notre Dame 17

Next Saturday’s games

Arizona at WSUUW at Oregon St.

Cal at UCLAOregon at USC

, DataTimes