SB Nation - Ernest Owusu

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.

CGB Report Card: Grading Cal's Performance Against Arizona State

Avinash — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:26:53 -0000

Position	QB	RB	Rec.	Run B	Pass P	Run D	Pass R	Pass D	ST	Coach	Overall
Score	3.520	2.697	3.081	1.470	2.354	2.889	1.970	2.424	2.225	2.828	2.838
Grade	A-	B-	B	D+	C+	B	C	C+	C+	B-	B

Thanks to the 34 people who submitted grades this week, and again thanks to Twist for gathering these.

goldblooded, perfectstrat, MadBum, slaphancock, USAFGoldenBear, GoldenBear 77, JrBear, coolingfan, BTown85, TKE Prytanis 79, BatmanSF, minesweeper, rocksanddirt, CaliforniaCMB, Jake, totallyawesome, jsnell,
Kodiak, California Pete, Berkelium97, BeastMode, yorzepol, beson, bluehenbear, Ohio Bear, oldBear, CALumbus Bear, solarise, HOUSE66, omnizzle, rurata, GBB4188, ikoolykedat, Prd74

Your gameday experience winner goes to inebriated goldblooded, who got bonus points for writing this post drunk.

i drNK LIKE 7 beers in 100 mnutes plus a shotgun fter we won i am heppy also alex gots beers for us hen they were empty and chrius is doing homeworjk and i am pissing him off, ps geeeeeogeeo kicked a fild for ONCE wow

Quarterback--kevin riley for the seahg geneiss is the best quarter back ever/

Running backs--kahvi sstill rules, and shane is tight cause he didnt throw an inT

Receivers--ummm mrvin made me cry once but then he won the game so i hd a beer

Run blocking--i hope that we got bettercause hahivid needs to run feree as a birrd now

Pass protection--jebin riley threwew a shovel pass like tim jesus and he was good, even thoguh the other guys culdnt really helpo him and he got sacked a few trims

Run defense-- that fat guy 26 i hate him a lot i think that mikey mo needs to be better

Pass rush--it was ok, especailly on the last play where we broke the ASU quartererbacks arm haha two penakties

Pass defense--syd uan is so good at everything syd quan, sometiems si se him on the glkf cart, i think i wqill give him a ug nect time i see him he is so good

Special teams--gireeeegeeeo kicked q filed goal over 50 years sthen another one and won it was cool

Coaching--well jeffy bear didnt lose dso he is still kinda tight and alomar was a poop

Overall--we require more vespene beer

The lesson as always? Alcohol is a beautiful thing.

Here's the best of the gameday experiences:

coolingfan - Nothing much, just watched the game at home in my "graduate student" costume.

GoldenBear77 - I missed a couple of minutes of the first quarter -- shopping with my wife. After being gone three days this week on a business trip, didn't think I could just blow it off. She is gone to see her sister next week, so you know where I will be at 4 at when the Oregon State game starts.

totallyawesome - Picked up some KFC and b/c of some unfortunate circumstances (Bay Bridge being closed, GF doing halloween-related errands, friends out of town) I plopped down on my couch to watch the game by myself. Lurched back during Ross's dropped pass and hit my head on the wall. I was shaken up but the wall was ok.

yorzepol - In Hawaii watching in a sports bar with an incredibly drunk and obnoxious bunch of UF fans. They have some pretty lame cheers BTW. As Cal kept making me more and more nervous, those Gator fans kept getting louder and more obnoxious. Fortunately, Riley drove us drown the field and Taveccio redeemed himself and then those Gator fans weren't as annoying (don't get me wrong, they were stil annoying, just not as much.) BTW be very afraid of the Loco Mocos at Giovanni Pastrami's (you Hawaiians know what I mean; they are ginormous!)

rocksndirt - guy in the bar i watched the second half at had a little radio and was listening to starkey....the feed for that was a bit a head of the ABC feed. That and Norrie's kill'n me.

House66 - Sitting down, standing up,Sitting down, standing up,Sitting down, standing up,Sitting down, standing up,Sitting down, standing up,Sitting down, standing up,Sitting down, standing up,Sitting down, standing up,Sitting down, standing up,Sitting down, standing up,Sitting down, standing up,Sitting down, standing up,Sitting down, standing up,Sitting down, standing up, and almost throwing up at the end of the game.

JRBear - Watched the game on ESPN 360. Then I went to Chipotle on Telegraph with a Zack Follett jersey and a tin foil hat with a spike on my head for a free burrito. My costume was "The Space Rhinoceros."

OhioBear - I watched this bad boy on espn360. Unfortunately, I was late getting logged on and missed the first 3 plays of the game. In my zeal to hurry to get the game on, I totes forgot to open a separate window for the first quarter thread on CGB. I was so engrossed in our fine start, that I didn't think about joining the in-game threads until late in the 1st quarter when we were up 14-0. After I opened a window for the threads (and even posted a couple of comments), bad stuff piled up one by one: the Riley fumble at the 3, the ensuing TD, the missed Tavecchio FG, the brutal 80-yard TD pass. So I decided my logging into the in game threads was a reason that we had lost control of the game. So I left CGB and didn't come back until the post game thread, after we'd won. Clearly, I was instrumental in the victory.

BTown85 - Tape-delay viewing of Cal game with a beer. Riley fumbles three times in the first quarter......more beer. Vereen tries to give the game to ASU with 24 seconds left......bourbon !!!!! Line-up for game-winning field goal - knock at the door. Pause DVR to greet guests for Halloween Party. Back to the TV with a beer. 21 seconds of hell after the Field Goal; Party Begins.

minesweeper - My gameday experience began Friday night with some early Halloween partying. To make a long story short, lots of Indian food for lunch followed by an open bar at night does a number on one's stomach. After leaving most of its contents on the streets of San Francisco, my companion (who's smaller than me but can somehow handle much more liquor) helped me stumble home where I promptly passed out.

The main benefit of evacuating ones stomach before passing out is no hangover Saturday morning, and I was up early enough to take in a full 10 hours of college football.

TKE Pryantis 79 - Watched it in a sports bar in Fort Worth TX, with no audio, joined by my wife and colleagues from Scotland and New Zealand, so was put in the interesting role of explaining the rules, strategy and meaning of American College Football...not sure how I did, but the Bears effing won so that's all I cared about

CALumbusBear - I watched it on lo-def. BOOO Time Warner Cable. Why the F did I pay 160 bucks for ESPN Game Plan (aka fleece plan) to watch shit in lo-def? Because I HAD NO CHOICE. Lo-def sux donkeys f'realz

Kodiak - Mother in law came over to babysit, so I got to go fishing for the first time in months. After nailing some nice smallmouth, spotted bass, largemouth, and one really mean trout, I zipped home in time to take the 3 year-old trick or treating for the first time. With the kid safely geeked on sugar, I passed her off to grandma, got the wife to bring me my big mug 'o beer, and watched the game on dvr. Managed not to stroke out while watching it...but holy crap, it's tough being a Cal fan, sometimes.

Golden Rationality Award

Postponed for a week. Data is all screwed up. I'll try and figure out and have the actual answers in next week's report card. So I declare you all winners!

Old Blue Award

Commenter/alias name	Average score (out of 4)
prd74	1.939
ikoolykedat	2.000
GBB4188	2.030
rurata	2.091
omnizzle	2.152

Man, the guy who took photos last week seemed the most distressed about our team, and now it's our video guy. Is it going to be danzig next week? NOOOOOOOOOO...

Golden Sunglasses Award

Commenter/alias name	Average score (out of 4)
perfectstrat	3.182
MadBum	3.121
slaphancock	3.030
USAFGoldenBear	3.000
GoldenBear 77	2.939

Quarterback

GBB4188 - Some great deep balls once again from Riley. However, he once again through some funky thing into the flat while he was rolling out of the pocket which was fortunately not a pick 6. Combine that with 3 fumbles and you get, despite the nice passes, a pretty sloppy overall game.

That beard is what champions are made of, though.

bluehenbear - Well, Riley didn't make any mistakes and his mediocre completion percentage is on the WRs to had several drops (Ross and Tucker especially). Managed the game and got us in position for the winning FG. Wanted to give + but just couldn't do it with the fumbles.

Jake - When he's good, he looks like Aaron Rodgers, and makes the crowd hold their breath. When he's bad, he looks like Nate Longshore, and makes the crowd hold their breath for reasons. He looked good today, but the offense went nowhere for 2 1/2 quarters. Also: seriously, dude, three fumbles in the first half?

