SB Nation - Kevin Riley

Ranking the 2009 Pac-10 Football MVPs: Part I

Avinash — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 11:00:29 -0000

Mike Mohamed had some big plays this season. Was it enough to be a Pac-10 MVP?

In case you missed it, here's Part 1: the LVPs of their respective teams.

This post got too long, so I had to split it into three. Here are the honorable mention categories and the Pac-10 players and units ranked #30 thru #21 (#20-11 coming this afternoon, #10-1 coming Friday morning). Let's dive into it.

Honorable Mention

Jeff Locke, Reid Forrest: You know your team's in trouble when your punters are higher than anyone on your offense. And in Forrest's case, you know your team is royally fucked when your punter is the only one on your team who appears on this list.

Donald Butler: Didn't really do anything spectacular this year, but 96 tackles will get you on this list.

Daniel Te'o-Nesheim: So will 9.5 sacks and 12.5 TFL. Too bad the Huskies defense ranged from 'sheer brilliance' to 'human atrocity'

Ed Dickson: I'll be nice as possible about this--FUCK ED DICKSON. AGGGGGHHHHHHHHH.

Damola Adeniji: Despite all the production of James Rodgers, he wasn't Canfield's main target on 3rd down. Probably because secondaries keyed in on Rodgers, Adeniji racked up 27 catches in that situation, 21 for first downs, 5th in the country. Only 49 catches overall, but considering he only had 1 last season, I'll say this is a slight upgrade.

Chris Polk: Finished this season on a tear: Five ninety+ yard games and a 1000 yard season overall. Hard to measure his impact though, since the Huskies lost three of those games and Locker and the defense were the focal points of the other two.

Trojan offensive line: Lost season for these guys. 17 sacks allowed, 40 tackles for loss allowed, only a top 40 rushing offense. Ho-hum for them. I would've dreamed of something like this for the Bears.

Mike Mohamed: Cal's most productive defensive player on a not-so-great defensive unit. You have to give massive props for a 100 tackle season (his 104 tackles were tops in the Pac-10). And he saved another Cal season from sliding into disaster with a crucial interception in the Big Game.

Kyle Williams, Dmitri Nance: Solid production considering their quarterback struggled to complete half of his passes. Plus I feel bad for Williams ending his career like that.

Syd'Quan Thompson: If Cal had ONE guy (Hagan, Hill, Nnabuife, Conte, Rope Guy, someone) step up at corner on the other side of the field, who knows how our season turns out. We sure as hell don't get lit up by Oregon, USC or UDub on defense (Syd's limited ability in the final game pretty much assured we were screwed against Locker).

He was still a fabulous open field tackler when he got the chance, and when quarterbacks threw to his side of the field, he usually shut down. Like Asomugha in Oakland, that kind of effort only gets rewarded with first team All Pac-10, and minimal impact on the box score. So while his talent is easy enough to gauge, it's really hard to measure his value. Which is why he's honorable mention and not on the top 30.

After the jump, here's #30-21. If there are any thoughts of players or units left off, or guesses as to who will end up in the top 20, leave them in the comments.

#30 Damian Williams, #29 Joe McKnight

via theoraclesays.files.wordpress.com

These two are actually the first since Bush and White to break 100+ all-purpose yards a game since Bush and Leinart. Solid seasons, but other than McKnight on the final drive against Ohio State and Williams tearing up Notre Dame, how many moments do you remember concerning these two? That kind of year for the Trojans. It's up in the air whether either will return too.

#28 Ryan Whalen

via www4.pictures.zimbio.com

6th in the Pac-10 in receptions, turned into Luck's best passing threat when Owusu went Section Eight in the biggest games. Thought about ranking him higher, but I don't have any Whalen moments to really justify putting him further up. Perhaps the Cardinal fans can refresh my memory...oh, wait, there are no Cardinal fans. #28 it is.

#27 Arizona's receiving corps (Turner, Criner, Roberts, Dean, Douglas)

via www.azstarnet.com

Five guys with 30 catches or more? Now that's spreading the wealth around. By contrast, Cal had only one receiver (Jones) catch more than 30. Obviously, Cal isn't built to be a passing offense, but still, this is a far cry from two-three years ago. Sigh.

#26 UCLA's secondary

via images.ocregister.com

I know Rahim Moore led the nation in picks, and Alterraun Verner had another fine year--but how good are these guys? Other than shutting down Jonathan Crompton and whoever the hell Kansas State's quarterback is, the Bruins pass D has been surprisingly average. Even Kevin Riley burned them deep. I repeat, KEVIN RILEY BURNED THEM DEEP. Does this happen to good secondaries?

Oh well...at least Moore is capable of that "deep, longing, alluring, penetrating, soul-piercing, heart-tugging look".

#25 Tyson Alualu

via cache.daylife.com

Kind of hard to say how bad the Bears defense would've been without Alualu cracking apart the line. His efforts alone helped shut down Minnesota's passing game in a tight 4th quarter. Extra linemen often were forced to commit to him, and it opened up the rest of the front to get after Arizona and the Furd's high powered offensive attack.

Unfortunately, he never really had a Mebane-like force on the line--he couldn't really disrupt the passing attacks the way his predecessors did How much of that was dictated by scheme or by his own pass rush methods is beyond my knowledge, but Cal's pass rush was far weaker than anticipated, far weaker than the 27 sacks they put up this year.

Still a great season for Tice though--Cal's run defense was top-tier, and a lot of that had to do with #44.

(Story that really depressed me this week: Bear Insider's look at how close Ndamukong Suh came to being a Golden Bear. Imagine Alualu and Suh coming together in the 3-4 the last two seasons, particularly last year. I'm getting bummed out now.)

#24 Jahvid Best

via www.pe.com

For a guy who was supposed to be a Heisman hopeful, it's shocking to see Best not even crack the top 20. But that's how it is in a frustrating season for Jahvid, whose season seemed to peak in Minneapolis. Still had some spectacular runs, but running behind the crappiest offensive line in the Tedford era, it could've been way, way better.

#23 Chris Owusu

via a.espncdn.com

A menace for us, and a big game-changer for the Furd, having huge returns on almost every opponent this year. Surprisingly (and stupidly), everyone in the Pac-10 continued to kick to Owusu long after he demonstrated he would outrace their coverage to the end zone. The Furd ranked 3rd in the country in kickoff returns, mostly due to Owusu's skills.

He gets bumped down a bit because if he could just hang onto a few passes (he dropped big catches in EVERY conference loss), the Furd are going to Pasadena.

#22 Kai Forbath

via tnjn.com

Laugh all you want that a kicker cracks the top 25. When a Bruins fan describes him as your most consistent player...well, that says a lot.

Take a look at the games Forbath swung this season.
~13 of UCLA's 19 points in a 4 point win over the Vols in Rocky Top
~11 of UCLA's 23 points in a 10 point win over the Sun Devils
~6 of UCLA's 24 points in a 1 point win over the Huskies
~11 of UCLA's 23 points in a 14 point win over K-State.

Add in these stats
~26 field goals, second most in the country behind Alabama's Tiffin
~99th scoring offense in the country

Not hard to say Forbath was UCLA's offensive MVP this season, isn't it? Switch Forbath with an average kicker and the Bruins win four games? Three?

#21 Shane Vereen

via dlerium.smugmug.com

(Image from dmo580)

Surprisingly had more impressive performances than Best this season, cementing away a Cal victory in Pasadena and being the workload in two upsets over the Wildcats and the Cardinal. Best racked up big numbers against two of the worst teams in the country and an FCS opponent, managing only one great game this season against a bowl-eligible team. Although Best ended up with more rushing yards, Vereen had more all-purpose yards thanks to his kickoff returns and his own pass-catching abilities. Most importantly, when the offensive line collapsed, Vereen had more of the elusiveness to slip away from encroaching defenders.

Best might be the better talent, but Vereen was the more valuable Bear for this Cal squad...but only by a little.

Coming this afternoon: #20-11.

The 2009 Cal Football Season In Graphs!

Avinash — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 11:00:16 -0000

I'm still not ready to talk about what the hell happened last week. I'm not very pleased, and any thoughts I have would probably emerge in Gollum-like raving and ranting. "THE HUSKIESSS CURSED US!!!"

So as coldly as possible, I'll let these poorly constructed, statistically deficient graphs tell the story (HT to EDSBS for the idea).

Okay...we have to end on a high note...so...

Cal v. Washington Report Card

TwistNHook — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:00:16 -0000

Position	QB	RB	Rec.	Run B	Pass P	Run D	Pass R	Pass D	ST	Coach	Overall
Score	1.406	2.188	1.969	0.677	0.531	1.469	0.896	0.302	0.875	0.708	0.490
Grade	D+	C+	C	D-	D-	D+	D	D-	D	D-	D-

There are so many times I want to quit this blog. I ask myself is it worth it? Are risking many Hydrotech Face Punchings worth it? But the amazing community we have here usually inspires me to the do all the work. And working on the Report Card post is usually one of my most favorite posts to put together. Seeing what all you people have written is always a lot of fun.

Fun was not the word that came to mind doing the Report Card post this time. You guys certainly know how to express your opinion and, well, given how the game went, I'm sure you can imagine what went on. If you like positive, optimistic things like daisies riding unicorns and ponies snuggling with rainbows, I suggest you read NO further. But if you like pessimistic things and are full of self-loathing, well, then you are a Cal fan and probably added something to this Report Card. You may read on.

I think PolarBear91 hits the right note here in his "overall" thought:

Worst. Episode. Ever.

Tough to disagree, Mr. Bear91. Tough to disagree.

Gameday Experience

via calbearsonline.com

WTFFFFFFFF - I watched in front of my laptop and had to contain my anger from smashing my keyboard. WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF. MY LAPTOP COST ME GOOD MONEY. I DON'T WANT TO BREAK ITTTTTTTTT.

OhioBear - I promped by daughter to do another "Go Bears." It's not "Goo Bay" anymore. It came out "Go Bars." After watching the game, that's what I wanted to do.

Kodiak - Well, the baby was squirrelly and just wouldn't settled down to let me watch the game in peace. Little did I know that the little angel had my best interests in mind and was only fussing in an attempt to preserve my sanity. I did sample our Xmas limoncello to make sure that it was fit to give out as gifts...and sort of briefly lost all feeling in my teeth. Unlike our team, it's more potent than it looks. I might be rambling now...Still can't feel my teeth. Damn. This would be the time to see if I could chew through a 2x4. Life is tough sometimes as a Cal fan.

Blackandoldgold - If you like hearing foghorn, this was your game. In other words, terrible.

Swamphunter - Why the fuck did we have to slouch on the job NOW? I'm so pissed that we had to lose to the fucking puppy dogs that I'm going against what I said earlier and doing a report card for this loss. We should have killed these mother fuckers and instead they run all over us.

c98 - sucked.

grinandbearit - Unfortunately, I go to UW for grad school now and made it to this game thinking "hey, it can't be worse than 2007, right?" The crowd was pumped. The whole UW team was pumped. It was the last home game for the seniors (and possibly Jake Locker), and it was probably a bit colder than most Cal players were accustomed to, but man ... what was that?

I guess I had seen this before against Oregon and USC. In fact, this was really just a blend of those two games. The saddest thing about this game was that, unlike 2007, I never got the feeling (whatever that's worth) that the players quit, and still, 42-10. What a beatdown.

Oh, and since we're talking about the gameday experience. A small minority of fans were woofing/barking when UW did something good. I mean, I get it, the Huskies, but really, you see Cal fans growling like a bear every time we get a first down or score?

Last thing, they kept on chanting "one more year" for Jake Locker. I think this was a good send-off for him since they're not playing in a bowl game. My guess is he's gone, but what do I know?

beson - We went over to a friend's house to watch the game and barbeque. Our usual MO is to take shots after every Cal touchdown. Last year, I got obliterated. This year, my friend made blue jello shots. I was anticipating another rough Sunday morning. Unfortunately it was rough in other more horrible ways. The jello shots made for celebrating became jello shots of sadness and frustration.

ososdeoro - Auspiciously tweaked my back playing tennis in the morning.

Golden Rationality Award

Commenter/alias name	Standard Deviation
osodeoro	1.417
polarbear91	1.722
grinandbearit	1.927
Haas8388	2.007
sec119	2.016

Old Blue Award

Commenter/alias name	Average score (out of 4)
c98	0
prd74	0.364
blackandoldgold	0.485
WTFFFFFFFFFFFF	0.545
polarbear91	0.652

Golden Sunglasses Award

Commenter/alias name	Average score (out of 4)
Kodiak	1.758
Manwich	1.667
socalbears	1.500
beson	1.470
grinandbearit	1.348

via calbearsonline.com

Kodiak - A few flickers, but mostly bad Riley. In his defense, the protection had something to do with that. And once the game got out of hand, the D could just tee off on him. Even so, it's really disappointing to see him regress and be inconsistent with his accuracy, decision-making, and ball security.

Swamphunter - Short-hops and wide throws. The only bright spots were when Riley was throwing the ball, though.

prd74 - If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything.
I have nothing to say.

grinandbearit - I don't like to put too much blame on him since our OL sucks, but his throws were definitely off and sometimes he threw some scary passes to well-covered WRs. He did have a couple of nice runs, and I think he should continue to pull it down and run with it rather than sitting back in a collapsing pocket while loosely holding onto the ball.

That is one thing I really dislike about Riley is that he doesn't have a very good sense for ball security. Maybe he needs to sit down with Coach Gould and get a lesson or two on what the RBs do.

Haas8338 - Riley seems like a good guy and has improved from last year, but, and this is a BIG BUT, he is not good enough to lead a top Pac10 team. I won't use the term "inconsistent" anymore, he just is not very good.

beson - Riley definitely had some pretty terrible throws but I think most of the blame has to go to the O line which just sucked. Sure Riley should have made the throws when he wasn't pressured, but I can't really blame him for having lack of confidence in his line.

via calbearsonline.com

OhioBear - Vereen ran for 92 yards on 16 carries, but it was a fairly quiet 92 given the avalanche that poured over us. Vereen did a nice job, basically the only bright spot in an otherwise pathetic night.
Haas8338 - Vereen did what he could do in the circumstances. Pass blocking needs work that is for sure.

grinandberait - The effort is consistently there, and I just feel bad when I see Vereen run towards the line and hesitate because he knows he has nowhere to run because of our ____ty OL.

via calbearsonline.com

Kodiak - It's nice to have a former QB providing commentary. Apparently, some of Riley's struggles weren't just inaccuracy, but the receivers running sloppy routes. Which is pretty sad considering we really can't use the "young" excuse at this point in the season.

c98 - sucked.

grinandbearit - Marvin Jones is clearly our go-to guy. I was disappointed "they" didn't get Miller more involved. Everyone else is just a clone of a mediocre WR. Marvin is our #1 WR, and he gets open and makes catches more often ... I wonder what all the other WRs are doing differently. Running bad routes? I can't really say because I've never really sat down and followed the WRs on their routes during games, especially not on TV because you usually can't see this happening.

Good thing is that I didn't see too many huge drops except for one possible TD catch that looked to be fairly well defended.

Run blocking

via calbearsonline.com

WTFFFFFFFF - I walked past a Chinese restaurant that prominently displayed the sign "NO MSG". You speak truth Chinese restaurant - so much painful truth.

Kodiak - Inconsistent push. In fairness, UW rolled the dice and bet that Bad Riley wouldn't be able to beat them if they crowded the line and run blitzed frequently. Sadly enough, that's been a pretty safe bet all year.

