(Written by jsnell)

We watched the game so you didn’t have to. What, you watched anyway? You silly person.

The entire transcript of the liveblog after the break…

2:19 Jason: Hi everyone. I’m on my couch and Ken is in Seattle.

2:22 Ken: And Seattle is only as cold as your fridge… (I think it’s about 40 degrees right now)

2:22 Jason: Brr!

2:25 Ken: In actuality, although it seems cold, it’ll be just fine. The sun is out (albeit a bit blocked by the talll stadium). I did my usual routine of taking pictures of the stadium before going up to the pressbox (I think this is the Pac-10’s steepest stadium, which is saying something) and all I was in was dockers and a long sleeve polo shirt and I was fine.

2:26 Ken: If I had to describe Husky stadium I’d say it was Ohio State’s horseshoe with the bottom deck made from Memorial Stadium and the top made from the new Stanford stadium.

2:43 Ken: Uni update: Cal just came out in all whites.   Jason’s favorite “marshmallow”   look.

2:45 Ken: I don’t know where they’re getting this “chance of snow” stuff. It’s as sunny as can be with no weather systems in the area, even from 30,000 feet (flew in this morning). All that was around was a bit of fog that has entirely burned off.

2:45 Jason: Ugh, marshallows.

2:46 Ken: Kickoff should be at 3:37 based on the countdown clock.

2:46 Ken: Any other inane info that only I at the stadium can provide?

2:46 Jason: Hmm.

2:47 Jason: I have no ideas.

2:48 Ken: How about this one, combining my hobbies: if I was in a sailboat race on Lake Washington (adjacent to the stadium) in addition to not going very fast, I’d be sticking to the left side of the course.

2:50 Jason: Lots of sailboats out on San Francisco Bay by Crissy Field today.

2:51 Jason: I was over there to do some shopping at the Sports Basement (sponsorship opportunity!!), and there were an amazing number of sailors out there. Better get it in while you can—the rain is coming.

2:55 Ken: Must be some big regatta going on… ah, the Golden Gate Yacht Club midwinters (just checked the calendar). Us sailors don’t much mind the rain. We’re getting wet either way. So sailing in the bay is a year-aound affair for the racers.

2:55 Ken: Not so much in Seattle I don’t think.

2:56 Ken: (Our 3 readers are going to be very confused by the commentary so far… yes, we will eventually cover the game everyone )

2:58 Jason: We’re going skiing in a couple weeks (storms permitting… come on, storms!) and had to get some new cold-weather gear. Sports Basement… if I went there more often I would be very well equipped and completely broke.

3:00 Ken: No attempt to encourage a sponsorship from a specific ski resort?

3:01 Ken: I’ll put in my sponsorship opportunity for Southwest. They got me here on the cheap.

3:01 Jason: I am really conflicted about the USC-Arizona game. In my bones, I can not root for USC. And yet, USC beating Arizona gets Cal in a better bowl game.

3:02 Jason: Speaking of bones, Leonard “Bones” McCoy is well played by Karl Urban in the new movie “Star Trek,” now available on DVD and Blu-Ray. Excellent movie — check it out.

3:02 Jason: If only they were paying us for all this product placement.

3:02 Ken: USC winning only helps if Cal loses today.

3:03 Ken: If anything it hurts if Cal wins.

3:07 Jason: Interesting. So if USC loses, it falls to the Poinsettia bowl, and Arizona is in the Holiday Bowl, leaving Cal to remain in the Sun? (Assuming the reports are true and the Holiday doesn’t want Cal or Stanford.)

3:08 Ken: That’s the best guess/insider thought.

3:08 Jason: Well, in that case, Go Arizona!

3:09 Ken: But the latest rumor is that the Sun will pick Stanford over Cal.

3:11 Jason: Hmm. That’s a wild rumor.

3:11 Jason: If that were true, Cal would end up back in the Emerald Bowl with a win.

3:11 (Comment by joffle): Really? Would that bump Cal to Vegas?

3:12 Jason: Pretty sure if the Sun picked Stanford, Emerald would go with Cal just to get a local team. But I admit the whole Vegas/Emerald picking rule is a bit unclear.

3:13 Ken: Local knowlege update: They use the siren here in Husky stadium, including as they exit the field after final warmups. It’s pretty obnoxious for being such a generic choice.

