SB Nation - Chet Teofilo

Is the Cal Offensive Line Failing Due to Talent or Coaching?

Avinash — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:00:41 -0000

by Ben Margot - AP

Missing: Cal Offensive linemen. If you find them, please call Jeff T. at...

Although the postgame article about our offensive line was meant in jest, some people like Cali49a took what I was saying seriously.

Let’s look across the line at what we have. LT Tepper is a good guy, but he’s not nearly as good as he’s been made out to be. LG was a RS Frosh starting who got injured and his replacements are a former walk-on in Fisher and a current walk-on in Boskovitch, who spends more time whiffing on blocks and losing his feet of any OL I’ve seen in the Tedford era. Our Center is an undersized RS-JR taking his first meaningful snaps at C but who has no business playing that position, especially against top notch DTs. The RG is a RS-So who has the size to play the position but has lapses. The RT is a RS-So who has been pretty reliable. The TEs cannot reliably block and are all young. Just looking at our starters, they are a recipe for inconsistency. As much as size of OL is important, mentally they need to know their assignments and how to adjust on the fly when blocking, which comes from repetition.

In a sense, the line is still young with 3 underclassmen starters. The interior of the OL is the biggest issue right now, and quite frankly, the reason why we absolutely stink running between the tackles.

While this post was funny to read because it pokes fun at a glaring weakness on our O, this post really does not look at the root of the problem: recruiting. There have been too many scholarship busts and/or misses on the OL front in 05-06 and we are really feeling it now. There is exactly ONE starter on the OL from those classes. Guys from those 2 classes are who should be starting right now unless there were some super sensational underclassmen who could beat them out. That is not the case.

To clarify, no, I don't think Steve Marshall should be fired. In general, with college coaches, I don't think you fire people who've been here one year unless they totally faceplant (and in any case with Marshall, given his previous track record, he'll probably leave of his own accord). However, I do feel that he and Andy Ludwig have missed some crucial elements in developing their guys, some controllable, some not. And those struggles have resulted in these offensive stinkbombs we've seen against good defenses.

How much of Cal's O-line struggles have been due to talent, and how much has been due to coaching?

After the jump, I look at both sides.

So one possibility is talent. It's been argued by many people, especially Hydro, that maybe these guys just aren't who we thought they were.

In the podcast, CBKWit makes the argument that this is one of our highest star rated offensive lines perhaps ever during the Tedford era. CBKWit made this comment in response to my remark suggesting that the OL's poor performance could be a talent issue. It seems that CBKWit might have been disagreeing with me. If that is so, CBKWit is clearly making the assumption that the higher the star rating of the player, the more talented they are. Such a notion is generally true, but not always. CBKWit seems to make it a forgone conclusion that is always true and thus this year's highly rated OL suckage cannot be due to lack of talent; hence obviously a coaching problem. I disagree. I think it's possible that there is a talent issue here, perhaps as well as a coaching issue. I have not discounted the talent issue, whereas CBKWit seems to have done so. CBKWit points to last year's OL which started Guarnero (prior to injury), Cheadle, and Boskovich (after Guarnero's injury) as evidence that this OL shouldn't be this bad due to the fact that so many of this year's starters saw playing time last year and were fairly productive. Last year, I personally thought Guarnero was doing fine at guard. However, I was not that impressed with Cheadle or Boskovich. Thus, I am not convinced that just because he have players from last year's OL, which performed decently well although not great, means that this year's OL cannot be suffering from lack of talent.

Here's been our starting depth chart the past few seasons, starting with 2006 as the first season our entire O-line was ranked by Rivals (some of these guys could be wrong from 2006, let me know). Thanks to AERose for gathering this data up.

2006

Mike Tepper (2 stars/2 stars)--2
Erik Robertson (2 stars/1 star)-1.5
Alex Mack (2 stars/2 stars)--2
Norris Malele (3 stars/3)--3
Scott Smith (2 stars)--2

Average rating: 2.11

2007

Mike Tepper (2 stars/2 stars)--2
MIke Gibson (4 stars/4 stars)--4
Brian De La Puente (???)
Noris Malele (3 stars/3 stars)-3
Alex Mack (2 stars/2 stars)-2

Average rating: 2.75

2008

Mark Boskovich (???)
Noris Malele (3 stars/3 stars)-3
Alex Mack (2 stars/2 stars)-2
Chet Teofilo (2 stars/2 stars)-2
Mitchell Schwartz (3 stars/3 stars)-3
Justin Cheadle (3 stars/4 stars)-3.5

Average rating: 2.75

2009

Mike Tepper (2 stars/2 stars)-2
Mitchell Schwartz (3 stars /3 stars)-3
Matt Summers-Gavin (4 stars/4 stars)-4
Justin Cheadle (3 stars/4 stars)-3.5
Chris Guarnero (4 stars/3 stars)-3.5
Mark Boskovich (???)

Average rating: 3.2

Of course the star rating only tells so much, but as you can see on average Cal's recruiting star ratings are better than the last few years, and there seems to be no correlation with star rating and rushing success (hell, you could say the relation's nearly INVERSE; the lower the star rating, the better Cal's O-line has done.) This could probably lead you to think that recruiting stars are bunk.

