Cal vs WSU Preview

The game will not be televised this Saturday. So all you Joe Starkey fans get ready to hear about the explosive Cal offense. I know this has been mentioned by many other fans and blogs but seriously, top ten team can't get some TV love. Perhaps some savvy tech fan who is attending the game can video tape it and later post the whole game on YouTube with Starkey's radio broadcast looped in. Onto the preview.

Overview
Cal has been firing on all cylinders these past five week culminating in the Oregon win last Saturday. Every aspect of the team was exceptional from the offense to the defense to special teams. So it is hard to see Cal stumbling in this game in Pullman. While I expect WSU to play hard I still expect a blow out win. Final Score prediction: 49 - 18

Cal Preview
The way that the team has been consistently putting up 40+ in the past five games I feel like this section is getting repetitive. So instead I will provide other information.

From College Football News

The Pac-10 best players

Offensive Player of the Midseason – Marshawn Lynch, RB Cal

Defensive Player of the Midseason – Mkristo Bruce, DE Washington State

Ten best Pac-10 players in the first half of the season
1. Marshawn Lynch, RB Cal
2. Nate Longshore, QB Cal
3. Mkristo Bruce, DE Washington State
4. DeSean Jackson, WR Cal
5. Jonathan Stewart, RB Oregon
6. Daymeion Hughes, CB Cal
7. Isaiah Stanback, QB Washington
8. John David Booty, QB USC
9. Justin Hickman, DE UCLA
10. Jaison Williams, WR Oregon

So we have the best player in the conference. Along with numbers 2, 4, and 6. I think Mebane should also be on the list but it is hard for defensive tackle to generally get recognized as there are few stats that truely capture the dominance they display.
To conclude: This is a very good Cal team. The offense is loaded. The defense, though not as hyped as the offense, is very opportunistic and creates a lot of turnovers. The way they shut down Oregon's spread offense and ground game was very impressive. Also, as you can see in the DJax video posted, special teams is, for lack of a better word, special.

Washington State Overview
So which Washington State team will show up. The one that took USC to the wire at home. Or the one that was destroyed by Auburn on the road. Also, the 13-6 win last week against Oregon St. was not that impressive. Here is what I expect.

Offense
Alex Brink is a quality QB. While he can't make all the throws he does get completions and can lead drives. They way he moved the ball against USC was quite impressive. The question mark here is whether Jason Hill will be available for the game. Last year, he caught 3 long touchdowns against us and looked dominate. I imagine Hughes will shadow him if he does play and I think that should be enough, as usual.
Also, Jerome Harrison, WSU's all world tailback from last year has graduated making the offense less balanced and allowing the Cal defense to focus on stopping the ariel attack.

Defense
WSU has a very underrated defense. They lead the league in total defense and have a stud DE in Mkristo Bruce who leads the nation in sacks. This guy is a beast. But the Cal offensive line has been playing much better. Also, ASU came into the Cal game leading the nation in total sacks and we all know how that game turned out. While the WSU defense is stout, I believe they have not faced a team with the team speed like Cal's. With a healthy (or so they say) Marshawn Lynch in the backfield and speedy wide receivers catching bombs from Longshore, I think the WSu defense is in for a long afternoon.

Go Bears.