3:13 Ken: BTW, welcome Joffle. We have anyone else tuned in yet?

3:14 Jason: They should borrow Stanford’s ringing bell sound effect.

3:14 Ken: And yeah, it’s assumed the Emerald would take Cal over OSU. You have to feel sorry for OSU. Looks like in just about every scenario, that one lose to Oregon pushed them from Rose to Vegas.

3:16 Ken: More local stuff: there are only about 100-200 Cal fans here so far. Looks like a small traveling crowd. Although they did their best to make some noise as the Cal team went off the field.

3:16 Jason: I’ve heard conflicting reports about the Holiday Bowl. One report I saw said the Arizona-USC winner would be invited. But another report suggests they might consider Stanford or Cal instead of Arizona.

3:18 Jason: Nobody talks about OSU, though. You’re right, Ken, it’s pretty tough.

3:18 Ken: EMFMV’s toughest fan award of the week goes to the single Washington batton girl who’s wearing a skirt and bikini top out there during UW’s pregame band performance.

3:19 Jason: Not sure if she counts as a fan. But still, tip of the cap.

3:20 Jason: My understanding for DirecTV people is that this game is on some crazy alternate channel, so be prepared to hunt. Channel 695, I think.

3:21 Ken: Comcast Sports Net California is on 698, two above Comcast Sports Net Bay Area at 696 (and Comcast Sports Net Plus in between)

3:24 Jason: My understanding is that it’s on the CSNC Plus channel, not the main channel.

3:24 Jason: Which is why DTV is overflowing it to 695, but we’ll see in a few minutes!

3:25 Ken: The Washington band is playing an emotional tribute to the 4 state of Washington police officers who were killed recently. Playing American the Beautiful as they “raise” a flag up a flag pole from a band formation.

3:27 Ken: If that’s true, Jason, my Tivo recording isn’t going to work quite right (ugh)

3:31 Jason: I can confirm it’s on 695.

3:31 Ken: I’m franticly on slingbox right now…

3:32 Jason: U of A back out on top of USC with 3 minutes to go.

3:33 Ken: Wow. I really didn’t think Arizona had it in them.

3:35 Ken: Phew, thank God for Slingbox (another product placement ). I had recorded the “replay” tomorrow at 9 AM. But via slingbox I was able to remotely change that on the fly. Thanks Jason and thank you SlingMedia for your wonderful Slingbox!

3:35 Ken: UW wins the toss and defers.

3:36 Ken: Anyone besides Joffle out there?

3:37 Philip Michaels: No. No one else is here.

3:37 Jason: Phil, your comments are always welcome. Except when they are not.

3:38 Philip Michaels: I’m currently watching the end of the USC-‘Zona game. Because Pete Carroll’s tears are delicious.

3:38 Jason: USC has just turned the ball over on downs.

3:38 Philip Michaels: What’s your deal?

3:39 Ken: Dude, Bishop, get out of Vereen’s way, stop staring at him and block someone!

3:39 Jason: Ladies and gentleman, USC. 8-4 (5-4 conference).

3:40 Philip Michaels: FIRE PETE CARROLL!

3:41 Philip Michaels: I have your best interests at heart, USC.

3:42 Jason: Lots of nice movement here by the Cal offense.

3:42 Jason: Comcast Sports Net spared no expense on this telecast.

3:42 Jason: By which I mean, they spent nothing on it.

3:43 Jason: Not apparently in HD, no first-down stripe on the field… at least they paid for two announcers.

3:43 Philip Michaels: So far as you know. Maybe they just grabbed two guys as they walked into the stadium.

3:44 Ken: That second announcer is virtual AI. The retasked the yellow line computer.

3:44 Jason: Well, it’s Barry Tompkins and a former Cal QB. I recognize those guys.

3:44 Philip Michaels: I am puzzled by the clock management in this Arizona/USC game.

3:45 Jason: Riley, not the best scrambler.

3:45 Philip Michaels: As Arizona just gave USC the ball back with three seconds rather than kick a field goal to go up by 7. Because USC might have blocked the kick… or something.

3:46 Jason: Game over.

3:46 Philip Michaels: It’s moot as Arizona sacks Matt Barkley to end the game. Your sixth-place Trojans, everybody!

3:46 Ken: D’Amato gets the kicking duties for 2 weeks in a row… oops, missed that one.