So while I agree with Cali49a, that yes, the offensive line has had depth problems and too many walk-ons coming in to fill crucial roles, I also feel that the Bears talent is still comparable to those of previous seasons. Although a lot of the guys we recruited haven't been up to snuff, they still shouldn't be struggling this much, especially with almost all of them except Summers-Gavin seeing action last season. This should be a line that dropped off a little, not a lot, even with Mack and Malele gone.

So let's assume these guys aren't terrible o-linemen. That leads us to coaching. If the problem isn't talent, What are the problems that could be going on here?

1) The offensive coordinator turnover. Hydro mentioned in the podcast how O-linemen were having difficulty adapting to Cignetti's new pass blocking schemes (explaining the struggles in protecting Longshore and Riley). You can only imagine how difficult the Bears O-linemen are doing with all the different looks they've run in the run blocking game with Ludwig's offense installed. Perhaps we'll see drastic improvement next season when these guys have had time to run through the system, but right now it just isn't there.

2) Fullback and tight end blocking dropoff. This is where I do agree with Cali49a. In terms of tight ends, the Bears really haven't had great tight end blocking since Craig Stevens was lining up. But Brian Holley? Nice enough guy, but big big downgrade from Ta'ufo'ou in terms of blocking awareness. Who exactly Cal's fullback will be next year (Kapp?) will need to show better than Holley has this year. And Anthony Miller will hopefully become as good a blocker as he is a receiver.

3) The complexity of the offense. This might be the biggest issue for me. We've talked over and over how the Bears offense has gotten more sophisticated as time has gone by (and that in turn has led to the quarterback struggles). While that might give us all sorts of delight as fans to watch, the fact is the players aren't getting older with them. So the learning curve has grown steeper for new players, like a sadistic professor who decides to add three hundred more pages of reading each year for the same class, with an occasional extra midterm thrown in there. You can only imagine how difficult it is for offensive linemen to struggle to do so much.

4) Failure to adapt. The fact is these players are not going to grow old with us. They're going to leave for other places and that means Cal's coaching staff have to adapt to the situation. We have to recognize that our offensive linemen might not be as experienced or as gifted as previous guys like Mack and Ta'ufo'ou. So instead of throwing so many different looks in our playcalling perhaps we should return to the more stodgy but effective type of play that defined early Tedford football, especially in the run game.

One of the beautiful things about Coach M's style of line coaching is that we ran the same two plays almost every time in the run game, and defenses were lost trying to stop them. As Hydro described it, "Defenses knew what was coming, and they could almost never stop it from going." (Now on the flip side, defenses WERE catching up to Cal's offense as the years went by (the Bears running game dipped in production every year since 2004), so there might be the need to evolve as time goes by. But hey, sometimes it's best not to fix things that aren't broken.)

5) Coaching development. This is where I attribute blame to the coaches directly. I don't think we need to bring Coach M back to recognize those issues, nor even make Marshall the scapegoat for our failings. But it's clear that Alex Mack, Mike Tepper and many others from our more successful squads were not highly sought-after talents, yet they evolved into O-line forces of nature in their collegiate primes. Although Michalziak might not have been the greatest recruiter, he did a great job making these guys execute on Saturdays. How much of this had to do with the simplicity of the offense might be difficult to say, but I've always found simple works best with young offensive lines. Just look at how Oregon has recovered from the Boise fiasco, when their line couldn't block stationary objects. Simple effective blocking techniques set loose their offensive players.

6) Recognizing the big picture. As the guy now overseeing the program, Tedford should try and recognize that players, based on their individual experience level and their collective experience as a unit, need to be treated differently on a year-by-year basis. He, like many fans, incorrectly assessed the losses of our top three blockers and assumed we'd get by with the experience the returning starters had managed. That's clearly not been the case. Now that he's no longer playcalling, his job in the games is to manage and see what's going on beyond the Xs and Os. I'd say he hasn't done a very good job of that this season, especially with regards to the offensive line (and of course there are other issues, but that's for another day). Running the same set of plays and schemes (inside zone run) over and over again seems like a peculiar type of madness.

Whatever's going on, coaching or talentwise, with only three games left, it's probably too late to fix these deficiencies until the bowl game, and we've got to ride the ship the end and hope somehow we can pull some wins out before we reach port. And then hope everything gets back together for next year's cruise.

Poll

Cal's O-line struggles are due to...

coaching issues more than talent issues.

53 votes

talent issues more than coaching issues.

16 votes

coaching and talent issues about the same.

57 votes

something else entirely.

7 votes

133 votes | Poll has closed

Roll On: Watch the Cal Offensive Line Versus EWU

Avinash — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 11:45:46 -0000

Pop quiz! Which runs above were opened up by power run/man blocking, and which ones were opened up by zone blocking? Leave your answers in the comments.

I thought about using the same moniker as last week, but the question of "How Cal Should Beat Eastern Washington" is a lot easier to answer: DON'T TURNOVER THE BALL. And then the article would've been over.

I figured you wouldn't be really interested in that sort of yeoman analysis. So let's focus on what you should be watching.

