Rose Bowl Before I Die - Cal Football

Big Game Disappointment

2007-12-03T16:53:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of posts, work and real life got in the way. I have been traveling and was unable to find the time to post. (Though based on the teams performance of late, I can understand how some readers thought I abandoned this blog.)

So thoughts on the Big Game...

Heading into the game, I was genuinely excited. While the season was a disappointment to date, a big win in the Big Game was just the thing to pick up the spirits before the holidays. Say what you will about Cal football, but beating Stanfurd always picks up Cal fans. Sadly, my excitement was for naught.

Where to start...

1) Pass Protection
What happened to the O line? This is a unit that was 3rd in the nation in sacks allowed having given up only nine all season. But Longshore was under pressure all game. It was amazing to me how Cal was unable to pick up blitzes off the corner by Stanfurd linebackers. Longshore again did not have a good game, but the pass protection was a bulk of the reason for that.

2) Running Game
Solid first half performance by Forsett. But what happened in the second half. It was as if he did not even exist. Why abandon the run game so quickly? Perhaps it was an effort to make half time adjustments and throw off the Stanfurd defense? I don't really know. But it seems like Cal gave up on the run pretty quickly.

3) Defense
The defense played solid. Not great, not poor. Giving up 20 points should win most games. It was frustrating to see Stanfurd continually convert 3rd and long but the final scoreboard result was nothing to be disappointed about.

4) Coaching
Some may complain about the play calling. Other may wonder like I did about abandoning the run. But, if Cal executes, this game is a lot different. There were a lot of critical dropped ball on what were excellent play calls.

Ok, forget this list. What it comes down to is that the players were not fired up for this game and came out flat. Once they were down, they played scared.
Every shot of the Stanfurd sideline showed players hooting and hollering. They wanted it more and they played their hearts out.
Every shot of the Cal sideline was a stoic scene. Players looking off into space. Very little passion or even urgency.

Things that killed me

- The dropped balls. Hawkins was just off this game. He will be missed next year but he had a poor showing in his final game.

- The pick Longshore threw to Nick Sanchez. It is third down... throw it to the outside. Even if Jordan does not catch it, we still have another down. Protect the ball.

- The deep pass to Jordan when he knocked over the camera man. Jordan had 3 steps on his man and tried to catch the ball 5 yards out of bounds. That is a horrible throw.

- The penalties. Then more penalties. Then a couple more penalties. It seemed like Cal was trying to get called for everything. Holding, block in the back, block below the knees, defensive offsides, defensive holding, pass interference, excessive arrogance (for those at the 1997 Big Game, this joke will make sense.)

- The lack of DeSean Jackson. Say what you will about DJax, but his presence on the field makes a big, BIG, difference. Even if he does not catch one ball, he occupies at least 2 defenders on every play. This opens up things tremendously for Jordan and Hawkins.

- The lack of the tight end. Julian Arthur made some nice catches and I saw Craig Stevens make one great grab. But if the outs and corners are not open, shouldn't the middle be open for a TE to run down the seam. How can Stanfurd's defense blitz and cover every Cal receiver? Seriously, how can they do it?

- The lack of team chemistry. This is pure speculation based on watching the game on TV so who knows if any of this is true. But the offense just seemed like they did not believe in each other. Longshore was yelling at O linemen for missing blocks. Receivers were slow to the huddle. Frustration penalties were aplenty. That 3rd quarter was the worst offensive quarter in the history of Coach Tedford.

- The lack of passion. I am sure the players cared about this game. But the letdown of the entire season showed in their performance. Stanfurd wanted it more and hats off to them for playing to win.

- The lack of confidence in your team. After Follett caused that fumble in the 4th quarter I was jumping up and down. But deep down I felt that Cal was not going to capitalize. Since Coach Tedford came to Cal, I have never felt that way, until that moment.

More to come later on what to look forward to next year. Seriously, there are things to look forward to next year.

Frustration Part II: Cal vs UDub

2007-11-19T11:00:00.001-08:00

Wow, that was even more frustrating to watch. That game put me in a very reflective mood. Here are some things that I miss...

1) I miss being able to stop the run...

Against Cal's run defense:
USC's Chauncey Washington = LenDale White
UW's Louis Rankin = Reggie Bush/Adrian Peterson
If this keeps up, Stanfurd's starting tailback will look like the second coming of Bo Jackson.

2) I miss the days when a QB stat line of 3TDs and 250+ yards was always a win...

Three touchdowns and one pick for a little under 300 yards. Numbers wise that is a solid to great game. Many of the passes were on target and the three TD passes were all right on. The throw to Montgomery was a great touch throw.
But there was still a bit of frustration with the performance. On the pick, Longshore looked like he lost track of the linebacker who was playing underneath. It was not so much the pick as the timing of the pick. It was a huge momentum killer.
Also, the underthrown ball to Jordan was a sure TD. Jordan has at least three steps on the defender and had to actually come back to catch the ball. Of course the result was a field goal.

3) I miss being able to score from within the 5 yard line...

Three TD's were scored from within the 20 yard line and outside the 10 yard line. All on great passes. When Cal got inside the 5, things just went downhill, as has happened in the previous 6 games. While the UDub linebacker made a great play to destroy Forsett in the backfield on second down, it makes it a lot easier to do that when you are no blocked and have a free shot at the RB.
The goal line offense just astounds me now. I don't have the numbers but I would guess that in the past 6 games total yards gained on plays from inside the 5 would be negative. From now on, if Cal gets inside the 5, it should false start on purpose, to move the ball back to the 10.

4) I miss being able to return the ball at least once to start a half...

5) I miss DeSean Jackson (v. 2006)...
Let's hope that DeSean can make it back for the Big Game. There seem to be more and more DeSean haters these days but his presence on the field is better for Cal. Even when he is not catching the ball, he requires constant attention from the defense so it opens things up for the other receivers.

6) I miss Brandon Mebane...
His work rarely showed up in the stat line, but the way he was able to clog up the middle and take on multiple blockers is sorely missed this year. Inexperience and injuries have really hurt the D line. Lets hope that next year things get better.

7) I miss Desmond Bishop...
Though all three of the current LB's are better athletes than Bishop, his nose for the ball is sorely missed. Bishop rarely overpursued and usually made solid tackles.

8) I miss Daymeion Hughes...
I can't remember the last time a Cal DB had an INT. Hughes was a true playmaker who often times shut down half of the field. True, he gambled a lot and sometimes paid for it, but most times he made the right decisions.

9) I miss Marshawn Lynch...
Only because he was fun to watch. Forsett has done a fantastic job of stepping into Lynch's shoes and is really the only Bear playing consistently well.

10) I miss having a competitive Big Game...
For the last decade or so, the Big Game has been one sided. Maybe not always in score, but in the direction both teams were heading. I think more people will be tuned into this year's Big Game simply because no team is heavily favored to win.

Cal vs Washington

2007-11-17T09:19:00.001-08:00

- The QB Situation
UW QB Jake Locker is out. Well... Willingham is saying he is possible but reports say that Locker can not move his neck. Perhaps you should sit him this game Ty.
Cal QB Nate Longshore took full responsibility for last weeks loss to USC. Does that mean he will step up this game? Well, it will be wet and cold in Seattle so who knows...

- The Goal line Situation
There is some back and forth between two fellow Cal bloggers (Hydrotech and Ken) about Coach Tedford's conservative playcalling at the goal line. Both raise some valid points though I have to lean towards Ken.
My thought is that Forsett will simply take it upon his own shoulders to score once Cal is within the 20. He will not be taken down and thus eliminate goal line situations.
Side Note: Why not rotate in Riley for goal line situations? He might be able to run that QB option better.

- Cal Defense
Holding WSU and USC offenses to around 20 points a game, back to back, is a pretty impressive effort. Let's hope they keep it up.
Last year Carl Bonnell threw 5 picks against Cal but still let them to overtime.

- Weather
Rain and cold... that is the same as last week.
Forsett will go crazy. Longshore will have trouble holding onto the ball.
Result will be Cal wins by 10 in a game they should win by 30.

Fun with numbers...

2007-11-13T15:33:00.000-08:00

Take a look at these stats over 4 games...

CMP%	YPA	TD	INT	SACK	RAT
57.1	7.51	2	3	1	64.3
60	5.25	0	2	0	34.4
65.2	5.65	0	1	2	61.9
63.6	4	0	3	0	32.2

Now take a look at these stats over 4 games...

CMP%	YPA	TD	INT	SACK	RAT
64.7	6.82	3	3	0	77.1
50	7.64	1	2	0	61.7
66.7	5.46	0	1	0	69.7
44.8	6.86	1	2	1	50.8

One set is Dennis Dixon's stats in Oregon's 4 regular season losses last year and the other is Nate Longshore's stats in the last 4 Cal games.

Pretty similar... in that both are bad.

So if that progression holds true, next year Nate will be a Heisman trophy candidate leading his team to the BCS championship game. Awesome, maybe this is why Tedford is sticking with Longshore.

Does anyone know if Longshore can hit a curve ball? We got to get him out to a minor league camp this summer like Dixon did if we really want to see a turnaround.

(Answer: The top numbers are Dixon 2006 and the bottom numbers are Longshore 2007.)

Frustration

2007-11-12T09:00:00.001-08:00

Man, that game was frustrating. Actually, the last 5 games have been extremely frustrating. It always seems like Cal is just a couple plays away from winning these games.

Here are some thoughts on the USC game:

QB Nate Longshore
- The first interception was the result of a miscommunication. The receiver, Jordan, ran an out, while Longshore threw it in. Based on the coverage, it seemed like Jordan made the right read because the DB and safety were playing inside. But there appeared to be a DB or corner underneath the out route so I am not sure the play would have work either way. But if there are 3 guys covering that receiver, shouldn't someone else be open or in man coverage? Frustrating...
- The fumbled snap is something that happens in rain games. Booty had a couple and Longshore was bound to have one in those conditions. But the timing of Longshore's fumble was a momentum killer. Frustrating...
- The second interception was where the frustration comes in. Jordan was open on the wheel route. If the ball had more loft or arc, that would have been 6 for Cal. Also, it looked like DeSean had a step on the safety on his post route. A very well designed play called at the right time. The execution just was not there. Frustrating...
- Hawkins makes a great catch for a TD, but that was unnecessary if not for an overthrown ball. Frustrating...
- Sideline passes. I can recall four only one of which was completed. The deep ball to DeSean near the end of the half. The other three actually gave the receiver no chance because the ball was thrown out of bounds. Frustrating...
- I am trying be more diplomatic with this analysis, because there is plenty of ranting and raving about Longshore elsewhere. Longshore did make some nice throws at other points in the game and was able to covert some key third downs. We tend to only remember the picks and final stats in a loss, so that is what we dwell on.

The Running Game
- Justin Forsett was the man. He was hitting the hole hard, breaking tackles, spinning left and right. The man could not be stopped. It was great to see him have a huge game after a couple weeks of sub-Forsett performances.
- Big ups to the O-line guys. They opened some big holes for Forsett in the running game and they also kept Longshore upright with the exception of 1 sack (which was on an overloaded blitz on the blindside).
- I have not seen any updates on Jahvid Best's injury. Let's hope that it is not serious and that he is back for the next game.
- The best run by Forsett was when he ran for a first down but the line was called for holding. So on the next play Forsett runs for 20+ yards. The man could not be stopped.

The Wide Receivers
- Overall a solid game. They got open and caught the ball in difficult conditions.
- They are also tough guys. There were a couple passes where they got hung out by high passes and were crushed by USC's safeties. Craig Stevens took a brutal hit and Hawkins also took one over the middle.

The Defense
- Run defense was not very good. Chauncey Washington is not an elite back. Even USC fans will admit to that. He is tough to bring down but there were times when the Cal defense made him look like Marshawn. Frustrating...
- Overall, the defense played well and made plays when needed. DeCoud had a huge hit on Washington to cause the fumble near the goal line.
- Follett played a good game but there were a couple plays when it looked like he was in position to tackle the runner for a loss but he just missed the tackle. Frustrating...
- Booty scrambled for 2 first downs against the Cal D. This is a QB who some say is more immobile than Longshore. Frustrating...

Special Teams
- It looked like USC was willing to kick to DeSean and had excellent coverage on those plays.
- Either Ronald Johnson is going to be the best kick returner in the NCAA next year or Cal needs to shore up the kick off return game a little. He never broke one for a TD but it was mighty close a couple times. Frustrating...

Inside the 5 offense
- Cal was inside the 5 once during the game. And the result was a field goal. The short yardage running plays near the goal line just aren't working. Frustrating...
- First and goal from the 2. Forsett is dropped for a 3 yard loss. Frustrating...
- It was almost a relief (almost) when Cal got pushed back for the false start. Obvious passing situation now and Longshore has been good on the short passes and the receivers are getting open on their breaks. But alas, it was a draw to Forsett. Frustrating...

Final result... Frustrating...

Rain or Shine

2007-11-09T16:28:00.000-08:00

Forecast for tomorrow's game shows a 70% chance of rain. How much does this affect the game? Well, let's take a look.

Cal Offense
- Cal has been having trouble throwing the deep ball so the rain might just completely eliminate that option. (Though this would decrease the potential for interceptions on those deep balls)
- Cal receivers could break something big on the shorter routes while defenders are slipping and sliding around.
- The running game could suffer with USC stacking the box with all eleven defenders.

Cal Defense
- Those heartbreaking third and long conversions with long passes should decrease in the rain.
- Missed tackles can now be blamed on the rain.
- Bend but don't break defense is great for the rain. Keep everything in front of you and wait for the offense to mess up.

USC Offense
- The 2 biggest problems with the USC Offense.
1) QB John David Booty has been inaccurate, missing receivers
2) Receivers are dropping the passes that are on target
- Rain usually affects the passing game and the ability to hold on to the ball. Advantage: Rain
- The rain might actually provide USC an opportunity to use all 18 of its 5 star running backs.

USC Defense
- Aggressive defenses can be caught "slippin" in the rain.
- USC's defensive line is very good and rain games are usually won in the trenches.

Conclusion: Who knows? But rain or shine, Cal takes this one at home. (Eternal optimism is a good thing.)

Longshore Update

2007-11-07T10:54:00.000-08:00

Cal QB Nate Longshore will start this week against USC. Here are some excerpt from an article in the Daily Cal.

On why Longshore will start:

“I would say if he continues to look like he did in pregame, he will continue to start,” Tedford said. “Unless something happens throughout the week—he has a set back or something gets worse—then that would change. If he stays the way he was this last week, then he would be the starter.”

No problem. Longshore is the starter, he has struggled, but if he is healthy enough to play, he should play.

On the ankle injury:

Tedford said he does not think that Longshore’s ankle will ever fully recover and that it may be a lingering injury that the junior quarterback will have to play through the rest of the season.
“It’s probably something that’s going to stick with him here,” Tedford said. “It’s very difficult to let something completely heal like that. Maybe in a couple of weeks, when we get a bye, it’ll let him recover a little bit. But I don’t see him recovering that much in the next couple of weeks.”

Ok, a little confusing. Is he healthy or is he not healthy? This is a little disconcerting. Hopefully, Coach Tedford is prepping Riley in case the ankle flares up again. Don't want to pull a Karl Dorrell and be putting your backup into the game with no prep.

Those of you calling for Riley, it appears that the die has been cast. Here are some reasons why you should to feel good about Longshore starting.

1) The game is at home. Longshore is solid to awesome at home. Perhaps, we will see some vintage Nate a la Arizona St or Oregon last year at Memorial.

2) Real game experience is very important against a very talented and aggressive defense such as USC's.

3) The last four games have been an elaborate scheme. Cal is trying to fool USC into thinking that the Cal offense is sputtering. In reality, Coach Tedford has a separate, even larger laminated play sheet, specially crafted for the USC game.

Look for some crazy things. Double nay triple reverses. WR options back to the QB. Forsett and Best in the backfield together in the Wildcat formation.

Not crazy enough, what about these. DeSean running a go route. Passes down the middle of the field. Screen passes that result in first downs. A pass longer than 20 yards. A passing play on 1st and goal. A pass play on 2nd and goal. A running play on 3rd and goal that gets in the end zone.

Ah yes my friends, the trap has been set. Very clever... very clever...

Random Midweek Notes - U$C

2007-11-07T10:23:00.001-08:00

What happened to this game???
The Cal vs USC game was hyped as the game of the year for the Pac 10 conference. It was easily seen as the best game of the week and was supposed to get national Saturday night coverage on ABC.
So I checked the schedule and it looks "undecided" what will be shown out here in NYC. Great, so now I might be treated to a big time match up of two ACC teams grinding out to a 10-7 finale rather than a classic Pac 10 battle of 2 ranked teams.

USC Offense
- Freshman tailback, Joe McKnight, has finally learned
1) how to hold onto the ball and
2) which direction to run
and it only took him half a season. This is not good news for Cal.

- USC's best running back, Stafon Johnson is also healthy now. More bad news.

- John David Booty's finger is better and he will be leading the USC offense. JDB or Mark Sanchez, neither has looked remarkable this season. If Cal can get in his face, Booty can be forced into a poor game.

USC Defense
- After getting only 20 sacks for the year, the USC defense got 9 against Oregon St. OSU not playing their starting tailback might have something to do with that stat, but it is still worrisome.

- USC linebackers are playing well but not up to their preseason hype where some publications had all three as first team All Americans. Injuries and two losses have faded some of the luster but they are a solid core. Keith Rivers is an excellent tackler and in always in position to make a play.

- Post-Aaron Rodgers, Pete Carroll and the USC defense have been able to stop Cal's passing attack. Jackson has been shut down in both previous games. USC has the speed on defense to cover well and has a D line that can generate pressure on the QB without help. Coach Tedford might have to get a little more creative this year.

Gregory to WSU

2007-11-05T15:13:00.000-08:00

Saw this article in the SF Chronicle today.

Cal defensive coordinator Bob Gregory, a Washington State graduate, is among a group of logical candidates for the Cougars' head coaching job if Bill Doba is fired, which has been the subject of widespread speculation on the Internet.

Gregory's first job interview - a 20-17 win over the Cougars - was nearly flawless.

Honestly, this is the first I am hearing of this. I am sure some Cal fans are excited at the prospect of getting a new defensive coordinator. Personally, I think Gregory does a lot with the talent he has. While the defense was getting hammered early in the season, it has really stepped up as a unit recently.

Gregory haters, any thoughts?

Shades of September or October?

2007-11-05T07:09:00.000-08:00

With October behind us, Cal is starting November strong with a win against Washington State. Ok, maybe not strong, but a win is a win.

Why November will be like September:
- Defense had a great game. There were some fluke throws that went for big yardage, but that happened in September also.

- Zack Follett is back and bring the heat. Follett blitzing off the corner is one of the rare times that Cal gets pressure on the QB and can really affect a QB and the defense. Recall in the Tennessee game, his hit on Ainge and the subsequent fumble returned for a TD. Follett is a big time player that makes game changing plays so it is good to see him healthy.

- Kay was kicking well.

- Forsett and Jahvid had some nice runs. The running game drives the Cal offense.

- Winning is winning, no matter how you look doing it.

Why November will be like October:
- There appears to be an invisible wall that goes up once Cal's offense gets inside the 5 yards line. This invisible wall prevents any sort of run play from getting into the end zone. The wall appears at home and on the road. Gotta take down the wall somehow.

- Longshore still appears to be unable to make the throws downfield. His first interception was short and Hawkins looked like he was blowing by the safety but had to come back for the ball.

- Forsett is still struggling to gain yards. I believe without the 44 yard TD run, Forsett was averaging less than 3 yards a carry. Teams are stacking the line to stop the run and to get pressure on Longshore. Right now, the strategy is working.

- Trick plays work, if you expect only 7-13 yards gains. Reverses are all being sniffed out. Anytime Best touches the ball he is swarmed and has to use his natural ability to gain yards.

I like what I saw on defense, but the offense scoring only 20 points was disconcerting. The goal line situation must improve. And Nate has to hit the deep receivers.

Washington State

2007-11-02T15:01:00.000-07:00

With all the introspective analysis this week, I forgot to really take a look at Cal's opponent on Saturday, Washington State.

So here is a brief look at the Cougs.

- Tailback Dwight Hardy is out for the season after tearing his ACL on a 51 yard run against UCLA. Bad news for Dwight, good news for Cal. But then again, last week, ASU's starting running back was out for the season and their backups filled in more than adequately.

- WSU QB Alex Brink is a very good QB. Besides Oregon's Dennis Dixon, I think Brink is the best QB Cal will face this season. He does the most with the talent around him. The Bears need to bring pressure and force Brink to make some quick decisions. If not, Cal fans might have a long night of watching Brink sit back in the pocket and pick up easy yardage.

- WSU is coming off a big win against UCLA. Not really sure how to analyze that because UCLA is the most enigmatic team in the country.

- WSU head coach Bill Doba is in a three way fight with Arizona's Mike Stoops and UCLA's Karl Dorrell for the coveted title of "Coach on the Hot Seat".

- WSU is 3rd in the Pac 10 in sacks with 20. No worries, because Cal has an elusive QB that can easily avoid pass rush.

Readers Comment on Cal QB's

2007-10-29T12:24:00.000-07:00

Oftentimes readers of RBBID write excellent comments in response to our posts. Aaronrodgersforpresident wrote something I thought should be shared with all.

I live in LA and hosted about 25-30 of my family and friends at a tailgate at the Rose Bowl 2 weeks ago, and subsequently had my heart ripped out of my chest. A few thoughts…

There are some issues on defense, but I felt that the defense played well against UCLA and Arizona State. The real issue was our own offense. Against Arizona State, Cal only held the ball for 23 minutes. That’s a 14 minute advantage for Arizona State. The offense kept turning the ball over, and putting the defense in impossible positions.

Our offensive problems, ironically, are the root of the 3-game losing streak. And it’s not a problem with Forsett or with Tedford’s playcalling. The problem is at quarterback. Against Oregon State, I’ll admit that Riley’s final decision was a problem. However, I excuse him since it was his first start. I think his issue on that final play was pure inexperience. He saw open field and thought he could make it to the end zone. And since it was his first start, he completely underestimated the speed of linebackers at the D-1A Pac-10 level. That open field closed a lot faster than he expected by the Oregon State linebackers. What can you say? A guy who’s started for several games estimates linebacker speed more accurately. To me, it’s not Riley’s fault. Other than that, I though Riley played excellently for the rest of the game.

Against UCLA and Arizona State, I can say with certainty that our problems stem from the ineffective, near tragic play of Nate Longshore. Here is my assessment…

We need to bench Longshore. Unless the designed play gets everyone open, Longshore cannot create. A few years ago, Bill Walsh was interviewed for a Sportscentury special on his development of QB's. What he explained as the #1 element necessary for great quarterback play was the ability of the QB to evade that first tackle, which extends the play for another 2-3 seconds. That's all you need. Doesn't have to have great downfield running ability, just enough mobility to evade the first possible sack.

Some players recently in college who have had that innate ability: Matt Leinart (USC), Aaron Rodgers (Cal), Tim Tebow (Florida), Brady Quinn (Notre Dame), Carson Palmer (USC), Dennis Dixon (Oregon), Jason Campbell (Auburn), just to name a few. These guys are not all speed burners, just slightly mobile. It’s not coincidence that each of these guys has gone onto moderate to major success in the NFL.

And here are a few guys who have had that ability at the pro level: John Elway, Brett Favre, Steve Young, Vince Young, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Donovan McNabb, Steve McNair, just to name a few. Oh, and a guy named Montana.

Some players recently in college who are high profile, but actually do not possess that ability to evade the first tackle: Nate Longshore, Ben Olson (UCLA), John David Booty (USC), Jason White (Oklahoma), Chad Henne (Michigan), just to name a few.

These guys simply start throwing interceptions when plays don’t go perfectly as designed. They cannot create and extend plays. They are system players. Plain and simple.

Two things I saw when Kevin Riley played for the Bears. First, a lot of heart. The guy brain lapsed at the end of the game, but he was pretty good for the first start of his career. Second, ability to avoid tackles and make plays. He walked out of a sure safety in the end zone and made a 15 yard completion. Did the same thing from elsewhere on the field several times in the final few minutes, completing nearly impossible passes from within the grasp, or just beyond the grasp of a defender.

Longshore (like Ben Olson) is a statue. He's Marino without the ability. Basically, he's the Stan Humphries of college football. Time to put in Riley and stop retarding our program.

Thoughts?

In my mind, it all goes back to Walsh.

Longshore vs Riley

2007-10-29T11:06:00.001-07:00

Hot topic on the message boards and in the blogs. Here are the basic arguements:

For Nate
- Longshore is injured. Let him rest until he is 100% and then bring him back.
- Longshore has led Cal this far. He made some good throws but had a couple bad games. He will bounce back.
- Experience is far more important than any raw talent Riley might possess.

For Kevin
- Better arm, more mobile
- Nate has peaked and will never take us to the promised land
- Time to play for next season, let's see what Riley can do

Our Thoughts

After watching the ASU game, I don't believe Longshore's ankle is 100%. There were multiple times when he was limping around during the game. His mobility is limited when he is 100%, so with the bum ankle, his mobility is zero.

Longshore is throwing off his back foot and side arm a lot. His throws appear to be off and receivers are making a lot of adjustments on the ball. Hawkins, Jackson and Jordan all made fantastic catches on poorly thrown balls when they were relatively open.

Until Nate is 100%, give Riley the ball. Let the new guy get some experience and see what he can do. Once the ankles is completely healthy, Nate gets his starting job back. When Nate is healthy, he is a player that puts Cal in a position to win (see what he did in the Oregon game).

Feel free to post your thoughts in the comments.

Another disappointment, liver is hurting...

2007-10-29T09:51:00.000-07:00

Here is how I watched the game on Saturday, which started at 10:15pm EST.

First Quarter:
- Late dinner at home. Opened up a bottle of wine with the meal.
- Defense came out attacking and was getting great pressure on the ASU QB. While some of the drives stalled, the aggressive play calling on offense was great to see. Happy times. And the wine is pretty tasty too.

Second Quarter:
- Finished off the bottle of wine and opened a bottle of rum a friend brought me from Puerto Rico. Mixed it with some coke to keep energy level high.
- Great catch by Jackson in the corner of the end zone. Celebration.
- ASU is starting to come back.
- No worries, into the locker room up at the half.

Halftime:
- Man, this rum is pretty good, I think I will have some more.
- Tedford looks pissed. That is good. There are going to be some sick halftime adjustments and the Bears will come out roaring. Raise a glass to that.

Third Quarter:
- Bottle of rum is quickly disappearing...
- Ahhh, Follett tackle the ball carrier not the pile. 4th and 1 and we had them stopped. ASU TD, they take the lead.
- Alcohol is really beginning to take a hold of me. Nate appears to be throwing every ball off his back foot and side arm. Must be the alcohol, right?

Fourth Quarter:
- Rum is gone, frantically searching home for more alcohol. Ah, jackpot, bottle of Bacardi in the back of the freezer.
- Why can't we move the ball?.... Wait, Jackson is open... Nate sees him... Just hit him in stride... that looks short... really short... Interception???
- Defense Bears, Defense (clap, clap)... ok, maybe not.
- Thinking to myself, why is the middle so open for ASU, but we can't get anything down the middle except for that one Stevens reception?
- Is that really three in a row?

Post Game:
- Blindly texting friends with nonsensical messages like, "Dude, I need to live one more year. Do you think I can do it?" or "Is there an NYC to El Paso, non stop flight?"
- Friends have all turned off phones. Can't tell if it is because of game or because of me.
- Pass out

A better look at the game from a more lucid state of mind, later today.

Arizona St

2007-10-26T07:24:00.000-07:00

This is a big game for Cal. Cal has never lost three in a row under Coach Tedford. But I am not a big believer in looking at past performance as indicators for the current year.

Cal has to win this game to keep their slim Rose Bowl/Pac 10 championship hopes alive. Here are some positives and negatives heading into Saturday's games.

Positives
- ASU starting RB Ryan Torain is out for the year. This is a positive for Cal, since Torain ran roughshod over the Cal defense last year.

- ASU is largely untested. Due to a soft schedule, ASU has been able to cruise through the first half of their season. How they perform on a bigger stage has yet to be seen.

- ASU's defense while solid, is not on the same level (statistically) as UCLA or Oregon St. I say statistically, because I have really only seen part of 1 ASU game so the defense might be better than the stats indicate.

- ASU struggled in its last game (2 weeks ago) against Washington St.

Negatives

- Cal is playing on the road. QB Nate Longshore has a history of not performing well on the road so this does not bode well.
(Side note: I was a little surprised by some fans mentioning a QB controversy. The same fans that were calling for Kevin Riley's head after the OSU game were calling for him to replace Longshore after the UCLA loss. Ironic.)

- ASU is coming off a bye week. So they should be well rested and well prepared for Cal.

