Emerald Bowl Recap

(According to Emerald Bowl Director Cavalli, this trophy weight 90 pounds.)

Hey all, sorry for the delay in getting the Emerald Bowl recap. The last few days have been a bit non-stop, and I needed a good full day to recover from the Bowl game.

But Cal fans who were in the Bay Area over the weekend were in for a real treat in terms of bowl festivities and having a bowl game right here in the Bay. It brought a tear to my eye to see so many Cal fans take over San Francisco at once. Sniff.

The game itself was a fun to watch, despite the lack of offensive production by either team through most of second and third quarters. The game was also probably an example of a game where either team was probably thinking, “We should have killed that team.” Really, a handful of plays could have swung the game sharply in either direction.

Cal fans were most likely ready to lament the Bears’ inability to punch the ball in from the one-yard line, the questionable running into the kicker penalty, or Tavecchio’s missed field goal late in the game. Miami fans on the other hand were almost certainly equally distressed with Harris’ interception and late fumble that led to Cal’s winning score.

Naturally, as a Cal blogger, I fall under the camp of belief that Cal probably should have won by a bit more, especially had we had a more consistent passing game, but I did think going into the game that we would win by 6, so I wasn’t too much off the mark with the Bears’ touchdown victory.

Let’s get to a few points.

Best is yet to come?
What more can be said about the conference’s leading rusher? Jahvid Best has been absolutely spectacular, particularly in the second half of this season. And he was in prime form on Saturday, running through, around, and most often right by Miami defenders. Best was the most consistent offensive attack for the Bears, rushing for 186 yards on just 20 carries and two touchdowns.

Anyone else even think that number is a bit low compared to what Best has done in recent weeks? Yeah, it’s become THAT ridiculous.

("Heisman? We're aiming for the National Championship!")

The difference this time is that Miami was a legitimate defense. While giving up big yardage on the ground in the closing games of the season, the Canes were certainly no Stanford or Washington, and it’s impressive to consider what Best was able to do on the ground against Miami.

I’ll cover this a bit more when I do some end of the year review posts, but I have seen very few backs able to make the kind of cuts at the speed at which Best runs. It’s a constant ankle breaking fest out there. Best has that ability to make opposing defenses look silly. Great for the Bears, trouble for everyone else.


Longshore’s Long Day
There’s not much about Nate Longshore’s performance last night that would get too many Cal fans very excited. Longshore was shaky for most of the evening, often missing a number of open receivers on a handful of passes. Longshore finished the day with a pedestrian 10-21 passing for 121 yards and a touchdown.

One has to give credit to the Miami defense. I don’t think many fans expected the ‘Canes to be as fast as they were. Passing lanes closed quickly, pressure came early and often, and receivers had difficulty getting open. Despite that, the offensive stagnation for most of the game was the result of Longshore’s struggles connecting with his receivers, missing on a few critical passes that would have kept drives alive.

At the same time, Longshore avoided any back breaking turnovers, and never gave up costly yardage on any sacks, other than tripping over his right guard’s foot at the goal line.

With that said, I thought it was a bit interesting to note the way Nate finished his career at Cal. For all of the knocks against Longshore and his fourth quarter TD:INT ratio, Longshore’s final collegiate career pass was the game winner in the closing minutes of his final bowl game. Who would have called that at the beginning of the season?

Way to go Nate.

Defense Tells the Story of the Season
Much like the rest of season, Cal’s defense stepped up and kept Cal alive through most of the game. The Bears held Miami to 17 points, and 313 total yards while also forcing two turnovers.

On the ground, the Canes were held to 119 net rushing yards, averaging just 3.7 yards per carry. No Miami player gained more 63 yards on the ground or rush for any scores.

Cal gave up a few more passing yards however with 194, with both scores coming through the air. However, with Miami having attempted 41 passes, Cal’s secondary did an admirable job holding the Canes to just 4.7 yards per attempt and did a fantastic job breaking up passes, and generally disrupting the passing game.

The defensive star of the game was very clearly Zack Follett who had a monster day recording nine tackles, 4 for a loss, and two sacks including the game changing play late in the game in which Follett rushed passed Miami’s right tackle to clobber Miami’s QB Jacory Harris, forcing the fumble which DE Cameron Jordan recovered at the two yard line.


It was a great way for the senior to finish his star-studded career at Cal, and his performance moved him into first in the conference for tackles for a loss at 23. Oregon’s Nick Reed would need 3.5 tonight against Oklahoma State to unseat Follett from the top spot.

