PACIFIC 10 FOOTBALL / DAN HAFNER : Huskies Can Still Have Impact

For a college football team on probation, there aren’t many goals in sight. The Washington Huskies have already failed in their major goal--to go undefeated as a tribute to Don James, who retired as coach when a two-year penalty was assessed.

Ohio State, in the second game, ruined that dream. But the angry Huskies have another. They plan to play a major role in deciding which Pacific 10 Conference team goes to the Rose Bowl. The Huskies, having been there the last three New Year’s Days, have a sort of proprietary interest.

The Huskies, who got Stanford’s season off to a rocky start, get another chance to play spoiler Saturday. The Huskies, still a power and maybe the best team in the Pac-10, are at Berkeley to play California (5-0). The Bears are still riding high after wiping out a 30-point deficit last week to beat Oregon, 42-41, on a two-point conversion with a little more than a minute to play.

Washington rediscovered its passing game and improved to 3-1 with a 52-17 victory over winless San Jose State.

“When you look at a critical game like Cal,” Coach Jim Lambright said, “it’s hard to keep your mind on a nonconference foe. But, if you don’t make progress against them, you are going to get beat in the conference.”

The Huskies talked about how much fun they had in the San Jose game, but they also have talked about how much they want to beat their rivals in the Pac-10.

“I think we have a payback for the teams that voted, 9-0, on the penalties,” Lambright said. “But, mainly, we want to prove that we are a good football team.

“It will be a bit unusual going up against an old friend (in Cal Coach Keith Gilbertson, a former Washington assistant). But friendship won’t count until the game is over.”

Gilbertson, who was James’ assistant for three years at Washington and was a chief recruiter of a number of the present Husky players, can’t understand why the Huskies would be angry at him.

“For 10 months, I was just about the only person in the conference sticking up for them and saying they weren’t guilty,” Gilbertson said. “Most of the players are friends of mine. Yet, in their press book, a number of them listed beating us last year as one of their most cherished moments. With friends like that, who needs enemies?”

The Huskies, who won last year at Seattle, 35-16, in the game that began the Bears’ collapse (they lost six of their last seven), have beaten the Bears 12 times in a row.

“It must be more than that,” Gilbertson said. “I was a graduate assistant at Washington in 1976, when Cal beat us, 7-0.”

Gilbertson was asked what it would take for the Bears to beat the team he believes is the best in the conference. “In the first place, we won’t have a chance to win if we spot this team 30 points,” Gilbertson said. “The Huskies are so good that we need an error-free game to have a chance. We also must contain Napoleon (Kaufman). We were still in the game last year, when he broke through for his second touchdown. He’s better than ever.

“I couldn’t be more proud of this team, but we still have the toughest part of our schedule ahead of us. We have to get better if we expect to keep winning.

“I think the main reason we went for the two-point conversion was the way the players had fought back from so far behind. My first thought was that a tie couldn’t hurt us in the conference race. But then I thought about how hard the players worked to get to the spot where we could win it. Also, the players were adamant in their desire to go for two. When it works, there are no repercussions.”

Except for a few bumps and bruises, the Bears, 2-0 and tied with Arizona for the Pac-10 lead, will have all their players for the game. The Huskies won’t.

Against San Jose, the Huskies’ attack, which had been mostly the running of Kaufman, emerged. Damon Huard completed 15 of 17 passes for 247 yards and three touchdowns. His favorite target, wide receiver Jason Shelley, who has 17 catches in four games for 270 yards, will not play. Shelley caught four passes for 142 yards, including a 52-yard touchdown, Saturday, but had a run-in with police on Sunday and has been suspended indefinitely.

“Shelley is a fine football player,” Lambright said. “But something like this often tends to bring a team together. It seems to be doing it in this case.”

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In 78 years of conference play, only five teams with more than two league losses have advanced to the Rose Bowl. Because of those odds, it seems likely that the loser of the Arizona State-Washington State game Saturday at Pullman, Wash., will be out of it.

The Sun Devils (2-2), rated one of the top contenders before the season began, are coming off a stunning loss at Oregon State. They were unable to stop the wishbone. The Beavers rolled up 419 yards rushing with the seldom-used offense.

The Cougars, coming back from a one-sided loss at USC, defeated Pacific, 12-0. The Cougars are 2-0 at home, 3-2 overall.

Pacific 10 Notes

After his two-point conversion pass to Mike Caldwell that beat Oregon, you must pardon Cal quarterback Dave Barr for getting carried away. “There is nothing that compares to this,” he said. “I hope they put this on my tombstone. . . . I think I’ll change my major to drama.” . . . Although he failed to get a sack against Oregon State, which completed all five of its pass attempts, Arizona State defensive end Shante Carver has 36 sacks in 37 college games.