Three Bears Honored

SOCIAL: Follow on Twitter | Like on Facebook

BERKELEY -- California junior wide receiver Keenan Allen, senior tailback C.J. Anderson and redshirt junior cornerback Steve Williams have each been honored for their performances in the Bears' 31-17 victory at Washington State on Saturday. Williams was selected the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week, while Allen was an honorable mention selection for the College Football Performance Awards national Wide Receiver Performer of the Week and Anderson is one of the four nominees for the MAACO Bowl Las Vegas Player of the Week that can be voted for by fans on the bowl's official Facebook page through Noon PT on Wednesday.

[RELATED: First Look at Stanford

]

Allen had season highs of 11 catches and 166 yards receiving against the Cougars, including a season-long 69-yard touchdown. He also added two punt returns for 14 yards and a season-high 180 all purpose yards. Allen is the Bears' leading receiver through seven games with 52 receptions, 633 receiving yards and five touchdown catches. He also moved up one spot to No. 2 on Cal's all-time receptions list during the game and now has a career total of 196 catches that is only six shy of the 202 posted by school-record holder Geoff McArthur from 2000-04. Allen also moved up three spots to No. 3 on Cal's all-time list for receiving yards (2,466), while the seventh 100-yard receiving game of his career moved him into sole possession of sixth place on that list, and his 16th career touchdown reception into seventh on his own.

"Keenan's a great talent," said Cal head coach Jeff Tedford. "He's a great player. He's as competitive as anyone is. He can do a lot of things. He can run with the ball afterwards. The great thing about Keenan is not just about catching passes. He competes blocking down field, he's a team guy all the way. With his size and his speed and his playmaking ability on the ball, he's a special player."

Anderson led Cal in rushing for the second straight game against the Cougars, recording his second consecutive 100-yard rushing game. He finished with 112 yards and a career-high-tying two touchdowns on the ground on 15 carries to lead a balanced attack that totaled 318 rushing yards, which was the most by a Cal team since the 2009 squad rolled up 342 yards on Eastern Washington.

"He's our most physical runner," Tedford said. "I don't think there's any doubt about that. We'll need all of them to play and depending on what the game plan looks like."

Anderson leads the Bears this season with 498 yards rushing and four touchdowns on 72 carries with an average of 6.9 yards per rush. He has 843 career yards rushing and 12 touchdowns on the ground in his two seasons at Cal.

Williams had his team-high-tying third interception of the season in Cal's end zone and a career-high four pass breakups while being assigned to Marquess Wilson for most of the first half before the Cougars' standout wide receiver left the game after sustaining an injury late in the first half.

[RELATED: Defending the Cougars]

"He played really well," Tedford said. "He made a lot of really good plays, and I know we had some pass interference calls, but if you're playing man coverage and they throw the ball 63 times, and you're close, percentage-wise [those will happen]. They made a lot of really good plays, too. But, you're right there, and it's a bang-bang type of thing and you get a couple pass interference calls. I thought our guys covered really well."

Williams' four pass breakups in the contest were also the most by a Cal player in 2012. He added a team-high six tackles. In addition to co-leading the Bears with three interceptions, Williams has team highs of seven pass breakups and 10 passes defended, ranking sixth in the Pac-12 in passes defended per game (1.43) and tied for seventh in interceptions (0.43). He is also second on the club with 46 tackles and has added 3.5 tackles for loss (-7 yards). Williams is Cal's active career leader in interceptions (6), pass breakups (22) and passes defended (28), ranking tied for 10th in school history in pass breakups. His 116 tackles are third among active Cal players.