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I am officially worried about this weekend's game. First it was a road game, then we set ourselves up for a potential post-UCLA hangover. Now Mike Leach called out his seniors as a bunch of zombies. Also, it's Mike Leach Bobblehead Day. I'm pretty sure those are all prerequisites for the apocalypse.
Cal at Washington State, 7:30 p.m. (Pac-12 Networks): The Bears (2-4, 1-2) have won seven straight in this series and beat the WSU 30-7 last year. The Cougars (2-4, 0-3) have so impressed coach Mike Leach that he compared his seniors to “zombies” and “empty corpses.” Cal 28, Washington State 17.
Kevin Gemmell: At this point, the Washington State defense is outperforming the offense -- and we saw what Cal is capable of when it actually puts it together. Something finally clicked, and I don't think the Bears shut it off this week. Cal 27, Washington State 21.
Ted Miller: It's a simple question, really: Can Cal reproduce the focused performance it had against UCLA? If so, the Bears win big. If not, they flop. We like the New Fighting Tedfords to continue their reclamation of the season. Cal 35, Washington State 24.
CAL (minus-4.5) at WASHINGTON STATE: The line jumped to 7.5, and that was before Leach called out his seniors. If the revitalized (for now) Bears start well and don’t give away points, it could be over by halftime. Pick: Cal.
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ESPN's rankings unanimously agree (and predict the Bears will cover the spread). ESPN's AccuScore gives the Bears a 70% chance of winning.
| Predictor | TeamRankings | numberFire | AccuScore |
| Score | Cal 29.6, Washington St. 22.5 |
Cal 30.5, Washington St. 19.3 |
Cal 34.5, Washington St. 25.0 |
Cal, 31-24 Cal, 37-13 Cal, 31-27 Wazzu, 21-14
Onto the links
Football
- Uncle Ted writes about how Cal is headed to Pullman with some confidence. I feel like I've read this story many times before; it usually ends in disaster.
- After losing the starting role following the Nevada loss, Kameron Jackson has regained his trust of the coaches.
- Jackson was one of two recipients of the Defensive Back Performers of the Week award from the College Football Performance Awards. He was also chosen as the MAACO Las Vegas Bowl Pac-12 Player of the Week (I have never heard of this award).
- Cal climbs to 8th in Wilner's Pac-12 power rankings.