3:46 Jason: Failed cal FG.

3:47 Philip Michaels: And now over to Comcast Sports’ Cal-Washington telecast… which apparently consists of Comcast training a camera at an old electric football game to recreate the plays.

3:47 Ken: The stat guy just told us Husky opponents are not 21 of 24 in field goal attempts, that being just their 3rd miss of the year.

3:48 Ken: now 21 of 24 that is.

3:49 Ken: Way to go Arizona. Still gives Cal a shot at the Holiday bowl.

3:49 Jason: Oh, for Pete’s sake.

3:49 Jason: Jake Locker just chucks it up there.

3:49 Ken: Not way to go Nnabufee who bit on the run and couldn’t recover.

3:50 Jason: Yeah, the trickery worked.

3:50 Jason: Locker with lots of time again.

3:50 Jason: Touchdown UW.

3:51 Ken: Nnabufee really fast, so I think sometimes he’s over aggressive and counts on his speed to save him. But that’s two plays in a row he didn’t have the speed he needed.

3:51 Jason: Also, Japanese Zeroes are bombing Seattle, apparently.

3:51 Ken: Curse me for dooming us with talk of the Holiday bowl!?!

3:55 Jason: I am crippled without the yellow first-down line.

3:55 Philip Michaels: Great run there.

3:55 Jason: Great long run by Vereen there. And Nyan Boateng showed no effort in trying to block on the run.

3:56 Ken: That was a great, awesome, run. Of course if we could have subbed in Best for the 2nd half of the run it would have been a TD.

3:57 Ken: I think UW called that timeout hoping for a replay. Do we have enough cameras for a replay?

3:57 Jason: I think the Huskies may be hoping that they’ll review that sack, er, incompletion.

3:57 Jason: Looked like Riley’s knee was down to me.

3:58 Ken: Sark is out of the field talking with the refs about this, but it doesn’t seem a replay is being done.

3:59 Jason: Not the best use of the Wildcat there. Not proving they can throw out of that.

4:00 Ken: They are NOT happy with the refs up here in Seattle.

4:00 Jason: I hear the boos.

4:01 Jason: Now they’re going to review the play, which is odd since it was blown dead.

4:01 Jason: I’m not sure how they can review that.

4:01 Jason: And apparently so says the ref.

4:02 Ken: What they can do is allow the turnover but UW gets the ball at their 10 yardline the thought being the whistle didn’t blow until after he picked it up.

4:02 Ken: But I think they’re confident he didnt’ have possession.

4:02 Ken: (and thus the ruling)

4:03 Ken: So, is anyone ELSE here?

4:03 Ken: I sure hope Gregory has done some reconfiguring to get Nnabufee some help, becuase he got abused on that last drive.

4:05 Jason: All this bowl speculation will be useless if the pass coverage continues like this.

4:05 Ken: That was an excellent play call. They knew Nnabufee would be playing a little softer now so they clear his area and force a linebacker to stick with the crossing WR.

4:07 Ken: Great run defense. It really is the strength of the Bears. That’s why the Bears beat Stanford when no one else seems to be able to.

4:09 Ken: Good thing that corner didn’t turn around.

4:09 Jason: Cal Offense just not clicking so far.

4:10 Philip Michaels: Every time, Riley tries throwing on the run, I brace for a disaster.

4:10 Philip Michaels: Great tackle on that punt, though.

4:11 Ken: Nnabufee… again.

4:11 Jason: I know. Let’s give Locker lots of time to throw AND not cover the receivers.

4:11 Jason: They know very well that he’s the weakness.

4:11 Jason: I’m feeling very Poinsettia right now.

4:12 Ken: So was Jake Locker on that play.

4:13 Ken: (Well, can’t say that for sure, could have been the receiver running the wrong route)

4:13 Ken: Big play here. I’d go for it too if I was them.

4:13 Jason: Perfect place to go for it.

4:13 Jason: SQUAD HIT?

4:14 Jason: That’s our best play right there. The ol’ let-em-catch-it.

4:15 Jason: End of the first quarter. UW 7, Cal 3.

4:17 Ken: And it’s officially past sunset.

4:18 Ken: Definitely short.

4:18 Jason: Your guess is as good as mine.

4:18 Jason: I’d kick the FG here to go back up by 7.

