SB Nation - Verran Tucker

#23 Utah Extends Bowl Win Streak to Nine

BrysonCutla — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 07:30:17 -0000

Final - 12.23.2009	1	2	3	4	Total
Utah Utes	7	17	3	10	37
California Golden Bears	14	0	7	6	27

Complete Coverage >

The Utah Utes flat out know how to win bowl games, whether they're busting the BCS or playing in a lower-tier game before Christmas.

True freshman Jordan Wynn threw for a career-high 338 yards and three touchdowns to rally No. 23 Utah (10-3) from an early deficit to a 37-27 victory over California (8-5) in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl on Wednesday night.

The Utes scored 27 straight points to win their ninth straight bowl game, the longest current streak in the country and tied for the second-longest ever. Florida State won 11 straight from 1985-96 and Southern California won nine in a row from 1923-45.

"It's the work ethic of our players," Coach Kyle Whittingham said. "We don't have any secret, magic way of practicing for bowl games. It's how our guys go about their business. It's their work ethic and focus. They understand a bowl game is a reward for a good season but also a chance to win another ballgame."

The Golden Bears, in a bowl game for the school-record seventh straight year, had their four-game postseason winning streak snapped.

Wynn improved to 3-0 at Qualcomm Stadium, including two section championships while the starter at suburban Oceanside High. He graduated last December and enrolled at Utah in January, allowing him to participate in spring ball.

Wynn completed 26 of 36 passes and improved to 3-2 as the Utes' starter.

Utah's defense came up big, too. The Utes sacked Cal's Kevin Riley five times and intercepted him twice, with linebacker Stevenson Sylvester returning a tipped pass 27 yards for a touchdown late in the game. Riley also lost a fumble. Safety Robert Johnson was everywhere, he delivered two big hits on Verran Tucker to cause incompletions.

Utah's defense shut down Cal and Utah scored on its last four possessions of the first half.

Wynn threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to tight end Kendrick Moeai late in the first quarter and Joe Phillips' 28-yard field goal early in the second quarter pulled Utah to 14-10.

Wynn's 15-yard scoring pass to Moeai gave Utah the lead and his 21-yarder to Jereme Brooks made it 24-14 at halftime.

Riley fumbled early in the third quarter when he was sacked by Lamar Chapman, with Mike Wright recovering at the 14. That set up Phillips' 29-yard field goal for a 27-14 lead.

Cal finally scored again on a 1-yard run by Vereen with 39 seconds left in the third quarter to pull the Golden Bears to 27-21 before Phillips kicked a 25-yard field goal.

Riley was 20 of 36 for 214 yards and one touchdown.

Cal had only six first downs in the first half.

Utah's David Reed set school records for catches (81) and receiving yards (1,188) in a season. Both records came on a 39-yard catch in the fourth quarter.

It was a dream ending for the Utes who have had a somewhat disappointing season. Wynn looks real good and most of the offense is coming back. Utah walks out on the season with big hopes for 2010.

With the win the Mountain West is 3-0 in bowl games and 2-0 against the Pac-10.

Golden Nuggets: Best Will Miss the Poinsettia Bowl

Berkelium97 — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 03:00:17 -0000

You're all familiar with the sections on the left of the page, right? Some of you aren't? Well, they are a handy way to look at posts according to various topics. You can sort posts by "football," "recruiting," "basketball," and so forth. Now there is a section called "Golden Nuggets" where the GN posts will be stored. If you need to catch up on several day's worth of news just click that section and you'll see all the most recent posts.

Tedford has announced that Jahvid Best will miss the Poinsettia Bowl. He said he is progressing well, but that it would be too soon for him to play in the bowl game. I'll post more details when they're made available.

Here's what Daily Cal had to say:

Tedford said that Best is "doing excellent" in rehabbing from the head and back pain that have kept him out of football since he suffered a scary concussion on the field during the Bears' loss to Oregon State on Nov. 7. But with Cal returning to practice Wednesday just a week away from its bowl game against Utah, the team didn't feel that Best would have enough time to get himself back into game shape before Dec. 23.

"He's been out a long time, and since this game is so early, to get him back in game-ready form -- we don't feel like that's something that we can get done to him ready to play," Tedford said.

Best might have been available to play had the Bears gone to a post-Christmas bowl, Tedford said. That possibility was erased when Cal closed out its regular season with a 42-10 loss at Washington.

Tedford said that the decision was made "over the last couple of days." The Bears' practice Wednesday was their first since Sunday, as players are in the midst of finals week.

Best will make the trip to San Diego to watch Cal play Utah in San Diego.

"He wishes he could be out there with us," Vereen said. "But at the same time he understands that he needs to get better and healthy."

After the jump I have quotes from Chris Martin as well as more stories on his commitment to Cal, previews of the Cal-Utah matchup, more bowl information, bracketology, and info on how you can do your holiday shopping with Randle, PC, Zhang, and Boykin this Saturday.

Cal Football

JO talks about Chris Martin's commitment to Cal. The 2nd-rated defensive end is set to become a pass rushing LB at Cal and should immediately compete for playing time. JO also has some quotes from his phone conversation with Martin. Martin thinks he and this year's recruiting class are some of the final pieces of the puzzle necessary to get Cal to a Rose Bowl or beyond. Additionally, he's looking forward to being close to home and playing in front of friends and family.
On the heels of Chris Martin's commitment, RB Tajuan Briggs decommitted from USC to give a commitment to Cal. His most recent visit to Cal led him to reconsider his commitment to USC, which he made to keep his family happy, as he'd be closer to home. Ted Miller briefly recaps the current crop of Pac-10 commits and anticipates Cal will bring in a top-25 recruiting class.
ESPN posted its scouting report for the Cal-Utah matchup. It gives Cal the advantage at QB, RB, LB, and D-line, and gives Utah the advantage at O-line, WR, secondary, special teams, and coaching. Utah ultimately gets the nod, as they predict a 23-17 win for the Utes.
Cal has posted its program for the bowl. I wonder if they'll have these available to the media or if they'll just provide stapled, black-and-white copies like they did at the Pac-10 media day.
Despite struggling with it during the season, Utah remains committed to its wildcat scheme.
Utah's experienced trio of senior linebackers is looking to notch its 40th career win.
Shane Vereen is Cal's pick for Ted Miller's underrated players of the year.
Syd was named to Sporting News' third-team All-American squad.
Syd, Alualu, Tepper, and Tucker have been invited to the annual East-West Shrine Game. It is held January 23rd and will begin at 12pm PST.
Utah safety Robert Johnson does great work both on and off the field.
Tedford comes in 7th in Wilner's year-end coaching rankings.

Cal Basketball

ESPN's latest bracketology has Cal as a 9th seed, opening the tournament against Mississippi St.
Have some holiday shopping left to do? Head to Stoneridge Mall in Pleasanton on Saturday, where Randle, PC, Boykin, and Zhang will be signing autographs from 4:30 until 6:30.

Arizona Quarterback Nick Foles Inappropriately Double Dips The Chip

TwistNHook — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:30:12 -0000

More photos » by Ben Margot - AP

If at first you don't succeed, Nick, go right ahead and try again. Please. Pretty please??

Browse more photos »

Although the final score was an 8 point differential (24-16) at Saturday's Cal-Arizona game, it was really more like a 2 point game. Cal tacked on an extra TD on an exciting Shane Vereen scamper at the tail end of the game. Ironically, that gave Arizona slight hope that they could come back into the game, but that is a different post.

When you have what amounts to a 2 point differential, almost every play seems like it could have changed the balance of the game. Certainly, there were many plays where the game seemed to hang in the balance. But, in my mind, there was one play that completely and totally changed the complexion of the game. One play where the entirety of the momentum shifted from Arizona to Cal. One play that, in my mind, almost decided this game: The Double Pass penalty against Arizona QB Nick Foles on 3rd and short at the tail end of the 4th quarter.

This one stands out to me as being the key game-changing moment. After the fold, follow me through the sequence of events that was the Double Pass.

To see this play in its fullest picture, we need to start before that Arizona drive. Well before. From the ESPN Play by Play.

After a drive starting on their own 20 (touchback from Riley throwing a pick in the end zone), Arizona, aided by 2 Cal PI calls on 3rd and long situations, scores a back breaking TD:

1st and Goal at CAL 8	Nick Foles pass complete to A.J. Simmons for 8 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.	16	15
	Two-point conversion attempt, Nick Foles pass FAILED.
	John Bonano kickoff for 58 yards returned by Jeremy Ross for 11 yards to the Cal 23.

This put Arizona up 16-15. Thankfully, they missed their 2 point conversion as we had before. That means a field goal puts Cal ahead instead of tying it. Still, plenty of time left. Just gotta put the ball into the hands of our play makers and get a time-killing, long drive. Which is kinda exactly what we did:

California at 12:26		ARIZ	CAL
1st and 10 at CAL 23	Shane Vereen rush for 10 yards to the Cal 33 for a 1ST down.	16	15
1st and 10 at CAL 33	Shane Vereen rush for 4 yards to the Cal 37.
2nd and 6 at CAL 37	Shane Vereen rush for 3 yards to the Cal 40.
3rd and 3 at CAL 40	Kevin Riley pass complete to Shane Vereen for 10 yards to the 50 yard line for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at CAL 50	Shane Vereen rush for a loss of 3 yards to the Cal 47.
2nd and 13 at CAL 47	Kevin Riley pass complete to Verran Tucker for 20 yards to the Ariz 33 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at ARIZ 33	Shane Vereen rush for no gain to the Ariz 33.
2nd and 10 at ARIZ 33	Shane Vereen rush for 10 yards to the Ariz 23 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at ARIZ 23	Covaughn DeBoskie-Johnson rush for 12 yards to the Ariz 11 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at ARIZ 11	CALIFORNIA penalty 5 yard False Start accepted.
1st and 15 at ARIZ 16	Shane Vereen rush for 5 yards to the Ariz 11.
2nd and 10 at ARIZ 11	Shane Vereen rush for 2 yards to the Ariz 9.
3rd and 8 at ARIZ 9	Shane Vereen rush for 4 yards to the Ariz 5.
4th and 4 at ARIZ 5	Giorgio Tavecchio 22 yard field goal GOOD.	16	18
	Giorgio Tavecchio kickoff for 70 yards returned by Travis Cobb for 38 yards to the Ariz 38.
DRIVE TOTALS: CALIFORNIA drive: 13 plays 72 yards, 07:40 CALIFORNIA FG

Looking at this drive, a few things jump out at me. One is that there is no clear way for the ESPN Play By Play guys to signify the WIldBear position. However, at least 4 of these plays came out of the WildBear. I believe the 1st and 15 at the Arizona 16 and 2nd and 10 at the Arizona 11 came out of the WildBear. I think two of the previous ones also came out of the WildBear, although I cannot remember off the top of my head here.