Blackandoldgold - The only thing worse was the Great Stink of 1858.

Swamphunter - Fire Marshall. He's a virus that needs to be eradicated.

Haas8338 - Even with MSG this line is only mediocre. Schwartz can dominate at times, but Tepper is up and down and the center and two guards were aweful. The Mutts' 340 lb DT (Taamu?) just abused our 260 lb center (shocking) and the guards didn't help much. Cheadle looks pretty darn stout, but man does he get manhandled at times...WTF?

Pass protection

via calbearsonline.com

Kodiak - Up and down. Riley was under pressure a lot, but UW was blitzing multiple guys on obvious passing downs. Chess match win for the UW coaches because we never seemed to have the right call or protection.

Swamphunter - Fire Marshall. He's a virus that needs to be eradicated. I believe in this so much right now that it deserves to be said twice.

prd74 - If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything.
I have nothing to say.

stevy - 5 sacks... much more pressures and knockdowns. And it wasn't like it was close. The D-line was coming straight through. Marshall needs to go, I think.

grinandbearit - This was softer than a baby's bottom and smelled like one, too. I really don't know if this was a matter of coaching or scheme or just a lack of talent (though I like Syd'Quan and Cattouse), but we always seemed out of position. Always chasing some guy down who slipped behind coverage, chasing some guy from behind on a slant. Just too many holes in the pass coverage that they exploited.

If I think about all the games this year, our pass defense only had one good game against a reasonably good offense and that was against Arizona at home. They were just good enough against Stanford, but I think we were mainly just fortunate to have our running game clicking and keeping our mediocre defense off the field.

Haas8338 - Tepper better start working out at guard because the NFL just wrote him off at tackle. Guarnero is just overmatched physically, simple as that.

Horrible preformance.

ososdeoro - sack, sack, sack. 3-step drop anyone. Oh yeah, that goes under coaching.

Run defense

via calbearsonline.com

OhioBear - Meh. We held Polk under a hundy but it seemed like we let him get away too much. We didn't have an answer for Locker's running, really.

Blackandoldgold - I can't do this anymore. Too depressing...

stevy - Washington never ran it that much. Defending locker on broken plays is tough, but they need to wrap up and not arm tackle.

Haas8338 - Take away Locker's running and it was a decent performance.

sec119 - I'm not sure if run defense counts the same as Locker scrambling for 15 yards at a time, but either way it was bad.

Pass rush

via calbearsonline.com

c98 - sucked.

beson - The pass rush seemed decent but Locker's escapability killed us. Everytime we got a good rush, it seemed like it was at the expense of containment and Locker made us pay.

sec119 - From snap to whistle, Locker had time to re-tie his shoes, drink some gatorade, and bake a souffle before the pass rush got within five yards of him.

Kodiak - Well, haven't really had one all year, so can't expect it to miraculously appear now. Even when we blitzed, they picked it up pretty easily. We could really use some playmakers who know how to put the QB in the grass.

stevy - Horrid. With this D-line, the 3-4 is ineffective in getting pressure. The outside linebackers almost never got pressure on Locker making it easy for him to dominate the game.

Pass Defense

via calbearsonline.com

Kodiak - Tough game for Nbufie. For all that people have been screaming all year for more aggressive D...More blitzing + man coverage = DB's getting burned for long gains/TD's. Maybe the coaches know that besides Syd, our coverage is a bit questionable and that's why they usually play zone. It'll be addition by subtraction when Johnson and Ezeff leave. It's really disappointing for two seniors to be non-factors, much less liabilities.

c98 - sucked.

ososdeoro - Good God. It seemed like the linebackers were told to: a) pick a receiver to cover; b) cover said receiver for five yards; c) stop and turn around to see if Locker is going to run while receiver goes on his merry way; d) "protect" the astroturf five yards downfield from any Huskies who might bother to venture in his general direction. The first TD pass coverage really wasn't that bad. That said, you give a guy a permanent 10-yard cushion and you're letting him receive the ball anywhere he wants to.

Haas8338 - Locker was on target, to his credit, but he was not pressured and our coverage seemed confused at times.

grinandbearit - This was softer than a baby's bottom and smelled like one, too. I really don't know if this was a matter of coaching or scheme or just a lack of talent (though I like Syd'Quan and Cattouse), but we always seemed out of position. Always chasing some guy down who slipped behind coverage, chasing some guy from behind on a slant. Just too many holes in the pass coverage that they exploited.

If I think about all the games this year, our pass defense only had one good game against a reasonably good offense and that was against Arizona at home. They were just good enough against Stanford, but I think we were mainly just fortunate to have our running game clicking and keeping our mediocre defense off the field.

Special Teams

via calbearsonline.com

prd74 - If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything.
I have nothing to say.

c98 - sucked.

stevy - Goal for next year: GET A CONSISTENT KICKER. And Sofele was ineffective on returns. Once, he got a whole 5 yards on a short kick. Not good.

grinandbearit - Kick coverage is still pretty weak, and we missed a not-that-long FG in the first half. I wonder if Tedford will ever consider having someone else coach special teams.

Also, is it standard for college teams to send one guy to loop behind all the other kick coverage personnel acting as a trailer just in case everyone else fails to tackle the returner? I don't remember seeing any team play prevent on kickoffs.

Anger is still decent. Whew.

Haas8338 - Alamar may be the worst coach in college football.

ososdeoro - Just Gawd-fucking-awful. Nice to see Anger finally get off some good punts when we didn't need them anymore. Kickoff coverage sucks(tm) and now punt coverage does too. Nice FG try by D'Amato, er, not.

Coaching

via calbearsonline.com

OhioBear - We were not ready to play. Credit to Washington, obvi, because they played well. But we had no answer. We seemingly had few, if any, adjustments to the offensive onslaught. And we had no answer to getting hit in the mouth by Washington. A lackluster performance from a team that didn't seem ready to play - coaches have to take some blame for that.

prd74 - If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything.
I have nothing to say.

stevy - Ludwig is still undecided about what type of offense he wants for Cal. Will they do short pases? will they run the ball? will they do long every down? Cal's offense has no identity and that's a huge problem. If Ludwig is back next year, he MUST decide what type of offense he wants to run. This flip flopping from game to game is hurting offensive production.

grinandbearit - I don't know what to say here because I can't tell what the root causes are of the problems we have. So I guess I'll just list some questions:

1) Our run blocking is piss poor, so is it the coach's fault or the talent?
2) When in the WildBear formation, why do we fake the sweep with Sofele 95% of the time and then have Vereen pause for a few seconds and then run forward into our crappy OL?
3) Playcalling: we ran the ball on 3rd and 23 ... it must have taken UW off guard because who in his right mind would've thought we would make anywhere near 23 yards on a run play with our OL?

ososodeoro - Not a one of them earned their pay in this one. Every other team seemed to have answers for U-Dub (even the Dawg wins were close), why didn't ours?

sec119 - I never would have thought there'd be a game I give the special teams the highest grade. Talk about damning by faint praise! At this point, 50/50 on field goals is on-par for field goals.

Overall

via calbearsonline.com

WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFf - Time to start drinking.

OhioBear - I haven't been this angry since Washington 2007. Giving up 42 points and getting blown out by the Pac-10 champion on the road is one thing. Giving up 42 points and getting blown out by a team that was 3-5 in the Pac-10 and 4-7 overall coming into the game is quite another. No excuse for a performance like this.

Maybe we left our heart at stanfurd stadium 2 weeks ago.

Kodiak - Well, it stunk, but I can live with it if the game serves as a wake-up call. As nice as it would have been to finish tied for 2nd with a chance at a 10-win season, could we honestly have said that we've been happy with the team this year? Instead, there's no question that Tedford will have to take a long look at his coaching staff, player evaluations, and what's been done from spring through winter to get the guys ready to play.

prd74 - If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything.
I have nothing to say.

c98 - sucked hard.

stevy - Horrid game. Where did the Cal team that played so well against Stanford go? The team needs some to do serious soul searching in the off season.

grinandbearit - Keys to winning given our current set of problems:
- recruit some good defensive players this coming offseason
- get our OL mad before games so that they spark our running game so that we can keep our defense off the field and control the clock.
- start kicking all kickoffs out of bounds until we find someone who can consistently kick it past the 15.
- perfect the fake FG, especially when the FG is longer than 35 yards
- maybe our OL is just 2-3 good guys away from being good ... wouldn't that be great?

beson - Oh juju. Of course we lost after I celebrated USC and their all but assured poinsetta bowl berth.

Manwich - We can't get pumped up for big games other than the Big Game. I take back everything I said before, the optimism I had for containing Luck/Gerhart evaporated in a second. I'm beginning to think the PAC-10 has passed Tedford and Carroll by in terms of philosophy.

Before it was run the pro-style and the bend don't break and it worked. Now we're seeing our opponents run more option based attacks with mobile quarterbacks. It's time to change philosophies, otherwise, Tedford will become a Bobby Bowden, stuck with loyal assistants and doomed to middle of the PAC-10.

sec119 - I have very little to say that might be positive about this stinker of a game. That it occurred at the end of the season tells me that maybe we didn't learn much from our prior losses, nor am I hopeful about next year.

Golden Nuggets: That Which We Call A Poinsettia. By Any Other Name...

Berkelium97 — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 02:00:17 -0000

...would still cause temporary blindness if its sap gets in your eye. So let's keep the poinsettia champagne cocktails away from Oksi, okay?

In case you missed it, Cal has accepted an invitation to the Poinsettia Bowl where it will play Utah on Wednesay, December 23rd at 5pm.

Here's a sampling of what Tedford had to say in today's press conference.

On how the relatively short time until the Poinsettia Bowl affects preparation and schedules
"It makes it pretty tight. There's a lot going on. There's finals, there's recruiting weekends, there's home visits that need to be made. What this does, it takes away a recruiting weekend, so we have to get a lot of work done in a short amount of time and so that makes it very challenging. Preparation for the game, we should be fine. I don't remember the dates as of right now, but this week we're going out recruiting. Next weekend, we have practice, which will be a generic practice, offense vs. defense. Then we will game plan through the first of that next week, practice starting on, I believe, Wednesday, that will go through until Saturday, and then I think our departure date is Saturday if I'm not mistaken, and so we will practice down there Saturday, Sunday, and then the game is on Wednesday, and we'll get a practice on Monday."

On the travel itinerary and practices after arrival in San Diego
"Most likely we'll fly out early that morning [Saturday], get there, get organized in the hotel, and then practice there. But we're trying to tighten those things down right now to see if those are absolute times."
...

On the use of Isi Sofele as a kick returner against Washington and whether he filled that role because of any injury to Jeremy Ross
"J-Ross was dinged up and Shane [Vereen was] dinged up, and so we were trying some different depth there. We put [Chris] Conte back there as well because Isi was banged up through the week as well, so last week, going into the game, we had quite a few questions of who was going to do what because we had quite a few guys banged up. He did a great job, it was very promising."
...

On the results of Best's examination in Pittsburgh
"That was all positive. I think they're looking toward having Jahvid do some working out this week, whatever the extent of that, I don't know, and I think it's completely on how he feels from day to day on how much he will do. The feedback I got from the medical staff was that he can start progressing and doing some physical activity, but I don't think anyone knows how he's going to respond until he does it."

After the jump we have plenty of recaps for you sadists who want to relive last night's game. To put you in a better mood, I have plenty of stories on men's basketball's great win last night, volleyball's impressive march through the NCAA tournament, and more.

Cal Football

Last night's loss created even more confusion about this team. Naturally, Riley said he was very frustrated, and Vereen suggested that they overlooked Washington (how you can overlook a team with a top-ten draft pick is beyond my understanding). Daily Cal recaps the loss. JO also recaps the loss.
While many fans will remember the 8-4 record, SFGate says many will also remember being outscored 145-30 in four lopsided losses.

Cal Basketball

After the football team was dismantled in Seattle, Monty's team gave Cal fans a reason to go to bed smiling. With an 82-63 win, Monty says his team is starting "to get our swagger back." From PC's 20 points to Amoke's domination on the boards to Max Zhang's block party (and did you hear his roar in the first half?!), this win helped make up for football's performance. NBA scouts from 10 different teams who came to watch ISU's Craig Brackins saw him repeatedly frustrated by Zhang.
While not as thorough as his usual game threads (due to print deadlines), Farudo's game thread is a good barometer for last night's game.
In his post-game quotes, Monty seemed very pleased with Cal's performance. He said they were playing with more energy than they had in recent games and believes they are starting to break out of their mini-slump.
The women took care of business too, routing Colorado St 78-44. Boyle was pleased with their second-half adjustments as well as the defensive pressure they applied. Today they narrowly lost to no. 7 Texas A&M. Too many turnovers and missed free throws kept the Bears from notching an impressive upset.

Women's Volleyball

The ninth-seeded Cal women's volleyball team put an end to Lipscomb's 25-game winning streak and knocked them out of the tournament by sweeping them in three sets. They followed that up with a win over Ohio St, which sends them to the Gainesville Regional semifinal next weekend with a matchup against Baylor on Friday.

Huskies Pound Cal 42-10

John Berkowitz — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 03:53:53 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

14 days ago: Washington quarterback Jake Locker reacts after keeping the ball for a 9-yard gain against California in the second half of an NCAA football game Saturday, Dec. 5, 2009, in Seattle. Washington won 42-10. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

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If this was Jake Lockers last game he picked a great way to go out. Washington astounded every expert in the country today routing the Golden Bears at home 42-10. The Huskies fall one game short of qualifying for that elusive bowl berth but consider this they are only the 11th BCS team since 1946 to rebound so high coming off a winless season.

Jake started with a 40-yard TD pass to Jermaine Kearse on Washington's first drive, then added touchdown runs of 19 and 2 yards in the second quarter as the Huskies jumped to a 21-3 lead and were never challenged.

Locker added TD throws in the third quarter of 21 yards and 13 yards to Devin Aguilar and the Huskies (5-7, 4-5) made an impressive final statement against a bowl-bound Cal (8-4, 5-4) that didn't look happy to be in Seattle in December.

Locker completed 19 of 23 passes for 248 yards while exposing Cal's secondary. He also ran 14 times for 77 yards. Chris Polk added 94 yards rushing and a touchdown for Washington. Jermaine Kearse had seven catches for 147 yards and a TD -- all in the first half -- while Aguilar grabbed five passes for 72 yards and two scores.

Washington's defense was also a star for the second straight week holding Shane Vereen under 100 yards and putting constant pressure on Cal QB Kevin Riley. Riley was sacked five times, including three times by Washington senior Daniel Te'o-Neshehim, who became the Huskies' all-time leader in career sacks in his final game with 30. Riley was only 14 of 32 for 215 yards.

Inside The Numbers: Washington Edition!

TwistNHook — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:17:50 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

Can the Washington Husky defense get to Kevin Riley after shutting out Washington State in the Apple Cup?

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Here we go. Last regular season game. Last regular season Inside The Numbers. Gonna be a hard fought battle against UW tomorrow. Can Cal pull it out? After the fold, we take a look at the Washington numbers on both offense and defense. We all know they nearly beat LSU and did beat USC early in the year. But its been months since then. How is UW doing and what can we expect from them tomorrow? GO BEARS!

After the jump, Avi and I breakdown the numbers, pass and rushing O and D.