O-Line and FB Dominance
Credit has to be given to Cal’s offensive line which dominated the line of scrimmage. The Bears didn’t allow a single sack, and paved the way for 217 total rushing yards. Watch any of Best’s runs again in slow motion and you’ll see the line completely take over and pave huge holes for the Best and Vereen.

I was particularly impressed with RT Donovan Edwards who has made some pretty big strides since being abused during the Oregon State game. Edwards demonstrated some nice athleticism in moving laterally by pancaking some Miami defenders on a number of halfback passes. Will Tau’fo’ou also was his reliable dominant self, as you could see him visibly destroy a few defenders on a handful of rushes.

Goodbye 2008

Overall, one had to feel good about the win. It wasn’t as much of a dominant victory as some would have hoped, considering the proximity of the game’s venue, but it was an exciting, solid win over an up and coming team of great national recognition.

You could tell the entire team as well as its coaching staff was as genuinely excited as I have ever seen them be after a Cal win, and why not? Hopefully, the game goes a long way to cementing the forward momentum the program has going into the 2009 season, in terms of team chemistry and confidence, as well as recruiting efforts. Those in attendance had an opportunity to watch the Bears play a classic in front of an essentially home crowd, with a chance to send the senior class off as winners. You can’t ask for much more.

Read the rest of the post and comments here >>

Bear Bits: Longshore Starting, SF Mayor Wager, Weather Forecast

Nate Longshore Named Starter

If you haven't already heard the news (which last time I checked was being displayed on ESPN's News Ticker), Nate Longshore has been named the starter for tomorrow's Emerald Bowl Matchup against the Miami Hurricanes.

Tedford has stated that Longshore is finally healthy, after injuring his shoulder at the Oregon game, and has been having as good of a two weeks of practice as he's had all year.

HydroTech over at CGB reports seeing Kevin Riley walking with a noticeable limp, so let the conspiracy theories in the triangle that is the QB situation with Tedford, Longshore, Riley (Mansion still says hello) commence.

Either way, it's looking unlikely that Riley will get much playing time based off any such reports, and any comments by Tedford, so most Bears fans will have to get ready to root on Nate and the Bears.

Mayor-to-Mayor Wager

SF Mayor Gavin Newsom has made a friendly wager with Miami's mayor over tomorrow's game's outcome.  Newsom is putting some Napa wine and sourdough bread on the line, while Miami's mayor is throwing up...oranges.

Yippee ki yay.

How about something fun like exporting all the homeless people from the winning team's city to the losing team's city for a year?  

Weather Forecast

After raining heavily all week, Bears fans should be in store for a dry game.  While there is still a small chance of rain, let's all hope the football gods are Cal fans tomorrow.  As much as the Oregon game was fun, I can really only do that once a year.

Read the rest of the post and comments here >>

Emerald Bowl Statistical Breakdown

vs.

Typically, I do a “simple” Keys to the Game Feature when breaking down an upcoming Cal game. Since we have a little bit more time before the bowl, I thought I’d do a comparison, primarily statistical, with Cal and Miami. I may still do Keys to the Game feature later in the week, but you know, with it being the Holidays and all, well you know.

Opposites on Defense
Miami is an incredibly young team, featuring a plethora of true and redshirt freshmen as starters, with the general theme being “we’ve got the potential to be great next year.”

Both Cal and Miami have posted some similar numbers on the defensive side of the ball. Miami has 82 tackles for a loss on the year versus Cal’s 80. Miami also has 30 sacks on the year against Cal’s 33.

Overall, UM finished 24th in the nation total defense, giving up 313.2 yards per game, while California finished just behind the ‘Canes at 25th in the nation with 315.4 yards per game.

That’s about where the similarities end though.

Miami finished 56th in country, and second to last in the ACC conference in scoring defense giving up 24.2 points per game.

Cal on the other hand, gave up on average 20.2 points per game, good for 26th in the nation and 2nd best in their conference.

Struggling Secondary
Miami’s secondary only notched 4 interceptions on the year, tying Fresno State for last among 118 schools. However, the ‘Canes pass defense was ranked 13th nationally, only giving up 169.3 yards per game through the air.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Cal’s secondary was content to give up a number of yards through the air, finishing 42nd in the country with 192.9 passing yards per game. However, the same secondary finished the regular season 3rd in the nation in interceptions with 23, the best mark in over 55 years for the Bears.

