SB Nation User Blog: CBKWit

Reveling in Victory - Escape from Tempe

CBKWit — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:03:17 -0000

More photos » by Paul Connors - AP

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Phew!

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

Kevin Riley and Cephalexin save Halloween!

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

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

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

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

Reveling in Victory - Cal beats WSU

CBKWit — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 03:59:00 -0000

More photos » by Ben Margot - AP

Best 1, Jones 0

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This one was over early. Just before kickoff, I called a TD on the return. Jeremy Ross only returned it to the WSU 29. Stupid me. Two plays later, with less than a minute gone from the game, Best ran a basic "Go" route and Riley hit him with a nice throw on the outside shoulder for Cal's first touchdown.

Best beat former Cal corner Brandon Jones on the play. Here's what Jones had to say earlier this week: "Jahvid is good and he’s fast," Jones said. "I do want to see him one-on-one. Somebody’s got to win. If I lose, then I’ll come on top the next time." Whoops. No word on whether Jones came on top next time, but Best finished with 186 yards and three touchdowns on only 14 touches, so we'll put a couple tallies in Jahvid's column.

Cal would score three more touchdowns in the quarter and another early in the second to take a 35-3 lead. Riley finished the first quarter with some pretty solid numbers: 3-3, 85 yards, 3 touchdowns. Yes, that is one touchdown per pass attempt.

The fast start was impressive, to put it mildly. Cal flat out dominated and nearly had the 35 point line covered after only twenty minutes. I was regretting not placing more faith in (and a bet on) the Bears. Then Jeff Tuel (pronounced "Tool") started his Graham Harrell impersonation. Cal's penchance for making mediocre and/or inexperienced QBs look like Aaron Rodgers is such a predictable treat; perhaps it was Bob Gregory's plan to give a QB who was sacked TWELVE TIMES last week enough time to throw for 354 yards, in order to teach our young Cal fans (it was kid's day, after all) how to be courteous and gracious hosts. Seriously, Masoli goes 4-16 the week before playing us and then magically turns into Pat White, Barkley barely breaks a sweat in a 27 point victory, KEVIN PRINCE!! throws for 300+, and then true freshman Jeff Tuel, in his third ever start, goes for 350. And I don't want to hear the "oh, they were way behind so they had to throw." You know who else was way behind? Cal, at Oregon, this year. Riley finished with 123 yards on 31 attempts. 4 yards per attempt. Riley has much better talent than Tuel at every surrounding position, not to mention three years more experience, AND we knocked out Oregon's star corner on the first play of the game. Oregon figured out how to shut down a passing attack; maybe someday we won't be one horrible Kevin Price pass away from blowing a game to a pretty terrible ucla team. End rant.

If only we had the talent to containt the Karstetter's of the world.

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If my reveling seems a bit more muted than last week, it's because Cal has given up almost 700 yards passing the last two weeks to teams who are a combined 0-9 in Pac-10 play. That's my dilema right now, and I suspect the dilema for most Cal fans: I'm THRILLED that we FINALLY won in LA, and I'll take a 30 point victory over anyone, any time. But does anyone think we're going to run the table from here on out, given what we saw today? Oregon State just put up 36 on USC at the Coliseum. Our kick coverage is still, how we say, not great (there was a gaping hole on WSU's first return of the game). The purpose of this column is to celebrate our victories, not to fret about what's ahead, but my natural inclination to worry and Cal's seemingly natural inclination to allow 400+ yards of offense is ruining my reveling apetite. On to the good stuff.

Jeremy Ross: he had a pretty nice day, no? The opening kick return was great but paled in comparison to his spectactular punt return. What a sweet move to semi hurdle, semi sidestep a tackler from about 40 yards out. He did drop a couple of passes, including at least one that would have converted a third down, but he also hauled in a 60 yard bomb from Riley.

Good game!

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With such a big day from Ross, it seems inappropriate that the hurdle highlight of the day went to Covaughn DebOSKIe-Johnson. Not only was it a clean, great looking leap, but it sprung Oski for an extra twenty yards. Hurdling (and the set up and landing) is slower than flat out sprinting, so players often only get a few yards after they land; Covaughn made his count. The PA announcer even included it in his summary ("30 yards and one hurdle for a California first down!") Someone post the video.

