Earlier kickoff could help Bears avoid snow
Cal might have avoided playing in the snow today after its kickoff time at Washington State was moved from 7:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. to fill a TV time slot vacated when the Oregon-Washington game was canceled because of COVID-19 issues.
The weather forecast in Pullman, Washington, calls for a 5% chance of precipitation. The temperature at kickoff still is expected to be 32 degrees, but no snow is anticipated until the evening.
The game will be shown on
FOX, which was supposed to broadcast the Pac-12 North showdown between Oregon and Washington before the Huskies announced Thursday they don’t have enough healthy players. The game was declared a nocontest, giving the Huskies (31) the North title.
Cal coach Justin Wilcox, who grew up in Oregon and once coached in Wisconsin, never was concerned about weather
conditions in Pullman.
“We’re not talking minus-10,” he said. “Mid-30s would be beautiful. Maybe we’ll bring some long sleeves, maybe an extra pair of socks. It’ll be great.”
The Bears (1-3) hope to build on the momentum of their 21-17 upset of Oregon last weekend. Washington State (1-2) lost 3813 at USC on Sunday in its first game in three weeks.
Wilcox said the prospect of playing in wintery conditions reminds him of his childhood.
“We’ve all watched the old NFL films of the games that are played in the mud and the snow, back when they actually played on grass. It’ll be a great opportunity to experience something like that,” Wilcox said.
“I don’t know when the last time somebody got to play in Pullman, mid-December.”
The game will be the latest date in the calendar year the Cougars have played on campus.
Here are a few things to watch — besides the weather — when Cal meets WSU in the Palouse:
ERRATIC CAL RUN GAME >> The Bears muscled up and ran for 241 yards against Stanford two weeks ago. Against Oregon, they rushed for 88 yards and 1.9 yards per clip.
Now they face a Cougars defense that had no answer for USC QB Kedon Slovis (five touchdown passes) but held the Trojans to 5 yards on the ground. WSU ranks third in the Pac-12 in rushing defense.
“Oregon has a really talented front and they gave us some unique looks,” Wilcox said. “At times, we didn’t quite finish those plays like we thought we could have. Our players did a great job coming in and learning from those plays. Took that to the practice field this week so we could improve.”
It’s still not clear whether top running back Christopher Brown Jr. is fully healthy after missing the Oregon State game. Brown had four carries against Stanford then rushed for only 14 yards against Oregon, averaging 1.6 yards per carry.
WSU’S BORGHI AN UNKNOWN >> The Cougars have operated all season without junior Max Borghi, the Pac-12’s most versatile running back. Borghi, who gained more than 2,000 yards running and catching the ball and scored 28 touchdowns his first two seasons, has yet to play because of a back injury.
First-year WSU coach Nick Rolovich isn’t sharing much intel on Borghi’s status. The Bears are prepared for him but also have respect for backup Deon McIntosh.
McIntosh, who began his career at Notre Dame, rushed for 147 yards in the Cougars’ season-opening victory over Oregon State. That was the most yardage by a WSU running back in 13 years.
“I obviously wish Max was with us,” Rolovich said after the OSU game, “but Deon has shown — I think we knew it — that he can be very productive in our offense. I think he showed everybody tonight.”
KICKING GAME QUESTIONS >> Wilcox chose to go for it on fourth down last Saturday with barely 2 minutes left instead of trying a 42yard field goal while leading Oregon by four points. While acknowledging the kicking unit had issues the week before — a blocked field goal and blocked PAT against Stanford — Wilcox said those concerns were not the only factor in his decision.
The Bears did more live placekicking in practice this week than usual, Wilcox said. The coach added that he still has confidence in sophomore Dario Longhetto.
“Dario’s continued to improve. He’s got a real strong leg,” Wilcox said. “There are things we have tweaked — personnel and launch points — things that we think give us a better opportunity to be successful.
“I’m not concerned with Dario’s mental makeup at all. He’s a tough guy and I think he wants a chance to go out there and make it.”