- Defensive Coordinator Bob Gregory stated after the UCLA game that there would be no changes to the defense and that the players simply needed to execute better (that was paraphrased by me). I understand his point regarding tackling and overpursuing. But what about the pass rush? Is he saying that if the guys in the trenches executed better they would be getting more pressure on the QB?

No more score predictions for the rest of the season, as I am obviously horrible at it. Let's just say, I think Cal will bounce back in the desert [Update: Correct from dessert to desert, see comment #1 for more details].
Nate will do enough to not lose the game while Forsett will re-establish himself as the conference's best running back with a huge game.
ASU will score points but the defense will come up with some big plays at the right moments (like in the Oregon game). Go Bears.

Seriously????

2007-10-20T16:52:00.001-07:00

Ok. let me admit first where I was wrong

- UCLA rushing defense is much better than I expected. They held Cal RB's to less than 100 yards and that is an impressive feat.

- Patrick Cowen is better on one leg than most QB's. That guy made the plays when he needed to and kept the Bruins in the game.

- Cal's defensive line is not better than I expected. There was little to no pressure on Cowen from the D line. The only pressure seemed to come from the LB's and they were sent only a couple times.

Honestly, I can't believe we lost this game. I was surprise to be up by only one at the half but I figured that halftime adjustments would be made.

Give all the credit to the Bruins, who played well and showed that when their defense is playing up to their talent level, they can be dominating.

I don't really know what else to say at this point. This loss is WAY more disappointing than last weeks loss to OSU. Perhaps I can live another year so I can see a Rose Bowl before I die.

(More lucid and rational commentary once these feelings of dread die down and I am able to think more clearly. I need another drink.)

Cal vs UCLA Prediction

2007-10-19T16:59:00.000-07:00

Perhaps my prediction earlier this week, 56-13 Cal over UCLA, was a little high. High but not unreasonable. Here is why.

Why UCLA will only score 13 points...

- UCLA's QB situation consists of these options
1) a one legged back up
2) a walk on that turned the ball over 4 times against Notre Dame
3) a QB turned WR turned QB (though still behind the walk on)

- UCLA's starting running back, Chris Markey, is injured (he might play but is listed at 4th in the depth chart and can't really plant his foot.)

- The Bruins' offense has scored 16 offensive touchdowns this season.

Let's just say that I don't see the Bruin offensive machine kicking into high gear this week.

Why Cal will score at least 56 points...

- UCLA's defensive line has been decimated by injuries. This was a strength of the defense.

- UCLA's defense ranks 9th in the nation in rushing D. Good for them. Oregon St. was ranked 3rd in the nation in rushing D and Forsett had no problem getting his 150 against them.

- Cal offense should score 35 points on its own. (2 Forsett TD's, 1 Jackson TD, 1 Jordan TD (possible Stevens TD here), 1 Best TD off a long run)

- UCLA will turn the ball over at least twice (one of which will result in a defensive TD)

- Special teams will produce a TD (Jackson, Hawkins, Best... it is about time one of them broke another one).

- Hmmm... ok I will lower the prediction to 49 - 13.

Cal vs UCLA Preview (Picture Version)

2007-10-19T07:04:00.000-07:00

Why Cal will win...

Why UCLA will lose...

Nuff said...

For Those With Masochistic Tendencies

2007-10-17T06:40:00.000-07:00

You’ll have to forgive me for posting this so late. Honestly, I wasn’t even going to do it at all since it’s already mid-week and we’ve all got some bruin pounding to look forward to. But, I’d be doing a disservice to my beloved Bears by balking at breaking down last Saturday’s game (don’t worry, my ego ain’t that big…just making a joke and I dig alliteration). Is it being overly optimistic to say that the only thing we learned from this loss was that even the best teams can lose on any given weekend? Possibly, but after forcing myself to sit through the game (and having to silence the little voice in my head that kept saying ‘omg, we’re gonna pull of the comeback!’) I really honestly believe that we’re the best team in the Pac 10; just not in the standings right now.

First Quarter

Cal started off with the ball and quickly put to bed all the hype about the oregon state run defense as RB Justin Forsett ran straight up the gut for 45 yards. Redshirt freshman QB Kevin Riley looked very much like a young kid making his first start as he bobbled the first snap and then ran into Forsett on the second play resulting in a sack. On third down, good coverage by the oregon state secondary prevented WR Lavelle Hawkins from completing his route and the long pass attempt by Riley fell incomplete leading to a FG attempt by PK Jordan Kay. Kay failed to convert the attempt and the beavers took over from their own 31 yard line.

The beaver offense performed exactly as expected on their first possession. Meaning that they quickly drove down to the Cal 31 on just three plays, but turned the ball over when DB Brandon Hampton forced a fumble which was recovered by LB Zack Follet.

The Bears’ next possession stalled quickly when Forsett stumbled on second down setting up a third and long. Riley showed good velocity on his pass attempt to WR DeSean Jackson, but couldn’t connect leading to a punt.

Brandon Hampton made another big play on defense as he broke up what would have been a fourteen yard completion on second down, and LB Mike Mohamed stopped RB Yvenson Bernard short of the first down marker setting up a punt.

A short pass to WR Robert Jordan was stopped for a loss, and yet another 3^rd down incompletion forced Cal to punt.

osu got 17 yards on first down on an end around by James Rodgers, but were unable to do anything afterwards as the Bear defense continued its good early play.

The first turning point of the game came when the usually reliable Justin Forsett fumbled on first down, giving the beavers the ball right back on the Cal 16 yard line.

A holding call against the beavers seemed to lessen the scoring threat and for a brief moment it looked like osu might only get a field goal attempt. But a pass interference call against safety Thomas DeCoud gave the beavers first and goal from the 5 yard line. The Bear defense nearly came away with yet another goal line stand, but the beavers converted on fourth and goal to open up the scoring. Cal 0 osu 7.

Kevin Riley completed his first pass for positive yardage when he connected with TE Cameron Morrah for 6 yards on first down. Forsett picked up the first down on a nice 5 yard run over right end, and on the ensuing first down Riley connected with Hawkins for 8 yards. FB Will Ta’ufo’ou was stuffed up the middle and the first quarter came to an end with Cal facing a 3^rd and one. End of first quarter Cal 0 osu 7.

Second Quarter

Coach Tedford showed his faith in the capabilities of Kevin Riley when on 3^rd and one he dialed up a deep pass play which resulted in a 35 yard completion to Hawkins. Another big gain by Forsett set Cal up with first and goal on the osu 10 yard line. Riley showed good anticipation when he hit Hawkins on a slant for his first collegiate TD pass. Cal 7 osu 7.

First quarter defensive standout Brandon Hampton was injured on the ensuing kickoff, but the Bear defense stiffened up, after the beavers crossed midfield, by forcing three straight incompletions and a punt.

Sadly, the Bears failed to build on their momentum when they had another three and out. Punter Andrew Larson made sure that the beavers didn’t get good field position however, by booming a 73 yard punt all the way down to the osu 9.

The Bear defense gave up one first down, but continued to play well. They nearly forced another fumble and eventually forced the beavers to punt from their own 24.

After a twelve yard return by Jackson, Cal started their next possession from their own 41. The Bears managed to get just one first down before a vicious blindside hit on Kevin Riley forced an interception. DE Victor Butler returned the interception 30 yards all the way down to the Cal 17.

Unlike after the first Bear turnover, this time the defense did manage to keep the beavers out of the end zone. On first down James Rodgers ran another reverse for a big gain of 16, but the next three osu plays netted -3 yards forcing a Serna FG. Cal 7 osu 10.

Down by three, the Bear offense put together its best drive of the first half. Starting deep in its own territory, the offense turned to the ground game. Three consecutive rush plays brought the ball all the way out to the 36 yard line. After a 1 yard loss on a pass to DeSean Jackson, Justin Forsett got 10 yards on second down and Riley found Hawkins again to convert another 3^rd and short. Three more runs by Forsett set Cal up with first and ten from the osu 32 when Riley threw a pretty 29 yard pass to Robert Jordan. On the ensuing first and goal Riley ran in for a TD on the option keeper. Cal 14 osu 10.

A terrible squib kick gave osu one last chance to score points before the end of the half, and with a little help from a terrible blown call by the refs (QB Sean Canfield threw a pass from 3 yards beyond the line of scrimmage…no call, booth somehow ruled it an inconsequential play, thus no review), Alexis Serna was able to convert a 52 yard FG. End of first half Cal 14 osu 13.

Third Quarter

The first possession of the second half was undoubtedly the Yvenson Bernard show as he almost single-handedly drove the beavers all the way down the field. Bernard was involved, either via run or reception, on all but one play on a 76 yard drive that was capped off by his 1 yard TD run. Cal 14 osu 20.

Not to be outdone, the Bear RB’s powered Cal right back down the field on their first possession of the 2^nd half. Forsett, Best, and Montgomery drove the ball from the Cal 22 down to the osu 30. There was finally a Craig Stevens sighting when, on 3^rd and 4, Riley made a beautiful pass while falling down and Stevens bowled through 5 defenders for a 23 yard gain. Sadly, for the first time all year, the Bear ground game came up short when they failed to punch the ball in on four consecutive tries from the 1 yard line. Turnover on downs.

Luckily for the Bears, their failure to score was not magnified because the defense forced the beavers to go three and out. The first bad punt of the day by Serna set Cal up with excellent field position on the osu 26.

Cal and osu traded penalties on the first two plays of this drive, and the quarter came to an end after a sack on Riley and a false start on Brian De La Puente. End of third Quarter Cal 14 osu 20.

Fourth Quarter

Cal started the fourth by finally cashing in on that touchdown that they failed to get near the end of the third. A quick 18 yard completion to Hawkins set up Forsett’s 7 yard TD run. Cal 21 osu 20.

An excellent return by Gerard Lawson set up the next osu drive nearly at midfield. The beavers gained most of their yards again with Bernard, but perhaps the biggest play of the drive came early on when the Bear defense allowed a 26 yard completion on 3^rd on 9. Cal nearly had a heroic goal line stand of its own, but osu was again able to convert a fourth and goal to regain the lead on a TD run by Bernard. On the two point conversion attempt, Canfield did a good job of forcing the defense to react to the threat of his scrambling. This threat resulted in the DB coming off his receiver before the help could cover him, and the result was a successful pass for the two points. Cal 21. osu 28.

Disaster struck for the Bears on the ensuing kickoff return when freshman phenom Jahvid Best accidentally collided with one of his blockers resulting in the third Cal turnover of the game.

A questionable late hit call against DE Tyson Alualu put the beavers on the Cal 23 yard line, but the defense managed to hold them to just a FG. Cal 21 osu 31.

With the Bears down by ten with only 6 mins remaining, the osu defense was free to rush the passer with all they had. The resulting pressure led to three straight incompletions and punt. The decision to punt paid off when the Cal defense forced a three and out of its own by stopping Bernard three straight times.

Cal began its desperation comeback bid from its own 21 with only 3:26 remaining in the game. Unlike the previous possession, Riley was able to elude the pressure and complete balls down the field. Facing a huge 3^rd and 6 from the Cal 36 yard line, Riley stood tall in the pocket and threw a dart to Hawkins who did the rest of the work by taking it 65 yards to the house. Cal 28 osu 31.

The Bears were unable to recover the onside kick, but the defense managed to force a punt, and Cal began its last possession from their own 6 yard line with 1:27 remaining.

Riley did a Houdini act when, on first down, he escaped a safety, but was unable to connect with Jackson downfield. On second down, Riley hit Hawkins for an 18 yard gain, but sacked on the next first down. A spike on 2^nd down and an incomplete on 3^rd had the Bears staring down the barrel of a 4^th and 17 from the Cal 17. Riley did a great job of handling a terrible snap and he managed to find Hawkins to pick up the first. After another spike to stop the clock, Riley threw a beautiful 37 yard pass to Robert Jordan bringing the ball all the way to the osu 27. A pass interference call gave the Bears 1^st and 10 from the osu 12 yard line. And, well, you guys know what happened after that…oh my God I think it feels worse the second time.

Final Score Cal 28 osu 31.

Thoughts…

Offense

Most of what I think was already covered by Danny in his earlier post-game, um, post. The only thing I feel differently about is that, if anything, I’m even more supportive of Kevin Riley now. Perhaps it’s just because in the last few days I’ve already given about 5 sermons to younger non-football educated Cal fans about how the sins of Riley weren’t what cost us that game. Maybe it’s also because I’ve gotten in 3 near fights with fucla fans who were crowing about Riley’s brain cramp before the words McLeod Bethel-Thompson (and the threat of a foot up the ass) shut them the hell up. Whatever the underlying reason, I don’t think that there’s any denying how talented this kid is, and is going to be someday.

At the risk of sounding overly Mike Gundy-ish, everyone (hopefully there’s nobody left) needs to just back the hell off this kid. Time and time again he made plays to keep Cal in the game, and he very nearly pulled off an incredible comeback. Now I’m not advocating the idea that we should be happy with coming close, but if you look at the flow of the game you realize just how little he had to do with the loss.

First off, ten of osu’s thirteen first half points came off turnovers, and the remaining three points were a gift from the ref who swallowed his flag. And before the dissenters point out that one of the first half turnovers came from Riley, that interception can’t really be put on him as it came off a vicious blind side hit.

Second, it’s impossible to know how the offense might have run with a banged up Longshore in at QB. Maybe he dissects the osu secondary, & Cal is up so much in the first half that the Bernard show in the second half never happens. Just as plausible, however, is that Longshore gets harassed and buried by a very good osu pass rush and the results are the same or even worse. The one thing we know for sure is that, assuming the score was unchanged, Longshore never manages to elude the sick pass rush late in the fourth quarter. Those guys were pinning their ears back and coming for all they were worth, and last I checked Lonshore wasn’t exactly Vince Young.

Third, fans can’t overlook the fact that Riley is a redshirt freshman that was making his first start. If the play he made (or failed to make) at the end of the game came during the first quarter, this isn’t even an issue at all. Bottom line is that we were playing from behind for a significant part of the game, had to rely exclusively on the pass late in the game, and we got a performance that was probably better than anyone was hoping for. We just didn’t get the final result which is a team blemish, not Riley’s.

My final thought on the offense is that, overall, they played a great game against one of the best defenses they’ll face all year. The Bears out gained the beavers 478 to 339, had 184 net yards rushing against a team that came in giving up something like 43, and they got 294 yards passing with 2TD (1Int) and 1TD rushing from a guy making the first start of his career. Like I told a lot of people this week, the way I see it is if Riley was a pro or even an experienced starter…he gets the blame. But he’s a young kid that played his guts out to try to keep his team’s dreams alive. It was his heart that kept the Bears in the game and nearly brought them all the way back. Sadly, he just played with too much heart and not enough head when he desperately tried to make a play instead of throwing the ball away.

Defense

Despite being put behind the eight ball time and time again by turnovers and bad special teams play, the Defense actually played a decent game. Well, they were great in the first half, and bad in the second so I guess that averages out to decent, right? Like I pointed out above, all of the beavers’ first half points were the result of excellent field position given up by a unit other than the defense. In fact, the Bears were lucky to only give up thirteen.

I generally don’t delve into weird hypotheticals about how the game might have gone if things were changed in the first half…but this game’s driven me temporarily insane so…

If, hypothetically, you take away all the first half points, obviously we’re talking about a Cal win (28 – 18) and not about the defense at all. That might be a stretch, but if you take away at least one of the first half scores (not a stretch at all) we’re either still talking about a Cal win or at the very least the game goes into OT.

Unfortunately, the bottom line is that osu did get those first half points, and the defense did come out completely flat in the second half. But we here at RBBID are eternal optimists about Cal football, and so I’ll focus on the positive, not the negative (or some phrase that doesn’t evoke Mark McGwire). The biggest positive on the defensive side was actually the secondary for a change. SQT came up with a bunch of great pass break ups, Hampton was playing great before he got hurt, and true freshman Chris Conte filled in adequately after Hampton went out. Another pleasant surprise was that, at least in the first half, the tackling was excellent.

Our D line’s depth has been depleted ever since the La Tech game, and while it showed during the zona & oregon games, those teams weren’t running much late in the game. Basically, that meant that while we still were too gassed to get a pass rush from our line, our LB’s & DB’s were able to pick up the slack and we got the W. This time, the lack of depth hurt us in the second half because our guys were getting worn down by the pounding of the run game. This proved to be more fatal to the Bears because osu’s scoring drives took up more precious time than the ducks’ drives did. Agasint oregon and tennessee, the opponents scored quickly, and we used the run to milk the clock against them. This time, the script was flipped and the beavers killed off just barely enough time to stop our quick strike offense. Needless to say, I’m going to stay positive and say that once our line is back to full strength…we’ll be just fine.

Special Teams

While the turnovers were bad enough, had we gotten the usual production from our special teams then the game would have ended differently. For the first time all year, we were out kicked, out covered, and out returned all game. The only good kickoff return we had ended in Best’s fumble. And Serna was an absolute beast for the beavers as he consistently denied DJax return opportunities, and converted all his FG attempts (including a 52 yarder).

The Bears are a good enough team to win when one side of the ball (offense or defense) has a bad game. And they’re good enough to pull out a win even when they lose the turnover battle. But no team has the right to win when they get spotty play on offense, defense, and on special teams. Instead they come up 12 yards short.

Coach Tedford

I've been hearing some grumbling (mostly on sports talk radio) about how Tedford cost the Bears the game. The general criticisms are that a) he should have started Longshore b) he got too greedy at the end of the game and c) he showed no class by throwing down his play sheet and headset at the end of the game. The reasonable side of me can see how an outside observer would make those arguments, but the fan in me just wants break a bottle on their heads. Instead I'll just settle for tearing apart their arguments on a blog posting (so unsatisfying).

The first two arguments are nothing more than people trying to play monday (sunday?) morning quarterback. There's really no way of knowing how Longshore would have done, and what little evidence there is points more to his being buried by the pass rush. As far as the end game, I have ZERO problem with Tedford calling one play for the end zone. Our defense was gassed, our QB had a hot hand, and, had Riley followed the plan and thrown the ball away, there was plenty of time for a game tying FG. What makes me even sicker, is that these same critics would be ripping Tedford for lack of killer instinct had we gone to OT and lost without taking our shot.

The final criticism might stick if you didn't know beforehand how classy a coach Tedford really is. The body of evidence over the entirety of his career clearly demonstrates that Tedford is all about doing things the right way. Obviously, I think that he was just showing his frustration in the moment. He's a fierce competitor and you can just imagine how much it killed him to have the game end that way. What seals the deal for me is that he didn't run over to Riley to unleash a tirade, and you saw that he immediately tried to regain his composure.

Like I said, I think these arguments against Tedford were made by people who are unfamiliar with his track record. If Cal fans ever get the urge to seriously question Tedford, all they have to do is consider this: before Tedford arrived, we all just prayed for one win per year (over the furd) and we never got that...and in just 5 years, he's made it so that losing one game per year is excruciating. Incredible.

Recruiting Updates

2007-10-16T16:55:00.000-07:00

A couple positive recruiting updates got buried after last Saturday's loss. Here they are...

Mychal Kendricks (LB) - 3 stars

The speedy (4.53 forty) and talented Kendricks has been gaining a lot of recruiting attention, especially after his strong performance at the Stanford Nike combine earned him MVP amongst the linebackers in attendance... (read more at Bear Insider)

Starting LB trio, Felder, Follett and Williams are all juniors and should be staying at Cal another year. Cal has plenty of young guys like Michael Mohamed and Eddie Young gaining playing time now. And last year's star recruit DJ Holt should be a stud when he gets on a field. So there is plenty of depth. But, there is always room for fast, hard hitting linebackers.
(Side note: With the quality players we have at LB, I always wondered what Cal's pass rush would be like with a 3-4 defense.)

Marvin Jones (WR) - 4 stars

The 4 star Jones brings the size and speed (4.5 forty) they’ve been looking for at receiver. He led his Etiwanda squad to a big upset win this Friday in a 29-26 nailbiter a week after an impressive 151 yard, 2 td game along with an interception on d in close loss to Chino Hills... (read more at Bear Insider)

With the possibility of losing all three starting WR's, Jackson, Jordan and Hawkins, this is a great signing for both Cal and Jones. Also, with Nyan Boateng's odd legal situation in Florida still in limbo that might create more opportunities for newcomers.
(Another side note: Cal's high powered offense + possible immediate playing time + possible DJax-like media exposure = more high profile signing for Cal at the WR position before it is all said and done?)

Tuesday News

2007-10-16T06:21:00.000-07:00

- According to Bear Talk, Contra Costa Times Cal Football Blog, QB Longshore says he felt like he could have played on Saturday but had to go with the "boss' " decision.

- Longshore is still listed as day to day and at this point no one really knows who will start against UCLA. Everyone thought he was going to start on Saturday against OSU so who knows what the true extent of his injury is.

- UCLA Coach Karl Dorrell is optimistic that backup QB Patrick Cowen will be ready by Saturday. Cowen tore a hamstring before the start of the season and then tore a ligment in his left knee against Washington. Even if he makes the start, you have to wonder about his mobility.

- For a team who's last performance on the field was a loss to Notre Dame, possibly the worst team in college football, the Bruins and their fans are feeling pretty confident.

Coach Dorrell on Cal's WR's

"They have experience at wide receiver. We have a great deal of experience in our back end, too," he said. "We had a little bit of a rough start coverage-wise, but those things have been shored up the last couple of games and our team is playing very confident on the defensive side right now. They're excited about this challenge that's in front of them – this offense that we have to defend, that has tremendous balance. They know about those three guys in particular, so it's something that we're looking forward to."

BruinsNation Blog

The funny thing is though, I believe we are going to win this weekend’s game. I have seen four Cal games this year. And frankly I am not really all that impressed with the talent they have on their defense. Don’t get me wrong. I think Coach Tedford is a superb head coach, who is getting most out of his offense. They have better skill set players at WR, but I am not sure whether they have superior talents at RB positions or at OL. However, unlike Dorrell Tedford knows how to coach up his QBs, who in turn get the most they can out of their available offensive talent.

But UCLA because of its access to the Southern California recruiting base has enough talent on its roster to win this game despite lack of credible leadership from its head coach, which is known around here as "the Dorrell Factor".

13-9 showed last year that we do not need a head coach to win an emotional game at home. I believe our guys are going to be fired up enough that they will be able to pull out an ugly victory with a superb defensive effort and less than average offensive output (which pretty much takes place during most Dorrell “coached” games).

Again Cal is banged up. Even if Longshore is back he is not exactly the most mobile QB. He is kind of hurt. The games I have seen him play he looks like a QB who doesn’t have a good feeling on defensive pressure. Reminds you of someone? Yet, he get the best out of his abilities by taking advantage of the great play calling courtesy of the offensive mind of Jeff Tedford.

As for rest of the Cal team I don’t think the talent in their OL (which is athletic) is greater than our OL. I certainly believe our defense is more talented, experience and deeper unit than their defense. I like our special teams better. So all in all, I believe we are going to win this game

Check out the message boards for UCLA fans if you want to see delusional behavior. Apparently a team that lost to Utah and Notre Dame, is going to stomp all over Cal. Even BruinsNation, which I think is a pretty good blog, dismisses the Cal game as a foregone conclusion.

My favorite logic from UCLA fans is that Dorrell owns Tedford at the Rose Bowl. When will people learn that past performance in a team sport has little to no bearing the current year's game? Surely UCLA learned that last year in their win against USC after how many embarrassing losses.

Lastly in regards to BruinsNation reasoning,

1) Superior Talents at RB
UCLA's Kahlil Bell is a solid back and putting up some good numbers. But compared to Cal's trio of Forsett, Best, and Montgomery, I don't really see how UCLA compares.

2) Superior Talents at OL
Cal OL has given up 7 sacks all season while UCLA's OL has given up 17.

3) Defense vs Defense - "I certainly believe our defense is more talented, experience and deeper unit than their defense."
I don't agree with that statement, but even if true, what does it matter? The defenses don't line up against each other. Cal's offense is vastly superior to UCLA's offense. Does that make it a wash? Like I mentioned at the beginning of the year, UCLA's defense is a vastly overrated unit living off that USC victory last year.

Are all UCLA fans this delusional? Check out BruinsNation post about UCLA possibly landing Steve Spurrier as the new Head Coach.
I don't mind confidence or even arrogance, but this takes it to another level. I guess it is just easier.

On that note, Cal will destroy UCLA on Saturday 56 - 13

FYI

2007-10-14T17:53:00.000-07:00

For anyone waiting to read a game recap...give me until Monday to hibernate. It might be up before then, but probably not. I just want to make clear that I agree for the most part with Danny & w/ most other Cal bloggers. I'm still confident that our Bears are building a special season, and that we'll finally get to the Rose this year.

I'm not stalling on the game recap b/c I'm one of the no-class Cal fans that are bashing Kevin Riley, Jeff Tedford, and the entire team. I just don't think I have time (or the stomach) to watch the entire game again this weekend (which is what I do while writing the recap). Honestly, I think those of you that didn't watch the game are better off w/o reliving it, but I'm still going to do it...it'll be up soon enough.

Some thoughts (I needed a day to think)

2007-10-14T16:36:00.000-07:00

Wow, that was a tough loss. Any loss is tough but because of the way the game ended those negative feels just stay with you longer. It just deflates you to lose like that. I now know how Oregon fans felt two weeks ago.

So what does this mean going forward?
Check out any of the Cal blogs, listed on the right, and there is an overwhelming amount of support for the team. Yes, the loss was tough, but not the end of the world. Particularly in this season of college football, where anything can happen, one loss does not eliminate a team from anything, national championship or Rose Bowl.

What should we be concerned with?
- Pressure on the QB from just the defensive line. What happened to the Alualu we saw for that three game stretch earlier? Where is the emergence of Derrick Hill and Cameron Jordan?
- Pressure from the linebackers. Follett and Williams are great at blitzing. Follett off the edge and Williams timing the snap count up the middle. Why aren't they being sent after the QB more?
- Turnovers!!! Cal came into the game second in the nation in turnover margin. Is this a trend? Probably not but I can guarantee you that Best will learn to protect the ball better.

Is Riley a goat?
- Yes, he made a boneheaded play even though he was trying to make a play and thus he is the goat. No one remembers Bill Buckner's stats the year the BoSox were in the World Series, they just remember the ball rolled through his legs.
- But Riley is a gamer and his temporary mental lapse will be forgotten. The kid throws a great deep ball and seems to have that natural leadership you see in great QB's. When Longshore graduates the team will be in good hands.
- Take heart in the fact that Riley is a redshirt freshman. If, Cal had pulled out that game the message boards probably would have been filled with threads about QB controversy. Overall, Riley had a good game and that is what Cal fans should focus on.

What is left for this season?
- An outside shot at the National Championship. Cal is still in the top ten of the polls and with big games against Arizona St and USC, they can continue to climb up the polls.
- A very good shot at the Rose Bowl. If Cal takes care of business the rest of the season, then they will go to the Rose Bowl.

Lastly, there are 2 ways to look at this game.
1) The defense was finally expose. Cal was overrated. This is the beginning of the decline.
2) Cal played a bad game with a first time starter. The defense was hurt by poor field position but played good. This will refocus a team that was maybe feeling too high.

I am going to go with the second option. This is still a very very good Bear's team that has an explosive offense and a defense that makes stops and comes up with big plays.

Fairviewbears will have a recap of the game once he pulls himself out of the dark place he is currently inhabiting.

Updates from around the web

2007-10-11T08:25:00.000-07:00

OSU Stroughter Out
Big news, Oregon St's Sammie Stroughter is out for the season, taking a medical redshirt. While Oregon St has had an up and down season, Stroughter is a game changer. He single handedly beat USC last year. This is good news for Bear fans who were fearing a let down game against OSU. With the personal problems that Stroughter had to start the year, this might be the best thing for him. If he get the medical redshirt he will have another year to terrorize Pac 10 defenses.

ESPN Pac 10 Midseason report

Biggest Surprise
The biggest surprise -- at least in a positive sense -- is that California is ranked No. 2, its highest perch since Pappy Waldorf's Golden Bears were No. 1 in 1951. That said, it's not terribly shocking that Cal is unbeaten, so its lofty ranking is largely a function of the profusion of top-10 upsets.
Nonetheless, the Bears are trying to make the hardest transition: from top-15 program to elite, national title contender. They probably need to win a few more games before anyone takes them seriously as a championship threat, and their October is fairly robust: Oregon State, at UCLA and at Arizona State.
And, of course, that's all prelude to what remains the Pac-10 game of the year: USC at Cal on Nov. 10.
The Bears own an elite, balanced offense that will be able to score on just about anybody. But they will have to shore up their injury-riddled defense if they are truly eyeballing the biggest prize.

Cal also take the prize for Midseason MVP, Justin Forsett and Coach of the Year, Jeff Tedford.

This is shaping up to be a big year for the Bears. I think unquestionable Forsett has been the MVP for the Bears and the MVP for the conference. On defense I would go with Anthony Felder, who has been coming up with big plays all year.