4:19 Ken: yard and a 1/3rd to go.

4:19 Ken: HUGE. That was HUGE!

4:19 Jason: Locker sacked, Cal takes over on downs!

4:19 Jason: Thanks for giving that 3 away, Sark.

4:20 Ken: Why would you give Cal the momentum like that? Take the points, keep rolling. By going for it you show you’re scared of Cal.

4:20Are you Jason, Ken, or Phil?Yes ( 100% )No ( 0% )

4:20 Ken: That was a question for Sark BTW.

4:20 Jason: Yes, I figured.

4:21 Jason: So far in our poll, we are the only people here.

4:21 Jason: Wildcat rhythm just isn’t there.

4:21 Jason: Riley throws to nobody.

4:21 Philip Michaels: I voted no. As I was making a drink.

4:22 Jason: Anger not having his best day.

4:22 Jason: And now UW gets the ball right back in scoring position.

4:22 Ken: Well, his coverage team did far worse than he on that one.

4:22 Jason: Dear Barry Tompkins, HIS NAME IS NOT MATT ANGER.

4:22 Philip Michaels: Remember how the tackling was good on the last punt? Not so much, there.

4:22 Jason: Berry Thompkinz.

4:23 Jason: By the way, I don’t believe Brett Favre wears Wrangler jeans because of their excellent value.

4:23 Ken: It’s deja-vu all over again.

4:23 Philip Michaels: At least he’s not confusing Algeria and Nigeria, like Bob Ley did on the World Cup draw yesterday.

4:23 Jason: I think he wears them because they pay him a lot of money, which means he doesn’t have to worry about the price of jeans.

4:24 Jason: TD Huskies, Jake Locker on the run.

4:24 Ken: Ouch. That’s going to hurt. Hopefully down 14-3 is the key score for a Cal rebound.

4:24 Jason: Yeah, either that or it’s over.

4:24 Jason: One of those 🙂

4:26 Jason: Florida’s toast, by the way.

4:26 Ken: Key stat of the 1st quarter: UW passed for 135 yards. Otherwise it was a pretty balanced quarter.

4:27 Ken: Cal really needs to find some offensive rhythm and fast.

4:28 Ken: Cal is most definitely losing the physical battle right now. They’re not holding their blocks, they’re getting manhandled on the line, they really need to dig deep right now.

4:28 Jason: Wonder how much they’re missing Summers-Gavin

4:29 Ken: A LOT.

4:29 Jason: Looks like. Much harder for Vereen to run than versus Stanford.

4:30 Jason: First Down!

4:30 Jason: Riley hit, fumbles, recovered by Cal. Sigh.

4:31 Jason: Tepper totally beat, but landed on it.

4:31 Ken: Heads up play by Tepper getting the ball back after he was abused around the outside. Mr. Mike “I don’t make mistakes” Tepper just made his 43rd first mistake.

4:31 Jason: Nice gain by Vereen, and a great move to drop one UW defender in his tracks.

4:31 Philip Michaels: I’m glad I’m not the only who’s thought Mike Tepper has had a bad year.

4:32 Philip Michaels: Heavens, what a terrible throw.

4:32 Jason: He threw that right between his two receivers. The average location, sort of.

4:32 Jason: Wildcat alert.

4:33 Ken: No, it wasn’t a bad throw. The pass was to Tucker who was at the next level. And it needed to be a bullet to get to him in time. It was just a good play by a defender to come off his guy.

4:33 Jason: Ran to the short side, nowhere to go, noplace to throw, terrible.

4:33 Jason: Keep in mind, Ken, the TV feed here is this fuzzy low-def far-away camera shot. Hard to get good angles.

4:33 Jason: Well, can’t blame that on Riley. He has had very little protection.

4:34 (Comment by Tedfordium): Butler is having a monster game

4:34 Ken: No, that was all Riley’s fault. They overloaded the line and he needed to check down.

4:34 Jason: Interesting perspective, Ken.

4:34 Jason: What kind of play call was that?

4:34 Ken: Boateng was WIDE open on that one.

4:34 (Comment by Tedfordium): I hate the wobbly camera

4:34 (Comment by Tedfordium): It’s the Bearcat jason

4:35 Jason: Since that’s the Cincinnati mascot, I don’t accept that name either.

4:35 Ken: There we go. A punt worth watching.

