If history is any indication, Oregon State should spring another upset over California today in Berkeley.

After all, the Beavers have won four straight over the Golden Bears in the Bay Area.

History, however, really doesn't matter much in football. Teams win and lose for any number of reasons and no game is a guarantee because of what happened in previous years.

If the Beavers are to continue the streak at Cal, they need to find a way to keep the Bears out of the end zone.

That could be tough.

The Beavers have yet to come together on defense this season. The problems are pretty simple when boiled down.

The Beavers need a consistent pass rush and rely mostly on their defensive ends to provide pressure and sacks.

No pressure and opposing quarterbacks have time to wait for receivers to break open from OSU's mostly young cornerbacks and safeties.

The Beavers have not fared well in this area. Even with four sacks in last Saturday's 26-19 win over UCLA, OSU is dead last in the Pacific-10 Conference with eight.

The end result is the Beavers struggle against the pass. They are ninth in the conference in pass defense, giving up 272.1 yards a game and 15 touchdowns. The Beavers are also ninth in red zone defense, allowing scores in 24 of 27 attempts.

Some signs of life were shown against the Bruins. The Beavers had UCLA all but shut down going into the fourth quarter.

Then the pass defense failed. The Bruins hit the Beavers with two big pass plays, wound up with two touchdowns and two two-point conversions and tied the game at 19 before OSU's offense came to the rescue.

That was against the No. 9 offense in the Pac-10. Cal presents even more problems.

The Bears are second in the Pac-10 with 33.6 points a game and third in total offense, averaging 427.4 yards.

Although Cal goes to the run first, with Jahvid Best a threat to go the distance at any point, the Bears are more than capable throwing the ball.

Quarterback Kevin Riley has passed for 1,805 yards with 13 touchdowns and only two interceptions.

So the Beavers have to play the run tight and not let Best, who averages 104.8 yards a game with 11 touchdowns and a long run of 93 yards, to break away for big runs.

Hold Best in check and rush Riley with abandon. Use the linebackers and safeties. Throw in a few more blitzes if needed, but get to Riley.

It's a big task, but the more stops for the defense, the more chances for the offense. That's when OSU is at its best.

That's how history can repeat itself.

Kevin Hampton covers sports for the Corvallis Gazette-Times. He can be reached at kevin.hampton@lee.net.