ESPN Midseason Team by Team breakdown

California Golden Bears
California officially arrived as a national power when it out-ran and physically manhandled Tennessee, but that bounce for the Golden Bears self-esteem would have been fairly meaningless if they hadn't won at Oregon. Winning at in Autzen Stadium was a far tougher challenge, and it established Cal as a potential foil to USC.
And then, when the Trojans stumbled against Stanford, something else happened: Cal became a national title contender, rising to No. 2 in the national rankings, the program's loftiest position since Pappy Waldorf's Golden Bears were No. 1 in 1951.
The Bears offense has been dynamic, as expected, even with DeSean Jackson limited by a thumb injury before busting out against Oregon. But if this season is going to be special -- read: national title game or Rose Bowl -- then the Bears injury-riddled defense is going to have to improve.
Of course, if Cal's turnover margin continues to be plus-2.2 per game, they might not need to do anything but wait for their opponents to screw up.
Midseason MVP:
While running back Justin Forsett's steadiness earned kudos as the conference MVP, we'd be remiss if we didn't salute Jackson, who's came up huge in Cal's biggest victories. Sure, a thumb injury suffered against Tennessee hurt his early numbers -- and Heisman Trophy candidacy -- but his spectacular punt return set the tone for that game. Then, against the Ducks, he looked all-better, hauling in 11 passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns.
What's next:
A date with LSU in the BCS national title game? Sounds unbelievable, but if the Bears win out, that's the reality. Of course, they've got USC coming to Berkeley on Nov. 10 and four other tricky road games to contend with, so a lot of work remains.

UCLA Game Update

QB Ben Olson is out 3-4 weeks and will miss the Cal game. Back up QB Patrick Cowen is still uncertain for the Cal game. Freshman walk on, McLeod Bethel-Thompson was horrendous against Notre Dame. Former QB turned WR Osaar Rasshan is turning under center.

My take is that I wanted Olson to play the game. The devil you know is better than the devil you don't. Look at what Stanford backup QB Pritchard did against USC. I was pretty confident the Bears would shut down Olson as he has not done much this year. Either way the Bears will take down UCLA.

DeSean Jackson = Heisman?

2007-10-09T16:19:00.001-07:00

Here is the progression of Tha 1's Heisman candidacy:

DeSean Jackson started the season as a Heisman candidate. He was not one of the favorites to win because of his position (wide receivers rarely win the award) and his location (west coast school, non-USC) but his playmaking skills and athletic ability kept him in the conversation.

He started the season out great with a spectacular punt return against Tennessee that was seen by everybody in the nation.

Against Colorado St, he had one electrifying run to keep his buzz alive.

There were two down game against La Tech and Arizona that pushed Tha1 nearly out of Heisman contention.

Jackson placed himself right back in the Heisman race with a career day against Oregon. That was his most complete game of good numbers and memorable plays

Helping Jackson was the implosion of other highly touted candidates:
Pat White/Steve Slaton - sorry but you guys had to run the table in the Big East
John David Booty - Washington and Stanfurd games were uninspiring
Colt Brennan - 5 Ints in 1 game. Out.

Those still in the race
Darren McFadden - putting up good numbers but nobody is watching Arkansas games.
Tim Tebow - Superman effort in loss to LSU, but a sophomore has never won the award
Matt Ryan - If playing for Cal is a Heisman disadvantage, playing for BC has got to be worse

In what is probably the most open Heisman race we have seen in a while, Tha1 can wrap up this award by doing the following:

Do this against Arizona St. or UCLA on national TV

Do this against USC near the end of the season

Bye Week was pretty exciting

2007-10-08T07:17:00.000-07:00

Seriously, no game but a damn exciting weekend for Cal football.

- Cal moves up to number 2 in every major poll.

- Stanfurd upsets U$C (at the Coliseum) with a backup QB that attempted 1 pass before this game.

- UCLA loses (at home) to previously winless Notre Dame. Keep Karl Dorrell. Cheers up Bruin fans, basketball season is just around the corner.

- Arizona St (new trendy pick in the Pac 10) struggles to beat Washington St.

- Tennessee crushes Georgia. Thank you Tennessee. Also, watching Tennessee pound the ball against Georgia makes Cal's run defense look even better.

- Dinged up Cal players got an extra week to rest up before the stretch run.

Bye Week - What to Watch

2007-10-05T10:55:00.001-07:00

So there is no Cal football on Saturday. The bye could not have come at a better time for the team. But what about us fans? Right after a huge win, we are amped, chomping at the bit to see more of our Golden Bears.

Some might choose to use this Saturday to spend time with the loved one's you have been ignoring for the past 5 Saturdays. Others might be downloading torrents of previous Cal games and running them on loop.

For everyone else, this is a great weekend to watch some fantastic games without the fear of possibly dropping dead from a heart attack like last week. Here is what to watch and why.

Wisconsin vs Illinois (Noon EST on ESPN)
With the Whiskys still hanging around (and I mean barely) as an undefeated, how they do in this game can affect Cal, possibly. If Wisconsin wins this one in a blow out, I can see some voters giving them a little bump in the polls. Illinois is coming off a big win against Penn St and is looking to be an outside contender for the Big Ten crown.
Prediction: Another undefeated bites the dust, Illinois over Wisconsin

Oklahoma vs Texas (3:30 EST on ESPN)
The Red River Shootout has lost some luster with both teams falling last week. The game will come down to which QB, OK's Sam Bradford or UT's Colt McCoy can bounce back from terrible outings last week.
Prediction: Oklahoma big over Texas, because I hate Mack Brown.

Georgia vs Tennessee (3:30 EST on CBS)
As Cal fans we must now root for Tennessee. Georgia has been playing well since its loss to South Carolina and has a great rushing attack. Tennessee can counter with Ainge running the no huddle offense and put points on the board.
Prediction: Tennessee over Georgia, to help with the strength of schedule.

Florida vs LSU (8:30 EST CBS)
As I understand it, in the spread offense, the QB puts the ball into the gut of the RB and has the option to hand it off or pull it out. In the Florida spread offense, the QB always keeps the ball. Tim Tebow is great but until one of the RB emerges the LSU defense will be focused only on stopping one player.
I would love to see Florida take it to LSU and hear more comments from Les Miles about how the SEC is too tough. But the LSU defense is looking too good right now.
Prediction: Florida over LSU, because then Cal is #2 in the nation.

USC vs Stanford (7:00 Versus)
Cal's natural rival, Stanfurd against Cal football's biggest rival, U$C. I think most fans want to see USC come to Berkeley undefeated to set up the biggest game at Memorial Stadium since who knows when.
I can not see anyway that Stanfurd keeps up with the Trojan. Particularly because Stanfurd HC Jim Harbaugh seems to have a way with pissing of USC HC Pete Carroll. This should be fun for Cal fans because it is always fun to watch Stanfurd get beaten down.
Prediction: USC in a blow out.

Personal Note

2007-10-02T12:08:00.001-07:00

Major props to my sister who just changed her Facebook profile pic to this...

Not sure why, but this video and soundtrack sum up how I feel this week. Something about a big win and having the #3 team in the nation. (Note: soundtrack lyrics NSFW)

Thanks for indulging me, hopefully fairviewbears will continue to provide actual analysis.

Tha1 Gameday Final Interview

2007-10-02T11:40:00.000-07:00

DeSean Jackson's post game interview on Gameday (embedding was disabled by the poster).

Listen to the Cal fans in the background. Awesome.

Memorial Stadium - Scary

2007-10-01T12:30:00.001-07:00

Bruce Feldman lists the top ten scariest place to play. Guess who made the list...

10. Cal, Memorial Stadium
Autzen Stadium is probably noisier than Cal's Memorial Stadium, but there is a little magic to this quirky place. Since 2003, the Bears have faced five ranked teams at home and knocked off four, including an upset of then-No. 1 USC in 2003 by a then-unranked Cal squad. Of course, Jeff Tedford deserves plenty of credit for that, too.

Addendum to the Game Recap Post

2007-10-01T00:09:00.000-07:00

One last quick comment on the game from last weekend (man what a game...no that's not the comment, wise ass). I forgot to mention that I think it's safe to officially dub the Cal v. oregon games as rivalry games from now on. The furds will always be our primary rival...and they remain the only team in the Pac 10 that I enjoy see losing. usc isn't really a rival as much as a target...I mean let's be honest, we haven't taken out usc enough to be considered their rivals.

But oregon is a different matter. Four out of the last five Cal v. oregon games have been extremely competitive, and of course there's the myriad connections between the two programs. Basically, I'm starting to really look forward to this game every year...both in anticipation of a great match up and also with a bit of trepidation because they always play us so hard. Every blogger and his momma has recapped how close the '03 and '05 games at oregon were, we all know that in '04 Cal was a dropped pass away from an upset loss, and this last game was the most unbelievable game I've ever watched.

The rivalry with the furd has more to do with proximity and overall institutional prestige/principles (ie. Cal is a public school with an impeccable academic reputation, and has made significant contributions to every facet of American life...while the furd is merely a snotty private school named after an industrialist robber baron who made his fortune and fame off the exploitation and subjugation of Chinese immigrants.) Man I hate them, but back to the point...oh yeah, the oregon game looks like it's going to be a helluva ride for the foreseeable future; let's just hope they keep ending like they did the last two years.

Hater in the House!

2007-09-30T22:55:00.000-07:00

An anonymous commenter (I'd give your blog a shout out, but you didn't leave a link!) on our blog alerted me to a glaring error in one AP voter's ballot for this week. While I'm not really all that wrapped up with rankings in general, what pisses me off the most is the fact that there is ZERO excuse for the voters missing this last game. It was a 3:30 Eastern kickoff, televised regionally on abc, but readily available outside the western region, and it featured the only match up on Saturday that had ranked opponents playing each other...not to mention all the national coverage the game got via ESPN. Yet there are clearly some pollsters out there that aren't doing their freaking jobs by any stretch of the imagination. Yeah, the polls are mostly garbage, and they aren't the fairest way of determining a national champion. But Bear fans know all too well the effects of shady pollsters. Hopefully these people learn how to properly do their jobs and this type of post won't have to be a regular thing...but here's a list of voting irregularities that I've found...(As a caveat, I couldn't find the records of the previous week's votes, so I don't know for sure how long these idiots have been undervaluing Cal.)

Incompetent #1:

Congratulations Bret Bloomquist of the El Paso (TX) Times. You're the clear winner of the "most incompetent voter" award. This genius cares so much about the quality of his reporting that he placed Cal @ #13 and Oregon @ #5. Either Mr. Bloomquist can't read a box score or a headline, doesn't know the difference between 13 & 3, or mixed up Cal & oregon's positions on his ballot. While the most likely answer is the last one, putting south florida @ #3 and ohio state above (Cal/Oregon) @ #5 is laughable as well.

Granted south florida pulled two big upsets so far this season, but the win at auburn didn't really shock that many and Friday's win over west virginia took place @ home (and WVU lost their starting QB during the second quarter). Again, I don't know where Mr. Bloomquist had south florida before this weekend, but I highly doubt that it was above where Cal was...even with all the losses in the top 10, I don't see south florida jumping above the #5 spot where it seemed he meant to place Cal.

As far as putting ohio state above Cal, there might be at least some justification for this vote...but that justification is based solely on the program prestige that ohio state enjoys. Based on what's transpired this season, there's absolutely no logical reason for voting ohio state over Cal. To illustrate, ohio state has victories over: Youngstown State(Div IAA...screw the new designation), 2 win Akron Zips, @ 2 win Washington Huskies, 2 win Northwestern, and @ 1 win Minnesota. Cal's victories over tennessee (then ranked # 15) at home, and #11 oregon @ oregon should alone be worth more than all of ohio state's wins combined. Even if you see the victory over Tennessee as a win over an unranked team (even though their only two losses came to Cal and florida), these facts remain unchanged...ohio state hasn't even played a ranked opponent...and the total wins of their BCS conference opponents is 5, whereas Cal's BCS conference opponents total 8 wins.

Incompetent #2 (3 tied):

Rodney McKissic of the Buffalo (NY) News (GO SEE ABOUT HIM MARSHAWN!) rates Cal as the #5 team in the nation behind wisconsin @ # 3 and ohio state @ #4. Not trying to be flippant, but what in the world is this guy smoking...seriously!? wisconsin has been even more unimpressive than ohio state. Not only have they played absolute nobodies (until this past game when they HOSTED michigan state (and barely won). But along with texas, wisconsin has been the most vastly overrated team in the nation. Their lone blowout (over 2 win washington state) was actually a 7 point game heading into the fourth quarter. Their average margin of victory over the likes of mighty unlv, citadel, iowa, and michigan state (ALL UNRANKED)...Seven lousy points! Cal might have had less than impressive wins over some bad teams, but they still were winning by more than a freakin touchdown, and oh yeah, they've beaten two ranked teams Mr. McKissic! Do your research please.

Ray Ratto of the San Francisco Chronicle and Scott Wolf of the Los Angeles Daily News. Ok, so these two only placed ohio state at #3 above Cal @ #4. But what really draws my ire is that these are west coast guys! Maybe they're just bitter because they work for terrible publications...maybe Ratto's surname comes from the rat and he's just trying uphold his family's reputation. Or maybe Ray "head up my ass" Ratto has a lover amongst the tree dwelers.

In the words of the great Johnny Drama "that's great, zero stars in my own hometown paper!?" What the hell Ratto, West Coast teams have a hard enough time with the rest of the idiots around the nation. Were you too busy wetting your pants in anticipation of the furd's next loss you jackass?!?!

I'm getting carried away here, but you all get the point...the logical arguments against ohio state being ranked above cal are in the section for incompetent #1...so no, I'm not just bashing them for not being homers.

Incompetent Honorable Mention (I've got my eye on you fools):

Chuck Banning of The Day of New London (CT)
Eric Hansen of the South Bend (IN) Tribune
Tom Keegan of the Lawrence (KN) Journal
Glenn Guilbeau of the Gannett Louisiana
Dave Birkett of the Oakland (MI) Press
Jon Giglio of the Raleigh News & Observer
Austin Ward of the Capser (WY) Star-Tribune

These voters were only guilty of putting ohio state at #3 and Cal at #4. I know that the list isn't extensive, and they might have always had ohio state above Cal...But I still can't see a logical reason for keeping ohio state above Cal after this weekend. And the fact that there are still 7 (11 total) writers that aren't giving Cal the proper respect is highly annoying (and it makes your betrayal all that more ignominious Ratto).

An Outlier shows Cal some love:

Joseph Hawk of the Las Vegas Review-Journal ranked Cal at #2 behind only lsu. As outrageous as this might seem to usc fans, based upon the results of the season thus far, Mr. Hawk's rankings are very legitimate.

All that being said, I again reiterate that the Polls are really more for fun than anything else at this point in the season...and the AP poll won't have an effect on the BCS standings or a Rose Bowl berth. But for a poll that deliberately split itself off from the BCS because it found the latter to be far too politically biased and untrustworthy, voters like these need to take a long hard look in the mirror. I think the only reason I'm coming down so hard on these AP guys is that my innermost hope is for a Cal Rose Bowl victory over an undefeated ohio state and an AP National Championship (knock on wood)...so don't screw it up!

On This Team, They Fight For That Inch

2007-09-30T18:16:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the delayed game recap, but as I’m sure that many Bear fans are just waking up from a night of well deserved celebration, maybe the delay isn’t so bad. Also, I’m assuming that the only Cal fans that haven’t already heard about yesterday’s thrilling 31-24 victory over then #11 oregon are those students and alumni doing work for the Peace Corps or Greenpeace in some remote corner of the world. During ESPN’s College Gameday pre-game show, venerable co-host Lee Corso made two predictions about the game. First, that the game was destined to become an instant classic, and second that the ducks would overcome the Golden Bears. Well Mr Corso, you were at least half right (and part of me actually believes that Corso secretly picked Oregon in order to jinx them). The hype leading up to this match up of top ranked teams was unbelievable, leading many to speculate that the game would never be able to live up to the expectations. Normally those cynics would have been correct, but on this Saturday, both teams combined to provide college football fans everywhere with a game for the ages. On a weekend where the mighty among the college football pantheon were being humbled, the Sturdy Golden Bears rose up to claim their place amongst the elite with the most significant win in the program’s recent history.

Game Recap

First Quarter

California began the game with the ball, and, as expected, the record setting crowd at Autzen Stadium was incredibly raucous. The Bears were equally determined to show that they could not be phased by the most hostile environment in the pac 10, and tried to go deep on the first play. Unfortunately, QB Nate Longshore threw incomplete to TE Cameron Morrah instead of hitting a wide open WR DeSean Jackson streaking down the middle. Oregon’s defense, energized by the near miss and by the outpouring of emotion from their home crowd, ratcheted up the pressure stopping the next two Cal plays for losses forcing a Cal punt.

The ducks began their first possession with excellent field position and began their drive by converting one third down on a nice scramble by QB Dennis Dixon and getting another third down via a 10 yard pass to RB Jeremiah Johnson. This time it was Cal’s defense that got the stop by the same sort of circumstances that oregon did earlier. A 7 yard tackle for loss and a near miss by Dixon to a wide open receiver ended the drive and the ducks punted.

Cal began their second possession from their own 14 yard line. The duck defense maintained their intensity and seemed determined to stuff the run. Nevertheless, Cal picked up three key first downs, and, although Cal punted, they were able to reverse field position when the punt was downed on the Oregon 8 yard line.

The specter of poor tackling seemed to raise its ugly head again as Jeremiah Johnson seemed stopped in the backfield but managed to break a big 26 yard run, and RB Jonathan Stewart later dragged a few tacklers for an 11 yard gain setting up Oregon on the Cal 16. The Bear defense escaped more close calls when Dixon ignored a wide open WR Cameron Colvin on 2^nd down, and threw behind an open TE Ed Dickson near the goal line. The ducks were forced to settle for a 32 yard field goal from PK Matt Evensen to open the scoring. Cal 0 – UO 3.

The first quarter came to an end after RB Justin Forsett was stopped for no gain yet again by a swarming duck defense. End of first quarter Cal 0 – UO 3.

Second Quarter

Cal did little else with the rest of their possession as the oregon defense did an excellent job of tackling and pressuring Longshore.

After giving up a first down on two quick runs by Stewart, the Bear defense stepped up and DL Cody Jones came up with another tackle for loss and good coverage on third down by freshman CB Chris Conte forced a punt.

The Bears put together their first scoring drive of the day on this possession. Cal looked very impressive on this drive, methodically picking up 5 first downs with a good balance of runs and passes. Unfortunately, Cal also bogged down in the redzone and were forced to attempt a 34 yard field goal from the oregon 17 yard line. Jordan Kay converted the attempt and tied the score. Cal 3 – UO 3.

Bad tackling helped the ducks drive to just past midfield, and a bad late hit out of bounds (albeit a borderline call) by DB Marcus Ezeff kept the oregon drive alive after they had failed to convert a 3^rd down. The ducks made the Bears pay when they cashed in on the penalty with a 15 yard reverse by WR Derrick Jones and a 5 yard TD run by Stewart. Cal 3 – UO 10.

The Bears last drive of the first half came to a quick end on a dropped pass by TE Craig Stevens, and the Bears were forced to punt. oregon was content to run out the clock to end the half. End of the first half Cal 3 – UO 10.

Third Quarter

The ducks began the second half with the ball but this time it was the Bear defense that came out fired up. Cal got good penetration by DLs Mika Kane and Cody Jones and LB Anthony Felder stopped oregon from converting a 3^rd and 1 forcing a punt.

Cal’s offense showed a new level of intensity themselves as they came out with positive plays on their first 7 plays of the drive. This time it was the Bears’ players breaking tackles and making people miss as Cal drove all the way down to the oregon 12 yard line. In what could be described as trying to get too fancy, the Bears lost some of the momentum when they ran a reverse to DeSean Jackson on 2^nd and 3 which resulted in a 4 yard loss. A bad no call on 3^rd down let the duck defender, who had grabbed DeSean Jackson, off the hook and set up a 33 yard field goal attempt. Jordan Kay seemed to convert, but yet another questionable call by the referees deemed it no good.

The Cal defense maintained its intensity and great tackling forced a quick three and out. The ducks committed a kick catching interference and set the Bears up with excellent field position.

With the momentum provided by the defensive stop and duck penalty, the Bears stormed down the filed on just 6 plays. Longshore connected on 4 of 5 pass attempts including a 25 yard touchdown pass to DeSean Jackson for the first Cal touchdown of the day. On the play, Jackson ran a beautiful post-corner route which completely turned around the oregon defender; leaving Jackson wide open. Cal 10 – UO 10.

Not to be outdone in their own house, the ducks showed their own big play potential by driving 74 yards on just 7 plays. WR Cameron Colvin streaked 42 yards through the middle of the Cal defense on 3^rd and 7, and outran safety Thomas DeCoud to take it to the house. Cal 10 – UO 17.

Past Cal teams might have folded at this point, but this incarnation of the Bears didn’t wilt one bit as they drove all the way down to the oregon 2 yard line by the end of the 3^rd quarter. The key plays on the drive were a huge 3^rd down conversion from Longshore to WR Lavelle Hawkins, and a 31 yard pass to DeSean Jackson. End of the third quarter Cal 10 – UO 17.

Fourth Quarter

After being stuffed on the QB keeper, RB Justin Forsett powered it in from a yard out for the tying touchdown. Cal 17 – UO 17.

The Bears dodged a huge bullet when QB Dennis Dixon overthrew his TE Ed Dickson who had beaten the coverage. Instead, the defense stuffed a 2^nd down run and forced an incompletion on 3^rd down bringing up another punt.

Lavelle Hawkins came through with yet another big 3^rd down coversion catch, and DeSean Jackson followed it with yet another 31 yard catch, this time for a touchdown. The TD catch was the offensive highlight of the day as Jackson took a 5 yard hitch to the house by paralyzing the duck defender with what he later called his “Hawkins move,” in reference to his fellow WR’s stutter step juke. Cal 24 – UO 17.

Cal got a chance to put the game away when freshman RB Jahvid Best came up with a fumble recovery on the ensuing kickoff. In a scene out of the Three Stooges, the two duck returners knocked each other away from the ball and Best’s blazing speed allowed him to be in perfect position to fly onto the loose ball. Unfortunately, Longshore overthrew Jackson on what would could have been a dagger of a TD. A holding penalty and a sack moved the Bears out of field goal range, and the ducks survived their first big gaffe.

On their next possession, the ducks showed that they are indeed an extremely resilient team. Starting deep inside their own territory, Dennis Dixon methodically moved the ducks down the field. The 10 play drive netted 91 yards was highlighted by a big 36 yard pass to WR J. Williams, and was capped off by a 1 yard run by Dixon for the tying score. Cal 24 – UO 24.

Momentum seemed to be shifting entirely towards the duck side after a low hit on QB Nate Longshore knocked him from the game. Not surprisingly, the Bears ran on the next two plays and were stuffed by a defense fully aware that the run was coming.

Oregon began from deep inside their own territory after another great special teams play by Jahvid Best. Luckily for the Bear defense, Dennis Dixon picked the worst time possible for his first interception of the season. On the very first play, Dixon found a wide open LB Anthony Felder across the middle giving the Bears the ball back at the oregon 21 yard line.

Nate Longshore, hobbled by an ankle injury, limped back into the starting lineup and the Bears rode the legs of Justin Forsett into the endzone for the go ahead touchdown. Cal 31 – UO 24.

The remaining 3 minutes and 11 seconds of the game felt more like 3 days and 11 hours. The Bear defense, depleted of depth by injuries coming into the game and exhausted by the relentless attack of the duck offense, began to give up big chunks of yardage. In fact, the ducks drove all the way from their own 33 to the Cal 17 on just 3 plays. But the Bear defense came up huge again when Mika Kane tipped a Dixon pass into the waiting arms of Tyson Alualu forcing yet another turnover.

To the credit of the ducks, they became the first defense to stop the Cal running game in crunch time. In every game prior to this one, the Bears were able to come up with punishing runs in order to finish out games. The duck defenders came up huge by forcing a three and out giving their potent offense one last chance with just under two minutes remaining. (Yes I’m aware that they probably were more able to load up on the run b/c they knew Longshore was lame…but still credit goes to their defense).

On the ducks’ final drive, Dixon proved that he has indeed matured and become a deadly quarterback compared to the collapse he displayed last year. Luckily, the Bears showed that they matured as well. The ducks drove all the way to the Cal 5 yard line, and seemed destined to at least tie the game. But first half goat Marcus Ezeff changed all that when he became the hero of the game by forcing a fumble from Cameron Colvin that fortuitously bounced into the endzone resulting in a touchback.

Cal ended the game in the victory formation for the kneel down, and that knee sealed one for the history books. Final Score Cal 31 – UO 24.

First things First

Ok before I get into my thoughts on the game, I’m going to give a very perfunctory overview of all the things that the cynics/realists will point out about this game. Yes, they’re all true…but I just can’t justify focusing on them until at least next week.

1) This is only a big win if followed up by more victories

2) The Bears suffered injuries to some very key players (ie Longshore and Hawkins came up a little lame)

3) USC’s still out there

4) Most of the remaining road games are in very difficult venues(asu, fucla, uw)

5) The Bears still don’t have a defense to sustain a National Championship run (let alone win a championship game).

It’s a Celebration Bitches! Enjoy Yourselves!

Just to be clear, I’m not calling anyone a bitch, just using a funny line from the Chappelle show. But seriously, let’s all put our Cal fan paranoia aside and soak in how momentous this victory was. All the shortcomings of the Cal program, pointed out both by haters and by legitimately concerned fans, were put to bed on Saturday. Let’s see…

1) Tedford can’t win the big in-conference game…DONE!

2) Tedford can’t win on the road against a ranked opponent…DONE!

3) The Bears are too inconsistent to win in a hostile environment…DONE!

4) The Bears always collapse late in big games and can’t come from behind…DONE!

5) The Bears haven’t had a complete game this year…DONE!

6) Longshore can’t throw worth a damn away from the comfortable confines of Strawberry Canyon…DONE!

7) DeSean isn’t the same play maker at WR this year…DONE!

8) Our kick coverage can’t contain good returners…DONE!

9) Our defense is suspect and incapable of coming up with game saving plays…DONE!

The Offense

If I were doing grades for each part of the offense, I don’t know how I could give anything other than A’s all around. Granted, it’s because we won…but still, after re-watching the game on TV, I think that nearly every player on offense came up huge. The oregon defense might not have been that highly rated coming into this contest, but they were definitely playing like champions, especially early in the game. Energized by the largest crowd ever in the State of Oregon, the ducks were flying around in the first half and tackling everything in sight. They even managed to put more pressure on Longshore than he’s had in any other game this year.

(Longshore, the O-Line, & the Recievers)

Thankfully, our big O-line managed to make sure that the pressure was still relatively limited. More importantly, Longshore never got rattled by the pressure or by the crowd(even after he got hurt), and his leadership showed up big time Saturday. The Bears managed to weather the early onslaught of the supercharged ducks, and in the second half they started to assert themselves. Longshore’s role in this cannot be overstated. All throughout the game, he made great reads, and didn’t force very many throws. The O-line, as I mentioned above, gave Longshore time to repeatedly look deep and then check down to safer options. Most importantly, he connected on the home run balls to Jackson.

Seven different receivers came up with receptions on the day, and, even though DeSean Jackson rightfully will get the most credit, you can’t overlook how many big drive sustaining catches the other receivers had. The most notable non-DeSean catches were the two big third down conversions by Hawkins, and the 12 yard catch and run by backup full back Zack Smith. The Hawkins catches were huge because they came later in the game, were on scoring drives, and were both immediately followed by 31 yard catches by DeSean Jackson. I highlighted the fullback reception mostly b/c I love how Tedford makes use of our fullbacks, and it was great to know that we have a reliable backup at that position (For those that still doubt the usefulness of fullbacks, please review old 49ers footage, or how usc uses its fullbacks).

I don’t know exactly how to describe DeSean Jackson’s performance. It seemed like literally every time that we needed a big catch, Jackson came through for the Bears. It’s hard to tell from TV angles whether or not the ducks were defending him differently than previous teams, if it was simply the healed thumb, or if it was just a special performance by a special player. My guess is that it’s a little bit of all three, and whatever the reason, thank God we have a game changing receiver like Jackson. Just as impressive as the highlight reel 31 yard stutter step/accelerate touchdown grab was the fact that DeSean was active as a blocker in the run game. Bottom line, the superstar Junior had his finest and most complete game as a receiver to date, and he did it when the Bears needed it most.

(The O-Line & The RB’s)

Like I said above, the crowd in oregon was crazy as usual, and they definitely fired up their defense. The first half wasn’t pretty for the ground game, and the ducks successfully limited the Bears to just 31 yards in the first half. The second half was an entirely different story as the Bears gained 84 yards and two touchdowns as the Justin Forsett and the O-Line continued to pound away. You’ve got to give credit to Tedford for sticking to the run despite the lack of success in the first half. Especially considering the fact that the passing game was clicking so much also in the second half. It would have been very tempting to keep chucking it on every play, but, offensive mastermind that he is, Tedford maintained a great level of balance and it paid off big time.

