SEATTLE – A year ago when California traveled to Husky Stadium to play the University of Washington, the Golden Bears were solid in the knowledge that it had a reliable quarterback in Aaron Rodgers and the Huskies were struggling to find an answer at QB.
Now, it’s Washington that feels confident with junior Isaiah Stanback at quarterback while Cal is searching for an answer to who will replace Rodgers, who was a first-round pick by the Green Bay Packers. Golden Bears coach Jeff Tedford thought it might be redshirt freshman Nate Longshore, but Longshore broke his ankle late in the first half of California’s 41-3 victory over Sacramento State on Saturday. Now, the job falls to junior college transfer Joe Ayoob, whose debut for Cal in relief of Longshore was forgettable. Ayoob was 0-for-10 before being relieved by junior Steve Levy.
On Monday, though, Tedford said Ayoob would get the start against the Huskies when the teams kick off at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Husky Stadium. Tedford said Ayoob was put into a difficult position – running the two-minute offense – and says he’s confident that he’ll bounce back. After all, Tedford said he remembers Rodgers going 9-for-34 against Oregon State two years ago.
“The other day was a tough start for him, no doubt about it,” Tedford said. “Coming off the bench when he did in the two-minute drill, trying to throw the ball downfield, was a little difficult. Then I think he put pressure on himself. Being the starter will be better for him so that he doesn’t have to wait his turn. He can go in and get the jitters out of the way early.”
Besides the quarterback situation, though, much is the same as when the two teams met last November, a 42-12 Cal win. The Golden Bears, ranked No. 19 in the Associated Press poll, are the clear favorite, picked by some to finish second in the Pacific-10 Conference behind USC. Washington is coming off of a game in which it showed improvement over last season, but was unable to hold a fourth-quarter lead and lost 20-17 to Air Force.
This year’s game marks an unusually early start of the Pacific-10 Conference season, but neither coach said it would make too big of a difference.
“With a young team, you’d like to play your non-conference games first and then get into conference,” Tedford said. “But it’s going to be the same for Washington. We’re excited to get started. I think it was great to have last week as a game to work out some of the kinks.”
“It’s an eye-opener,” Washington coach Tyrone Willingham said. “It gives your kids something to get focused on awful quickly.”
For Washington, getting focused includes learning to finish a game off. After getting used to playing catch-up most of last season, the Huskies are trying to learn how to play with a lead and put a team away.
“We weren’t used to that situation so maybe some guys got too comfortable,” linebacker Joe Lobendahn said. “But we won’t make that mistake again.”
“We didn’t make those five or six plays down the stretch that would have made a difference,” Willingham said. “That’s what good teams do, and that’s what Air Force did. They made plays down the stretch that won the football game.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
