Let’s Start Talking About Them Trojans

PULLMAN, Wash.—Bud “Dog” Turner went up to Marshawn Lynch after Cal’s 21-3 win over Washington State and thanked him.

A member of the Bears staff for 36 years, Turner has experienced his share of ups and downs (mainly the latter) with the program. For Turner, Saturday was a big up. Cal won at Martin Stadium for the first time since the Carter administration.

“He said they hadn’t won up here since (he was in his 40s),” Lynch said with a chuckle. “There’s no telling how old he is now, so it’s just some great things.”

For Lynch and the rest of the Bears, history aside, Saturday was not so much of an up. The game was more like ... blah. It was very unspectacular, similar to the rolling, yellow nothingness of the Palouse.

But a win is a win, as just about every Cal player said afterwards. It is a good sign in and of itself that an 18-point road win against a solid opponent is considered average.

With the win, the Bears took care of their biggest potential roadblock before Nov. 18, on the road to Pasadena.

That’s right. Let the USC hype and postseason talk officially begin.

It is obvious this season has the potential to be historic for Cal. To make it so, the Bears will need to continue to be seemingly ignorant of history, because with every win from here on out the external pressure will increase.

That’s what a 48-year Rose Bowl drought will do.

The team has taken a great perspective so far. Many players learned of Cal’s losing streak in Pullman for the first time from coach Jeff Tedford directly before the game.

“None of us were even born in 1979,” senior linebacker and captain Desmond Bishop said. “We just went out there and played football.”

History will come up again next week. Washington coach Tyrone Willingham owns a 7-1 all-time record against the Bears.

The following game against UCLA will likely bring back bad memories from last season’s late collapse at the Rose Bowl, and the fact that Tedford has never won a game in Los Angeles will probably resurface two weeks later at the Coliseum.

With each win the expectations from the outside will grow, the Cal bandwagon will continue to pick up fans and the past will continue to be rehashed.

But past history, as Bishop said, is not relevant to this year’s team. Who cares if no Bears squad in the last half-century has had what it takes to be a Pac-10 champion. It so happens that this 2006 has what it takes.

And make no mistake about it, the Bears should win all of their remaining games.

Look no further than USC’s 28-21 struggle to beat an Arizona State team at home that both Cal and Oregon creamed to confirm that the Bears should not only beat the Trojans in five weeks—they should crush them.

Then they would only be a Big-Game win away from Pasadena. Of course, here we go getting carried away with what could be.

It’s a good thing Cal just wants to “go out there and play football.” If the Bears keep playing the way they have, “expect” will replace “hope” as the word to describe their postseason aspirations.

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