Against an opponent like Eastern Washington (let's admit they're decent for an FCS school), don't expect amazing playcalling that'll blow your doors off. Expect a standard Tedford playbook of establishing the run, passing the ball at the opportune time, then settling into a second half groove of running clock with the second-stringers. And if you thought Cal's defense played it safe against Maryland, expect them to be super safe against Eastern Washington, at least until the Bears are up double digits.

We saw some of what Cal's O-linemen would do in the season opener, but it probably was secondary to most of you to what the skill players were doing. It's totally understandable. In sports, we follow the ball. However what happens off the ball in football is about 80 percent of the game, so we'd recommend taking this week to look at what Cal's less-heralded players do to perform.

So this week, get to know your O-linemen and the run blocking strategies they execute. They are the key to Jahvid Best, Kevin Riley, and the success of the 2009 Cal offense. Without them, Cal won't be able to run, and concurrently will have a tough time passing. It's been the key to every Tedford offense since he's gotten here, so it's definitely worth your time to watch how they open up holes for everyone else.

I spoke with The Bear Will Not Quit on the subject before the season, and his thoughts on what we'll see from the O-line in establishing the run are after the jump.

With a more experienced unit in place this season, what type of run block schemes do you think Cal will run this year with new offensive coordinators and offensive line coaches?

TBWNQ: You know how I said you could do a whole post, heck a whole book, on QB mechanics? Well, you could teach a semester on blocking schemes. To me, this is really the the most cerebral part of football, along with picking apart zone defenses in the passing game.

The other thing going on here is that things could really unfold in any number of ways. Ludwig's roots are more in the traditional Tedford mold, but his last two jobs have been in spread concept offenses. But he also did incorporate some of his prior background into his spread offenses at both schools. At Cal, there have been sort of four approaches or models: the Cortez years, the Dunbar year, the Tedford year, and the Cignetti year. Among all those offenses, Ludwig and Tedford (and Marshall) could dream up a lot of combinations from the things that worked well.

There are two other factors: Marshall, and the available personnel. Marshall will definitely have some thoughts that I think both Ludwig and Tedford will be interested in incorporating. And you can't block a play in a way that doesn't work for your personnel. For example, if Cameron Morrah is your TE and Terrell Suggs is the DE, you don't call a play where TE takes on DE one-on-one at the point of attack (unless your offensive coordinator is Doug Cosbie). You have to block it a different way if you still want to attack that gap.

Considering all those things, I think we are going to see a little bit of everything (how's that for committal?), in particular early on until the coaches see what works against different defenses. That's actually a fourth variable - the opponent. In other words, expect variety.

via i109.photobucket.com

In terms of specific examples, I think we'll see the old "power" schemes with a pulling guard and fullback. I think we'll see other gap or zone blocking to get numbers and allow Best to pick a seam in space and go, especially on the edge where Best excels. I think we'll see weakside counters, counter treys and trap blocks to take advantage of what I am almost certain will be aggressive front 7s trying to disrupt our blocking and shut down Best.

But the thing I really hope we see, and I have a feeling Marshall may incorporate, is a more sophisticated level of deception. One example would be pulling guards the opposite way of the run. This is a scheme some NFL teams use, though it requires a lot of practice and skill players that can block well. But if done properly, it can be devastating to a defense.

Why? Because LBs, particularly ILBs, are taught to read the guards as their keys , especially in the college game. They are taught often to follow pulling guards because they will take you to the ball. And in many pulling situations, that's exactly what happens. But if the guard goes the wrong way and the LB follows, he's just taken a LB out of the play. When done well, it's a thing of beauty to behold.

via i109.photobucket.com

Will they be similar to the power run rail and arc schemes we ran with great success earlier in the decade (note: videos of the old Cal rush offense at the bottom of this link? Or do you think we'll see something new?

With respect to "power run rail and arc schemes," a clarification is in order. "Power" in the Tedford parlance refers to a concept or package of blocking schemes predicated on creating downhill angles of advantage, typically with pulling lineman and a kickout-lead combo at the point of attack, i.e. one guy kicks out, one guy leads up through the gap. "Rail and arc" in the Tedford parlance refers to blocking options within the "power" scheme that are designed to deal with matchup problems or alignment problems, for example an outmanned TE at the point of attack or a wide DE. It is therefore technically possible to see a "power" concept without a "rail" or "arc" block.

In terms of whether we'll see these concepts and blocks, I think we will. I think it's a safe bet that power will be a staple of the Tedford offense forever, albeit in varying amounts. It's a Tedford trademark.

And for good reason. It's an extremely effective, sound model if your players can execute it. It doesn't require one guy to physically dominate his opponent straight up. It allows guys to blow up the defenders and plow the field in a dominating, downhill fashion, through the use of angles, without having to out-muscle them. And the Tedford model of the power concept in particular is predicated on simple techniques that can be applied to several different formations. This allows great interchangeability without overwhelming the players with dozens of different blocking schemes.

In fact, they ran it a bit last year with some success early on (except MD, who absolutely blew it up, exposing the unit's lack of experience). But as the season wore on, they seemed to go away from it in favor of Cignetti's run scheme (which they had some nice success with later in the season).