Only reason it's a B is that he came alive that last drive.

jsnell - Riley played pretty well, other than a couple of bad decisions and the fumbling. But really, that last drive... pretty much erases the rest of it, doesn't it?

Running back

ikoolydekat - Both RBs were contained today, but I believe most of the blame should be placed on the OL.

Berkelium97 - There wasn't much they could have done with the lack of holes being opened up. The wildcat wasn't too bad against the stout ASU D (especially that Vereen run called back due to penalty).

totallyawesome - Meow! Moar Wildcat pleez!

No, but seriously, aside from some great catches, our running back couldn't do much against this ASU run defense. Thankfully, the ASU D Coordinator dared us to beat him thru the air and we did (mostly).

yorzepol - Javid had an ineffective running game. Shane was not much better. I saw Jahvid completely whiff on a block and then come back to prevent the sack. The problem was by that time Riley was so out of position he had to throw it away. Then I saw him make some great blocks. Blocking continues to be a problem for him. Maybe if he stayed another year he could work on it? Anybody?

MadBum - Vereen never had a shot. Wasn't given the ball enough, only seeing one rushing attempt. This is unacceptable, as against UCLA he was key in freeing up Best for his big plays. Best did okay with what he had. I'm not thrilled with 3 yards per carry, but Mr. Best came up big in the passing game as well. This linebacking corp is tops in the Pac-10, and Best did what he could. His average relies mainly on big plays, and he didn't get one. ASU refused to let Best beat them, and he freed up Riley.

BatmanSF - I thought the backs played well, given the limited holes available. Jahvid actually showed more toughness and grit and willingness to grind out tough yards than he has earlier. Shane Vereen is just a QUALITY player, all the way around...OK, maybe he can work on his passing! And, BTW, a very nice Brian Holley contribution!

BTown85- Uninspiring at running the ball. Best and Holley catching passes were awesome; let's do more of that. I KNEW Vereen was going to throw the ball at the goal line 'cause he came up there in the WildBear and I thought "Everyone KNOWS you're running....wait, unless THIS is the first time you EVER decide to pass it....against the MAN-CHILD who is Burfict!!!!" I put the call on the coaches ($%##$) and the crap pass on Vereen, who should have tucked the ball and taken a knee and 18 more seconds off the clock. ANOTHER thing the coaches should have prepped him for!!!!!

Receivers

GoldenBear77 - Verran, you made a great catch on the low throw on the final drive, but you owed Riley one. The one you dropped down the sideline hit you in a bad place -- your hands -- and that had six written all over it. Ross, you can't drop the screen when it is third down. We appear to be feast or famine here. Thankfully, there was enough to eat at this banquet.

Berkelium97 - Drops, drops, drops, drops, drops (mostly from Tucker and Ross). Everyone was getting chances, though. Marv made some great catches. Everyone really stepped up (Marv, Miller, Lage(r)mann, and Tucker) for some huge catches on that final drive. I can forgive the drops if they're willing to play like that in the clutch. Miller is really establishing himself as a consistent target. He made big catches today (just like he did in his lone catch against Miami last year).

bluehenbear - Great first half, lousy second half...another case of the dropsies. Way to hang in there on the last drive, though. Wanted to give a B, but but just couldn't do it with the drops.

MadBum - Great job done right here. Mistakes were made, like drops by Ross and Tucker that hurt us. That facemask hurt us as well, and that holding hurt us big by Miller. But Miller made up for that mistake with his catch on the next play, Ross came up with big play after big play, and Tucker had that huge diving catch. Lagermann proved that his studliness on NCAA 09 wasn't just restricted to the video game, and made some catches that we haven't seen in his career. If these guys play the same way they did today minus those mistakes, then we'll be tough to stop.

slaphancock - Two drops nearly cost us the game. But then they caught everything on the last drive. Still, those two drops (the over the shoulder td one and the screen pass on third down) were inexcusable. It looked like both bounced off the receiver's chest protection. Maybe they should find new pads?

beeson - I think Marvin Jones sweats super glue. The ball just sticks to him.

Run blocking

ikoolydekat - No hole, no glory, no fun.

GoldenBear77 - Almost a non-issue in the game. When is the last time you said this at a CAL game?

Berkelium97 - It was mostly non-existent. Matt Summers-Gavin wasn't playing, but I don't think he alone would have made a tremendous difference.

yorzepol - The line was dominated today. Jahvid and Shane had no room to juke. Fortunately we had a passing game to overcome the terrible blocking, but we might not always. Or it could be that their run D really is scary good.

CaliforniaPete - It looked like there were some nice holes created in the line, but the Bears had a hard time carrying it through the second level. In other words, a lot of 3 yard gains. Don't know if this was a scheme issue or guys failing to make plays, but it sure would have been nice to established more of a rushing attack after jumping out to a 14-point lead.

Beastmode - What run blocking? I know teams are stacking the box, but teams do so against Stanfurd and Oregon too. I know, different schemes, but that just means we need to scheme better, even if we have a young line, so does Oregon by the way.

OhioBear - The most frustrating part of the game, by far, was the inability to open holes for Best. ASU was all over our running game and our O-line didn't seem to rise up to the occasion. Credit to ASU, for sure. But I can't believe we're not better than that. Fewer than 100 yards rushing? We're lucky to win a game with that number.

Pass protection

coolingfan - Riley's running ability saved the game -- pass protection was awful, but this was the case pretty much for the whole season so far.

totallyawesome - Pass protection was circumspect, but thankfully, Riley and his happy feet bailed them out on a few plays. They held the line when it mattered, thankfully, especially on that last drive.

yorzepol - I don't remember thinking that they got owned very much. There were sometimes they allowed too many defenders through but mostly they gave Riley the time he needed. Oh yeah, except for the two sacks which led to two fumbles from Riley and made it a much closer game than it should have been. But besides that they didn't get owned much.

MadBum - I was impressed these guys. False starts and holdings derailed some drives but overall very well done. The last 2 drives were executed to perfection, as the only time they got a rush was when Riley took his time. They even held on plays when Riley scrambled around, not holding and letting him keep the play alive. Tepper seems to be a weakspot for us though. He commits too many penalties, but I can't complain too much.

OhioBear - Gave up 3 sacks, and pressure seemed consistently there from the ASU pass rush. I was holding my breath every time a guy got close to Riley, praying to Oski he wouldn't fumble again.

USAF Golden Bear - This seemed like a two faced o-line. Sometimes they were giving Riley a perfect pocket, and then other times it seemed like a minimal rush they were just getting straight beat.

solarise - Riley was running for his life like Neve Campbell in Scream 1 through infinity. It'd be nice to see what Riley could really do if he gets protection a la Matt Barkley.

CALumbus Bear - Dear O-line: Let's talk about that sucking thing. You know, that thing you've been doing a LOT of recently. Please stop doing it. Really. Stop. Like now. Holes are your friends. Please open them. Just push that big fat guy to the side you're supposed to push him. You've been doing it for years. Vacation over, get back to F-ing work.

Rush defense

Berkelium97 - The run D was generally good, but they could still move the chains on us (see ASU's last TD drive). I was surprised ASU's ypc (adjusted for sacks) was only 3.5. I thought it would have been closer to the mid-4s.

totallyawesome - Very solid. Saw Cattouse get in on a few plays. ASU is much improved running-wise from last year but still couldn't manage much against our defense.

JRBear - Defense is so hard to grade for this game. It's hard to give them credit for their first two lucky TDs. I think the Run D did a good job holding back Bass, not so much Marshall.

OhioBear - Statistically, pretty good. But it seemed like Cam Marshall gave ASU a spark in the 2nd half, getting good gains. I would've graded the run D higher had it not been for ASU's run game awakening in the 4th quarter. Props to the D, however, for stopping them when we had to in order to get the ball back.

Kodiak - Did a nice job in the 1st half, seemed to wear down in the 2nd. No question we're more stout with Derrick Hill. I hope he's back soon. For the 1st time in...a month(?) we didn't give up a bone-headed long run from someone being woefully out of position.

Pass rush

ikoolydekat - what pass rush?

GoldenBear77 - CAL was stronger as the day progressed, and that was a good thing. I thought we did not get enough pressure in the first half, but, particularly in the first drive of the second half stepped it up. However, no one is going to mistake Sullivan for Aaron Rodgers.

Berkelium97 - Sullivan generally had a lot of time to pass. Alualu was abusing their O-line in the early third quarter, though. The 4:3 helped get more pressure, but Sullivan still had some time.

totallyawesome - Very pedestrian. Our D-lineman need to get better at shedding blocks and we need to dial up a few more blitz plays. They need enough, however, to force Sullivan into some bad decision making.

