Cal Fumbles Away an Unbeaten Season

California’s dream season came to a cold, hard end Saturday night and the Golden Bears can thank Washington State running back Michael Black and a late fumble by quarterback Pat Barnes for their first loss of the season.

Black, a standout at Dorsey High and West Los Angeles College, rushed for a career-high 214 yards in 25 carries, but the Cougars needed a fumble by Barnes at the Washington State goal line to upset Cal, 21-18, before a crowd of 27,182.

Washington State ran out to an early 21-point first-half lead and then withstood a late rally by the Golden Bears to improve to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the Pacific 10 Conference.

Cal, which was trying to improve to 6-0 for the first time since the Golden Bears’ 1950 Rose Bowl season, dropped to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the Pac-10.

Barnes fumbled with 1:11 left in the game after the Golden Bears drove from their 20-yard line. With the ball at the Washington State 1, Barnes dropped a handoff to Brandon Willis and the Cougars’ Duane Stewart recovered. Washington State took a safety four plays later to finish the scoring.

“I asked Pat what happened, and he said he didn’t know,” Cal Coach Steve Mariucci said. “It was supposed to be a handoff to Willis and touchdown. It’s tough because we don’t know how we are supposed to feel. . . . [Losing] is new to us.”

Cal started its comeback with a 58-yard, seven-play drive on its first possession of the second half, that was capped by a nine-yard run by fullback Marc Vera.

The rest of the half, however, the Golden Bears struggled to get into scoring position against a blitzing Washington State defense, which sacked Barnes five times.

Cal finally closed to within 21-16 with 6:52 remaining on a 22-yard touchdown pass from Barnes to tight end Tony Gonzalez. The Golden Bears’ two-point conversion attempt failed when Barnes threw incomplete into the end zone.

“Sometimes, you need a lucky break,” Washington State Coach Mike Price said. “I don’t know what happened with [Barnes]’ fumble, but I’ll take it.”

The Golden Bears should have known it would be a tough night when snow began to fall before their first offensive snap of the game, which pleased a vocal Washington State homecoming crowd.

After the Cougar defense forced Cal into a punting situation in only three plays, Washington State’s special teams came through with the game’s first big play. With the ball at the Cal 24, Cougar safety Ray Jackson rushed untouched and blocked Ryan Longwell’s punt into the end zone, which was recovered by cornerback Dee Moronkola to give Washington State a 7-0 lead 1:41 into the game.

Cal had better field possession to start its next drive, thanks to a 39-yard kickoff return by Deltha O’Neal. But the Golden Bears’ offensive woes continued when Barnes threw an incomplete pass on third down from the Cougars’ 44, forcing a Cal punt.

Washington State’s offense moved the ball well early, behind the running of Black, who had 95 yards in the first half, but the Cougars did not take advantage of all of their scoring opportunities. Kicker Tony Truant ended two impressive Washington State drives with missed field goals of 34 and 47 yards.