4:35 Ken: Welcome Tefordium BTW. We had Joffle but he didn’t like my inane comments.

4:37 Ken: All the reporters here are talking about how the Poinsettia will be nice because they’ll be done and home for Christmas.

4:37 (Comment by joffle): Heh. I’ve got the game on full screen except during commercials.

4:37 Jason: Nice to see reporters are just as cynical as always…

4:38 Ken: Uh oh, more bad news, Hagan is in for Syd. I bet Syd hurt himself again.

4:38 Jason: Well, Locker’s just going to keep throwing it.

4:39 Ken: If the Bears can keep this at an 11 point game at halftime, I’m optimistic some halftime adjustments could really help and the Bears could pull this one out.

4:40 Jason: That three points on the scoreboard calls to mind a few other games this year.

4:41 Jason: Locker, he’s really good.

4:42 Ken: That was the wrong approach by the Cal linebacker on the Locker run. You’ve got to come up and meet him.

4:42 Ken: Being flat footed and waiting isn’t going to help.

4:42 Jason: Given UW’s record this year, this is now in the running for Cal’s worst performance of the year.

4:43 Jason: UW lineman had two Cal rushers blocked at the end of that play, one in each hand

4:45 Ken: This 5 yards on 1st down pattern got old really fast. Where is the D-Line of the last couple games?

4:45 Jason: Geez, there is nothing redeeming to say about this defensive performance.

4:46 Ken: Why did Cal take a timeout there? To let UW plan out their TD?

4:47 Jason: Well, this is a pathetic performance.

4:47 Ken: Again, getting blown off the ball and not looking like they’re trying. They’re getting all turned around and pushed off the ball like ragdolls.

4:47 Jason: I can think back to two other games where Cal looked like they weren’t even trying.

4:47 Jason: At least they sort of tried against OSU, and had a reason to be emotionally deflated with Best injured.

4:48 Ken: And the score looked a lot like 21-3 at halftime.

4:48 Ken: (in those games)

4:48 Jason: Yup

4:48 Jason: The question is, will the coaches just quit in the 3rd quarter again?

4:49 Ken: I don’t think so. I think they’ve gained a lot of resolve since then.

4:49 Ken: The timeout was to give them a shot at a score before the half. But unless the team starts playing well, it won’t matter what the coaches do. That was a piss poor throw by Riley and he had better options too.

4:51 Jason: Riley’s passing was much more accurate against Stanford, but I suspect a lot of that has to do with the offensive line.

4:52 Jason: Here’s my impression of Riley. Snap, step back. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Overthrow.

4:53 Jason: Crazy play!

4:54 Jason: Vereen never had possession of that ball.

4:54 Jason: He was dribbling it.

4:55 Ken: That was crazy indeed.

4:56 Ken: OK, here’s one area where I think Tedford needs to be more of a jerk: in calling for a timeout. He wasn’t flying over to the ref and after they called it, he wasn’t screaming at them about putting 5 more seconds back on the clock. Those 5 seconds would mean a lot right now.

4:58 Ken: From the pressbox: “they’re going to get close enough to miss a long field goal”

4:58 Jason: Ha. It’s funny ’cause it’s true.

4:59 Jason: They’re not close enough, so they’re gonna chuck it up there.

5:00 Ken: ok, NOW they’re going to chuck it up.

5:00 Jason: Maybe.

5:00 Jason: Go for the long FG!

5:00 Jason: Barry Tompkins is very confused.

5:00 Jason: He thinks it’s 5th down. He is wrong.

5:00 Jason: The officials are having a much better game than the announcers.

5:01 Ken: Yeah, although there’s been a lot of controversy, they’ve called almost everything correctly.

5:01 Ken: (the refs)

5:01 Jason: Well knocked down, UW.

5:01 Jason: Okay, halftime.

5:02 Jason: Complete dominance by the Huskies.

5:04 Ken: OK, here’s my halftime analysis:On offense, the offensive line is sorely missing MSG. That’s killing the running game and not giving Riley the amount of time he likes to get into a rhythm.However, I’m not going to let Riley off the hook. He’s looking confused, double pumping way too much and is making all sorts of bad reads. He needs to be a lot more confident and just throw the ball.On defense, this is a team that is playing like they’re really cold and confused. They’ve got no push and their footwork in the secondary is horrible.Of the two, I have more confidence that the offense will get back on track, but I just don’t see the defense finding “it”, particularly in the passing game (which of course affects their ability to slow the run).

