CAL DESPERATELY NEEDS TO BEAT OREGON STATE FOR BOWL BERTH – Cal’s game against Oregon State on Nov. 12 at San Francisco’s AT&T Park may not be the biggest game in the Bay Area that day, but it is awfully big for the Golden Bears. About 30 minutes south, Stanford will be hosting Oregon in ...

CAN CAL’S DEFENSE PLAY WELL ON THE ROAD AT UCLA? – Cal successfully completed Step 1 of its four-game road to a bowl game by beating Utah on Oct. 22, but Step 2 may be more important, because the Oct. 29 game against UCLA is on the road. The Golden Bears (4-3) appear to be ...

MAYNARD PLAYED WELL, BUT CAL’S DEFENSE WON THE GAME – Much was made of the performance by Cal QB Zach Maynard in Cal’s 34-10 victory over Utah on Oct. 22.  And there is sure to be a lot made of the fact that Maynard had a lot more passing success when he rolled out, which ...

IS CAL A BOWL TEAM? NEXT 4 GAMES WILL TELL – Cal’s next four games, starting with the Oct. 22 home game against Utah, are all winnable contests for the Golden Bears and will answer three important questions about the 2011 Bears: — Are they resilient?  After three straight losses that took them out of ...

CAL’S LOSS TO USC HURTS, BUT SCHEDULE GETS EASIER – Cal’s first three conference games – all against quality opponents — proved the Bears are not Pac-12 title contenders.   The next four games – all against lesser teams – will show whether the Golden Bears are bowl contenders. To be a bowl team, however, the ...

CAN CAL HANDLE USC QB BARKLEY?  – Cal’s game against USC on Thursday, Oct. 13, is much like its previous Thursday game against Oregon a week earlier – except in reverse. Last season, Cal’s defense, which typically has been outstanding at home, was able to shut down the powerful Oregon offense in on its home ...

OREGON HAMMERS CAL — 4 of next 5 GAMES ARE AT HOME – For one half against Oregon on Oct. 6, it appeared Cal might be able to duplicate what it did last season, when it nearly upset the Ducks with an outstanding defensive effort. In fact, the Golden Bears had the lead at halftime ...

CAN CAL’S DEFENSE STOP OREGON AGAIN? – Cal is a big underdog in its nationally televised, Thursday night, Oct. 6 game at Oregon, and the big question is whether the Golden Bears’ defense can do what it did last season against the Ducks. More realistically, the question is whether Cal can come anywhere close to ...

CAL HAS 12 DAYS TO GET READY FOR OREGON — Cal has 12 days to prepare for what figures to be its toughest game of the season on Oct. 6 at Oregon, then has another Thursday night game seven days later at home against USC. The biggest issue in preparation for both games will be ...

CAL MISSES AN OPPORTUNITY IN SEATTLE — Cal’s favorable prospects with a minute left in its Sept. 24 game against Washington disintegrated into a challenging situation for the Golden Bears as they head into a bye week. Things looked good for Cal’s present and future after getting a first down at the Washington 2-yard line ...