At the time, I was complaining about over ruse of the WildBear. Especially since we literally ran the exact same play every time. Isi Sofele comes running across the field, doesn't take the ball, Vereen fakes a few ways, then runs up the middle for minimal gain. Considering we did manage to:

a)move the ball

b)take gobbles of time off the clock

c)put Cal in the position for a game-winning field goal

I guess it couldn't have been that bad. Then again, perhaps with a few more passes from Riley, we might have scored a TD. But the coaches seemed incredibly hesitant to call Riley's number on this drive. Especially as we got closer to the goal line. He throws 2 passes, completing both for 30 total yards. Not bad. The Tucker pass was REALLY impressive. He threaded the needle perfectly. Tucker took a huge hit, but managed to hold on.

Perhaps after Riley threw 2 goal line picks, the coaches wanted to avoid a 3rd. Playing it really, really, really, really safe. It worked, so hard to complain. Nonetheless, it is just surprising that they wouldn't call his number once after getting inside the Arizona 33!

But, there we go! Cal scores! Yay! 18-16. Cal is up. We just need a stop and to get the ball and wind down the clock. Just need a stop.

Then, this drive starts:

Arizona at 4:46		ARIZ	CAL
1st and 10 at ARIZ 38	Nick Foles pass incomplete.	16	18
2nd and 10 at ARIZ 38	Nick Foles pass complete to Delashaun Dean for 15 yards to the Cal 47 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at CAL 47	Timeout CALIFORNIA, clock 4:08.
1st and 10 at CAL 47	Keola Antolin rush for 3 yards to the Cal 44.
2nd and 7 at CAL 44	Nick Foles pass complete to David Douglas for 12 yards to the Cal 32 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at CAL 32	Keola Antolin rush for 3 yards to the Cal 29.
2nd and 7 at CAL 29	Keola Antolin rush for 4 yards to the Cal 25.

Ok, firstly, Delashaun?? We can add that to our Sean/Shaun/Shawn library of names. Marshawn. DeSean. Knowshon. LaShuan. And now Delashaun. Thank you Dean family!

Secondly, this was not exactly the stout defensive stop we were looking for. They never even made it to 3rd down. Cal fans were starting to get nervous. Arizona with that impressive Air-Raid offense. We had held it down for most of the game, but man just when it counted they were gonna hit the go-ahead FG with just a handful of seconds on the clock. This was gonna be a classic Cal stomach punch loss. Ugh.

So, after that 2nd and 7 up there, Arizona had the ball at the Cal 25 on a 3rd and 3. Tack on the 17 yards for a field goal and this is a 42 yarder. This is out of the range of the Arizona kicker, it appears:

FIELD GOALS     FGM-FGA  Pct 01-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-99 Lg Blk
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Zendejas, A.     13-16  81.2  1-1   7-8   5-6   0-1   0-0  37   1

Alex Zendejas is not a great kicker, but he's still pretty good. Of course, at the time, I had no idea what was going on. Being the Cal fan, I assumed they had the greatest kicker on the other side. We were freaking out, thinking that we had to stop them then, because it was right out of the range. Considering Forza Italia hit a 47 yarder earlier in the game, anything was possible! Zendejas previous stats in the 40s are minimal, just 0-1. His numbers in the 30s look good 5-6 So, if they get a few more yards, hit the kick, we're screwed.

BASICALLY, IT'S THE BIGGEST 3RD DOWN OF THE GAME! GOTTA GET UP, FANS!

And we did. The place was going impressively crazy. Of course, then this happened:

3rd and 3 at CAL 25		Timeout CALIFORNIA, clock 2:06.
3rd and 3 at CAL 25		Timeout ARIZONA, clock 2:06.

Ok, a bit of a set back. Cal fans had to stay up for like 5 minutes straight. But, they did. GOTTA STOP THE WILDCATS! GOTTA STOP THE WILDCATS! GOTTA STOP THE WILDCATS!

Then, this happened:

3rd and 3 at CAL 25 Nick Foles pass complete to Nick Foles for a loss of 9 yards to the Cal 39, ARIZONA penalty 5 yard Illegal Forward Pass accepted.

Thanks to CalGBear's heady goodness, here is a YouTube video of it. It is of fairly crappy quality, but is viewable sort of:

Ok, let me break this down for those who didn't see it live and are a bit confused. Foles stands there in the pocket having all the time in the world (as he did for much of the game). He throws the ball forward, but it bounces off of a player and back to him. I couldn't tell who it hit in the blur of the game, but I was later informed from the SF Chronicle that Tyson Alualu blocked the pass:

Foles' pass was deflected by defensive lineman Tyson Alualu - and Foles caught the deflection, rolled right and threw another pass (which he completed).

Basically, Foles got Alualued! As it states there, he rolled to his right and threw a pass. The refs immediately threw every flag in their arsenal. There were like 400 flags on the field. I think at one point, the line judge covered himself in yellow paint and dove in the general direction of Foles. In the stands, people started saying "wait, can you can throw a second pass? no..no, you can't throw a second pass!!! YOU CAN'T THROW A SECOND PASS!"

The only question was how many yards and did you lose the down. The down was the key one there and as soon as the refs announced loss of down, my section erupted into a spasm of cheers. But the best was yet to come. Because they started to march the ball back. And back. And back. At the time, we thought it was a 15 yard penalty, because a 3rd and 3 turned into a 4th and 17 and we can't do math. No sir, we can't do math at all. It's not like we went to the #1 public school in America or anything!

Reviewing the play by play, it appears that it is only a 5 yard penalty. However, it is called from the spot of the foul. Which, apparently, was 9 yards behind the line of scrimmage. That's how 3 turns into 17. 3 plus 9 plus 4. I actually can't crunch that in my head right now, so I am going to trust the refs on this one.

That puts them into a crazy 4th down situation. At this point, the stands just went beyond crazy. Everybody started jumping up and down on the benches and screaming. I think NorCalNick nearly sprained his ankle, landing incorrectly. He is getting a MRI and could be out for 4-6 posts. And then this:

4th and 17 at CAL 39 Nick Foles pass incomplete.

He almost hit this, but a Cal defender managed to step in front of the pass at the last moment. Great defense there.

"GO BEARS!" via imgs.sfgate.com

In the span of a few game seconds, but an interminably long real-time period, Arizona went from moving down the field quickly to score the game winning TD/FG to throwing an incomplete pass on a 4th down to give Cal the ball. Of course, Cal immediately scored and missed the XP, which gave Arizona another chance to potentially tie the game. Vereen woulda been better off running around in circles than scoring that TD! ;)

Anyway, so, again, like my post about the Arizona State WildBear pass attempt, I have no overarching point here. No TEDFORD IS GREAT! or FIRE GREGORY! Just a closer look at a situation that coulda gone either way and how the momentum can shift so drastically in one play. What are your thoughts on this Double Pass penalty play? GO BEARS!

Roll On: What Will Cal's Offense Look Like Without Jahvid Best?

Avinash — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:00:25 -0000

I wish I could come up with something optimistic to write, but the fact is Cal's offense was pretty screwed up even with Jahvid Best back there. At this point it all boils down to blocking. The run blocking and pass protection stink. It's been stinking all year, it hasn't improved from week-to-week, and it's wishful thinking to expect anything to change during these last three weeks. Coming up? Arizona, 23rd in sacks, 11th in rushing defense, 37th in passing defense. Oh yeah, I'm totally hot for this. Dipping myself in cocoa butter right now.

If Cal's going to beat Arizona, the offensive line is going to have to play way better than they've been showing through conference play. Steve Marshall's going to have to coach these guys up, really make them play this game for Jahvid, and try to finally open holes for Shane Vereen and Covaughn Deboskie-Johnson. If these guys aren't talented enough to execute the sets they're given, adjust accordingly. What's been the most frustrating thing about this season has been the lack of adjustments on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. I understand losing these games, but to get blown out in each game? It's just hard to sit there and take the same plays being called when they haven't been working not just for one game, but ONE MONTH.

Well, the Bears are going to have to adjust now; without Jahvid Best this is a drastically different team. Find out more about what Cal might look like after the jump, and why the Wildcat might be used quite a bit.

The rushing burden is on Shane Vereen. I doubt Tedford and Ludwig feel Deboskie is ready to handle anything more than 15% of the snaps at this point, so a lot of the burden will be put on Vereen to play a Forsett 2007-type role. Vereen did a manageable job against Arizona State last season, and the same thing will be needed (probably more) from him to pull off a victory against Arizona. Unfortunately, he's not going to have any more leverage getting through no holes as Best did.

Less inside zone please? Hey Coach Ludwig. Everytime you run inside zone between the tackles just so our poor running backs can get levelled for a one yard gain, you're taking days off my life. Arizona has a running defense that is very good, on the rise, confident in themselves, and is certainly going to play Cal the same way every defense has played Cal since the start of the season. Please try something somewhere.

The Bears can no longer run two running backs in a multitude of ways. That kind of eliminates the double threat of having one of either Best and Vereen line out as a receiver. So now Cal loses some of the unconventionality they were showing the previous three weeks (and who knows how the Oregon State game turns out if Best doesn't get injured) and they probably return to the conventional sets typical of a pro-style offense, since Deboskie or Sofele aren't going to be lining out wide or forcing defenses to stack the box.

Without the great receiving threats our running backs offered...

This will put more pressure on the receiving corps. Outside of Jones, no receiver has really played two good games in a row. Lagemann has shown promise, Tucker has vacillated between brilliant and bad, Ross can leap a lot, Calvin hasn't really been heard from, nor has Boateng. These guys are going to have to start playing well to help Kevin Riley out by getting separation from their defenders, not quitting on their routes, anything to adapt to the bad O-line play.

Anthony Miller is also sorely missed here--he'd become Riley's go to option in bad spots. With Jarrett Sparks or Skylar Curran you just don't know what you're getting.

More rollout options for Riley? Given how bad the pass protection has been, you'd have expected more of this even before Best's injury. But Kevin does seem to be more effective out of the pocket than in it--it might be worth considering just getting him going with play action fake bootlegs. Or something of the sort.

Best's absence doesn't diminish the Wildcat option. Many people think that the Wildcat is used primarily to put another blocker on the field, but in this case I feel that the Wildcat hasn't been used this season just because the blocking has been so porous, no matter how many guys you put out there to block. It's also to get the ball into the hands of the runner more quickly.

Why is that? When you direct snap to your running back and quarterback, that gives them an extra few seconds that would've been otherwise used to hand off the ball. This time allows your blockers to get in place and open up the holes for the running back to cut through. But the blocking has been so bad this season though that you're often seeing defenders penetrating the line of scrimmage at the time it takes the Bears to handoff the ball (the Bears have allowed 78 tackles for loss this season, and that number's probably greater if you add in 0-2 yard gains). Hence you put it in the running back's hands quicker to just let him take off before defenders can anticipate it coming.

(Notice that the quarterback draw has also been used in previous weeks to surprising success. It's a pretty damning indictment of your offensive line if your best running plays are quarterback keepers and direct running back snaps.)