Part of the reason I think we saw it less last year was because it requires three things this team really didn't have last season: (1) quick, agile guards who can make reads and adjust blocks on the run, (2) TEs who can handle DEs one on one, and (3) tackles who can read and peel off quickly. Other than Guarnero and Schwartz, the rest of the group really didn't fit the bill (Malele was a bit dinged up).

The main question with this year's group is the guards. Tepper and Schwartz can handle it. Cheadle and MSG are touted as being pretty athletic, so we'll see.

The other critical component to power schemes is a dominant blocking fullback, something Cal has had the past two years. Whereas there are upgrades on the line, it'll be interesting to see how this year's fullbacks handle the job. That might affect how the team blocks power concepts, and how often they use the concept.

In sum, as I said, with Ludwig's and Marshall's backgrounds, I could see them developing a nice mix of power, zone, trap and perhaps some 'deception' schemes. Maybe I'm being too optimistic - this is college football, not the NFL. And it depends on the players' ability to absorb it all. But I will say this: I am more excited about what we're going to see offensively than I have been in a while. I strongly suggest watching the o-line this season to get a flavor for what these new coaches are all about.

via www.footballtechnologies.com

Click on the image above for examples of zone running schemes

***

Some other notes on the O-line from Cal.

Hydrotech sent me these notes on run blocking versus Maryland: There was plenty of zone blocking. Off the top of my head I don't remember weakside counters, but i haven't rewatched the entire game yet or charted the game. Definitely no counter treys. No traps I'm pretty sure either. No guards pulling the opposite way of the run.
Hydro, in terms of zone blocking against the Terps: In 2008, Cal pretty much stopped using it's classic power run game with the backside guard pulling playside and became practically pure zone running team. However, against Maryland in 2009, Cal used both zone running and used some of its classic power running game too. The amount of zone runs and power run plays were roughly equal so I suspect that Cal will be a more balanced run team in 2009 with respect to whether they are using zone or man blocking. Again, check out danzig's highlight reel and tell us which runs were opened by man or zone blocking.
For a great explanation of the power run schemes Cal has run since the Cortez years, check out this thorough dissection of the schemes from Trojan Football Analysis, complete with video of Pete Alamar explaining the concepts via 2004-2005 Cal running clips to various regional football coaches. The post is from 2006, and obviously Cal doesn't run this run scheme exclusively, but this is the first step into the world of run blocking. The photos from above are also from that post.
CBKWit noted the performances of Cheadle and Schwartz on the right side in opening up holes for Best and Vereen, and even mentioned how rotating Teofilo and Edwards into the lineup didn't prevent the O-line from missing a beat. Very promising sign, especially in keeping big men like Tepper and Guarnero healthy for the tougher games ahead.
Also, in Hydro's post-game thoughts, he mentioned how the Bears used plenty of two tight end formation sets and made sure Holley was an essential part of Cal's attack, which is more typical of old Tedford. So you could see plenty of the rail and arc scheme this season, albiet modified to reflect Ludwig's vision of how he wants Cal's offense running.
To refresh your memory on who goes where in the offensive line, take a look at the position preview I wrote a few weeks before the game.

So focus on how the Bears run the ball. If everything goes according to plan, they're going to be doing plenty of that Saturday, and it'll be critical to understanding how well Cal performs in successive Saturdays.

Poll

What do you primarily follow in the game?

The ball (quarterback and skill players).

128 votes

The trenches (offensive line versus defensive line).

12 votes

The receiver routes and the secondary.

7 votes

I try to follow a little of each.

104 votes

I'm following something else.

7 votes

258 votes | Poll has closed

Behind Enemy Lines: Interview With Cal Golden Blogs

Ben Broman — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 23:03:54 -0000

More photos » by Marcio Jose Sanchez - AP

For being ridiculously fast and talented, Jahvid Best never impresses me with his helmet off. Don't know why.

Browse more photos »

We've hit game week. Less than six days away, the first game - the long-awaited Cal-Maryland matchup - is right around the corner. While we'll probably do a full preview eventually, the folks at California Golden Blogs were nice enough to virtually sit down with us and exchange some questions. So, for your second look at Cal, without further ado, I give the floor to the interview:

How confident are you with Kevin Riley at QB? I saw he was officially named the starter, but I never knew there was even a battle for that spot. Was there really a competition?

Last season Riley never fully earned the starting spot. He was always looking over his shoulder at Nate Longshore, wondering if he'd get the hook from Tedford. Also there's evidence indicating that he never got on the same page with his offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti.

That isn't the case this year. From the beginning of camp Riley was the clear #1. Cignetti is gone, replaced by Andy Ludwig, who by all accounts has meshed far better with the junior quarterback. He had far more experience over the two QBs he was battling (Brock Mansion had taken only a few garbage-time snaps last season, Beau Sweeney hadn't seen the field at all). Given the extra year of experience under his belt

Remember, for all his struggles, Riley still managed to go 7-2 as a starter last season. And he did turn what looked like a blowout in College Park into a fairly tense game in the late stages. The potential was there in 2008, and given the favorable conditions in coaching and confidence, we feel this is the season he'll finally put it all on display.

On a similar note, Maryland's defensive strategy last year was basically "stop Jahvid Best at all costs". As it so happened, Cal couldn't beat Maryland through the air on that day. If the Terps adopt that strategy again, do you see Cal's passing game as good enough to win this time around?