As overrated as time of possession is as an indicator or success, it is a very telling stat when it comes to the effectiveness of the ground game. Without the success of the ground game in the second half, it’s almost a forgone conclusion that Oregon wins that game. Our defense was running on fumes in the last half of the fourth quarter, and I’m positive that the few extra minutes of rest that they got via the ground game were the difference between Ezeff making the play at the last possible moment and making it one step too late.

While this game was undoubtedly the Forsett show, the two freshmen phenoms and the backup fullback still got into the mix. Jahvid Best’s best performances came on special teams today, but he showed that he can be a good change of pace back for Forsett. Montgomery made his first baby steps in getting out of Tedford’s dog house with a tough 6 yard gain on his only carry. Again, props go to backup fullback Zack Smith for his solid performance.

The Defense

The old bend but don’t break was tested to its limits this game, but it came through nonetheless. There are still some issues with tackling, but when you consider how explosive the oregon ducks are, the effort of the defense was really a very remarkable thing. Granted, the Bear defense benefited from some bad throws in the first half by Dennis Dixon, but to hold that team to just 10 points at home was incredible. What makes that first half performance even better is that the offense was sputtering for most of the first half which put a ton of pressure on our D to keep the game close. Even when they were almost completely gassed late in the game, our defense managed to come up with the biggest plays of the game. These guys had been killing themselves for more than three quarters when our starting QB got injured. The Felder interception gave the offense a short field and set up the game winning touchdown. And Longshore’s injury again placed the pressure squarely on our defense to preserve a lead that looked unlikely to grow. They responded beautifully by intercepting another pass and forcing a fumble on the last meaningful play of the game. The trojans might have a more talented offense on paper, but as of right now, the duck offense is the best in the conference, maybe the country (behind only our Bears) and our defense held them to just 24 points at home. Awesome awesome effort.

(The Front Seven)

From looking at the box score, the first thing that jumped out at me was the high number of total tackles shared by the three starting LB’s (9,9, and 8). Although none of them notched a large number of solo’s, the assisted tackles tells me that there was a lot of swarming to the ball going on, which is a good thing. (Granted, some of the assists were because the first defender wasn’t able to take down the ball carrier alone). Williams continued his excellent play in the middle, Felder had that monstrously huge interception, and Mohamed did a more than adequate job considering he’s really a third option behind Follett and Moye.

As usual in Gregory’s scheme, the D-Line was tasked with playing the run and containing the outside rather than pass rushing, and, despite having limited depth, they performed very well. Dixon did manage to scramble out of some tight situations, but he wasn’t ever able to break huge gainers. On one occasion when he did escape, D-Lineman Mika Kane, who provided the initial pressure, showed great determination in tracking down the elusive QB. Backup Cody Jones had 3 big tackles for loss, and my favorite D-lineman Tyson Alualu came up with a huge interception off of a tipped pass by Kane.

We’ve been telling everyone all season that this D-Line has the potential to be something special despite the loss of three starters (including All-American Brandon Mebane, who notched his first NFL Sack last week against Caron Palmer). They’ve shown flashes against some inferior opponents thus far, and received little credit because of the way Gregory asks them to play (ie. not huge sack numbers). But the job that they did against this offense should be enough to show that they are for real, and, more importantly, continuing to improve.

(The Secondary)

Off the top of my head, I can only think of two really bad plays by the secondary all game. The first being the late hit out of bounds by Ezeff, and the second is the 42 yard TD catch by Cameron Colvin. Two bad plays against an offense as explosive as the ducks is not bad at all. Again, the secondary gave up big yardage and a big number of completions, but they managed to make plays when it counted for the most part. Marcus Ezeff is turning into a great player, and that was my assessment a few weeks ago. He led the team this week with 8 solo tackles (tied with two others for the lead with 9 total tackles), and of course he had the game saving play with the forced fumble at the end. Thomas DeCoud had a relatively quiet game, but as the leader of the defense he still gets a lot of credit. Bernard Hicks had a couple of very nice plays and finished with 6 tackles (5 solo) and a tackle for loss. The only bad performance by the DB’s can easily be turned into a positive (especially by someone like me with a penchant for clinging to the bright side). Freshman Chris Conte got somewhat of a baptism by fire when he saw some action. He gave up one big pass completion and also got completely bowled over by an oregon running back. But the bright side is that he didn’t give up any scoring plays, and the experience he gained from playing in a game of this magnitude is going to pay off later on down the road.

Special Teams

As I think that the refs blew the call on Kay’s second field goal attempt, I’m going to say that Kay had another great game for the Bears. This was a pressure packed game, and the backup walk-on kicker came through. Honestly, when it comes to kickers, especially backup kickers, I’m just praying that the guy makes the PAT. Kay has done a whole lot more than that so far this season, and he was big for us again this week.

Andrew Larson got a lot more work than I would have liked, but he also came through big for the Bears. Great punt coverage provided by Jahvid Best helped to make Larson’s average come out to a net of 38 yards, and he put 4 of his 7 punts inside the 20 with no touchbacks. Larson also did a good job on kickoffs this week, again with help from great coverage from our special teamers and terrible communication by the oregon side.

Final Thoughts

Looking back at this game, and also at this post, I realize that there’s really nothing I can say that sums up how incredible a win it was. It was an insane weekend for college football in general, and some will cite one of the upsets as more remarkable…but that’s bull. Yes maybe if you weigh all the upsets together versus our one game, that’s more crazy, but on a game by game basis, nothing tops Cal @ oregon. All the hype and pressure leading up to the game…all that was on the line for both teams…the frenzied record breaking crowd in football savy oregon…the implications of the game on the BCS…And then how the game unfolded…defensive struggle, offensive shootout, a big injury to the starting QB and his heroic return, defenders that are dead on their feet making huge plays…how do you top that?

While Kirk Herbstreit was covering the usc @ uw game, he commented that despite the loss he would still rank oregon at #5 in the nation. According to him, oregon would beat any other team that he matched them up against other than the four teams he ranked above them…and where was Cal? He had them sitting pretty at number 3 BEFORE the florida game went final. I know that’s only one analyst’s take on it, but I’m offering it as corroboration of what might be seen as a Pac-10/Cal biased view (mine).

Cal didn’t get lucky, they made the plays that were there to be made when they had the opportunity. The ducks weren’t overrated or just have a subpar performance. To paraphrase Dennis Green…they are who we thought they were, and we forced that subpar performance. Autzen is rightly regarded as one of the hardest places to win in the country and they had set a record for attendance on Saturday…Cal had only ONE false start. The Bears had earned themselves the dubious reputation of not being able to close out tough games on the road…well now they’ve earned a classic victory, and the #3 ranking in the nation to boot.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t give enormous props to the Cal faithful who made it to the game up in Eugene. Great job being there to support our guys, and the rest of us will forever be jealous that you guys will be the only ones able to say that you witnessed the win in person. As great as the action in the game was to see, it was almost as gratifying to hear, “you know it, you tell the story, you tell the whole damn world this is Bear territory,” wafting up from the stands after the game. It was also great to see the faithful rallying behind the Game Day stage during the post-game wrap up…mad props to you guys. Go Bears!!!

Damn, it still feels good

2007-09-30T07:55:00.001-07:00

Crazy game yesterday. I was at a bar in NYC with a ton of Cal fans and the entire place was going crazy. Celebrated the big win all night. Woke up this morning and thought, damn, it still feels good. A little shout out to the Cal fans that made it to Eugene (can't imagine what the roller coaster ride was like live.)

Recap later today. #3 California Golden Bears. Wow.

Oregon's offense vs Cal's defense

2007-09-28T08:11:00.000-07:00

Continuation from previous post. We are taking the Cal vs Oregon preview by Addicted to Quack, a Oregon Duck's blog and responding to Dave's analysis.

Oregon's Offense vs. Cal's Defense

"We all know what Cal's gameplan was last year. Stack the box, shut down the running game, and force Dixon to beat you. And we all know what the result was. Many Cal fans seem to think that the same thing will happen with the same result. There is a lot of reason to believe that won't happen. We all know that Dixon and Stewart are better and Stewart is much healthier. Plus, the dynamics of shutting down our running game are different than they were a year ago."

The Stewart is much healthier statement confuses me. The week before last year's game against Cal, Stewart rushed for 142 yards on 14 carries. The week after last year's game, he rushed for 121 yards on 20 carries. Was the injury only for the Cal game?

Seriously, Stewart is a fantastic running back. He leads the conference in rushing and the key to stopping the Duck's offense is to stop Stewart. Easier said than done but it is possible. Focus on stopping Stewart and force Dixon to beat the defense. If he can do that, than Oregon deserves to win the game.

But Cal's personnel has as much to do with it as anything. They lost three all-conference players from last year--Hughes, Mebane, and Bishop. They lost seven starters overall, so there really is a lot of newer players on this defesnse. Only Matthew Malele returns on the line (he will play this week), and Rulon Davis won't play. And while Cal has great linebackers, their depth is severely limited due to the fact that their best defensive player, Zack Follett, probably won't play. At the pace Oregon plays, the lack of depth on the line and at linebacker are one of the biggest advantages that Oregon has over the California defense.

One thing I do like about Dave is that he knows his stuff. He looks at injury reports and really looks at how that can affect a team. At times this year, Cal's defense has been better than last year's. Even with the big names, last year's defense was not dominating. This year, the squad seems to be playing better together. The injuries worry me but I think Cal can step it up.

In the secondary, Mike Decoud is a very good safety. But Brandon Hampton should not be able to hang with our receivers, and Syd'Quan Thompson is prone to giving up the big play. Cal's secondary gives up a lot of yards, and opponents complete 66% against the Bears. A lot of it is nickel and dime stuff as Cal has the same "bend but don't break mentality." The biggest difference is that our pace will really exploit the injuries in their defense, and cause them to tire. They also have to worry about Dixon's legs as well as his feet. Oregon's offense should get stronger as the game goes on and the Cal defense tires.

The secondary is inexperienced but they keep everything in front of them so big plays are rare. But this Oregon offense is explosive and will severely challenge a new Cal defense with some injury problems.

There is a section on Special Teams but it is laughable.
[Update: Addicted to Quack gives this as partial reasoning for Oregon's advantage in special teams.

"Cal ranks 98th in the nation in covering kickoff returns. Oregon ranks eighth in the country in kickoff returns. This means that the Ducks should be able to start their drives in excellent field position."

He fails to mention that Oregon ranks 96th in covering kicks while Cal ranks 11th in kickoff returns. I guess you can call that an advantage however minor it might be.]

Before last year's game, Addicted To Quack had this post: Oregon's Offense: Simply Amazing

The best part, in reference to Jeremiah Johnson and Jonathan Stewart:

"Has ever a team had not one, but two running backs who have been this dominant? Auburn had Cadillac Williams and Ronnie Brown a few years back, but their number weren't this insane. And they are only sophomores? Let me wipe the drool from my mouth."

Yes, last year has no bearing on this year. But I think you see why Cal fans are less inclined to be swayed by your pre game "analysis".

Cal offense vs Oregon defense - Response

2007-09-28T07:15:00.000-07:00

Addicted to Quack, a Oregon Duck's blog, is actually a very good blog and Dave does a good job of analyzing the Cal vs Oregon game. (Though he does call us arrogant. I guess that is why we are all fans of our own schools.) Let's take a look at Dave's analysis and add our take to it. (Part 1)

Cal offense vs Oregon defense

"We all know that Oregon has trouble stopping the run, and I expect a steady dose of Justin Forsett this game. However, Forsett has been a bit banged up himself this year, as has his offensive line. And his fullback, Will Ta'ufo'ou has a torn PCL. He probably will play, but a torn knee ligament has to limit your effectiveness. Try to limit the big plays in the run game, but I would attack the weakness of their offense, and that's the passing game."

I think most people will agree that Cal will get rushing yards in this game. I guess when you can't stop the run you gotta try to stop the pass. But to call the passing game the weakness of the Cal offense is absurd.

"While our offensive line doesn't do great against the run, they have a great pass rush. Longshore isn't the most mobile guy out there, so I would throw a variety of blitzes at him and try to get him to pass under pressure. Our defensive backs are the strength of the defense, and I like their chances against the Cal receivers, especially with DeSean Jackson not at 100%."

My response:

Yeah, I like the chances of Oregon's DB's on Cal's receivers. I hope the Ducks "attack" the passing game with blitzes and go one on one on the corners.

"Cal's depth behind Forsett at RB is limited, as Best and Montgomery have both seen very limited action (13 and 19 carries, respectively). And I don't think that Forsett can do a Mike Hart and run the ball 45 times. That means Cal is going to have to pass, and when they do, I'd try and make Longshore's life a living hell."

I agree that Forsett is not a 45 carry guy. But he can handle 25 carries a game and the depth is solid. Best has limited carries because everytime he touches the ball he takes it to the house. These freshmen need to learn how to kill the clock and not break off a long run everytime.

"Another thing that we have going for us is that the game is at Autzen. Despite the fact that many Cal fans want to downplay the home field advantage, they're only fooling themselves. Longshore has a history of not playing well in hostile venues. And Cal had 14 penalties last week. While most of those were on defense, we know Autzen is always good for a couple of false starts a game."

Definitely agree with this point. Autzen is a difficult place to play and Longshore has struggle on the road. (Although Cal did just start showing the Wildcat formation where Forsett is taking direct snaps, so even this might not be a problem. That is a joke.)

"Forsett will get a ton of yards, no doubt about that. But Cal hasn't yet faced a team that combines a good pass rush and really good secondary. As long as our secondary can keep Lavelle Hawkins from getting open over the middle, we should be able to limit their passing game and put a lot of pressure on their running game to keep up with our offense. Its Aliotti defense. We might bend with the running game, but our secondary should prevent us from breaking. Basically, see the Michigan game."

Dave's makes some good analysis overall and it is true that this is the only hope for the Duck's to slow down the Cal offense. But one of two scenarios is more likely.
- Either Oregon bulks up their weak run defense by stacking the box with safeties and leave their corners in man coverage alone. This will result in Nate and Co having a field day.
- Or, Oregon rolls their safeties over to help in the passing game and get hit by the big running plays. (Forsett and Best both over 100 yards with a couple TD's each)

(The next post is Part II, Oregon's Offense vs Cal's Defense)

Keys to beating Oregon

2007-09-27T09:07:00.001-07:00

Some keys to beating Oregon and why Cal will be able to do it, easily.

- Control the clock by running the ball
Cal has a fantastic trio of running backs led by Justin Forsett. Cal will definitely be able to run the ball against a porous Oregon run defense. Oregon let Houston RB Anthony Alridge run for 205 yards on 22 carries. The guy had almost 300 total yards. Expect more of the same from Cal's running backs with 2 of them breaking the 100 yard yard mark.

- Bend but don't break defense
It seems like most Cal fans hate the bend but don't break defense. But it works well against a spread offense like Oregon's. Keep the ball in front of you and make tackles. Oregon is all about big plays (just take a look at their play logs from previous games) and those need to be minimized.
Cal needs to make Dixon uncomfortable and force him to dink and dunk down the field. Eventually, Dixon will try to force something and that is when turnovers occur. Dixon throw his first two interception of the season against Cal.

- Kill the crowd with a big play
Autzen is a very tough place to play. Oregon fans understand how their voices can really affect the game. So, they need to be neutralized early.
Cal's offense can produce big plays that really deflate a crowd. Whether that is a DeSean Jackson punt return, a Lavelle Hawkins kick off return or an electrifying run by Jahvid Best, these plays can really take a crowd out of the game.

- Limit Jonathon Stewart to under 100 yards and force Dixon to win the game
Honestly, Dixon has yet to prove to me that he is a new player. He got off to a fast start last season and then nothing.
Cal needs to limit Stewart to short runs like they did in 2006. The Bear's run defense, contrary to what people may think, is actually solid. Now that Malele is back, the Bear's should be able to control the trenches. Tackling machines Worrell Williams and Anthony Felder will fill the gaps and stop the run game. Also, Cal has two of the best tackling safeties in the conference in Ezeff and Decoud.

To those that think I am too optimistic, I get it. Cal has yet to play a complete game, the defense gives up too many yards, and so on.
But, this is a great Cal team and rather than looking for reasons why Cal will not win the game, look for reason why Cal will win the game. It is refreshing. Go Bears!!!

Excellent Cal vs Oregon Analysis

2007-09-25T14:10:00.001-07:00

From Todd McShay at ESPN. It is an Insider article so I am posting the whole thing for those without. It is interesting to read about the growth of Dennis Dixon, but more importantly, there are some great insights into Coach Gregory's defensive schemes against Oregon last year. Enjoy.

Dixon looking to rebound from '06 loss to Cal

Life was good in Eugene, Ore., at this very same point last year. The Ducks entered their Oct. 7, 2006, date at Cal with an unblemished record through four games and the future looking bright for junior quarterback Dennis Dixon, who had completed 65 percent of his attempts with a touchdown-to-interception ratio of six-to-two. But it took a short 45 seconds -- on the Ducks' first offensive play from scrimmage -- for the entire climate to change. It took just 45 seconds for that feeling of promise to turn to panic.

What went wrong
On the Ducks' first offensive play from scrimmage, Dixon was intercepted by Cal's Brandon Hampton and returned to the Oregon 7-yard line. It was all downhill from that point on. It didn't take long to realize Cal's defensive game plan. Instead of sitting back and reacting to Dixon's moves, the Bears dictated the tempo. Defensive coordinator Bob Gregory was aggressive and gave Dixon a lot of complex reads to make as a passer. It took too long for Dixon to process the information, which led to most of his problems. In addition to sacking Dixon twice, Cal's defense was consistently in the quarterback's face when he went to throw and made him pay for holding onto the ball too long by repeatedly knocking him to the turf. Cal's defensive line got good penetration on its own, especially up the middle. Also, the Ducks couldn't seem to find an answer for LB Zack Follett, who made a huge impact -- both against the run and as a pass rusher -- as seemingly a designated blitzer throughout the game. Instead of becoming conservative with the lead, Cal simply turned up the heat. In fact, during five second-quarter possessions that I charted, Cal rushed at least five defenders on nine of Oregon's 11 designed passing plays (10 passes, one sack). The two times the Bears didn't blitz, they crowded the line with eight defenders to give Dixon the impression they were coming, only to back off into a Cover 2 zone with four rushing and seven dropping. One common counter to an overaggressive defense is to use a screen pass to catch it out of position. I credit Oregon for trying, but I give more credit to Cal's defenders for instinctively sniffing it out and swallowing up the receiver immediately. By loading up the line of scrimmage, Cal's mind-set was to stuff the run on its way to pressuring the quarterback. Once Oregon got behind it was much harder to maintain the type of run-pass balance it wanted. The end result was RB Jonathan Stewart, who entered that game as the Pac-10's leading rusher, mustering only 25 yards on 18 carries.

The fallout
Dixon threw three interceptions in the 45-24 loss at Cal. Adding to the embarrassment was the fact that Dixon, who grew up 15 miles from Berkeley, had 60 friends and family members in attendance to witness the debacle.

Oregon melted down in all three phases of the game -- offense, defense and special teams. The Ducks offensive line did a poor job of communicating versus the blitz, Stewart lost a fumble early in the second quarter and one of Dixon's three picks bounced directly off the hands of Dante Rosario. The defensive secondary had multiple breakdowns, including a first-quarter 36-yard yard touchdown connection from QB Nate Longshore to WR/RS DeSean Jackson. The punt cover team was also burned by Jackson for a 65-yard score. As is typically the case, though, Oregon's quarterback shouldered most of the blame -- and Dixon would never regain his confidence in 2006. Finally, after tossing 11 interceptions during a seven-game stretch -- four of those contests were losses -- coach Mike Bellotti benched Dixon in favor of backup QB Brady Leaf for the final two games.

Repeat or rebound
Dixon already has thrown for 932 yards and 11 touchdowns and run for 291 yards and four scores. More impressive than any of those numbers is the zero that currently resides in Dixon's interception column. Sure, an argument can be made that Dixon hasn't faced top-notch competition and that he's just as vulnerable to a collapse versus Cal this time around as he was a year ago. After breaking down last year's game tape against Cal and comparing it to tape of Dixon so far this season, here's my argument against it.

• Decisive … So far this season, Dixon has shown no signs of the indecisiveness that plagued him in last year's loss to Cal. Dixon seems to be much more comfortable with the reads new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly is asking him to make and he doesn't lock on to his primary target like before. Completion distribution is typically a good indicator of whether or not a quarterback is seeing the entire field. So far this season, Dixon is acing that test with 10 different teammates getting in on the pass-catching action, including six players with six or more receptions through four games.

• … yet patient. Although Dixon is clearly making quicker decision, he's doing so without panicking. There's a big difference. A year ago if Dixon's primary target didn't break open, his first instinct was to tuck the ball and run. Now that he is seeing the entire field and understands his progressions, Dixon isn't afraid to hang in the pocket while checking down to his second and third reads.

• Better balance. Kelly is doing a better job of balancing out the attack by focusing more on the run this season. He's also playing to Dixon's strengths by incorporating even more shotgun read-option into the equation than the team ran a year ago under Gary Crowton. Stewart is a home run threat at the running back position (as seen on his long of 88 yards) and he's also big and strong enough to wear a defense down during the course of a game. Stewart's backup, Jeremiah Johnson, is also a talented runner who is averaging 5.7 yards per carry. With Stewart, Dixon and Johnson handling most of the 38.8 carries per game thus far, Oregon's offense has become more of a physical, ball-control unit.

• Maturity. Instead of sticking around to work out with the football team, Dixon spent most of his summer playing minor league baseball in Orlando. When things didn't go as well on the baseball diamond as planned, it seemed to refocus Dixon on football. It seems this experience provided a much-needed wake-up call for Dixon. Since his return to Eugene, coaches and teammates have noticed significant improvements in Dixon's work ethic and confidence. Now when things go wrong during the course of a game, Dixon not only displays the mental toughness and maturity to shrug it off, but also the leadership skills to keep his teammates positive.

• Better situation. Playing in the familiar confines of Autzen Stadium will make presnap audibles and overall communication that much easier for Dixon and Oregon's offense. Furthermore, Cal's defense could be undermanned on Saturday. Defensive linemen Matt Malele and Rulon Davis both were sidelined with foot injuries in last week's win over Louisiana Tech, and Follett missed the first game of his career with a stinger. Malele, Davis and Follett combined for 26 tackles in Cal's first three games this season -- and, as mentioned, Follett played a big role as a pass-rusher in last year's contest. Cal's defense was able to stay fast by keeping fresh. With questions regarding the health of three key contributors, keeping the pass-rush heat on Dixon won't be nearly as easy this time around.

• Bottom line: Oregon might not come out on top of Saturday's Pac-10 showdown, but I would be shocked if Dixon is the reason.

Cal vs Oregon

2007-09-24T13:52:00.000-07:00

An excerpt from the pre game notes...

A Look at the Ducks
Oregon continues to assert itself as one of the top programs in the Pac-10. The Ducks have posted a 4-0 record this season, using a high-powered offensive attack which leads the conference in scoring (40.2), total offense (497.0) and rushing (227.5). However, they also have shown defensive prowess, holding opponents to just 145.2 passing yards per game (tops in the Pac-10). Oregon's running back combo of sophomores Jonathan Stewart and Jeremiah Johnson have been very effective, combining for 174.7 yards per game and eight touchdowns. At quarterback, junior Dennis Dixon has completed 89-of-137 passes for 1,032 yards (Pac-10 best 258.0 yards per game) and six touchdowns with just two interceptions. Sophomore receiver Jaison Williams has 28 catches for 462 yards to lead the Pac-10 with 115.5 receiving yards per outing. Defensively, senior linebacker Blair Phillips leads the Pac-10 with 10.0 tackles per game. Sophomore rover Patrick Chung has 27 tackles on the year. The Ducks have allowed just one sack all season while tallying 12 of their own. They have outscored opponents by 81 points in four games.

Damn, actually that was from last year, 2006. But it looks and sounds mighty similar to this year. Wait... how did that game turn out? Oh yeah, 45-24, Cal over Oregon.

The point is that we have seen this from Oregon before...
- 4-0 start
- Unstoppable offense
- Dennis Dixon has finally turned the corner and will not lose his job to Ryan Leaf's brother.
- Jonathon Stewart is establishing himself as the premier back in the Pac 10
- Blah, blah, blah

Oregon will be tough, especially at home, but let's just say I am not sold on them yet.

Cal vs Arizona

2007-09-21T13:18:00.000-07:00

Why Cal will win?
- Cal is looking to redeem itself from last season's loss to Arizona
- Cal is playing at home.
- Arizona lost to New Mexico (at home)
- Mike Stoops is becoming Karl Dorrell-ish in his coaching abilities

Why Cal might lose?
- Cal decides to play 9 on 11 to save players for the Oregon game (seriously I think Cal could win playing 10 on 11).
- Nate Longshore attempts passes only with his left arm.
- Coach Tedford decides to call only one play all game, the QB kneel down.

What to watch for?
- DeSean Jackson WR Cal vs Antoine Cason DB Arizona
Both grew up in LBC and know each other socially. Both are rated #1 at their respective positions. Both had big games last year.

- Willie Tuitama QB Arizona vs Anthony Felder LB Cal
Arizona is now running a spread offense and passes a lot. The DB's will be tested but the linebackers will be forced to cover shallow crossing patterns and RB's out in the flat. Felder needs to continue his great play especially if Follett sit out the game.

- Lavelle Hawkins WR Cal vs 1 yard line
Hawkins tripped over himself at the 1 yard line in last years game costing the Bear's a TD. He is looking to redeem himself this year. Also, he wants Cal fans to join him in his Hawk dance.

- Conservative game plan
Again, why open up the playbook too much before the Oregon game? But expect some big gain from Cal's playmakers off some of these "unimaginative" plays.

Go Bears!

This was interesting...

2007-09-20T17:53:00.001-07:00

In another attempt to rank the conferences and focus on the SEC vs Pac 10 conference battle, SI writer Bill Trocchi did an interesting experiment. (Click here for full article)

For this particular exercise, I forwarded Ken White, the senior oddsmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants, 10 hypothetical matchups. Keep in mind that White's company sets the odds for 90 percent of the casinos in Nevada. These matchups were created by the following: The teams in the SEC and Pac-10 were ranked 1-12 and 1-10 based on SI.com's current 119. In an effort to be as balanced as possible, the SEC's sixth and seventh teams (Arkansas, Kentucky) were thrown out. So the top five teams in the SEC were matched up against the top five teams in the Pac-10, and the bottom five teams in the SEC were matched up against the bottom five teams in the Pac-10. Seems fair, right?

White then provided his line for each game, should the teams meet this Saturday on a neutral field. Here are the results:

USC over LSU by 3.
Florida over Cal by 3½.
Oregon over Alabama by 3.
South Carolina over Washington by 8½.
Arizona State over Georgia by 1.
Tennessee over Washington State by 7.
UCLA over Vanderbilt by 7.
Oregon State over Mississippi State by 7.
Auburn over Arizona by 4.
Ole Miss, Stanford is a pick-'em.

- I am surprised that he picked Florida to beat Cal by only 3.5 points. The way the Florida has been playing I would have thought that would be closer to 5 or 6 points.
- Utah over Vandy by 45
- Would anyone even want to watch Ole Miss play Stanfurd?

So many weapon...

2007-09-19T14:05:00.000-07:00

But only one ball. We wrote last week about wanting to see DeSean Jackson get the ball more. There have also been quite a few comments from Cal fans about getting Jahvid Best the ball more. So we broke down last week's game to see how Cal distributes the ball. (Note: I did this pretty quickly using Yahoo's game log so the numbers could be off. I also omitted the Kevin Riley sequence at the end of the game.)

Totals
Number of plays = 66
Rushing plays = 33
Passing plays = 33

Comment: You have to love the balance of Tedford's offense.

Rushing Plays

Forsett	23
Best	3
Montgomery	2
Ta'ufo'ou	2
Jackson	1
Z Smith	1
Longshore	1

Comment:
Forsett should average 20-25 carries/game as the featured back. This game, he was right in that range. Best only had 3 carries but with his skills everyone wants to see him get more touches. But to get Jahvid more touches it requires taking away opportunities from other players.
Do you take carries away from Forsett? Best coming on a reverse means that Jackson is not. Also, there will always be a couple hand offs to the fullback for the tough yards and to keep the defense honest. (Check out this post on California Golden Blogs to understand that last statement better.)