Best and Vereen were great, as usual. Vereen in particular had some nifty runs, juking and somehow avoiding Cougar defenders for an inside eight yard run, and getting to the outside with a wicked stiff arm on a big gainer. Best will probably be a first round pick this April, but just as we were fine when we lost Arrington, and Marshawn, and Forsett...we'll be fine when we lose Best.

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Tough to nitpick Riley's performance. His start was absolutely ludicrous and he finished with a spectacular 12.7 yards per attempt. The pass to Best in the flat at the goal line was ugly, and if he had led Ross to the outside on the 60 yard completion, instead of drawing him back slightly to the middle, it would have been a touchdown. I also think Riley gets pretty antsy on third down - it seems like he left the pocket a little early on a few occassions, continuing a trend we saw last week. If someone wants a project, look at third down passing attempts from the Cal offense over the last two games. Is Riley not seeing open receivers and taking off too early, or are Cal players being covered up down field? Still, great numbers, and they would have been better except for a few drops.

I even think the Cal defense can be excused slightly, so I'll disagree a bit with myself from 4 paragraphs ago. The defensive line mounted a generally robust pass rush (certainly better than last week), and Cameron Jordan had perhaps his best game of the year with at least a couple of sacks. I loved a third down play near the south endzone when Cal brought at least 5 in pass rush - one of the linebackers had a free shot at Tuel up the middle and the hurried pass was almost intercepted.

Jordan was extremely disruptive today, hopefully a sign of things to come.

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The Cougars, as promised by Nuss, are significantly improved from last year. I like the Cougs, mostly due to my love for my younger brother and for cheese, so this makes me happy. Jeff Tuel looks very good for a true freshman in his third game. Gino Simone, another true freshman, looks good at wideout. This is a very, very young team and a very injured team; I except they will continue to improve and Tuel could be a major pain over the next few years. And most of all, I really, really hope they beat ucla.

If you're still up reveling, what do you think? A thirty-two point victory should make us happy, and there were a lot of fun and entertaining moments today: Ross, Best, Riley, Vereen, Oski, Jones (just list the entire offense, really); Beau Sweeney looked good converting a third down with a pass to Michael Calvin. Cam Jordan busted out, Derrick Hill was a force, and Cal allowed zero points in the second half. Is that enough, for now, to compensate for the problems that may cost us a couple games down the stretch?

Go Aloe, Go Bears.

Reveling in Victory - Finally! Cal wins in LA!

CBKWit — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 23:21:03 -0000

More photos » by Reed Saxon - AP

As Chris Berman would say, you're off the Schneid, coach

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I started writing for the Golden Blogs two years ago, following another heartbreaking loss to the bruins in the rose bowl. That made three horrible, painful, soul crushing road losses against the bruins in a row. I vowed never to return to LA, unless Cal was playing in the Rose Bowl on January 1.

When the pain from the 07 loss subsided (so, about 3 months ago), I reconsidered; I would go if Cal was very good and ucla very bad. After watching Cal score less than my amateur hockey team over the last 4 weeks, I decided to play it safe and stay home. We should probably give some credit to the team and the coaches, but how about some for me? I went in '03, '05, and '07, Cal loses in miserable fashion. I stay home, Cal wins. You're welcome.

I ended up watching, and subsequently reveling, alone on my couch, because RemorsefulBruinBabe hid the car keys, left the house, and turned her phone off for 5 hours. It was a devious plan, bruin, but while you may have stopped me, you and Brian Price can only do so much.

You know who deserves a lot of credit? All of the Cal fans who made the trip down to LA after watching us get demolished the last two games. I am very much enjoying the reveling from my couch, reading the comments, watching the highlights, but it can't be anywhere as sweet as reveling in LA tonight. Watching all those fair weather fans file out of their stadium must have been incredible. (And I know it happened - when a holding penalty was called against the bruins with 5 minutes left, the crowd cheered. No boos, because apparently their weren't any ucla fans left. Way to represent, Cal fans! We stand and take it until the bitter end against SC, ucla fans can't even stay to the end of a reasonably close game.) Getting to chant our own cheers and listen to our fight songs in jubilation, instead of hearing bastardized versions of them played after Schneider misses a kick/Maurice Drew returns a punt/Longshore throws a pick 6 must be AWESOME. So big, big props for CaliforniaBone, Ragnarok, my friend Chris from college, and everyone else who stared both recent (72-6) and distant ('03,'05,'07) history in the face and went down to Pasadena anyways. Post your stories from the game and especially the post-game in the comments so I can live vicariously through you.

