Art Spander - Sports Commentary

BERKELEY -- They tell football players to look forward, concentrate on what’s ahead. For Cal, it’s what’s in the rearview mirror that puts everything into perspective. For Cal, the games that count are the games they couldn’t win.

The rest of the season is almost incidental, as was Saturday’s game against Washington State. That one was over after 52 seconds. Not literally, of course. But symbolically, metaphorically, when the Bears scored on the second play from scrimmage.

Then they scored five minutes 19 seconds later. Then they scored roughly a minute and a half after that. Some people have questioned whether Washington State belongs in the Pac-10. The Cougars certainly didn’t belong on the same field as Cal. Again.

This one finished with the Bears ahead 49-17. Last year, Cal won 66-3. For Cal, Washington State is nothing. Unfortunately, Oregon and USC were too much.

Those were the teams Cal needed to beat. Those were the teams Cal couldn’t beat.

It’s going to be a successful season for the Bears. They’re 5-2, if only 2-2 in the Pac-10. They likely will win their final five games. That would be 10-2. That will get them to a bowl. But not the only bowl that matters, the Rose Bowl.

Cal crushed UCLA, which is borderline-awful. Then eight days later, Cal crushed Washington State, which is awful without any qualifications. The Bears are rolling, if against easily rolled-upon teams. Two losses, a bye week, then two dominating victories.

“Yes,’’ said Cal quarterback Kevin Riley, “I’d like to play Oregon and USC again. I didn’t lose any confidence. Those were just bad games.

“The bye week, we thought quite a bit about that. Our confidence wasn’t down. Our spirit was down. Those types of spankings shouldn’t happen against a team of our caliber.’’

Sports is not what shouldn’t happen but what did happen. Falling to Oregon, 42-3, and then to USC, 30-3, going consecutive games without a touchdown, the Bears looked like Washington State did against the Bears. Bewildered. Incompetent.

“We’re not going to look back,’’ Jeff Tedford, the Cal coach, reminded. “We made a pact after the bye week we were going to start a new season. We need to take each game one at a time and keep focusing on the details and play our best.’’

He wasn’t trying for a pun. He wasn’t alluding to Jahvid Best, his supreme running back. On the game’s second play from scrimmage, Best caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Riley. Then a minute into the second quarter, Best ran 61 yards for another touchdown.

The Bears had a season-high 559 yards in offense, 309 on the ground, 159 by Jahvid. Everywhere he was, Washington State wasn’t. And if Best was sitting, as he did for a while because of a sore foot, Shane Vereen was a wonderfully adept replacement, with 66 yards and two touchdowns, one receiving, one running.

Each took direct snaps in what is called the Wildcat formation. “The players really like it,’’ confirmed Tedford. “They come to me with ideas on how to use it. It comes in a lot of different parts. We probably ran three parts today. If we’re looking for misdirection, Shane and Jahvid fill the role.’’

Vereen contends the formation “keeps the defense open,’’ spreading players around. Asked how he would like to embellish the Wildcat, Vereen laughed, then explained, “Probably throw more, have more pass plays for us.’’

It’s Riley who does the throwing -- he was 12 of 18 for 229 yards and three touchdowns -- and Best and Vereen who do the catching and running.

“We just didn’t do it against Oregon and USC,’’ Vereen conceded. “But the last couple of weeks we’ve had a sense of team, a sense of urgency on the offense.’’

Best said the team used the off week to “get our minds right.’’ Their minds are clear. Their offense is effective.

“We told ourselves to forget about (Oregon and USC). We’re starting a new season. That season, we’re 2-0.’’

Tedford spoke only of a sense of purpose. He liked the fast start. He knew Cal had an advantage with the speed of Best and Vereen. Get them out there. Let them perform. They did. Against Oregon and USC they didn’t, Best gaining only 102 yards combined in those games.

“It’s really important that we look at our immediate short-term goals, which are week to week,’’ said Tedford.

Arizona State is next week -- Arizona State, which had six turnovers against Washington State and won only 27-14. After that for the Bears are Oregon State, Arizona, Stanford and Washington.

“We’re 5-2 with a lot of tough games to play,’’ said Tedford, a coach sounding all too much like a coach. “We’ll let the big picture take care of itself. We’re not going to get caught up in the Pac-10 race.’’

They’re already caught. They can’t escape. They can’t get rid of the losses to Oregon and USC.