Passing Plays

(Incompletions)	10
Hawkins	6
Jordan	6
Jackson	5
Stevens	2
(Sack)	1
Best	1
Young	1
Ta'ufo'ou	1

Comment:
The big 3 WR's got an equal number of catches. I think the expectation is 15-20 catches between the big 3.
The TE combo had 2 catches (both to Stevens). I think the TE's should get about 2-5 catches per game.
Best had 1 catch, that went for a touchdown. (He makes the most out of his opportunities)

Conclusion:
There is a lot of balance in this offense and with the playmakers Cal has it is important to spread the ball around. For every additional touch Best receives, that is one less for Jackson, Hawkins or Forsett.
I think we as fans have to look at things more situationally. For instance, DJax is going up against Arizona's Antoine Cason (possibly the best corner in the nation) this week. This could lead to less touches for DJax but the other weapons will be utilized more. Against a stout run defense, Cal might air it out more.
In the end, this is a good problem to have. There was a time when the punter was the most dynamic player on the team.

Huge Sigh of Relief

2007-09-18T15:39:00.000-07:00

Though the reports are mixed, there are some updates on the injuries on the defensive side of the ball.

Zack Follett is day to day with a neck stinger

Matt Malele has strain muscle in his foot and is day to day. (There are some reports on Bear Insider that Malele is out for the Arizona game.) But a muscle strain is much better than a torn ligament as initially feared.

Rulon Davis is a sprained foot and is also day to day. Also, great news because initial rumors were of a stress fracture.

Though Derek Hill, Tad Smith and Cody Jones filled in admirably in their absence, Davis and Malele are really the heart of the line, along with Mika Kane. Cal needs those big guys in there to control the line of scrimmage.

Follett is a real impact player and make a lot of game changing plays (see the hit on Ainge in the Tennessee game). While his backups also filled in well, it could also be the result of playing next to LB studs Anthony Felder and Worrell Williams.

Cal does not want to let its guard down against Arizona this coming weekend but it is more important to make sure these guys are healthy for the Oregon game in 2 weeks.

Keep Karl Dorrell

2007-09-17T14:25:00.000-07:00

Those that saw UCLA's face plant against Utah on Saturday know that the end is near for UCLA coach Karl Dorrell. It will take an even bigger miracle than beating USC at season end for him to keep him job. Already the bruin fans are sending emails to the UCLA AD and Chancellor calling for the immediate removal of Karl Dorrell.

So Cal fans, we must take action. Please send letters SUPPORTING Coach Dorrell to the following.

Mr. Daniel G. Guerrero, Director of Athletics
UCLA Intcol Ath
BOX 951639, Morgan Cntr
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1639
Telephone: 310-206-6382
Fax: 310-206-7047
dguerrero@athletics.ucla.edu

While you are at it, drop a line to the new Chancellor:

Chancellor Gene Block
Box 951405
Murphy Hall 2147
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1405
email: chancellor@conet.ucla.edu

Also, at the Cal-UCLA game please show your support for Coach Dorrell with signs like "Dorrell 4 Life" or "Anyone can lose to Utah with 20 returning starters". Afterall, we can not rely on UCLA to continue its streak of inept football hirings, forever. That distinction belongs to Stanfurd.

She's a Monet....

2007-09-16T22:11:00.000-07:00

Beautiful from afar, but far from beautiful. That little bit of pop culture perfectly sums up the Bear's thirty point win over louisiana tech last Saturday. Luckily for the Bears, most of the country will only look at the win from afar (as evidenced by the jump in the AP polls to 6th). Because the game was televised on such a bootleg channel, hardly anyone got to see how disconcerting this "blow out" really was.

(The game recap that I wrote up got deleted by mistake...and honestly, the game wasn't interesting enough to do a re-write of the full game recap, sorry...on w/ my thoughts on the game & the Bears...)

Defense

The honor of getting mentioned first goes to the defense this week. It looks like the D is continuing to come together, and despite the rash of injuries, the defense did a good job this weekend. However, tackling still remains a major concern for the defense. The old bend but don't break came through again, but continually letting guys break tackles is the best way to ensure that bend leads to break in the future.

Anthony Felder led the team in tackles again this week, but there were also good performances across the board. Ezeff was a tackling machine, DeCoud had 6 solo's and was robbed of a forced fumble, Hampton and Peele had big int's, and the defense tallied 4 sacks on the day. The only downside of the defense's effort (aside from the tackling issues) are the injuries that we sustained on the D Line. Starters Matt Malele and Rulon Davis both went out with foot injuries; at this time Davis's injury looks to be the most serious. Luckily the backups did a pretty good job, but the last thing that the defense can afford right now is a hit to its depth and continuity. As far as I know, LB Zack Follet's injury was just a stinger and shouldn't cause him to miss any time.

I know that la tech isn't exactly a prolific passing team, and yes, we have given up a ton of passing yards in the previous two games...but I'm really starting to like the identity that our secondary is forming. Ezeff seems to be everywhere on the field. Syd'Quan Thompson continues to improve, and by the time he graduates I wouldn't be surprised to hear his name mentioned in the same breath with other Cal corners like Powell, Hughes, and Asomugha. Thomas DeCoud's big hitting reminds me of Donnie McCleskey (yes, I'm aware that they play different safety positions, but big hits are big hits). And Hampton's experience gives me (and obviously the coaches) confidence in his ability to hold down the other corner.

Special Teams

I missed the opening kickoff by one stinking red light, but I did catch it on the radio and on the replays. It seems like it's just been a matter of time before Hawkins finally took one to the house, and hopefully it's just the first of many. Superman backup kicker finally stumbled, but hey, he came through huge against tennessee and colorado state so he deserves a pass. DeSean definitely looks like he's pressing, and it nearly cost the Bears when he coughed one up on a punt return. I know that the guy is banged up and that he probably doesn't have another year to make a heisman run (since he'll probably leave after this year) but I'm worried that DeSean's need to make College Football Final is going to screw us badly in an important game. That being said, I trust that Tedford knows how to manage his players, and that he won't let things get out of hand.

Offense

Well, I hate to say I told you so...but, yeah, you know. Run Forsett Run. I am a big believer in the running game, and I would be even if we had a defense like the baltimore ravens or a quarterback playing like Tom Brady is right now. But the fact of the matter is, we don't have either of those things, so let's just run run run our opponents off the field (see usc's performance against the cornheads). I've been hearing/reading some disturbing things about fans wanting Jahvid to be the starter...thank goodness Tedford's making the choices and not the fans. Jahvid's got incredible talent...I'm excited as hell every time I see number 4 line up on offense...but this team is a legitimate contender for the Rose Bowl and an outside contender for a freakin national championship. There's no way that the burden of those expectations should be placed on the shoulders of a true freshman; especially not when there's a seasoned veteran who had almost a 1000 yards as a backup in 2005, and averages just under 7 yards a carry for his career. Calm down people!

As far as the passing game goes, I've still got faith that Nate will get it together. Hawkins has come a loooooooong way since his first year where he was continually in Tedford's doghouse. He's clearly the most complete reciever we've got, and he's shown it on the field every game. Big TE Craig Stevens finally got in the mix this year with his first TD catch, Cameron Morrah has shown that he's also a threat in the passing game, and Robert Jordan is an excellent third receiver.

DeSean is the man. Anyone who's ever read this blog knows how much we think of this guy's talent. But for the second week in a row he had some drops, looked like he was having trouble holding onto the balls he did catch, and he fumbled again. The drops partly get put on Longshore, but the real #1 brings in those balls. DeSean, to me, is kind of like Barry Sanders in that I don't mind when he tries to make plays that other people shouldn't make because I know he can break one at any time...but unlike Barry, DeSean's starting to develop a habit of fumbling. I can't believe that I'm saying it, but I think the time has come for Tedford to give tha chosen 1 a little time on the bench. First, it'll send a good message to the rest of the team, just like when Tedford benched Arrington and Lynch in the past. Second, and this is the most important point, I think DeSean's thumb is too gimpy for him to play the way he's capable of playing. It's great that he's playing through the pain, but best case, he costs himself the heisman, worst case, he costs us our shot at a BCS game. I say, sit him against Arizona and let his thumb heal up. Oh wow, I can't believe I really think that...

Bottom line for the passing game is that we're beyond freaking loaded at the receiver positions, and our O-line is real real solid as usual. Our running backs are consistently gaining 200+ yards per game, so there's no need for the passing game to feel any pressure. All that remains to be seen is whether or not Tedford can work his magic on the inconsistent Longshore...smart money says he can and will.

Cal game on TV in South OC

2007-09-14T15:52:00.002-07:00

Been pretty rough trying to find a bar that televises the game this weekend. Just wanted to let any readers who are in Orange County (or any LA people who don't mind an hour+ drive) that Oggi's Pizza in Mission Viejo has confirmed that they are televising the game tomorrow. Assuming that there are any readers in the vicinity of Mission Viejo, I'd urge you all to go out & become regular patrons of Oggi's. I've only tried their food once, and that was in SD before the last Holiday Bowl...but the pizza was really good & they've got a good selection of beers.

But the real reason that I'm telling you guys to go out to this place is that the owner/manager/or whoever I spoke to today on the phone was incredibly helpful. When I originally called, they told me that they didn't carry the channel for the game, but instead of just saying sorry...this guy actually called up DirecTV and ordered the expanded package! Granted, I think this is the only game we have on Comcast Sports.net this year, but I was blown away by this guy. Now THAT is what you call customer service. So yeah, go out and support Oggi's Pizza in Mission Viejo (the Orange and Tustin branches were not so accommodating).

Random Notes

2007-09-14T11:30:00.001-07:00

Some general notes and thoughts since we did not have time to post much this week but still had things we wanted to say.

Nate Longshore has a blog. Not much up there but you can stalk him from class to class on Tuesday and Wednesday. (Official Blog of Nate Longshore)
Some of you may already know about this blog but I stumbled onto another great one, Oski Talk.
La Tech head coach Vince Dooley coached Lavelle Hawkins when he was a freshman at LSU. He also recruited DeSean for LSU. Wow, LSU could have been the Cal of the South.
The Daily Cal thinks that Coach Tedford needs to be more tricky. Like us, they want to see DeSean get the rock more. Unlike us, they recommend flea flickers and half back options as possible ways to get DJax the ball. (Daily Cal)
"Coach Tedford be more tricky" continues the proud tradition of Daily Cal excellence. (Daily Cal)
Any thoughts on how dominating our LB unit is? Follett was huge against Tennessee, Felder was even better against Colorado St. and Williams was a rock in both. Even Moye came off the bench last week for a great pick. I am a big Follett fan but Felder is catching up quick.
Who will be the starters on the DL when Pac 10 play starts?

Rulon Davis, Tyson Alualu, Matt Malele, Cameron Jordan?
Rulon Davis, Mika Kane, Matt Malele, Cameron Jordan?
Rulon Davis, Mika Kane, Matt Malele, Tyson Alualu?

Is Notre Dame vs Michigan the biggest hyped game between two winless teams in the history of sports?
Go Vols, beat Florida on Saturday.
Anyone think that Cal's RB trio will be more well regarded than Cal's WR trio by the end of the season?

Cal vs La Tech

2007-09-14T11:12:00.000-07:00

Most non-Cal fans expect this game to be a blow out. Cal fans, as we are apt to do, are worried about another let down or a possible trap. Afterall, Louisiana Tech took Hawaii to overtime and Cal struggled against Colorado St.

But, there are some good reasons why this game will be a blow out.

1) Cal is playing at home - Coach Tedford is great at home, Longshore is even better. Expect big numbers from the passing game
2) Louisiana Tech is traveling a lot and generally has not played well on the West Coast.
3) Cal is coming off a near letdown and Coach Tedford has been on the team all week.

Lastly, I know less about La Tech than Colorado St. So, I can not provide much insight this week. But I will give my detailed prediction of the game scoring summary (Cal only).

Final Score: Cal 59 - La Tech 28

Scoring by Cal
1st Quarter
- DeSean Jackson, 53 yard reception on a go route down the sideline.
- Justin Forsett, 18 yard TD run
- Anthony Felder, fumble return for a TD

2nd Quarter
- Lavelle Hawkins, 4 yards TD pass on a slant, set up by a long run by Forsett

3rd Quarter
- DeSean Jackson, 62 yard punt return for a TD (though I can see Hawkins taking a kick off to the house this game)
- Jahvid Best, 26 yard TD reception on a screen pass
- James Montgomery, 4 yard TD run

4th Quarter
- James Montgomery, 22 yard TD run on a swing pass from Kevin Riley.

Looking back at the previous game predictions, I was actually close on some plays. Then again, a broken watch is right twice a day.

For NYC Cal Fans

2007-09-13T15:13:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the specific post, but trying to watch a Cal game out here in New York can be a nightmare.

For some reason, the Cal NY alumni group has decided to not hold a viewing party this week for the La Tech game. So I called around trying to find a place to watch (having the game on Comcast really does not help) and I found a place.

Pacific Standard
82 Fourth Avenue
Brooklyn, New York
www.pacificstandardbrooklyn.com

Yeah, I don't really like to leave Manhattan but the owners are Cal Alums and according to their blog (Pacific Standard Blog) they are trying to set up a Cal Football viewing party for the game.

So, NYC Cal fans, support the team and support some local alums. Apologies to most of our readers who don't live anywhere near NYC, we will return with more general Cal Football postings.

DeSean Jackson: Get him the damn ball

2007-09-12T07:54:00.000-07:00

Everyone wants to see DJax get more touches per game. Cal fans, Cal coaches, Cal players, ESPN Sportscenter annoucers, etc. Let's look at the numbers for DeSean Jackson after 2 games.

- 9 receptions, 84 yards
- 3 rushes, 99 yards, 1 TD
- 3 punt returns, 101 yards, 1 TD

15 touches over 2 games (that is including punt returns) for a Heisman candidate is too low. Of course there are reasons for this...

1) DeSean Jackson is to blame - 70+ yards plays do not make for long drives and eliminate touches for everyone.
2) Too much talent - Jahvid Best had his own 60+ yard play and once Cal gets up, Forsett and Montgomery, grind out yards, move the chains and eat up clock.
3) Too many options - The attention paid to Jackson leaves other receivers open. Sometimes, wide open. It is hard to complain when a QB checks down to the man with no one standing around him.

Notice I did not put "He is being double teamed" as one of the reasons. Tha1, regardless of the defense, has the skills, speed and experience to get open. The only number that really needs to go up are his receptions. Here is what I think would be ideal.

8 receptions per game based on getting thrown to 10-12 times per game

at least 3 attempts downfield
a couple screen
a couple outs, comebacks
a couple posts

2 carries per game

reverses
pass thrown behind the line of scrimmage

2 punt returns per game

team will not punt to him but some might end up returnable
Cal defense has not YET shown the ability to make teams punt a lot

As a WR it is harder to guarantee touches, but 10 per game is a reasonable expectation for a player of his caliber. Or next time he busts a long run he should stop and kneel at the 5 yard line. Then Coach Tedford can call a play for him so he can get the 5 yard TD reception.

Stadium Update

2007-09-11T01:15:00.000-07:00

Looks like the University is done playing nice with the fools playing new millennium hippie.
Here's the link to the SF Chronicle article

Nate Longshore, show me more...

2007-09-10T08:09:00.000-07:00

This post might get some of our readers slightly twisted so I will start off by saying that I am a big Nate Longshore fan, both as a player and a person. He has all the skills to be the next great Tedford QB and people who have met him all speak highly of him. He shows great touch on the deep ball, can make the tough throws (deep out to the far hash) and generally calls a good game.

But, seriously, you got to show me more. Longshore is the first QB at Cal to start for 2 years under Tedford. So, I think it is fair to say that fans should expect more from him. Longshore is ridiculously good at Memorial Stadium. When he is comfortable and in his home environment he puts up big, often huge numbers. Let's look at those numbers:

- Games where Longshore put up big numbers:
Home: Minnesota, Portland St, Arizona St, Oregon, Washington, UCLA, Tennessee
Away: Oregon St. (outlier???)

- Poor games and what we heard afterwards:
Tennessee (last season) - new offense, hostile environment, whole team was unprepared
Washington St - Cal never plays well in Pullman, the wind is crazy up there
Arizona - classic trap game, looking ahead to USC, sun and shadows were affecting play
USC - dominating defense, we tried to establish the run, blah, blah, blah
Colorado St - letdown game, the thin air causes overthrows

So what to make of this? Longshore is right now on the scale between Kyle Boller and Aaron Rodgers. Both Boller and Rodgers were physically gifted QB (Boller more so that Rodgers).
With Boller you expected some great games and some bad games. You never felt confident that he was always going to lead the team to victory. (I think Raven fans would agree on this.)
With Rodgers there was something else. You never thought there would be a bad game and you always thought he would lead the team to victory, no matter the conditions.

This year's Oregon game at Oregon will be a defining moment for Longshore. This is a big game (esp after Oregon trounched Michigan in the Big House), in a hostile environment. Longshore has to step up in that game and carry the team to victory to truly establish himself. I am confident he can and will, because there will be no "excuses" after that game.

Marshawn Update

2007-09-09T21:19:00.001-07:00

My respect for Marshawn has always been huge...but after watching highlights of his first NFL start & listening to his first post game interview...I've gotta say that it's grown even more. Marshawn carried 19 times for 90 yards and scored the Bill's lone offensive TD. The touchdown came on a 23 yard run to the right side, and Lynch finished it in classic style by bowling over one defender and carrying another into the endzone. Unfortunately for Lynch, the Bills lost on a last second field goal by Denver's Jason Elam.

In his post game interview, Lynch was his usual humble self. He gave credit to his offensive linemen, singling out the RG, who paved the way for his TD run. And he said his motivation was the guys who weren't able to make it to the NFL, including the former teammates who recently got cut. Marshawn even had a few awww shucks, Forest Gump moments when he said that "mamma said there'd be days like this." He also showed that he's got some media savvy when he jokingly chided a reporter for asking him to divulge details about the play book...or as Lynch put it, "How you tryin to get in our play book...I can't be puttin the playbook on blast though!"

Overall, Lynch had a solid first effort. He scored the first of what ends up being an NFL career record for TDs. And he showed that he's still humble, hungry, and knows how to joke around with the media. Those of us who were fortunate enough to watch him play for Cal know that he was nothing like the monster that the media tried to portray him as during the pre-draft hype. I hope his success continues, and although I'm a die hard niner fan...my order for a Bills jersey will be going in tonight.

Bears Nearly Get Rocked in the Rockies

2007-09-09T00:53:00.000-07:00

The talent disparity between the 10^th ranked California Golden Bears and their opponents, the unranked Colorado State Rams, just about equaled the difference between the academic rankings of the schools (Cal - #21 vs CSU - #124). Despite the huge gap, Sonny Lubick’s Rams were the ones that ended up schooling the Bears for most of the day. Today’s win taught these Golden Bears, youngsters and veterans alike, a lot about what kind of focus it takes to win each week. Thankfully the cost of the tuition wasn’t higher, and the Bears ended up surviving an unnervingly close 34-28 victory.

While the outcome never actually seemed in doubt, even when the CSU Rams started playing like the St. Louis variety and cut the lead to 6 points, the Bears never managed to put together a complete effort for any part of the game. The offense and defense both showed flashes of their potential and major lapses that are cause for concern. CSTV commentator Trev Alberts pointed out that the Bears somewhat got lucky in that the Cal Coaching Staff will be able to use this game as a learning tool for the team (just about the only good piece of commentary for the whole game).

Game Recap

First Quarter

The CSU defense definitely came out fired up. The Bears started with three straight passes, but good coverage, solid tackling, and pressure up the middle by CSU caused the Bears to go 3 and out on their first possession. CSU got pretty good field position to start their first drive, but were also forced to go 3 and out. A good punt & and even better (lucky) bounce pinned the Bears deep in their own territory to start their second drive. The Bears did a decent job of getting out from the shadow of their own goalposts, but the drive sputtered and they were forced to punt again. CSU went to their big playmaking RB Kyle Bell on 6 of 9 plays, including 4 straight runs to cap off the drive, and (aided by poor tackling by the Bears) got on the board first with an 8 yard TD run by Bell.
Cal 0 – CSU 7

The Bear offense showed a flash of potential #1 style by evening up the score on one play. A beautiful end around to WR DeSean Jackson who galloped 73 yards for the TD.
Cal 7 – CSU 7

However, CSU came right back with a big play of their own when WR Damon Morton ran 43 yards all the way down to the Cal 22 yard line. Reminiscent of last week against the Vols, the Cal defense stiffened up on the goal line. Backup DT Derrick Hill, starting in place of the injured Mika Kane, intercepted a pass on 3^rd and goal from the 2 yard line ending the CSU threat. Cal again started from inside their own 5 yard line, and didn’t do much more than pick up one first down before stalling. End of the first quarter.
Cal 7 – CSU 7

Second Quarter

Back to back sacks of the CSU QB by LB Anthony Felder and DE Jordan Cameron quickly ended the next CSU drive, and a shanked punt set the Bears up on the CSU 47 yard line. Longshore connected on two big gains, 20 yards to WR Lavelle Hawkins and 22 yards to Cameron Morrah, and Forsett powered it in on the ground for the TD.
Cal 14 – CSU 7

The Cal defense just could not get off the field on the next CSU possession as they allowed the Rams to convert two third downs, and gave them another first down via penalty. The longest gain of the CSU drive was just a 12 yard completion, but nevertheless the Rams were able to even the score on a QB sneak.
Cal 14 – CSU 14

A big gain of 25 yards on a pass completion from Longshore to Jackson, and a nice 12 yard run by Justin Forsett had the Bears driving again just before the end of the half. But a sack and a blown up screen play ended the drive and backup kicker Jordan Kay put the Bears back on top by 3 with a 47 yard field goal. The half ended without much more action.
Cal 17 – CSU 14

Third Quarter

This time it was the Bear defense that came out fired up, led by DT Tyson Alualu who got his first sack of the season. With the defense starting to assert itself, Cal had a golden opportunity to put this game away here, but they were unable to take full advantage of great field position and ended up settling for a 41 yard field goal.
Cal 20 – CSU 14

Alualu came up big again for the Bears as he absolutely stuffed RB Kyle Bell with a monstrous clothesline, and shared a sack of QB Caleb Hanie with Matthew Malele. The next drive for the Bears was probably the ugliest of the day as they netted minus 1 yards. DeSean Jackson coughed up the ball while trying to spin away from a defender on 3rd down, but luckily he recovered the ball. Tedford decided to roll the dice and go for it on 4^th and 1. Longshore connected with Robert Peele for a pretty 34 yard TD, but the play was called back on a holding penalty.

The defense continued to come on strong for the remainder of the 3^rd quarter holding the Rams to just 17 more yards. LB Anthony Felder had a huge sack late in the 3^rd forcing a fumble which was recovered by Cal’s Tad Smith.

Unfortunately, the Bear offense went into hibernation. Despite starting near midfield or inside CSU territory for each of their drives in the 3^rd, the Bears never added any more points or even first downs. The third quarter came to an end with the score still
Cal 20 – CSU 14

Fourth Quarter

Continuing the trend of the 3^rd quarter, the Bear defense came on strong again. This time they were led by the efforts of back up LB Justin Moye who intercepted a Hanie pass and set the Bears up on the CSU 42 yard line. Tedford then turned to the RB tandem of Best and Montgomery, and the Bears finally capitalized on good field position and scored from 2 yards out on a Montgomery run.
Cal 27 – CSU 14

CSU managed to drive into Cal territory again, but were turned away after good plays by Syd’Quan Thompson and Marcus Ezeff. The Bears caught a lucky break when, on 4^th and 7, the CSU receiver dropped what would have been a drive sustaining pass, and the ball was turned over on downs. The Cal freshman RB tandem struck again, this time with Jahvid Best getting the score on a scintillating 64 yard romp. During the run he bowled over his own blockers, pulled out of some arm tackles, and sped away from the rest of the CSU defense.
Cal 34 – CSU 14

With the game seemingly in hand, the Bears started to rotate in more back ups on defense, and were quickly lit up by a game CSU squad that refused to quit. Hanie struck for a 66 yard TD pass to Damon Morton who just breezed past back up Darian Hagan.
Cal 34 – CSU 21

CSU recovered the ensuing onside kick, and streaked down the field again. This time the victim was Marcus Ezeff who failed to turn around and spot the ball that landed right over his head into the waiting arms of George Hill for a 44 yard gain. CSU pounded it in from 2 yards out and all of a sudden the Bears were back in a dogfight.
Cal 34 – CSU 28

After sharply turning momentum entirely in their favor, the CSU coaching staff decided to pooch kick rather than go for another onside. With just under 3 minutes remaining, Cal needed to pick up at least two first downs in order to clinch the game. The broad shoulders of redshirt freshman RB James Montgomery proved to be perfect for carrying that burden as he pounded out 25 tough yards sealing the deal for the Golden Bears. Final score
Cal 34 – CSU 28

Lessons Learned:

Ground Game

The biggest thing I saw is the most disturbing, and at the same time, the most reassuring. The last two games showed everyone in the nation that the blueprint to beating Cal is to shut down our ground game, and exploit our inexperienced defense. We here at RBBID, along with others, have always pointed out that what really powers the Tedford offense isn’t the gaudy passing numbers, but the smash mouth run game. Today’s game showed that yet again.

I’m not one to ever question Jeff Tedford’s coaching or play calling…hell, I don’t think I’d ever really question anything football related that the man does. But the results of today’s game are undeniable. The Cal offense relied mostly on the pass for the better part of three quarters, and produced very lackluster results. The lone big play of the first half was the DeSean Jackson end around, not anything pass related. When we went to a steady dose of the ground game in the fourth, we dominated the line of scrimmage and clinched the game. Forsett and Montgomery, the two RBs who got the bulk of the carries, both averaged just under 5 yards a pop…the blazing speed of Jackson and Best produced 151 yards on just 4 carries combined…and Cal gained a total of 245 net yards on the ground.

Granted, if Longshore wasn’t missing high all day, the passing game could have easily dominated too. But with the way the team is currently constituted, keeping possession via the ground game is the best thing for the Bears. We’ve got a good offensive line, anchored by a great center, a stable of RBs that rivals anybody in the nation including USC, and a defense that has yet to find its identity. It seems pretty obvious to me that the best way to protect that defense, while still putting up plenty of points, is to go to our ground game early and often. The reassuring part is that we showed today and last week that even when everyone in the stadium knows we're going to run, we can't be stopped.

With all the talented receivers we’ve got, it’s easy to fall in love with the quick strike potential we have. Like I said above, I don't question Tedford & I honestly think that he was just experimenting today...maybe he was trying to show other teams the dangers of taking away our run...maybe he was just trying to create the impression that we're pass happy in order to create more running opportunities, who knows. The truth is, Longshore had plenty of chances to connect with receivers that had beaten the coverage, and if he had, it would've been all gravy. But the bottom line for me is that until our defense gels and gets to the level where they’re consistently playing with the intensity they showed during the third quarter, the Bears should pound the ground game as much as possible.

Thunder and Lightning Unveiled

I delayed posting this recap until I could find out for sure why Justin Forsett was on the sidelines the entire fourth quarter, but seeing as how there isn’t any injury information…I’m just going to go on the assumption that he’s fine, & Tedford simply wanted to use the opportunity to see what his freshman RBs could do in the clutch…and I’m glad he did. The fourth quarter was the coming out party for the Cal version of the White/Bush combo that powered USC back into national prominence. While this year is still going to be the Forsett show, it was great to see Jahvid Best follow up his performance from last week with an even better showing this week. Almost as impressive as his TD run was the fact that Best did a great job as a gunner on punt coverage, showing that he’s putting his best effort into whatever role he’s handed. And James Montgomery came through big time in his first real shot at significant PT, especially during the last drive. Exciting.

Clutch Kicking

How huge were the two 40+ yard field goals by back up kicker Jordan Kay? These weren’t simple chip shots, and they proved to be the difference in the game…great great job.

Note to Gregory, keep bringing it

It’s always tough to gauge when a team has had enough, and you never want to see starters get injured during garbage time…but using that 20/20 hindsight, it’s pretty clear that we let up too early on defense. Not going to be too critical here, because I’m pretty sure everybody figured the game was over…and nobody would’ve thought that the plodding CSU offense was capable of going deep so easily. Maybe we just need to wait until we’re up 28 w/ 5 mins left next time.

Defensive line showing signs of life

The young D line showed more signs of growth today, picking up 3 of the 5 Cal sacks on the day, and getting good pressure several other times. Maybe it’s just the hair, but I love Tyson Alualu’s motor, and seeing #97 flying around and making plays brought to mind Andre Carter…hopefully Cameron Jordon develops quickly into the player that Carter was for Cal.

Linebackers lead the way

It’s no secret that the strength of the defense is the athletic LB corp. But the leadership of the LB’s was on display in today’s game in the good and bad sense. Tackling seems to be the single biggest problem on the Cal defense, and MLB Worrell Williams had a completely forgettable game today. Good thing for the Bears that the other LBs all had good games. Zack Follett had 5 tackles on the day, 4 solo, and forced the bad throw that was intercepted on the goal line. Justin Moye had 3 solos, a tackle for loss, and an interception in just spot time. And Anthony Felder led all defenders with 13 tackles, 9 solo, 2 sacks, and a forced fumble.