TwistNHook: First up, the University of Jake Lockers:

Situation	G	Att	Comp	Pct.	Yards	Int	TD	Rating	Long	1st	15+	25+
All Plays	11	373	211	56.6	2552	11	18	124.07	51	111	56	23
1st Half	11	187	109	58.3	1372	6	9	129.38	51	61	32	12
2nd Half/OT	11	186	102	54.8	1180	5	9	118.72	47	50	24	11
1st Quarter	11	83	50	60.2	612	4	3	124.46	51	28	12	4
2nd Quarter	11	104	59	56.7	760	2	6	133.31	50	33	20	8
3rd Quarter	11	84	48	57.1	579	3	4	123.61	47	22	12	6
4th Quarter	11	99	54	54.5	601	2	5	118.18	39	28	12	5

Well, let's see here. This is OK, but not great. 56% completion rate is not good, it's actually roughly what Riley is doing. 124 Rating is again, not that good. Hes averaging about 232 yards a game in the air, which again is not terrible, but not great. What I see here is a passing attack that could prove dangerous, but also could be pedestrian. And that's the advanced analysis you've come to expect from the California Golden Blogs!

Avinash: At first glance, Jake doesn't look like someone we should worry about. Locker is 81st in the country in completion percentage, T-70th in YPA, and 73rd in passer rating. It makes it sound like we're going up against Carl Bonnell.

However, there is one particular stat that should concern Cal fans: 3rd down. Locker has the fifth best passer rating of any QB in the country on 3rd down (17th in the country in passer rating), and he's converted over 50% of his 3rd down passing plays, putting him right up there with Canfield as one of the best passers in passing situations. He converts 64% of his 3rd and 4-6 situations, nearly 40% of his 3rd and 7-9 situations, and (the most impressive number of all) over 40% of his 3rd and 10+ situations.

A lot of this I think also has to do with Locker's running ability--he's picked up 15 of 39 first downs on 3rd down runs. Although his numbers are a far cry from his fantastic 2007 numbers on the ground, defenses have to respect that ability, so it probably gives him better looks down the field. Sarkisian seems to have made sure he runs with the ball less than expected and trust his arm to throw, and it's paid off. Considering Cal struggled with Luck last week scrambling for yardage, we can expect similar issues with Locker.

Bears fans should not feel safe in any situation. Cal's defense has played very well the past two weeks, but they're going to have to kick it up a notch to prevent getting burned by Locker on 3rd down (the Bears gave up nearly a 46% conversion rate on 3rd down in the month of November). There's a reason NFL GMs are drooling over Locker right now. His ability to complete passes on obvious passing down, his ability to scramble and create plays, a strong ability to throw deep...all of those things are very tantalizing.

TwistNHook: Now, let's look at the rushing stats:

Situation	G	Att	Yards	Avg.	TD	Long	1st	10+	20+
All Plays	11	351	1491	4.25	10	56	87	57	13
1st Half	11	173	698	4.03	4	56	41	24	8
2nd Half/OT	11	178	793	4.46	6	41	46	33	5
1st Quarter	11	89	387	4.35	4	56	22	12	4
2nd Quarter	11	84	311	3.70	0	34	19	12	4
3rd Quarter	11	78	324	4.15	3	41	19	17	2
4th Quarter	11	99	478	4.83	3	24	27	16	3

Well, their rushing offense seems pretty good. Not amazingly great, but 4.25 yards isn't that bad. Kind of like their passing offense, it's not great, but it's not terrible.

Of course, they do have a great rushing QB, but that number is dragged down, because a lot of his runs don't always end so well. Here are the individual stats:

	Name	Yr	Pos	G	Att	Yards	Avg.	TD	Att/G	Yards/G
1	Chris Polk	FR	RB	11	204	1019	5.00	4	18.55	92.64
2	Jake Locker	JR	QB	11	98	311	3.17	5	8.91	28.27

Chris Polk is their main RB and is looking pretty good there. Not a lot of TDs, but he does average almost 100 yards a game. 5 yards a carry, flat, is pretty impressive. Locker averages about 30 yards a game running. I feel like our Run D can do fairly well against this team. It has shut down some pretty impressive RBs, like Quizz. And was able to somewhat contain Gerhart. Their Rush O seems fairly good, but, even on the road, I like our Run D in this situation.

Date	Opponent	Surface	Result	Att	Yards	Avg.	TD
09/05/09	15 LSU	Turf	L 23-31	21	90	4.29	0
09/12/09	Idaho	Turf	W 42-23	19	80	4.21	1
09/19/09	20 Southern California	Turf	W 16-13	25	71	2.84	0
09/26/09	@ 23 Stanford	Grass	L 14-34	19	75	3.95	0
10/03/09	@ Notre Dame	Grass	L 30-37	22	136	6.18	0
10/10/09	Arizona	Turf	W 36-33	9	34	3.78	0
10/17/09	@ Arizona St.	Grass	L 17-24	12	51	4.25	1
10/24/09	7 Oregon	Turf	L 19-43	18	104	5.78	1
11/07/09	@ UCLA	Grass	L 23-24	15	132	8.80	0
11/14/09	@ 13 Oregon St.	Turf	L 21-48	19	116	6.11	0
11/28/09	Washington St.	Turf	W 30-0	25	130	5.20	1

Avinash: Not to mention he's peaking. Four straight hundred yard games, including three against quality defenses (okay, Oregon and UCLA aren't really stout against the run anymore, but still, 116 yards on Oregon State, 8.8 ypc in the Rose Bowl? Might be something to look out for). Not to mention his running style reminds you a lot of the type of backs that could give our sloppy tacklers problems.

"He’s got plenty of upside. He’s a guy who is still learning," UW head coach Steve Sarkisian said. "But the one thing he has is physical and mental toughness. The ability that when things aren’t always blocked great, he fights through it. He continues to fight."

We’ve seen that from Polk all season: the way he puts his head down and pushes his small-but-explosive frame forward; the way he manages to get those extra couple of yards, even with a mass of defenders blocking his way. Heck, on one play Saturday it looked like Polk tripped and fell over a WSU lineman, but he still managed three yards.

"He hasn’t had a bunch of runs where it’s just big gaping holes and he’s running for yards," Sarkisian said. "He’s earning his yards. I think the next step for him is his ability to play at the second level, in the open field once he clears the line of scrimmage, and his creativity with his running style."

Really, Polk shouldn't be underestimated. It seems he has that ability like Vereen to slip off of tacklers and keep on going. Him, Quizz, James, Vereen...boy, talk about running backs it'll be hard for defenses to bring down next season.

TwistNHook: Well, you've made me look like an idiot yet again Avi. Let's move on from the rushing attack and take a moment to glance askew at the Passing D:

Situation	G	Att	Comp	Pct.	Yards	Int	TD	Rating	Long	1st	15+	25+
All Plays	11	331	214	64.7	2673	8	15	142.62	77	116	65	24
1st Half	11	182	116	63.7	1437	3	7	139.46	67	62	32	13
2nd Half/OT	11	149	98	65.8	1236	5	8	146.46	77	54	33	11
1st Quarter	11	82	60	73.2	650	1	2	145.37	56	29	13	6
2nd Quarter	11	100	56	56.0	787	2	5	134.61	67	33	19	7
3rd Quarter	11	73	50	68.5	664	3	4	154.76	77	26	18	5
4th Quarter	10	75	47	62.7	550	2	4	136.54	50	27	14	6

Me likee. You might remember that the Stanford D, which was fairly generous for Riley, was giving up roughly 63% of the pass attempts against it. UW is even worse at nearly 65% of the pass attempts. Riley is completing roughly 56% of his attempts, so if he is at 65% during this game, it should end VERY well for Cal. They actually allow 73% completion rating in the first quarter, so I think it is imperative for Cal to jump out to a big lead, hopefully using the reinvigorated pass attack.

142 QB rating against, again, is a very positive number for Cal. Looking at this, I feel like Riley can build on the momentum from the Big Game where he seemed to be playing with a lot of confidence. Notice also that they only have 8 interceptions to 15 TDs given up.

By comparison, note Cal's passing D:

Situation	G	Att	Comp	Pct.	Yards	Int	TD	Rating	Long	1st	15+	25+
All Plays	11	393	243	61.8	2835	10	14	129.09	80	121	65	27

This is a pass D that has been MUCH maligned this year. People have complained endlessly about its ineffectiveness. And, let's be honest, it has not be at the level many Cal fans anticipated it would be at the start of the year. The numbers are admittedly not great in some situations, but, save for the yards given up (surprise!), it is better across the board than this UW passing D.

Avinash:

Date	Opponent	Surface	Result	Att	Comp	Pct.	Yards	Yards/Att	Int	TD	Rating
09/05/09	15 LSU	Turf	L 23-31	19	11	57.9	172	9.1	0	3	186.05
09/12/09	Idaho	Turf	W 42-23	40	26	65.0	349	8.7	1	0	133.29
09/19/09	20 Southern California	Turf	W 16-13	22	13	59.1	110	5.0	1	0	92.00
09/26/09	@ 23 Stanford	Grass	L 14-34	14	7	50.0	103	7.4	0	0	111.80
10/03/09	@ Notre Dame	Grass	L 30-37	31	23	74.2	422	13.6	1	2	203.38
10/10/09	Arizona	Turf	W 36-33	53	39	73.6	384	7.2	2	1	133.13
10/17/09	@ Arizona St.	Grass	L 17-24	36	22	61.1	295	8.2	0	2	148.27
10/24/09	7 Oregon	Turf	L 19-43	22	14	63.6	157	7.1	0	1	138.58
11/07/09	@ UCLA	Grass	L 23-24	31	23	74.2	371	12.0	2	2	183.11
11/14/09	@ 13 Oregon St.	Turf	L 21-48	31	22	71.0	194	6.3	0	4	166.12
11/28/09	Washington St.	Turf	W 30-0	32	14	43.8	116	3.6	1	0	67.95
	Totals			331	214	64.7	2673	8.1	8	15	142.62

No sugarcoating this--these are really bad numbers. Allowing 70% completion rate to four quarterbacks is kind of excusable, considering Foles, Canfield and Clausen are three of the most accurate in the country...but Kevin Prince? Really? Other than knocking around Wazzu's quarterbacks around, they haven't had a great performance since the Furd game...the one where Gerhart rolled over them like the marvelous white stallion he is.

Based on the tenor of their defensive coordinator, Nick Holt likes his players to play aggressive. However, they lack the personnel to play in attack mode the entire way; they just don't have the ability to handle good quarterbacks or even semi-competent quarterbacks and it leads to big big plays. They eventually lead to lapses, ending up with situations like this.

Kevin Riley has had good games this year, had clutch performances this year. A good performance against the Huskies could go a long way towards getting ready for the bowl game against Oklahoma or BYU/Utah (our likely bowl opponents). Consistency is all we want from him now as he wraps up his junior year.

TwistNHook: And now, finally, let's take a look at the UW Rushing D. What does that look like?

Situation	G	Att	Yards	Avg.	TD	Long	1st	10+	20+
All Plays	11	367	1705	4.65	17	75	87	56	20
1st Half	11	177	835	4.72	7	60	41	29	11
2nd Half/OT	11	190	870	4.58	10	75	46	27	9
1st Quarter	11	80	438	5.48	5	60	18	13	8
2nd Quarter	11	97	397	4.09	2	42	23	16	3
3rd Quarter	11	102	463	4.54	6	75	25	15	4
4th Quarter	11	87	406	4.67	3	56	21	12	5

It looks OK. Not great, like ASU's 2.5 a carry against. But not redick bad. Of course, notice that the worst section is in the first quarter, so hopefully we can jump out to a large lead based on the solid running game. Cal is coming off of its best running game in a long long time (and that's saying a lot considering how amazing our running game has been). However, it appears that stud OLineman Matt Summers-Gavin is not going to play. This is unfortunate, because he appeared to be a catalyst for the running game when he returned against Arizona and Stanford. So, it is a mixture of bad and good news. UW seems to have a rush D that Cal could handle. However, we said the same thing against OSU and had major trouble without MSG.

Avinash: Let's not underrate these guys here. Mason Foster and Donald Butler are both great tacklers, can definitely cause the Bears problems if they struggle blocking.

Date	Opponent	Surface	Result	Att	Yards	Avg.	TD
09/05/09	15 LSU	Turf	L 23-31	29	149	5.14	0
09/12/09	Idaho	Turf	W 42-23	23	63	2.74	2
09/19/09	20 Southern California	Turf	W 16-13	33	250	7.58	1
09/26/09	@ 23 Stanford	Grass	L 14-34	51	321	6.29	3
10/03/09	@ Notre Dame	Grass	L 30-37	29	108	3.72	1
10/10/09	Arizona	Turf	W 36-33	30	77	2.57	2
10/17/09	@ Arizona St.	Grass	L 17-24	27	169	6.26	1
10/24/09	7 Oregon	Turf	L 19-43	40	259	6.48	4
11/07/09	@ UCLA	Grass	L 23-24	40	84	2.10	1
11/14/09	@ 13 Oregon St.	Turf	L 21-48	37	178	4.81	2
11/28/09	Washington St.	Turf	W 30-0	28	47	1.68	0
	Totals			367	1705	4.65	17

You can see the performance of this defense depends heavily on the running games they face. Toby Gerhart apparently obliterated them, as did the USC running corps, as did the James/Masoli/Barner trio, and so did...Arizona State? Other than that though, these guys have done alright shutting running games down.

With Best, I'd feel a lot more confident in establishing our run game--in open space he'd just outrun half these guys. Without him though, it becomes a little bit more interesting. Although I like Vereen a lot, it's still asking a lot for a guy who ran the ball 43 times two weeks ago to replicate that performance. I don't want him slugging in the trenches--we need the offensive line and our fullbacks/tight ends to block and open space for him to outrun this defense.

Also there's a few interesting numbers that stand out, like who's leading the conference in forced fumbles...

	Name	Team	Yr	Pos	G	Fumbles Forced	Fumbles Forced/G
1	Mason Foster	Washington	JR	LB	11	5	0.45
2	Daniel Te'o-Nesheim	Washington	SR	DL	11	3	0.27
2	Donald Butler	Washington	SR	LB	11	3	0.27

The Huskies have forced 15 fumbles (2nd in the conference to the Trojans) and have the three leaders in the conference in Foster, Te'o and Butler. And they got only ONE of those against Wazzu (4 against USC and UCLA, 3 against Oregon State, 2 against Arizona State). Vereen will hopefully be able to protect the ball, but what about the youthful Deboskie-Johnson (who will almost certainly see more carries)? Ball control will be key for our running backs in keeping the offense going.

There's a lot to worry about. We're far away from punching our tickets to El Paso. We've got a tough ball game Saturday and no Jahvid Best to break it open.

Poll

How is Cal going to do against UW?

Big victory

73 votes

Close victory

105 votes

Close loss

5 votes

Big loss

4 votes

187 votes | Poll has closed

Golden Nuggets: Prediction Thursday

Berkelium97 — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 05:15:10 -0000

Congratulations to all the members of the football team who made the Pac-10 All-Academic team! The first team included Mark Boskovich, Alex Lagemann, and Mike Mohamed. Ernie Owusu, Matt Summers-Gavin, and Giorgio Tavecchio made the second team, and Skylar Curran, Chris Guarnero, and Mitchell Schwartz made received honorable mention. At a school like Berkeley, it is even more impressive that they made the list.

Despite thinking that one or both teams may come out playing flat, Ted Miller anticipates a big Cal victory.