Is it time to go back to the book of tricks? Around this time last year the Bears were totally flummoxed by the passing ineptitude that they had to resort to flea-flickers, hook-and-ladders, running back lateral/wide receiver passes. Although I've seen signs of unconventional plays, they've been for the most part snuffed out or failed due to execution errors. This next two weeks are the difference between a 6-6 disaster and an alright 8-4/9-3 season. Might as well try and throw everything out of the playbook.

In the end though, unless Riley has a monstrous game, this one's probably coming down to blocking again. The fact is the Bears still have to run the ball. Going straight to the pass and expecting the receivers to make good catches is a recipe of quick 3 and outs, and leaving one of the worst passing defenses in the country out there for Foles to pick apart. Sounds reallly enticing.

If no one blocks well, the offense is going to throw up another turd sandwich. And we could see something we've never seen at the end of a Tedford-era Cal football game--an empty Memorial in the 4th quarter.

(For those wondering why I didn't write anything about the defense...they are what they are this point. Smarter people than me said we'd miss our senior linebackers, and they're right. Plus I haven't watched enough defensive gametape this season to know how much of this is on Gregory for putting them in the wrong positions to make plays on the ball, so all I can do right now is hope they play better.)

Poll

Cal's offense will be __________ without Jahvid Best.

clicking even

11 votes

surprisingly pleasing

36 votes

making me groan a lot

80 votes

unbelievably bad

31 votes

forcing me to drink more

65 votes

223 votes | Poll has closed

Cal-Oregon State 2009 Report Card

TwistNHook — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:00:32 -0000

Position	QB	RB	Rec.	Run B	Pass P	Run D	Pass R	Pass D	ST	Coach	Overall
Score	2.140	2.281	2.167	0.658	0.633	3.267	0.975	1.000	1.883	1.350	1.079
Grade	C	C+	C+	D-	D-	B+	D	D	C	D+	D

A new week. And a new drunk commenter trying to tell the world his thoughts. Last week it was Goldblooded. This week? USAFGoldenBear. Even American heroes aren't immune to the emotional disaster that was Jahvid Best's injury. I've highlighted the best part:

USAFGoldenBear

QB - Just whn i was goin to sau riley doesnt suck...he does.   Unfortunately there was a lackj on the oline as well...

RB - I hape jvid is ok....dude is oo aweme to go downre like that

whhhy cnat we get a runn gng? wttf is up?

WR - Can the not dropp good passe plz? give marvin the balll

Run Blocking - well for th lorve of god......quit suckling...

Pass Protection - ummmm, makkeres me so mad. reley needs the time to throw

Run D - quioss got stopp...nice, bestn jobr\.

Pass Rush - i saw som blitzx...but osu got tu much time. sackls to muccch to ask fr

Pass D - haaaaaaa...cent gert protrec whenn qb get al day

Special Teams - angr did k but to mnyy punts    cnt beart beavres? whyy?

Coaching -    iu thouygt gregoy coulkd stop canfilllesd ....wryoung...my bad

Gameday - i got to watghc the gamre on ZTV...no mare internetz....javid got hert....drank by my sedf...i dtn have a problam

After the fold, see more of your comments on the Cal-OSU football game! GO BEARS!

Golden Rationality Award, which I think is for being rational, a rare occurrence for internet college football fans.

Commenter/alias name	Standard Deviation
Kodiak	1.348
yorzepol	1.527
rickruss	1.764
Berkelium97	1.869
Ohio Bear	1.872

Old Blue Award, for I guess being really really really really really old.

Commenter/alias name	Average score (out of 4)
rurata	0.515
ososdeoro	0.758
bluehenbear	0.818
iVinshe	1.100
Oaklandishbear	1.364

Golden Sunglasses Award, for spending way too much money on a pair of sunglasses that is going to bend too easily. I mean gold is one of the most malleable substances on earth. Just an imprudent purchase in my view.

Commenter/alias name	Average score (out of 4)
BTown85	2.333
ajay	2.273
USAFGoldenBear	2.212
Manwich	2.152
MadBum	2.037

And now onto the report cards!

IMG_6971 (via Monica's Dad)

rurata - Riley back to his overthrowing self. What was his final completion percentage, like 35%? This has convinced me that we should be giving the backups more playing time. At least he didn't fumble the ball today.

MadBum - Riley did an okay job. Was I overly impressed? No. Was I incredibly dissapointed? No. Riley was shaken up by a cheap shot, and I think that hurt us. Kevin did what we could hope for: not too many mistakes, an occasional shot down the field keeping the D honest, and giving the run game a chance. He did make a INT throw in the redzone that was called back. But let's address one thing: Riley isn't a quarterback that can lead a team back into games. He's a guy that'll give you occasional shots downfield, and he'll do a nice job mid-range game. But he's not a guy you want attempting 30+ passes per game. He doesn't possess the ability to single handedly bring a team back into the game, and when asked to he'll dissapoint. Riley was passing tonight, and you can't blame him for the loss.

ajay - It's the same problem he has been having all year long. Whether it's a screen pass or a short pass, his passes just aren't on target, and that's what is killing us game in and game out. One thing that I noticed this game compared to others was that he would hesitate on throwing some of his deep balls, and after that slight hesitation, throw it anyways. When doing that, I remember him only completing one pass. It's something I never saw before, and I definitely don't think it's a good thing . . .

oaklandishbear - Why, oh why, can't Riley hit a screen pass? Such a power weapon for the Bears eliminated by the utter failure of Riley to hit Best or Vereen in stride. Absolutely inexcusable. Riley not terribly "on" tonight, and I know the O-line bears most of the responsibility for Riley being constantly hurried, but I'm not seeing Riley step up on a consistent basis.

Ohio Bear - Riley was inaccurate. Being pressured constantly prolly didn't help. It would be nice if he had opportunity to plant has back foot on the last step of his drop and not have someone already there whom he has to elude.

via www.calbearsonline.com

MadBum - Our runningbacks touched the ball 14 times all night. And we weren't falling behind huge early. Play-calling takes the blame. Obviously, Best's situation hampered the team completely. He's the team's biggest play-maker, and without him the running game is severly hurt. Vereen didn't have a chance, 5 carries isn't enough. Poor blocking crushed any hopes of a passable run game.

ajay - Jahvid had a relatively quiet night until the first touch down drive, which was great until he went down (sadly with that second concussion this week). From that point on, we just struggled running the ball, so I can't say anything positive. One thing I do remember us not doing is making a run of 15 yards or more. I'm guessing they just played us well.

BlueHenBear - Jahvid's concussive run was the only highlight of the game (except for the injury). I hope he's OK for his sake...and for his sake I hope he takes the rest of the season off, cuz there appears to be no daylight for him to run to anymore. The beavs forced us into a passing game, so there's no reason to fault the running game, except maybe in the first quarter, but all the holes were plugged.

BTown85 - Unimpressive running, but what can you do without run blocking? Best flew through the air and I was holding my breath for him. I was SO glad to see him move his hand while they put the c-collar on him.

OhioBear - Losing Jahvid didn't help the running game, and certainly not the psyche of the team. Not a film guru, but near as I could tell, we got everything we could out of what the O-line gave us. The fateful play that hurt Jahvid was a testament to Jahvid's courage and tenacity.

via www.calbearsonline.com

Berkelium97 - Too many drops, again. I'm really losing confidence in Ross. Lagemann had some great catches. He has a great presence in the middle. Nyan had a few nice catches too. Sparks made his presence felt a couple times.

MadBum - Pretty meh performance here. Tucker impressed me with his pass-catching ability, and he did make some big plays. He needs to cut down the trash-talking. Verran was our lone star, and I'd say he was very good. Everybody else didn't carry the load. Sorry, Marvin isn't a star quite yet. It was obvious to me that Anthony Miller is one of the keys to this club's success, and he was out.

ososdereo - This receiving corps clearly suffers from separation anxiety.

oaklandishbear - Probably the brightest unit on the field Saturday. Tucker was active and Lagemann had a couple of nice grabs. Only one catch by a TE, though. What's up with that?

kodiak - Generally did okay...Not sure if Riley was missing open guys (again), if the WR's weren't getting open, or if there just wasn't enough time. Disappointing not to dominate an inexperienced secondary. Losing Miller hurt here a lot. Ross had his one crucial drop...He must have a quota or something.

Run blocking

via www.calbearsonline.com

Berkelium97 - I thought OSU was supposed to have a weak front seven, but you'd never be able to tell against the Maginot line of OSU. I don't know why we didn't at least try more outside runs to go around the Maginot line. Even if the O-line isn't athletic enough to block like that out of standard I-formations, we've had success running outside out of the wildcat. I was hoping to see more wildcat.

yorzepol - Once again our O-line was owned by the opposing D-line. I don't know enough to know if it is guys losing their individual battles or our run blocking philosophy in general but something is rotten in Berkeley. We can not run against any team with a decent run defense. No running game makes baby Jesus cry. :(

BlueHenBear - Rodgers brothers got their yards and their TDs. Not spectacular running and we did get some tackles for loss, but OSU was able to execute their methodical clock eating drives that were not quite as painful as getting my fingernails ripped out. Maybe danzig can make a highlight film for the beavs showing our linebacker whiffs.

Pass Protection

via www.calbearsonline.com

rickruss - It's as though we were we missing a lineman tonight during the game, i.e., we were missing a down lineman (4 instead of 5)

yorzepol - Riley was not sacked much but he was hurried. OSU's pass rush got in his head for most of the game and he was in a funk almost all night. I was encouraged by our last drive but sad that we couldn't do it earlier in the game when it might have made a difference.

OhioBear - It was a "huzzah" moment every time Riley could plant his foot on the last step of his drop and actually have a moment to look downfield before throwing. Those moments were too few. OSU was in our kitchen all freaking night.

Run D

via www.calbearsonline.com

Berkelium97 - Except for the one TD run, it was the best performance of the year. No one has been able to shut down Quizz and James like that. I was very impressed. Holding them under 2.5ypc is an incredible feat. Syd had an especially strong presence in the run D.

yorzepol - I thought we did as good as could be expected under the circumstances. The circumstances being that we got owned in just about every facet of the game. With the passing game able to convert first downs at will, it makes it very difficult to stop the times when they do run.

DrBeeper - Very credible job containing Rodgers. The bend-don't-break strategy is pretty consistently undermined by the pass D breakdowns

OhioBear - Excellent. We basically held Quizz down the entire game until he finally broke the 24-yard TD and we had effective defense against the fly sweep. Syd is an awesome DB in run support - best I've ever seen at Cal.

Pass Rush

via www.calbearsonline.com

Berkelium97 - Canfield had all day to throw and unlike recent QBs we've face, he's deadly when he had time. He torched us all night. Gregory tried a few stunts and blitzes, but nothing was getting through.

MadBum - What pass rush?

yorzepol - What pass rush? I think we got one sack. Canfield had time to pick our secondary apart and like most other quarterbacks we've faced, we made him look like a Heisman candidate (of course he was leading the Pac-10 in yards/game before this game but still, he was above his average today.)

