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		Morris Phillips on the NCAA By Morris Phillips November 1, 2010

	Sportstalk: Morris, I guess it doesn't have to be the Oregon Ducks to produce a dominating performance. As long as the Oregon name is attached, as in the Oregon State Beavers, who upended the Cal Bears (4-4) 35-7 on Saturday at Corvallis. The Beavers dominated on offense throughout the first three quarters and the Bears couldn't contain them. Was it just a matter of too much Oregon State running back Jacquizz Rogers or just that the Cal defense couldn't stop anyone the Beavers had on offense? Rodgers is a great player, someone the Bears have become quite familiar with in the last three years, and the Oregon State coaches use him in a way that opens up seams and cracks for his teammates as well as himself. The Beavers run a spread offense that puts pressure on the defense to tackle in space. And of course, Rodgers is the master of beating one or two tacklers in those situations with his shiftiness and low center of gravity. Coach Mike Riley made sure Rodgers touched the ball early and often, and momentum was created for quarterback Ryan Katz and the other Beavers, who did their thing too. The Bears did themselves no favors by not coming close to matching the OSU offensive production with a few fireworks of their own. Sportstalk: Morris, the injury to Cal quarterback Kevin Riley is devastating to the Bears and the offense as Riley was rushed and his knee was bent in an awkward position as the defender came in low and contorted Riley's knee. How long is Riley expected to be out and putting in back up quarterback Brock Mansion, as you mentioned in your column Saturday night Mansion was just involved in short routes and it was indeed a prelude for the special teams to come out for a punting situation and Mansion and the Bears couldn't get anything going on offense against the Beavers? The injury to Riley was violent and hard to watch, but it's really not productive to speculate how long he'll be out. You have to assume the injury to be serious, and the Bears are going to need to get Brock Mansion up to speed, because this is his time, as well as his audition for 2011, in what figures to be a crowded quarterback situation with as many as six candidates to start. On Saturday, Mansion made typical mistakes: not challenging the defense, holding the ball too long, and not displaying focus on down and distance in his throwing decisions. After a full week of practice and repetition this week, Mansion needs to show growth in all those areas if Cal is going to challenge Washington State on Saturday. Sportstalk: The Cardinal quarterback Andrew Luck kept it up all day long against the Washington Huskies at Husky Stadium on Saturday as the Cardinal shutout Washington 41-0. Luck threw for 19-26, 192 yards, for one touchdown and was picked off once. The Huskies couldn't get anything going on either side of the ball and the Cardinal improve to (7-1) with two straight wins. Right now the Cardinal offense seem unstoppable? Stanford has done a great job the last two years--with and without Toby Gerhardt--of establishing a physical attack that forces the opponent to back down from the battle of collisions at some point during the 60-minute contest. Some opponents show less resolve then some others, and Washington, with no offense of their own to counter Stanford's, threw the towel in early, probably right before halftime. Maybe Stanford's running back committee isn't as effective as Gerhardt was by himself last year, but the combination of a physical running game and Luck's high percentage passing puts tremendous pressure on opposing defenses. Cal, Arizona and Oregon State better tighten their chin straps for the upcoming meetings with Stanford, or else.