Last Updated on December 1, 2009 10:25 pm by drew
California-Washington
Seattle, WA – California‘s pursuit of a Pac-10 championship ended weeks ago, but it still wants to finish the regular season strong and avoid being Washington‘s latest upset victim.
The 19th-ranked Golden Bears look for a third straight victory when they visit the pesky Huskies on Saturday in the regular-season finale for both schools.
Oddsmakers from online sports book Sportsbook.com have made
"We stuck together well and even when things weren’t going well we were able to pick it up," junior quarterback Kevin Riley said.
With a school-record seventh straight bowl appearance still to come, California looks to end the regular season with a three-game winning streak after beating then-No. 18
The victories over a pair of ranked teams have rejuvenated the Bears, who will try for their second straight victory and seventh in eight meetings with
"It’s just about finishing strong, winning our ninth game, obviously going to
"It’s tough to play there," said Tedford, whose team is 4-1 on the road. "It’s a hostile environment."
The Huskies snapped a season-high four-game losing streak with a 30-0 home win over rival
"For our football team, that goes a long way with these guys in believing with what we’re doing and sticking with our plan," first-year
Recording a second straight home win won’t be easy against the Golden Bears.
Behind a career-high 193 yards from sophomore Shane Vereen,
Filling in for star running back Jahvid Best, Vereen has 72 carries for 352 yards and four touchdowns over the last two games, with the yardage accounting for nearly half of his 738 on the season. Best will miss his third straight contest since suffering a concussion against
Vereen has been most effective running out of the wildcat formation.
"The way that he’s performed the past two weeks, it’s been awesome," coach Jeff Tedford said.
Vereen could be primed for another big effort against
The Huskies allowed 163 total yards last week – including 47 on the ground – to the 1-11 Cougars. The effort could provide some momentum for a team that’s giving up 398.0 yards and 28.2 points per game.
Offensively, talented junior quarterback Jake Locker threw for 196 yards and a touchdown and ran for another 94 yards and a score, while Chris Polk rushed for 130 yards to become the first
Polk is fifth in the conference with 1,019 rushing yards, while Locker leads the Pac-10 with 260.3 total yards per game.
Posted: 12/1/09 10:25PM ET