JrBear- FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF.
We should really be in a 4-3 this season.

Pass D

via www.calbearsonline.com

Berkelium97 - As usual, a TE had his draft stock boosted tremendously. Without the pass rush, there's not much to do against a QB like that. Syd had a great day, but everyone else was mediocre to poor, particularly with tackling.

MadBum - What pass defense?

secret Asian man - It was disappointing to see them contain the run and to see them convert on long third down situations again and again. Canfield picked apart the defense like it was a video game today.

BlueHenBear - What was OSUs third down conversion percentage? Seemed like ~75%. 3rd and 6, 3rd and 9, even 3rd and 12, 3rd and 16, etc. Rinse, lather, repeat. I think our opposition has scouted our zones and yet we continue to camp out where the WR/TEs are not. :banghead Oh, and tackling :banghead whiff!

kodiak - Cattouse is getting better and it's good that they're giving him more time. Ezeff should stick to special teams. He gave up another TD and this one can't be blamed on Conte. Johnson blew so many tackles that they should check him for concussion symptoms...maybe he forgot which team he wanted to win. Syd is a flat-out stud that we're really going to miss.

Special Teams

via www.calbearsonline.com

BTown85 - Kickoffs were worse than ever. To the 30??? In warm-ups I thought Tavecchio was trying some sort of pooch/onside thing. Little did I know this was his full leg for the evening. Brian anger continues to impress.

Coaching

DrBeeper - The good news? We only kicked off twice so how bad could our coverage be. Anger was typically great punting.

BlueHenBear - Hey, they didn't lose the game for us! woo hoo. OSU seemed to always have good field position though to go along with their steady consistent drives.

Coaching

via www.calbearsonline.com

rurata - O-line has sucked all year. Right now I'm not sure if this is on Marshall, or the athletes. Maybe both. Very depressed about the state of our o-line.
Alamar's ST killing us again. We can't hope to keep a team like OSU contained if they're consistently starting at their own 45.
I was a little annoyed to see Riley in on the last drive. Sure we scored a TD, but it didn't make a difference. Why didn't Tedford put Sweeney in?

Berkelium97 - I don't know what's going on with the O-line, but Marshall's unit is the worst line we've had during the Tedford era. I understand that we were playing from behind for much of the game, but the play calling was uninspiring after Best was out. No wildcat, little running. I understand the running game wasn't going well, but neither was the pass. I was hoping we'd mix it up a little more.

MadBum - I can't give an honest grade here. The Best injury completely changed the game, and I don't think any coach could've recovered from that. Before that, he did a medicore job. We still abandoned the run game way too often, and I don't know what happened to our pass defense. Liked implementing the WildBear, and it worked pretty well. Our gameplan was to stop Quizz, and it worked to perfection. After Best's injury, there was nothing Tedford could do.

JrBear - Ludwig, I don't know. I can't even see how the play is going to develop if the O-line doesn't do its job. I think the O-line needs another year of growing up to truly judge Marshall. Coach Simmons (DB) had that monster season last year for Syd and Hagan. Thompson (LB) was stolen from San Jose St., so maybe we can do better? Daft (WR) has got the receivers improving slightly, but they're still dropping good balls and having trouble getting open. Of course Gould and Lupoi are absolute keepers. Gregory isn't perfect, but has shown he can run a good defense.

Tedford is Tedford. When it works, it works. When it doesn't, hold on to your seats.

BlueHenBear - Did anyone watch tape of OSU vs $C? anyone? Bueller? They have this position called tight end and they tend to throw to it after clearing out the zone over the middle, but maybe you were busy thinking (not doing something) about a pass rush. The coaches have installed their systems and that is that it seems. Our weaknesses are exposed and it appears we have neither the horses nor the imagination to do anything about them.

OhioBear - We got outcoached, it seemed. Oregon State appeared to have a much better game plan than we did and we did not respond. I suspect that the coaches had a difficult job to do after the Best injury to keep the players focused on the game at hand, and it appeared that they did an okay job with that. But all in all, the game took a back seat to what happened to Jahvid.

Overall

via www.calbearsonline.com

rurata - Another year, another loss to Oregon State. I had hoped to see the team step it up when Jahvid left, but nope. They seemed as let down as me.
Why is it that every time Cal does well enough to just get my hopes up, they find a way to crush them in the worst way possible?

MadBum - Best's injury crippled the team. It took out our biggest decoy, our biggest threat, and our biggest source of yardage. We also simply seemed shell-shocked from his injury, and the intensity and execution reflected that.

secret Asian man -In the end both teams took the field to contain the opponents running game and put points through the air. Cal lacked a functional O-line and there were probably some physical mismatches in the secondary and that made all the difference. If there were fewer false starts in the first half and an actual pocket for Riley, things might have been different.

yorzepol - I honestly thought we could go 10-2. Boy was I wrong! I hope that Jahvid gets well regardless of whether he can play again this season or not, but that could be a season crushing injury for the team. Let's see how they react. I hope they bounce back but, I would not be surprised if we finished 7-5 or even 6-6. Without a running game or a passing game, it will be hard to win many more games. At first I thought that every team we played kept having their best games against us and that it was just luck, but now I wonder if maybe, just maybe, it's us.

ajay - Two things: open field tackling and our passing game.

I don't have the stats on this, but I'd venture to guess that due to missed open field tackles, we gave up an extra 150 yards, and most importantly, let them complete third downs and get into scoring position off of those plays. This happened again and again, and not only ate up time (w/ the new set of downs), but hurt the crowd noise, and caused the D to be on the field longer, which isn't anything you'd want.

The other is the passing game, and again, Kevin Riley overthrowing or throwing passes that don't catch our receivers in stride. On our screen passes, the receivers have to adjust to the football, and can't get their first positive step until the defender is relatively close. On OSU's screen pass, the pass led the receiver perfectly, and the receiver's first step literally his first step with the ball, which is how it should be. Riley's deep balls were okay, but a good repertoire of short range passes leads to drives, which leads to touchdowns and keeping defenses honest. Long passes are only good a few times because you have to catch the D sleeping.

JrBear - All that matters is that Best is okay.

2008 spoiled me. That was a fun season, with sackmaster Follett&Friends and the zany hijinx of our receivers. Every game in Memorial I felt this sense of invincibility that Cal was going to win, and I just loved that team. Now we're in 2009, and I'm very split over how to approach this team. Do I love them for the az st and ucla games, or do I hate them for the sc and or st games? This definitely isn't 2007 though, not nearly as bad.

BlueHenBear - Every time OSU comes to Memorial (under Tedford) we lose the same way. OSU puts together drive after drive, get enough of them into the endzone or between the uprights while our offense sputters after a few (nice, but ultimately meaningless) completions. Rinse, lather, repeat. It's been a long time since I dreaded the Big Game and I'm feeling a little queasy.

kodiak - Tedford loves X's and O's, but Riley has his number and has for years. It's no coincidence that Aaron Rogers had the worst game of his career against the Beavs.

Pawlawski made an interesting observation during the telecast. He said that the Beavers don't run a lot of plays, but do so out of several different looks. This focus on execution and simplicity lets them play fast. I'm wondering if we're over-coaching our guys on both offense and defense. Too many things for young o-lineman to think about. Too many keys and checks for young linebackers. We're certainly not maximizing the use of our talent. Either that, or we're way off base with our recruiting and talent projections.

Gameday

via www.calbearsonline.com

Berkelium97 - Awful. Just awful. I haven't been that disconnected from a game since...I don't know, Tennessee 2006? Once Best was out, I couldn't enjoy it anymore. This was a dark day for Cal fans. I just pray Best will be able to recover fully.

MadBum - I spent 15 minutes in horror watching the same replay over and over again. One of the saddest days in Cal history.

secret Asian man - What gameday experience? I was cleaning parts of my house in preparation for Mad Men party tomorrow so the game was background. Listened to Starkey during the fourth on the way to Fremont to have dinner with the secret ASian dad.

iVinshe - I fell in love with Cal football last year as a freshman. Games were actually fun (it helped that we never lost at home). Now...

ajay - Played bball before the game, so didn't experience the tailgating, but the fans definitely showed up and were behind the team at the beginning. We pulled together and cheered loudly, almost as loudly as for USC. But after incompetence, people started leaving, and our fourth quarter mic man even started to get us to cheer for booze to keep us in the game.

JrBear - -Some alumni definitely ought to be supporters of the other teams if they're going to talk shit about us the whole game.
-Did we really need a hurt Jahvid to get the volume up?
-Hail to California, home of the best armchair QBs!

ososdereo - The result against OSU is exhibit A in why football games are to be used as an excuse to have parties with your friends outside on beautiful Fall afternoons, and that a victory by the team, should it happen, is merely icing on the cake.

BlueHenBear - Stadium attendance is beginning to dwindle. QQ, usually a somewhat rowdy place, was sitting on their hands. Can we stop the card stunts please, cuz they look lame if the students don't bother to show up. And who is Oskette and where has she been all my life? A transfer from ucla perhaps?

oaklandishbear - I couldn't attend the game as I was in DC. Spent the afternoon in Northern Virginia doing some sight-seeing, and then found a sports bar to watch the game. Got them to turn a TV to the Cal game, and proceeded to drink my Newcastle and have some food. By the 4th quarter, I had seen enough and left. I was so sick to my stomach at the Bears performance that I couldn't even bring myself to keep drinking...

BTown85 - Flew down from Portland and took my son and Dad to the game (three generations of BTown85). Walked to Sproul for a rousing drumline performance, which was awesome. Lunch at the faculty club (yummy). Sat in the Alumni section and tried to represent, but boy are they a bunch of lumps on a log. Made as much noise as I could and sometimes a few others came to life. I was impressed by how much noise the student section made. Props to you. I'm tired of the color orange.

OhoiBear - I nearly cried when Jahvid went down. Seeing it on the screen, I was scared. He just didn't move, at least not what I could see. I feared the worst and was ecstatic to hear it was "only" a concussion.

kodiak - I got food poisoning, so instead of quaffing cold beverages from my giant Cal mug, I lay curled in a fetal position while watching the game. It was oddly appropriate.

Thoughts On The Playcalling On The Final Cal Drive Against ASU

TwistNHook — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:00:23 -0000

More photos » by Paul Connors - AP

about 1 month ago: Arizona State linebacker Vontaze Burfict, left, breaks up a pass in the endzone meant for California tight end Anthony Miller, right, in the fourth quarter of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009, in Tempe, Ariz. California won 23-21. (AP Photo/Paul Connors)

Browse more photos »

Wow! What a game. Cal wins on the road in dramatic fashion, coming from behind. Something that, unfortunately, we've seen all too rarely from Cal recently. After the initial rush of excitement subsided, many people started to discuss the game in further earnest as they are wont to do. There was much consternation over the play calling at the tail end of the game. In specific, there was both a strong negative and strong positive reaction to 2 play calls in the last drive: A run out of the WildBear formation and a surprising pass out of the WildBear formation. While some instantly decried these controversial calls, others immediately praised their ingenuity and aggressiveness.