If the disparity in interceptions wasn’t shocking enough for you, the most striking difference between the two secondaries is the difference in passing efficiency defense. While Miami posted a decent 117.75 rating (42nd nationally), Cal’s secondary was the 5th best in the nation in this category, posting a low 97.06 rating on the year.

(Oski's better.)

Rush Defense
Miami’s defense faltered heavily down the stretch this past season, particularly in the running game. After winning five consecutive games in October through November, the Hurricanes gave up a whopping 691 rushing yards in their final two losses to Georgia Tech and NC State.

Miami’s rushing defense finished the regular season ranked 70th in the country, and 8th in the ACC, surrendering 143.83 yards per game on the ground, giving up 3.73 YPC.

Miami’s last two performances make it interesting to see how their rush defense will match up against a Cal rushing offense that put up a gaudy 718 yards and 7 touchdowns in their final two games against Stanford and Washington. Jahvid Best alone had 512 of those yards and 6 touchdowns.

On the flip side of the ball, Cal’s rush defense is ranked 26th in the country, and 3rd in their conference, only giving up 122.5 rushing yards per game for a 3.17 YPC average.


Similarities on Offense
At an initial glance, both teams offensive statistics would indicate that teams are fairly different on offense. Cal features the nation’s 22nd most potent offense, averaging 33.3 PPG. Conversely, Miami ranks 47th with 27.9 PPG on the year. Miami is also ranked 88th in the country in total offense with just 327.1 yards per game, while Cal fared a bit better at 45th in the country with 379.2 yards per contest.

However, on the offensive side of the ball, both teams actually share a number of similarities in terms of personnel situations and specific unit production.

Not to be outdone by Cal’s swapping back and forth between RS Soph Kevin Riley and senior Nate Longshore, Miami rotated two quarterbacks throughout the season: RS Frosh Robert Marve and true freshman Jacory Harris. While Marve has started every game this season, Harris has come in on a handful of drives each game. Marve has been suspended for the bowl game due to missing far too many classes, so look for Harris to play most, if not all of the game.

These QB rotations have resulted in Miami, like Cal, putting up similarly mediocre passing numbers this year. Miami is ranked 76th in the nation with 197.0 passing yards per game, with a 118.54 passer efficiency rating. Cal follows just behind them in passing yards, ranking 78th with 195.5 yards per game, but a slightly higher 121.08 rating.

The biggest difference between the two passing games though, is the TD:INT ratio, with Miami going an eyebrow-raising 20:19, and Cal featuring a far better ratio at 24:10. As much as Cal’s passing game has struggled this year, both Riley and Longshore have been pretty good in this regard.

Brand New Receiving
Also like the Bears, the ‘Canes broke in a brand new receiving group, with the difference being that Miami’s group was headlined by a number of true freshmen. That group is led by true frosh Aldaarius Johnson, and also features other true frosh Travis Benjamin, Thearon Collier, Laron Byrd, Davod Johnson. That’s a lot of freaking true freshman. At least a handful of Cal’s inexperienced receivers have been in the program for a few years.

Initially, when I looked at Miami’s individual receiving numbers, I immediately thought, “Man these guys really aren’t all that great.” And then I looked at Cal’s numbers, and thought, “Man, neither are we.”

Look at the numbers below.


Neither team has a single receiver with more than 30 catches on the season, while rival conference teams such as Oregon State and UCLA, or Clemson and Virginia all have at least four. These numbers are necessarily indicative though of the talent on both teams, rather being revealing about the youth and experience at the receiver position, as well as the inconsistency at the QB position due to the musical chairs situations at both schools.

Continuing with patterns of similarity, both offensive lines have allowed a similar number of sacks, (Cal’s 25 against Miami’s 23). Both have also given up comparable numbers in tackles for loss, with Cal allowing 77 and Miami surrendering 69.

The Difference is the Run
The differences in both offensive squads however, begin to appear when talking about each team’s respective rushing attacks.

Miami’s running game only features one real threat in sophomore Graig Cooper. Cooper features some nice burst averaging 4.89 YPC, but hasn’t put it all together for huge chunks of yardage on the season with 778 total rushing yards, to go with his 4 TDs.

As a team, Miami has only managed 130.08 rushing yards per game (78th in the nation), with a 3.96 YPC.

