I left the Rose Bowl feeling pretty good about our team (coaches included) as a whole. Given the fact that we had just played a very uninspired game against a team we would have handled much easier had they prepared for, and played like they did the previous two weeks. But when you keep in mind it seems that almost every program has let down games, to the point where it seems that it comes off as a biological human reaction to take a team like WSU lightly after a big win. Especially given UCLA’s youth and inexperience dealing with the situation they were in.

But what gave me a calm feeling after the game is that they found a way to win. They played horrible but they still found a way to win, and that is what good teams do. They came together after that entire team meeting during the timeout between the 3rd and 4th quarter and realized what they had to do, and they got it done. Their first three quarters of play are excusable because of their resiliency. But the best part about the WSU game is the lesson that they are hopefully going to take from it. They are not an upper echelon Pac 10 team yet. They will see that SC beat em by almost 40, while Oregon and Stanford will probably beat em by 50 or 60. They will learn something they cant in a film room or on Spaulding.

I expect this team to come out and rebound off this game and play a hell of a game on Saturday, this goes for Bullough as well. He seems to have his off weeks and then bounce back with a great week. I am not sure that is the kind of consistency we should have from our DC but he is our coach right now, and he knows what kind of team Cal is, as he knew what kind of team everyone thought Texas was. Call me optimistic, but not blindly.

The last thing that was blatantly obvious to me was how badly our offense needed Prince. I know Brehaut put us in the position to rush for almost 500 yards which means he has studied the playbook and film like he should have, and he should be commended for it. But he did not present himself as much of a running threat, which is what makes this offense what it is.