I do not pretend to be a final arbiter for these plays. My knowledge of football analysis comes mostly from reading HydroTech posts. But I did want to try to dig deeper and take a closer look at the context of the plays. Perhaps get into Tedford/Ludwig's head regarding the play calls and see what the thought process was. I use Tedford/Ludwig, because, although Ludwig is calling the plays, I feel confident in assuming that Tedford was involved. Especially with key plays such as these. After the jump, watch the video of the plays (thanks to TouchedTheAxeIn82) and then take a journey deeper inside Cal football.

The most important thing to do before reading this is to watch the video. Thanks to TouchedTheAxeIn82, we already have a YouTube video of the game winning drive:

Before we can really get into the specific plays at the end there, we have to take a step back and see what preceded it in the drive. From the ESPN Play by Play, here is the drive up to the tail end:

California at 3:16		CAL	ASU
1st and 10 at CAL 19	Jahvid Best rush for 4 yards to the Cal 23.	20	21
2nd and 6 at CAL 23	Kevin Riley pass complete to Anthony Miller for 22 yards to the Cal 45 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at CAL 45	Kevin Riley pass incomplete.
2nd and 10 at CAL 45	Kevin Riley pass complete to Verran Tucker for 10 yards to the ArzSt 45 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at ASU 45	CALIFORNIA penalty 15 yard Face Mask accepted.
1st and 25 at CAL 40	Kevin Riley pass complete to Marvin Jones for 26 yards to the ArzSt 34 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at ASU 34	Kevin Riley pass complete to Alex Lagemann for 16 yards to the ArzSt 18 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at ASU 18	Kevin Riley pass complete to Verran Tucker for 11 yards to the ArzSt 7 for a 1ST down.

Jahvid Best apparently injured himself on that running play there. He later said that it was not that bad and felt as if he could have come back in if need be. Apparently, the coaching staff was holding him out for precautionary purposes.

Kevin Riley was absolutely dealing during this time period. There was 1 incomplete and an unfortunate facemask, but he was also hitting various receivers. He actually hit 4 different receivers, including Tight End Anthony Miller, who seems to always have at least 1 clutch catch a game. In 5 pass completions, Riley moved Cal from the Cal 23 to the ASU 7. Riley is 5-6 on this drive for 85 yards (which is slightly off, since he had to deal with that facemask penalty setting him back), slinging the ball with authority.

If you actually look one drive earlier, you'll see that Riley was dealing there, also. From the above Play by Play link, here is the preceding drive:

California at 10:21		CAL	ASU
1st and 10 at CAL 31	Jahvid Best rush for 3 yards to the Cal 34.	20	21
2nd and 7 at CAL 34	Kevin Riley pass complete to Alex Lagemann for 12 yards to the Cal 46 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at CAL 46	CALIFORNIA penalty 10 yard Holding on Anthony Miller accepted.
1st and 20 at CAL 36	Kevin Riley pass incomplete.
2nd and 20 at CAL 36	Kevin Riley pass complete to Nyan Boateng for 12 yards to the Cal 48.
3rd and 8 at CAL 48	Kevin Riley pass complete to Anthony Miller for 22 yards to the ArzSt 30 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at ASU 30	Kevin Riley pass complete to Jahvid Best for 8 yards to the ArzSt 22.
2nd and 2 at ASU 22	Jahvid Best rush for no gain to the ArzSt 22.
3rd and 2 at ASU 22	Timeout CALIFORNIA, clock 5:55.
3rd and 2 at ASU 22	Kevin Riley pass incomplete.
4th and 2 at ASU 22	Giorgio Tavecchio 39 yard field goal MISSED.

There, Riley is 4-6 for 54 yards. Again, throwing the ball very well. Unfortunately, Tavecchio missed a key 39 yard field goal, causing one red faced man at Manny's to go absolutely ballistic!

Despite that unfortunate incident, if you look at Riley's 4th quarter stats, he is, by my pathetic math attempts, 9-12 for 139 yards. Again, it's slightly off, because he had to throw for several yards twice thanks to a facemask penalty on Verran Tucker. Nonetheless, it is to Riley's credit that he was able to deal with that setback and continue marching down the field.

So, at this point with Riley absolutely slinging it, what do Tedford and Ludwig do?

Take the ball out of Riley's hands.

There are some reasons to do this.

1. Cal is on the ASU 7 yard line. So, with any reasonable kicker, you are playing with house money.

2. There is still a lot of time left on the clock (like 1:30ish). Assuming an accurate field goal is the end result of this drive, you want to bleed the clock of time. Runs bleed clock time much more than passes do.

So, what is the immediate next play call?

1st Down Play Call

1st and Goal at ASU 7Shane Vereen rush for 2 yards to the ArzSt 5.

This was out of the WildBear formation. While watching it live, I was incredibly frustrated by this call. That was because I did not believe Tavecchio to be a reasonable kicker. I know that is harsh to say and I duly apologize for it. But having seen him lo these many games and the attempts earlier in the game, I just didn't trust him. I realize that if your kicker can't hit a field goal from the 7 yard line, you might as well not have one. Nonetheless, I didn't have the confidence in Tavecchio that Tedford did. Tedford was right, so hard to squabble there.

Forza Italia via imgs.sfgate.com

My perception of this play call (besides the time bleeding aspects) was to catch the defense off guard. They were anticipating a throw, so to run might be sufficient to squeeze in a TD. Plus, runs, in my experience, tend to have fewer failure rates than passes. So, Tedford/Ludwig are going into a very conservative mode here. Again, in their mind they are playing with house money. Take the least risky play and if it works, great. If it doesn't, it is OK, because the likelihood of fumble is low and the Field Goal is there. I understand that, although, running out of the WildBear seems to tip the D that they are going to see a run.

Then again, the ASU run D is remarkably sick, giving up fewer than 3 yards per carry. Perhaps Tedford/Ludwig felt the advantages of the additional blocker was greater than the element of surprise. Having faith in the talent of their players over some sort of sleight of hand.

I offer no answers to some of the questions that I've raised. Merely the concept that it seems there are MANY different things to discuss in how to make a play call. And makes me feel incredibly unqualified to ever pass judgment as to playcalls. Yet, I continue to write unabashedly!

So, that fails, kinda. We don't get a TD, optimal result. We also don't lose the ball, negative result. But we do burn time off the clock. And we gain a few yards to make the field goal attempt slightly easier. So, overall positive result.

That brings us to this next play. And this one; well, it's a doozy.

2nd Down Play Call

2nd and Goal at ASU 5Shane Vereen pass incomplete.

HydroTech often speaks of specific tendencies. That offensive coordinators call certain series of plays to set up later plays. The specific example here is that although Cal has run the WildBear innumerable times this year, I don't quite remember them ever throwing out of it. Or, in the alternative, they rarely, rarely, rarely throw out of it.

Now, the ASU Defensive coordinator now believes that Cal has gone into conservative mode. They are in the WildBear again. Riley is nowhere to be seen. They are going to run again, right? They've never passed out of that damnable formation before. And passing, especially with a running back, in this situation, is extraordinarily dangerous. Some might even say foolish.

Time to set the trap?

Now, I cannot pretend to be inside the mind of Tedford/Ludwig. But this is, to me, the most reasonable theory I can figure regarding this play call. It was a remarkably ballsy call.

And yknow what, it almost worked! It also didn't work. Disastrously. That is generally what happens when you execute an aggressive play like that. The optimum and negative spectrum is much greater. So, here the TD is nearly scored, but also an interception is almost made. That play took about 4 years off my life.

3rd Down Play Call

After this, Tedford/Ludwig go into incredibly conservative mode and, I believe, took a knee. HydroTech informs me that Riley centered the ball. I don't quite remember, I was in full on panic mode by this point. At the time, I was extraordinarily pissed that we didn't take an honest shot at the end zone with the red hot Riley there. But, like I said, I didn't have the faith in our kicker. Tedford/Ludwig did and, seeing the near disaster on 2nd down, wanted to run down the clock and ensure the best situation for our kicker occurred. After I calmed down (i.e. after Tavecchio made the kick), I saw the wisdom in Tedford/Ludwig's 3rd down call.

via imgs.sfgate.com

Conclusion

I honestly have no overarching conclusion here. There's no TEDFORD IS GREAT! or TEDFORD IS STUPID! in my mind here. By this post, I am not trying to really make a determination as to whether or not they were good or bad calls. An argument could be made that, considering we achieve the optimum result in the end, a game-winning field goals, the calls were good. That argument, to me, seems to lack some context, in specific, the high rate of failure for the Vereen throw. Nonetheless, some credit has to be given for the win. In the end, I merely wish to provide some context to what I perceive to be the reasoning behind the play calls. I'll open it up to you:

What, dear readers, are your thoughts on these two play calls?

Poll

What are your thoughts on the 2 play calls at the end of the ASU game? In specific, the 1st down WildBear run attempt and the 2nd down WildBear pass attempt.

I agreed with both play calls

100 votes

I agree with the 1st down WildBear run attempt, but disagreed with the 2nd down WildBear pass attempt

166 votes

I disagreed with the 1st down WildBear run attempt, but agreed with the 2nd down WildBear pass attempt

15 votes

I disagreed with both calls.

30 votes

311 votes | Poll has closed

Reveling in Victory - Escape from Tempe

CBKWit — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:47:21 -0000

More photos » by Paul Connors - AP

about 1 month ago: California players lock arms as they watch their place kicker, Giorgio Tavecchio, kick the game-winning field goal against Arizona State in the fourth quarter of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009, in Tempe, Ariz. California won 23-21. (AP Photo/Paul Connors)

Browse more photos »

I'm still shaking from this one, or perhaps from Cephalexin. Cal football - same side effects as 2000 mgs of antibiotics! A novice Cal fan may have seen the first two touchdowns and concluded that we win in a walk. David Norrie and Terry Gannon sure wanted us to believe that the rout was on, but we knew better. Hell, even if you've only been a Cal fan for the last 2 months, you've seen Cal jump way, way up on Minnesota, ucla, and WSU only to let all of them back into the game in various degrees. The 14 point lead was great, but just like at Minnesota, we blew the chance to go up by three scores and before you knew it, the game was tied. Cal deserves a ton of credit for coming out and carrying the play early in basically every game this year (Oregon for the opening kickoff, USC up until the interception in the endzone), but it seems that we need this early cushion to maintain the lead during the opposition's inevitable comeback. If we don't build this lead (Oregon and USC, obviously), we are in deep, deep trouble. Of course, most teams are not going to simply roll over and fail to score for the entire game, but Cal lets opponents back into games with startling efficiency and predictability.

More so than any game this year, this one reminded me of Cal's trip to Tempe in 2007. Cal led 13-0 early, but our penchant for field goal attempts instead of touchdowns put us up by only 6 at half. Cal's offense stalled and the defense was unable to stop ASU in the second half. With a few minor modifications, that was the story yesterday, at least until the final drive. Cal's inability to control the line of scrimmage throughout the game but especially in the second half was particularly troubling. And yet, unlike in 2007, Cal came up with a big stop on defense to get the ball back after Little Italy's second shank and a big drive to win the game. After a largely frustrating game, Cal displayed the poise and execution they often lacked to escape with the win.

