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The California Golden Bears (2-4) are hot off their best game of the year and they travel to Pullman, Wash. to take on the Washington State Cougars (2-4) in Martin Stadium. Last week, California may have saved the job of Head Coach Jeff Tedford putting together a dominating victory over UCLA 43-17. Meanwhile, in Corvallis, the Cougars were unable to put together any offense whatsoever and fell to the, now, tenth ranked Oregon State Beavers 19-6.
Vitals
Date: Saturday, October 13th 2012 at 7:30 p.m.
TV Coverage: Pac-12 Networks (National and all regional networks)
Internet Coverage: Video.Pac-12.com (With participating TV providers)
Tickets: Here
Opponent
School: University of California, Berkely, Pac-12 Conference, Official Team Site.
Season: This year has been a walking worst case scenario for the Golden Bears. Entering the season, Cal was picked to finish fourth in the North division, and was even picked to finish first by one sports writer. Their first game of the year, opening the new and improved Memorial Stadium, was a complete dud as they lost to Nevada 31-24. They were able to rebound with a win, that was uglier than it should have been, against FCS Southern Utah 51-31. The next week, Cal went into the Horseshoe and nearly shocked the Ohio State Buckeyes before falling 35-28. Following that was two straight conference losses to USC (27-9) and to Arizona State (27-17). Last week, everything came together and the Bears upset the, then, 25th ranked UCLA Bruins 43-17.
Coverage: SB Nation's California Bears blog California Golden Blogs.
Important People
Head Coach: Jeff Tedford, 81-52 in his 11th season at California.
Coordinators: Jim Michalczik (Offensive) and Clancy Pendergast (Defensive)
Key Offensive Players: QB Zach Maynard: The senior starter is in his second year at Cal after transferring from Buffalo. Last week, in Cal's upset of UCLA, Maynard was 25-30 with 295 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. His brother is the teams leading receiver, which is a form of nepotism, and that's wrong.
WR Keenan Allen: The junior receiver was the only Cal player on Phil Steele's preseason all Pac-12 first team and he is the team's leading receiver with 467 yards and four touchdowns so far this year. CBS Sports currently has him as the best wide receiver in the 2013 draft class.
Key Defensive Players: DB Josh Hill: The senior is Cal's active leader in tackles, with 127. He's played a little bit of everything including safety, corner and nickel throughout his time at Cal.
DB Marc Anthony: The senior is the leader of the Cal defense and leads the team in tackles for loss with 5.5. We all wish him well following his recent divorce to Jennifer Lopez.
For everything leading up to this Saturday's matchup from a WSU perspective, stick with us here on CougCenter. For everything from the California perspective, check out SBNation's California blog California Golden Blogs.