SB Nation User Blog: TwistNHook

Sending Get Well cards to Jahvid Best

TwistNHook — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:32:21 -0000

Sending Get Well cards to Jahvid Best

A reader contacted the Athletics department to find out ways to send Get Well Cards to Jahvid Best. He received this information, which he passed along to us. Here is the address:

Cal Football
210 Memorial Stadium
Berkeley, CA 94720-4426

The reader was informed to send the card in an envelope within a main envelope that has a cover letter saying it's a card for Jahvid. Then it'll get passed onto him. A little complicated, but if that is what they want, then that is the way to do it. GO BEARS!

Cal-Oregon State 2009 Report Card

TwistNHook — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:26:13 -0000

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

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

USAFGoldenBear

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And now onto the report cards!

IMG_6971 (via Monica's Dad)

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

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

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

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

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

via www.calbearsonline.com

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

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

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

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

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

via www.calbearsonline.com

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

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

ososdereo - This receiving corps clearly suffers from separation anxiety.

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

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

Run blocking

via www.calbearsonline.com

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

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

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

Pass Protection

via www.calbearsonline.com

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

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

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

Run D

via www.calbearsonline.com

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

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

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

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

Pass Rush

via www.calbearsonline.com

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

MadBum - What pass rush?

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

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

Pass D

via www.calbearsonline.com

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

MadBum - What pass defense?

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

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

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

Special Teams

via www.calbearsonline.com

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

Coaching

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

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

Coaching

via www.calbearsonline.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall

via www.calbearsonline.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

JrBear - All that matters is that Best is okay.

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

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

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

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

Gameday

via www.calbearsonline.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Conquest Chronicles Teaches Us About The Concussion

TwistNHook — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:52:27 -0000

Conquest Chronicles Teaches Us About The Concussion

Certainly, the Cal fans' interest in concussions has risen quite considerably since Saturday. After the horrific injury to Jahvid Best, there was a lot of rumor going around about what had happened to him. It is definitely known that he suffered a concussion, his second in a short period of time. But what is a concussion? What are its effects? And what is the effect of getting 2 in such a short period of time? Paragon SC, who apparently plays a doctor on TV, has written this in depth analysis about concussions, which is pertinent. (link in title) He has a lot of other medical analyses, found on the left sidebar of Conquest Chronicles.

DBD 11.9.09 I'm Sorry

TwistNHook — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:49:04 -0000

But I don't think I'll put a Photo Essay together for this game. I took a lot of photos of the various events and kept constructing ideas in my head. Like when they had that goddamn stupid Odwalla race on the big screen (NO JOKE!). But I just don't feel like putting them all together. Monica's Dad (who I walked by and screamed MONICA'S DAD at several time without response, oddly) and Matt Chan have taken some great photos. Like this one here from Matt Chan:

But my focus for that game has shifted. I don't much wanna think about it anymore. Seeing that horrific accident occur directly in front of me sort of changed my priorities in life. Less about hating Stanford, more about hugging my wife. But the show must go on. So, here is today's DBD:

Women's Tennis player claims Indoor Championship:

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - No. 4-ranked California women's tennis sophomore Jana Juricova became the first Golden Bear to win the ITA National Indoor Tennis Singles Championship as she defeated No. 8-ranked Irina Falconi of Georgia Tech, 6-4, 7-6(4), at the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center on the campus of Yale University, Sunday, Nov. 8. Juricova was just the second player from Cal to advance to the title match and prevented Falconi from becoming the first woman since 1985 to capture both the singles title at the All-American Championship and the Indoor Championship.

Juricova didn't drop a set on her way to capturing her second national championship; her first as a singles player. She secured Cal's fifth singles national championship and pushed her record against Falconi to a perfect 3-0 mark. Raquel Kops-Jones won the 2003 ITA All-American crown, and Susie Babos won the 2006 and 2007 ITA All-American championship title in addition to the 2006 NCAA singles crown. Juricova is the defending NCAA doubles champion with junior Mari Andersson. She first took out Falconi at the ITA Team Indoor Championships in a 6-3, 7-5 win on Feb. 14 before defeating Falconi, 6-0, 6-4, in the NCAA team championship round of 16 on May 15.