Secondary still needs work

I’m convinced that as long as the tackling problems get fixed soon, and the front seven continues to mature into a group that puts steady pressure on the opposing QB, the Cal secondary will be good enough to keep us in the thick of the Pac 10 title chase. The passing defense gave up big numbers to both opposing QB’s thus far, and that will have to be corrected. However, something to keep in mind is that Erik Ainge is a veteran SEC quarterback who had similar numbers today against Southern Miss (64% completions, 276 yds, 2 TD’s), and Hanie went 75% for 229 and 3 TDs against Colorado last week...so @ least it's not just our defense...

Intensity

It really felt like today’s game, despite the miscues and the late charge by CSU, was never ever in doubt. And that’s what the problem was. Everybody and their mother knew all about this being a trap game, and all week long the Bears said the right things about how serious they were taking the Rams. But that didn’t stop this game from unfolding exactly like a trap game…the Bears came out playing far below their level of ability, they kept an inferior opponent in the game with their own mistakes, started to put the game out of reach, relaxed too early, and luckily were able to reassert themselves enough at the end to hold on for a win.

Everyone knows how full of cliché’s the game of football can be, and now that we’ve survived one cliché, it’s time to use this game as another…the motivation cliché. The biggest lessons that the Bears take away from this game are that you can never take anything for granted, you can’t play half speed, and you can never let your opponent up off the ground; things that the Bears have all known since their pop warner days. Still, you can be sure that the coaching staff will use this game as a reminder of all those things, and as a motivation tool to keep their guys fired up and focused on each game. We’ll see how well these Bears learned their lesson next week against a La Tech team that gave Hawaii all it could handle tonight.

Go Bears!!!

Cal vs Colorado St - What to watch for

2007-09-07T10:22:00.000-07:00

For those of you with the special cable package who are able to watch the game, here are the key things you should be watching for.

- CSU's slow start
CSU players and coaches spoke about their slow start last week in their game against Colorado. They gave up some big plays early but recovered in the 2nd half to make it competitive. The Cal offense usually comes out roaring so expect Cal to put up some quick points early.

- DL Mika Kane
Kane is not traveling with the team because of an injury. One of his replacements will be Derrick Hill, a highly regarded DT, that has been in Tedford's doghouse because of conditioning. Well, it looks like he is back in shape and had a good week of practice. Look for improvement in the DL in pressuring the QB. Watch for a breakout game from Hill or Rulon Davis, who was really playing well late in the Tennessee game.

- DeSean Jackson punt return #7
Will it happen? I say yes for the following reasons.
1) CSU head coach has stated he will punt to Jackson, though it may have been tongue and cheek.
2) Cal's defense should be able to get more stops against CSU creating more punt return chances.
3) Tennessee's punter was an All American. But directional punting is difficult for many punters. The CSU punter has a strong leg but issues with consistency. Look for the DJax TD return when CSU is punting from inside their own 25. My guess is that CSU punter out kicks his coverage, DJax hits a seam and outrun everybody.

- Interceptions
So let's see what the Cal defense can do when they are not playing the soft zone. Expect defensive coordinator Bob Gregory to take more chances and leave the CB playing more man. I think Cal will have 2 INT's. SQT will make a great play by jumping an inside slant and one of the LB's will get a pick over the middle.

- Forsett, Montgomery, Best or Forsett, Best, Montgomery
Best's ability to be a great runner is obvious. But, it is time for Montgomery to show why he will be the thunder to Best lightening in the future. Look for a couple big gain by Montgomery and some tough runs in short yardage situations.

- The Deep Ball
We saw very little of this in the Tennessee game. But Longshore throws one of the best deep ball in CF today. Expect the Bears to air it out more. Even in double coverage, DJax should be able to outrun the CSU DB's.

- Kevin Riley
If the game is a blowout, will we get a chance to see the future Cal QB? I am curious to see him in action.

- Reverse on a kick off return
Absurd you say? No way, man? Well... if the ball is kicked to Hawkins he can move laterally and hand off to Best who once he turns the corner can outrun the kick coverage. I am not saying it will happen but it would be pretty.

I admit it...

2007-09-06T09:44:00.000-07:00

I don't know squat about Colorado St. I even had a cousin that went there and I still don't know anything. So I read some articles and here are some nuggets to tide you over. Hope to have some better analysis tomorrow.

- The air is thinner there. This will affect visiting teams and their ability to breathe. On the other hand, Longshore should be able to heave the ball 90 yards to DJax on the fly.

- CSU has an awesome QB to TE receiving combination. Mr. TE meet Mr. Follett, Williams and Felder. Prepare to get lit up on some of those catches across the middle.

- CSU lost last week to in state rival Colorado on some special teams miscues. Hmmm, if only Cal had some way to take advantage of weak special teams.

- CSU has a workhorse for a running back. Last game, Kyle Bell rushed 40 times for 135 yards. If only Cal RB's were more workhorse like and grinded out yards rather than picking up chunks of 10+ yard runs.

- Pundits, fans and bloggers are calling this a trap game. Coming off of a big victory then playing a lower ranked but dangerous opponent is a trap for losing. Historically, Cal, under Coach Tedford, does not lose "trap" games and is well prepared. (The Arizona loss was a looking ahead loss, totally different situation.)

- Damn, that Tennessee win was nice.

- CSU is on an 8 game losing streak dating back to last season. Crowd noise should not be a factor as the game is not sold out and the stadium holds less than 35,000.

Yeah, I know, this was not the best of posts but some of us are still basking in the glow of last Saturday. If you suffered through the Holmoe years for your entire time at Berkeley, you deserve a little extra. Also, it is Colorado St., it is not like we are playing App St.

Cal vs Tennessee recap (shorter version)

2007-09-05T06:50:00.000-07:00

And there you have it.

So you want to get a jersey

2007-09-04T13:19:00.001-07:00

This post is based on the odd penalty that Cal received for having 2 men on the field with the same number. Also, this is dedicated to the guys over that the California Golden Blog who have some sort of infatuation with jerseys.

So, you are pumped about that big win over Tennessee and you are ready to move to the next stage of fandom. You want to get a jersey. No more T-shirts for you. First thing to remember is that some players wear the same number. Why get Follett's 56 when you can Hawkin's and Peele's #7 for the same price? So here is the guide:

The Gold Standard
#1 DeSean Jackson and Worrell Williams
You will be a dynamo on offense and a beast of defense. It does not get better than this.

Planning for the Future
#5 Cameron Morrah and SQT
They are good now, but they will be great (All American great) in 2 more years. Just about that time, your jersey will have that distressed, broken in look of a true fan.

Double Dip
#4 Thomas DeCoud and Jahvid Best
You wear the number of the team leader now and you get another 2-3 years wearing the number of Cal's next Heisman candidate.

True Cal Fan
#2 Bernard Hicks and Robert Jordan
You are not about the media hype or the flashy names. You are all about heart and grit. Pick up this jersey to show off your knowledge and dedication to Cal football.

The Big Boi
#77 Michael Costanzo and Mark Gray
Admit it, you are no longer the 165lb freshman you were in college. Life has taken its toll. Embrace the extra pounds you have on your frame. Get a lineman number. Show that you are a guy that lives in the trenches.

The "I need this jersey to last me through 2010" jersey
#13 DJ Holt and Kevin Riley
Buy it now, ignore your friends when they ask you who you are wearing. Then in a couple years, you can shout it from the rooftops, "Starting quarterback and starting middle linebacker, punk."

More thoughts...

2007-09-04T12:52:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple more thoughts about Cal's big win over Tennessee and college football in general.

- Jahvid Best looks like the real deal. But let's not forget James Montgomery. I think Montgomery will get some more PT against CSU and gets some big yards.

- I retract my earlier statement about DeSean Jackson and kickoffs. Since no one will punt to him anymore (though the CSU head coach has said that he will punt to Jackson), let's get him back there on kickoffs so he can get more touches.

- On another note, DeSean will get his catches. Even with the bracket coverage by Tennessee there were a couple opportunities where Jackson was open but Nate just checked down. There was one particular play in the 3rd quarter where Jackson had both the DB and safety completely turned around and was running up the middle of the field. But just as he was making his move, Nate has already tossed the ball to Morrah, who in Nate's defense, was wide open and ran for another 8 yards before a Volunteer touched him.

- I am a big, big Craig Stevens fan. The guy is an All American tight end for sure. But, seeing Cameron Morrah make some big catches (and 1 big drop) makes me feel better about the tight end position. Expect Stevens and Morrah to get plenty of big plays up the middle of the seams as the wide receivers force DB's to cover out wide.

- Marcus Ezzef??? I looked back on my posts and did not see his name mentioned once. But I saw him making plays on the field and he looks good. I saw 2 great open field tackles on Tennessee tailbacks on swing passes and a great pass defense.

- DeCoud and Hicks are monster hitters. But guys, look up sometimes rather than go for the big hit. There were at least 2 Ainge floaters that should have been intercepted by a ball hawking safety.

- Michigan is a 6 point favorite over Oregon. Really?? Man, does that make App St. 8 points favroites over Oregon?

- Cal moved up 2 spots in both polls. We are now in the top 10. Michigan received no votes. Ohio State apparently did not win by enough to stay in front of Cal. USC apparently did not embarrass Idaho enough as some voters moved their first place vote to Florida, who I assume did embarrass Western Kentucky enough to show that they are the top team. Did you see Tebow throw for 300 yards against Western Kentucky? Man, that truly shows that he does have an arm. I mean Western Kentucky is the App St of the south. (Most of this note was sarcastic, I hope you noticed).

- So there are Cal viewing parties in NYC. Check out Cal vs CSU at MJ Armstrong on 1st Ave and 19th St. I will be there, look for the guy in the Cal shirt.

A Win to Soothe the Soul

2007-09-02T03:09:00.000-07:00

In real life, no matter how hard you try, clear cut redemption is a very difficult thing to come by. Thank goodness for sports and home and home contracts. By any measure, last season’s campaign was a great success. Ten wins, co-Pac 10 champions, and a blowout win over Texas A&M in the Holiday Bowl. But nationally, nobody ever gave Cal any attention or respect after the Bears got pounded by Tennessee to start the season.

This lack of respect and the need to expunge the shame of last season fueled the Golden Bears in Saturday’s season opening win over the #15 ranked Tennessee Volunteers. While the game pretty much unfolded according to most people’s expectations (that the Bears would have too much offensive talent for the Vol’s to keep pace), the 45-31 victory was still as satisfying a win as I’ve ever experienced as a Cal fan. And if not for the gutty performance by the Appalachian State Mountaineers, Cal’s win would be the talk of the college football nation.

Full Recap of the Game (for those who didn’t watch, for those who did, skip down to the next section)

First Quarter

Sick of hearing how much more physical Tennessee is, the Cal defense was anxious to show that they can bring it just as hard. On the fifth play of the first quarter, LB Zack Follett buried his helmet into QB Erik Ainge’s blindside, absolutely crushing him. The hit bent Ainge backwards and forced a fumble that LB Worrell Williams scooped up and returned 44 yards for a touchdown. To Ainge’s credit, he got back up from that hellacious hit and methodically led the Vols down the field and hit RB Arian Foster on a little hitch for a score. Cal 7 UT 7.

It wasn’t until 10 mins remaining in the first quarter that the Bear offense finally took the field, and the Longshore led Bears didn’t disappoint. With Coach Tedford reclaiming the play calling duties, the offense also demonstrated that they were ready to smack people in the mouth. The first drive featured several strong runs by RB Justin Forsett, and was capped off by a 2 yd QB sneak for a TD. Cal 14 UT 7.

RB Arian Foster took the ensuing kickoff 68 yards to the Cal 24 and set up the Vols with great field position. Showing the poise of a QB with 23 starts under his belt, Ainge hit a 15 yd completion to WR Austin Rogers, and after two runs by RB Montario Hardesty the Vols pulled even again. Cal 14 UT 14.

Cal’s second possession stalled after picking up one first down on a pass from Longshore to Lavelle Hawkins, and the first quarter ended with the score still tied at 14.

Second Quarter

Tennessee quickly returned the favor by doing almost nothing with their possession, and, more importantly, by stubbornly punting to All-Everything WR/PR DeSean Jackson. Jackson fielded the punt on about the Cal 24 with a Tennessee player right in his face. One quick sidestep disposed of the first defender, the blockers took care of the next two, and Jackson paralyzed the remaining defender with a devastating step-back juke move. Jackson gracefully ran the remaining 77 yards towards the endzone for his sixth career punt return for a TD. Cal 21 UT 14.

After the furious pace of the first 17 minutes of action, the game slowed down somewhat as both teams went three and out on their next possessions.

However, with about 9 minutes remaining in the half, Ainge connected on his longest completion of the day for 43 yards to Lucas Taylor putting Tennessee at the Cal 4. Ainge then hooked up with big Chris Brown for a touchdown evening the score yet again. Cal 21 UT 21.

Not to be outdone, the Cal offense took the field and Coach Tedford decided that this was the time to give freshman phenom Jahvid Best his chance. After absorbing his first NCAA Division I level hit, Best showed his toughness and natural ability by promptly running for 34 yards down to the Tennessee 4 yard line, setting up Longshore’s 4yd TD pass to WR Robert Jordan. Cal 28 UT 21.

The Bear Defense stepped up on the next possession putting an end to the constant see-saw action. LB Worrell Williams forced a fumble on 3^rd and 1, forcing the Vols to punt. With only one minute remaining in the half, Longshore quickly drove the Bears down the field with a 49 yd completion to Forsett and a 21 yd completion to Hawkins. Unfortunately, Cal could not cash in with a touchdown and settled for a 27 yard FG to end the first half. Score at halftime Cal 31 UT 21.

Third Quarter

Cal came out of halftime firing, moving down the field in big chunks. The drive was highlighted by a 12 yd run by Forsett, a 21 yd end around by Jackson, and a 25 yd pass to Hawkins. With the ball on the UT 3 yard line, Longshore quickly recognized some confusion in the Tennessee secondary, rushed his players to the line and threw a dart to an uncovered Hawkins for a 3 yard score. Cal 38 UT 21.

The next Tennessee possession proved to be the most critical as far as the Bear defense was concerned. After giving up a huge 42 yard run to Arian Foster, the Golden Bear defense stiffened up on the goal line. The defense stopped Tennessee four times from the Cal 3 yard line, forcing a turnover on downs.

With momentum shifting almost completely in their favor, the Bears could have put this one away here. However, after DeSean Jackson sprained a thumb and left the game, the Bears seemed to lose some of their momentum. Tennessee further shifted the momentum back in their favor by driving 73 yards and scoring on a 5 yard pass from Ainge to Brown. Cal 38 UT 28.

The third quarter ended with Tennessee driving yet again after a quick three and out by the Bears.

Fourth Quarter

The Bear Defense forced three incomplete passes, but the Vols drew within seven points after a 41 yard FG. Cal 38 UT 31.

DeSean Jackson re-entered the game at this point, but the Bears went three and out again giving Tennessee the opportunity to tie the game.

If the goal line stand in the 3^rd quarter was the most critical defensive possession, this next series proved to be the ultimate turning point in the game. Helped out by a false start penalty and a very conservative play call on third down, the Bear defense forced the Vols to go three and out.

With the game seemingly starting to slip away, the Golden Bears came up huge on this drive. Longshore misfired on first down, but then connected on his next three attempts for gains of 24, 23, and 10 yards respectively. Forsett capped off this impressive drive with a powerful 13 yard touchdown run which sealed the deal for the Golden Bears. Cal 45 UT 31.

After forcing Tennessee to go three and out, the Bears got the ball back and proceeded to pound the Vols with the running game. Forsett and the offensive line powered the Bears down the field; consistently gaining big yardage on every carry despite the fact that everybody knew that Cal was only going to run. A scary moment occurred when Tennessee DE Xavier Mitchell was injured while trying to bring down Forsett. Mitchell had to be carted off the field on a stretcher, but was able to give an encouraging wave as he was being taken off. The Bears plowed all the way down to the Tennessee 1 yard line, but instead of humiliating their opponent further, they graciously decided to fumble the ball away.

The rest of the game was pretty uneventful. Tennessee went three and out again, and the Bears just ran out the clock with a couple of runs and every coach’s favorite play, a kneel down in the victory formation to end the game. Final score Cal 45 UT 31.

Thoughts & Comments

Cal Fans

I was pretty impressed with how Cal fans showed up for this game. Despite the recent success of the team, it hasn’t been uncommon to see empty seats even in the student section during the first quarter. Good job Cal fans in actually showing up early enough to pack the stadium from whistle to whistle.

The noise level was really very good throughout most of the game as well. I couldn’t tell from the TV broadcast if the free megaphones were being used, but if they were…make sure you guys bring them to every game, and if they weren’t….then even greater job on making noise to support your boys.

The one gripe I have about the Cal fans really falls more on the shoulders of the yell leaders. During the seemingly interminable moments when the young Tennessee defensive end lay motionless on the field, I could clearly hear the yell leaders exhorting the Cal student section in the chant of “Pac 10 football!” Now, I’m as die hard a Cal fan as you will ever find, I know all the reasons behind the chant, and I’m hella glad that we got the chance to do the chant. But I ask you, yell leaders, was that really the appropriate time for that? Show some class, show respect for the game and for your opponents. If it was a spontaneous chant, driven by fans unaware of the situation or its severity…that would be understandable. But for the yell leaders to get on the mic and start that chant, while a young man lies prone not more than 150 feet from them, was disgusting.

On to more positive thoughts…

Cal Team

On Offense:

There were a whole lot of positives to take from this game; even apart from the whole revenge/redemption angle. The offense proved the pre-season hype about its maturity and abundance of depth at the skill positions. Longshore showed the poise and leadership that can only come from experience, DeSean cemented his place as the most electrifying player in the nation, and most importantly, Forsett proved he has what it takes to fill the starter’s role.

While I always liked Forsett, I never fully believed that he could be a big time runner for Cal. Most of his yardage in previous years came after a huge dose of big Marshawn, and it seemed to me that Forsett was capitalizing on worn down defenses or defenses keyed to stopping the more physical style of Lynch. But today’s game proved that Forsett can be the hammer too. Not only did he grind out 163 yards on the ground, he also picked up 49 yards receiving proving that he can be a threat in the passing game as well.

As far as the passing game goes, the Bears seemed mostly content to be patient and take what the defense was giving them. I’m guessing that this was for several reasons. First, because it was the first game of the season, and Tedford was more focused on rhythm and consistency over the home run ball. Second, the Tennessee offense was totally without a big play threat this year; they were the ones playing catch up to Cal and so there wasn’t a need to take unnecessary risks. Finally, the importance of securing this win over Tennessee probably caused Tedford (combined with the first two reasons) to call things a little more conservatively. That being said, Cal still put up big numbers in the passing game today, and that was without getting big TE Craig Stevens any catches. Once this team gets more in rhythm and Tedford decides to open it up, beware.

The superstar freshman streak continues. Jahvid “the Jet” Best blasted onto the scene in tonight’s game; following in the footsteps of Marshawn Lynch and DeSean Jackson. I remember the days when the only big time freshman Cal fans got excited over was Kyle Boller…and he stunk it up until his final year when Tedford came along.

Not really about the offense, but DAMN I love hearing that victory chant. Also not strictly offense related, but the new kickoff rules are going to be playing havoc with teams all year. Teams end up at or near midfield with just one first down...kind of crazy, but maybe benefits teams like Cal...especially against defenses like usc...

Clutch kicking by the backup kicker Jordan Kay.

Final thought on the offense…I absolutely love how Tedford recruits, coaches, and utilizes our fullbacks. They always seem to get at least one run and one catch per game, and they almost always cash in on their opportunities. Tonight, Will Ta’ufo’ou (coming back from an injury that was supposed to keep him out of this game) caught a pass, ran for 15 yards, and then knocked the helmet off the Tennessee defender who tried to tackle him. There’s just something great about giving those big guys their chance and seeing them always come through. Great job.

On Defense:

So we all knew that the defense was going to be the big question mark this year, and yes they could’ve done more to make Cal nation feel more secure. But there were a lot of positives on that side of the ball as well. The overall scheme looked like it was set up to just keep Tennessee from gaining anything big, and for the most part they succeeded. There was some sloppy tackling and two big plays given up, but other than that, the defense did it’s job, especially in the second half.

Syd’Quan Thompson got his own measure of personal revenge by coming up with a couple of big hits and tackles for losses. The linebackers looked real solid, and the loss of Desmond Bishop doesn’t look like it’ll be a big factor this year. The defensive line still wasn’t able to generate much of a pass rush, but they did do a decent job against the run, and DE Rulon Davis definitely looks like the real deal.

While it’s usually offenses that take a few games to get going and gel into a unit, I really believe that this year’s defense will evolve into a very solid team after a few more games. The most important thing to remember is that we have big play ability on defense, and with our offense, the D won’t be called upon to win games for us.

Berkeley in Prime Time

This game represented a lot more than just a chance to get off to a great start for the football team. Don’t underestimate the fact that this game was in prime time, the only matchup of ranked opponents this weekend, and televised nationally. As Cal continues to have success, its recruiting base reaches further and further out, so this game really represented a chance for Cal to make a favorable impression on recruits nationwide; and Cal knocked it out of the park. Everything great about Cal was on display during tonight’s broadcast. The picturesque beauty of the Bay Area was emphasized by the cut shots before and after every commercial break. The Cal faithful were out en masse to support their beloved Bears. The stadium renovation plan and the new athletic facility got mentioned. The sideline reporter did a spot on the more…uh…colorful side of Cal life when she mentioned that the fans on tightwad were partying “Berkeley California style.” Hell, even the damn commercials advertising Cal have improved this year. Obviously, all these other extra things would’ve been rendered moot if the Bears didn’t win, but they did. And they did so convincingly, against a ranked opponent from the best conference in college football, on a weekend where other highly touted programs were playing and losing against Div IAA cupcakes. Helluva statement, helluva game, Go Bears!!!

Cal vs Tennessee Prediction

2007-09-01T07:46:00.000-07:00

With so much national coverage on this game, I am going to bypass doing a preview. If you are curious about either team read one of the links in the previous post and that should give you a good summary.

Just a few key points and a prediction

1) 3 experienced, fast Cal WR's vs 3 new inexperienced Tennessee DB's. Even with Tennessee All American safety Jonathon Hefney back there, this is a mismatch that will be exploited.

2) Cal QB Nate Longshore plays very well at home. He is comfortable and gets in a rhythm quickly. Remember the Oregon game last year? Big hype, national TV, Longshore just killed it.

3) Tennessee will be able to run the ball. Regardless of who is suspended, who is the QB, or who is new on the O line, Tennessee RB's Arian Foster and Monterio Hardesty run hard and are tough to bring down.

4) DeSean will be given opportunities to return punts. Tennessee has an All American punter (though slightly injured), they contained Jackson last year and Fulmer has stated that he will punt to Tha1. Expect Jackson to make something big happen.

5) The strength of both defenses's are the Linbackers. Tennessee trio Jerod Mayo, Ryan Karl and Rico McCoy will easily be the best linebackers Cal faces outside of USC. Cal's trio (while unproven), Zack Follett, Worrell Williams and Anthony Felder, by the end of the season will have established themselves as one of the best in the nation. These 6 guys are most likely the ones that will change the momentum of the game with a big hit, big play or turnover. My money is on Felder to have a pick 6 on a pass out to the flat.

6) Tennessee will not be intimidated by Memorial Stadium or Cal fans. I have been at Memorial when it is rocking, but it simply does not compare to what happened down South. The bigger factor will be that Cal is at home and will not be affected by noise.
But at the same time, Cal fans can make a difference by making noise, THE ENTIRE TIME THAT TENNESSEE IS ON OFFENSE. Also no more of that retarded BS on 3rd down where you clap your hand (does that even still go on?). Just yell as loud as you can.

Prediction:

Cal 38 - Tennessee 17

How?
1st Quarter
- Cal: Longshore to Jackson TD pass (44 yards)
- Tennessee: Foster TD run (12 yards)
- Cal: Schneider FG (37 yards)

2nd Quarter
- Cal: Forsett TD run (5 yards)
- Cal: Jackson punt return TD (73 yards)

3rd Quarter
- Cal: Longshore to Hawkins TD pass (9 yards)
- Tennessee: FG (32 yards)

4th Quarter
- Cal: Forsett TD run (14 yards)
- Tennessee: Hardesty TD run (6 yards)

Go Bears!!!

Cal in the News

2007-08-31T13:37:00.000-07:00

ESPN

Ivan Maisel on Cal redemption

ESPN Cal vs Tennessee Preview

SI

Stewart Mandel - Payback Time?

Luke Winn - Breaking down Cal vs Tennessee

Austin Murphy - Bring on the Vols

Sporting News

Matt Hayes - Week 1 and Done?

CBS Sportsline

Dennis Dodd - Cal vs Tennessee

CBS Sportsline - Cal vs Tennessee Preview

CBS Sportsline - Cal Golden Bear report - Inside Slant

Ok, I think you get the point. Huge Game tomorrow. Everyone will be watching. Go Bears.

Fox Sports Fearless Prediction

2007-08-30T10:28:00.000-07:00

Game of the Week: Tennessee at California — Saturday at 8 p.m. ET

Why to watch: The only game of the opening weekend featuring Top 25 teams is a rematch of last year's 35-18 Tennessee win that was even worse than the score indicated. If there's such a thing as a must-win situation in Week One, this is it for Cal, which despite blowing out Texas A&M in the Holiday Bowl is still looking for national respect, at least from the SEC folk. Even without RB Marshawn Lynch, the Bear offense will again be prolific behind big junior QB Nate Longshore and one of the most dangerous receiving corps in America. After excelling as a spare part for years, 5-8 Justin Forsett gets a grand stage to show that he's not too small to carry the load in the running game. Cal won't be the only team with something to prove in Berkeley as Tennessee has to start showing it's Tennessee again. Without an SEC title since 1998 and with barely a hint of any noise in the national title race since winning it all almost a decade ago, the natives are getting restless. The Vols are light on star power in 2007, which is why plenty of first-year players will contribute and QB Erik Ainge is being counted on to have the best season of his up-and-down college career.

Why Tennessee might win: Cal can score, but can it stop a quality SEC opponent from going up and down the field? This is the Bears' first game without defensive stars Brandon Mebane, Desmond Bishop and Daymeion Hughes, something that won't be lost on Ainge as he begins implementing UT's new no-huddle offense. Cal is green at corner and suspect up front, which means lots of time for Ainge and enough running room for Arian Foster to keep the Bear offense in hibernation. This is still Tennessee, and there are still plenty of NFL caliber athletes, even if they're not household names quite yet.

Why Cal might win: Last September, Tennessee had the dynamite receivers and Cal had the secondary that was still in diapers. This year, the roles are reversed. The Vols' first test with three new starters in the defensive backfield comes against the quartet of Jackson, Lavelle Hawkins, Robert Jordan and tight end Craig Stevens, which combined for 168 receptions in 2006. Tennessee is also very soft in the middle, so look for Alex Mack to create space for Forsett and James Montgomery, while displaying why he's one of the nation's premier centers.

Who to Watch: Last September, then-freshman CB Syd'Quan Thompson became the poster boy for Cal's loss to UT, getting burned repeatedly by Robert Meachem and Jayson Swain. Today, he's one of the emotional leaders of the defense, who'll be on a mission to shut down a Volunteer receiving corps that's a far cry from last year's group. Also worth watching will be the matchup of Tennessee's Britton Colquitt and Cal's DeSean Jackson, the SEC's best punter and the nation's premier punt returner, respectively.

What Will Happen: After getting embarrassed and knocked down a peg a year ago, Cal will get revenge on Tennessee in one of the biggest wins of the Jeff Tedford era. The Vols will get their yards, making heavy use of TEs Chris Smith and Brad Cottam, but it won't be enough with the Bear offense clicking. Jackson will crank out a highlight-reel play that'll ignite the home crowd and earn him some early Heisman attention in a thrilling game that'll be as good as advertised.

Line: California -5.5

Must See Rating: (5 Hef wants you to take his place on The Girls Next Door, but you can't because you have to watch this game - 1 Cavemen) ... 4.5

Fearless Prediction: California 30 … Tennessee 24

Tennessee vs California

2007-08-29T14:35:00.000-07:00

Don't you hate it when there is a great article on ESPN but it is only for Insiders... good thing for you we know how to cut and paste.