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, or a Cal fan, you already know what Cal is capable of doing on the ground, but just to recap for the sake of a general comparison: Cal ranks 30th in the country in rushing for 183.67 yards per game, averaging 5.44 yards per carry. The Bears feature the Pac-10’s leading rusher in Jahvid Best who has 1394 yards on the season through just 11 games, sporting an absurd 8.01 YPC and 13 touchdowns. His backup (if you can even call him that) Shane Vereen also has a respectable 679 yards on the year, finding paydirt 4 times on the year and averaging 5.07 YPC.

Still not seeing the difference in running games? Let’s just put it like this:

Cal’s backup Shane Vereen has nearly as many yards as Miami’s leading rusher (679 vs. 778). Cal’s 3rd string back Tracey Slocum (yay!) has more yards than Miami’s backup Derron Thomas (125 vs. 111).

Next!

Miscellaneous Categories

• Cal is one of the best teams in the country in turnover margin, posting a shiny +14 on the season. Miami on the other hand, is near the bottom of the totem poll in this category, (102nd out of 120 teams) with -9 on the year.
• On Special Teams, frosh WR Travis Benjamin leads the team in kickoff returns, gaining 477 yards on 21 returns, averaging 22.71 yards per return (80th). Cal’s Jahvid Best has 378 yards on 13 returns, averaging 29.08 (8th in the country).
• Benjamin is also 25th in the country in yards per punt return, averaging 11.53 on 15 returns for 173 yards. Cal’s Syd’Quan Thompson is listed just above him at 23rd with 12.29 yards per return on 28 returns for 344 yards.
  

In Closing
All in all, both Miami and Cal are pretty similar statistically in some categories, while being completely different in others. The Bears have generally put up better numbers though, and should still be the favorites on Saturday.

Again, that’s why you play the game though. The game isn’t won on stat sheet folks.

Read the rest of the post and comments here >>

Recruiting Update: Siddoway, Quinn, and Carroll?

Cal continued to pick up steam on their recruiting trail by getting verbal commitments from a few more big prospects. And when I say big, I literally mean big.

OT Charles Siddoway
The biggest headline from the weekend for the Bears comes from their commitment from Oregon OT Charles Siddoway. And again, by big, I mean big. The 6’6 320lb Siddoway is a 4-star recruit according to Scout.com, and is regarded as the 18th best offensive tackle prospect in the country. He is also considered to be the top prospect out of the state of Oregon, and is at the top of many lists for the Northwest region.

(image via Scout.com)

Siddoway had been recruited heavily by Oregon and UCLA until both teams had halted their recruiting efforts after expressing a lack of need at the tackle position. Siddoway had also been recruited by Alabama before committing to the Bears on Thursday.

As it stands now, Cal has grabbed commitments from the top prospects in both Oregon and Washington, in Siddoway and DT Deandre Coleman, which is a reflection of the superb job that Runningback Coach Ron Gould has done in the Northwest area.

Scout has a story regarding Siddoway’s commitment here.

FB Sean Quinn
Cal also handed out a somewhat unexpected scholarship to FB Sean Quinn over the weekend, which Quinn gladly accepted. I only say unexpected because Cal has typically not handed out scholarships to FB recruits, usually only offering them to walk-ons who prove their spots on the team.


Quinn became too tempting of a prospect to pass up upon however, with the Santa Clarita native garnering interest from a number of other schools such as Hawaii and USC.

Athletically, Quinn might be the most physically gifted FB to come to the Bears in some time. The 6’0, 240 bruiser of a back is rated 3 stars by Rivals.com, and 2 stars by Scout.com, and fills a void left by departing senior FB Will Tau’ou’fou. Quinn also reportedly runs a 4.6 forty (ridiculous for a FB) and is a workhorse in the weight room.

The Bear Insider has an in-depth article here.

ATH Randall Carroll?
Finally, another interesting story follows USC Commit Randall Carroll. Carroll is rated the 7th best WR in the nation by ESPN, but his athleticism makes him a fit a multitude of positions. Carroll is the fastest prospect in the West, winning in the 100-metter (10.43) and 200-meter (20.91) in the CA state finals a year ago.

Anyhow, Carroll committed to the Trojans during his junior year, but made it clear that he was leaving his recruitment open. As it stands now, Carroll was quoted saying that his mom wasn’t high on USC and that former OC Steve Sarkisian leaving for Washington made his commitment to USC shaky right now.

