Cal Football Video: Is the Oregon State Game Pivotal? Justin Wilcox Says 'They're All Pivotal'
You can make a pretty good case that Cal’s home game against Oregon State today (11:30 a.m. kickoff) will shape the rest of the Bears’ season.
Of course, you might be able to make such a case for nearly every game, and Cal head coach Justin Wilcox suggests in the video that no one game is more pivotal than another.
“They’re all pivotal,” he said.
Coaches and players probably need to look at things that way with only 12 results guaranteed each season. But today’s game sets up as nearly a must-win game for the Bears (4-2, 1-2 Pac-12).
(Click here for a preview box for the Cal-Oregon State game.)
If Cal does the expected thing and beats the Beavers, who are 2-4 and coming off a 52-7 home loss to Utah, everything remains on the table for the Bears. A bowl game is still in their future and a two-game losing streak is put behind them with five games left. A win would also prove Cal can win with Devon Modster as its quarterback. So far the Bears are 0-2 in games in which Modster plays more than a half.
If the Bears lose . . .
Well, then a sky-is-falling feeling might settle on Cal fans.
It would be the Bears’ third straight loss with a road game against No. 13 Utah coming up next. And there would still be no indication if and when Chase Garbers would return.
Last year, Cal halted a three-game losing streak by beating Oregon State 49-7 in Corvallis. That seemed to get Cal going again as that began a run of four wins in five games, including the 12-10 upset of No. 15 Washington. The only loss in that five-game span was a 19-13 road defeat against No. 10 Washington State, which scored the go-ahead touchdown with 32 seconds left.
Could a win today against Oregon State, which is better than last year’s Beavers, give Cal a similar lift this year?
“Really, nothing that happened a year ago, we don’t look at those and say because this team we played a certain way or that way, we really just approach it each week and try to go out and play our best,” Wilcox said. “We know it’s going to be a challenge. We know they have really good players and schemes, good coaches. What’s most important is we come out prepared to play and go out and execute. That’s ultimately what will decide the game.”
It’s counterproductive for players and coaches to consider the ramifications of the result of an upcoming game. They need to focus on the matter at hand.
But we on the outside can consider the possible effects of a win or a loss, and to us this game seems pivotal.
How significant do you think the Oregon State game is for Cal? (Answer in the Comment section.)