Let's be honest, our passing offense, in specific our WRs, were bad last year. Near the end of the year, Best and Vereen were the primary receivers for the team. In that afore-mentioned Big Game [ed's note: actually, it's below, but whatever], all but one of Riley's passes went to a RB or a TE. Vereen actually ended up with the 2nd most receptions on the team.

Again, having a fresh set of legs in Vereen could be very beneficial. And having Vereen as a receiving threat certainly can't hurt Cal's chances at winning this one.

Alex Mack was one of the best centers in the game last year, and he's now in the NFL. As Maryland fans already know, a poor offensive line can ruin even the best talent at RB, so how's Cal Mack-less OL looking?

Sadly for you guys, better. Let me qualify that. Chris Guarnero is a step down from Alex Mack, but the word out of camp as early as two years ago was that Guarnero would've been ready to start if Mack hadn't already been established in the center position.

Additionally, the Bears were a revolving door at left tackle last season with Mike Tepper missing all of last season. Thankfully for us, Tepper was granted a sixth year of eligibility and will return to protect the blind side. Talented sophomore Mitchell Schwartz (who played both tackle positions last year as a redshirt frosh) will guard up the right side.

The only questions might be at guard, where neither has seen much PT, but starters Matt Summers-Gavin and Justin Cheadle have been touted for sometime as the future at guard, and their backups Chet Teofilo and Mark Boskovich have plenty of game experience. Add in capable Donovan Edwards and the Bears run at the least nine deep on the O-line.

Sooo...I'd say we feel better about our O-line this season.

For more on the Cal O-line, check our O-line preview: http://www.californiagoldenblogs.com/2009/8/21/983710/cal-2009-position-previews, and additional o-line player analysis from The Bear Will Not Quit: http://thebearwillnotquit.blogspot.com/2009/08/offensive-line-preview-2009.html

Cal's defense was less than impressive last year [ed's note: meant to say against Maryland]. Of course, any number of factors - jetlag, humidity - could've influenced that, but that's what I have to go off of. Will it be better this year?*

If you only saw Cal's defense vs. Maryland, you're probably underrating what was a pretty darn good D the rest of the year. They held three opponents to a touchdown or less, and nine opponents (including USC, Oregon and Miami) to less than three TDs. That first quarter-plus at Maryland, however? 3 drives, 3 touchdowns, probably the second-worst quarter of football they played all season (exceeded only by a 28-point 3rd-quarter meltdown at Arizona, and even that included a pick-six that you can't pin on the defense).

Statistically, the Cal defense doesn't actually look that bad against Maryland: just 19 first downs (Cal had 26), only 297 yards given up (Cal had 461) and two fumbles recovered. And after the Bears fell behind 21-3, their defense held the Terps to fewer than 30 yards on 6 of their next 7 drives, giving the offense a chance to get back into the game (a chance the offense would squander).

My sense of the Cal defense was that, for whatever reason (the humidity is my guess), they were playing somewhat slower than normal. Defenders took bad angles to the ball carriers, turning medium-sized gains into big ones, and wide receivers were able to create just that much more separation. Cal just looked sluggish out there. Of course, I'm certainly willing to concede the possibility that players like Scott, Meggett and Heyward-Bey made the Cal defense look slow.

Overall, though, the Cal defense was pretty good last year (26th in the NCAA in total defense, 23rd in scoring defense), and they return a number of quality starters, including their entire defensive line and their entire secondary. They do have to replace three senior linebackers, but the feeling around camp is that the new guys are pretty talented, and that a second year with Cal's base 3-4 defense will pay additional dividends. I don't expect that Maryland will score five touchdowns again this year.

Everybody knows about Syd'Quan Thompson and Jahvid Best, but who's one Golden Bear (on either side of the ball) that fans don't really know about that could cause Maryland trouble?

Trevor Guyton is a sophmore on the team with a lot of promose. He currently is set as a back up Defensive End. He briefly supplanted starter Cameron Jordan during fall camp, although that may have been a motivation ploy for the apparently too relaxed Jordan. Nonetheless, it shows that Cal is very high on Guyton. Look for Guyton to get solid playing time and could potentially make some hay in the trenches there.

Over the course of a long game, depth is key. Having a fresh Guyton come in could be beneficial for Cal's chances.

On the offensive side, keep an eye out for Shane Vereen. Again, a back up, but one that could probably start in many, many, many other places. He is, after all, backing up Jahvid Best.

Vereen is also really good at catching the ball out of the backfield or even well downfield. Last year, Kevin Riley hit him in stride last year in the Big Game against Stanford for a 59 yard TD reception.

If you had to gameplan against Cal, what is the biggest weakness would you look to exploit?

Despite Cal being known as a passing team due to the whole Pac-10 stereotype and the whole Jeff Tedford QB guru stereotype, that's not true. Cal is a running team. Running the ball is Cal's strength and it's no secret that Cal's passing attack is suspect due to Riley's shaky play last year and the abundance of inexperienced wide receivers. So, if I were to play Cal, my main focus would be on stopping Jahvid Best and making Cal beat you through the air.