You guys are heroes!

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I am still in a bit of disbelief that we actually, really, finally won in LA. I know we were favored, but we've been favored down there before. Even with a 15 point first half lead, it seemed familiar, another we're playing well on offense but not putting them away our kick coverage sucks oh no here comes the heartbreaking loss! game. I kept waiting for the inevitable heartbreaking play to blow the game (the way it was going, pretty obvious that it was going to be a kickoff return), but somehow, for some reason, it never came. CAL was the team with the play to seal the deal, a pick 6 to put us up by 19 with 6 minutes left.

And who was the guy to put it away? None other than Mychal Kendricks, who, according to Okanes, played only 15 snaps. Kendricks, of course, had this to say earlier in the week:

We can’t lose again. I don’t think we are, either. Actually, I know we’re not...We’re going to win this week.

I didn't put too much stock into this, because the last time I heard a Cal player giving a guarantee, it was Robert Jordan in 2007 against ucla and then someone else against ASU the following week. Those didn't exactly pan out. If you're going to use big boy words, you had better be able to back them up. Well done, sir.

Not getting caught from behind today

via www.dailycal.org

That play was clearly the defensive highlight of the day, and it compensated for a pretty mediocre day from the defense. Ucla is not a good offensive team, but Cal made them look like one for much of the game. Ucla held the ball for sustained drives, protected their QB with a patchwork offensive line, and were a couple of lapses away from a very tight game. Kick coverage...yikes. But that's for another day. Who knows if it will be another 8 years until Cal wins in LA again? Our defense and special teams are definitely cause for concern (especially if Syd isn't back very soon), but let's ignore it for now and talk about happier things: offense!

Cal didn't have the most consistent offensive performance: most of our touchdowns (actually, now that I think about it, all of them) came on big plays, not from particularly long drives. There might be some cause for concern here too, but I think the lack of offensive consistency was due to one large, strong, fast, and very nimble man: Brian Price. He absolutely dominated our offensive line and was in our backfield on most running plays. That is not an exaggeration: Best gained only NINE yards on seventeen carries outside of his spectacular 93 yard touchdown. Price's penetration was the ucla defense - when he briefly left the game in the third quarter, Cal opened up massive holes on the left side of the line and moved the ball with ease.

The guy is a monster. Incidentally, he was also a "minimum qualifier" out of high school (like Marshawn, I believe), although we know that's impossible because ucla has higher academic standards than we do. Whoops.

But man, aside from losing yardage on most of our running plays...what a bonanza! If you somehow didn't see the game, click here right now to watch Best's touchdown run. It was incredible, even by his standards. Best did his sideways shuffle (while going at top speed, I have no idea how he does this) to make the last guy miss, which usually makes him lose his balance and stumble. Not this time. What a run. I'm going to watch it again.

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How about Marvin Jones? Pretty nice catches from #1, especially the second one against great coverage by Verner. He has, as the experts say, great ball skills when the ball is in the air. Catching the second td to put Cal up by 18 (after the ucla field goal, 15) going into half was absolutely huge.

You're good.

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Riley had a very strong day as well, putting numerous deep balls (like the one pictured above) right on the money, hitting some short passes (tight one to Miller, slant to Boateng come to mind), and not turning the ball over. He also was great in the pocket, moving to avoid the rush when necessary and taking off to pick up some critical first downs on the ground.

you were good today, despite the mustache.

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Finally, Shane Vereen. He was better than Best for much of the day. While he didn't rip off a huge run (his touchdown was only 42 yards), he moved the ball more consistently.

Also good: you.

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Revel, people. Revel big time. We may be only 1-2 in conference and completely out of the Rose Bowl picture, but at least, FINALLY!, we won in LA. Think of all the evil down there: Neuheisel, Luke Walton, smog, everything usc, Alfred Aboya's moving screens, probably Dave Libby, OJ Simpson, OJ Simpson's former attorney who tried to break my camera at the usc game two weeks ago, 100 degree weather in October, Tyra Banks, Pete Carroll when he loses, fill in the blank here. The only good thing I can think of is Rob Scuderi, now with the LA Kings. We miss you Rob!

