It took a while for Bears to wake up

SEATTLE – California coach Jeff Tedford had a different feeling Saturday when he walked into Husky Stadium.

No, it wasn’t because of the soon-to-be-vacant Washington coaching job and the fact that Tedford, considered one of the nation’s bright young coaches, is being connected with UW in the speculation surrounding the job search.

He had more important matters Saturday, especially when he sensed during the pregame warmup that his team didn’t have its usual emotional fire.

“It seemed like we were so subdued during the pregame (warmup),” Tedford said. “There wasn’t a lot of excitement out there before the game.”

All the elements for a letdown were there. Cal entered the game 7-1 and ranked fourth in the latest BCS poll; the Huskies were 1-8. Cal has a huge game this week against Stanford that could land the Golden Bears in the Rose Bowl.

And Husky Stadium, typically a cavern of noise and taunts that put opposing teams on edge, was nearly empty and relatively quiet in the final hour before the game.

“This is always a tough environment to play in,” Tedford said. “But before the game, it was very low-key and very quiet.”

In the beginning, so were the Bears.

The Huskies held them scoreless in the first quarter for only the second time this season, and the Bears led at halftime by just one point (7-6) in a game they were favored by oddsmakers to win by 30.

“We had a talk with them in the lockerroom before the game, but obviously that didn’t work,” Tedford said. “At halftime, there wasn’t a lot to say. We mainly said there’s another half to play and we haven’t played our best. I didn’t have to say much. They were doing most of the talking.”

A different Cal team hit the field for the second half, and Tedford knew it just as clearly as he realized that his team wasn’t ready for the first half.

“It seemed like their body chemistry was more alert at halftime,” he said. “They were more on edge at halftime than they were before the game.”

Then Cal took it to the Huskies in the second half.

“I had confidence we would snap out of it,” Tedford said.

“I didn’t expect to give up the big plays on defense,” Tedford said. “But I thought our defense was consistently playing well even though we gave up a couple of big plays.”

In the meantime, Cal cleaned up its offensive mistakes, especially poor throws by quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

“We did some good things from time to time, but we were turning the ball over,” Tedford said. “We were stalling out and not executing. I felt we were going to snap out of it, especially the way our defense was playing.”

“I don’t know what it was, but it seemed like people were tired (in the first half,” Cal center Marvin Philip said. “We got the offense on the sideline and I told them, ‘Whatever it is, get it fixed because have to get some points on the board in the second half.’ We were able to start pounding the ball with our running game and get our offense going in the second half.”

By John Sleeper

Herald Writer

SEATTLE – He wept as his seniors were introduced to the crowd.

He wept when his co-captains presented him with an honorary University of Washington letterman’s jacket.

And he wept after his Huskies lost to powerful California, 42-12, Saturday in his last home game as Washington’s head coach.

“I hate going out like this,” Keith Gilbertson said.

Gilbertson’s team is 1-9 this season. No one expected the Huskies to win the 2005 Rose Bowl, but 1-9 still is hard to swallow. Too hard for himself and his bosses, which is why it was mutually agreed on two weeks ago that Gilbertson and his staff would step down after the season.

Gilbertson is many things. Gruff. Profane. A great storyteller. He is tough with his players. He meets mental mistakes with high-decibel objection. He demands discipline. He forbids his players to wear caps in team meetings.

His players love him for it. And they don’t savor the fact that, after Saturday’s Apple Cup, he and his coaching staff will step down.

“He’s been a part of this university for so long,” safety Evan Benjamin said. “It’s really sad. I’m going to miss him so much. He recruited me and has been around me for a lot of years. Most of the guys are going to miss him.”

Known as “Gilby” by just about everyone, Gilbertson wanted so much more than a 1-9 record for this team and this school. Most of all, he wanted it for his players, who lived through not only the record, but the firing of a coach who recruited many of them, Rick Neuheisel. Some knew Curtis Williams and Anthony Vontoure, who died under entirely separate circumstances.

Some have had different position coaches each season.

And Gilbertson wanted to reward them with an uplifting season.

“They are just great kids and they have been through hell,” said Gilbertson, eyes glazing over. “They just play and they’re great to coach. I should be giving them all gifts. They are all such great kids to be around on a daily basis. And all of the kids I have coached here at the University of Washington have been sensational. There’s nothing like kids at the University of Washington.”

All he ever really wanted to be was a football coach. When he was 4 years old, he’d come to Seattle from Snohomish, sit in the cheap seats and watch. Although he would have liked to have gotten the head coach’s job by any way other than the way he got it, he wanted to coach at Washington most of all.

“This is a wonderful place,” Gilbertson said. “This is a place where people like to coach, and it’s a tough place to leave. People fall in love with Washington. This becomes more than a job. This is a great place and I want nothing but the best for Washington football. It really becomes part of your family because it is such a big part of your life.”