Cal will most likely try to zone block against Maryland as since Cal had tons of success with zone blocking last year. Maryland's defense should actually be more concerned about not giving up openings on the backside of the zone blocks. Jahvid Best does the most damage on zone blocking runs by hitting the cutback lanes. Maryland should not over-pursue on the zone blocks. In other words, they should not flow too quickly to the point of attack otherwise lanes will form on the backside of the zone blocks and Best will go for big gains. So as long as Cal maintains good gap protection on the backside of zone blocks, it will force the Cal OL, and Jahvid Best get their rushing yardage at the point of attack. Best will have more blockers and defenders ("trash") in front of him at the point of attack than on a backside cutback lane and will be less likely to run for big gains.

On passing downs I'd try and press the Cal WRs. The Cal QBs and WRs have been practicing a lot without defenders to get their timing with the QB down. By pressing the WRs and getting their timing off, Maryland can make things a lot harder for Kevin Riley. I would also be willing to bring pressure on Riley early on to test the pass blocking abilities of Cal's OL. Cal is starting a few relatively inexperienced players on the OL, so they may not be quite up to speed on the blocking assignments.

Cal Fan Appreciation Day 8.29.09 II

TwistNHook — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:00:11 -0000

Cal Fan Appreciation Day 8.29.09 I

So, last time I left off, it was so hot that everybody was complaining their feet were on fire. I think it had to do with the heat coming off of the turf, I don't know. We had just finished up with the Defense line and realized that we probably were never going to get Best or SydQuan's autography. We were depressed, but soldiered on. Just in time to see somebody who could maybe stand in for SydQuan, the other #5, Alex Laggeman:

The most fun parts of the day and generally the easiest were just chatting with the players milling about on the field. Often times they were just as renowned and popular as the players at the tables. Just Tyson Alualu here:

But some were young red-shirt guys. I try to get their signatures, too, because you never know when a young freshman (like Best 2 years ago and Trevor Guyton last year) will supernova. Here, we have Deandre Coleman and Austin Clark, both young talented guys, who could be key players on the team in the years to come.

And if Laggeman is the OTHER Syd, here is Chris Little, the OTHER Best. It was like being in the middle of the sun on July 4 weekend covered in a parka, so I have no idea why he decided to go all hobo chic with that thick cotton beanie hat. He must have a really, really, really, REALLY cold head or something, I dunno.

Here is redshirt freshman Aaron Tipoti:

Interestingly enough, Alualu had his own line. Like I mentioned above, very popular player. So, we patiently waited in the Alualu line. Much better than Best and Syd!

He is a large, large, LARGE fellow. His kids are cute, too. Most D players were milling about near Alualu. For example, here is DJ Holt and Cameron Jordan chatting with a fan:

When reading the stories about Cameron Jordan's brief demotion, he was often described as "laid back" and "relaxed." I can't speak to how that relates on the football field, but I could definitely see those being accurate descriptions. He was joking around with the fans and mugging for the cameras. Fun, fun guy.

He was confused about why I was being so professional towards him and I said it was because I knew he was gonna be making NFL millions one day and I needed a loan. BAD! We joked around briefly about that.

Next up, the Prophet, Mike Mohamed:

Then, my favorite Cat-House of all time. Sean!

I don't have a good photo of this, but I did run into and get an autograph from Kendrick Payne. He is a massive beast of a man, but I made a fairly large faux-pax at this point. I asked him, jokingly, whether if he were to marry Michael Kendricks, would he take Kendricks last name. I thought I was being ever so witty, but he told me he had heard that one a lot or even the KendrickSquared. Ai! I'M UNCREATIVE! UNCREATIVE!

And then we can to him, the man I'd been waiting all year to see, Giorgio Tavecchio!

Like I said before with Isi Sofele, he is the other player that doesn't seem so otherworldly. He also look like he came straight from Moraga, no joke. I went up to him and said "Mr. Tavecchio, it is a pleasure to meet you, I know you know Italian here, I have a little proficiency here, let's see, how do I say this Donde Esta El Bano? Did I, did I get that one right there?" Much hilarity was had. I also asked him if he was in the cadet band in high school with Harvey "The Harve" Benstein. Unfortunately, he was not. :(! He does seem cooler than Cadet Band, I would say. Funny guy, may he kick us several key victories this year!

Then, from one extreme to the other, Michael Constanzo. This man is big, he's got fiery tattoos:

I explained away my professionalism by noting a man with as many colorful tattoos as him MUST be really professional. And, of course, he was. Jeremy Ross was there. Goldblooded kept saying "Let's go see Jeremy Ross. I see Jeremy Ross." But we kept getting side tracked by other players on the way over. We finally made it to him, though.

Jeremy Ross was so nice and professional back, I told him "I hope you aren't this nice on the field. I hope it's not like Permission To Catch Ball Requested, Sir." He assured me, it was not.

We saw Covaughn Deboskie wandering the field and ran over. He seemed really nice and has a head in the shape of a geometric shape.

Look at that thing, it's all angles! He could be a model!

Often times, you interact with the players individually. It's always interesting to see how the players interact in a group. Here are 2 young, young, YOUNG guys Allan Bridgford and Isi Sofele joking around and taking photos together. 3 years from now, they could be the starting battery for an amazing Cal team, who knows?

