The Good and Bad of Cal’s 49-17 victory over Washington State on Saturday

 The Good:

•  Cal has won two straight, and it had a passing threat in both.   The Bears will have to pass effectively next week against Arizona State, which entered the weekend ranked second nationally in run defense. Jahvid Best will not be running wild against the Sun Devils.
  

  QB Kevin Riley: When he plays well, Cal wins -- Photo Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

• Kevin Riley completed his first three passes, and when he starts well, he usually has a good day.  He’s completed 26 of 41 passes over the past two games after being 27-for-71 in the previous two.  The fact is, when Riley completes more than half his passes, Cal wins.
•  Cal used the Wildcat formation seven times with decent success.  It could come in handy against Arizona State.  Anything that gets Best or Shane Vereen in space is a good strategy.
•  Cal shut out Washington State in the fourth quarter and has yielded a total of 10 fourth-quarter points over its seven games this season.
• At 5-2, the Bears will get some votes in the national polls, but are unlikely to move into the top 25.  A win against Arizona State might do it, though.
• Jahvid Best had a sore foot and got to sit out the fourth quarter to avoid re-aggravating it.   His touchdown reception for the first touchdown was a thing of beauty.  “The ball came over the wrong shoulder and he was looking into the sun, and he made it look easy,” Jeff Tedford said.  Best’s pass-catching ability makes him look more and more like a high NFL draft pick.

 The Bad:    

• Cal’s two-game winning streak was built on teams that are a combined 0-9 in the Pac-10
• Cal’s defense yielded 440 yards, including 299 in the first half, to Washington State, which entered the game ranked 119^th of 120 FBS teams in total offense.   Tedford got on the defense pretty good at halftime for its poor tackling.  The secondary was the main problem, because the front seven did its job.
• The Bears have yielded at least 440 yards in each of their four Pac-10 games.    That’s not good. In fact, only Washington State is allowing more yards per game in conference play, and the 467 yards per game Cal has yielded is only slightly better than WSU’s 473.
• Cornerback Darian Hagan continues to be a mystery.  He played the best game of his career last week against UCLA, but against Washington State, defensive coordinator Bob Gregory characterized Hagan’s play as “very poor.”
• Riley threw his second interception of the season, and it was a bad one.
• Cal remains two games behind first-place Oregon, which beat Washington decisively on Saturday and plays USC in Eugene next week.
• Nose guard Derek Hill, who had a good game against Washington State with two sacks, sprained his shoulder and it is not known whether he will play against Arizona State.  His loss would be significant.