Carroll apparently blew off a meeting UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel, and has visits planned with Florida and Georgia in the coming weeks, as well as another visit with the Trojans. In all this, Cal has stayed pretty high on his list.

Time will tell where he ends up. Ahem. Hopefully, it’s Cal.


Read the rest of the post and comments here >>

Recruiting Update: Deandre Coleman Commits

Big Time Recruiting News. Cal received a commitment from defensive tackle Deandre Coleman last night. Coleman is a 4-star recruit according to Rivals.com, and is considered the 8th best defensive tackle prospect in the country, and the top prospect overall out of Washington.

The Seattle native will bring a sizable physical presence to the defensive line, listed at 6’4, 295 lbs. He will also be another Bears recruit to play in the US Army All-American game next month.

Coleman had given actually given Cal a soft verbal commit during the summer, before committing to Washington in August. The buzzkill that was Washington’s season was one of the factors that Coleman reconsidered however, and had also been recruited by schools such as LSU and Washington.

Coleman’s commitment adds to a notable list of what might be Coach Tedford’s most impressive defensive class yet.


Last week, Cal had received commitments from JC recruits DE Ryan Davis from Norwalk, CA and LB Jerome Meadows from San Jose, CA. Both bring great size to this year’s defensive class, with Davis listed at 6’4, 257 lbs., and Meadows listed at 6’3, 240 lbs.

The Bear Insider continues to have great, non-subscription articles following these recruits. You can find an article about Davis here, and one about Meadows here.

Welcome Coleman, Davis and Meadows!

Read the rest of the post and comments here >>

Looking back at my Preseason Top 25: Right On!

I’m the Freaking Man (Pretty much on the Money)

In the world of college football predictions, there are some things you can be certain about. Others, you have to be a bit more ballsy with in your predictions. I’ve got a bit of both, but I’ll only take credit for the latter.

To lead off, let’s review what I said in regards to the USC Trojans back in August:

#3 USC – I’m not going to do it. I’m not pegging USC to go undefeated this year. And it’s not because I hate USC (which I do—a lot). And it’s also not because of Ohio State. In fact, I think USC that despite their questions on offense, I think USC manages to take down Ohio State this year. It’s because I think somewhere in the season, the Trojans drop a game to a Pac-10 conference team. Call it a gut feeling, or perhaps wishful thinking, but I sincerely believe that with all the mystery and questions surrounding Pac-10 teams this year, someone will rise up and knock off the Trojans, perhaps even at home. USC’s toughest games over the past few years have all been against Pac-10 squads (with the exception of the memorable 2005 Rose Bowl), and I don’t expect this year to be too different. Pete Carroll’s squad will still a very good bet to take a seventh consecutive league title and may end up in the National Title game, but not without faltering somewhere down the line. (Predicted Regular Season Finish: 11-1)

You could try and point out that the Trojans didn’t end up losing at home, but rather on the road, or that USC would actually finish 5th in the final rankings instead of 3rd, but then you’d be a douche. Everything else is pretty much spot on.


I missed BYU’s final ranking by just one spot, pegging them 15th instead of the 16th spot they landed in. However, I was spot on about their predicted 10-2 record and fall from the BCS Bowl picture as well as their inevitable return to the Vegas Bowl. Ka-Ching!

Coming off a 5-7 season, I must have raised a few eye brows when I picked Pittsburgh to go 9-3. I then must have earned some chuckles when Pittsburgh lost to Bowling Green early on in the season and had Pitt fans calling for Coach Wannstedt’s head on a Panther platter. But Wannstedt saved his job and the season by winning the next 5, and finishing second in the conference behind conference champ Cincinatti with what kind of record? 9-3. Yeah baby.


The puppy I’m most proud about however is picking Florida to go 11-1 and end up in the National Title Game. Everyone predicted Florida’s offense would be scary good.—and they were, 3rd in the nation averaging 45.2 points per game. But I made the prediction that Florida’s young defense would improve by leaps and bounds. And they did, finishing 5th in the nation giving up just 12.4 points per game. Granted, I figured their loss wouldn’t have been to Ole Miss, but a loss is a loss, and everything else? Perfect.

Finally, I should give myself SOME credit for my Bears prediction. Although it didn’t differ really from most media pundits’ thoughts about the Bears, I thought I did okay when considering how little we know about this team or how they would respond to last year’s slide. Check out what I wrote back in August.

