COLLEGE FOOTBALL : Cal Bounces Back, Beats Washington State, 27-11

Despite six losses, California Coach Keith Gilbertson said he’s not the type to wait around expecting a disaster to happen. If he were, he’d have had a long wait Saturday.

Gilbertson’s Golden Bears, losers of four of their previous five games, rode a 24-point second quarter to a 27-11 Pacific 10 victory over Washington State.

“The key was avoiding disasters,” Gilbertson said. “Most of our losses have come in the fourth quarter this season. As difficult as last week [a 33-16 loss to UCLA] was, I felt that if we had had any kind of a fourth quarter, we’d have been OK.”

The Bears (3-6, 2-4) did Saturday, and they were.

After holding Washington State (3-6, 2-4) to three first-half first downs, Cal halted a third-quarter Cougar drive on downs at its 16-yard line. Washington State scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter, but Cal forced the Cougars to use more time (7:23) than they could afford.

“They talked all week in the papers about how they were going to kick our butts and about how our defensive line was soft,” Cal defensive end Regan Upshaw said. “But we showed them differently.”

Cal’s Pat Barnes threw for touchdowns on plays covering 14 and 51 yards to Na’il Benjamin and Bobby Shaw in the second quarter. Johnny Tavake ran one yard for another score, and Ryan Longwell kicked a 24-yard field goal to give the Bears a 27-3 halftime lead.

Cal’s Reynard Rutherford rushed 23 times for 125 yards.