California 35, Washington 21: The Bears have steadily -- and quietly -- risen in the Pac-10 since suffering those embarrassing consecutive losses to Oregon and USC. It seems like things are clicking on both sides of the ball, and the Bears certainly have the athleticism on defense to handle a scrambling Jake Locker. Moreover, Cal seems to have an advantage coming off a bye week while the Huskies might not be focused after winning the Apple Cup last weekend.

All five CBS experts predict a Cal victory.

All five Yahoo experts predict a Cal victory.

After the jump, we have player quotes from Tuesday's press luncheon (including some humorous remarks from Tepper), injury updates for Cal and Washington, motivation for both Cal and Washington to win this weekend's game, recap/analysis of basketball's loss to New Mexico, 20 questions with DJ Seeley, and a preview of the weekend in Cal sports.

Cal Football

JO has quotes from a few players from Tuesday's luncheon. They talk about preparing for the December weather in Seattle, the loss to Washington in 2007, bowl game possibilities, bouncing back from the losses to Oregon and USC, and preparing to take on Washington. Tepper had some funny quotes that are too good to pass up:

On bowl experiences

It’s gotten to the point with me that I don’t know where we’re going to go. I’ve been to Vegas, I’ve been to Holiday, I’ve been to Texas before – I’ve been a lot of places. I’ve kind of learned over the years that bowl games are what you make of it. Even though I was under 21 in Vegas, I made the best of it. You find ways. In San Diego, they have the whole gaslamp district and the whole party scene down there. Texas, Dallas had its own little scene down there. It’s what you make it. If you want to sit in your hotel room, like previous centers (Alex Mack), and sit there and do nothing, that’s fine with me. But I don’t think I’m ever going back to Dallas unless I’m playing for an NFL team there, or I’m transferring flights there. So I’m going to go have fun. That’s part of the bowl game. You realize you’re playing a game, but you also realize you’re traveling somewhere and you want to have fun with it. I don’t really care where I go. Vegas is always fun, but I’ve had fun in San Diego and I’ve had fun in Texas.

Tedford seemed quite proud of all the players who made the All-Academic team and made a point to talk about it before any reporters even had the chance to ask about it. In a surprising development, it seems MSG sustained a concussion against Stanford and he may not play against Washington.
No one has forgotten the loss to Washington in 2007, what many considered to be the low point of the season. Holley, Mohamed, and Riley were especially bothered by the loss and are committed to coming out of Seattle with a win.
Most everyone on Washington has seen the clip of Best's concussion-inducing fall and that got the team thinking about whether or not to hurdle defenders. While the players are not prohibited from attempting to jump over a defender, their running back coach makes a point to tell them "If you are going to leave your feet, you are on your own."
Washington's starting center and team captain Ryan Tolar will likely miss Saturday's game after it was determined that he suffered a concussion against WSU. This seems to be a major blow to the O-line, as it was riding momentum from a great performance against the Cougs.
After last week's shutout, Washington DC Nick Holt is especially excited about playing this week. He believes his unit is finally starting to develop into an effective, cohesive group. He thinks Cal will be a great test for the D and he and his players embrace the challenge.

Cal Basketball

Farudo has another segment of 20 Questions; this time, DJ Seeley answers the questions. He talks about his dream team, which historical figures he'd like to have dinner with, best and worst Pac-10 fans, and more.
Injuries, foul trouble, the mile high elevation, and a rowdy home crowd all proved to be too much for the Bears as they lost to New Mexico despite leading for most of the game. With injuries and illness hurting the Bears, guys ran out of energy by the end of the game. Monty's post-game comments indicate that he thought the team played with great effort, but not enough energy. It didn't help that New Mexico switched to a zone D--which has really hurt Monty's team this year--with just under ten minutes to go.. In his post-game notes, Farudo says the Bears have to heal up and play better if they hope to challenge for the Pac-10 title.
No. 19/20 women's bball hosts the Colliers International Classic this weekend, featuring Colorado State, Southern Illinois, and no. 10 Texas A&M.

The Rest of the Weekend in Cal Sports

Women's volleyball opens the NCAA tournament with a matchup against Lipscomb at 4pmEST on Friday.
Women's swimming and diving sends its swimmers to the AT&T Short Course National Championships today through Saturday while the divers will compete at the Texas Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame Invitational today through Saturday. On Sunday, the swimmers will head to the U.S. Long course Timed Final National Invitational.

Pac 10 holes to fill in 2010

John Berkowitz — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:03:21 -0000

More photos » by STEPHEN BRASHEAR - AP

Washington tailback Chris Polk became the first Husky frosh to ever rush over 1000 yards in a single season. (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear)

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The Pac 10 proved itself in 2009 to be an elite conference with lots of parity for the first time since Pete Carroll's first season at USC. As for 2010 you can usually make a pretty good prediction on what is going to happen next year based on the previous years record, returning starters, and most importantly experience at quarterback.

If you are using that as a guide it is pretty easy to pick the Oregon Ducks as the favorite to win the conference in 2010. Overall the Pac 10 was young in 2009 and that was one reason for all the parity. Washington and Washington State like to point at youth for being a reason they will be better in 2009 but you can say that about any team in the conference next season excluding ASU and Arizona.

At first glance this is an early look at the holes that teams need to plug next season and what the reasonable expectation should be for 2010.

1. Oregon - Offense - 10 - Defense - 9

The Ducks go into 2010 as the favorite to win the conference. On offense they have everyone coming back except for TE Ed Dickson who will be adequately replaced by David Paulson. Defensively they need to replace half of their defensive line which is graduating but they do have the beef in reserve to do that. The defensive backfield will be young but a lot of those players saw considerable action this season.

The big key for Oregon is the return of Jeremiah Masoli at QB and his partner in crime LaMichael James. The Ducks should start next season in the top five nationally and be primed for a national championship run. If you are a duck fan you don't have too much in the immediate future to worry about.

2. Southern Cal - 7 Offense - Defense - 7

The Trojans lose three offensive lineman and their TE so their is some rebuilding to do up front. On defense they need to replace the entire secondary. This was a young USC team with plenty of talent on the roster which will only get better with time. The key to 2010 will be the continued development of QB Matt Barkley and the hope of some playmakers maturing around him on offense.

Pete Carroll has recruited well at USC but he didn't have any actual superstars on the roster in 2010 at key positions like he did in the past. The Trojans need a RB to emerge to compliment what Barkley will bring next season. Expect the improvement at QB to be there as usual. SC needs some serious playmakers if they are going to get past Oregon.

3. Oregon State - Offense - 8 - Defense - 9

On offense the Beavers need to replace Sean Canfield who played himself into a NFL draft pick this past season. The Rodgers brothers are scheduled to return but I could see James leaving early for the NFL. The Beavers lose only one starting offensive lineman. On defense the Beavers lose a LB and one of their CB's so they are in really good shape going into 2010 if Lyle Moevao can get a sixth year to come back and run the Beav offense.

If Moevao can get another season and James Rodgers comes back the Beavers will be very good on offense. If they don't come back I could see this team fall a couple of spots despite having an improved defense. You win with experience at QB in this league. If OSU is breaking in a new QB there will be some growing pains.

4. California - Offense - 9 - Defense - 5

The Bears only lose one offensive lineman and will likely lose RB Jahvid Best who is headed for the NFL early. No big deal because Shane Vereen is just as scary. Other than that the Bears return pretty intact on offense which means trouble for the rest of the Pac 10. On defense the Bears will loose 3/4 of their secondary, half of their LB corps and a DE so there is some rebuilding to be done.

I expect the Bears to do better on offense next season. Kevin Riley has to get better at QB with another year under Tedford. Defensively the Bears are rebuilding and that will ultimately keep them from winning the title. Tedford has recruited well over the years so he has some talent in the depth that is ready to move up to help fill holes on defense.

5. Stanford - Offense - 8 - Defense - 7

The Cardinal lose Heisman hopeful Toby Gerhart who is a huge part of their offense. He will be tough to replace. They also lose one OL and a TE so with the exception of Gerhart they return pretty much intact on offense. On defense they lose the two best players in their secondary in McNally and Sherman. They also lose monster NT Ekom Udofia and LB Will Powers.

Imagine Stanford without Toby Gerhart in 2009. How competitive would this team have been? Gerhart is a generational talent who the Cards won't be able to replace. Harbaugh continues to bring in solid recruiting classes so the Tree will be an improved team. The questions are will Andrew Luck be able to pick up enough of the slack in 2010 for the Stanford offense to be a factor? Can Stanford find an adequate replacement for Gerhart?

6. Washington Offense - 9 - Defense - 7

The Huskies lose Ossai and Homer from the offense. On defense they lose Butler and Savannah at LB plus Jones and Teo Nesheim on the DL. Jones was more of a spot starter because of injuries and the same can be said of Savannah who will petition for a 6th year.

The Huskies have some good returning at the offensive skill positions but they are in year one of rebuilding the offensive line because Sark couldn't find any to sign in year one. It will take at least two years of development until this highly rated OL class is ready to contribute. The only big question on offense is if Jake Locker will return. If he does UW should go to a bowl in 2010. If he doesn't it will set the program back a year or two.

Defensively Washington played a lot of young players in 2010. They also have a lot of talent coming in with the next class which should alleviate depth concerns. Washington will be improved on defense next season even though the losses of Teo Nesheim and Butler will be felt.

If Jake Locker doesn't come back the Huskies would fall to eighth in my early predictions. Not much of a fall but the difference between making or not making a bowl game in 2010 unless a miracle happens at QB.

7. Arizona - 5 Offense - Defense - 4

The Wildcats lose WR Terrell Turner, FB Chris Gronksowski, and most of their offensive line. On defense they lose half the defensive line and all three of their starting LB's. They also lose two starters in the secondary.

Thank god for Nick Foles and Nic Grigsby because this team is going to need them next year. Arizona and ASU are really the only team in the conference doing a major rebuild from an attrition standpoint next season. If TE Rob Gronkowski returns it will be another big plus.

8. UCLA - 8 Offense - Defense - 7

The Bruins lose FB Chane Moline, WR Terrance Austin, and TE Logan Paulsen on offense. Defensively they lose the Bosworth twins and Reggie Carter at the LB spots. Alteraun Verner is always leaving at CB. You can count on Rick Neuheisel to continue bringing in new talent from the recruiting trail. There are some losses on defense but the Bruins have the talent to fill the holes coming back or coming in. T

The big questions are on offense. Can the Bruins develop an adequate starting QB to go along with an adequate running game in 2010. It all starts on the offensive line. Has Rick built up enough talent and depth here to make a difference on the OL in 2010?

9. Arizona State - 2 Offense - Defense - 5

The Sun Devils are in trouble unless Dennis Erickson can plug some major holes immediately. On offense they lose three starting linemen along with the TE, WR's, RB, HB, and QB. As bad as they were on offense maybe starting over is a better idea.

On defense they lose DE Dexter Davis, LB Travis Goethel, LB Mike Nixon, and 3/4's of the secondary. The defense was the only spark the Devils had last year so this is a major area of concern.

Erickson starts 2010 on the hot seat for the first time as a college coach. He really needs to hit the JV trail this off season to have a chance to get this team near .500 in 2010. I don't think he can get it done in the time he probably has left. Breaking in a new QB won't help matters.

10. Washington State - 8 - Offense - Defense 9

On offense the Cougars lose QB Kevin Lopina, RB Dwight Tardy, C Kenny Alfred, and TE Tony Thompson. On defense they lose LB Andy Mattingly and Safety Xavier Hicks.

The good news is that everyone who matters is coming back. The bad news is that really nobody on this roster matters at this point. WSU needs a massive influx of talent to climb out the basement. Wulff needs to put together a remarkable recruiting class this off season or he isn't going to make it out of Pullman alive next season.

112th Big Game Report Card

TwistNHook — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:00:12 -0000

Position	QB	RB	Rec.	Run B	Pass P	Run D	Pass R	Pass D	ST	Coach	Overall
Score	3.457	4.086	3.076	3.733	3.429	3.286	3.010	3.419	1.943	3.657	3.914
Grade	B+	A	B	A-	B+	B+	B	B+	C	A-	A

Often times, people tell us that the CGB Community is one of the best online communities they have ever been a part of. I usually scoff at that, assuming that they've never seen a single Rishi comment ever. And maybe they haven't, because reading through these Report Cards after the Big Game, it was inspiring. So many of our commenters provided intelligent comments packed with insight into Cal's performance in the Big Game.

CALumbus Bear and Ohio Bear are just two of the commenters who did NOT do that. No, their comments were mostly infantile with a delightful dash of juvenile. But we did get an inside look at the Cal Ohio Fan Club's Big Game Party this year. It was pretty much like my Big Game experience, except Ohio Bear didn't run through my house. Check out the comments and read some of the great ones after the fold. There were tons more, thanks to all our readers for submitting, but there's only so many we can include in the post. GO BEARS!

Calumbus Bear - Woke up thinking stanfurd was just gonna kill us, nervous nervous nervous
Did some work, watched some football, raked leaves, still nervous
Hung the Cal flag, decorated the living room for Big Game, made brownies in the shape of a bear, still nervous
Ohio Bear came over, we watched the first quarter, felt like throwing up, nervous we were gonna lose by 50
We took the lead and started playing well, but couldn't put it away, now I'm REALLY nervous wondering how we would blow it
We take a knee, get a 6 point lead and give furd the ball on the 42, which makes me nervous AND pissed
Toby makes it to the 13 and I'm about to commit nervous suicide
BUT THEN THE PROPHET INTERCEPTS AND WE ALL JUMP UP AND SCREAM, AND I BEARHUG MRS. CALUMBUS BEAR AND OHIO BEAR RUNS THROUGH MY ENTIRE HOUSE SCREAMING HIS HEAD OFF, and I'm not nervous any more.
We then popped open a bottle of good Napa wine that was in an etched Cal bottle that says "Go Bears" -- we were saving it for a great victory, and this surely qualified.
We finished that bottle while watching the end of the OU/AZ game, and then we watched the Cal game again on the DVR. The wine was excellent, had notes of Cal victory, crushed cardinal, and a lingering axe finish.

OhioBear - The annual Big Game gathering hosted by CALumbus Bear and Mrs. CALumbus Bear. It did not disappoint. There was an assortment of fine beers and Mrs. CALumbus Bear stepped it up with delicious (and large) Golden Bear shaped brownies. (I did not ask if they were Tim Lincecum special brownies.) The brownies were so tremendous, I didn't feel right eating them during the game. That would've been bad karma, no? So I waited until after the game, in hopes that the brownie would be part of revelry. And it was. As was a special bottle of wine that my gracious hosts opened after the game to celebrate victory.

Golden Rationality Award (to the most level-headed Bear!)

Commenter/alias name	Standard Deviation
OaklandishBear	0.5954
ajay	0.6916
Kodiak	0.7164
sec119	0.7780
Ohio Bear	0.9655

Old Blue Award (to the most dour grizzlies!)

Commenter/alias name	Average score (out of 4)
yorzepol	2.788
iVinshe	2.879
Manwich	2.939
AERose	3.030
KikiRevenge	3.061

Golden Sunglasses Award (happy as can be!)

Commenter/alias name	Average score (out of 4)
LeonPowe	4.091
rollonubears	4
Oaktown123	4
calx	3.909
VandyImport	3.727

Gameday

IMG_0206 (via Monica's Dad)

CaliforniaPete - As I've already posted (twice!), my key decision to break out the Golden Bears (cocktails, that is) early proved pivotal in this one. Down 14-0, and getting home late from my younger son's soccer game--he scored a freakin' awesome goal by the way--I went to the liquor cabinet and started mixing for the wife and me. If you don't know this classic, the Golden Bear from Henry's features equal parts 151, SoCo, OJ, Amaretto, and 7UP. But since I've heard the 7UP can also be substituted for champagne, I figured the dry vanilla, orange-blossom mead I made this spring might be a good choice, too. Bears like honey, right?