#16 Cal - So here's the thing about the Bears. I can see Cal going 10-2 this year. I can also just as easily see us going 6-6 with all the questions the team has going into its season opener against Michigan State. Who will be the QB? How will the 3-4 defense work against the Pac-10? Will Frank Cignettin's playcalling help or hurt the Bears? Who will be kicking? How will a brand new receiving corps do in the pass heavy Pac-10? How will the new uniforms look? My goodness. The logical prediction would be to aim somewhere in between 6 and 10 wins and look at an 8-4 regular season. Call me an eternal optimist. Or a Cal blogger who's read more about the Bears in the past week than many do in a given year. Given what I've read and heard, I really do think that Jeff Tedford's squad has a chance to surprise a lot of people this year. The Bears's success will ride heavily on Cal's O-line, a more experienced and hungry defense, and a team who has committed to rid themselves of any and all issues that may have led to last year's 1-6 regular season finish. Given all of Cal's questions, a 9-3 finish and a Holiday Bowl will be considered a huge accomplishment for even the most cynical of Cal fans. (Predicted regular season finish: 9-3)

So, although my head told me 8-4 was more likely, I wanted to be a bit more optimistic and aim for 9-3. And had the Bears squeezed out just one more road win this year, we’d be talking about that record and how amazing I am. Instead, we’re only talking about how amazing I am. Plus, the Holiday Bowl would have been the Bears’ likely destination had the Beavers decided to play defense in the Civil War.

In Closing
Well, I thought I did okay this year. I’m proud about a few picks (BYU, Florida, Pitt), proud about some I didn’t pick (ASU, Kansas), not so proud about some others (West Virginia, South Florida), and absolutely embarrassed by a few others (Clemson, Tennessee).

The season also featured far fewer upsets than the year prior. We had far more teams with absolutely fantastic records and performances this year, with most being left out of the BCS Bowl game. I would not have predicted that we’d be talking about six one-loss Top 10 teams, or two non-BCS undefeated teams.

Bu then again, as Herm Edwards once said, “that’s why you play the game!” Taken out of context.

Read the rest of the post and comments here >>

Alamar Is Staying

After Cal’s offensive line coach Jim Michalczik decision to become the offensive coordinator for Washington, there were some rumors that Cal’s TE and Special Teams Coach Pete Alamar would follow.

Well it’s been confirmed that Alamar will stay on his duties at Cal.

So worry not ye Bears fans.

[Editor’s note: Your opinion of Alamar will dictate whether that previous statement was intended to be taken sarcastically or not.]


Read the rest of the post and comments here >>

Looking back at my Preseason Top 25: Disappointments

I continue on with my look back at a number of teams I had pegged to see a good chunk of success this year. Only to see them crash and burn...

Missouri by and large had a pretty successful year, winning the Big 12 North and facing the Sooners for the Big 12 Title with their 9-3 record. It looks a bit worse on me though when I had picked them to go 12-0 and wind up in the National Title Game.

Ouch.

When writing my preseason Poll, there was a little voice in my head that told me that the Tigers didn’t have enough playmakers on defense to make it through unbeaten in the Big 12. That voice also raised the point of whether the Tigers would be good enough to knock off a rolling Oklahoma or Texas.

Well I told that voice to F off, and greedily whored my number one spot to the Tigers. Now, I feel so used. I’m sorry voice, I should have listened.

Clemson might be up for the biggest disappointment of the year award, disappointing nearly everyone and their mothers. The Tigers finished with a decent 7-5 record, but it’s a far cry from the Top 10 rankings that pundits had attached to the presumed ACC champions. The season was a nightmare from the getgo, after getting throttled by Alabama in the season opener, the Tigers lost 4 of 5 from October to mid-November, which led to the dismissal of head coach Tommy Bowden. Yours Truly had the Tigers pegged 7th and thought this would be the year that Bowden would finally take Clemson to a BCS Bowl with their 11-1 record. Whoops.

There appears to be a theme with Tigers and disappointment. The Auburn Tigers outdid Clemson in that department, going 5-7 on the season in Tommy Tuberville’s worst season since taking over the Auburn team in 1999. Tuberville was also dismissed or quit (a lot of he said, she said with this) at the end of the season, after falling completely short of challenging for the SEC West Title as some had predicted prior to the season.