Beastmode - No sacks. Not many TFL. Teams obviously know to get rid of the ball quickly against Cal, but it isn't just a matter of that. it's that our guys do not get enough of a push, particularly on the interior.

slaphancock - When we got the QB under pressure, he looked like a normal college QB, not like the hyper-accurate heisman contenders the rest of the QBs we've played have looked like against us.

USAF Golden Bear - This was the most abysmal part of the team, IMO. Play after play, I saw no pressure being put on Sullivan, who was playing poorly in the 1st half all by himself. Unless ASU's o-line suddenly became not-horrible in the last couple of days, Cal's pass rushers need to figure what the deal is and fix it.

Kodiak - Sullivan is a statue with happy feet who makes bad decisions when pressured. Yet, he had enough time to stand there and utilize his scud-arm to some effect. It's becoming pretty apparent that our 3-4 is more than a little gimped without a legitimate pass-rushing threat from the LB's.

Pass defense

GoldenBear77 - What happened on the 80 yard reception in the first half? That simply should not happen, the way we play pass defense. Other than that, OK with two interceptions, one of which led to the half-time lead.

Jake- Syd is a beast. 'Nuff said. The picks were works of art.

BTown85 - There were some SPECTACULAR plays that often will bring a PI call, but didn't 'cause Cattouse and Thompson played 'em PERFECTLY (no hand on receiver's back, etc.). We got lucky that we were able to jar the ball loose a couple of times from receivers who should have held on. Whew.

Totally blown coverage on that deep TD.

solarise - Syd & Josh Hill made some big plays. Cattouse deserved the start. The man produces big hits and provides coverage in the middle. I'd like to see Cattouse w/ even more playing time.

Kodiak - On the one hand, we finally got a couple of ints. The CB's seemed closer to receivers than previous weeks. Cattouse is such an obvious upgrade over Ezeff, it makes you wonder what took the coaches so damn long to make that call. On the other, I can't shake the feeling that the only reason we didn't give up another career day of 300+ passing yards is that Sullivan is really, really bad.

Special Teams

ikoolydekat - NO.

Berkelium97 - Anger quietly had a big day (53.0 average!) Giorgio missed some easy field goals, but also managed to kick a 51(!) yarder and --HOLY CANOLI--kicked the game-winning field goal! Return coverage was serviceable, but I still get nervous every time we kick off.

yorsepol - ALLLLLLLLLLLLLAAAAAMMMMMMAAAAA

AAAAAAR!

but also:

ALLLLLLLLLLLLLAAAAAMMMMMMAAAAAAAAAAAR!

Some decent plays (finally a kickoff in the endzone,) but too few to merit a higher grade. Taveccio would not have had to make the game winning filed goal in the last seconds if he had made either of the other two field goal attempts or better yet, if he had made both. But at least he redeemed himself. Those kick offs and kick off coverage WILL cost us a game though, mark my words.

BTown85 -We squeaked this out. Only one kickoff from the 30 got within the five, two makeable FGs missed, Tavecchio jumping OVER a would-be kick-rougher then falling down to ensure he didn't the call......and then squeaking out the last FG. Dang, I gave up the wrong week to quit doing tequila shots.

Anger was stellar as usual (to the point I'm disappointed if he doesn't get some punts in the 60-70 yard range....now THAT'S not fair), but our kick-off coverage was weak, weak, weak.

CALumbus Bear - Punting was good. KO coverage was mediocre to very poor. Salami's FG grades were as follows: F-, then a most shocking A+, then another fat F, then "why the frig are we sending him out there this is a coaching phail just go for it Tedford O MY OSKI HE ACTUALLY MADE IT WHEN WE REALLY NEEDED IT TAVECCHIO FOR THE GROZA AWARD GIVE IT TO HIM NOW!" So they get a nice + on the end of that medicre C.

Kodiak - Anger punted pretty well. I don't remember screaming while watching our kickoffs or kick coverage in general. You can go half-empty/half-full with Tavecchio. Yeah, he blew a couple of gimmes...But he also nailed on from 51, and had the stones to come through at the end. It does worry me when Tedford waits until gametime to name a starting kicker...and does it by asking Alamar who looks better in warm-ups. We're officially flogging the horse's fossilized skeleton at this point, but we need to do better than our current Mickey Mouse approach to special teams.

Coaching

coolingfan - Didn't get much out of Wildcat formations, but otherwise showed a variety of plays and formations, which we missed early in the season against 'SC and Oregon.

GoldenBear77 - Great confidence in Riley on the final drive. I am torn on the Vereen wildcat toss into the end zone. On the one hand, if it had succeeded we would have all thought the coaches incredible. On the other hand, if it was intercepted, idiots. Was it a lack of confidence in the kicking game? In any event, someone once told me "you can't argue with results", and the result is that we are 6-2, and 3-1 on the road.

Berkelium97 - There were a lot of smart play calls today. From the first play, that took great advantage of ASU biting on the run to the calls on the last drive. I was really surprised that we threw for the first down so often on that last drive (even on 1st and 25). Then that WildVereen pass, I loved that call even though Miller barely missed the pass. They did a great job of moving the ball (on that last drive and others) through the air. The offense still looked competent without Best or Vereen running for chunks of yardage. Gregory's unit made a huge mistake, but was otherwise good enough to keep us in the game. It's too bad we can't find a way to get more pass rush, but our unit just doesn't seem to have the personnel for it. Alamar lives to see another day...by the narrowest of margins.

CaliforniaPete - From a season-wide perspective, I'm happy. This team has really responded well to the adversity of two brutal losses. And for the second time this year, the Bears have won a game, on the road, in the fourth quarter. That's all good.

I'm a big Bob Gregory fan, and with the exception of the debacle in Eugene, I'm generally with the defense. As for Tedford/Ludwig's offense, I'm of two minds. For much of the year, this team has been fun to watch, and the Bears have often jumped out early to sizable leads. Such was the case again today. But when the offense stalls, it really struggles to get going again--or at all in the case of the two losses. All of this leads me to question the coaches' in-game adjustments; what's their response when Plan A is no longer working. Given today's performance, I wonder if we'll see some no-huddle series in the future, even when the clock isn't an issue. The change of tempo really appeared to help.

MadBum - This is where I question. That throw with Vereen on 2nd down and goal was completely unneccesary; he hasn't thrown a pass all year, is inaccurate, and there isn't alot of room for him to work with. Also, ASU knows Vereen is the back in the WildBear that throws. Didn't like some defensive calls, but can't think of specific ones. JAHVID BEST IS OUR BEST PLAYER. GIVE HIM THE BALL. VEREEN IS ALSO GOOD TOO. Both still need touches. Best could use 20 carries, but I guess I'm okay with that. Vereen really needs the ball more. He completely opens the offense up for Best and Riley. Without him, our rushing game is completely onedimensional and ASU keyed completely on Best.

JrBear - I like the WildVereen pass. Were you expecting that? I bet you weren't.
Overall, alright. Coaches aren't responsible for momentum changes, and that's what happened in the 2nd quarter.

jsnell - I wonder if they called for that halfback pass at the end of the game just to make people stop talking about how conservative the play-calling is, and instead let us talk about how reckless the play-calling is.

USAF Golden Bear - Whatever Tedford and Ludwig have done with Riley, its amazing. Keep it up. Gregory on the other hand, needs to get this D on track, and not make inept offenses look servicible. OSU is going to pile up huge numbers if this continues, and I'm not sure Cal's offense will be able to keep up.

solarise - I liked Ludwig's playcalling in the 1st. Aggressive & revealed some plays I haven't seen before. Some adjustments were made in the 2nd half to give Riley more protection. I thought the coaches showed a lot of faith in the players, especially for giving Vereen the freedom to pass out of that Wildbear at such a critical junction of the game.

Cut down those penalties.

Kodiak - 1) I still hate our special teams.
2) I'm skeptical of our defensive playcalling...but at least appreciate that we seem to be trying different schemes and players to get better.
3) I like the diversity and innovation displayed on offense. I hope there's some continuity. I get the feeling that the execution and range of plays will only get better as the players become more comfortable.

Overall

rurata - An ugly game overall, but we won on the road, and are bowl eligible now. Hooray for that.

