Waasdorp Works Up a Good Fight for Punchless Cal

Jacob Waasdorp was the entire California offense Saturday, which isn’t a good sign for the Golden Bears.

He plays nose tackle.

Waasdorp, a junior from Quartz Hill High, returned a fumble 25 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter of Cal’s 31-7 loss to Washington State.

But more distressing to the fiery Waasdorp was the lack of fight in his teammates. The Golden Bears didn’t exactly claw back after falling behind.

“A lot of players are playing their hearts out and other guys could care less,” Waasdorp said. “We need guys that are going to play their hearts out. Until we get that, we’re going to be a shaky team.”

Getting crushed by Washington State, which had lost 12 games in a row, was plenty shaky.

Quarterback Kyle Boller, the freshman from Hart High, continued his on-the-job training by completing 13 of 33 passes for 116 yards with one interception. He was sacked four times and under constant pressure.

“I don’t think you can put it on his shoulders,” Coach Tom Holmoe said. “He was running for his life.”

Boller was tougher on himself.

“I made a lot of bad mistakes,” he said. “I played badly. I missed wide-open receivers.”

Waasdorp puts pressure on opposing quarterbacks. He already has equaled last season’s total of three sacks, and he has 15 tackles, including six for losses.

On the touchdown, he caused the fumble by hitting Cougar quarterback Steve Birnbaum, then grabbed the ball on a bounce and ran untouched to the end zone.

Clearly, Waasdorp is not one of the players accused of giving up.

“He played the last play as enthusiastic and dynamic as the first play,” said Bill Dutton, Cal’s defensive line coach. “His motor never quits. I wouldn’t trade Jacob for any lineman in the Pac-10.”

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Washington State’s leading receiver was unable to enjoy the team’s first victory in a year.

Leaford Hackett, a senior from Valley College and Poly High, is out with a shoulder injury. Hackett, who has 29 catches for 332 yards, is questionable for Saturday’s game against Southwest Louisiana.

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David Neill wasn’t among the nation’s passing leaders Saturday, the way he often is.

But he’ll take a victory.

The Nevada quarterback from Hart threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score to elp the Wolf Pack defeat Nevada Las Vegas, 26-12, and break its longest losing streak in 35 years.

Neill hit Trevor Insley with touchdown passes of 53 yards in the first quarter and 12 yards in the second to end Nevada’s habit of falling behind early.

The Wolf Pack had been outscored 48-13 in first quarters and 97-39 in first halves of their first four games, all losses.

Before the game, Neill emphasized the importance of taking an early lead.

“We get up two, three, four scores against UNLV early, that would change our outlook on the game, the season, right there,” he said.

Mission accomplished.

And when a Nevada defense that had allowed more than 500 yards in three of the losses began to wilt, Neill came to the rescue, culminating an 11-play, 80-yard drive with an 11-yard scoring run.

Neill, a sophomore, completed 14 of 27 passes for 200 yards, well below his average. He passed for 429 yards against Colorado State, 376 against Fresno State, 287 against Oregon State and sat out most of a 72-10 loss to Oregon because of an injury.

As a freshman, he passed for 3,249 yards and 29 touchdowns despite missing two games.