Offensive tackle Khalif Barnes handed the letterman’s jacket off to a bewildered Gilbertson just outside the vaunted tunnel during the ceremony for the seniors. Gilbertson would later say that he’s gotten many letters, but none from the University of Washington.

And his eyes welled again.

“It touched me,” Gilbertson said. “It was so thoughtful. It’s just an unbelievable gift. I had no idea I was going to get it. You know me. I’m raising hell and chewing ass, going 100 mph. It was just an unbelievably thoughtful thing.”

Gilbertson joked, as he usually does, that they could have given him an apple and a road map out of town. But a letterman’s jacket hit him.

“I can’t think of anything more special than that,” Gilbertson said.

Paus better: Casey Paus had his finest day of a horrible season. The junior completed 20-of-42 passes for 328 yards and a 77-yard touchdown pass to Craig Chambers.

The season has been anything but a pleasant ride for Paus, who has been benched several times, served as a backup, then, when no other quarterback stepped up, got back the starting job for the rest of the season, beginning with the Oregon game.

For the season, Paus has just four touchdown passes to 14 interceptions. He threw three more picks Saturday. He’s completing just 42.4 percent of his passes.

Still, the bright spots for Paus were evident.

“I thought we moved the ball against a great team,” he said. “We just have to put the ball into the end zone. That’s what it comes down to. If you’re not scoring points, you’re not going to win a game. We had some turnovers and some unfortunate tips, but those have got to be eliminated.”

Gilbertson agreed.

“I think for the most part, I think he threw some really good balls in there and moved the ball consistently,” he said. “It’s been a while since we have thrown for over 300 yards. I would still like to think that we could still throw about 50 percent of the time and not throw as many interceptions as we throw, but we also get some big plays. I saw some progress in a lot of ways.”

Lobendahn injured: Inside linebacker Joe Lobendahn, Washington’s most consistent defender, fractured his right wrist in the third quarter while chasing down Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers on a 36-yard run.

Lobendahn caught Rodgers from behind, but got his arm caught in between Rodgers’ legs. He will miss Saturday’s Apple Cup game.

Last season, Lobendahn missed nearly all season with a knee injury.

“My arm got caught between his legs and he scissor-kicked me,” Lobendahn said. “I wasn’t trying to get hurt, but it happens and it happens for a reason. Right now, I’m pretty frustrated. I want to stay healthy for one season.”

Lobendahn came into the game as the No. 3 tackler in the Pac-10 with 10.6 tackles a game.

More injuries: Tight end Joe Toledo left the game with injuries to his lower back and ribs. Safety Dashon Goldson also left the game with a shoulder problem that has needed surgery for some time.

The status of either for the Apple Cup was not immediately known.

PAT penalty: The Huskies had designs of trying for a two-point conversion following Paus’ 77-yard touchdown pass to Craig Chambers in the third quarter that made the score 14-12, but were called for an illegal-substitution penalty, which moved the ball 5 yards back.

Gilbertson said he wasn’t happy with the call. Officials said the Huskies had more than 11 players on the field.

“We made a normal substitution,” he said. “We got guys off. We can substitute. We weren’t going to break the huddle with more guys. We moved guys in, they took guys out. We hadn’t even called the play yet. I was very upset with that call.”

Gilbertson also took issue with the unbalanced number of holding calls.

“There are two teams out there; only one seems to ever get a holding call, week after week,” he said. “I’m very frustrated by that. The last touchdown run, we had two guys pulled down. On one, we had one guy pulled down by the facemask. But there’s only one team that ever seems to get penalized. It must be flagrant.”

Short bursts: Saturday’s game marked just the second time all season Cal was held scoreless in the first quarter. Cal trailed USC 10-0 in its 23-17 loss to the Trojans … UW linebacker Scott White’s interception was the first pick of White’s career. It also broke Rodgers’ string of 82 pass attempts without an interception … Rodgers threw two picks, which tied his high for the season. He threw two picks against Oregon State and Arizona, but he hadn’t thrown any in the season’s other six games and had four all season prior to Saturday … Rodgers’ 36-yard run in the third quarter was his career-long run … Cal tailback J.J. Arrington ran for 37 yards on 10 carries in the first half, his lowest first-half output this season. Arrington came in as the fourth-leading rusher in the nation at 161.8 yards a game. He finished with 121 against the Huskies … Arrington reached the 100-yard mark for the ninth time this season. The Pac-10 record for consecutive 100-yard games is 11, set by Marcus Allen of USC … Douglas’ 59-yard punt, which came about as he ran to his right in an unorthodox play, was the longest punt of his career … Washington posted four quarterback sacks against Cal, the second-highest total by a Golden Bears opponent this season. USC had five.