WSU can’t stop Forsett
BERKELEY, Calif. – Going into Saturday night’s conference game at California’s Memorial Stadium, the Cougars had yielded 100 yards to only two Pac-10 running backs.
Arizona freshman Nic Grigsby gashed them for 186 on 30 carries in late September. The next week, Arizona State’s Ryan Torain pounded out 116 yards on 24 carries.
No other individual had gained more than 67 yards against the Cougs until Saturday night.
Cal’s Justin Forsett got loose often enough to run for 132 yards on 32 carries against the Cougs’ 3-4 defensive alignment.
It was his final 44 yards that broke the Cougars’ back in the Bears’ 20-17 victory.
Until the final 3 minutes, Forsett hadn’t gained more than 9 yards on a run all night.
With the Bears trying to run out the clock, he took a handoff from Nate Longshore, paused for just a second, then exploded through a hole supplied by right tackle Mike Tepper. He broke to the sideline and outraced the Cougars’ secondary to the end zone, clinching the victory.
The run allowed Forsett to forget a big mistake he made about 8 minutes earlier.
It came with 10:36 remaining and the Bears about to put the win in their back pocket. With a second-and goal at the 2, Forsett was to take a handoff from Longshore and attack the middle.
He never got the ball. It dribbled out of his hands and linebacker Cory Evans covered it up at the 4.
Bumpus ties Campbell
Michael Bumpus came into the game needing five receptions to etch his name alone into the Washington State record book.
He got four. It gave him 176 career receptions and tied him with Hugh Campbell atop the Cougars’ list. The tying reception came with 7:35 left and gave WSU a first down at the Cal 15, though they were unable to get in the end zone. The Cougs settled for Romeen Abdollmohammadi’s third field goal.
A Pullman connection
Both of Cal’s coordinators, offensive coordinator Jim Michalczik and defensive coordinator Bob Gregory, played college football at Washington State.
Gregory, a Gonzaga Prep graduate where he played for coach Don Anderson, was an undersized linebacker in the mid-1980s under Jim Walden. The Cougars won just 13 games in Gregory’s three years.
The Bears have been a little more successful in Gregory’s five-plus seasons in Berkeley, winning 10 games twice and finishing in the top 25 the past three years.
Michalczik, from Port Angeles, Wash., was Gregory’s teammate at WSU in 1986, the defensive coordinator’s senior season and Walden’s last in Pullman. The next year, Dennis Erickson took over and Michalczik, a guard, got to experience a bowl season as the Cougars went to the Aloha Bowl in 1988.
Michalczik earned All-Pac-10 honors that season, playing on an offensive line that included Mike Utley and Paul Wulff.
He also provided protection and opened holes for two current WSU assistants, quarterback coach Timm Rosenbach and running backs Steve Broussard on that ‘88 team.
The trio met at the 20-yard line about an hour before the game and talked for about 10 minutes.
Joined by the freeway
The game was the third time this year Washington State and Washington played within 50 miles of each other.
On Sept. 8, the Cougars hosted San Diego State at Qwest Field. The same day, Washington was playing Boise State in Husky Stadium. Both won.
Two weeks later when WSU traveled to Los Angeles to play USC, the Huskies were just up the freeway at the Rose Bowl losing to UCLA. Both lost.
Earlier in the day, UW was in the Bay Area facing Stanford. Finally, there was a different result: Huskies win and Cougars lose.
Let there be light
The earliest home starting time the Bears have had this year was 3:30 p.m. That wouldn’t be a problem except Memorial Stadium doesn’t have lights.
For each of its five games this season, the Cal athletic administration has had to rent temporary lights to brighten up the contests for television.
There are two banks on each side of the stadium, which was originally constructed in 1923. Don’t expect many changes in the near future.
When the athletic department tried to build a new athletic complex on the west side of the stadium, protesters erected platforms in the trees nearby and have been living there since. That was on Dec. 1. The protest hasn’t halted construction, however. It has been stalled by the city of Berkeley, which went to court to delay the project.
This and that
Abdollmohammadi handled the kickoff duties because usual kickoff specialist Wade Penner was left in Pullman after an unspecified violation of team rules … Former defensive end Mkristo Bruce stopped by the team hotel Friday night for a visit. Bruce is a member of the Oakland Raiders’ practice squad. … The basketball team’s home opener against Eastern Washington on Friday night was officially sold out Saturday.