5:07 Jason: Here’s my halftime analysis: Yuck.

5:07 Jason: See you in a few, folks!

5:13 Ken: Here’s your key halftime stat:UW Score: 21

5:14 Ken: (just got handed the halftime stat sheet)

5:23 Jason: Just made reference to Cal’s disastrous game in 2007 at UW.

5:23 Jason: I like to think of that as the game that took place while I was on an airplane.

5:24 Jason: Part of my “Jason travels so he can’t watch Cal faceplant.”

5:24 Jason: Hold on UW, facemask on Cal.

5:25 Jason: Or facemask on UW?

5:25 Jason: Either way, that play was a mess.

5:25 Jason: ????

5:25 Ken: Ouch. That’s the worst case scenario there.

5:25 Jason: I saw the facemask, but not the other one. Hmm.

5:25 Jason: What a way to start.

5:25 Ken: But at least they’re nearly in FG range.

5:26 Ken: (boy my typing is bad today)

5:26 Jason: Let me just say, this is once again proof of why the season should end with the Big Game.

5:27 Jason: The week off followed by a random conference game? I don’t like it.

5:27 Ken: Bishop looked like he was on lsd or speed or something on that play. Very intense, but very erratic.

5:27 Jason: I don’t like USC finishing up with Arizona, and I don’t like Cal going to Seattle.

5:27 Jason: (I know, USC played last weekend.. regardless, no likey.)

5:27 Ken: Well, in particular I don’t like the trip north late.

5:28 Jason: Great farewell performance for Jake Locker tonight.

5:28 Ken: Never. Looked. For. The. Ball.

5:28 Jason: Once again, why defend the ball when you can just run with the receiver?

5:28 Jason: Like you’re his sidekick.

5:29 Jason: Well, this is a delightful turn of events.

5:29 Ken: Seriously, at least put your hands up or something. Face guarding is not illegal in college.

5:29 Jason: I’ve seen Cal’s DBs do that all year.

5:32 Jason: And a terrible return, and UW is pumped with nothing to lose and everything to play for.

5:33 Jason: Hey, a reception and a Cal first down!

5:33 Jason: 31-yard pass to Curran

5:33 Ken: OK, Alamar criticism time… I’m sick and tired of seeing our return guys get too far in front of the ball so they have to take a step back to catch it. It completely stops them in their tracks and costs them both time and momentum. DeSean Jackson was the master of the opposite, of getting a yard behind (or when he was being really tricky to the side) of the ball so that he could start running early and then explode after the catch already running the right direction.

5:34 Jason: Nice pass to Jones for another big gain

5:34 Ken: Riley looking like he’s not going to go down easy. It may not matter, but I like the effort.

5:34 Jason: I’m not sure those last-minute shifts in formation work when you then don’t snap the ball for 10 seconds

5:35 Jason: Let me just say now, I support going for it on 4th down

5:35 Ken: I know that when the team is in the redzone, that’s the best time for a false start.

5:35 Jason: The false start give you more room to work, Ken.

5:35 Ken: I don’t. A field goal and a later 2-point conversion is worth two scores.

5:36 Jason: Touchdown Bears! Riley to Boateng!

5:36 Jason: On the scramble, and a good pass, and then a good run after catch by Boateng

5:36 Ken: Thankfully, it won’t matter. Boateng with a nice sling. Boateng a nice catch on a tough throw and a great run into the endzone.

5:38 Ken: I’m calling it right now. If the defense comes out and get a big stop, get ready for a great comeback attempt.

5:39 Jason: And our special teams continue to suck.

5:40 Ken: No doubt. But in the big picture, it’s not what’s going to kill the Bears today. The defense needs to get a lot better and FAST.

5:40 Ken: (in my best Austrian voice) I could have driven my Hummer through that hole.

5:42 Jason: Jake Locker’s not gonna be denied.

5:42 Ken: Another thing the Bears aren’t doing today: wrapping people up. Even when they get the guys down, it’s with a hit. I think that’s the cold affecting them. They don’t want to extend their cold chafed arms.

5:43 Jason: Air Raid

5:43 Ken: Microsoft called: They’re running out of bullet points for Ken’s list of defensive problems.