Cal v. OSU 11.7.09 Fourth Quarter Thread

TwistNHook — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:44:15 -0000

Use this thread to discuss all the fourth quarter action in the Cal-OSU game. And discuss when Riley surprisingly shaved in the middle of the third quarter? WHO SAY THAT COMING?!?!?!?!?! And who knew that Syd'Quan had such amazing barber skills?!?! Also, don't forget to vote in the Insta-Poll. GO BEARS!

Poll

How is Cal playing against OSU?

Cal is playing very well

1 votes

Cal is playing moderately well

0 votes

Cal is playing moderately poorly

7 votes

Cal is playing very poorly

28 votes

36 votes | Poll has closed

Cal v. OSU 11.7.09 Third Quarter Thread

TwistNHook — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:42:02 -0000

Use this thread to discuss all the non-beard-related third quarter action in the Cal-OSU game. I think we've discussed that beard to death, haven't we? Don't forget to vote in the poll, either. GO BEARS!

Poll

How is Cal playing against OSU?

Cal is playing very well

1 votes

Cal is playing moderately well

2 votes

Cal is playing moderately poorly

10 votes

Cal is playing very poorly

22 votes

35 votes | Poll has closed

Cal v. OSU 11.7.09 Second Quarter Thread

TwistNHook — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:39:15 -0000

Use this thread to discuss all the second quarter action in the Cal-OSU game. Like how much thicker Riley's beard is now. Now, it's definitely gotta get to Unabomber, right? Right? Don't forget to vote in the poll. GO BEARS!

Poll

How is Cal playing against OSU?

Cal is playing very well

0 votes

Cal is playing moderately well

2 votes

Cal is playing moderately poorly

12 votes

Cal is playing very poorly

18 votes

32 votes | Poll has closed

Cal v. OSU 11.7.09 Pregame and First Quarter Thread

TwistNHook — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:34:42 -0000

Use this thread to discuss all the pregame and first quarter action. Like how thick Riley's beard looks. Lumberjack or hobo? Also, don't forget to vote in our Insta-Poll. GO BEARS!

Poll

How do you think Cal will do against OSU?

Cal will play very well

7 votes

Cal will play moderately well

9 votes

Cal will play moderately poorly

5 votes

Cal will play very poorly

1 votes

22 votes | Poll has closed

Q+A with Oregon State SBN site: Building The Dam

TwistNHook — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:44:18 -0000

More photos » by Greg Wahl-Stephens - AP

10 days ago: Oregon State's Jacquizz Rodgers (1) is pulled down by UCLA's Kyle Bosworth (54) and Tony Dye (6) during the first half of an NCAA college football in Corvallis, Ore., Saturday Oct. 31, 2009. (AP Photo/Greg Wahl-Stephens)

Browse more photos »

This week, Cal takes on the Beavers of Oregon State. There are 2 SBN sites from Oregon, Addicted To Quack and Building The Dam. Many people say AtQ is the better site, but many people are wrong. While AtQ gets all the hype and is so flashy (giving all of their Masolithusiasts Playstation 3s!), BtD is the much more consistent site. Year in and year out they continue to produce stable, quality work. It is not as well known work, but every now and then they really show up Conquest Chronicles and everybody starts paying attention to them again.

We thought for the OSU game, we'd do a Q+A with them. Get their thoughts on this game, Building The Dam-style. After the jump, see what their thoughts are on the game and whether or not Chip Kelly's face should remain un-punched. And here are their answers to our questions! GO BEARS!

1. Quiz or Best, who would you take? Show your work.

Ah the great debate. Best is a more electrifying player, there is no doubt about it. But Quizz is hands down a better runner between the tackles, which is our offense. Throw in that he has a little bit more speed this year and he has broken out a few big runs, and I'll take Quizz. But don't get me wrong, I'm not comfortable playing against Jahvid Best.