Tennessee at California Matchups
QB	RB	WR	OL	DL	LB	DB	ST	Coach	Overall

Tennessee Offense vs. Cal Defense
The Vols got a scare in the offseason when QB Erik Ainge missed most of the spring after having knee surgery, but he has shown almost no effects of the injury during summer camp. Ainge made significant strides under first-year coordinator David Cutcliffe in 2006 and he should be even more polished as a senior this fall. Ainge displays good mobility for his size and he has a strong arm to fit the ball into tight spots in coverage. However, gone are Ainge's top-three receivers from last season, including first-round draft pick Robert Meachem (Saints). Without those veteran receivers to rely upon, Ainge's margin for error will be much smaller. He still has a reliable target in TE Chris Brown, who is the team's leading returning receiver with 31 receptions in 2006. However, if the Vols are to keep the Bears' defense honest, Ainge needs help from his inexperienced wide outs. So far, junior Lucas Taylor, sophomore Quintin Hancock and sophomore Austin Rogers are the three most promising at the position. Taylor is the speedster who can stretch the field, Hancock is the bigger possession target and Rogers is the most athletic, but also the least polished, after missing most of last season due to injury and illness. Cal will certainly miss the playmaking skills of third-round NFL draft pick Daymeion Hughes at cornerback, but Syd'Quan Thompson returns as a solid starter on one side and there are a lot of talented youngsters competing for the other starting cornerback job. The unit also returns Robert Peele, who emerged as a playmaker at the Rover position last season and can also play some cornerback if necessary.

Tennessee vs. California

vs.

When: Sept. 1, 8 p.m. ET (ABC)
Where: Berkeley, Calif.

Tennessee needs to improve a run game that ranked 10th in the SEC and 96th nationally last season. Without suspended RB LaMarcus Coker the burden falls on Arian Foster and Montario Hardesty. Hardesty had a 43-yard touchdown run versus Cal a year ago and Foster led the team with 69 yards in that game. Cal's defense only returns four starters from last season's disappointing group. The Bears run a traditional 4-3 scheme that requires its linebackers to be the focus. MLB Worrell Williams moves inside after playing on the weak-side last season. He has the size and toughness to keep Foster and Hardesty in check between the tackles. However, Williams and DT Matt Malele, a 335-pound run plugger, are the only returning starters along the front seven, which means the Bears could be extremely vulnerable to the perimeter run game. On the road versus a high powered offense and with an inexperienced receiver group, Tennessee must exploit this weakness in order to pull off the win. Cal Offense vs. Tennessee Defense
Like the rest of the Cal team, QB Nate Longshore's 2006 Knoxville visit was a forgettable one. But in his own backyard with 12 more starts under his belt, it will take a lot more for the Vols to rattle Longshore this time around. Cal's 6-foot-5 junior signal caller shed nearly 15 pounds in the offseason, which will give him more agility to sidestep pass rushers from within the pocket. And with time to survey the field and step into his throws, few quarterbacks in college football can shred a defense with Longshore's precision. It also helps to be equipped with one of the nation's deepest and most talented wide receiver corps. Longshore's top weapon is DeSean Jackson, the most dangerous open-field runner in the country. Jackson is complemented well by No. 2 WR Robert Jordan, No. 3 WR Lavelle Hawkins and TE Craig Stevens. Jonathan Hefney is a versatile playmaker with experience at cornerback and safety. He is likely to spend most of his time at safety in this game, but don't be surprised if the Vols use him occasionally to match up one-on-one versus Jackson. Tennessee is breaking in new starters at the other three defensive back spots, which places a great deal of pressure on the front four to establish a consistent pass rush on its own. While the Vols have some talent returning along their defensive line, the group's ability to rush the passer is very much an unknown at this point. Defensive ends Xavier Mitchell and Antonio Reynolds had huge springs, but the pair combined for only five sacks last season. Tennessee could run four-deep at defensive tackle with Dan Williams, Demonte Bolden, J.T. Mapu and Walter Fisher, but Bolden and Fisher are coming off injuries and Mapu is coming off a two-year Mormon mission. RB Justin Forsett is an undersized but shifty back with very good vision as a runner and hands as a receiver. While he should put up some big numbers in Cal's offense this season, we think he will have some trouble getting untracked in his first game as the team's fulltime starter now that Marshawn Lynch (Bills) is gone to the NFL. The Vols had some problems stopping the run last season but they should be much improved in that regard this fall. The front line is bigger and should be stouter versus the run, which should allow the playmaking linebacker trio of Jerod Mayo, Ryan Karl and Rico McCoy to flow freely to the football. Mayo is the leader of the group at middle linebacker and he's fast and instinctive enough to limit Forsett's big plays. McCoy is only a sophomore, but he showed tremendous potential in his first season and he's athletic enough to keep with Forsett when he releases as a receiver out of the backfield.

Special Teams

Key individual matchup

Cal QB Nate Longshore vs. Tennessee DS Jonathan Hefney Longshore's biggest challenge will be accounting for the whereabouts of Hefney, the Vols' returning leader in total tackles and interceptions. What the 5-foot-9, 185-pound roaming defensive back lacks in size, he more than makes up for with speed, athleticism, instincts and toughness. A year ago, Hefney was crafty enough to keep Longshore guessing and Longshore wasn't patient enough to ignore the bait. But the Jeff Tedford protégé has made lots of progress since last season's opener and he should show far more poise the second time around. Hefney will spend a majority of his time sliding over in deep-coverage support to limit the big-play potential of Longshore's most dangerous weapon, WR Jackson. When that's the case, Longshore will have plenty of real estate on the opposite side to utilize complementary receiver's Robert Jordan and Lavelle Hawkins. Eventually, Longshore will catch the Vols gambling with Hefney cheated up near the line in run support. That's when the deep ball will open up with Jackson exploiting rare man-to-man coverage. With three new secondary starters being broken in around him, Hefney may simply be outnumbered.

Key individual matchup

Cal QB Nate Longshore vs. Tennessee DS Jonathan Hefney
Longshore's biggest challenge will be accounting for the whereabouts of Hefney, the Vols' returning leader in total tackles and interceptions. What the 5-foot-9, 185-pound roaming defensive back lacks in size, he more than makes up for with speed, athleticism, instincts and toughness. A year ago, Hefney was crafty enough to keep Longshore guessing and Longshore wasn't patient enough to ignore the bait. But the Jeff Tedford protégé has made lots of progress since last season's opener and he should show far more poise the second time around. Hefney will spend a majority of his time sliding over in deep-coverage support to limit the big-play potential of Longshore's most dangerous weapon, WR Jackson. When that's the case, Longshore will have plenty of real estate on the opposite side to utilize complementary receiver's Robert Jordan and Lavelle Hawkins. Eventually, Longshore will catch the Vols gambling with Hefney cheated up near the line in run support. That's when the deep ball will open up with Jackson exploiting rare man-to-man coverage. With three new secondary starters being broken in around him, Hefney may simply be outnumbered.

Cal has a decided edge on special teams in this game. Senior PK Tom Schneider is on track to become Cal's all-time leading scorer and Andrew Larson is an upper-echelon punter who averaged 42.6 yards per attempt in 2006. Jackson emerged as the nation's most dangerous punt returner last season with an average of 20.4 yards per attempt, including four that he took to the house. Forsett and Hawkins are expected to handle most of the kickoffs. The good news for Tennessee is that PT Britton Colquitt ranks among the elite returning starters at his position in college football. Colquitt averaged 44.9 yards per punt last season and limited Jackson to only 16 yards on three returns. The other good news for Vols' fans is that Hefney is a punt return weapon in his own right. He finished 2006 ranked 33rd nationally with an average of more than 12 yards per punt return. But the kicking game and kick return game are not as pleasant. Colquitt will continue to handle kickoffs in addition to being asked to fill the void of departed James Wilhoit as the team's place kicker. It will be interesting to see how long Colquitt's leg holds up. Finally, the Vols ranked last in the SEC and 117th nationally in kickoff returns. Foster could be called on to handle kicks, as could a speedy freshman like Eric Berry.

Scouts' Edge
Tennessee enters this contest with a mental edge after dispensing Cal in a 35-18 smackdown in Knoxville last season. One year later, the Vols do the honors of traveling cross-country for a tough season-opening nonconference tilt. While Neyland Stadium is in a class of its own, the Bears will certainly enjoy the comforts of Memorial Stadium while seeking revenge for last year's embarrassing defeat. The key to last year's game was Tennessee jumping out to an early lead. Once it did, Cal's offense was forced to abort the running game, which put too much pressure on the inexperienced Longshore. But a lot has changed in one year. Ainge no longer has WR Robert Meachem to rely upon and Longshore is far more capable of carrying the Cal offense if necessary. In fact, the game's biggest playmaker is now Cal's Jackson, who is a threat as a receiver and as a punt return specialist. The Bears' inexperienced defense will keep Tennessee within striking distance deep into the fourth quarter. However, we do anticipate Tedford's team evening the score in a Week 1 game with major national implications.

Prediction: Golden Bears 28, Volunteers 24

Anyone Else Feel This Way?

2007-08-29T08:17:00.000-07:00

I really enjoy the blog The Band is Out on the Field and they have really become the leader in Cal blogs. They frequently write great articles and unearth nuggets about Cal sports that others do not find.

But one of their recent posts was just wrong (read entire post here). It is an example of my frustration with Cal fans and their off and on attitude. Here are some excerpts.

" The time until kickoff is legitimately being measured in hours, not days or weeks. (114 hours and counting down...) Yet, for some reason, Cal fans just don't seem that excited. I know that I am not."

Speak for yourself, not Cal fans in general. I think that Cal fans have been excited about this game for a long time. Go check out the message boards on BearInsider.com. Look at the comment by Robertson17 after the TBIOOTF post. For you to be unable to get excited about the upcoming Tennessee game just reeks of bandwagon.

"I am not confident heralding Tedford's return to playcalling as the second coming."

Good thing you change the name of your blog from Tedford is God. You have to be kidding me if you think that the offense will not be significantly better with Tedford calling the plays and with nearly all key skill players returning.

"I may have once declared that SQT would easily fill the shoes of Dante Hughes, but I really wish I hadn't."

Watch game tape of the last couple games last year and tell me who was playing better, SQT or Hughes. Also, SQT is still young, I have no doubt he will be able to fill Hughes large shoes.

And possibly the worst line of all...

"If I know one thing, it is this - if we lose we have to wait another year to declare Cal one of the best programs in the nation."

Why? Because of 1 loss. What if Cal runs the table and makes it to the Rose Bowl, will you still be waiting till next year to talk about Cal? Win or lose to Tennessee, I will always declare Cal as one of the best programs in the nation. But this is a moot point because we will beat Tennessee this year.

Maybe you were having a bad day or going through some turmoil that day, Kevin. Hope you post something better before the game and get fired up.

For everyone else who might be wavering, get off the fence and support your Bears.
- Ranking: is ranked #12 in both polls. People expect big things from this year's team you should too.
- Offense: Best in the Pac 10 and one of the best nationally (West Virginia might be better)
- Defense: Faster, more athletic and more talented than before. True, they are young, but when teams recruit well, like Cal has done, that is less of an issue.
- Special teams: Best in the nation as a unit.
- Coaching: What's not to love. Tedford took us from the abyss of 1-10 to national power. Now he will take us to the promised land.
- Schedule: Tennessee at home, USC at home. The stars are aligned for this season.

Not Cal Related...

2007-08-29T07:46:00.000-07:00

For most college football fans you either love or hate Notre Dame. They are overhyped, overrated and get way to much national coverage for a mediocre team. (I think you can see where I stand on them.) See the screenshot from Yahoo Sports headlines below.

Seriously??? That is news. Coach Weis is excited for 2007. Stop the presses. An actual news headline would be - Coach Weis is not excited about 2007 because he knows that his offense will sputter and his defense was never good.

We now return you back to your regularly scheduled Cal Football blogging.

Tenn Update

2007-08-28T12:40:00.000-07:00

It has been reported that Erik Ainge, Tennessee's starting QB, injured his right pinky in practice on Monday.

The Tennessean
KNOXVILLE – Tennessee quarterback Erik Ainge jammed the pinkie on his right (throwing) hand during practice on Monday and may not practice the rest of the week, UT Coach Phillip Fulmer said today.
Ainge is still expected to start for the Vols when they open the season at California on Saturday.

The injury does not appear to be serious but if Ainge does not practice the rest of the week that could affect game planning. Tennessee was adding a no huddle feature to their offense and, without practice, that offensive wrinkle could be seen less against Cal.

Depth Chart

2007-08-28T12:28:00.000-07:00

It looks like the lineup for Cal is set.

Offense
WR - Robert Jordan
LT - Mike Gibson
LG - Brian De La Puente
C - Alex Mack
RG - Noris Malele
RT - Mike Tepper
TE - Craig Stevens
WR - DeSean Jackson
QB - Nate Longshore
FB - Brian Holley or Zach Smith
RB - Justin Forsett

The offense looks great. Lavelle Hawkins is 1A behind Jordan and will get plenty of touches when Cal goes 3 wide. The offensive line should be solid. Though we are replacing 3 starters from last year, all the guys have experience. No real surprises here.

Defense:
DE - Rulon Davis
DT - Matt Malele
DT - Mika Kane
DE - Tyson Alualu
SLB - Zack Follett
MLB - Worrell Williams
WLB - Anthony Felder
CD - Syd Thompson
FS - Thomas DeCoud
ROV - Bernard Hicks
CB - Brandon Hampton

Davis and Alualu at the end will suprise people this year. And the line will stay fresh with little drop off with Cody Jones, Tad Smith and Cameron Jordan providing depth.
As mentioned before, the linebackers are the strength of the defense.
One surprise is that Chris Conte is listed as the backup for Brandon Hampton. While the true freshman has been getting a ton of praise from coaches, it is surprising that he was able to beat out Darian Hagan or Charles Amadi for the spot.

Special Teams:
P - Andrew Larson
PK - Tom Schneider
PR - DeSean Jackson
KOR - Justin Forsett, Lavelle Hawkins, Jahvid "The Beast" Best

Best special teams unit in the nation, top to bottom. Larson, Schneider and Jackson are at or near the top of their respective positions in the conference if not the nations.
Personally, I don't like to see starters returning kickoffs. (Anyone remember the Jason Sehorn incident with the NY Giants. Sehorn was coming of a Pro Bowl season and begged the coaches to let him return kicks. What happens? Broken leg on his first kick off return.)
Tedford is still considering Jackson for kickoffs. Personally, I think his size is better suited for punt returns. Also, with Best, Hawkins, Vareen and other talents players available for kick off duty, why risk it?

The Herbies are out...

2007-08-27T13:28:00.000-07:00

ESPN Gameday analyst Kirk Herbstreit has his own awards and Cal has done fairly well on the list. I always like Herbstreit because he has good analysis (having actually played the game) and is usually favorable in his assessment of Cal. (Read article)

Here are the mentions Cal received:

Best Wide Receiver - #1 DeSean Jackson
Dream Offensive Line - #1 Alex Mack
Best Tight Ends - #5 Craig Stevens
Best Quarterbacks (Old School: Classic Dropback Style) - #6 Nate Longshore
Top True Freshmen - Jahvid "the Beast" Best (in a previous post I noted that the best new nickname for Jahvid would be used and there was only one submission, so I am going with that. Thanks Rishi)
What's My Name (Players who will be household names by Oct. 1) - Justin Forsett
Favorite Playcallers - #3 Jeff Tedford

Some notes:
1) Nothing really new on the offensive side. DeSean and Alex Mack are on almost every list out there. It is nice to see Craig Stevens get some love.

2) I have no problem with Tedford at #3 for playcalling, except for the fact that USC's Steve Sarkisian is #2. Are you serious? Maybe in 5 years but not yet.

3) There is a section for Prettiest Coeds. The SEC dominates this list with 8 of the top 10. Must be something in the water down there.

4) No love for the defense. But don't worry, I imagine that a couple defensive players will make the year end list. Most likely candidates, Follet, DeCoud, Thompson.

One Week Away

2007-08-25T08:08:00.000-07:00

So close, yet so far, the first game of the Cal Football season is only 1 week away.

For those of you just chomping at the bit to see live action, the start of the college football season is only 5 days away.

Expect a lot of coverage on the Bears this week in the media. Cal vs Tennessee is the premier game of the opening weekend and should receive the bulk of the features. Should be great reading for Cal fans everywhere.

Side Note: For those of you that live outside the Bay Area and are not attending the game, what are your local alumni clubs planning for this huge game? I am in NYC and I am underwhelmed by the festivities. I actually have not heard of any large events planned and I know there is a large contingent of Cal fans in NYC. Am I a little early in my excitement?

Riley named backup QB

2007-08-24T08:05:00.000-07:00

It looks like Coach Tedford announced after yesterday's practice that Kevin Riley would be the back up QB. Riley and Kyle Reed, both top prospects coming in, were competing for the job behind starting QB Nate Longshore.

Reed was a local product who is suppose to be a dual threat QB. He is know for having a fantastic arm and great mobility.

Riley was Oregon's Gatorade State Player of the Year before coming to Cal. From what I have read, he seems similar to Aaron Rodgers. He has great accuracy and pocket presence.

While it is important to have the depth chart set before the start of the season, I don't expect this to settle who the successor to Longshore will be in the future. Expect Reed and Riley and freshman Brock Mansion to continue to battle it out in the upcoming seasons.

But you have to love the fact that Cal has finally reached the level where top rated recruits can get buried in the depth charts because newer great recruits keep signing with Cal. I remember the day when Kyle Boller signed with Cal and from day one he was declared the starter. No way that happens at Cal now and that is a good thing.

Defense Bears, Defense

2007-08-21T08:23:00.001-07:00

I think everyone can agree that Cal will have one of the most explosive offenses in the country this year. I would attribute that mostly to the fact that Tedford is back to calling the plays.

But let's talk about the defense. Defense is being labeled as the team weakness. I, for one, think that this year's defense will be much better than last year's.

Defensive Line
Gone: 3 starters were lost including all world DT Brandon Mebane.

New: Redshirt freshman and true freshman who are making big plays in camp. 2 players coming back from injury. Kane, returning as the leader on the line.

Comment: Mebane is a big loss but was the D line dominating last year? I thought they did a good job against the run but Cal lacked any consistent pass rush from the line.
Cal is at the point where the program reloads not rebuilds. Tedford and staff have done a great job recruiting. True the D Line lacks experience but there are some talented RS freshman and a couple true freshman who are ready to show what they can do.

Linebackers
Gone: Desmond Bishop, leading tackler.

New: Zack Follett, William Williams, Anthony Felder. All have logged significant playing minutes over their careers so there is experience here. Follett and Felder are now taking on a starting role and Williams is moving into Bishop's shoes.

Comment: True, Bishop was the heart of the defense, but Williams is ready to step into that role. This unit is the most athletic LB unit Cal has ever had. They are fast, strong and can knock the crap out of people. Follett is a big time playmaker that has a nose for the ball. Williams is a tackling machine and can roam sideline to sideline. Lastly, Felder is probably the most athletic but has been hampered by injuries. Watch him shine this year.

Defensive Backfield
Gone: Daymeion Hughes, Pac 10 defensive player of the year

New: Brandon Hampton, Darian Hagan, Robert Peele, etc

Comment: The safety positions are in good hand with DeCoud and Hicks. Syd Thompson has locked down one corner spot. He improved significantly over last year and should be a blanket this year.
So how does Cal deal with the loss of Hughes? You don't replace a Daymeion Hughes (though I predict Thompson will be better by his senior year). What we need to look at is the unit as a whole.
The safeties have another year under their belt. Hampton has locked down the other DB spot and has a lot of in game experience. While the unit might not be better, there is little doubt that they can perform up to par with last year's unit.

Conclusion
This year's defensive squad is flying under the rader but expect big things from them. If the defense plays up to my expectations expect even bigger things for Cal this year. With a favorable schedule and an unstoppable offense, this defense could lead Cal to the promised land.

Request for better nicknames

2007-08-20T11:53:00.000-07:00

Daily Cal has an article about fall practice and the new rankings (#12 in both polls). (Read Article)

They also have a mention about freshman Jahvid Best and Shane Vereen and the nicknames they have been given:

Jahvid Best --> Jahvid the Jet
Shane Vereen --> Shane the Train
Dora --> Dora the Explorer

Compare those to past nicknames like:

- Marshawn "Money" Lynch
- DeSean "Tha1" Jackson
- Joe "Booya" Ayoob (ok, so that never caught on, but the other nickname he got is unprintable on this blog)
- Adimchinobe "Joe" Echemandu

If you have a better nickname for these players, drop it in the comments and we will use the best one everytime that player is mentioned on this blog.

USC and everyone else...

2007-08-20T11:43:00.000-07:00

That has been the preseason story in the Pac 10 this year. USC will cruise to a league title. Cal, UCLA and Oregon are seen as the potential threats but not really. I have yet to see a pundit picking USC to lose a game in conference. Here is SI's latest ranking for the Pac-10.

How They'll Finish

	Conference		Overall
	W-L	PCT	W-L	PCT
USC	9-0	1.000	12-0	1.000
Cal	6-3	.667	9-3	.750
UCLA	6-3	.667	9-3	.750
Oregon	5-4	.555	7-5	.583
Oregon State	4-5	.444	7-5	.583
Arizona State	4-5	.444	7-5	.583
Washington State	4-5	.444	6-6	.500
Arizona	3-6	.333	5-7	.417
Washington	3-6	.333	5-8	.385
Stanford	1-8	.111	2-10	.167

RBBID Response:

1) 3 conference losses by Cal??? On the bright side, they do pick us to beat Tennessee. I can understand 7-2 (loss to USC and an surprise loss) but 3 losses? Ridiculous.

2) Who do they expect Stanford to beat in the conference?

3) Not sure why people are so high on Oregon (the QB situation is probably worse, not better).

4) Not sure why people are so low on Oregon St. (The loss of Matt Moore could be a plus rather than a minus.)

5) Coach Tedford and Zack Follett were also individually mentioned in the article.

This is the funniest thing I have read in a while...

2007-08-17T16:23:00.001-07:00

From the Sporting News, Matt Hayes pick UCLA as his darkhorse BCS title candidate: UCLA??? I think UCLA has a solid team, but this is just a stupid pick. Here are Hayes reasons (summarized) and my reasons why not.

Hayes: Defense wins championships. UCLA's defense is terrific.
RBBID: I agree with the first part, not so much with the second. It is like UCLA's defense played only one game last year, USC. No one saw them get blown away by Cal and FSU. Anyone see that great defense choke it away against Notre Dame?

Hayes: They return 20 starters.
RBBID: They return 20 starters from a .500 team. Great... Stanford returns 19 starters, should we pencil them in for the Rose Bowl?

Hayes: The Florida St. loss was an aberration.
RBBID: The USC win was an aberration.

Hayes: "If you can rush the passer and cover in the secondary, you're going to win a lot of games in the Pac-10. And there are two teams in the country who do that as well as anyone: USC and UCLA."
RBBID: Are you serious? Did the USC's D-line and LSU's DB's transfer to UCLA in the offseason? These are the same guys that gave up 29 points to Washington, 30 to Oregon, 37 to Washington St, 38 to Cal, and 44 to FSU.

Hayes: "The x-faxtor: quarterback Ben Olson has to play to his potential. We've heard of his ability for years, but saw only flashes last season..."
RBBID: Replace Ben Olson's name with Joe Ayoob and reread the sentence. Moving on...

Hayes: The Bruins have a strong running game with Chris Markey, a powerful plugger who can move the pile and a guy with deceptive speed. They're deep on both interior lines and they're hungry.
RBBID: No argument here. Hayes is actually correct. I just have one final reason why UCLA will not compete for the BCS title nor the Pac 10 title: Karl Dorrell!

Finally, please stop using the fact that the home team has won the Cal-UCLA game each year as a reason for penciling in a win against Cal this year. Do you really think that is the overriding factor in determining the outcome of THIS year's game?

Two weeks away...

2007-08-17T15:54:00.000-07:00

Till the start of college football. Man, this is an exciting time to be a Cal fan. There has been a lot happening around Cal football since my last post so I will try to give you an update.

1) Cal Media/Blog Updates
- DeSean Jackson on the cover of ESPN the Mag along with a great article inside. (Sadly, my issue had Brian Brohm on the cover. It sucks living on the East Coast.)
- Congrats to Ken and Jason on their new blog, Excuse Me For My Voice. I have been reading both their personal Cal blogs for a while, so I can't wait to see what their combined efforts will produce.
- Jonathon Okanes over at Bear Talk the CC Times Cal Blog, has really stepped it up. I was a little hard on him earlier but once he got his rhythm his postings have been great. Check out his latest post on Cal's first scrimmage.

2) Cal Rankings
I have seen as high as #9 and as low as #22. Can't remember the exact publications. Most importantly, Cal is #12 in the AP poll. A solid start. A big win over Tennessee probably gets us into the top 10 which lead to an undefeated season and a RBBID.

3) Freshman
- Jahvid Best is getting lost of love in the media. Bruce Feldman, ESPN CF writer, was at a couple Cal practices for his article on DJax. He says Best is his Freshman sleeper. Best ran back a kickoff today and showed off his speed again.
- Chris Conte, CB/FS, made a name for himself by leading the team in tackles at the first scrimmage. The kid has size and speed and is pushing for time on the field. But honestly, I am still wary about true freshman DB's.
- Shane Vereen, Cal's other stud freshman RB, is quietly having a great practice and it might be hard to keep him off the field also.
- This might turn out to be Tedford's best recruiting class.

4) Linebackers
- I don't know why this unit is so underrated in the media. I truly feel that Follet, Felder and William match up with any linebacking unit in the country, including USC vaunted trio. Bishop was a beast in the middle, but this unit will be more athletic, fast and harder hitting than any Cal has had before.
- Also there is great depth with Van Hoesen, Moye and McIntyre.

That is all for now, hope to be posting more frequently.

Speed Kills

2007-07-21T10:17:00.000-07:00

This year's squad will be the fastest in Cal history and one of the fastest in the nation. Three starting wide receivers with sub 4.4. speed. A freshman running back with world class sprinter speed. I believe 2 linebackers, Felder and Cook, run in the 4.5 range. Here are some other postings about Cal's speed.

Heisman Pundit has two posts about speed.

College Football's Fastest Players

4. Jahvid Best, Cal--Best is an incoming freshman for the Cal Bears with a best of 10.36 in the 100 meters and 20.65 in the 200 meters, which he ran this past June. The 5-10, 183-pounder ran for 3,325 yards and 48 touchdowns as a senior at Salesian (Calif.) High.

Fastest Player in Pads

1. DeSean Jackson, Cal--Give Jackson a yard and he takes 50 in the blink of an eye. His incredible vision makes him appear even faster than he is, as he knows exactly where he is going on the field.

4. Jahvid Best, Cal--I know he hasn't played yet, but I'm a big believer in this kid's ability. Cal quarterback Nate Longshore has already been quoted as saying Best is the fastest player he's ever seen. Give him a year of seasoning so he can control his legs better and he will be No. 1 on this list.

Make sure to keep your eyes on the games this year. One blink and you might miss something.

Bruce Feldman w/ Cal Bears

2007-07-19T19:16:00.001-07:00

ESPN has this annoying Insider feature. The best articles are always restricted to "Insider" members. Lucky for you reader (all 6 of you) I have an Inside account. So I give to you the full text of this Bruce Feldman piece...

BERKELEY, Calif. -- Interesting little side note to the Les Miles bashes the Pac-10 rant from a few weeks ago. Turns out Miles' star QB JaMarcus Russell is related to Cal wideout Robert Jordan, who proudly sports a huge $15,000 watch he got as a gift from the Raiders' top pick. Russell was actually with Jordan when they learned about Miles' comments, which included the LSU coach mockingly referring to Cal, Stanford and Washington as "real juggernauts."
"I said 'J, what's up with your coach?' And he was like 'Ah man, he's a hothead don't listen to him,'" Jordan recalled.
Jordan and a few of his Cal teammates though say they don't feel any additional pressure to uphold the Pac-10's honor in their big rematch against Tennessee in the season opener. Last season, the Vols pounded the Golden Bears in Knoxville in the 2006 opener, 35-18.
"I think about that game everyday, at every workout about how their crowd and their players were able to talk to us and all that," Jordan says. "We do represent the conference, but really we're playing for us. Last year we let ourselves down.
"We really weren't focused on football. We let the media hype it up: 'You guys are playing against an SEC team and there's gonna be 100,000 fans there,' and we let that get to us in camp. And so when things didn't go good in the first quarter, we hung our heads. Now we've got a veteran team. It's not going to be like that. We're going to keep fighting regardless. I'd be real shocked to have another outcome like that again. I don't see how that could happen again."
Said DeSean Jackson, Cal's star WR-KR: "It is a little bit of extra pressure on us as far as how people think of the Pac-10, but all we can do is just play hard."
Cal QB Nate Longshore, admits he watches the UT game, start to finish, all the time. "Everytime I watch it, I see something different," he says. "It's interesting to see the whole flow of the game and how turnovers affect teams and things like that in retrospect. Like instead of just going down and losing a yard, we try and make a play and they get to gang-tackle us and that builds momentum for them.
"There's so much that you wanna do over, but at the same time you have to treat it like another game."
One other nugget from Cal: A little debate about who is the fastest Golden Bear: Jackson or incoming freshman TB Jahvid Best, the player Longshore touted as the guy who is going to really surprise some people this fall.
"He is ridiculous quick," Longshore said of the 5-foot-11, 182-pounder, who once won a Gold Medal in the 200m at the 2005 USTAF Junior Olympics. "He could beat DeSean in a race, no doubt in my mind. No doubt. He's the fastest I've ever seen.
"When I was getting recruited I went to a couple of SC's practices and Reggie Bush was a freshman. They have so many similarities in how they move when Reggie was an unpolished freshman. It'll be interesting to watch him. Jahvid's got some special talents."