5:44 Ken: Pop quiz question of the day: when’s the last time the Bears won when the opponent scored 35 or more points?

5:44 Jason: I’m now at the point where if I weren’t liveblogging I’d probably just give up and stop watching.

5:46 Jason: great runback by Sofele

5:46 Jason: Hey, look, special teams!

5:46 Ken: Bring on the shootout that won’t really matter.

5:47 Ken: Pop quiz answer: October 2005: Cal 42, WSU 38.

5:48 Jason: Nice.

5:49 Jason: short.

5:49 Jason: UW ball, I think.

5:50 Jason: Yeah, he’s short by a bit.

5:50 Ken: This is going to be very close… wait… Not with that shot.

5:50 Ken: spot.

5:50 Jason: If he had stepped toward the out of bounds line, he might have gotten the yardage, but he tried to juke.

5:50 Jason: Actually, he had more space to the right. Either way, not a good run.

5:51 Ken: If I were tedford I’d be throwing my red flag right now on the spot… too late.

5:52 Ken: Going back to my pop quiz, there are only two other examples of that in the Tedford era:2003 Bowl gameNovember 2002 victory over ASU: 55-38.

5:53 Ken: (bowl game was a 52-49 victory in the Insight Bowl for those who don’t remember)

5:54 Ken: Points wise, I still don’t agree with going for it on 4th down. Perhaps psychologically it has value, but those 3 points would have mattered a fair amount later.

5:54 Jason: I remember jumping off my uncle’s couch when that FG went through

5:54 Jason: Awkward for Phil, since his wife went to VA Tech

5:55 Jason: I love College Football, where Junior QBs only return for another season if they’re not very good.

5:56 Ken: Ugh, the Dawgs are already in pseudo prevent and we still can’t run the ball.

5:57 Ken: And a false start just to, I don’t know, piss me off.

5:57 Ken: Nice punt by Anger.

5:59 Ken: Hey, did they get the yellow line working?

5:59 Jason: No, no yellow lines on the CSNC telecast

5:59 Jason: Put his hand up and he still caught it.

6:00 Ken: Huh, it’s showing up, at least on one play, here in the pressbox.

6:00 Jason: Probably the CSN Northwest feed

6:01 Jason: or was it a play from some other game?

6:01 Jason: It’s just you and me now, Ken.

6:01 Jason: San Diego is wonderful in December.

6:01 Ken: No, it was that 1st down on 2nd and 4.

6:02 Ken: Yeah, just you and me. And after this performance it might just be you and me in San Diego in December. (Which I agree is lovely)

6:03 (Comment by Rollonubears): I’d like to sweeney but he will probably get killed. One o lineman shouldn’t male this big of a difference. Bears are playing like they’d rather be at home. No excuses but the scheduling is on sandy and tedhead. As bad as we’ve played, if we had even a decent kicker we’d be in better shape. Been that way all season. Almost looks like they are stealing our offensive AND defensive plays. We are screwed next year if this is all we can do without syd quan.

6:03 Jason: Oh, I won’t be there.

6:03 Ken: Another item for “false controversy” is that most of the Bear defense opted to go without an undershirt, aka they’re sleeveless.

6:04 Ken: OK, so it’ll just be me in San Diego.

6:04 Jason: I think I might skip Utah-Cal in SD.

6:04 Jason: Unless it fits perfectly with my travel plans.

6:05 Ken: December 23rd, evening game.

6:08 Jason: Yeah, I know when it is.

6:08 Jason: I just don’t know when I’m doing skiing!

6:08 Jason: And we’re back to where we started.

6:08 (Comment by BearFanOregon): So who goes where from the Pac 10 now? AZ to Holiday then what?

6:08 Ken: Marvin has had a bad case of the bobbles today. That’s very unlike him.

6:09 Ken: OK Tedford, that was NOT the time to use the challenge. You’re going to lose. You SHOULD have challenged on the poor spot for Riley’s run.

6:09 Jason: Hey, at least he’s trying.

6:10 Jason: BearFanOregon: I think it’s AZ to Holiday, Stanford to Sun, OSU to Emerald, USC to Vegas, Cal to Poinsettia, UCLA to whomever will take them.

6:10 (Comment by Amyable): Rose- Oregon, Holiday – Arizona, Sun – Furd, Emerald – OSU, Vegas – SC, Poinsettia – us

6:10 Jason: Or what Amyable said.