Anyways, all that evil: today, for the first time under Tedford, Cal has ~~marched~~ rode down there on buses and defeated it. It is vanquished, if only for today. And if you think you are being to joyous, too jubilant, just remember every other game in LA this decade. Tonight, we celebrate.

Reveling in Victory - Cal wins on the road!

CBKWit — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 05:49:45 -0000

The third in (hopefully) a thirteen part series, this is a quick recap of a glorious Cal victory. Continue reveling!

The last time I witnessed a Cal victory game away from Memorial Stadium, Steve Levy was our quarterback. We had an all-american center, but his name was Marvin Philip, not Alex Mack. It was the 2005 Vegas bowl, and following the game I was served free cocktails as I made a hundred and fifty bucks at various blackjack tables. Saturday night's post game celebration may have been a bit less glamorous (driving around my former Twin Cities stomping grounds, drinking Grain Belt Premium at Sally's, the country bar on campus), but this victory seems equally important, and a bit more surreal. I had my picture taken with the scoreboard in the background, just to prove that this rarity - a road victory - actually happened and that I was there to see it.

"Premies," proudly endorsed by local waitresses: "I like them better than Miller Lite."

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For three quarters, this game followed the same disastrous formula I witnessed at Ucla and Stanford back in 2007. Due to my job, I arrived late and missed early Cal touchdowns in each instance (my job also pays for my flight, hotel, and tickets, so don't shed any tears for old CBKWit). I received word that Cal was up by 7 as we were leaving the hotel, and heard noticeable roars followed by the announcer's subdued report of Tucker's 50 yard catch and Best's second touchdown as we walked to the stadium. I arrived at my seat in time to see Cal force a punt, and remarked to my dad that Cal could essentially end the game with a third straight touchdown.

Much like those games in 2007, Cal did not score that touchdown. Eventually Decker got the Gophers into the game with his spectacular catch while getting absolutely CRUSHED by Cat-house - from the video screen in the stadium, it looked like Decker bobbled the ball as he was falling, which would make it an incomplete pass since he landed out of bounds, but a closer look on espn showed that he somehow held on. That guy is a player.

via stmedia.startribune.com

Cal responded with a third Best td (I started yelling "touchdown! touchdown!" when he was at 25; the hole opened by the left side of the line was big enough for me to gain a few yards), but predictably gave up a score to the Gophers 40 seconds before halftime. When the Cal defense dominated Minnesota to start the second half and force a punt, only to have the terrible kick take a funny bounce off Cat-house's back and end up as our first turnover of the year, I informed my Gopher friends that they had now seen true, authentic Cal football. It continued throughout the third quarter, Cal drives stymied by a phantom holding call on Tepper and an inexplicable trip by Vereen in the face of another huge hole (this time I ate my words after seeing the opening and shouting "first down" just before he fell). A Minneosta drive was elongated by an even worse PI call on a very active Cat-house (I've long liked Ezeff for his strong play at the beginning of the 2007 season, but Cattouse and Johnson are our best safeties right now), perhaps a little hometown payback for his monster hit on Decker. The Gophers tied the game at the end of the third, and every Cal fan in the stadium was thinking "Not again." None of us said "I can't believe it's happening again," because we've all seen it happen so many times.

I entertained those thoughts for most of the third quarter, but a strange, unfamiliar wave of calm washed over me after the Gophers tied it up and the game moved into the fourth. I am hardly an optimistic person, but I felt very confident that Cal would prevail. And unlike in those road games I attended in 2007 and those road games I watched in 2008, where Cal had held the lead for most of the game only to wilt at the end, they did.