Berkelium97 - Too many penalties, too many dropped passes, inadequate holes for the running game, but--Bak Bak Almighty--that last drive was incredible. I am as confident in Riley as I have ever been. He puts the ball where it needs to be (just outside of where the defense can get it) and can make huge plays when necessary. I am now confident--and more importantly, so is the team after today--that this team can run the table. It won't be easy, but they can do it.

totallyawesome - This was an emotional rollercoaster, to be sure. A very sloppy performance by both teams (penalty-o-rama). But I like how our team kept their heads in the game, overcame some huge letdowns and managed to escape with a win. Riley's last drive will definitely go in some kind of highlight reel from Danzig. Also, great to see Tavecchio make the game winner. He should have made at least one of the other two field goals, but he's our FG kicker and hopefully will learn and get better from this experience.

yorzepol - Let's face it, we were lucky to come out of there with a win. The worst thing is that IT SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN THAT CLOSE! I couldn't believe all the lost opportunities I saw. We need to execute better. Still, we didn't play well and still won against what I think is a decent ASU team so that's got to mean something right? (Right?) If we keep playing like this we will be unlucky sometime and lose a game we really should have won. I hope this doesn't happen and we finish 10-2 but only time will tell.

rocksndirt - Just win, baby.

Beastmode - A road win is great no matter how it happens. First win in Arizona since 2004. And, makes Tedford 6-1 against ASU. This win also makes Cal bowl eligible and sets us up for the opportunity at a very good season. That said, the weak running game is troublesome and the passing defense only got slightly better. Both better improve with OSU, Arizona, and Stanfurd in consecutive weeks.

BatmanSF - The team had not been in a close game all season. Therefore, I can't be too disappointed that they rallied when necessary to pull it out. I still have the nagging feeling that coaching is holding this team back as much as anything, but I admit I don't have the answers....its a bit of an odd season, so far, isn't it?

OhioBear - There is no such thing as a bad win, especially on the road against a team that is far from terrible. This is the type of game we would have lost during the Holmoe, Mariucci, and Gilbertson years. Hell, we hadn't won a game on a last minute win or lose FG since Coach Snyder's Citrus Bowl season in 1991 (if memory serves). So we should characterize this one as "good" for grading purposes. But we need to play better. Much better.

minesweeper - Generally an ugly game with lots of penalties, turnovers, and missed FGs, but not every game's going to be pretty, and to win an ugly one is almost more satisfying than a scrimmage win against the likes of EWU or WSU. Riley, Tavecchio, and the rest of the team showed a lot of guts and maturity regrouping after some early miscues and pulling out the victory.

Earlier in the season, when our expectations were much higher, I'd be focusing on everything the team didn't do right in this game. Now that our expectations are more modest, we can focus on what went right, and after all a win is a win is a win, and I'll take 'em any way we can get 'em.

And hey, we have the same record, overall and in conference, as USC now? Say what???

Kodiak - I'm sure there are plenty of fans screaming about how bad we are. Geez. Shut up already. We're Cal fans. Our teams are supposed to give us coronaries every now and then. This is the winnable/favored game that we blow every year...but somehow didn't. I'm happy with the resolve that the team, and in particular, that Riley showed. The ball doesn't always bounce your way, but good teams find a way. We're not a great team, but we're learning to be good. I also absolutely loved the call to pass out of the Wildbear at the end of the game. That's the call Tedford makes in his first year when he was bold, dynamic, and played to win. There's been too much of playing not-to-lose, and playing scared the last few years. As a program, we need to get that mean, hungry, no-nonsense-I'm-going-to-beat-

you-down-and-step-on-your-throat edge back.

Getting to know the California Golden Bears: Q&A with CGB

jtlight — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:30:13 -0000

More photos » by Paul Battaglia - AP

The guys from CGB have a special place in their hearts for Marshawn Lynch. Will Jahvid Best take that spot?

Browse more photos »

With Cal coming to town this weekend, we caught up with the guys from California Golden Blogs and asked them a few questions on their team. Below you'll find our questions, and their answers. Our answers to CGB's questions can be found on their site.

1) Is Jahvid Best the greatest running back to ever play at Cal? More specifically, will he replace Marshawn in that special place in your heart?

That's like asking if the Father is better than the Holy Ghost. And I really hope that my knowledge of Catholic mythology is sufficiently good for that to have made sense.

That said, even if he were to win the Heisman and ride off into the NFL as a National Championship winning back, there's no way he is ever overtaking Marshawn in my heart. Marshawn is Marshawn. He's Marshawn.

That ALSO said, Jahvid Best is big. Gabby Hayes big. He's getting hype that Marshawn never quite did. He's doing it with amazing highlights, the only real currency in college football.

What he needs to do to overtake Marshawn in the minds of the reasonable is to have huge days in the big games. That's always been the critique, not only of Cal, but specifically of Best. If he can lead Cal to victories over Oregon, USC, and/or UCLA, he could really make a name for himself.

2) How has the receiving corp looked this year? While Oregon's secondary is not top notch, it will easily be the best faced by Cal this year. How will your receiving corp (without Nyan Boateng) fare?

HydroTech: HAHAHAHAHA. "While Oregon's secondary is not top notch, it will easily be the best faced by Cal this year." HAHAHAHAHAHA.

TwistNHook: Ya, not doing a great job of respecting the Juju:

jtlight: Let me clarify. It will easily be the best faced by Cal SO FAR this year.

TwistNHook: Seriously, though, each year there is a lot of hype about the Oregon secondary. But each year it seems that they never quite live up to the potential of that hype. I think having a productive passing game is the key to success here. Everyone and their mom (Hi, Mama Ward!) is gonna be on the look out for Best.

If Riley can pass and force the D to be honest towards the pass game, then Best is gonna have a huge game. Losing Nyan Boateng to injury is unfortunate. He is a very talented receiver, no doubt about it. But right now Cal has a lot of good to great receivers, but no amazing ones. There are no DeSeans here (....yet). So, while it is unfortunate to lose Boateng, we do have a variety of other WRs who can step up. WRs like Verran Tucker, Marvin Jones, and Jeremy Ross. Also, let's not forget that Andy Ludwig, noted pinata of the Oregon fandom, likes to put Best and backup RB Vereen out wide. Best scored a TD on a 30 or 40 yard pass play and nearly had a 60+ pass completion in the first game. He can get ahead of all the defenders and then its just up to Riley to heave it to him.

3) On a scale of 1-10, how worried are you that Jeremiah Masoli turns into the quarterback of the end of last season?

10. But thats only because Im an old school "dumbass" Cal fan who has no faith or belief in the success of his team. A more reasonable fan might say that not only has Masoli looked really, really, really, really bad the past couple of games, but the O-Line hasn't done him any favors.

Cal's 3-4 D is designed to suffocate the running game. Notice how Cal is giving up 2.0 yards per rush. They have squelched the running games of all 3 opponents to date completely. Now, Oregon will be the greatest running game they potentially see all year. Their QB can run great and their new starters are great runners also. But Oregon's biggest offensive strength runs right into our greatest defensive strength. We saw last year the same thing. Cal was able to control the Oregon running game (not stop it, mind you, just reign it in) and force Masoli to beat us with his arm. He couldn't.

Will he this year? With a worse O-Line and no more Blount? Oregon does have home field advantage now and it won't be a lake out there, but a better question might be, on a scale of 1-10, how worried are you that Jeremiah Masoli remains the quarterback of the beginning of THIS season?

4) In the ATQ Cal preview, the biggest worry was the Cal D-line. How have they looked this year. Have they been as dominant as expected?

In a word, HELLYESTHEYHAVEZOMGIMNOTSURETHISISONEWORD,BUTOK. In more words, yes. But also, yes. They have 13 sacks already on the year. They were getting pressure against Minn QB Weber last week with 3 rushers at times. Tyson Alualu already has 2.5 sacks.

Plus, they have some great depth. Last year, Tyson Alualu and Cameron Jordan were great. But they can only play so much. They depth wasn't there last year. Now, we have back ups like Ernest Owusu, Trevor Guyton, and Jarred Price. These guys can come in to spell the Jordans and Alualus of the world.

We just teed off on the Maryland QB. Here is a montage.

5) What's up with your secondary? Against poor competition, it has been far from world beating, as was assumed. Has the over-hype, under-perform curse spread from up north?

I disagree with the main assumption here. For two reasons:

1. What does far from world beating mean? It's so vague as to have minimal value. For example, in the first two games, Cal completely squelched the run, forcing the opponents to pass. And pass and pass and pass. And they were able to complete some short passes over the middle, which is more the purview of the linebackers than say the secondary.

Combining the short pass success with the volume of passing, some of the numbers are inflated. But when push came to shove, Cal held strong. Cal, after all, only gave up 1 passing TD in the first two games. So, I disagree in that sense that it has been far from world beating.

