The Huskies fly down to the Bay Area to take on the Cal Bears this Friday less than a week removed from a victory over OSU. The win against the Beavers was the second win on the season for the Dawgs over a top-10 team. In both victories, the Huskies looked like the physically dominant team, employing a suffocating secondary and a punishing, ball-control run game. The Huskies are playing great football at home with a 4-1 record at CenturyLink Field, but the Dawgs need to be able to harness that effort away from the raucous Husky faithful.

“You can’t recreate that if you are basking in the glory of one win,” said Coach Sark during his weekly press conference. “You have to move on and prepare the same way you prepared before, whether it’s mentally, physically or emotionally.”

Coach Sark was asked about his late game play calling that led up to the Travis Coons game-winning field goal, especially the decision to throw the ball on 3rd and 4 in the red zone with less than two minutes on the clock. Coach Sark stated that he “wouldn’t have done one thing different in that scenario” and explained that he was gunning for a first down that would have allowed the Huskies to control the ball until time expired.

One truth to be gathered from the OSU game is that the Dawgs need to eliminate penalties after being flagged 14 times, mistakes that could have been debilitating had the Huskies not punched back on offense or had they not collected key interceptions late in the game. Coach Sark also pointed out that the team needs to improve on offensive execution. He explained that the Dawgs cannot afford inconsistency from any direction, including his own as Head Coach and offensive play caller, and that “it takes 11 guys executing on every snap to win that snap.”

Coach Sark praised the work of the defensive backs against Oregon State. The defense grabbed four interceptions Saturday night, including three from DBs. He singled out the starting group of Desmond Trufant, Marcus Peters, Sean Parker, and Justin Glenn for putting together a great performance, and added that Parker “had his best ballgame” Saturday night.

The Dawgs faceoff with Cal this Friday in what will be the first matchup of the two teams in the renovated Memorial Stadium. ESPN is handling the broadcast duties and the game can be caught at 6pm on ESPN2 or online at ESPN.com.

Go Dawgs!!!

Marcus Peters and Kasen Williams battle for position in fall camp. Both were praised for their play Saturday by Coach Sark in Monday's press conference.