Riley's 3rd and 16 completion to Jeremy Ross was the play of the game, the difference between this year's team and the Cal teams of the recent past. It is obvious that Riley and the receivers can now make plays consistently that Cal simply couldn't and hasn't since Longshore's injury at Oregon, but the difference is more complicated and profound than simply completing passes down the field. This team has toughness, cohesion, and composure that it hasn't had since the 2004 squad. This manifests in blowouts of inferior teams at home and the ability to win tough games on the road. I would have liked to see Cal close out Minnesota early when they had the chance, and I would have liked to see better playcalling and execution in the third quarter when the Gophers were selling out to stop the run. Minnesota often left its corners in one-on-one coverage on the outside, and instead of completeting quick stop routes for 3-5 yards on first down, we missed an inordinate amount of passes and were frequently faced with 2nd and 10. A lack of offensive execution left the defense out to dry, and the Gophers tying touchdown was almost inevitable.

Still, it's hard to win on the road against decent to good teams (and the Gophers certainly fall into that range), much less to win with style. It's loud. The ball takes funny bounces. The homer refs exert a huge influence, killing your drives, extending theirs, and flipping field position. Minnesota came back to tie the game and had the crowd at their back, seeking a third straight late game victory. They gave Cal their best shot, and Riley calmly stepped up and put the ball right on the money, in the soft spot of a two-deep zone between the shallow corner and deep safety. Ross caught it, something he doesn't always do (see his drop in the endzone against Eastern Washington a week ago), and dragged the Gopher defenders for another 10 yards. The game was over. Cal throttled Minnesota for the last half-quarter to win going away. It wasn't Ezeff's great hit at the goal-line to win at Oregon in 2007 - Cal didn't let this game come down to the wire. The Bears asserted themselves and left little doubt about the outcome.

The question now becomes, can the Bears do it twice in a row? Few would contend that Oregon has a better team than Cal, but Cal's superior performance so far is not really the issue. This Saturday's game will likely be determined by Cal's ability to recover from a fluky turnover, to fight through an awful call, to execute with a hostile crowd on its feet. Cal has struggled in these areas over the last few years, but they gave notice three days ago that this year's team is different. If they maintain their heretofore nearly impeccable composure (and of course stop the run, goad Masoli into another terrible passing performance, and dominate the line of scrimmage), our Bears will come home 4-0.

A road win - they do exist!

Reveling in Victory - Cal

CBKWit — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 01:24:23 -0000

More photos » by George Nikitin - AP

2 months ago: California's Shane Vereen, right, celebrates after scoring a touchdown against Eastern Washington in the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009 in Berkeley, Calif. (AP Photo/George Nikitin)

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The second in (hopefully) a thirteen part series, this is a quick recap of a glorious Cal victory. Commence reveling!

Not too much to say about this one - Cal was supposed to win big against an over-matched opponent and did exactly that. If a 52 point victory can be considered subdued, this game was. Cal again showed a dominance akin to the 2004 squad, but unlike last week's game, big plays were few and far between. No deep passes, no deluge of sacks, and the only truly long run was (rightly) called back to the 40, where Best had stepped out of bounds. The most exciting play of the game (aside from scoring an apple juice box for Spazzy McGee) was a 15-20 yard punt return by Ross, on which Will Kapp (I think) absolutely leveled an EWU player and Ross showed off his trademark hops to gain a few extra yards. Maybe the weather, overcast, dark, and cool contributed to the laid back atmosphere, and perhaps this is the sort of game we should expect when facing a very well coached but obviously athletically over-matched team - a slow, consistent, inevitable bludgeoning. The margin of victory was 13 points greater than last week's game, but few would say it was as interesting or exciting. We must, then, revel in the fact that a 50 point victory does not incite much reveling. A ho-hum victory at home over an FCS team - we might as well be in the SEC.

In the first five minutes, it looked like this could be a really dominating performance. The defense came thisclose to picking up a safety on first and second downs, and the offense wasted no time in putting 7 points up on the board. Then a funny thing happened - Syd got beat. He must have bit hard on a double move, because the EWU receiver was wide open down the sideline and came up with a 25+ yard completion. The only time I can remember Syd getting beat over the last year and a half was against Darius Heyward-Bey in Maryland last year - Syd missed a perfectly thrown ball by six inches and a first round draft pick capitalized for a touchdown. This was a FCS receiver open by 5 yards. The Eagles scored a few plays later and the game remained tied until the second quarter.