Anyway, during the time it took for us to finish the first round--we're slow drinkers--Cal had roared back to take a 17-14 lead. To keep the momentum going, I had to quickly mix up a second batch before the Furd climbed back into the lead, and I managed to hold on to my last sip until the clock read 0:00. I almost drank it down after the Prophet's interception, but I've seen too much in this rivalry, so I wanted to wait until it was truly official.

Needless to say, my wife and I are now well into our third round as I'm typing this.

Troatie - For a while being the downtrodden Cal fans that we are, we started cheering for the 'Furd for good luck. You know, like saying "Break a Leg." We did this through most of the third quarter. It was working. Then we said screw it. Go Bears!!! Several of us lost our voices. Awesome.

AERose - Watched with my mom, the Old Blue who gave up on football when she was a student back in the late 60s but found herself back on the bandwagon around 2005 and brought me with her. Best game either of us has ever seen, and it isn't even close. Also I went out for tacos from the carniceria near our house at halftime, and the adobada absolutely did not disappoint.

JKK - The Greatest Big Game I have ever watched. by far.
I had bet all my money on Cal victory and I was rewarded.

Berkelium97 - I haven't felt this sense of euphoria since Oregon 2007. What a win! I call this season a success!

LeonPowe - 4 Cal alums, 3 laptops, a handful of phones and blackberries. Two other Cal alums stuck in church with their families begging for updates. One Cal alum on a business trip to Chengdu, also needing updates. A stack of muffins and Starbucks. 8.30am Sunday morning in Shanghai - and man it has made the day sooo good.

VandyImport - Sick. Wife unwell. Still bussed up to the stadium, consumed some booze at WIT & RAC'S (Where The Elite Meet To Eat And Greet Stanfurd's Defeat, Since 1989, Accept No Substitutes). Then home, meds, more meds, crouch around laptop, do deals with God, hope neighbors don't think somebody's being beaten (there was yelling), keep drinking for luck (bourbon + naprosyn is fine, right?), win win win WIN.

SwampHunter - Saw Cal beat up the team that had beaten the other teams that kicked our asses. What else is more awesome than that?

Well, if you want more, I guess being able to walk on The Furd's grassy knoll in their shoebox of a stadium was awesome too. Great Cal crowd presence as well. Very loud, much better than what Furd's fans provided.

Also booed the crap out of Tiger. Never thought I'd be doing that.

ajay - Nothing special, drove up there, saw the pretty place, which my roommate noted looked like a weaker westwood. Got free parking, got into the stadium, found the student section PACKED. Just the way I like it.

JrBear - Watched with friends on TV. Cheers from the neighboring apartments as The Profit made his final interception!

SoCalOski - You want to hear my gameday experience? I'm in Santa Monica. I was hosting the Big Game viewing. The Big Game was shown on Versus. I have DirecTV. DirecTV doesn't carry Versus. The only place within 5 miles of me that had Versus was Busby's, and for reasons too long and (quite honestly, stupid) to go into here, we weren't going to Versus.

This was a problem.

The solution? Find some website streaming the game. Connect my PC to my TV via the HDMI cable. Watch a pixelated stream of the Big Game, magnified from a 640 x 480 video onto a 60" HDTV, while listening to Joe Starkey make the call.

Oh, the sound and picture didn't sync -- there was like a 15 second delay.

It was like we were watching the game from the outer steppes of Uzbekistan.

But there was beer, carne asada, beer, tamales, beer, some Mayan Insanity Salsa (the hottest stuff I've ever had), beer, and more beer. And a pack of wild Old Blues, a couple of Ucla folks who deep-down regret their choice of school, and one hell of a Big Game.

My Gameday Experience was great.

KikiRevenge - My girlfriend hates football but I convinced her to watch the game with me cuz it was Big Game. We streamed it online and we started watching just as Cal got in the red zone being down 14-0. We started drinking (beer for me, red wine for her) and I told her that we would likely stop watching at half as Cal was looking like they would get blown out. Then they scored the TD at half. And kept scoring. And we kept drinking. By the time the game was over, the six pack of Stella Artois was gone as was the bottle of wine and we had moved on to the Grey Goose. I was teaching her all the Cal yells. Just as Cal was lining up for the last FG, Justintv FAILED and we had to follow the rest of the action via the 4th Qtr comments on CGB. When I saw the MOHAMED INT! come up, we let out a loud cheer and started dancing around the apt. And drank some more. Feel like ass today, but was SO worth it!

ososdeoro - A more beautiful day has never existed.

yorzepol - This was a very frustrating game to try to watch. It turns out for the second week in a row that Direct TV kept me from watching the game at a sports bar (really? A sports bar isn't carrying a game!?!) Anywho, I had a friend who invited me over to his house because he was having a party and he happens to get Vs (sweet!) The only down side is that he doesn't show up until the second quarter because he was at a wine tasting (like who goes wine tasting when there's The Big Game to watch!) Thankfully I found the game on AM and kept up with it until he showed. I have to say I understand the frustration with Starkey, it was hard to get a feel for the game from him. At last I was watching the game and even if it was with only one other Cal Alum out of 20 people I got to see the game. Oh yeah and WE WON THE FREAKING AXE! So in the end all was good with life.

iVinshe - Raced from the bonfire rally to BART>>>Caltrain>>>shuttle Friday night. Woke up early Saturday; went to a cubing tourney; left early. Got there 1.5 hours beforehand. Predicted everyone would get lost on the way back to their cars in the dark. Admired how small their stadium was. Sightlines kind of sucked from the student section. I liked how the fact that it was an away game meant that the usual "fans" clogging up Memorial, texting their friends, complaining about how everyone is standing, being spoiled brats in general, etc. were kept away. What was left was LOUD. I honestly think that the Cal crowd at Stanford was as loud as Memorial all of this year except for USC first series and Arizona last quarter.

Rushing the field was awesome. Major demerits to RallyCom for attempting to stop us. Supposedly their not allowed to rush the field, but when I came back a few minutes later they were on the field anyways. So much for that excuse. Nobody could find the axe, though I respect their decision to hide it. A mob could've formed if someone had raised it up into the air or something.

jpeng - on the other side of the earth, woke up with a hangover, couldn't make it to the local expat bar to watch the game at 8am so watched a stream while bed ridden. but damn did i feel 100% better after we won....

BTown85 - Flew to San Diego to stay with in-laws. Pre-game watched Notre Dame lose (which is ALWAYS a good start to football Saturday). Settled into Big Game with a beer. Down 14-0, another beer. Scared mother-in-law with 4th quarter cheering. Did the best ever alligator chop at the TV screen when Harbaugh went across the field to ask Tedford what his deal was. Then visited CGB to REVEL in victory.

OaklandishBear - Layered up for the anticipated cold.
Picked up 1988goldenbear who flew up from LA for the game.
Dreaded the prospect of facing Gerhart and hoped that the Bears who played Arizona showed up, rather than the Bears who played OSU.
Cursed DirecTV for not carrying Versus and preventing me from recording the game.
Shot of rum after parking to steel the nerves for the night ahead.
Thought about leaving 10 minutes after the game started.
Got really pumped that we got to within 14-10 at the halftime.
LOVED THE THIRD QUARTER! OMG the best we have played the past two years.
Cursed Ludwig/Tedford for not giving the ball to Vereen/Holley/any RB instead of Riley's off-tackle sneak on 3rd and short.
Cursed Ludwig/Tedford for not giving the ball to Vereen to pick up a first down on last drive.
Cursed Tedford for not kicking deeper on ensuing kick-off.
Cursed everyone during the last StanfUrd drive.
Head exploded when Mohamed saved the game.
Ran on the field.
Drove home happy.
Played poker with the boys until 0130, still cursing DirecTV because I couldn't re-watch the game.

IMG_9968 (via Monica's Dad)

First And Ten - The numbers were fairly pedestrian, but I would say this is one of Kevin's best games. The decision making was generally very good and his numbers would have been better absent a few drops and the badly miss played deep ball (I can't remember the receiver). He missed a few open receivers but he generally was accurate and made big plays when they were needed. His running was fairly effective (though he seemed overly reliant on it early). For the most part the accuracy was pretty good on the intermediate routes, though he overthrew a couple deep balls, and under threw one. The interception was not a good pass but the pick was not his fault. The missed td pass early was actually one his better throws of the day.

Overall this was the Kevin Riley many of us (including myself) thought was going to be the QB this year. The numbers were not spectaculer but if Kevin plays like this for the next two games I will be very happy and optimistic heading into next season.

AERose - It's undeniable that his poor play helped put the team in a 14 point hole at the beginning of the game, but when he got out of the "fuck it, I'm going deep" mindset and just started looking for the open man he came through for the team. I don't know if he'll ever be great, but tonight he was good enough.

VandyImport - A steady hand at the controls, nothing TOO cringe-inducing...the fact that Riley has reached a comfort level with Miller and Lageman is promising in the extreme. He stepped up and answered the bell, and I feel a lot better about next year...

ajay - Finally, finally, in my last game as a Cal student of any sorts, Riley plays exactly how I want him to: smart. Didn't try to force too much, took what the defense gave him, and for the most part, delivered catchable balls (except for the first pass of the game, which would have been to a wide open, streaking Marvin Jones).

Made some smart plays, scampered when necessary, and successfully (along w/ other factors) convinced me he wasn't going to throw a pick when we needed a play. Somehow.

Oh, yeah, and got us a win.

CalX - Riley was just below 55% on completions (17/31), which is much lower than ideal. But there weren't any backbreaking mistakes that I could remember. Running through his throws:

-First two drives, one incompletion, a handful of scrambles, two three-and-outs.
-Drive #3, 10 plays, 70 yards, Cal FG: This was almost all Riley. Vereen had 1 long run for 15 yards. 2 completions for 18 and 13 yds, and a 9 yd scramble. Incomplete on 3rd and goal at the 4 ended the drive.
-Drive #4, 13 plays, 62 yds, INT: his worst drive by far. 4 incompletions and the INT.
-Drive #5, 14 plays, 85 yds, TD: 4/7 for 40 yds, but none of the incompletes hurt the drive. This is where he and the offense pulled it together and took control of the game. Riley followed his first incompletion with a 9 yard pass to make it 3rd and 1. His second came on 2nd and 2, and he made up for it next play with a 5 yd scramble for first down. His last incompletion came on 1st and 10, and was followed by passes for 8 and 16 yds to Lagemann. This drive effectively ended the half, lasted 5:48, and swung momentum to Cal.

-Drive #6, 11 plays, 92 yds, TD: 5/6 for 71 yds! Only miss was 2nd and 7, followed by a pair of 12 yd completions. (5:05 ToP)
-Drive #7, 10 plays, 72 yds, TD: 1/1 for 10 yds. This drive was all Vereen. But the one completion was on 3rd and 4, preventing a 3 and out and keeping the drive alive. (5:02 ToP)
-Drive #8, 6 plays, 72 yds, TD: 3/3 for 47 yds. (1:58 ToP)
-Nothing of real consequence after that (a very meh 4th Q). Mostly grind-out-the-clock runs with Vereen, with a few throws sprinkled in.

So drives #6, 7 and 8 effectively consumed the entire 3rd quarter (about 12 minutes), allowed our defense a huge stretch of rest (drive #5 through halftime through all but 3 minutes of 3Q), probably exhausted the Stanfurd defense, and most importantly, resulted in 21 points. On those 3 drives, Riley went 9/10 for 128 yards. Of his 9 completions, EIGHT of them were for first downs. The ninth was the TD pass to Marvin Jones. I'm scrolling up and bumping his grade up a notch.

IMG_9826 (via Monica's Dad)

First And Ten - What can you say? Overall a fantastic game that should convince any doubters that Shane is the next great Cal running back (boy what a series of backs its been). I guess the only thing Shane did not do was reel off any huge runs, but he was a great workhorse.

The only real quibble I can have with the performance was the struggle of the wildbear. If we want to keep running that we really need some more wrinkles to it because defenses are just sitting on it. This is the only thing that keeps this from an A+, but great game.

AERose - I'm not sure there are even words.

JKK - Vereeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen!!!
42 carries? wow. I hope he can walk.
Hes got plenty of time to recover with a bye week.
He fought for 3 yards constantly.
Not a 80yard TD like Jahvid, but Shane can move the chains. and kill time off clock.

Berkelium97 - SHANE TRANE! Shane Vereen is incredible. I love Best and think he's one of the finest people ever to wear a Cal uniform, but I truly think Vereen is a better feature back. He can make something out of nothing and he did that several times today. He doesn't have the same top-end speed (he's close, though!), but he is surprisingly elusive. Even more impressive is that he could still walk after carrying the ball 42 times. He's a trooper. He earns hard hat of the year for his performance tonight.

SwampHunter - IT'S TRUE. IT'S TRUE. IT'S DAMN TRUE.
VEREEN HAS A BEAST MODE AFTER ALL.

Seriously though, 42 carries, 192 yards and three TDs? Vereen is ready to be a star.

Our second stringers Sofele and DeBoskie did really well too. Hope Sofele is alright. I saw him get injured sometime in the second half.

ajay - What a day Mr. Vereen. Provided a glimpse of what we're going to be seeing all of next year, which is power running with that nice elusiveness and drive for the extra yardage. Has that speed and vision to break a big play, and was the work horse today. Held onto that ball like it was his baby, and was an overall play-maker. Not much you can ask for from your No. 1 back no the day.

As for Debo, I liked what I saw. Provides enough talent to keep defenses honest when he is in the game, and didn't make mistakes, which was the main thing. When Vereen is out, get your yards, hold onto that ball, and get Vereen some rest. His time will eventually come.

SoCalOski - I'm convinced that somewhere deep in LSB (or the annex), some pointy headed PhD has created a reagent that imbues superhuman power, enhances reflexes, allows for greater preception, and makes time seem to run slower. This mad scientist gave this elixir to Tedford who had Vereen drink it down. Because he was a freaking Marvel Comics superhero on the field.

Calumbus Bear - IF YOU DONT GIVE VEREEN AN A+ YOU HAVE AT LEAST ONE DEGREE FROM STANFURD AND YOU LOVE TO CLUB SEALS TO DEATH (yes, I know that is redundant)

IMG_9961 (via Monica's Dad)

Troatie - Lots of dropped passes. They weren't always great passes, but passes that should have been caught. Esp. in the first half they needed to catch with their hands not their bodies. Miller was great. So was Lagemann.

AERose - Dropped some balls early, couldn't shake coverage at other times (partially because of Riley being late, see the skinny post to Tucker), got into a groove and started setting up shop beyond the chains and moving the ball.

JrBear - They are saved from a C grade for their inspiring second half play. There is very little adjustment by the receivers to where the ball is thrown, and I see many of them following a route very strictly like some virtual player in Madden. Miller's return was very welcome. Lagemann should see more balls, Calvin....maybe not so much

SoCalOski - Horrible. It's almost as if the receivers believe that the ball has nasty, sharp teeth and is trying to bite them. And that one long pass in the 4th to (I think) Tucker, where the ball fell about two feet in front of him, almost had me in the hospital. All it would have taken was for him to stretch out his arms and that is a catch and a 30 yard pickup.