It's interesting to compare our last two road games (ucla and ASU) to the same stretch in 2007. The similarities are distressing: looking great early only to squander the lead, being unable to control the line of scrimmage offensively or defensively. But where Cal was unable to stem the opposition's push or mount a successful comeback in '07, this year they did exactly that. Why? Is it a more mature team, more poised at the end of the game? Is there a greater focus on executing at the end of games during practice? Is the team mentally tougher with a better ability to handle adversity? Or is it just luck, the simple product of playing a lot of close games that, in the end, even out? Cal probably wasn't as bad as their 1-8 road record going back to mid 2007 indicated, and they're probably not as good as this year's 3-1 road record.

Cal finds itself in much the same shape as it was a week ago - a significantly flawed team, but a winning one. Once again, the dilema is whether to unabashedly revel in yet another road win, to worry about the flaws being exposed by upcoming opponents, or something in between. The defense turned in a better performance than they did against WSU or ucla, but the lack of a pass rush and the ineffectiveness of both lines loom as huge problems. I would love to believe that Cal can run the table, but each game looks like more or less of a toss up. The answer (or answers) to the previous paragraph's question will likely determine how the Bears finish the season - if it's just luck, we'll probably drop one or two of what will undoubtedly be some pretty close games. If Cal really has learned how to close out games (if that's even a tangible skill), perhaps 10-2 is an attainable goal.

The Cal pass rush makes one statement...on the final play of the game.

via a.espncdn.com

One shred of evidence indicating that Cal hasn't quite figured out the complexities of late game play was the Wildbear pass. On second down at the 7(?) yard line, with about 30 seconds left and ASU holding only one time out, Cal drew up a pass play...with Shane Vereen as QB. If you run the ball on second and third down, you force ASU to use their timeout and bring the clock down to virtually zero. If you score a td on one of the runs, great. If not, you're set up for a glorified extra point to win the game. Forgoing this elegant plan for a halfback pass seems...shortsighted, and was nearly catostrophic as ASU almost came up with a game clinching pick. If the play is executed properly, it may have gone for a touchdown. Still, it was far too risky for attempt at that juncture, given the high potential for disaster and the relatively straightforward path to a game winning field goal. Blame Vereen (he of zero pass attempts this year) for a poor thrown if you will, but he should never have been asked to throw at that point in the game.

Aside from that near disaster, the final drive was a clinic. Riley was accurate AND decisive, Marvin Jones was great as per usual, and Verran Tucker made up for his earlier abysmal drop with a slick catch inside the red zone. Anthony Miller had a beautiful catch, making up ahead of time for acting like a matador on Little Italy's winning field goal; he stood still between two ASU defenders as they went right by him and nearly blocked the kick.

Phew!

via a.espncdn.com

Riley was generally very good. He had no help from his offensive line or running backs (save Best on check down shovel passes) for much of the game and still threw the ball accurately. On some passes, he looked indecisive, a problem that has plagued him for much of the year, but it's hard to say if that's him not seeing certain receivers or if everything is covered up - ESPN doesn't show you what's going on downfield until the ball is in the air. He was also very sloppy while handling the ball, fumbling three times and losing two of them. The last fumble was particularly frustrating, given that the defense had just come up with a goal line stand to preserve a two touchdown lead. To give the ball back to ASU at Cal's 5 yard line was an extremely careless and costly mistake. Next time, take the sack, Anger Boom the ball away, and trust the defense that was, up to that point, playing very well. That said, he played a hell of a game and basically carried the team to victory. He was playing against a pretty terrible and banged up secondary, so let's hope he continues the strong play against tougher competition in the coming weeks.

Kevin Riley and Cephalexin save Halloween!

via a.espncdn.com

My other helmet sticker goes to Josh Hill. He made several nice plays on the ball in pass defense, then came up with a potentially game saving tackle on third down late in the fourth quarter. ASU's runningback tried to break the ball outside and Hill cut him down a half yard short of a first down. If ASU converts there, Cal wouldn't have had much time for a game winning halloween saving drive. He's only a redshirt freshman and looks a lot better than he did only a few weeks ago. Hopefully he will carry on the legacy of Syd's awesome tackling in the AQ (After Quan) era.

Another "A win's a win" game. Our last three opponents may end the year ranked 8-10 in the conference, so we'll soon see if Cal is improved enough to make a serious run at the Holiday Bowl. If nothing else, saying "a win is a win" will carry far fewer reservations against OSU et al than it does against ASU and WSU.

Go Bears. Time to show up in force against brothers' Rodgers and the Beavs on Saturday and Shouty McStooge and the Wildcats in two weeks. We haven't beaten OSU since 2006, so show up and get loud, people!

Just because you can't say it enough, Go Bears.

Golden Nuggets: Press Conference Tuesday

Berkelium97 — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 23:45:09 -0000

As usual, today was the Cal football media luncheon. Tedford's comments were more informative and insightful than they normally are. He touched on a lot of areas the fans and press have been talking about. Here are some highlights:

Tedford:

On the UCLA defense, especially its front, and the challenge it presents
"It's another great defense. One of the best players in the conference in [DB Sheldon] Price - he's really a special player. But it's not just him. They have very good linebackers - the Bosworth brothers [DE Korey and LB Kyle] play very had and very well. Akeem Ayers is a great, very athletic linebacker. They're a really good defense. [Alterraun] Verner is a great corner. Again, they're one of the top defenses in the conference and they're going to make their plays. I think Oregon scored one offensive touchdown last week, so they're a good defense and we're going to have to execute, we're going to have to be patient, we're going to have to make sure we protect the football and not turn the football over. Again, very good defense."

On WR Verran Tucker's medical problems

"Verran has a calf issue, a pretty deep bruise. We're going to have to see how he responds to treatment. Verran is day to day."

On the status of WR Nyan Boateng
"Nyan practiced on Sunday and we're going to increase his participation as the week goes on, but he ran some routes on there and he ran a couple of one-on-ones, and today we'll get him going a little bit more. As of right now, it looks like he may be ready to play unless he has a setback."

On P Bryan Anger, who is currently ranked eighth in the Pac-10 in punting
"He hasn't been as consistent as we would like. We all know that he has great potential. It was real windy at Oregon and .. he kind of shanked one that day. And then one against USC, he punted right down the middle of the field, low, that got returned on us. Bryan will keep working at it and get back to the consistency that we need him to play with. He's healthy."

On whether the bye week came at a good time
"I think it was [a good time]. Time kind of heals some of the wounds and I think it gave us a little bit of time to go back and practice and get our thoughts together and get ourselves back together again before just jumping back into another game preparation-type things. It goes both ways. Sometime you jump into preparation, it forces you to forget about the last game, but I think last week worked really well for us, that we were able to have three really good, hard practices and put a little bit of space between last week's game and get ready for this one."

After the jump we have Riley's quotes from the press conference, lots of stories on the Cal-UCLA matchup, and a handful of other stories. Plus Justin Forsett being awesome. Yes, AWESOME.

Riley

On the team's demeanor coming out of its bye week

"Optimistic, [ready to] go out there and win a game. Bye week was the most physical bye week I've ever been a part of. We usually have a Thursday where the younger kids get a scrimmage, but this [past] week we practiced against the defense again. Everybody was a little banged up but it was good for us. Going live against the defense, we did a lot of situations, going red zone drills because the last two weeks we haven't been working down there. But just getting ready for the game - we're ready."

On whether he feels they accomplished the things they wanted during the bye week
"Yeah, for sure. Did a lot of throwing. We have more individual time with the receivers and we're going to continue to do that."

On efforts to improve some routes
"Every day we worked on a few routes that are staple routes. We can call them up anytime, we should be able to get a completion on them. The way of route-running and how we were reading it quicker and throwing the ball better on each route was great to see, and it continued even on Sunday's practice. We ran a few of them and it was just real easy and clear."

On specific things he worked on during the bye week

"I threw after every day of practice. The balls I am missing, I'm just putting them a little high, but every one is close, I'm just sailing them a little bit. Through that, just becoming more accurate and have receivers make more plays. Worked on it Friday as well during the day off, just putting it in a better spot. Threw the ball well last week and threw the ball well on Sunday."

On what may have caused high throws
"When the pressure is coming and I'd step up in the pocket, I'd release my hand up and it'd come out, just a little too quick."

Boateng talks about the sense of urgency Cal has for the UCLA game.
Rob Calonge talks about the surprising state of Pac-10 play so far.
JO on Tedford's decision to leave for UCLA on Thursday.
Wilner says a loss this week will raise questions about how much longer Tedford will coach at Cal.
Neuheisal is displeased with his team's QB play. Kevin Prince says he needs to do a better job breaking down film. UCLA's defense has been impressive this year, but the offense has been lackluster. The team is trying to avoid developing a schism over this issue, similar to what happened last year.
Both Cal and UCLA need to show consistency if they plan on winning Saturday.
After day three was cancelled due to rain and wind, men's golf finished first at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational.
Water polo's Zach White earned player of the week honors.

And now, your moment in Justin Forsett awesomeness, taken from Sunday's 41-0 smashing by the Seahawks of hapless Jacksonville:

via cdn0.sbnation.com

How about just the hit?

via cdn3.sbnation.com

Field Gulls was succinct in their description of the play.

It kind of looks like Brian Russell wants to give his old teammate a big bear hug but Justin's not going to have it.

Fun fact: Justin Forsett's NFL.com page lists him at 5'8", 194 lbs.

2009 Cal Football: Hype vs. Reality

Avinash — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 10:45:28 -0000

More photos » by Ben Margot - AP

The Golden Bears were probably a little overhyped going into the season given their issues. We delve into what the real Cal will look like the rest of the season.

Browse more photos »

I know people are depressed with 72-6 the past two weeks, but despite the one-sided scores, there's much to be encouraged about. Like I said in yesterday's post, people seem to look at the final scores and see Cal getting destroyed in both games. I firmly disagree; the Bears adjusted and played miles better versus SC, especially along the lines. One big deficiency (quarterback) ended up submarining all of those hopes on Saturday, but it's a long season and easier opponents await. Don't forget that.

So now that the last two weeks have totally ripped away the gloss on our season, let's start separating the hype from the reality of our team. ESPN and the mainstream media did their dirty work early in the preseason, again falling in love with talented skill players without looking deep into the Bears and exploring weaknesses that only hardcore football enthusiasts delve into.

Now we'll get plenty of hype this week, only it'll be of the negative side. Just like the positive hype, most of it will be wrong. Let's take a look at some aspects of it. Add your own hype vs. reality discussions of the Bears in the comments.

Hype: California was returning 17 starters, most in the Pac-10. Perception? The Bears have a deep, experienced, unit.

Reality: California was returning 17 players with starting experience. Okay, let's break this down, because none of us really analyzed this well, me included.