Cal never seemed to truly regain their dominant showing from the first 3 minutes. The offense did put up 59 points, but EWU took away the 40 yard plays Cal found last week and settled for methodical, run heavy drives against a physically inferior opponent. Cal's down-field passing gave way to short play action and screens - Cal's leading receivers were the fullback and the tight end, and I counted only two passes completed to wide receivers, one to Marvin Jones and one to Boateng. The defense held EWU to only the first touchdown, but the Eagles successfully moved the ball at times using short passes over the middle of the field.

So how was Cal able to come out with a 50 point victory, when they couldn't throw down the field and had difficulty leaving the field on third downs? Like most games, it came down to running the ball. Eastern Washington couldn't do it, and one minor weakness from last week's game (run defense) looked much improved for our bears. We'll find out over the next two games if that was due to the opponent or if Cal really has the run defense to stop SC. On offense, Cal was able to move the ball easily on the ground and could have come away with a comfortable victory without throwing a pass.

The lack of drama did not preclude positive developments from our team. Giorgio Tavecchio put his first two kicks inside the five yard line, although others that followed were not as strong. The run defense was improved, especially up front. Shane Vereen continues to excel with a slippery, low to the ground running style, and Covaughn Deboskie-Johnson looks great as the 3rd string back. DebOSKIe runs upright, but has very quick feet which allow him to shuffle and change directions quickly. Isi Sofele is VERY shifty which, coupled with his very small stature, makes him seemingly impossible to tackle. Anthony Miller looks smooth and sure-handed at tight end, as Riley and the other QBs looked frequently for the big target over the middle. Beau Sweeney seemed very comfortable running the offense and leading them to a last minute touchdown.

Vereen, starter for most teams

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In a game of limited upside, however, the potential downside is of greater importance. After Riley's extremely ill-advised shovel pass and Best's miraculous something out of nothing run, Jahvid limped off the field and did not return (not that he needed to - I think we were up by 35 at that point). He was limping on the sideline with a taped left ankle, though he was walking around and smiling to congratulate his teammates. Judging by his demeanor, he was not in very much pain, but he hasn't proven himself to be the most durable player and it was disappointing to seem him get dinged up on a meaningless, broken play late in a long since decided game. This goes without saying, but man, I hope he is ok.

Two games, two blowout wins. Tonight may only include predictable, subdued reveling, but 111-20 over only two games is cause for at least some celebration. GO BEARS!

Reveling in Victory - Cal dominates Maryland 52-13

CBKWit — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 17:41:26 -0000

by Tony Avelar - AP

Jahvid Best revels after the game

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The first in (hopefully) a thirteen part series, this is a quick recap of a glorious Cal victory. Commence reveling!

Reading the local press coverage of our team from the last few weeks, I got the feeling that this team could be good. Very good. Despite a lack of specifics due to the media blackout, there was a quiet, understated confidence that permeated recent articles. Maybe it's simply Okanes repeating his belief that Tedford has more confidence and faith in this team than in those of years past, and maybe Okanes keeps repeating this speculation because he isn't allowed into practice and has nothing concrete on which to report. Regardless, the message underlying most articles has been consistent: this is a confident, serious, composed, and potentially very good team.

I predicted a Cal victory, but I didn't know what to expect beyond that. I certainly did not touch the -21 point spread, and I do not know anyone who did. If you took the recent articles at face value, however, last night's game was exactly what you would have expected. Cal did what a good to very good team should do - it dominated a mediocre (but not terrible) team in its home opener. Perhaps last night was the perfect example of the adage "seeing is believing." All of us had read about how good this Cal team was shaping up to be, but perhaps still held very reasonable reservations - last night we finally saw the team, and I doubt there are many lacking belief this morning.

What a complete, dominant, thorough performance. The closest comparison I can make is to the 2004 team, which displayed a killer instinct and generally had its games wrapped up before half. If the operative word is "dominate" (and I've already used it three times), you probably have the makings of a very good team.

On to specifics: here's what stood out last night.

Marvin Jones: After last season, the passing game was understandably Cal's biggest concern entering last night's game, and our number 1 receiver is a guy whom very few of us have seen. Even though Jones jumped to the top of the depth chart ahead of more experienced players, it is hard to have a ton of confidence in an unknown. Now we know: Jones is big, fast, can really jump, and, most importantly, has great hands. Each of his three catches was very difficult - the two slants were thrown high and behind (especially the first one), and his long touchdown was an over-the-shoulder catch, falling down, with a defender right on his heels. He didn't bobble the throws and made the touchdown catch in particular seem natural, almost easy. He's the real deal.