2. Regarding the Minn game, Minn definitely had some passing success. They threw for 3 TDs. One of which was on an impressive trick play. Thrown by Eric Decker. The other two were caught by Eric Decker. Essentially, Eric Decker was killing us out there. And when I say "us" I mean, in specific, Darian Hagan. Hagan certainly did not have a great game, no doubt about that.

But instead of denigrating the Cal passing defense, maybe we should instead credit Eric Decker. He is a top notch player. Easily a NFL talent. Any secondary would have their hands full with him. But I guess that's just how you Oregon fans are. Always so negative. Trying to bring me down. Make me feel bad. Let me live my life in peace, woman! Sorry, sorry, force of habit there, sorry.

Anyway, ya, there have been some break downs in the last 3 games. But I credit them to a defensive game plan that said "we'll give you the short pass over the middle, good luck with all that" and the fact that Eric Decker is just a special player.

Varmit Cong: How Cal's Defense Should Stop Minnesota's Offense

Avinash — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:00:24 -0000

We'll look at Cal's offense versus Minnesota's defense tomorrow. (Big ups to danzig for cutting the Minnesota videos for the two part preview!)

Force Minnesota's quarterback Adam Weber into obvious passing down situations.

You know how we talked yesterday about opposing defenses wanted to force Riley into 3rd and long situations? I couldn't come up with a better way to describe what Cal's defense should do to Adam Weber.

Weber is an excellent precise, accurate passer...on the first two downs. He threw around 58% in the first two games this season on first and second down, but on 3rd down dipped to 48%. That isn't just an isolated occurrence. Last season he completed over 67% of his passes on 1st and 2nd down, but only went for around 48.7% on 3rd down. The Gophers have been an awful team on 3rd down these past few seasons, going from 36th in D-I schools in 2007 to 96th in the country in 2008, to around 87th in the country through the first two games. Not a promising sign for a team with its toughest games ahead.

Let's take a look at the gametape of Weber from the first two games this season. Based on the video below, what do you see?

One thing I see is Weber throws his passes a little too early. Whether he's rushing the throw, whether he feels the pressure is coming, or whether his throwing motion is a little off...all of those factors lead the receiver to being a step short on his route, and forcing him to lunge for the ball. See how many times in the clip above the receiver has to lay out to try and make a play on the ball on 3rd down, and contrast that to the other downs where the receiver catches the ball in stride.

What do you guys feel like Cal's defense should do to break down Minnesota's offense?

Danzig's thoughts on the video, plus more things Cal fans should look at are after the jump.

Danzig noted: "Weber doesn't look off receivers... I mean, never. Really... never. He's got a cannon of an arm, but I guess he's only accurate when he can track his receivers." Indeed, you can see a few defensive backs getting plays on the ball and the route. On 1st and 2nd down, Weber has time because the defense is half expecting the rush, half expecting the pass, so they can't fully commit to the receiver until they're sure it's a pass. On passing downs, with Weber telegraphing his throws, defenses have a definitive edge to counter the limited QB mechanics of Gophers.

With those two things in mind, I see Gregory doing several things we didn't see in the first two games.

Cal should try their best to force Weber not only into 3rd down situations, but also to guard tightly against the 1st and 2nd down throws. Weber is deadly accurate here because either run or pass is a likely possibility, completing his passes at a 66% clip the past two seasons. So the Bears will have to be more aggressive in how they defend the pass theree; they can't play the straight zone they utilized versus Eastern Washington or Weber should pick them apart given the opportunity.

Also, expect a lot of three man rushes in passing situations and dropping our linebackers into coverage. It has never been Gregory's tendency to blitz on 3rd down, and I don't see that changing up Saturday. He might shade a linebacker into medium coverage for the screen passes that have SHREDDED Cal's defense in the first two games, but we'll probably see plenty of zone coverage, although it shouldn't be as soft as we saw on Thursday. If the Bears are going to get anywhere against some of the West Coast/pro-style offenses in the Pac-10, recognizing the screen and swing passes is crucial.

Want one more interesting stat on Weber? After completing about 60-65% passes in most of the field, in 2008 and 2009 he's completed only 42% of his passes in the red zone (although he has the majority of his TDs here). Look for Cal to defend against the run and dare Weber to test his accuracy in this area.

via ladiesdotdotdot.files.wordpress.com

Will Squid go one-on-one against Decker?

There's a third thing I didn't mention that Cal's secondary and linebackers could utilize to their advantage. The receiver in that video was always Eric Decker.

danzig sent these additional notes on the Weber-Decker relationship.

When Weber rolls to his right, he always throws to Decker who is coming back for the ball. 99% of the time. In these two games, this rule was broken only once.

When rolling to his left, he doesn't go to decker... but it is very rare that he rolls to his left. Seen this twice.

When Web is in duress, he will just throw it to decker... no matter what the coverage. Any rush or penetration... he will just throw it up for decker. They look just like Rudy [Carpenter]/[Chris] McGaha.

Decker caught about a third of Minnesota's passes last season, and he's caught about a half this season. That doesn't include all the times he's been thrown to. Now, we shouldn't take anything away from Decker, who has been one of the most productive receivers nationwide (2nd in receptions, 3rd in receiving YPG this year, 21st in receptions & 17th in receving YPG last year). But even Daily Gopher seemed worried about Weber's tendency to lock onto his main man.

Adam Weber is going to get Eric Decker killed in the Big Ten season. HE HAS GOT TO STOP THROWING TO HIM ALL THE TIME. Worst indication of this: Hayo Carpenter (another wide receiver) came in in the second quarter and BLOCKED FOR DECKER ON A SCREEN PLAY. Anyone else see something wrong with this? There is no way teams with solid secondaries, such as NU, UW, OSU, PSU and Iowa are going to let Decker beat them, so it's imperative to develop Stoudermire, Green and Carpenter more than we are.

Syd'Quan Thompson did not have his best week against the Eagles, so he could be looking for redemption against Decker. However, Thompson is giving up SIX INCHES to Decker (5'9" to 6'3"). That's a huge disadvantage for a corner. We could Weber try a lot of fade routes or elevated throws over the middle that could take advantage of this weakness.

So how well Cal's safeties play will be critical in defending against Decker's abilities. Expect either Ezeff or Johnson to be shading Decker a lot, especially if Weber is staring down his favorite target or moving on the go. They have to do their best to keep him from breaking into open field, and also to make sure they don't provide him too much of a buffer for him to catch passes in the flat.

Hopefully we'll see the secondary and the linebackers monitoring whether Weber is staring down Decker, or if he gets rushed or flushed out of the pocket, in turn leading to a likely throw to Decker. If they can do all of that, we might get a few more of those interceptions they've been missing from the first two weeks.

Attacking the strong right side.

You might be able to see above the dominant part of the Golden Gophers is the right side of their front, with Matt Carufel (Notre Dame transfer) and Jeff Willis combining for nearly 700 pounds. It's safe to say Cameron Jordan has his hands full this week, and we might see plenty of Trevor Guyton and Ernest Owusu alternating to that side to give Minnesota all the fresh bodies they can handle. On the touchdown run against Syracuse and the long run against Air Force, you see those behemoths open up the side through containment and leave the running back with the inside hole or the outside lane.

Thus, it'll be crucial for Tyson Alualu and Derrick Hill to get penetration on the more vulnerable left front. If Hill is able to push Minnesota's center Jeff Tow-Arnett around (Hill does have 14 pounds more on Tow-Arnett), that'd allow for linebackers like Kendricks and Holt to get inside and stuff the holes the right side opens up. Mike Mohamed (who has been playing a lot along on the right side) will play a big role in trying to seal the edge.

Wrinkle: The Wildcat. Minnesota has used the Wildcat this season, with a mixed bag of results (two first downs, one decent carry, one huge loss, and a fumble). Marquis Gray is usually lining up at quarterback in this formation. Unless he hands it off, he's either asked to run up the middle or off tackle depending on which way the blockers are moving. We might find out if the Bears have better lateral speed this season, since it looks like the Gophers like running to the corners.

Beware the second half adjustments.

If Cal jumps to an early lead, don't start planning for Eugene. Decker and the Daily Gopher both concur on this one.

I think offensively, coming out in the first half and getting more consistent drives put together. Obviously putting points on the board will help. You know, we finished well in both games; (we) had to come back from behind to win those games. That shows a lot of character about this team.

So how about the offense?:

Stat

1st Half

2nd Half

Total Yards

225

421

Points

17

19

Interceptions

1

0

Indeed, Minnesota has been a strong second half team this season; they seem to start slow before getting on track. If Cal is spotted an early lead, the Bears not only need to execute their defensive gameplan. They'll have to be ready to adapt to whatever the Gophers come up with coming out of the locker room.

