Two Things: I think we take down Cal and...

If Coach Paul Wulff had heard as many people as I have this week say "We Couged it!" against the Pokes last week, I'm pretty sure he'd have stared and burned a hole right through them (his stare is just that intense). Here's a fun fact kids, last week was an aberration. It was week one. The Pokes aren't as good as they looked and the Cougs aren't as bad. The big killer was the porous special teams and while I realize that were it not for the Huskies secondary looking so bad our special teams would officially be the worst singular unit in the Pac-10, the Cougs are still not that bad. This will not be another game in which we cough up 200+ yards of kick return yardage to the bad guys while they go untouched into the endzone all day. In short, quit whining, we'll be fine.

Now, on to the prediction for this weekend. I think the Cougs stand a chance in this game and can pull it out if some issues have at least been dealt with enough to prevent the big gainers we saw against the Pokes. Special Teams as I was saying earlier did look terrible last week, but after having seen Paul Wulff on the sideline and having seen what he might have done to those guys because he wasn't happy I very much doubt that we'll see that bad a performance again. Especially now with Andy Mattingly on special teams leading the charge down the field. Were I capable of feeling anything other than pure burning hatred for a conference opponent dumb enough to stumble into Martin on a Saturday I'd almost feel sorry for the players he is going to absolutely destroy. That said I realize that one guy can't do it all alone (cough, Huskies, cough), but with a guy like Mattingly ready to get out there and take people out, you have to know that the Special Teams unit will be playing with some life this week.

This week also marks the first time Paul Wulff will take the field at Martin as head coach of the Cougs and I think he'll have the team fired up and ready to defend theirs and his turf. This is a man who knows how to motivate as was made clear by the defense especially and the Cougs overall effort against the Pokes at Qwest field. For the first time maybe ever I didn't see the Cougs just give up and roll over. The big difference this week is that the offense will be just as fired up as the defense. This isn't going to be another game with just 52 total yards of offense in the first half and only 190 for the whole game. Gary Rogers has something to prove now, he got a mulligan for last week because it was his first start ever, but if things don't start turning around you can bet that the student section will be letting him know this week just what they think of him. At the same time Brandon Gibson has said he was very disappointed in his game against the Pokes. Going against what looks to be possibly the third worst secondary in the Pac-10, behind the Huskies and Stanford, Gibson is going to have all the open field he could ever want and his first game yips, or dropitis, will be cured. I will freely admit that I didn't get to see the entire Cal game last week, but what I did see led me to believe that Rogers and Gibson will be more than able to put up some of the yardage we're accustomed to seeing out of our Cougs. What's also good is that if Cal decides to just sit down on Gibson and the passing game, then we have a running game that can capably move the ball and put the team on its back for a while. Like I said in my post game review from Saturday, there's plenty of upside and I honestly believe that there is enough there that we can reasonably expect to take down Cal.

The defense, aside from being the best looking part of this team last week, has something more going for it. The Cougs this past off season brought two new members into the fold and both of them used to wear the yellow and blue of Cal. While they can only really tell us what they ran last year the good thing is that Cal didn't exactly go out and overhaul their entire offense after last season. They have made changes I'm sure, but they haven't gone from a pro set to a spread option read, or even to a hurry up no huddle or anything. In general the formations and plays are more or less the same with some new twists to keep things fresh. So after getting Montgomery on the offensive side of the ball, and Brandon Jones on the defensive side of the ball, I'd be willing to bet that our heavy hitters have gotten a pretty good look at what Cal will be bringing to Martin come Saturday. This game will be hard fought and the Cougs won't be another Michigan State. When Cal walks out of Martin on Saturday they'll know that they just played someone with a problem, and that they were that problem. Last week this defense swarmed to the ball and was largely able to contain the run and restrained the Pokes passing game. If the secondary can keep up playing solidly and keep from getting beat out deep by Cal's speed then the Cougs D will keep this game close.

Finally I want to address the kicking game. It looks as though Punter Reid Forrest will be back in action and I just want to say Thank God. This won't be a repeat of last weeks field position woes and you can bet that will definitely help the D out. Meanwhile, the field goal situation doesn't seem to be fully resolved so all I can say is feel free to break out your Rosary and start praying like you used to when Peanut was kicking the ball and maybe just maybe as a crowd we can will it through the uprights for our Cougs. There again, who knows, maybe this is the unit that surprises, right alongside the other special teams for most improved this week.

So there you have it, my broad strokes look at the upside of the Cougs and why they can beat Cal. Just in case your not a believer yet just keep this in mind, in the last 25 years Cal has only beaten the Cougs in Martin once, maybe twice. For whatever reason Martin has not treated the Bears kindly and that's a good thing. So, get out there on Saturday, get loud and rowdy, and get ready for some real Cougar Football.
WSU 27 - Cal 24

Laters, and as always GO COUGS!