Reaction:
Les Miles needs to try and win something without Nick Saban's players and then start talking. LSU's schedule this year (team in italics are weak teams):
Mississippi State, Virginia Tech, Middle Tennessee St, South Carolina, Tulane, Florida, Kentucky, Auburn, BYE, Alabama, Louisiana Tech, Mississippi, Arkansas.
It is a tough schedule but there are definitely easy spots. Also, no Georgia or Tennessee this year.

Glad to hear that the Bears are preparing themselves for Tennessee. It is a big game and they need to get the season off to a good start.

I predict Jahvid Best will return at least one kickoff for a TD this season. Hopefully, Tedford will get him a couple touches a game. I don't see him getting above Forsett or Montgomery on the depth chart but good coaches know how to get talent players on the field.

Best Game I Have Ever Seen...

2007-07-19T09:28:00.000-07:00

Mike Silver, SI writer and Cal Alum, was gracious enough to indulge us in a Q&A session before last year's USC game. He writes more about Cal sports than anyone else and he covers the NFL. (We should lobby for him to take over the Cal Football blog at Contra Costa Times, which has dropped in quality since Jay Heater left.)

SI.com is doing a feature called "Best Game I Have Ever Seen..." and Mike writes about his experience watching "The Play". (Read Article)

It is a great story told from the audience perspective.

Here is a list of the top 3 games I have seen in person I have been in NYC the last 2 years, so apologies to fans of the Cal - Washington game last year.

1) Cal vs USC 2003 - The Holy Sh!t Game
Cal upsets #3 USC in triple overtime. The defense was fierce shutting down Bush, White and Dennis and intercepting Leinart 3 times. Also, Echemandu was the only back that season to rush for over 100 yards against SC.
But the game itself was crazy. Two blocked field goals. A fumble by Dennis near the goal line. Robertson replacing Rodgers and leading the Bears to victory.
All game long, all I heard was "Holy Sh!t, did you see that" or "Holy Sh!t, is this really happening".

2) Cal vs USC 2004 - Near Perfection
The Cal game with the most hype in the last 15 years. ESPN Gameday was there. Cal fans in SoCal come out of the woodwork. 2 undefeated team in a conference battle.
Rodgers completed 74 passes in a row (ok it was less but the kid was on fire). Defense holds its own against a powerful USC offense. The Cal section is ridiculously loud and the entire Coliseum is rocking. Yeah, in the end we lost, but that was a great game.

3) Cal vs UCLA 2000 - The Silver Lining in a Dark Era
I attended Cal from 1997 - 2001. Or what is known as the Holmoe Era. There was not much to celebrate. I remember sitting at games in the fourth quarter with enough room to lie across benches. But this game was one of the few bright spots of that time.
UCLA comes into the game ranked #13 while Cal is averaging 13 points a game. The result: Cal over UCLA 46-38 in triple overtime. (Side note: Cal dominates in triple overtime games.)
Boller was playing out of his mind but Igber was the real star of the day.
During overtime, the mic man had the student section move from end zone to end zone to provide additional crowd noise. (This also shows how sparsely attended Cal games were at this time). My first time rushing the field after a win. (1997 and 1998 Cal fans rushed the field after losses in the Big Game).

Looking back at this game and reading the press notes, you have to wonder how bad Holmoe was as a coach. Here are some of the players on that team: Kyle Boller (NFL), Nnamdi Asomugha (Pro Bowler), Scott Fujita (Pro Bowler), Joe Igber (1000 + yards), Geoff MacArthur (All American under Tedford), Nick Harris (greatest punter in Cal history, Harris for Heisman).

Share your favorites in the comments. Remember these are only games that you have seen in person.

EA Sports, NCAA CFB Countdown

2007-07-17T09:33:00.001-07:00

This was an interesting countdown. Cal is #16 and all the highlights are generated through the game. I could not find an embeddable version so you have to go to the link.

EA Sports, NCAA CFB Countdown #20-#16

Rival's Cal Football Preview

2007-07-16T06:02:00.000-07:00

Check out this preview from Rival's (also the lead photo in Yahoo CFB Sports section). Overall a solid preview but nothing we have not already read.

One point of contention, the writer give our linebackers a "B" grade. Linebacker is our strongest unit behind wide receiver. Follett, Williams and Felder will challenge the USC trio for best in the land. Follett is the headliner with Williams being the anchor. Felder is the question mark. If he stays healthy, watch out.

Here is the whole article.

Another Cal Preview

2007-07-13T14:35:00.000-07:00

Just in time for the weekend, College Football News (CFN) has their Cal Football Preview.

This is one of my favorite previews because it has an overall overview, an offense overview, a defense overview and depth chart. Also, it is free.

Cal Links

2007-07-09T16:09:00.000-07:00

Haven't posted in a while but here are somethings to read before the start of the season.

ESPN is all over Cal today, in a good way.

Cal Season Preview

Cal Rugby Article - Dominating!

I think this is Cal's Heisman website for DeSean Jackson. Have not seen the other bloggers link to it, so I am not sure if it is official. But it looks pretty cool.

DeSean's Heisman Campaign

That is all for now. Enjoy.

Worst Pac 10 Preview Ever...

2007-05-17T09:43:00.000-07:00

Dennis Dodd, over at CBS Sportsline, has a view Pac 10 preview. I watched it because it is the slow season and anything CF/Pac 10/Cal related is of interest.

But this is the worst I have ever seen. First, Dodd has a deer in the headlights look. He starts off very slowly and mechanically. Either he does not read well off cue cards or he has a bad memory. Second, he mentions six strong teams in the Pac 10 and then he list 5 teams and says six again. But he redeems himself by mentally calculating 165 divided by 10, on camera.

It is only about a minute and a half but watch it if you have time. It is pretty funny.

Dennis Dodd Pac 10 preview

GameDay - One Person's Prediction

2007-05-14T18:53:00.000-07:00

Saw this picture on the Bear Insider Forums under the topic of signs for GameDay. Credit to user AndySmithAgain. (Link to thread)
I thought it was pretty funny. Another funny one was, "This sign was made using 6 oak trees".

College GameDay in Berkeley

2007-05-14T14:55:00.000-07:00

The Bear Insider is reporting that ESPN GameDay will be coming to Berkeley on Sept 1st for the Tennessee match up.

This should make the game even bigger and be a great opportunity for the rest of the nation to see the energy of Bear Nation or Blue Claw or The Cave or whatever we are calling the student section.

More on this later but check out the other Cal blogs for more reaction.

Cal Stuff

2007-05-14T14:33:00.000-07:00

Ken, over at Bear Territory has posted a response to my comment about his predictions on next season (full post). He makes some convincing arguements about how Cal can still make it to the Rose Bowl with 2 losses. Here are some excerpts...

First of all, I sympathize with their desire to predict all games as wins. That said, I’m too much of a realist for that. The reality is very few seasons result in a team being undefeated and it’s not practical to expect that of any team, with an occasional exception.

Yet you pick USC to go undefeated. USC is a great team with an awesome defense. But I think their offense is weaker this year with no proven wideouts and no superstar at running back. (And yes, USC fans, I have seen the Joe McKnight YouTube videos, but until the 185lb kid takes a smack from DI linebackers and pops back up, he is still a unproven freshman.) So, I believe Cal does have a good shot at beating USC.

As for the 2 losses being too much for a Rose Bowl bid, with 3 losses last year Cal was just a couple of poll spots short of being BCS eligible and it was quite clear that the Rose Bowl wanted Cal if they were eligible... Now that I think about it, perhaps RBBID’s thought is that 2 losses doesn’t get Cal 2nd place.

You are correct. I was not sure that 2 losses would keep us in 2nd place in the Pac 10. But, if Cal did lose to ASU, which I think would drop them out of the top 10. And then the loss to USC would drop them out of top 14 and a win against Stanfurd would do nothing to rise in the polls. But that is all for naught since Cal is going undefeated. (On a side note, if Cal goes undefeated and plays in the NC game than we miss out on the Rose Bowl again.)

Stuff from other bloggers...

Sunday Morning QB has an absurdly pre mature assessment of Tennessee. It is a good overview of Cal's first opponenet.

California Golden Blogs brings back some old memories about talks about Aaron Rodgers and his time in Green Bay.

Okay, enough with this post, I just read some crazy good news that needs its own post.

Spoke too soon...

2007-05-10T20:39:00.000-07:00

So there is other Cal news to report...

Over at Bear Territory, Ken has done a post spring practice Cal game prediction. I would say I agree with most of his analysis except for any game he picked us to lose. Also, he picks Cal to lose to ASU and USC and sneak into the Rose Bowl after USC goes to the National Championship Game. I am not sure Cal would finish high enough in the polls to get picked for a BCS game if it did lose two Pac 10 games.

Everyday Should Be Saturday (EDSBS) has a post about Coach Tedford and his flirtation with the spread offense last season. It is a pretty funny post, as always, and there is a nice youtube video of Oregon, Joey Harrington to Sammy Parker on a play action post which is exactly what you will see this season with Longshore to Jackson. (Except there will be more separation between Jackson and the defender.)

The California Golden Blog, has an interesting post about the renaming of the student section. It looks like the Athletic Department is looking to give the student section a moniker. The choices are:

1) Bears Lair - not bad, but not very original
2) The Cave - seriously?
3) The Claw - worse than The Cave
4) Blue Crew - sounds too much like Blues Clues, the childrens program.
5) Bear Force - so if we play Air Force and the student section begins to chant "Hey alumni ... Bear ... Force ... Bear ... Force". With that many people, I can easily see the Air Force players getting pumped up thinking that we were chanting for them.

Here are RBBID's top five names
1) "We never wear one color" student section
2) "This clapping rhythmically on 3rd down is not really loud" student section
3) "The game is not on ABC, lets show up in the 2nd quarter" student section
4) Bear Nation (like Clipper Nation)
5) Lynch Mob (I know he is gone but it can be a tribute)

So Little Cal News...

2007-05-10T09:18:00.000-07:00

That we are resorting to finding the most minor tidbits to keep our readers happy. Oh how we hate the down time between the draft and college football season. To fill the void, I went to the Yankees baseball game last night and shouted "Go Bears". I was trying to stay in shape during the offseason and Jason Kidd was sitting one section over. (Seriously, down 2-0 to the Cavs and still going to baseball games.)

Back to Cal Football, Sporting News has its All Spring Team. Honestly, I have no idea how they rate performance from spring practice but our own Alex Mack made the first team. Congratulations Alex. Here is the full team with our own comments. (Full Link)

All-spring team

Offense

WR Arrelious Benn, Illinois, Fr. - early admit who is getting a lot of pub for catching passes against the Illini 2nd team defense.

WR Demaryius Thomas, Georgia Tech, Fr. - don't think he is going to make people forget Calvin Johnson.

TE John Carlson, Notre Dame, Sr. - Seems like he always has a big spring and just an ok fall.

L Jeff Byers, USC, Jr. - Former Gatorade High School Player of the Year as a lineman. Crazy...

L Ryan Stanchek, West Virginia, Jr. - I hear he really blocked well in the spring.

L Trinton Sturdivant, Georgia, Fr. - Gave up zero sacks in the spring, helped by the fact that the QB was wearing a red (no contact, do not touch me I am delicate) jersey.

L Eugene Monroe, Virginia, Jr. - No one run blocks better in shorts, t-shirt and a helmet than Monroe.

L Alex Mack, California, Jr. - Absolutely dominating (this is a serious comment).

QB Jake Locker, Washington, Fr. - Attended every practice, found his way to every class, and did not put on the freshman 15.

RB Antone Smith, Florida State, Jr. - FSU running game has only one place to go --> up.

RB DeMarco Murray, Oklahoma, Fr. - Made OU fans say, Adrian who?

I was going to do the defense but could not come up with any more clever things to say. Check out the full article if only to see that there is an honorable mention team.

ROY - Marshawn Lynch

2007-05-07T10:09:00.000-07:00

Marshawn has been getting a lot of mention these days as a top candidate for rookie of the year. Most people attribute this to his situation in Buffalo. Peter King writes,

7. I think they might as well go ahead and inscribe the Offensive Rookie of the year trophy with Marshawn Lynch's name. With a run-blocking offensive line coach in Jim McNally, two very high-priced line free agents in the fold (Derrick Dockery, Langston Walker) after being trained in run-blocking in their previous places, and the likelihood that Lynch will get 300 carries if he stays healthy ... I mean, unless Calvin Johnson catches 80 balls or some Hofstra receiver comes out of nowhere again, Lynch should win it in a walk.

True, Marshawn is going into a good situation. But those of us that saw him play, know that regardless of where he went, he would have put up huge numbers. Also, expect Marshawn to be popular in fantasy football drafts. So Bear fans, pick him early and watch him carry your team.

ESPN on the Pac 10

2007-05-04T10:55:00.000-07:00

ESPN has a new article out today on the Pac 10. The gist of the article is this: USC great, USC tops, other teams briefly mentioned, back to USC, more USC. But here are the interesting tidbits. (full article)

Most dynamic player: When California receiver and return specialist DeSean Jackson has the ball, he's just scary. He led the nation in punt returns last year, returning four for touchdowns. He also caught 59 passes for 1,060 yards -- 18 yards per reception -- with nine touchdowns. If the Bears start fast -- read: beat Tennessee -- Jackson could become a Heisman Trophy candidate.

No brainer choice here. Most dynamic player in the nation will also be the most dynamic player in his conference. Jackson will be a Heisman Trophy candidate but will not win it because the Bear offense is too balanced. When you have Hawkins and Jordan, along with Forsett running the ball, there is too much talent for Jackson to post the numbers to win. Unless he take 6 punts to the house this year.

Team that may disappoint: California coach Jeff Tedford has laid very few eggs in his five years in Berkeley, quickly transforming a moribund program into a budding national power. Oh, the Bears went belly-up in the 2004 Holiday Bowl against an inferior Texas Tech team, but other than that things have been mostly smooth. At least until that 35-18 humiliation at Tennessee that made Cal look ill-prepared for the big time and set tongues wagging on Pac-10 mediocrity. The Volunteers visit Strawberry Canyon this fall. If Cal wins, buckle up for a banner season. If it loses, things could become unsteady. A potential Achilles' heel: Six marquee starters from last year's underachieving defense need to be replaced.

Are you serious? The one positive I take from this is that the writer has high expectations for Cal. The team that may disappoint is UCLA. Have you seen how high they are being ranked in early polls? I saw one where they were #7. UCLA was 7-6 last year with one good win against USC. Bringing back 20 starters from a team barely over .500 is not a great thing. Let's not forget they got spanked by FSU in the Emerald Bowl. UCLA will finish in the bottom half of the conference this year below Cal, USC, Oregon St, Oregon and Arizona St.

Cal Skills Players Getting Props

2007-05-03T10:29:00.000-07:00

Rivals.com is doing some sort of position rankings but instead has categories, like top 10 deep throwers and top 10 break away backs. I think this is a multi part series, so we can look forwards to top 10 hang time, top 10 edge rushers, top 10 maulers, top 10 blankets, top 10 game turning tacklers, etc. Regardless, Cal has gotten a mention on both lists.

7. Nate Longshore, Jr., California: The fact that 51 of his 227 completions last year went for at least 20 yards shows that Longshore isn't afraid of throwing long. Why should he be when California boasts one of the nation's top deep threats in DeSean Jackson? Oregon State sure knows about Longshore's ability to deliver an accurate long ball. Longshore threw four touchdown passes - all at least 27 yards - in a 41-13 triumph over the Beavers last year. He also had a 62-yard touchdown pass against Arizona, a 48-yarder against Minnesota and a 44-yarder against UCLA.

7. Justin Forsett, Sr., California: Forsett's average of 6.4 yards per carry was the highest in the nation by any running back with at least 260 attempts. He gained 124 yards on just eight carries in the Golden Bears' 45-10 Holiday Bowl victory over Texas A&M. The departure of Marshawn Lynch could drop Forsett's average, but should increase his opportunities for long touchdown runs this fall. The one strike against Forsett as a breakaway threat is that his longest gain of the 2006 season covered only 48 yards.

For sure, DeSean will be ranked number one when the WR (top 10 take it to the house every time he touches the ball and embarass the other team) categories.

I am a big fan of Forsett, but I don't even think he is the top breakaway back on the team. Jahvid Best, incoming freshman, probably takes the cake on that one. Trust me, you thought DJax was fast, wait for this kid to return kicks.

Ranking the Cal Blogs

2007-05-01T12:57:00.000-07:00

So we are back... not really. Due to real life crushing our dreams of full time blogging we are going to take a break until August when college football really starts up again. In the meantime, we wanted to give our readers (actually, by this time it might just be reader, singular) a review of the other Cal blogs out there.

Cal blogs (listed in the order you should read them everyday)

1) Tightwad Hill (http://tightwad-hill.blogspot.com)

Positives: Hands down the best Cal blog on the web. Most in depth analysis and provides better coverage than traditional media.

Negatives: Has been absent for nearly all of April with no sign that he is coming back soon. When Tighwad is writing, he has no peer.

2) The Band is Out on the Field (http://www.thebandisoutonthefield.com)

Positives: Good analysis and oftentimes has other insights that you don't normally find elsewhere. There are some funny postings and the community of readers makes for good discussions. Also, they are part of the SportsBlog Nation (not sure if this is a positive or negative).

Negatives: It appears that they have 3-5 ex Daily cal writers participating in this blogs. This in itself is neither good nor bad. But with that many people writing on the blog, can't they post more frequently. There should be a least 1 post a day.

3) The California Golden Blogs (http://goldenblogs.blogsome.com/)

Positives: Very enthusiatic posting which is always funny and interesting. This blog offers the best images as they take most of their own photos and appear to have a really good digital camera. (Also, they actually link back to us, so props to them.) I don't know these guys, but they seem to be having the most fun with their blog and it shows.

Negatives: Their analysis is solid but not as in depth as the top two. This might just be me, but they seem to have a lot of posting related to jerseys (buying jerseys, getting jerseys as presents, what lynch's new jersey will look like). Only Tony Soprano seems to love Jersey as much as these guys.

4) Cal Golden Bear Football News (http://calgoldenbearfootball.blogspot.com/)

Positives: You want news on Cal Football, this is the place to get it. I like reading the primary sources that this blog generally covers so I tend to check in with this site to see if I missed anything. If you don't do that, then this should move up to the top of the list, because it gives you all the news on Cal Football.

Negatives: No analysis but it never claims to provide analysis.

5) Cal Football Fan (http://www.calfootballfan.com/)

Positives: Great observations on the state of Cal football. Oftentimes produces tidbits of information that is not address by the other Cal bloggers.

Negatives: I wish they posted more frequently. But who am I to talk about posting more often.

6) Bear Territory (http://cal.thecrawfordfamily.net/blog/)

Positives: Excellent analysis. For part of last season, he was a reporter for Rivals and was able to get insider access to coaches and players. Even before that, he has provided great observations on the team and how the team has played.

Negatives: Once he moved over to write for Rivals, the posting on his blog were less frequent and lacked the depth he once had. This was due to the fact that most of his best writing was going on Rivals. Now that he is no longer with Rivals, the postings on his blog have not picked up in quantity or quality. When Bear Territory returns to it original form, it would likely be in the top 3 on this list.

7) Contra Costa Times Blog (http://contracostatimes.com/colleges)

Positives: When Jay Heater was writing this blog, it was among the best. Good insight behind the scenes.

Negatives: Jay has left and the new guy is still getting his bearings. But by what I have seen so far (4 posts) he needs to pick it up to meet the level that Cal fans expect.

Others worth mentioning

College Hotline (http://mercextra.com/blogs/collegesports/)

Positives: Excellent blog. Provides good coverage. Jon Wilner has some good insights into the Cal program.

Negatives: For some reason, Cal media relations have cut him off from access to Tedford and others. He writes about all college programs in the Bay Area which means unnessary posts about Stanford.

Anyone want to comment where we rank? (We prefer if you consider us from our better days during last season rather than the barren wasteland you have seen that last 2 months)

Also, if we are missing any, please add the link in the comment section. Thanks.

Early 2007 Prediction on ESPN

2007-02-23T11:46:00.000-08:00

Wow, after a great first half against UCLA, Cal got worked in the second half last night. So let's look to some more pleasant news.

ESPN's Mark Schlabach listed his early predictions for the 2007 football season.

20. TCU will crash the BCS party: West Virginia and USC will play in the BCS title game. California will play Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. Florida State will play TCU in the Orange Bowl. LSU will play Louisville in the Sugar Bowl. Texas will play Georgia in the Fiesta Bowl.

Right on... Cal in the Rose Bowl. But he does pick USC to win the National Championship.

2. The Trojans will finish on top: Southern California will be tested only twice -- at Nebraska on Sept. 15 and at California on Nov. 10 -- before finishing the season undefeated. The Trojans will play West Virginia for the national championship Jan. 7 in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, three weeks after the Trojans receive a formal notice of investigation from the NCAA for alleged violations involving 2005 Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush.

Silver lining is that he is predicting that USC will be investigate for Bush-gate.

Cal Recruits

2007-02-09T14:56:00.000-08:00

We are a little late to the party but here are our 2 cents on Cal's recruiting class.

First, if you have not read anything about Cal's recruits, head over to TightWad Hill's blog for the best recap. (I don't know how this guy does it, but bar none the best Cal blog out there.)

This was a very balanced class. It was rated as high as #12 nationally and was generally considered a top 25 class (damn you ESPN and your random rankings). But overall class ranking is not a good measure of how a team will perform with these recruits. (Case in point, see CFN's re-rank of the 2003 and 2002 college football recruiting classes.)

Tedford is great at identifying talent and matching this up with the needs of the team. This is what Cal added in order of strength:

1) 5 O-linemen - this is the strength of this class. You could be looking at the starting 5 in 2009. (If one of them can slide over to center.)

2) 2 great running backs - Vereen is a top rated back, but Best is the real sleeper, nationally. Two websites have him listed as a future star.

AOL Sports lists him as one of 10 impact recruits (click here)...

Jahvid Best, Tailback (California) - The "sleeper" out of my ten, if you want to call him that. Best is a little on the light/small side (5'-10"/183 pounds) but the man can scoot (a California high school best 10.39 in the 100-yard dash). There are only a handful of people every year who are that fast and are legitimate football players. Think Ted Ginn, Reggie Bush, those types of zoom zoomers. Best may be the next.

Heisman Pundit lists Best as a Dark Horse future Heisman candidate (click here) ...

Jahvid Best, California - Cal is getting the fastest back in the country with a 10.39 100-meter dash to his credit.

3) Arguably the nation's top prep punter. Normally, we would not place much emphasis on a punter but Bryan Anger is the top rated prospect in Cal's class. Also, he has some crazy punting stats (yes there are punting stats) like a 4.9 average hang time. (I think this is like a WR running a 4.35 40.)

4) 4 more dominating linebackers. Alex Cook is a Juco DE that will play outside LB for Cal. He runs a 4.5 40. This will definitely help Cal's recent lack of pass rush. Little D-Bish is coming to Cal to step into the shoes of his older brother. Preps DJ Holt and Robert Mullins will have to take a back seat to an already stacked LB unit but will be ready to continue the great LB tradition in 2008-9.

Side note: With Follett, Felder and Williams already at Cal, the LB position looks like the most competitive position outside of WR.

5) Need to upgrade the pass rush? Recruit 4 stud DE's. Cameron Jordan is ready to play today, while Solomona Aigamaua is more of a project. Ernest Owusu made the biggest splash as a surprise recruit and should be more mature after a year at prep school. Scott Smith continues the legacy of great players from Hawaii.

6) 2 tall, fast WR's. Mike Calvin and Alex Lagemann are both 6'2 or taller and run in the 4.5 40 range. Don't expect much from them next year as DJax, Hawkins and Jordan should make up the best WR unit in the nation.

7) Another Elite 11 QB. So every year 11 of the top QB's in the nation are invited to this camp. And every year one of them signs with Cal. Nate Longshore, Kyle Reed, Kevin Riley and this year Brock Mansion. Mansion is a pro style QB but can actually move. He gained almost 1000 yards on the ground his senior year.

New OC Jim Michalczik

2007-02-02T09:34:00.000-08:00

Coach Tedford annouced that Offensive Line coach Jim Michalczik will be promoted to Offensive Coordinator replacing the recently departed Spread Dunbar. (ESPN article)

BERKELEY, Calif. -- Jim Michalczik became California's offensive coordinator Thursday after five seasons as the Golden Bears' offensive line coach.
Michalczik replaces Mike Dunbar, who resigned last week after one season to take the same job at Minnesota. Michalczik's promotion could signal a return to a more conventional Cal attack after the Bears dabbled in aspects of Dunbar's favored spread offense last season.
Coach Jeff Tedford is largely in charge of the Bears' offensive game plans, but believes Michalczik's tremendous success on the offensive line warranted more responsibility.
"He has an excellent understanding of our offensive philosophy, and he is very well-respected by the players and the rest of the coaching staff," Tedford said. "We have worked closely together with offensive game-planning, and we will continue to do that."

This is a great choice for new OC. Promotion within the program is always great and allows for continuity. It allows for a smooth transition between seasons and the player do not have to learn new schemes and play signals. Most likely, and in no way is this meant to diminish Michalczik contribution to the program, Tedford will take back play calling duties and return to his Pro Set offense. Tedford is an offensive mastermind and it will be good to see him lead the offense again.

One thought on the spread (or removal of the spread). True, we don't have a mobile QB (a la Pat White or Tim Tebow) to run a pure spread offense. But with Marshawn off to the NFL, it is possible that Forsett could have thrived more in the spread. Forsett hits holes quickly and runs North/South more than Marshawn did. Forsett has a build like Steve Slaton and could thrive in the spread. I don't know how well he will hold up a power run game. But then again, Cal is stocked, and I do mean loaded, at the TB position. You think Tedford is good at molding QB's, in 5 years Cal might be known as a tailback factory.

Thoughts on the Athletic Center...

2007-01-31T13:59:00.000-08:00

I took a couple days to digest the news that a judge is blocking construction on the new athletic center. After reading many articles, blog postings, and chat room comments, I think the situation is less bleak than I had initially thought.

I am certainly no legal expert, but it seems that this is a temporary set back. That the judge looking through the merits of the case saw that more research could be done to assess safety concerns. After more due diligence is done, it seems as though the construction will go forward. But again, I know nothing about how these legal things actually work.

I was more interested in the reaction from Cal football fans. They ranged from sober to enraged to one, half jokingingly (I think), urging fans to bum rush the tree sitters with chain saws. All were understandable reactions.

While I love Cal Football, one things I always liked about going to UC Berkeley was the "hippies" or "environmental fringe groups" that littered the campus with their far from center thoughts and ideas. And before the comments sections get bombed with comments about my lack of Cal football passion, I am not saying they are right. I just agree with the idea that everyone has a right to voice their opinion.

Yes, we need this new construction to start to maintain a great athletic program. (And I say athletic program because while football is at the centerpiece, all Cal athletes will benefit from the new center.) But this small protest by a fringe group is exactly why Berkeley is what it is and adds to the rich experience that is Cal.

I believe that common sense will prevail and the new center will be built. Some alteration probably will occur and there will be delays. But like Coach Tedford, I am 100% commited to this program and have confidence that this is a minor setback.

OC Dunbar leaves for Minn

2007-01-25T12:30:00.000-08:00

Back to football news,

OC Mike Dunbar is leaving Cal to take the OC position at Minnesota after one season. I think Dunbar regretted his decision to come to Cal for a variety of reasons:
1) Had he stayed at Northwestern, he would have been a favorite to become head coach after Randy Walker's sudden death.
2) He loves the spread offense and anybody watching Cal's offense certainly did not see a true spread or anything close to it.
3) He is a Midwestern guy and leaving home is hard.

While others are more critical of Dunbar, we appreciate his contribution to Cal and wish him well.

So who will take over now. Tightwad Hill has a great post on the topic, here. His choice is Ron Gould, current running backs coach, who would simply execute Tedford's offensive game plan. While I believe Tedford is the greatest offensive mind in college football, it would be interesting to bring in some new blood to try his hand with the offense. Someone who would run Tedford's pro style offense and add some wrinkle's of his own. No one comes to mind right now but this will be an interesting situation to watch.