I know Sofele looks short there, but Bridgford is a tall, tall man, too.

Then, guess who would show up but Tosh Lupoi.

We were waiting in the line for the Seniors Offense at this point, but I would run out from time to time to greet other players. I did run over to talk to Tosh briefly.

I thanked him so much for being a Golden Bear. I said I hoped he would stay a Golden Bear for a long, long, long, LONG time. I told him they should pay him whatever he wanted. He told me to talk to Coach Tedford about that. Does anybody have Coach Tedford's number? I don't. :(!

But he was not the only one to wander by the Seniors Offense line. DJ Campbell made an appearance:

As did Darian Hagan:

Ryan Davis was joking around with the fans and having a fun time.

And Bryant Nnabuife showed up:

Soon, I had made it up to the front of the line for the Seniors Offense.

Tepper was there with Chet Teofilo. Tepper was telling some story about a game in 2007 from Tom Schneider's book. I said "Wait do you mean 2007 or 1997?" I am not sure how well he took this, but did joke around about how he saw where I was going with that. I told him I was gonna make a Methuselah joke, but after how well that 2007 or 1997 joke went over, I didn't want him to beat me up. He said that he doesn't like to fight, because all he does every day 80 times a day is just beat people up. I said "Sounds like my marriage." He expressed happiness that he had yet to get married.

Then, on to Chet Teofilo. I told him I had a great business venture that we should both go in on. A French Restaurant in Berkeley called Chez Teofilo. It's like Chez Panisse, but with more Teofilo! And much less Panisse. This is a can't fail opportunity! We could get a loan from Cameron Jordan to do it, too.

Brian Holley and Tad Smith were up next:

One of the people I was with drives the players around in a golf cart and was friendly with them. They asked him if he was doing it again this year. He said ya. I told them that they should call him if they were drunk at Kip's or something for a ride home. Apparently Mike Leach at TTU does that to his freshmen QBs.

Then, the final table which was packed with players. There was Nyan Boateng and Verran Tucker on the left end.

And Kevin Riley and Dasarte Yarnway on the right end.

But Riley and Yarnway aren't seniors! Yet there were at the Seniors table! I told them that I felt like they were lying to me in autograph form and was very disappointed in them. Riley said he was just told to sit there and so he sat there. Clearly, Tedford's influence is strong on him.

We took bets on how many more years Tepper would play with Cal. I predict 5.

So, then we rushed over to the Best/Syd line. Hoping against hope that they would let us in so we could grab those last 2. But there was a security guard guarding the end of the line. Wouldn't allow us in. I tried to plead our case, saying I had the rest of the team and needed those two autographs to complete the set. But he was unwavering. Also, just doing his job. :(! So, I never got to interact with Best and Syd. Given the problems they had with that line, that was probably for the better.

If the choice was Best/Syd and nobody else or everybody else, but not Best/Syd, it worked out for the best. I did go over a snap a few shots, though.

We thought about waiting at the tables until it was all over and then trying to get their signature when they left. But it probably woulda taken another 20 minutes of waiting and it was hot, we were tired and hungry. Oh well.

On the way out, we did chat briefly with Ernest Owusu.

And, thus, yet another Cal Fan Appreciation Day was over. Fun time had by all. Dodged a MAJOR bullet by choosing to get into the Tedford line over the Best line, although I didn't realize it at the time. Got to see Isi Sofele and Spencer Ladner in person. Got to annoy/joke around with many players. And was all professional to prove that once I get out of my mother's basement and take off those pajamas, I, too, can be a regular person in society. GO BEARS!

Cal 2009 Position Previews: Offensive Line

Avinash — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 10:00:11 -0000

via www.dailycal.org (Photo by Salgu Wissmath)

The Bears lost Alex Mack. How could they possibly be a better offensive line than before?

In short, many ways. Even with Mack anchoring the front last season, the Bears offensive line was arguably the worst it's been during the Jeff Tedford era. Injuries of the youthful O-line decimated their numbers, forced guards into tackle positions, backups to play huge starting minutes. Although the run game remained steady as ever, Cal gave up 25 sacks, for 67th in the league--by contrast, the last two seasons the Bears gave up 23 sacks combined.

Neither Riley nor Longshore enjoyed consistent pass protection, forcing them to release the ball probably earlier than they would have been comfortable with. It was certainly the reason Cal abandoned the passing game late last season and turned exclusively to "run Best up the middle behind Mack".

Nevertheless, what was our weakness last season could become our greatest strength. Players who would not normally see much playing time (Donovan Edwards, Justin Cheadle, Mark Boskovich) were granted invaluable minutes and sets on the field. All of our starters (save one, more on him later) are going to have plenty of experience, almost rivalling USC's O-line in terms of aggregate PT. So even if the Bears are hurt by injuries this season, they shouldn't be scrambling as much as they were last season, and the dropoff won't be as great.

What are your thoughts on this year's Cal offensive line? Do you believe they're better or worse without Mack anchoring the middle?