That poor effort and the dropped pass after the curl (I think in the 3rd) has me believing that maybe he is a Furd double-agent.

KikiRevenge - Mostly meh. Was disturbing to see the dropsies return after a nice effort versus AZ. I was particularly shocked to see Jones drop one in the end zone. Wasn't an easy catch by any means, but he usually comes up with that. Calvin was horrible. Hope he can bounce back next year. We will need him. But the receivers did come through when it absolutely mattered. Tucker and Miller each had huge catches to keep drives alive, move the chains and keep Furd's offense off the field.

sycasey - The Jones/Lagemann/Miller show rolls on. These guys have a knack for getting open and getting their hands on the ball; the receiving corps looks good for next year with these guys coming back. Tucker had some big catches too. Too many drops by the other guys, though.

Run Blocking

IMG_9856 (via Monica's Dad)

First And Ten - Other than some struggles out of the Wildbear, this was the best run blocking effort of the season. Early i thought they struggled a bit, but they really turned it on in the second quarter and were fairly dominant up front. Very well done.

AERose - WE TOOK THEIR LUNCH MONEY.

Berkelium97- Holes, glorious holes! Vereen usually had some room to run, and even if he didn't he managed to find something to squeeze through. They won the battle in the trenches today, and helped give us a dominant 39:21 time of possession. We also ran about 30 more plays than they did. Great job!

ajay - No way our RB's do what they did w/o a great run block in front of them. I'm not the best at this type of analysis, but there always seemed to be a nice hole opening up for Vereen when he got a carry, and that has to be due to the run blocking.

SoCalOski - The line did an outstanding job of giving Vereen the opportunity to gain yardage. But I honestly think that Best doesn't do as well as Shane on this night with this blocking. The line tended not to open giant holes, but to make cracks. And Vereen is good enough, quick enough, and strong enough to take a crack and turn it into anything from a 4 to 7 yard gain.

KikiRevenge - Best effort of the year. It made me sad to think what we would have been able to do if they blocked this well the whole season with a healthy Best in the lineup. Sigh. But I will definitely take their greatest game of the season to beat the crap out of the Cardinal. Not perfect as there were some runs stuffed for a loss or tackles that Vereen just ran out of for positive yardage. But an overall great game for the much maligned unit.

ososdeoro - Run blocking was really very good. It always seemed that Vereen ran for two more yards than it looked like. Some of that is Vereen, but a lot of it is the OL as well. The long TD drives were sustained by the run blocking, which had Furdie defenders gasping for air and pretending to be injured.

CalX - They should be graded a hair below Vereen. On almost all of the negative plays, Vereen had multiple defenders in the backfield. There would have been even more were it not for Vereen's elusiveness and Stanfurd's shitty tackling.

But on the plus side, we had 242 rushing yards.

But on the minus side, we didn't control the 4th quarter like we owned the 3rd, which was disappointing. I was sure that our o-line would maul their exhausted D in the 4th after keeping them on the field for 12 punishing minutes in the 3rd. That never happened, which resulted in several short drives and a too-exciting finish.

The line looked great at times, and awful at times. Consistency would be nice (consistently awesome please, and not consistently awful).

Pass Protection

IMG_9685 (via Monica's Dad)

rurata - Got beaten a few times, but most of the time KR had time to throw for the first time in a few weeks.

First And Ten - Kind of the opposite for the run blocking for me in that i thought they were stronger early in the game and struggled a little in the second quarter. But they played pretty well in the second half. Not quite as strong as the run blocking but still pretty good

SwampHunter - We... did a good job on this this week? MADNESS. UNADULTERATED MADNESS.

The o-line actually did a good job protecting Riley, and Riley was able to throw a damn good game.

CalX - It looked like Riley had enough time to scan the field on almost every pass attempt. He scrambled 9 times, but a lot of them looked like good pass coverage, and not poor pass protection. It looked like a vast improvement over some of our other games this year, when defenders were racing the football to get to Riley, and came close to winning a few times.

Run Defense

Troatie - They let 4 rushing touchdowns go. That said, I was expecting more our of Gerhart for some reason. Looking at the numbers, he had an awesome game. But I feel like Cal slowed him somewhat. Maybe I'm delusional from the win.

pyunny - Terrific, besides a few HUGE plays given up. Either way the defense really stepped it up for us today keeping Gerhart contained probably breaking furd fans' harts along the way

JKK - We stopped Toby. Yeah, he ran 130 yards, but other than 61yd TD to open the game and another one that Cattouse saved a TD on, we stopped him to 3yd or less each play.

Berkelium97 - You wouldn't tell by looking at the stats, but I think they did a great job. After giving up the long run in the first quarter, they shut down Toby pretty well (he had something like 30 yards in the rest of the half). Most importantly, they were so good at containing Toby that Luck was forced to lead the offense (Gerhart only had 20 carries!). That didn't work out so well for Luck. Linebackers did a great job of swarming on Gerhart to bring him down close to the LOS. He plowed his way through a few times, but he was often too overwhelmed to drag defenders for a few more yards. Luck, Stanford's second-leading rusher, was also held in check.

ajay - We did one of two things here: either give up long running plays, or stuff the run. Only a few times were they ever able to gain 5 or 6 yards at a time, and they could never consistently do so.

I was worried about our tackling, especially on a big and strong Gerhart, but we were up to the task and gang tackled him whenever he decided to run, which was all I could have expected.

CalX - meh. Gerhart's 136 yds was about on par with what he's done against other Pac-10 teams. We didn't "shut him down" like OSU did, if you consider 96 yards on 20 carries (4.8 average) for 2 TDs to be shutting down. But we also didn't get gashed like Wash, Oregon and USC. Yes, he had some frighteningly unstoppable runs (2 of them?), but those were by far the exception.

96 yd vs OSU

121 yd vs WSU
123 yd vs Arizona
125 yd vs ASU
134 yd vs UCLA
136 yd vs Cal <-------

178 yd vs USC
200 yd vs Washington
223 yd vs Oregon

yorzepol - You can not stop The Great White Hope so all things considered, they did OK. There was no way that we were going to keep Stanfurd out of the end zone when we kept giving them such great field position. Except for one play, they did a decent job of containing Gerhart.

grouchyBear - Geihart will be an NFL star and he had his moments, but Run defense made it hard enough and not quite reliable enough that Harbough went to the pass on the 13 yard line. That is all you need from the Run defense, the rest is on the secondary.

Pass Rush

IMG_9935 (via Monica's Dad)

Manwich - I was loving it in the beginning. Rushing 4 or 5, constantly pressuring Luck. Then the 4th quarter came along. We started getting conservative and sitting on our laurels and only rushed 3. No pressure, and that's where the grade drops. Keep the foot on the pedal ... although this is more a reflection of the coaching decisions.

Troatie - Got a a little jitters out of Luck. There were times where the pressure was enough that he made rushed throws. The interceptions at the end of the game was a bad throw. Maybe a rushed throw?

VandyImport - I didn't expect much - let's face it, the Cardinal's weapon isn't any running back or QB, it's that wall of beef up front that makes both possible. But they were getting pressure without having to send the house, so...gentleman's B.

SoCalOski - By the middle of the 2nd quarter I began to think that Gregory's plan was not to try and put too much pressure on Luck, but to take away his options. The pass rush never came close to threatening a sack, though it did manage to get close enough to cause Luck's dainty Furdie instincts to become alert to the fact that he might get hit. That caused a few rushed throws and prevented him from going completely through the progression, settling for the lesser options.

CalX - Didn't seem to really turn it on till the 4th quarter (that sounds familiar). But the rush looked instrumental in the last 2 drives, which effectively sealed the game. Before that, they managed to make Luck scramble on a lot of passes, but never really got his uniform dirty.

Pass Defense

JKK - We gave up some easy passes, but we had a good coverage. Luck struggled to find open receivers. I saw Hagan play more today. Didnt see Ezeff again.
Why isnt Conte seeing action other than on special teams?

Berkelium97 - Excellent. Nnabufie is developing into a fine corner. The DBs have been having great coverage of the receivers in the past couple games. Even tight ends are getting covered! The pass rush was helping, however.

SwampHunter - Luck passing 10/30 with a pick? A completion rate of only 33%?
That's what I want to see every week, Bears! Great job shutting him down.

ajay - No passing touchdowns, only a few big plays, but other than that, shut down Luck.

The only other concern was that Luck turned into Riley in that he had a few open receivers, but, to our good luck, just overthrew them. That means that we missed coverage, so we gotta work on that, but I can't possibly nit-pick anymore no a day where we made their star QB look like a fool.

Bobbled a few pick's that we should have had, a few potential game changers, but at the end of the day, that pick at the end was beautiful, and we got it done when it counted.

SoCalOski - The secondary was pretty good, despite a couple of meltdowns early and late. Syd was a beast, Cattouse had a couple of good hits, and the rest of them each had at least one or two plays where they broke up passes on good efforts. Pressure on the receivers caused disruptions in timing, and frustrated the Furd's air attack. But the last two Furd drives were regressions into the pass D we saw against the Ducks and the Beavs.

Special Teams

IMG_9763 (via Monica's Dad)

Troatie - I hate the squib kick. I mean I guess we're playing to our strength there, but my god. Stanford's average starting position must have been 10 or 15 yards better than Cal's. I mean I know our coverage stinks, and Owusu is a great returner, but come on.

First And Ten - The Good --> the field goals went in. Anger is Anger. No major mistakes in the return game.

The Bad --> Kickoffs were terrible. I get we did not want to give up a big return but it was just terrible to let them have the ball at the 40 over and over again. Seriously if we are going to do that we should just onside kick everytime and hope to get the ball back. Anger got blocked. The pressure got there really fast, so i think most of the blame has got to go to the protection.

without a doubt special teams has really hurt this Bears team and we need to improve for next year.

VandyImport - Punting was not outstanding but not disastrous. The erratic kickoff schemes more or less took their return guy out of being a threat. Placekicking was serviceable. I'd sure like to see better tackling on returns, but what the hell, I'm drunk. Gentleman's B.

SwampHunter - ALAMAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
/not s

One of our punts got blocked and (from what I can tell) an average starting position around the 40-50 for Stanfurd? At least we kept it away from Owusu most of the time.

JrBear - Alamar and Weis appear to weigh about the same, and both should accordingly be chucked out to lift up their respective programs. Although I have no problem with the domers wallowing in mediocrity.

SoCalOski - I'm really pleased with the way Forza Azzurri has developed into a solid PAT/FG team. And I think Ludwig's choice of keeping the ball out of Owusu's hands on kickoffs was probably smart. But any time the other guys consistently start play on their 35 or 40, special teams is bad.

On the other side, it seems that our guys fair catch every stinking punt. Either every punter we face has hall-of-fame efforts against us, or our punt teams don't know how to block the other guys. Or the returner (Syd mainly, though my picture was so bad I just saw a white blur) is a fraidy cat.

Calumbus Bear - Anger = mediocre
Blocked punt = epic phail
Pac-10 Special Teams Player of the Week Salami not kicking field goals = WTF?
KO coverage = sheh-tay
Keeping Owusu from making big plays: he ran it back to our 27 once (with penalty help), but we did keep him from housing it
D'Amato = didn't F up on critical FGs
ALAMAAAARRRR!!!!!11 = special teams was the worst aspect of our game, yet again

CalX - I literally covered my eyes by the 3rd kickoff. I think my mouth was hanging open too at just how awful the kickoffs were. There's what, 30,000 students on campus? That's like a small city. There isn't a single person who can put it in or near the endzone?

3 Anger punts. Stanfurd punt returns: 0 attempts for 0 yards.
2/2 on FG = woo. The second one made it a 6 point game, which forced Stanfurd to try for a TD, which led to the game-ending interception. No FG, and Stanfurd probably runs Gerhart non-stop on that last drive with the option of a tying FG. In my mind, Gerhart was a better bet to make a play than Luck. Which is to say, D'Amato's second FG was one of a half dozen plays that won the game.

yorzepol - ALAMMAAAAAAARRRRRRR!

Special teams almost cost us the game. All their touchdowns save one were due to great field position. The saving grace is that Owusu did not run it back for a touchdown. So I guess that's something. But having to squib it every time to prevent that was a little embarrassing.

Coaching

IMG_9868 (via Monica's Dad)

CaliforniaPete - Kudos. Kudos. Kudos. Ludwig had his best game of the season, and Gregory's boys did something that USC and Oregon could not. You guys laid some eggs earlier this season, but this one was a masterpiece.

rurata - I didn't really agree with the conservative call to center the ball on the last scoring drive, but we won, so who am I to question it?
Alamar must REAAAAALLLLLY rock as the TE coach for them to continue keeping him. Also we must be really cash-strapped to not be able to just hire a ST coach.
I think today's OL performance merits giving Marshall another year with the OL, but if they play the same next year, we might need to find a new coach.

Manwich - I liked the gameplan up to the beginning of the 4th quarter. We were aggressive, attacking them time and time again. You could see Riley getting comfortable as we passed on all 3 downs. Vereen was able to capitalize and eat up yardage on the ground.

Then we sat back and almost let Stanford win it. Wildbear/Bearcat 3 plays? Rushing 3 and dropping back and daring Luck with no pressure to make the throws? Come on guys, it didn't work for USC what makes you think Cal is so special? No, you attack and keep attacking.

Coaching in the 4th was the biggest WTF moment for me.

Troatie - The team looked really well prepped. 2nd half adjustments looked great. I'm really not diggin the Wildcat/Crazytown/Whatever formation. Vereen is not a great thrower, and Stanford knew it was a run and how to defend it, every time.

First And Ten - The team came in with a very good game plan. It was balanced and effective. Gregory's defense brought it today and slowed one of the top offenses in the conference. The offensive play calling was the best its been all season. Also i am thrilled to see the performance of Coach Marshalls line today. Great job Coaches for winning the Big Game and getting the team to bring it today.

Okay now a few complaints. My first complaint: The special teams is a disaster. We gave up field position on every kickoff and got a punt blocked. We are lucky that did not cost us the game. Whatever we are doing to get ready for special teams needs to be improved.

My second complaint: the Kevin Riley kneel before the last field goal. Accepting that Tedford wants to be conservative there I still do not get the play call. Sure you want to center the ball but why not just hand it to Shane up the middle on the off chance he manages a huge play. The only downside risk is a fumble which is both unlikely and honestly not that bad a result. A fumble gives stanford the ball with relatively little time left needing to drive the length of the field for either a game tying field goal (with a somewhat shaky kicker) or game winning TD. A kneel gives you a chance at a field goal to go up 6 knowing you have to kickoff to stanford with the accompanying risk of a big play and absolute knowledge they will have good field position. Of course you want the field goal (at least) but why not give yourself even a chance at a game clinching touchdown.

Anyway I am just happy it all worked out for the best

AERose - I was on the "fire Marshall" bandwagon, now I'm off. Sorry dude! I guess you just needed time. I wish it hadn't taken so long, but we have a winning season, a solid ranking, a bowl berth and the Axe. Let's see what you can do next year.

I was never on the fire Gregory tip, and I'm glad he's given us all reason not to be.

Alamar needs to go, but what's new.

Tedford will lead us to the promised land. Only a matter of time.