And if they fall behind? Well, it's up to the offense. That's for tomorrow.

Poll

How concerned are you with Minnesota's offense?

Extremely

39 votes

Definitely

65 votes

Somewhat

137 votes

Slightly

69 votes

Not at all

29 votes

339 votes | Poll has closed

CGB Report Card: Grading Cal's Performance Against Maryland

Avinash — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 10:00:18 -0000

More photos » by Tony Avelar - AP

Jeff Tedford seemed pleased after Saturday night's performance. How did Cal fans feel?

Browse more photos »

Thanks for the fifty-four readers who took their time to report on the team's performance in the postgame thread! The grading is based on a four-point scale (kind of like a GPA thing). A+ was a 4.3, A was a 4.0, A- was 3 2/3, B+ was 3 1/3, etc. Here are the overall grades.

Quarterback: 3.54 (A-)
Running back: 3.92 (A)
Receivers: 3.65 (A-)
Run blocking: 3.58 (A-)
Pass protection: 3.53 (A-)
Run defense: 3.27 (B+)
Pass rush: 3.72 (A)
Pass defense: 3.47 (B+)
Special teams: 2.43 (C+)
Coaching: 3.79 (A)
Overall: 3.72 (A)

I picked a few comments from each person who submitted them and tried to balance the best. Took a few hours but it seems we got a good cross-section about how people experienced the game. Plus a few funny ones too, which I always appreciate. If I missed any of you, I'm really sorry, I'll try to get you in on the action next week.

Most people agreed on the running backs, with a standard deviation of only about 0.226. The lowest grade handed out was a B+. Ron Gould teaches well.

Most people disagreed on the special teams, with an SD of 0.74. There were several Ds turned in (which were the lowest grades submitted at any position), but there were also B+s, even an A-. Pete Alamar's inconsistent kickoff coverages strike again.

Immediately after the jump are commenter awards, followed by the grades, plus gameday experiences at the end!

Here's are the inaugural commenter awards for this week's report cards.

Old Blue Award

Commenter/Reader alias	Average score (out of 4)
LovinBlue	2.82
Rollonyoubearsdad	2.92
hrlincon	3.11
Trilogy44	3.14
Haas8388	3.20
oldyeller	3.20

This goes to the commenter with the most dour outlook on the game, and this week it goes to LovinBlue, who handed out only one grade above a B (running back). You know Cal must have turned out a great performance because the comments were still very constructive! This was the bleakest comment left, regarding special teams.

Do we have a new long snapper? Anger seemed to be 5 yards too close and was always pressured to kick it away too fast.

Tavecchio has not improved his leg strength on kickoffs, so they consistently returned for what seemed like miles.

Golden Sunglasses Award

Commenter/Reader alias	Average score out of 4
jeffdub	4.07
oaktown123	3.91
rurata	3.88
newporto9 (T-4th)	3.79
Lawrence (T-4th)	3.79

This goes to the biggest homer among all of us, and jeffdub surpassed us all with SIX A+s (quarterback, running back, pass protection, pass rush, pass defense, and overall). I wish I could've taken at least one class at Cal with that kind of grading scale!

Interestingly, the submitters on both ends of the scales tended not to be regular contributors to the site. Which begs the question--does commenting on CGB make you a more moderate Cal fan?

The Steven Chu Award

Commenter/Reader alias	Total Standard deviation
katster	0.6664
racsan	0.7349
elpbear	0.7607
cruidzoid	0.7615
highwireact	0.7773

This award goes to the most rational voter, or the person who came closest to the mark of the average grades on the front page. Katster came closest to the mark, nailing the approximate grade on over 50 percent of them and only being half a grade off on everyone else. We might have something special for the overall commenter award winners at the end of the season.

(I have no idea why I used Steven Chu. I'm not sure he even watches football. I was looking for a rational famous Cal alum. Any suggestions would be welcome!)

Onto the grades by position!

via calbearsonline.com (Photo link)

Quarterback

troatie (A-): Early on Riley didn't step up when the pocket was collapsing behind him. He definitely stood in there and took a shot when needed, but for a little while he ran when OLine would have pushed the defenders behind him. But this is a small criticism of an otherwise awesome performance. Nice
block by the way. (BTW, Masion, looked, eh)

CaliforniaBone (A-): Riley was pretty accurate throughout, but what really impressed me was his decision-making. Several times, he would roll out of the pocket, only to throw the ball away when he realized there was no one open. Even though it led to a few killed drives, I'd rather go 3 and out than
having a costly turnover or a negative yard loss. 0 Int made my day.

highwireact (A-): Riley started a little slow, but otherwise he played great. Put the ball where only the receivers could get to it, and seemed to do a great job going through his progressions. Also very adept at avoiding the pass rush while staying in the pocket. Looked very much like the team leader we need him to be.

brownbear (B+): I think I'm a little harsher than most others on Riley tonight. His stats are some of the best from the first weekend - 4 tds, no INTs, 17/26 for 300 yards - but the balls he threw weren't nearly that good. He had decisive moments and made some of the right reads but all too often the plays were spectacular because Marvin Jones or Tucker made a great play on a poorly thrown ball.

via farm3.static.flickr.com (Images from Monica's Dad)

Running back

GoldBlooded (A): Nothing needs to be said about Jahvid. What REALLY stood out to me was how Covaughn (#28) seems like an every-down back already. He just powers through! Love the attitude. And if Jahvid is Coors, the banquet of touchdowns beer, Shane is the just-as-fast yet more popular Coors Light. You can drink him all night long without getting full. And They all go down smooth! Isi had a good run in that end-around as well. I suspect he will be used for more lightning strikes. Cue Klaus Nomi soundtrack!

carp (A): All backs were excellent; Cal rushed for over 200 yards, Vereen seems to have really improved in all phases, and Debo also looked solid in garbage time.

If there's one criticism, it's that Cal continues to not get it's very best player the rock 20-25 times a game. While certainly some of this was due to the score, it also seems like he received ample rest at times when other backs would be playing. One would have to think with Bradford's injury, Best now has entered the top 3 of the very early Heisman race. Will he get his touches? Is he durable enough to get his touches?

Kjdsider (A-): Overall, all the backs did good. Best and Vareen did their thing with 4 tds combined. New fullback fit in very well. Backups finished the game off.

jsnell (A): Shameful inability to average 20 yards per carry.

via calbearsonline.com (Original link)

Receivers

oldyeller (A-): I'm grading the receivers higher than the running backs and Riley because they have really improved. These guys are not reminiscent of the mish-mash group we had last season; instead, they seem to have a clear idea of what they're doing, they're catching the ball, and making good blocks on the running plays. These guys aren't the big three of Jackson, Hawkins, and Jordan, but they played solidly.

Dr. RoosterAndBalls (B+): Marvin Jones is LEGIT. Verran and Nyan are also looking like two very good recievers. I think that as the season goes on they will continue to grow, what a difference it is to have an extra year of expeience and development under your belt. This group could be one of the most underated in the PAC-10

Primo (A+): Marvin Jones. Period. Two R.C.Owens "Alley-Oop" one-handed grabs near the goal, before the 60-yard, OMG stunner that will make all opponents fear Cal's Passing attack. The rest of the WR's lined up right behind the example set by Jones, with some magic of thier own. Varran Tucker placed the block of the week on a defender trying to catch Best, way downfield, making Best's TD look easy.