We look at the relative units of the offensive line after the jump.

via grfx.cstv.com

Stepping into a giant's shoes--Center: Even if the Bears upgrade individually as a unit, there's no chance they upgrade at this position this season, no matter how good Chris Guarnero is. Alex Mack's ability to open up holes was the key to unleashing Justin Forsett and Jahvid Best the past two seasons as the rest of the O-line struggled with injuries. He also was an excellent call-signalerer, picked up every blitz, and .

If we measure Guarnero to Mack's standard, then he will fall short. So let's not do that. Guarnero had a fine season before it was cut short by injury, and he does have the build of a center in any case. All Pac-10 points out that Guarnero just has to be himself to succeed.

Chris Guarnero has the daunting task of trying to replace NFL first round draft pick Alex Mack. Giving up 35 pounds to the departed senior doesn’t help, either. But Guarnero isn’t going to be asked to be Alex Mack, he’s going to be asked to be himself; and that should be good enough.

A former 4-star recruit that was ranked the 19th best offensive guard in the nation in 2006, Guarnero has been groomed to take over the center spot for the past few seasons. While he only saw action in one game in 2007, he was listed as the backup center in every game. In 2008 he got off to a great start at left guard (he played too well to be left in a backup role) before suffering a season ending toe injury.

How successful do you think Guarnero will be at replacing Mack?

via grfx.cstv.com

Boskovich (top) vs Summers-Gavin...who ya got???

The incumbents and the challengers--Guards: Here are where the big position battles are taking place, right through fall camp. On the left side, the highly touted Matt Summers-Gavin is already challenging, perhaps already overtaking Mark Boskovich for his spot, and both have already seen time taking first team snaps. During all of last season and going through spring practice, Boskovich had great stretches replacing Guarnero, but also really struggled out there, including in the Emerald Bowl as Hydro pointed out. And many are eager to see what Summers-Gavin, as one of the jewels of that fantastic 2007 offensive line class, can do on a football field.

These highlights are old, but the potential is all on display.

via grfx.cstv.com

A little bit more under the radar, but just as vital, is the battle emerging on the right side. Chet Teofilo moves back to guard after being forced into the tackle position due to Tepper's injury, but even he'll be facing the pressure in his senior campaign. Justin Cheadle has already taken reps with the first team several times. Although Tedford is more cautious with proclaiming anything concerning the right guard battles, Teofilo will definitely feel the heat.

In any case, this competition between the four could work out to the benefit of all; with each player knowing that any slip-ups could cost them the starting role, we might see some healthy competition. And if one goes down to injury, another capable guard will be ready to take their place. A very strong situation at guards here.

Who do you see winning the battles at the guards?

via grfx.cstv.com

via graphics.fansonly.com

(from top to bottom: Tepper, Schwartz, Edwards, Prueitt)

Tackles: This should be our biggest upgrade from last season. Blogger extraordinaire Mike Tepper, sophomore Mitchell Schwartz, and juniors Donovan Edwards and Justin Prueitt are a net positive over redshirt freshman Mitchell Schwartz, Teofilo, and an inexperienced Edwards and Prueitt manning the front. Cal got rushed a lot from the blind side last season with Teofilo and Schwartz having to play that side--with a healthy Tepper in place, the pressure from that side will probably alleviate quite a bit. Schwartz certainly had his ups and downs in his redshirt season, but he seems firmly cemented into his starting role. And he owns up to his mistakes pretty quickly, as evidenced in fall camp.

The first lineman to run a lap because of a false start this camp? Mitchell Schwartz, who flinched forward when Riley got up under center to call an audible. Schwartz got right up and after the play was over ran a lap around the field.

Since I have nothing real exciting to add on this front, I'll add some nuggets of wisdom from Tepper's blog about how Cal's linemen should avoid injury.

The best way to defend yourself against injury is by fast feet. Our technique as O Lineman, in short, is butt down, feet apart, hands in chest. But those feet never stop moving. They need to move rapidly because in our position the frequency of someone falling into your knees is extremely common.

Not only that but the Offensive Line is mandated to wear our knee braces. My knee braces have definitely, on more than one occasion, saved major injury. There is nothing like a Erik Robertson/ Mebane battle and either one of them tries to plant a foot for leverage not realizing its into your calf or side of the knee. Or how about a Power play where Alex Mack drives the backside D Tackle into the Tackle. Its very common.

Other than that, injuries are very common for an Offensive Lineman. Playing the sport feeling a 100 percent is very unlikely. You are almost always playing Saturdays with small injuries.

Do you guys feel Tepper, in his sixth year of eligibility, will be ready to assume his left tackle duties? Or would the Bears be better suited with someone with more continuity like Schwartz assuming this important role?

So while we should be a little down at the loss of Mack, in general the Bears offensive line should be much better in 2008. Experience runs nine deep on this unit, a luxury that only USC shares in the Pac-10. Let's hope this becomes a pleasant surprise.

As for Coach Marshall...we'll talk about him a little this weekend.

Poll

How do you think Cal's 2009 offensive line will fare this season?

They'll be gangbusting again.

76 votes

They'll look good, with occasional struggles.

166 votes

They'll be average, and have to overcome huge obstacles.

17 votes

They'll have big time issues; they're going to really miss Alex Mack.

5 votes

264 votes | Poll has closed