Berkelium97 - Great play calling throughout most of the game. One nitpick though: the wildcat was getting predictable and Stanford was not respecting the Sofele flysweep out of the formation. They really should mix it up with a pass or a handoff to Sofele out of the wildcat.
Defense was great. After giving up the long Gerhart TD, Gregory did a good job of making sure guys were in position to take him down if he broke through the first line.
Alamar was ALAMAAAAARR

SwampHunter - FIRE EVERYBODY! FIRE TWIST, ROY, HYDRO, AVI, YOUR MOM, MY MOM, AAAAUGH!
/totally s

Outside of Alamar, everyone did a good job shutting down the Furd where it needed to be shut down. I do have a nitpick with the field goal on our last drive. Why not punch it in for a TD?

I think it was an act of showboating.

Ludwig was willing to put the game on Gregory's shoulders, pointing out at 'Furd and going "Haha! We're gonna kick in for a field goal and watch as your offense tries to score for the last three minutes!" The problem is, is that 'Furd's offense only works with big break-open plays which is what happened on the final drive. Sure, when they're going at a slow pace they can have a hard time getting something going, but when they give it to Gerhart and Gerhart is moving WITH A PURPOSE, there's gonna be trouble. And there was. Until Mohamed saved the game.

SoCalOski - All Hail the great Tedford. He and his staff had an outstanding plan, and it worked. Though, to pick nits (and I must) -

Gregory: I guess this is what BBDB is supposed to do, and it worked. But we gave up 28 points, and the last two Furd drives were seemingly effortless. Yes, I know it was by design, but it is a dangerous way to play a game. I think our D held in spite of the plan, because of outstanding effort, and that the plan didn't actually put our guys in a position to win. If that makes sense at all. In other words, barring such huge effort from the players, this defensive plan has the Furd hanging 50 on us, too.

Ludwig: You know, I get why (theoretically, anyway) you want your QB to throw some deep passes. But not why Ludwig insisted on so many potentially drive-killing ones. Riley is most effective on the 10 - 15 yard throws over the middle or curls. And the rationale behind the long ball doesn't work when the opposing team doesn't respect you enough to actually believe it will work! The long passes did nothing to soften the Furd D -- they were just play wasters.

Alamar: This guy was like GW Bush after Katrina - in pure damage minimization mode and hoping that there wouldn't be any more rain.

Rope Guy: I wanted to see more Pete Townshend-like windmilling and less helicoptering from him. Very very disappointing.

KikiRevenge - Great game plan on either side of the ball. Was weird and glorious to see us in long, sustained drives. Some nit-picks: I think we overused the Wildcat, especially in the red zone. We desperately need to pass out of it at least once a game, because everyone knows it's a run. It got stuffed a lot in the red zone. God bless Tedford, but for the love of Bak Bak, please loosen up a little bit! Going for the FG at the end was SO playing not to lose and you just knew Stanford was going to march down the field after yet another shitty KO/coverage. I could maybe see playing that conservatively if the Rose Bowl was on the line. But we aren't going there, are already bowl eligible and IT'S THE BIG GAME!!! Lighten up, Francis, and go for the TD! End of rant.

sec119 - Tedford will catch a lot of flak for playing conservative in the last drive, but looking at the big picture the coaches had an organized gameplan for stopping Gerhart via the gang-tackle, for neutralizing Owusu via squib kicks, and for taking advantage of the Stanford pass defense via all that stuff Hydro will probably cover. Let's not lose the forest for the trees (get it? get it?), a Big Game win over a rising Stanford team going away means the coaches did lots of stuff right.

secret ASian man - Up until the point where Tedford got conservative near the very end. I had no complaints. Doesn't Tedford know he works in one of the most liberal ZIP codes in America. Conservative does not work in Berkeley.

Not running up the score is one thing, but when the lead is just a field goal, you can't go conservative. It's the Big Game, punch the Furd in the mouth and play to win. If the team was up two scores, you have luxury to be classy. There was no such luxury that night.

sycasey - Just to get it out of the way: Tedford's decision to take a knee and center the ball for a field goal was indefensible. There was way too much time left to not at least try to get the first down with a Vereen run. Outside of that, though, the game plan on both offense and defense worked to perfection. Cal controlled the ball on offense, and the defense kept Gerhart from dominating the game and forced Luck to be the deciding factor. His game-ending interception was the culmination of that strategy.

Overall

IMG_9741 (via Monica's Dad)

rurata - WE HAVE THE AXE!!!!!!! WE HAVE THE AXE!!!!!!! WE HAVE THE AXE!!!!!!!
WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

pyunny - Overall a terrific game. I was so proud of our Bears. Our defense really stepped it up this game and our offense was actually clicking giving us those long sustained drives. We took command of the game and put those ingrates in their place =]

First And Ten - Go Bears! This is the team I thought we would have and am glad they finally showed up. For me this season will always be something of a disappointment, but today did a lot to makeup for that. Overall this was the best game for the bears all season. While many will always cheer against Stanford, I have to say the Big Game is just more fun when both teams are good. Ideally this game would decide the Rose Bowl every year for both teams (with Cal winning every game of course).

This game should kill any ghosts of 2007. After the devastating losses to the hated Trojans and the disliked Ducks, this team has proven resilient and gotten better, especially the last two games. The effort is even more impressive given the absence of Mr. Best.

A great game that will deserve its place in Big Game Lore.

JKK - Nothing beats a win over Furd in the Big Game.
And to play a spoiler against ranked opponents two weeks in a row.

Kinda sucks our team finally shows up at the end of the season. I feel like this team can beat USC. If we won at least the OSU game... we would still be in Rose Bowl hunt.

If we finish strong, we can make it to Holiday Bowl. and I can go watch.

Berkelium97 - Vereen was the player of the game, but there was one member of Rally Comm who stole his thunder today: Mr Death Stare (anyone who watched the game knows who I'm talking about). That stare could melt granite. Even Zach Follett would be broken by that stare. Physicists looking for the source of dark flow (the mysterious force that is propelling galaxies towards a common point) need to look no further than that stare--those galaxies are fleeing his gaze.
Also, kudos to all the Cal fans who rushed the field. They were louder than the Stanford house and made it seem like Stanford Stadium was our house tonight. They deserved to trample that field.

VandyImport - WHOSE AXE? WHOSE MOTHER-!-ING AXE????

ajay - What a way to finish a last Big Game. They could not stop us. There was a point where we did not punt for a good stretch of time. On Defense, we got the stops, we made the right plays. On offense, we constructed drives (which hasn't been done much at all this year), we mixed things up, and best of all, we silenced the crowd.

We could smell their fear, and you know what? We frikken capitalized, and that felt damn good.

Top that off w/ a nice rush the field, and a big ol' California suck it in the Stanfurd end zone? What a great Saturday.

JrBear - I LOVE THIS TEAM!
Of course I would have preferred the 2 TD win that we should have had, but seeing harby's face after THE PROFIT's interception is just fine by me!

SoCalOski - Despite all the nits I picked, this was a Big Game win. At the Furd. In front of their (now departing) bandwagon fans. For the Axe. And keeping the Furd out of the Rose Bowl. And likely giving us a better bowl bid. So, even though the average of all the grades I gave might be a "B" the team gets an A+ for shutting up Furdies, ruining their precious season, making Harbaugh choke on his blue-collar hubris, and giving us all a good reason to ask any Furd we see two questions:

1. Hey, Furdie, what's your deal?
2. Who's axe?

KikiRevenge - This game was more than the sum of its parts. Overall, Cal played its best game of the year in its biggest game of the year. But it was more than that. I was sure we were going to lose heading into the game and absolutely certain when it was 14-0. Man, they proved me dead wrong with a resiliency I have rarely seen from a Cal team. We keep the Axe. For me, this more than makes up for the three losses and dashed hopes. A season-saving victory.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

GO BEARS!!!!!

Calumbus Bear - We were supposed to get curbstomped, and in the first quarter we did. stanfurd looked better and was getting the big plays and breaks. BUT THEN OSKI LAID THE PIMPSLAP ON FURD AND WE WHUPPED 'EM BACK AND FORTH ON THE FIELD UNTIL HARBAUGH WAS LEFT WEEPING "WHAT'S OUR DEAL???" AND WE SAID "THERE'S AN AXE IN YOUR FUCKING NECK, THAT'S YOUR FUCKING DEAL" AND THEN WE REVELED IN VICTORY IN THE MIDDLE OF PALO ALTO, AKA BEAR TERRITORY
What a great f-ing Big Game win

CalX - My only concern was the 4th quarter offense, and it wasn't necessarily the play-calling. In the Tedford years, when our running game is humming for 2 or 3 quarters, we tend to own the 4th. The o-line devours an exhausted defense, and our stable of running backs turn 3 yd draw plays into 15 and 20 yd scampers. You can literally see the air go out of a defense as they try to arm tackle and shoelace tackle the 2nd and 3rd string RBs. But not tonight.

Stanfurd doesn't quit? Yeah, neither do most of the teams in the Pac-10. They should've been exhausted after that 3rd quarter, but they managed to step up and punch back. I don't think I'm worried so much as disappointed that the offense didn't have another 10-play, 5-minute drive drive in the 4th.

Still, an excellent win overall. Having graduated in 2002 (and experienced 4 years of the Holmoecaust), the '02 Big Game is still #1 in my book. I flew back and stayed with friends for Thanksgiving just to go to that game. This one's a close second, given the rankings, standings and the satisfaction of denying them any shot at the Rose Bowl.

sycasey - Any Big Game win is great, but to pull off an upset and kill Stanford's dreams of winning the Pac-10 made it even sweeter! Also, for Tedford to prove that he hadn't lost the team despite the consecutive blowout losses early in the season and the scary injury to Jahvid Best two weeks ago might make this his most impressive motivational job ever. To still have a shot at a 10-win season seems nothing short of miraculous after the early debacles. Kudos to the Bears!

Cal vs. Stanfurd, Post-112th Big Game Thoughts

HydroTech — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:23:42 -0000

More photos » by Marcio Jose Sanchez - AP

28 days ago: California players celebrate an interception by Mike Mohammed (18) late in the fourth quarter against Stanford during a NCAA college football game in Stanford, Calif., Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009. California won 34-28. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Browse more photos »

(1) Tedford's decision to center the ball on 3rd and 8 was a conservative decision but not a wrong decision. Let's get something out of the way first. Tedford centered the ball. He didn't take a knee. I see a lot of people, and newspaper writers who seem to think the only point of that play was to not stop the clock and make Stanfurd use their last timeout. If those were the only reasons, then Tedford would have just called a run play. But Tedford centered the ball. Centering the ball places the ball directly between the hash marks to give the kicker a straight-line kick. As we all know, the further you move left or right from directly between the hash marks, the smaller the width of the uprights become due to the angle. Thus, centering the ball is more crucial in college football than the NFL because the hash marks in college football are wider than the NFL. And centering the ball is also more crucial the closer you get to the goalline because the angle of the kick is harsher from the 10 yard line right hash (for example) as opposed to the 30 yard line right hash. In short, Tedford centered the ball. He did not just "take a knee."

This decision to center the ball was clearly a conservative decision. I personally would have run the ball left (because Cal was on the right hash). Running the ball left serves two purposes: (1) it keeps the clock running; and (2) it can potentially center the ball. Of course the runningback might take the ball outside one of the hashes rather than keeping the ball between the hashes and thus the ball is no more centered than it was earlier, but the benefit of actually running the ball is that there is a potential to score a touchdown. By centering the ball, Tedford gave up any chance that Cal might score a touchdown. At the time of that 3rd and 8, Cal was up 31-28 with about 2:45 left on the clock in the 4th quarter. A touchdown would have made the game 38-28 (assuming Cal goes for the PAT and makes it). That would have made the game a two-score game and essentially would have iced the game - or at least made it very difficult for Stanfurd to come back. On the other hand, centering the ball and kicking the field goal merely assured that Stanfurd needed a touchdown to win, as opposed to 10 points to tie or 11 points to win (if Cal had scored a touchdown on the 3rd and 8 with a play).

I suppose it's possible that the team could have executed a run play to the left and told Vereen to directly between the hashes as much as possible. Such a play preserves the chances of getting a touchdown (although those chances are probably reduced because Vereen is restricted to his running space), but it also serves the purpose of centering the ball (although the centering probably won't be as accurate as a QB-centering).

I do believe that centering the ball is more important than most critics of Tedford's decision realize. This should not be confused with saying that centering the ball is extremely important. However, critics of Tedford's decision don't even mention the lowered chances of a successful field goal kick from a far hash at extremely close range. To them, it appears, as if there is no difference between kicking a field goal from the 11 yard line far hash, and from the 11 yard line center. This is where they are wrong. Clearly there is a difference and kicking from a far hash is harder. How much of a difference does it make? It's a small one. Small enough that many coaches will just ignore the diminished percentage, and essentially trade a slightly bigger chance at missing the field goal for a chance at scoring a touchdown by running a play on 3rd down instead of centering the ball. Using numbers, it might sound like this: a kicker has a 95% chance at making a field from the 11 yard line center; a kicker has a 90% chance at making a field goal from the 11 yard line far hash; and the team has a 15% chance at scoring a touchdown on a run play from the 11 yard line. Most coaches will gladly take a 5% less chance at a field goal to keep that 15% chance of scoring a touchdown. Obviously Tedford isn't one of those coaches.

Was Tedford's decision wrong? No. I don't think so. There are two ways to win the game in Cal's situation. You go for a touchdown on third down, and if you get it, you ice the game with a 10 point lead. Or you kick the field goal, go up 6 points, and force the offense to score a touchdown. Both ways are valid ways to win. Of course one is more conservative than the other, or one is more aggressive than the other, but neither way is wrong. What is a wrong decision in football? Had Tedford passed the ball on the 3rd down to get a touchdown, I think that would be a wrong decision. You clearly want to run the ball on the 3rd down to make the offense use its last timeout. Even if Tedford passed the ball and Cal scored a touchdown, I would still criticize the decision as being wrong. Anyways, I don't think Tedford's decision is "wrong" as so many of his critics suggest. Conservative? Sure.

If you want to talk about "wrong" decisions, then let's talk about Stanfurd Head Coach Jim Harbaugh's decision to go for it on 4th and 8 on his own 23 yard line with 3 timeouts remaining. That was wrong. That decision pretty much gave Cal a very good chance at scoring a touchdown that would have put Stanfurd into a 10 point hole, and at the very least it gave Cal an extremely good chance at a field goal which would put Stanfurd into a 6 point hole. The 6 point hole now required that Stanfurd get a touchdown to at least tie the game or win it. On the other hand, if Stanfurd had punted the ball on the 4th down and subsequently forced Cal's offense to punt on Cal's next possession, then Stanfurd would only need a field goal to tie the game. If Stanfurd scored a touchdown, they would have gone up 35-31 which then would have required Cal to get a touchdown to win the game.

Clearly, Tedford's decision to center the ball on 3rd down was conservative, but it was nowhere near as "wrong" as Harbaugh's decision to go for it on 4th and 8 from his own 23. That decision was clearly wrong (no quotes).

Addendum:

Coincidentally, Cal's first field goal of the game, was from the 11 yardline right hash - the very same position that Cal was in during the 4th quarter with just under three minutes remaining. Tedford had no problem kicking the field goal from the far hash then. On their face, these situations seem the same, and people might suggest that Tedford's actions were inconsistent. But the situations were slightly different. The first field goal kick was early in the game and Cal had tons of time left in the game to score again even if the field goal was missed. But the second situation was near the end of the game. Cal needed points and knew that they might not get the ball back this game. Thus, the added risk of a far hash kick may be less acceptable, hence why Tedford centered the ball.

And, of course, CGB did delve even further into these decisions last week, which you can read about here.