2. What is the #1 strength of Canfield we gotta watch out for?

When he gets time he can wing the ball in there. He throws a nice, tight spiral. And lately he's added a very accurate deep ball that's burned quite a few corner backs. But they key to Canfield is he needs time. He can't do anything under pressure.

3. How angry does Oregon's win over USC make you guys?

I think we should all be happy that USC's reign as champion is over. But why couldn't it Stanford? Or you? Or UCLA? Or even UW?? What is most frustrating is not being able to turn on the TV or radio, pick up the newspaper, or leave anywhere outside of Corvallis without hearing about the awesomeness of UO.

4. Who should we watch out for on the Defense?

The thing about our defense this year is that nobody has stood out. There is no Victor Butler this year. Even Paea and Kristick (arguably our two best returners) have had modest years. But watch out for our linebacking core as a whole. They have started to step up the last 4 games and are helping ease pressure off the line and defensive backs.

via media.scout.com

5. Who do you want to punch in the face?

The entire Oregon football program. Chip Kelly told the NCAA and Pac10 that the Blount situation would be taken care of in house. He held a press conference stating that he would be suspended "indefinitely" but that only because they didn't want to kick him off the team and take away his scholarship. I thought that was the classiest move I've seen from a head coach. Then, as soon as the heat died down, they decide they will try and reinstate him. Oregon fans love Chip Kelly's attitude. I think he is the next Urban Meyer.

6. How've the Rodgers brothers been utilized this year that's different from last?

The WildBeav (I prefer WildQuizz) offense has been fun to watch. And Quizz threw a TD against UCLA! Other than that, its pretty much Q-ball all over again (Quizz and Quon ball),

7. Are the Beavers dead meat if one of them goes down?

Not if we play Pitt, of course. There's more depth in the receiving corps than at running back. Freshman WR Markus Wheaton is being groomed to run the fly sweep, but he's not James Rodgers yet. So if the Beavers had to take one guy, they'd take Quizz, but James is one helluva player and it's hard to even say that.

via blog.oregonlive.com

8. ESPN's Ted Miller thinks that Quizz should get invited to the Heisman ceremony. Do you agree or disagree? Do the following facts change your opinion? So far this year, Jahvid Best has a better yard per rush average than Rodgers (6.3 vs. 5.4). Jahvid Best also has a better yard per reception average than Rodgers (10.3 vs. 7.6). Jahvid Best also has a worse offensive line blocking for him. It sounds like Best might be doing more damage with less help. Does that give him a better claim to be a Heisman candidate than Rodgers?

Personally, and I know I'm going to catch shit about this, but LaMichael James from Oregon deserves more than either. In 8 games he has put up 918 yards and 11 TDs on only 131 carries. He's averaging better YPG than Best and better YPC than Quizz. But look at what Quizz does. He gets his yardage every time. Jahvid Best's biggest problem is Tedford doesn't get him the ball enough. And I don't buy the whole "worse offensive line" argument. Let's check out the star ratings of each kids and compare. And don't tell me that you have a new OLine coach either. I refuse to believe that these kids forgot everything Michalczik taught them.

9. Cal's pass defense so far this year has been...suspect. Can Oregon State take advantage? Will they?

Absolutely we can. I believe we have one of the deepest receiving cores in the conference. Again, the key is pressure of Canfield. If we can get the running game going early, it could be a long game for the Golden Bears.

Join us for yet another installment of the California Golden Blogs Podcast. This week we discuss...

TwistNHook — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:31:10 -0000

Join us for yet another installment of the California Golden Blogs Podcast. This week we discuss the upcoming Oregon State game, the gameday experience, Oregon envy, women's b-ball, and even some men's b-ball. It's a smorgasbord of awesomeness. Thanks to danzig for teaching me how to embed the audio without autoplay.

PS The UCLA player I was thinking of, but couldn't remember in there was Dan Gadzuric. Dan Gadzuric. GO BEARS!