Our starting QB got the call in the first four games last season, was pulled in the fourth game, didn't return until late in the sixth game, was knocked out in the eighth game, came back in relief in the ninth game, then was out for the bowl game. To say that Kevin Riley had a "typical returning starter" experience short-sells the situation.
As for the offensive line, Chris Guarnero is a returning starter despite playing only a third of the season and playing at a different position than center; Justin Cheadle was playing out of position much of last season, as was Mitchell Schwartz. These shifts don't mean the experience they received is worthless, but there is something to playing the same position week. And of course Mike Tepper is the furthest thing from returning starter--he hasn't played competitive football in a year, and it's clear he isn't close to his 2007 form.
There's also the receiver roulette, where it's hard to say Verran Tucker and Nyan Boateng had anything close to typical starting years, especially considering one only emerged as the starter after Michael Calvin got injured, and the other kept on dropping catches both this season and last. It's hard to say our receiving corps is playing up to form.
Mike Mohamed did start most of last season, but his role is drastically different from last year. Although he's played okay, we might've gone overboard with our effusive praise for his abilities. The Prophet was clearly effective at being the most productive linebacker last season because he was the last resort guy. Stepping into Follett's shoes has not been easy for him; he does not have great rushing abilities on the edge and the coverage suffers without him back there. So he's been sort of switched back and forth between outside and inside the past two weeks, with little result.

Thus, the only starters with typical "starting" experience were Best, the defensive linemen, and the defensive backs. Maybe Mohamed and Riley. That's about eight to ten starts with strong, stable starting experience.

Moreover, our losses were definitely crucial. Subtract our two best blockers from our offense, our best pass rusher from our defense, and half of our coverage players...and, well, we're going to have our woes. Hopefully the worst is over in that regard.

More examples after the jump. What are your thoughts on the hyped Bears versus the real Bears, both positive and negative?

I covered this yesterday, but I'll add it in here.

Hype: We have one of the most talented players in the country and we can go far if we ride him all the way.

Reality: He is only as good as the rest of our offense.

Jahvid has his weaknesses, there's no doubt--his pass protection and blitz pickup abilities need plenty of work. However, in terms of running ability, he needs his blockers to open gaps for him and a stable passing game that plays in tandem with his abilities. He got neither in Oregon and only average run blocking against the Trojans. And even if he had Alex Mack and Will Ta'ufo'ou, they too would have had their difficulties against eight to nine Trojans in the box in that first quarter when it was a relatively close one.

Besides, how can Best step up if his counterpart in the backfield steps down?

I should also note something about the malevolent influence of ESPN. When given so much to cover, they focus on what's most likely to intrigue the entire nation--Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy, Tim Tebow's heart, Notre Dame, Tim Tebow's leadership, USC's daily drama, Tim Tebow's NFL Draft prospects... Their previews are painfully weak, usually looking back to last year's results for almost complete, blind guidance as to pick who will be back (and we see virtually the same teams that made last year's BCS getting picked again by the 'experts'!).

So obviously when Jahvid is our most prominent representative of the university, and he puts up almost a thousand yards of offense in the final four games of 2008...he's going to get pub. When he bursts for a 70 yard touchdown on Cal's first scoring drive or when he puts up all five scores in Minneapolis, it only gets worse.

This is a dangerous example of hyping a player to a level he cannot perform at, no matter the quality of the opponent. We always have to be prepared to lower our expectations in an age where media is dynamic in spinning messages that have no basis in reality (this is true in all worlds, entertainment, political or sports). Be careful how much you buy into the ESPN hype machine. They spin nothing but misinformation and lies, especially in college sports, when they tend to know only the barest of what's going on.

Listen to fools and be prepared to get fooled.

Now we turn it around the other way and blow up dumb hype.

Hype (of the negative sort): Our players showed no fire and heart this weekend. Holmoe era teams showed better spirit.

Reality: Are you joking? Did you watch the game? After the opening touchdown Cal's defense had three red zone situations where they could've caved and let USC blow the doors off. They gave up three points on each possession and kept it within a three score game late into the fourth. They even gave us a turnover that led to the Bears only points. If that's not heart for a team that didn't really have a prayer of winning in the second half, I don't know what it is.

The offensive line tried their best against eight/nine man fronts when it was clear Riley wasn't going to have his best game, even getting that bizarro Wildcat formation going for a full drive and chugging something out of it. You could tell Jahvid was trying all he could playing against overstacked run defense. There was occasional chippiness late, including a brief trash talking session with a Trojan on the Bears sideline.

The feeling I get is that fans are looking at the players glum, downcast expressions on the TV, and playing their best version of Dr. Melfi sans restraint. The team happens to be losing the biggest game of the season. Do you want them all to be doing push-ups on the sidelines and headhunting Trojan receivers to get themselves going?

Our guys played hard all the way to the end. It just happened that the more talented and focused team won. In football that tends to happen.

Hype: Jeff Tedford's stoic sideline nature is the reason we're falling behind the rest of the Pac-10.

Reality: People who believe this are the reason Roe v. Wade should never be overturned.

I'm usually nice to bitter, tired Cal fans. I don't mind people who glumly predict Tedford won't get us to the next level, because, well, it's normal for fans to feel that way after disappointing defeats. Especially when it happens in games we could've won if things had gone right here and here and here...

But I'm not tolerating stupidity, and this particular aspect below truly riles me:

There is this popular, annoying theory that what we need is not better recruiting classes, or even better playcalling, or we need USC to go on probation. No, what we need is firebrand leadership.

On whether he should yell at the team

We need to work hard. I’m never going to scream and yell at the guys. I’m never going to do that. They don’t deserve that. They play hard. I get e-mails saying you should chew them out. I’m not going to do that. I’m going tom motivate them and we’re going to work hard to get better and create a positive environment to get some confidence going.

In other words, what some Cal fans want is Tedford to go off on Riley and rip him for bad passes. Which, you might remember he did, last year against Colorado St. before inserting Longshore for the rest of the 2nd half. Moreover, they want Tedford going up to Best and ripping into him for not finding nonexistent holes, rip into Holley for not being Will Ta'ufo'ou, rip into the receivers for not catching uncatchable pases, rip into the defense for giving up 16 points through three quarters.

You know why? Because look at all the other 'great coaches' in the conference! Sarkisian RALLIED THE TROOPS and had everyone believing they can beat the mighty Trojans (it has carried onto the next two games, where the Huskies have won their next two by a combined total of negative 27 points). You've got Harbaugh getting mad and pissed at everyone, and clearly the Furd are a transcendent team. They beat UW, UCLA and Wazzu, who won a combined 6 games last year, by a combined 54 points. You've got Neuheisel chewing out Kevin Craft before sending him back out to the fire to throw another horrid interception. And of course you have Petie, who's a bigger cheerleader for his team than the Song Girls.

The solution, clearly, is to hire Rope Guy for Coach. He seems to get everyone fired up.

via cdn2.sbnation.com

Look. We have no idea how Tedford handles his team behind closed doors. The pregame stuff is off-limits, and we know he's ripped into his team during halftime after unsatisfactory first half performances. What does a coach ripping players in public accomplish other than to satisfy the libidos of idiot Cal fans?

Probably about the same as Pete Carroll at the Sanchez press conference: It makes you look like a dick.

Let's be thankful we don't have a coach who doesn't treat his players like shit when they decide not to return (see Aaron Rodgers his junior year, Marshawn and Desean after their junior campaigns, and probably the same for Best this season) and never, ever throws them under the bus. In the long-run, karma will pay us back for showing respect to someone who has put up with our and the media's slightly unreasonable expectations.

Unless the angry fringe Cal fans become the majority of Cal fans, that is. It's not a situation I'm interested in courting, so let's roar through the rest of the season to silence hype of all sorts, alright guys?

Cal @ Oregon Post-Game Thoughts

HydroTech — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:00:36 -0000

More photos » by Don Ryan - AP

2 months ago: California running back Jahvid Best (4) is tackled by Oregon defenders Josh Kaddu (56) and Lavasier Tuinei during the second half of their NCAA college football game in Eugene, Ore., Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009. The Oregon defense held Best to only 55 yards rushing to beat No. 6 California 42-3. (AP Photo/Don Ryan)

Browse more photos »

(1) Jeff Tedford does not need to be fired. I haven't seen a lot of this, or actually, anyone suggesting this on the blog. However, I am sure there are other online forums where this idea is being thrown around. It's ridiculous. Shit happens. Great coaches lose games on occasion. On rare occasions, great coaches lose games by a lot. It just happens. Until Cal starts having consecutive losing seasons or .500 seasons, there should be no talk of firing Tedford.

(2) The defensive gameplan of making Masoli throw is fine so long as he's not throwing bubble screens.

We’re not respecting their outside receivers. They’re probably going to use trips and bubble screen us to get our defenders outside of the box.

by HydroTech on Sep 26, 2009 1:06 PM PDT (30 minutes into the game)

Making Masoli throw seemed like a fine idea prior to the game as since Masoli looked horrible all season. But, quite predictably, when Cal started putting 7-8 defenders in the box to guard against Masoli's runs, Oregon used trips WRs and bubble screened out to them. I warned this would happen a mere 30 minutes into the game once I saw what Gregory was doing. Now, as bad as Masoli can be when passing the ball, even our very own girly TwistNHook can throw bubble screens. In other words, making Masoli pass is a fine idea so long as he's passing down field, and not to the flats. Once it became apparent that Masoli and Chip Kelly would consistently use and take the easy yardage from trips bubble screens, I would have liked to see Gregory respect the outside WRs more and trust in our linebackers and defensive line to handle the runs themselves without the immediate aid of the 8th or even 7th defender. But Gregory kept defending against Oregon's run game, and Oregon kept burning us outside.

Also, listen to Ken Crawford's On the Road Home Podcast. Cal Defensive Coordinator Bob Gregory mentions that Oregon ran some new plays against Cal that the defense hadn't really seen much of nor prepared for (what these new wrinkles are, I'm not sure because I haven't had the time to scout Oregon).

(3) The way to beat the Cal Defense is to PUMP FAKE THE #^%*@ out of them. This became apparent after the Minnesota game. One of the problems with zone defenses, and especially aggressive secondary defenders in zone defenses, is that they're very susceptible to pump fakes. The reason this is so, is because the defenders are looking at the QB, whereas when they are playing man coverage the secondary defenders are looking at the WRs and do not see pump fakes (unless the secondary defenders peek). Minnesota took advantage of Hagan and Syd's aggressiveness, with pump fakes that led to touchdowns. Oregon pump faked the @#$% out of our defenders too. So how do you solve this problem? Either play man coverage, or get a faster pass rush so the QB doesn't have time to pump fake. Or the defenders can be less aggressive and not bite on pump fakes but that's hard to do and perhaps very ill-advisable.