Not bad

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Riley: He started slow - he looked hesitant and missed on his early throws (the only completion was Jones' incredible catch near the goal line). But midway through the second quarter, he started getting into a groove. His first great pass was a tough sideline pass to Vereen, thrown over a defender as he was rolling right. He was out of the pocket again for his great escape/touchdown to Curran. On the TD strike to Boateng, he showed good patience and mobility inside the pocket and good awareness to throw to a secondary receiver.

It seemed that each series boosted his confidence, which in turn improved his accuracy. His toughness was particularly impressive, and the physical play clearly made him stronger and more confident. He stood in and took a big hit while delivery a beautiful past to Best on the west hash, sprung Best on a 40 yard run with a great block, and popped right up after taking a high hit to convert what I think was a third down. It was obvious to see why the team has rallied around him - he puts his body on the line and takes a hit like everyone else, but unlike many other QBs. It took him a while to get going and find his rhythm, but by the time he hit Lagemann with a perfect crossing route in the third quarter, he had total command of his team and the game.

Pass Rush: I remember watching spring ball prior to the 2008 season. We had two potential all conference defensive ends in Tyson Alualu and Rulon Davis, but the guys who jumped out were young backups Cameron Jordan and Ernest Owusu. They've arrived. Jordan started several games last year and looked at times like a budding star, but we've had to wait until now to see Owusu, a redshirt sophomore. He was unstoppable last night, and Jordan and the rest of the defensive line were not far behind. They made a couple of Maryland's pass attempts seem like screens, with 2 or 3 players almost instantly beating their blockers and greeting Turner before he had a chance to throw. Maryland's offensive line is inexperienced and not particularly talented, so Cal won't be getting six sacks every game. With Alualu, Jordan, Owusu, and Jarred Price (the mini linebacker and passing rushing specialist) coming off the edge, however, they'll be getting plenty.

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Offensive Line: On Cal's first run of the game, Jahvid Best ran into the defensive line and was tackled...but still gained 5 yards because Maryland's defense had been moved so far downfield by Cal's offensive line. It set the tone for a very strong, if not dominating performance. Riley generally had time to throw despite consistent blitzing from Maryland's front seven (and sometimes from their secondary). He was flushed from the pocket on a number of occasions, but that seemed to result more often from his hesitancy than from breakdowns in pass protection. The offensive line was even stronger in run blocking - Jahvid Best certainly deserves the attention for his 73 yard touchdown run, and Verran Tucker gets a gold star for great downfield blocking, without coming close to a clipping penalty. But that run was largely the result of a huge hold on the right side of the line, created by redshirt sophomores Justin Cheadle at guard and Mitchell Schwartz at tackle. Again, those are sophomores, with a junior at center and a freshman at the other guard.

The rest: In the long run, the biggest positive from this game may be the experienced gained by Cal's younger players. Cal was using second stringers almost exclusively by the halfway point of the third quarter, often without too much of a drop off in performance (the offensive line was humming with Donovan Edwards and Chet Teofilo manning the tackles shortly after halftime). We saw at least 7 wide receivers, 8 or 9 defensive linemen, and similar numbers of linebackers and defensive backs. It should be much the same next week, against FCS Eastern Washington, and developing depth while keeping players like Best, Tepper, Schwartz, Hagan, and Derrick Hill fresh will pay huge dividends down the road.

There are always negatives, even in a 39 point victory, and in this game we had glaring problems in our kick-offs and coverage and what looks to be a bad injury to Spencer Ladner, at a position (tight end) where we are already short on depth. But (aside from kickoffs ALAMAAAAAAAAR!) this was, to quote myself, a complete, dominant, thorough performance. This is a Cal team that absolutely looks ready to roll. Even if you bought all of the hype, you had to be happy with what you saw last night.

GO BEARS!