Ryku (A-): Things looked they could go either way towards the beginning of the 2nd quarter. Once Marvin and Boateng both beat coverage deep, I knew Tedford was dead on saying that this offense would look like it was a couple years ago. I remember watching MichState last year and thinking that was the only missing piece from that game. That was obviously a problem last year, but our receivers seem much improved. Beating coverage, blowing by coverage and holding on to tough catches. Defenses will have to respect the pass game.

via calbearsonline.com (original link)

Run blocking

Berkelium97 (A): After seeing the open practice during spring and repeatedly seeing fullbacks fall over near the line of scrimmage I was worried heading into this game. My worries were unfounded as Holley and the O-line continually executed their blocks well. Best and Vereen had some huge holes to work with. Even Tucker and Riley got into it and made some great blocks.

msubeav (A): If the backs get through the line of scrimmage untouched..that tells you the oline was doing its job. If your quarterback is never sacked...that also tells you their pass blocking and protection was solid. I saw lineman running downfield making blocks..another good sign. Great performance by the big guys.

theatrealum (B+): Good on big plays, but not always on every down up the middle

BleedinBlue (A): I have trouble picking up what the O-line is doing during a play (too much madness), but I think RB success is a good indicator of how the O-line played in run blocking.

via calbearsonline.com (Original image link)

Pass protection

LeonPowe (A): I don't think Riley got sacked until the 3rd quarter. Riley had time almost all day - any time there were rushers in the backfield, I think it was a breakdown from the backs, not the big uglys up front. And this was against what was supposed to be a sell-everything-out, 46-style aggressive defense.

royrules22 (A-): A couple of sucks and pressures but they held up admirably against some all out blitzes. Best wiffed on one block leading to a sack but he did decently otherwise.

carp (B+): A few sacks, but those might have been "coverage sacks." Riley frequently had a lot of time to throw. He didn't look frantic and this, in part, has to be attributed to good pass protection.

norcalnick (A): I think Riley only was sacked once, and Maryland's new defensive coordinator is known for creative blitzing. Any time a unit has new starters against an unknown defensive scheme and only allows 1 sack and paves the way for almost 300 passing yards, I give them an A.

via calbearsonline.com (Original photo link)

Run defense

oldyeller (B+): Our corps of linemen and linebackers played a solid 4 quarters of football. They get a B+ because of the way they cracked down when Maryland was in the red zone and the way they kept Maryland from scoring a touchdown until the third quarter.

Haas8388 (B-): The first unit DL did very well as expected, but whenever the second unit rotated into the game (in mass) the run defense suffered noticably. There were a few times where our run defense looked quite soft on the edges.

Kjdsider (B): Lots of outside the tackle runs were working for Maryland. One long TD run given up.

ohsooso (B): It was good. Maryland has very good RBs (not immortal ones like ours, but very good). They did enough to nullify it.

via media3.washingtonpost.com (image by Ezra Shaw, Getty Images)

Pass rush

Primo (A-): What was the total? 7 sacks? Well done. There were a few times, however, when Maryland QB had all day to throw. So, some of that will have to be corrected, to avoid future long pass completions and TD's. Still, Alualu and Cameron applied pressure unless double teamed, and the blitzing LB or DB will, it seems, occur more often as players get more comfortable with new assignments.

katster (A): My name is Ernest Owusu. You tried to pass on me. Prepare to die.

Cheesedog (A): They have some athletic beasts in the middle. And their linebacking corps does not seem to be missing anything from last year.

Goldblooded (B+): 7 sacks! Ernie Owusu is a BEAST! We think the full moon transformed him into the Sackman, a mythical creature of legend that once lived in Strawberry Canyon. And Tyson just absolutely swallowed up the quarterback in his entirety on that one play.

via cdn.bleacherreport.com (Photo by Ezra Shaw, Getty Images)

Pass defense

ohsooso (B): I guess the dump over the middle is what Gregory likes to give up in order to defend everything else, but I find it really tiresome. Stanfurd won Big Game two years ago almost solely on that play. Some great coverage elsewhere.

Berkelium97 (B+): Syd was brilliant again with his pass break-up abilities and unnatural foresight of where the ball will be. We gave up quite a few short passes, but that was acceptable because Maryland was not effective in continually passing as a means to move downfield.

BleedinBlue (A-): Squid was his usual self but D-Hag seemed a bit off; that knee tendonitis is probably really bothering him. Aside from those two notes, our pass D seemed solid against Maryland's corp of talented receivers.

calbear112 (B+): new linebackers still have some work to do in terms of coverage... turner passed over the middle quite a lot, and didnt often get balls off to receivers covered by syd or hagan (who were both great)

via calbearsonline.com (Photo link here)

Special Teams

TKE Prytanis 79 (B-): Pulled down by the continuation of crap kick-offs...what was with all this pre season talk about Giorgio putting them into the endzone during practice...what goes here??? We might as well try some big ass lineman taking two steps and kicking it straight on with a Blanda style shoe...come on you guys, this should be solveable

Haas8388 (C-): Other than Little's jarring hit in the first quarter, it looks like kick coverage is in the bottom quartile of the NCAA. Punt coverage was a little better and kick returns were better still. Overall, a weak spot for the Bears.

royrules22 (D): Anger, his backup Theimer and D'Amato all get an A+

Tavechio and Seawright get an F---.
Kickoff and punt coverage get an F--------.

Chris Little gets an A for that fumble.

Trilogy44 (C-): I dont care how good the team is...when they run up against top-notch, quality teams, kickoffs to the 20 with returns to the 40-45 are going to KILL them. Tavecchio is unfortunately not the answer. He had one kick go a respectable distance but the rest dropped from the 10-20 yard line. We are handing field position away consistently and that will come back to bite the Bears. I'm not sure if it was due to the score, or if it was due to the short kickoffs by Georgio, but Seawright got a few KO attempts and hit line drives. Those kicks seemed to work, but again, against a quality team I wouldnt count on it.
Anger seemed to have a blah game as well. I read in the paper that the Maryland punter and him are two of the best in the nation, but neither had any breath-taking punts. He did have one punt pinned at the 8 (landed at the 8 and bounced sideways out of bounds). Irnoically enough, Theimer had the nicest punt of the night--glad to have him back on the team. I can see why D'Amato won the PK job. His kicks were high and accurate and it looks like he has a pretty decent leg. Long snaps were good by Rios all night as well.

Coaching

Swamphunter (A-): Andy Ludwig in his first game was lights out. Completely perfect. Any of the Oregon fans complaining are wrong, and this game is solid proof.

The minus was simply due to ALAMAAAAARs slight Special Teams mishaps.

racsan (A): We didn't run many trick plays, which is good considering we didn't need them and are keeping them (and Isi) pretty much a secret. Riley's mechanics look better. The team didn't really take any penalties.

Ryku (A): 50% rush/pass plays; Tedford and crew had the gameplan down to a science. This is important because Cal probably would've had a good game even with parts were sloppy here and there. This is how you separate wins like this over wins that Texas or U$C had. Cal executed the gameplan all four quarters. While MD might not have been the best opponent, this did not look like a team merely overpowering a weaker opponent, this is looked good on practically all fronts.

jsnell (A): Just pull down your pants and slide on the ice.

Overall

rurata (A): Got my hopes up for the rest of the year. Which makes it all the worse when the inevitable crash comes.

GoldBlooded (A-): I wanted 70 points. Screw manners.

norcalnick (A-): I gave them a Jeff Tedford grade. A spectacular performance, especially on opening day with all of the jitters and potential execution problems to think about. But there's always room for improvement, right?

Rollonyoubearsdad (B-): I think the Terps were better than they played and we will have to see if this team is the team that Cal fans will be talking about for years to come. I am guardly optomistic. GO BEARS!

via calbearsonline.com (Image link)

Best of the gameday experiences

BleedinBlue: I saw the coolest shirt EVAR. Some dude in the Cal band alumni section was wearing a shirt with a graphic displaying Marshawn Lynch stiff arming Patrick Chung ("holy shit, he's black!??") with "BEASTMODE" underneath. That shirt was teh sexay.

TKE Prytanis 79: We are out of town with family, and it was my Granddaughters birthday dinner...my dear family rescheduled the entire evening to ensure the old man got to see the whole game... love

LeonPowe: 10 Cal fans at 10 in the morning in Big Bamboo Sports bar in Shanghai. Voice gave out at halftime (really!) Text messages and tweets were flying between the US, Hong Kong, Beijing and Taipei as the Cal game became a shared experience amongst Greater China based Cal alums. Met some cool people, too bad we don't have any evening games coming up. Noon/Afternoon games tend to be a solo experience in glasses and in the dark of my living room at 4:30am.

marlinbooga: Shashimi and other goodies at our campus picnic area. My buddy that brought me to Cal Bear Football many years ago having a great 67th. birthday. A few people complaining that we don't always sell out, but they probably don't remember not far back when we used to go to home games with for instance the Oregon Ducks, and there would be more Green in the stadium than Blue and Gold!!!!

Trilogy44: Maybe I'm a wet towel for saying this, but the blue-out didn't go that well on the alumni side. A majority of people were wearing blue, but it didn't have the effect I thought it would (maybe because it was a night game?).

I'm bitter about the radio sitaution. For those who don't know, the AD made a deal with some radio company to sell radios at the game. They cost $20 and work for all home and away games. But, the real gipp is that they delayed the radio feed by 10-15 seconds...so, if you brought your own radio from home (which I did), you couldn't use it. That's lame. They make you buy one of these to be able to hear the radio feed in "real time".

rollonubears: I was sitting next to a CGBer. I don't know who, but they did say 'Bring on the Party Yacht' at one point.

rocksanddirt: The cocktail waitress told an interesting story about getting burned while camping. girls making out, whiskey, naked hippies, etc.

troatie: With Comcast picking up ESPN360, we had two TVs and three laptops giving us our own sports bar at home. Mix in some US Open upsets, Australian Rules Football, U.S. winning a World Cup Qualifying game, and no fewer than 10 college games.

