Cal vs Washington pregame hype thread

Trap Game - n - the occurrence when a favorite instead falls flat on their face for any one of a variety of reasons, including, but not limited to: having their eyes on the game following instead of the one immediately ahead, overlooking an unheralded underdog, and coming off a difficult, emotional victory the week prior.

Now, I'm an English teacher, so no vocabulary word goes without an accompanying example: In 2014, the then 4-1, Pac-12 North leading Cal Bears were followed a dramatic road win with a Trap Game against the Washington Huskies. They were caught off-guard and subsequently humbled in a 31-7 defeat.

The spiral that followed that one was painful enough -- those Cal Bears would only win one more game that season, watching a bowl berth slide away with each passing week.

More painful is that this is the norm, the latest tainted memory at the hands of the School Way North, a program that should be our equal, not our torturer, our bully, our nemesis. We can point to Tosh and Shaq Thompson and that debacle even now, but the hard truth is they have owned us for far before The Defection, dealing out frustrating loss over frustrating loss six years going.

This must end.

This will end, come Saturday, where we will have the rare opportunity to re-write and undo our mistake completely.

Let's try it again, then, class, shall we? In 2015, the 3-0, Pac-12 North leading Bears will follow a dramatic road win with....

You fill in the blank.

We're coming. Expect us.