On the occasion of his record-setting 75th victory as Cal's football coach, Jeff Tedford got a ceremonial plaque and a bucket of ice water dumped on his head.
That the record win came at the expense of hapless Presbyterian College on Saturday at AT&T Park by a count of 63-12 was beside the point. In the third game of his 10th season in Berkeley, Tedford surpassed Andy Smith's victory total of 74, an achievement that reduced the normally stoic coach almost to tears minutes after the game.
"It has a lot to do with all the players and coaches over the last nine years and three games," said Tedford, his eyes red and his voice catching with emotion. "That's who really deserves the credit, all the players who played the game over the years. ... Every player, every coach, every (graduate assistant), every equipment manager, everyone who was a part of this."
Now that he has the record out of the way, Tedford can devote all his attention to a rugged slate of nine Pac-12 games, starting Saturday at Washington followed by back-to-back Thursday games against Oregon (in Eugene) and USC (at AT&T).
That's going from the ridiculous to the sublime in a week's time.
"I think it was really important that as a team, as players, we wanted to knock these three games out," safety Sean Cattouse said of the Bears' 3-0 start. "From here on out, it's going to be a dogfight every week. We're really looking forward to it."
The Bears got most of their starters out of the game after halftime of a "home" game, leading 42-12 as they were. Their next opponent, Washington, absorbed a 51-38 defeat on the road against No. 11 Nebraska.
"We definitely have some get-back with them," wide receiver Keenan Allen said, referring to the Huskies' last-second win at Memorial Stadium last year that ended Cal's season. "We've still got a lot of work to do. We made a lot of mistakes, dumb stuff we shouldn't do."
Like being flagged 10 times for penalties totaling 94 yards, making it 26 penalties in three games.
Like dropping two passes in the first half, bringing the total to 12 in three games.
Like having a punt blocked, as Bryan Anger did in the second quarter when Justin Bethel broke through the middle to snuff the ball and return it 15 yards into the end zone.
Like throwing a pick-six, as quarterback Zach Maynard did during a busy second quarter when the Blue Hose's only competent player, that man Bethel, intercepted a pass intended for Michael Calvin and returned it 29 yards for a touchdown.
"We need to work on some stuff, like penalties," said Maynard, who played the first half and hit on 15 of 25 passes for 215 yards and touchdowns to wide receiver Marvin Jones (51 yards), backup tight end Spencer Hagan (16) and Allen (21). "We had a lot of mental errors. It's ridiculous."
Errors notwithstanding, this was Cal's easiest game in years as Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) Presbyterian had nothing to offer besides an amusing nickname. The Blue Hose were limited to 48 yards in total offense on 46 plays. The Bears amassed 581 yards.
Though this dumb game offered little in the way of preparation for the Bears, at least they got to rest their starters in the second half for the real games to come.
"We all know what's in store when we get to conference play," Tedford said. "Every week, it's going to be tough. Every opponent in the Pac-12 is competitive. We didn't play well enough today."
The Bears played well enough to give their coach victory No. 75 and bring him to the verge of tears.
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