Another dishonorable mention for SEC-powerhouse-that-stumbles-after-high-preseason-expectations is Tennessee. While the Volunteers weren’t necessarily favorites to win the SEC East, none would have predicted that Tenn would see a 5-7 record with losses to lowly Wyoming and UCLA. Another SEC coach bit the dust with longtime coach Phil Fulmer resigning at the end of the season to pave the way for new coach Lane Kiffin. Have fun with that one Lane. (I actually think he will.)

(Not so much of this this year)

I also thought that West Virginia would handle the loss of its head coach Rich Rodriguez to Michigan a bit better than they did. I had predicted the Mountaineers would edge out South Florida in the Big East race and go on to another BCS Bowl bid as dark horse national title contenders. The Mountaineers would instead stumble early and late in the season to go 8-4, and watch Cincinnati go on to represent the Big East in the Orange Bowl.

Alrite, stay tuned in the next day or so as I finish off this feature with the teams I was pretty much on the money with. Can't wait.

Read the rest of the post and comments here >>

Coach Michalczik out, Alamar to follow?

While nothing has been confirmed just yet, there are rumors swirling around at the UW Dawg Pound of Cal TE and Special Teams Coach Pete Alamar following Coach M to join the new Washington coaching staff.

New Huskies coach Steve Sarkisian will make a formal announcement introducing his new coaching staff later this afternoon.

Until anything’s official, I’ll try not to comment any further.


Read the rest of the post and comments here >>

Offensive-Line Coach Jim Michalczik Leaving Cal

In one of the more surprising offseason coaching changes, Cal’s offensive line coach Jim Michalczik (still don’t know how to properly pronounce this) will be leaving the Bears to become the Offensive Coordinator at Washington. Michalczik will continue with his coaching duties through Cal’s bowl game before joining the Huskies coaching staff with new head coach Steve Sarkisian.

Well…crap.


While this isn’t an irrecoverable loss, it is a big one for the Bears. Michalczik has been a cornerstone in the Tedford coaching era since day one, and has been instrumental to Cal’s success in recruiting and developing one of the premier offensive line units not only in the conference, but in the nation during both him and Tedford’s tenure at Cal. As much as Cal has benefited from outstanding talent at runningback and quarterback the past several years, much of that success begins with the job that Coach Michalczik has done with the Bears’ offensive line unit.

Understandably though, the move makes sense for Coach Michalczik. A Washington native with head coaching aspirations, the promotion to the Offensive Coordinator position does make a lot of sense, and it was a move that Michalczik described as “an offer I couldn't turn down.”

Interestingly enough though, new head coach Steve Sarkisian has already stated he will be calling the plays on offense, so one has to wonder how much Michalczik’s role will really change from a similar position he was in during the Bears 2007 season in which Michalczik was promoted to offensive coordinator, while Coach Tedford called the plays.

I wish Coach Michalczik the best of luck, but dammit, it’d be nice to see him stay. You can check out Okanes’ article on this here.

Read the rest of the post and comments here >>

Looking back at my Preseason Top 25: Sleepers

It’s been another crazy year in college football, although we certainly had fewer wild upsets as we did in some years prior. There were plenty of surprises that virtually no one saw coming, both in ways disappointing and wildly exciting for those involved teams and their respective fan bases.

Back in August I put my proverbial ballot in for my preseason Top 25. Keep in mind, my list was a prediction of how I thought teams would finish the regular season, and where they’d be slotted.
You can check out the list here.

Over the next few days I’ll go over my hits and my misses. The picks I kind of got right, and the ones I nailed. It takes a real man to look back at one’s mistakes and own up to them. And I’m all man, baby.

Today, I’ll start with the sleepers. I’ll look at those I didn’t include in my Top 25, despite numerous other “experts” pegging as one of the top teams in the nation. I’ll also look at the teams I didn’t even include in my poll, and watched on in shock as they proceeded to kick ass and take names.

Glad I Didn’t Pick Em (Didn’t Drink any Hype Kool-Aid)
Prior to the beginning of the season, I found myself shocked at some of the schools that were appearing in some preseason polls. The so-called “experts” spouted reasons sane college fans should believe these schools were contenders for conference titles, when I didn’t even think these schools would finish ranked.

When talking about teams I knew weren’t deserving of the preseason hype, you have to start with the Arizona State Sun Devils. Dennis Erickson was hailed as ASU’s savior after leading his team to a 10-3 2008 record, and the Sun Devils were the near unanimous choice by preseason polls to finish second in the Pac-10 and challenge USC for the top spot.