(2) Tedford should have gone for it on 4th and less than one yard. Another conservative decision. I personally would have gone for it. It's hard for the defense to prevent the offense from gaining less than a yard. That first down which never occurred could have led to a touchdown drive or perhaps another field goal.

(3) Gregory kept the 3-4 defense on the field on most third downs. When Cal forces opponent offense into 3rd downs, Cal usually brings out its 3-3 defense. However, in Big Game, the first thing I noticed was Gregory keeping the 3-4 defense out on the field for third downs, even third and longs. Why? He clearly wanted greater run support against Stanfurd runningback Tony Gearhart. Cal's pass rushing linebackers, and nickleback are less effective in run support than Cal's bigger 3-4 linebackers. I liked this decision by Gregory. It did concern me though because this decision also allows Stanfurd to put a slot WR against LBs. That is a huge mismatch that Stanfurd tried to exploit, but believe it or not, Cal's linebackers played very well and didn't allow too many easy completions against them.

(4) The wildcat might be better served if it handed the ball off to Sofele on the fly sweep more often. When Cal uses wildcat, the runningback will usually keep the ball. Usually may be an understatement. I think that perhaps 95% of the time, the RB will keep the ball. Stanfurd's defense was clearly not respecting the fly sweep action much during Big Game and was just hitting their interior gaps to stop Vereen. They were pretty successful too, as since Vereen was mostly limited to tough 2-4 yard gains. If Cal handed the ball off about as equally as the RB kept the ball, it would get the defense into more of a read-and-react mode allowing the offensive line to push back the DL with more ease, and freeze outside defenders who are responsible for outside containment of the fly sweep allowing Sofele to gain an advantage. But since Ludwig has the RB keep the ball a very high percentage of the time, the defense is less likely to be read-and-react, and will just play the RB as opposed to the fly sweep.

(5) Cal's offensive line shows up for once! The run blocking clearly wasn't the best we'd ever seen, and perhaps it wasn't even "great" but it was better than we have seen for a couple of months now. I don't know what Marshall did during the week to motivate the guys, but it seemed to work.

(6) Trick plays; the flea flicker. When they work, everyone heaps praise on the coaches. When they don't work, everyone always says something like "that was a wasted play, why'd they get fancy when they didn't need to?" The announcers said pretty much exactly that after Cal tried to run a flea flicker. Cal's intended WR (Boateng?) was open deep too and had beaten the deep defender. That could have been a touchdown if Riley had space to step up into the pocket. But instead, Cal's LG (Summers-Gavin) got beat very badly on the play. The LG lost his individual battle and his defender was the one who pressured Riley to scramble and throw the ball away. Again, it takes 10 men winning their individual position battles and executing for plays to work.

(7) Cal throws in a new blocking scheme! Cal's past power running scheme has utilized a backside pulling guard. There have always been just one pulling blocker. But against Stanfurd we saw the revealing of a new scheme where Cal had two pulling blockers. This occurred out of the 12 personnel set (1 RB, 2 TEs, 2 WRs). Cal would put two TEs to one side of the formation. One TE would be on the LOS in their normal position just outside of the offensive tackle, and the second TE (sometimes called H-back) would be just back and outside of the first TE. The side that the two TEs are lined up on is the strong side. Cal would actually run to the weakside and pull the strongside guard (the backside guard), and the second TE. This play works well theoretically for two reasons: (1) it breaks Cal's tendency to run strongside; and (2) it makes it riskier for the defense to overload on the strong side of the offensive formation in anticipation of a strongside run. Cal also ran this same scheme with 21 personnel (2 backs, 1 TE, 2 WRs) from the Weak-I formation using the fullback on a pull in lieu of the second TE.

(8) The outside zone returns! I'm not really sure why Big Game was the game that it made a reappearance. But in the 4th quarter we saw it run a few times. Perhaps Ludwig saw something schematically that he wanted to exploit, but that doesn't quite explain why we didn't see the outside zone earlier on in the game. Or, perhaps Ludwig felt that the Stanfurd defense was getting tired and would be too slow to stop the outside zone. He did use a new wrinkle in that he used some pre-snap motion to the playside with the fullback. This pre-snap motion gives the fullback a head start on his block, and allows him to get further outside.

(9) Cal covered up the TEs a lot. This was actually something that I did notice slightly during the game but had forgotten about by the time I got home. Commenter Missing Barry asked me about this, and despite his questioning I still didn't recall these plays. But after watching the game again, yes, I did finally remember some of these plays.

Cal rarely covers up their TEs. By "covering" or "covering up" I mean that the TEs become ineligible receivers and thus cannot go downfield for a pass. Cal rarely does this because it removes the TE as a passing threat to the defense. Why does Cal do it then? Well, if covering up the TE removes it as a passing threat to the defense, then the TE becomes a blocking threat to the defense. Because of this, the defense has to respect the run a little more. And that's just what Cal wanted the defense to do. Cal, in formations where the TE was covered up, would mostly playaction pass. In other words, Cal purposely used formations where the TE was covered up to cause the defense to bite harder on the run-fake (because the defense expected run due to a covered TE), to open up the pass.

When Cal covers up the TEs, it's usually out of the I-formation with twin WRs to the side of the TE (the strong side). Because the rules requires that the offense have at least seven men on the line of scrimmage (LOS), one of the WRs has to be on the LOS. 5 OL guys, plus 1 TE, plus 1 WR, equals 7 men on the LOS. However, in these formations that Missing Barry noticed, Cal was covering the TE up with 12 personnel (1 RB, 2 TEs, 2 WRs) rather than the usual 21 personnel (2 backs, 1 TE, 2 WRs) for I-formation.

(10) Cal's punt which was blocked was due to a player not winning his individual battle. I know we all love to hat ("hate" for all you CGBers, or non-CGBers who are unfamiliar with our slang) on Alamar but I'm not sure we can blame that blocked punt on him. Cal's long snapper, Rios, missed his block pretty bad and thus his defender got into the backfield for the block. I know lots of people might be thinking, "well, It's Alamar's job to prepare his players so if they mess up then its the coach's fault." My response is that the players play the game and not the coaches. At some point, you have to stop blindly blaming the coaches and you have to start looking at the individual players. Does this mean I don't think Alamar is on the proverbial hot seat? No. He definitely is. Not for this blocked punt, but for many years of sub-par kick return and especially kickoff coverage.

My point here is that there isn't a lot or any blame to be placed on Alamar for this blown play. It wasn't a scheme issue or confusion between players on who to block. All the Cal blockers knew who to block, it was just a matter of the defender beating the long snapper. Rios just got beat bad. He knew it too. Despite him recovering the blocked punt, after the play he had his head down and slowly walked off the field. He knew he was responsible for that block.

(11) The 112th Big Game was perhaps Riley's most clutch game. I don't know if I would say it was his best game. That was probably the Maryland game earlier this year where Riley finished with a 65.4% completion rate, four touchdowns, and zero interceptions. But Riley sure was clutch towards the second half of the game. He got yardage when nobody was open, and he threw some great balls too.

I sort of hate using that whole cliche "maturity" line, but after the Arizona State game and this game, I do feel like Riley's matured. Matured not in the sense that he's been messing around and now he's finally decided to get his head in the game, but matured in that he's seasoned. He's seen it all. He's been through lots. He's played in a variety of situations to the point where it's nothing new and he's more familiar with things. He's probably less rattled about the situations than before. And I hate making these kind of statements based off of snippets of TV coverage, but he did just seem more calm, poised, and "in the zone" than ever before.

In the podcast this week, some of my fellow Marshawnthusaists expressed the idea that perhaps Riley is now the second best QB of the Tedford era. I whole-heartedly disagree with such a notion (imo, at least two other QBs come to mind before Riley), but I do admit that this game has inched him up the ladder a little bit. If he really turns things around in 2010, perhaps he can take the title of the second best QB of the Tedford era, but that's going to take a lot of work.

(13) Empty set is killer. I love empty (when Cal spreads out the defense with five receivers - and not necessarily wide receivers). I love it for two reasons: (1) Cal seems to be fairly successful out of it; (2) if nobody is open Riley seemingly is always able to run for a few yards of gain. I'm glad that we've seen the use of empty formation increase over the past few weeks. I've been advocating for it quite a bit as since Cal usually runs seam routes, and vertical routes out of this formation and those routes are routes that Riley is pretty good at hitting.

In previous post-game thoughts against Arizona, I've noted how Ludwig had been using 5 WRs in the empty set. Such an observation was significant because Cal used to only use 11 personnel (3 WRs, 1 TE, 1 RB) out of empty. So the switch to 5 WRs out of empty was a surprise. But in Big Game, Cal went back to using 11 personnel. Why this special change? Well, first of all, using 11 personnel helps disguise the empty set. Cal uses 11 personnel in other formations, so when Cal sends 11 personnel into the huddle the defense doesn't really know if Cal is going to line up in empty or another regular formation. But when Cal was using 5 WRs for empty (and Cal only uses 5 WRs for empty and nothing else), the opposing defenses knew they would be seeing an empty formation. Because the defense knows this prior to the defense breaking the huddle, the defense can call a play in response to not only just the personnel group, but the formation too; whereas with using 11 personnel, the defense can only call a defensive play in response to the personnel grouping and not formation.

Side Note: The defense can call a play in response to the offense's formation without seeing the formation post breaking of the huddle based on tendencies. For example, Cal usually passes from shotgun on 3rd and long. Defenses, can extrapolate from this and can make the (generally correct) assumption that if Cal sends 11 personnel on the field, that they are going to see a shotgun formation too.

Cal was also using a little neat trick with the empty sets to get player mis-matches. Specifically, Ludwig would put the TE and RB out as the widest receivers leaving the slot receivers (the WRs) inside and lined up against safeties and linebackers. This is a very simple tactic to get mismatches. I will cover this in-depth in a frame by frame analysis later on.

(14) Luck's ill-fated pass. So Mohamed did a great job reading Luck's eyes and getting the perfect depth. Even if Mohamed wasn't there, I think Cattouse might have INTed the ball anyways. Cattouse was on the intended receiver like white on rice. If Cattouse hadn't intercepted the ball, he definitely would have at least defended the ball. I can see why Luck thought his receiver was open, because his guy definitely was for a moment. But by the time that Luck threw the ball, and by the time the ball would have gotten to the intended receiver, Cattouse had cut in front of the intended receiver to defend the pass. What Luck needed was to put more air under the ball to get it over Mohamed. But more air under the ball might not have helped anyways actually because Cattouse was there to pick anything thrown near him. So I guess what I'm saying is Luck was screwed even if Mohamed wasn't there and even if Luck had put more air under the ball like he had wanted to.

(15) Vereen rushes 42 times! Not much to say here but Vereen was beastly. Sure he's a bit slower than Best, but what he lacks in pure speed, he makes up for in his uncanny ability to gain a few extra yards when surrounded by four defenders and having no business getting any additional yards. He just has that subtle elusiveness to intricately weave through the defenders and trash to get those yards nobody really thinks he'd get. I suppose this is a bit surprising because Cal really hasn't had a RB like him before. Previous RBs just brutally powered their way through the trash and defenders (Lynch, Arrington, Echemandu). Best sort of puts his head down and runs through them but without tons of power. But Vereen just kind of slips through them - like magic.

(16) Cal owns the time of possession 39 minutes to 21 minutes. Stanfurd's defense had to have been tired. Being on the field for that long, having to defend 88 offensive plays!!! Geez. Cal has been averaging 65.2 plays per game prior to Big Game with a 4.87 standard deviation. It's been a while since done statistics, but doesn't that mean something like 95% of the data points will be within two standard deviations greater than and less than the mean? So that means 95% of the time Cal will run anywhere from 55.46 to 74.94 plays per game. Running 88 plays in a game put Cal 4.68 standard deviations above the mean! That's ridic. Straight ridic. Perhaps this is why Ludwig wanted to try some outside zone late in the game; he wanted to see if the Furd defense had the energy in them to defend the outside.

(17) Cool story, Hansel. So my parents' neighbor went to Big Game. He apparently knew some big Furd donor and got to go with him to the game or got his tickets or something. The Furd donor has luxury box suites. The neighbor got to the stadium early before most of the fans got there. In the luxury boxes, there was tons of free food around. My neighbor, taking advantage of the situation, began gorging himself on all the food set out for the rich Furd donors who hadn't arrived yet - everything from fancy burgers to monster sized hotdogs. When the Furd donors arrived, they were quite stereotypically, old and white. Stanfurd, quite intelligently, had a coffee bar in the luxury suite area so the old fogies could stimulate themselves to an awake state to watch the game. Also, quite intelligently, the luxury suite area had a full bar where the rich donors could then drink themselves into a stupor after the loss. Some famous people that were in attendance in the luxury suites: Condoleezza Rice, and Jim Plunkett. Best part of this story: the old Furd donors did not appreciate the loud cheers of the neighbor. Quite literally, when the neighbor would cheer, the old Furd donors would turn around to him and say for him to not cheer so loud. Something about the cheering overloading their hearing aids or something. How rude of the neighbor. Doesn't he know that he's at a football game? You're not supposed to make noise!

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Bonus Thoughts from college football games from the weekend of Friday, November 27th, to Saturday, November 28th.

Texas vs. Texas A&M - Exciting game. Texas A&M got risky and frisky with some blitzes and man coverage. They got burned. Perfect examples of what can happen when you roll the dice. I'm not saying Cal shouldn't be more aggressive (sending more pass rushers) on defense because this is what happens, but this certainly is what can happen. We should all be aware of the risks. Also, if I recall correctly, Texas A&M missed a short field goal from far hash that could have made a difference in the game. Just another reason why perhaps Tedford isn't completely crazy for centering the ball on that 3rd and 8.....

Alabama vs. Auburn - Auburn really showed some 2-minute drill ineptitude at the end of the game. They needed to drive the field in about a minute, and ended up calling about 3 plays in all that time. Their QB was confused. The coaches weren't getting playcalls into the game quickly. It was one ugly hot mess. That is what happens when you don't practice the 2-minute drill and you don't have a system to get playcalls into the game quickly. Thankfully, you'll never really see Cal do the epic failure that Auburn did. First of all, Cal practices its two-minute drill every practice. Every single day, they practice scoring in under two minutes.

Second, and I've talked about this before, but Ludwig has installed a great two-minute drill system. In previous years, the sideline QBs would signal in the playcall to the starting QB. The signals would take a few seconds to signal in, and then the starting QB would spend another 15 seconds telling the play to the players - in actual team language. Meaning, the defense can hear what the offense's playcall is. Sometimes, you can figure out what parts of the play will be based on the terminology (some of the terminology was too closely tied to the words/routes that they were meant to represent). But now, the sideline QB just signals in a number, one through nine. This takes about half a second. The QB will then yell out the number to the offense. All the offense players have those 9 plays memorized. The players need only to merely line up and run their play. This takes less time than the previous system. The additional benefit of the new system is that the actual playcall terminology isn't being yelled out by the QB so the defense can't hear it, thus further protecting the playcall.

To Center the Ball? Or to Not Center the Ball?

Texas vs. Texas A&M - aTm doesn't center the ball and misses a short field goal that would have made a difference in the game.

Arkansas vs. LSU - Arkansas doesn't center the ball and misses a short game-tying overtime field goal.

Arizona vs. Arizona State - Stoops centers the ball for a game winning field goal and the kick is good.

It's like the football gods are talking to us and telling us to center the football. This weekend might be the undeniable proof that so many center-the-ball haters need to finally appreciate Tedford's decision.