(4) Offensive playcalling was bad. Here's where I play couch offensive coordinator. Take the following with 1 cup of salt because I suppose it's no coincidence that Andy Ludwig is an actual offensive coordinator and a chump like me is in culinary school (seriously! culinary school of all things!), but I would have approached things differently than Ludwig did.

First of all, Oregon was stacking the box and begging us to pass. They would have an 8th defender in the box quite often. Safeties were creeping forward to focus on Jahvid Best. So naturally, the way to defeat this with some playaction. Although I haven't charted the game (been a bit too depressed to do that), I can't remember off the top of my head very much playaction at all early on. Now, the playaction can come out of any formation that Cal runs out of. Against Oregon, Cal used it's 12 personnel and 21 personnel quite a bit. Cal has playaction plays out of the ace (very prominent in the pre-Dunbar offense), the twin TE ace (see 2007 offense), and the I-formation (always been a staple although we've seen less and less of it in the past few years). But we just didn't see any playaction early on, perhaps not until the third quarter. So until the third quarter, we were just ramming the ball into 8 defenders who were expecting the run and weren't getting the defense to be more honest by taking playaction shots down the field.

I would have liked to see Cal use 22 personnel more (2 backs, 2 TEs, 1 WR) out of the big-I. This would have put a lead blocker on the field, and provided the offense with balance (no real strength to the formation as since there is a TE to each side). Out of this formation, Cal can use outside zone stretch to run Best to the outside, as well as let him choose his hole. This formation is a great playaction formation too because it's a run formation and there are plenty of blockers who can stay in to block on the playaction (usually one of the TEs, the RB, perhaps the FB). But we saw little 22 personnel against Oregon which was a bit of a surprise to me.

Oregon was doing a great job getting to Riley, or the Cal OL was doing a crappy job protecting Riley. Dropping Riley straight back on pass plays was not working. The pocket was collapsing around him in less than a few seconds. What do you do to get better protection on the QB? Move the pocket!!! Where were the half-rolls? Where were the playaction QB bootlegs out of the fake outside zone stretches???

In 2007, when Cal was at Oregon, 41.9% of the passing plays that Jeff Tedford called were max protect plays/half-rolls (18 out of 43 total pass plays). Cal went on to win that game, perhaps one of Cal's greatest road victories, without the QB being sacked or pressured a lot. Ludwig should have taken this approach earlier once it became obvious that the Cal OL decided to play like crap.

And where was the offensive diversity that we had seen against Minnesota? There was very little variety to begin the game. No flysweeps (although perhaps that's because Sofele sort of got injured) or fake-flysweeps to help open up a backside cut lane (the offensive player doing the flysweep freezes the backside defenders who must guard against the potential flysweep, and thus if the ball is handed off it creates a backside cutback lane for the RB).

Again, I'm no offensive coordinator. When I was at Cal working my job, I only stood around, drank Gatorade, watched the team practice plays five days a week for 2 hours, learned plays, learned terminology and hand signals - so in other words I really didn't learn very much at all, but holy hell, I really disliked the playcalling very early on. By about the second quarter I was wondering what the heck was going on.

In summary, and in my amateur opinion, the playcalling:

(a) Needed more running play variety;

(b) Needed more outside zone stretch to give Best a shot at the outside, plus it utilizes his great vision and allows him to hit cutback lanes that appear in zone blocking. Plus, these plays carry the threat of a QB bootleg whereas Cal's man-blocking schemes do not. The added threat of a QB bootleg can help control the backside defender and pursuit, and open up things for the running game.

(c) Needed more playaction. Needed playaction with the 12 personnel and 21 personnel by booting (bootleg) the QB and dumping the ball to TEs and FBs in the flat. Playaction bootleg out of 22 personnel Big-I Formation is a good possibility too.

(d) Needed more half-rolls to move the pocket (move the launch point).

(e) Needed more trips bubble screens (with the zone read fake) to get Oregon defenders outside of the box. Oregon wasn't respecting the pass. If you don't use playaction, then use trips WRs and bubble screen to the receivers. Such short passes might have gotten Riley into more of a rhythm too. Also the trips bubble screen is a great way to set up the trips fake bubble screen bomb - which was essentially the play that Oregon used against us for a touchdown.

(f) Needed perhaps a throwback screen. Oregon defenders were aggressive. Ludwig tried to counter with Cal's typical slip screens/jailbreak screens with little success. An alternative is the throwback screen. Throwback screens will roll the QB out, and draw defenders to the other side of the field away from the screen receiver. I like the throwback screen because it's slower developing and actually looks more like a pass because of the rollout.

(5) Execution was bad. While I didn't like the playcalling during the game because I felt like the changes that needed to be done didn't happen early enough, had Cal just executed properly then the playcalling wouldn't have mattered as much.

Tucker dropped a ball that might have been an early touchdown. Side note: I think that one play could have changed the game and set a different tone had Tucker caught the ball and gotten a touchdown. I think Tucker again got that stupid taunting penalty in the endzone. The pass blocking sucked pretty much everywhere along the line. Riley's passing was hit and miss. The pass to Tucker that was dropped was a beaut. But he also threw a would-be INT, a critical 3rd down pass out of bounds, and missed another would-be touchdown to Ross. There was a muffed draw handoff too. Not the greatest day.

(6) Ball security doesn't just apply to the offense but the defense too. Josh Hill recovered a fumble. Great. Now protect the goddam football. One of my pet peeves is how reckless, flashy, and pretentious defenders can be once they got the football on a turnover. They refuse to protect the football with points of pressure when tackled. They carry the ball in the crook of their arm swinging out away from their body just asking to be batted out. They carry the ball in their hand, like it's a little rock and waive it around for everyone to see. It makes me fuming mad. I know what the defenders are thinking. They're thinking touchdown. They know that there are 5 fat and slow offensive linemen on the field who have about a 1% chance of stopping him collectively. There is also another slow QB on the field (in most cases, but not Oregon's case) who can't tackle a statue. Thus the defender is thinking there are only 5 other offensive players on the field who can stop him from getting a touchdown. So he gets all reckless and ambitious while sacrificing ball safety. It makes me so mad.

(7) Magic numbers and season outlook revisited. Kevin Riley's stats have dropped to a 56.9% completion percentage. In my Season Outlook and Some Magic Numbers post, I made a prediction on Cal's season based on the QB's completion percentage. If Riley stays at this percentage then my prediction model suggests a seven win season. The way the Pac-10 is looking this year, with Stanfurd, UW, and UCLA being pretty competitive, a seven win season is very possible. We should be bracing ourselves for that possibility. It's very possible this team has been overhyped by much of the mass media. Most of us knew this team had a lot of questions. We sort of forgot about all the question marks on this team due to our pwnage of Maryland, and EWU. But EWU isn't even FBS. Maryland needed overtime to barely beat James Madison (FCS school); Maryland also lost to Middle Tennessee State and Rutgers. In other words, Cal really hadn't seen a quality opponent until Minnesota. Things got a little nerve-wracking against a mediocre Minnesota squad. Now Cal is hitting the meat of its schedule against tough Pac-10 teams (Oregon, USC, UCLA...).

I think, and I hate to say this, but Cal might have been exposed as a pretender. I hope I'm wrong. I really do. The next three weeks with games against USC, the bye week, and UCLA should really reveal whether this Cal team is a 10+ win team, or a 7-8 win team.

(8) There's a bit too much psycho-analysis going on in the Cal fandom. It appears as if everyone is a psychology major and has a Ph.D or whatever. "Tedford needs to go to a sports psychologist." "Tedford doesn't get emotional enough." "Tedford doesn't fire up the players." There's a lot of that going around and I don't like it. NOBODY has a better pulse on the team than Jeff Tedford. All this second-guessing of Tedford's decisions are pretty f-in ridiculous. Just as ridiculous as all the people who think they know should start at QB in 2007 and 2008 although they don't see practices, they don't know the plays, they don't understand a bit of what's going on on the football field, and they had no knowledge of the underlying facts that weren't made available to the public.

Now, I know a lot of fans are looking for ways to criticize and critique the game because it's cathartic, and the easiest way to do that is by critiquing the psyche of the team since that requires no actual knowledge of whats really going on in their head (just a mere accusation of what's going on their head). But really? As fans, we have no f-in clue what the hell goes on in the program or in most of the players' heads. We like to think we do, but 99.999% of us don't.

Have any of you been in the locker room during pre-game and halftime? Do you even know what goes on? Unless you have, I don't think you're anywhere near qualified with the insight to say what the coaches are doing psychologically is right or wrong.

So I know a lot of us are pissed and looking for answers. But please, let's stay within reason and within our knowledge. As since most of us don't have the knowledge of what's going on, most of us need to STFU.

(9) Oh, and Jeff Tedford doesn't need to be fired. Let's finish out the season and see how things go. In 2006, Cal lost to Tennessee in pretty bad fashion (although not as bad as against Oregon). People were calling for Tedford's head after that game. Little did people know that the 2006 Cal Football team would rebound from the tough loss, compete for the Rose Bowl, earn a share of the Pac-10 title, and destroy Texas A&M in the Holiday Bowl 45-10. Nobody was calling for Tedford's head after the end of the season. The 2006 season has been the second most successful season behind the 2004 season. The 2009 season could still be a very successful season - perhaps even as successful as 2004 if the team turns things around and wins every game out - which they certainly have the potential to do. So all this "fire Jeff Tedford" talk is quite premature and ... well, actually quite ridiculous. It's actually very disappointing and embarrassing how graduates of such a fine university who are all fairly smart can act like such radical idiotic non-level-headed fringe knee-jerk bone-headed SEC-like fans. Some of us are a disgrace to all Cal fans.

Some words from a level-headed Mike Silver:

It’s very tempting to take this opportunity to rip my beloved California Golden Bears, who got their pants pulled down (figuratively! … at least, as far as I know) Saturday by the Oregon Ducks at Autzen Stadium. The Bears got eviscerated 42-3, a shocking outcome given their No. 6 national ranking and increasing hype as a national-title contender. Instead, however, I’m going to rail against some of my own: Cal loyalists who, in reaction to the debacle, are acting like affronted aristocrats and assuming that the sky is falling. Hey, it may be falling – in terms of the Bears realizing their lofty 2009 goals – or it may not be. But the program is most certainly not going back to the sustained run of ineptitude that plagued it for the better part of five decades, most unbearably in 2001, when Cal went 1-10 and arguably had the worst program in the country.Then Jeff Tedford arrived and the Bears became instantly competitive and put together a run of excellence that, in normal times, would have produced multiple Pac-10 titles. However, the run coincided with USC’s return to dominance, and Cal instead developed a national reputation as a tantalizing tease that inevitably disappointed in truly big games. Fine. Saturday’s result seemed to confirm this label, and I think it factored into Cal’s severe drop (No. 24 AP/No. 19 USA Today) in the polls. But this whole "We’re a joke" thing I’m hearing from some Cal fans? And that "We need to fire Tedford" email I received? To borrow from the great philosopher John McEnroe … You cannot be serious.

Seriously. It's not Jeff Tedford who needs to be fired. Some of us Cal fans need to be fired.