Recruiting Event Recap

CBKWit — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 21:23:03 -0000

The other night, I went to the annual recruiting class recap/Q&A at the Bancroft Hotel. It was the third or fourth time I've attended this event, and there was one very significant change: no Tedford. In my experience, Tedford is more relaxed and candid during this evening than any other public interaction, and provides us fans with detailed and nuanced information that goes far beyond his usual coach-speak. It was disappointing, then, to learn that he was not attending and I was paying $25 for, apparently, chicken skewers, cantaloupe, and grainy video of teenagers running and grabbing each other. In this Tedfordless void, another man had to step up. That man was Cal linebacker's coach and genuine Texan Kenwick Thompson. When Thompson was asked about his returning linebackers, he called the prophet Mohamed "my bell cow."

please photoshop cowboy hat

via grfx.cstv.com

If you actually wanted to read about the recruiting event, sorry, that's all you get. I wrote that opening paragraph about 6 months ago - "The other night" was February 12th. I meant to finish the post the following weekend, but I went to the Cal-Stanford men's basketball game instead and ended up writing 1,500 words wishing Jorge was my Valentine.

After writing basically nothing for this site since that essay, I am back, having left when basketball season ended and returning a day before our first football game. Convenient! I am deeply, deeply saddened that I missed the meme invitational this summer, but somehow I must find the strength to carry on.

What have I been doing in the meantime? Mostly attending town hall meetings with my semi-automatic - no death panel is coming after MY grandma, you socialist fascist Nazis. Actually, my time has been consumed by two things. The first was the NHL playoffs, in my opinion the most intense sporting event in the country. I lost 5 pounds just by watching the games. My team, the Penguins, played two of their biggest rivals (Philly and Washington) before beating the Red Wings (to whom they lost last year) in 7 games to win the Stanley Cup. They were the first NHL team to win game seven of the Stanley Cup finals on the road in almost 40 years, and the first team in any major sport to do so since the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates. The Red Wings were 11-1 at home in the playoffs before game seven (the only loss coming in triple overtime) and had beaten then Penguins in Detroit 5-0 in game 5. I could go on for a long, long time.

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My other time sink was a hike. Back in February (not coincidentally, the same time I stopped writing), I decided to go hiking on the Pacific Crest Trail. I took seven weeks this summer (after 4+ months of planning) to hike about 650 miles from Castle Crags State Park, southwest of Mt. Shasta, to the Columbia River at the Oregon-Washington border. In hindsight, the biggest accomplishment was hiking across all of Oregon without getting punched in the face.

A Clif Bar a day keeps your appetite away!

Crater Lake

So that's the truth, or most of it. No dying, no layoffs, and sadly no sexy dungeons. Just a hike, a lot of planning, and the NHL playoffs in the middle of it. If you want to read/see more of hike, send me an email - the address is at the bottom of the page - and I'll send you a link to my trail journal. Go Penguins, and most of all, GO BEARS!

Finally!

via i435.photobucket.com

Poll

Who is your favorite Penguins center?

Sidney Crosby - playmaker, consistent, leader

13 votes

Evgeni Malkin - dominates play, great shot, playoff MVP

7 votes

Jordan Staal - penalty killer, huge goals in the finals

3 votes

23 votes | Poll has closed

Max Talbot

CBKWit — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 08:47:21 -0000

Max Talbot Max Talbot. Yes it is 1:45 out here on the west coast, 4:45 where most of you are, but I have just purchased my "Hockey 25 Maxime Talbot Blue Vintage Jersey" and if you are awake, I suggest you do the same. "Will I wear this under my beer league jersey?" you ask. Oh yes. "Only $65?" you ask. Yes. Only $65. You are welcome: http://www.ioffer.com/i/Hockey-25-Maxime-Talbot-Blue-Vintage-Jersey-48-50-52-54--90916386

No Gonchar tonight

CBKWit — Sat, 09 May 2009 16:21:26 -0000

No Gonchar tonight

Somewhat surprised that it will be Goligoski instead of Boucher - baptism by fire I suppose.

NHL Playoffs Open Thread

CBKWit — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:27:54 -0000

I know we have a number of hockey fans hanging around, so here's a place where we can talk privately, away from the inanity of everything else. My Pens go for a 2-0 series lead tonight against the chippy Flyers (ok, that is being redundant). Tough loss for the Sharks last night, Ehrhoff's shot off the crossbar was a beauty that just missed. And nice win for the Blackhawks in the first OT game of the playoffs.

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Go Pens!