6:10 Ken: Bowls:Holiday: Likely AZSun: Likely StanfordEmerald: Likely OSUVegas: USCPoinsettia: CalEven the Vegas and Poinsettia are “likely” but so likely it’s not worth mentioning lthat way.

6:10 Jason: Though if I were the Holiday, I dunno, I’d probably take Stanford.

6:10 Jason: But apparently they like being just down the 8 from Tucson

6:11 Ken: Boy, this pressbox moves A LOT when the crowd gets excited. It’s no wonder the video is shakey too.

6:12 Ken: So, are all our new viewers here because they don’t like our regular commentary but do like us when we’re melting down?

6:14 (Comment by Amyable): It’s really difficult to be Cal fan. It really is.

6:14 (Comment by joffle): I think people are no longer following the game.

6:14 Jason: Maybe we’re better than the game!

6:14 Jason: Wouldn’t be hard.

6:14 (Comment by BearFanOregon): I agree with Joffle

6:14 Jason: Hey, so I’ll repeat here what I said on the podcast a couple weeks back.

6:14 Ken: I’d be pretty disappointed to find out we’re worse than this game.

6:14 Jason: HA!

6:15 Jason: Earlier this year I saw a guy at Memorial wearing a blue T-shirt with these words on the front in yellow:WE’RE GONNA BESO GOODNEXT YEAR

6:15 Ken: And the back?

6:16 Jason: I didn’t see.

6:18 Jason: Those not watching: Jake Locker just threw an interception that was run back by Cal for a touchdown, and then Cal went for 2 but using a little-known rule it actually counted for 14. And we’re still gonna lose.

6:18 Jason: Those watching: Please don’t tell the people not watching that I lied to them.

6:18 (Comment by joffle): So were we better last year or this year?

6:19 Jason: Well, from the shirt’s perspective, it’s always next year.

6:19 Jason: I’d call it a push, joffle.

6:19 Ken: OK, time to go ask the coaches what they’re problem is. See you guys. I”m sure Jason and I will do another podcast of sadness.

6:20 Jason: Bye Ken!

6:20 Jason: Only 3 conference losses last year, 4 this year. But in the end, same record going into the low-level bowl.

6:20 Jason: I might say this year is better if only because of coming off the Best injury with the two big wins vs. Arizona and Stanford on the road

6:21 Jason: But it’s basically a push, and if they lose their bowl I’d go last year.

6:21 (Comment by joshiemac): Cal is the Cubs of CFB.

6:21 (Comment by joffle): Give them a raised eyebrow from us, Ken.

6:21 Jason: JoshieMac: Truer words have never been typed in a chat window.

6:22 Jason: Cal fumble, Husky ball.

6:23 (Comment by joffle): Yeah. At least last year our defense could keep us in games when our offense couldn’t do anything.

6:25 (Comment by joshiemac): I’d say this is a worse year than last because of expectations. The end results will be about the same, but I expected much more from this team this year. Maybe someday I’ll learn not to do that.

6:25 Jason: Sark, what’s your deal?

6:25 Jason: They go for it on 4th down and make it.

6:26 (Comment by Sue): Sorry you had to stay with the Cal game-we are watching Nebraska & Texas. Best for next year, Cal

6:27 Jason: Touchdown UW!

6:27 Jason: Huck the Fuskies.

6:28 Jason: Complete destruction.

6:28 (Comment by Amyable): Going for it on 4th & 5 when you’re 25 points ahead – is that similar to Harbaugh going for 2 and/or Carroll going for TD against ND?

6:28 Jason: Like I said, “What’s your deal, Sark?”

6:29 (Comment by joshiemac): wow.

6:29 (Comment by joshiemac): I officially hate the huskies again.

6:29 Jason: On to the Poinsettia Bowl in scenic San Diego!

6:29 Jason: http://www.poinsettiabowl.com/

6:32 Jason: Aaand… Riley drops the ball.

6:32 Jason: Fitting.

6:32 (Comment by joffle): I wonder if this game will have any influence on Best regarding next year.

6:32 (Comment by joshiemac): At least the BB team is doing well. Oh, wait…

6:35 Jason: Time’s up, folks. Thanks for being here.

6:35 Jason: Until next time…. yuck!