Cal vs. Maryland Post-Game Thoughts

HydroTech — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 10:00:23 -0000

More photos » by Tony Avelar - AP

3 months ago: California running back Jahvid Best breaks a tackle by Maryland defensive lineman Justin Anderson in the first half of an NCAA college football game in Berkeley, Calif., Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009. (AP Photo/ Tony Avelar)

Browse more photos »

Here are some quick thoughts of mine from the Cal vs. Maryland game:

(1) Riley was a bit slow in the beginning of the game but clearly got better as the game progressed. Riley was clearly a bit slow out of the gates with his first few passes. His floater pass to Best was underthrown. Although Best still could have caught the ball, Riley needed to put another 5 yards on that pass. Riley's subsequent pass on a slant to Boateng (iirc), was low. But then after those two passes, things seemed to get better and better. Only one other time, did I disagree with one of Riley's reads. On that particular play Riley took the deep option on a high-low read, when the deep option was bracketed in triple coverage and the low read was open for a sure-gain of at least 8 yards or so. I could just hear Tedford in my mind saying to the QBs as he always does in practice: "take what the defense gives you." Other than that, Riley looked great overall, made some plays, and threw the ball away too situations where he needed to.

(2) Riley needs to have a better memory. Many times during the game, Riley would get the playcall signals from the sidelines, then go into the huddle to tell the offense the play, and in that time forget what the play was. These small mental brain farts have to cease because it burns valuable playclock time. Hopefully, as Riley becomes more comfortable as the starter he will gain a better memory.

(3) Cal breaks out a new formation and still has yet to reveal another. Cal displayed one new formation this past game. I won't talk about it since it's still pretty new; I'll let the opponents do their own homework. Cal also was working out of another new formation during warmups but did not use that new formation in the game. In other words, I saw two new formations against Maryland but only one was used in the game itself.

(4) Cal Offense now shifts. I was predicting this sort of change. Pre-snap shifting has always been one of those David tactics (David vs. Goliath) to give the inferior opponent an advantage over the superior opponent. You rarely see top teams doing a lot of pre-snap shifting; it's always the Boise States who do that kind of stuff. I have no quarrel with pre-snap shifts, and have always liked it because it can confuse the defense and create mis-matches. Furthermore, it really tests the defense's ability to know their assignments and adjust quickly.

(5) The Cal Offense has reverted back to using two QBs to signal in plays. In the early Tedford years, Cal used two QBs stationed on the sidelines - usually the second and third string QBs - to signal in plays. One of those two QBs was live, and the other QB would send in a dummy signal so the other team would have a harder time stealing signals. It was 2006 when I believe that Cal started using the number system. With the number system the signaling QB signals to the starting QB a number which corresponds to the numbered play on the starting QB's wristband. Because a number was being signaled in and not the play itself, there is no need for a second QB to send dummy signals. So in 2006 Cal only used one signal QB on the sidelines. Cal continued to use one signal QB on the sidelines for 2007 and 2008 too. However, now Cal uses two QBs to signal in the playcall. Sometimes the signals are numbers, and sometimes the signals are the playcall itself.

I would like to stress the importance of the dummy QB to take his job seriously. Although he is sending in dummy signals, he needs to look like he's sending in real signals so the other team cannot tell who is live and who is the dummy. So in other words, he cannot be lazy with his signaling because it doesn't matter. He must act like he's important, be crisp, and be timely with his signals.

In general, the dummy QB for the Maryland game did a very good job (due to my experience with the team I was able to figure out who was live and who was the dummy). He made sure he was always signaling at the same time as the live QB, his signals were clear and crisp, and he did not appear lazy. However, there were two situations which also gave away who was live and who was the dummy (shout-out to one of my friends who saw this situation and figured it out. Good job!). I will not elaborate on those two situations for security reasons, but a very alert witness watching the two QBs need no insider knowledge or prior experience with the team to figure out who was live. (Side note: perhaps I will email Tedford and tell him these two situations and see if these signaling weaknesses are fixed for the EWU game).

As for the signals, gone are some of the old staple signals of Dunbar and post-Dunbar years, and in are some new signals from Ludwig. Some of these new signals are completely new signals for new aspects of the offense that Ludwig installed, and other signals are merely visual changes. The one thing I like about some of the new signals is that they are less obvious. Some of the old signals were too obvious in that the body signaling clearly gave away what the signal meant. The new signals are a bit more vague. Despite being a bit more vague, if someone knows who is the live QB they can begin to figure out signals.

(6) Sofele will mostly be used in special situations and "trick plays," and not as a WR. I had predicted this. Although Sofele had been practicing with the WRs, you could tell from Tedford's quotes that Sofele was more of a utility player rather than a regular rotation player. Expect to see some trickery when Sofele comes on the field with the offense. On special teams he's a gunner and pretty fast one too.

(7) The re-emergence of the twin TEs. Against Maryland, we saw two TEs on the field quite a bit. This was not a surprise to me. I theorized this change 5 months ago when I heard about Tedford making the QBs watch film of the early Tedford years:

Contra Costa Times reporter Jonathan Okanes reported a while ago that the QBs were watching old film of former Cal QBs Kyle Boller and Aaron Rodgers to get "in tune with Tedford's offense." This comment can be interpreted many ways but to me it sounds like as if Tedford might be hoping to return to a slightly more pro offense. In other words, we might be seeing a slight shift back towards the offense we saw in the 2002-2005 seasons.

[In 2008], Cal used the I-Formation less than previous years. Double TE sets were also used less. In essence, Cal Football's offense has been using a 3rd WR more instead of a 2nd TE or fullback. This has been a product of Tedford's evolution of the offense incorporating spread elements from Mike Dunbar.

Cal's offense from 2002-2005 used double TE sets (12 personnel), and the I-formation (21 personnel) a lot. Watching film from the 2002-2004 seasons seems to hint at the idea that Tedford might be wishing to revert back slightly to a more pro offense. This is not to say that it will be a completely pro offense again, but merely that the Cal Football offense will be moving a little bit more towards the "pro style" side of the pro/spread offense spectrum.

We're definitely seeing a more "vintage Tedford" offense this year. Some of the spread still exists, but I definitely see this year's offense moving back towards the "pro" side of the spectrum and away from the "spread" side of the spectrum.

(8) Fewer screens. Perhaps this was merely a gameplan decision and because of the fact that Maryland wasn't getting a ton of pressure on Riley, but Cal rarely screened against Maryland. It has seemed like Cal screened a bit too much in the two previous years (2007 and 2008), and so it is refreshing to see Cal tone the screens down. What's also very interesting is that the screen schemes have changed too. This change has to do with the fact that the offense is less spread-ish. The typical double WR slip screens of 2007 and 2008 didn't make an appearance against Maryland. Instead, a new screen scheme appeared. I like the new scheme because it is a more deceptive screen strategy due to the fact that it is slower developing and persuasive.

(9) Josh Hill, an emerging star? Not many passes were thrown his way if any, but he was absolutely fearless in run support, and actually is a pretty decent pass rusher. I like his playing style. The fact that he's seeing time in the nickel package as a red-shirt freshman is telling.

(10) Ernest Owusu, an emerging star! He made his presence felt on the field. He's pretty fast and gets himself by blockers. On Saturday he finished the game with 4 total tackles (all solo), 3 of which were tackles for loss. Could be a breakout year for Owusu.

(11) The fullback position isn't disappearing anytime soon. This past season there was some talk about how the role of the fullback has been diminished the past few years due to the movement towards a spread offense. However, after seeing the Maryland game I think such a notion is false. The fullback still remains and important part of the Cal offense. Cal used the 21 personnel package (2 Backs 1 TE, 2 WRs), and the 22 personnel package (2 backs, 2 TEs, 1 WR) quite a bit. The 11 personnel package (1 Back, 1 TE, 3 WRs) wasn't used as much this game as it has been used in the two previous years - although that's also because Cal didn't face a lot of 2nd and longs or 3rd and longs; situations where Cal mostly uses its 11 personnel package. With the fullback continuing to have an important role in Cal's offense, it should remain a recruiting priority for Tedford & Co., and cannot be forgotten about and ignored.

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!

Stat	1st Half	2nd Half
Total Yards	225	421
Points	17	19
Interceptions	1	0