The Sun Devils weren’t even in the freaking ball park. They weren’t even on the same street. ASU finished 5-7 on the season, marked by a mid-season 6 game losing streak sparked by lowly UNLV.

It appeared that the pundits had forgotten that an offensive line that had given up 55 sacks the year prior was suddenly going to improve, or discover a running game. Or that ASU’s schedule last year was largely inflated by the benefit of playing most of the conference’s top teams at home, and having its toughest non-conference team being Colorado.

Looking at ASU’s schedule early on, I thought it was very well possible the Sun Devils could finish 6-6 on the season, with their brutal mid-game stretch. No way ASU was finishing ranked. Didn’t expect ASU to one up me with their 5-7 however.

("This is how many wins we'll have by Week 12.")

Many thought Kansas might come close to matching their breakthrough 2007 campaign and challenge Missouri for the Big 12 North title. No way Jose. Like Arizona State, Kansas benefitted from a soft schedule last year, and would see major struggles against some typical Big 12 powerhouses they didn’t have to face last season. The Jayhawks managed to go 7-5 on the season and have settled a bit back into reality. At least Coach Mangino has created a winning culture at the once laughable Kansas program.

Oh and Michigan. Yes Michigan. Believe it or not, some preseason polls had Michigan in the top 25. This despite a new coach installing a completely different offensive system, with a new coaching staff, and losing a plethora of talent particularly on offense (Jake Long, Chad Henne, Mike Hart, etc..) to the NFL. I didn’t think Michigan would be ranked by season’s end, but I didn’t think it would be as bad as it turn out to be.

The same can be said about Notre Dame. Some predicted that Notre Dame would have a major bounce back season, and perhaps even slide into a January Bowl game. Uh huh. Weis and the Domers will take their 6-6 record and see if they can end their bowl losing streak to Hawaii on their Turf in the Hawaii Bowl.


Should Have Picked ‘Em (Sleepers I Slept On)
Boise State. You got to hand it Chris Peterson. The guy leads his team two undefeated seasons in the last three years. I don’t care what conference you’re in, that’s impressive. And normally, that would have been good enough for an at-large BCS Bowl bid, had it not been for an equally impressive undefeated season for Utah. Peterson has establish Boise State as one of the premier non-BCS conference squads, and one that most BCS teams would steer clear of playing out pure fear.

Similar things can be said about Utah and TCU, as well as their respective coaches. The Mountain West as a whole stepped up its game big time has seated itself squarely as the strongest non-BCS conference out there. The voters have been most impressed with Utah, prompting its at-large bid, but I for one would have gone with the Broncos who have looked like the year’s strongest non-BCS team.

Most had presumed Alabama would have challenged for an SEC title by 2009 or 2010. I mean, it was just a matter of time with the way Nick Saban had been recruiting, bringing in the nation’s top class last year. Few, if any though, thought they would be ready to do so this year. Alabama became the talk of college football town by remaining perched at the top spot in the rankings, going undefeated through the regular season before falling short of the national championship game by falling to Florida in the SEC Title Game. It’s got to be a bitter taste for ‘Bama fans, but at least encouraging that Saban will have this team in consideration for the national title a few years sooner than anyone had hoped.

I don’t think anyone thought Ball St. would roll through their schedule the way they did. And I don’t think any had predicted anyone would actually care. But Ball St. looked to turn in a Cinderella (ella-ella-ey-ey) performance by going undefeated through the regular season. Their season ended on a bit of sour note however, with the Cardinals turning down a Humanitarian Bowl bid which would have matched up them with another unbeaten in Boise St., and losing the Mid-American Championship Game to Buffalo (don’t even get me started on them).

Brian Kelly’s Cincinatti team was also a bit of surprise, but I’m not going to make as big of a fuss over their Big East title as I think it was more of an indication of how disappointing West Virginia and South Florida were this year. Still credit has to be given.

Finally, who would have thought that Ole Miss would have go 8-4, be ranked and end up being the second best team in the SEC West this year? I sure didn’t. But the Rebels inched out enough upsets (over Florida and LSU) and showed enough consistency to prove the nay sayers wrong.

Read the rest of the post and comments here >>

Washington Helmet Stickers and Play of the Game

Again, I’ll make this short and sweet because 1) this is a bit late coming 2) most of the selections fairly obvious and 3) I’m lazy.

Offensive Player of the Game: Jahvid Best
Best has got to be loving it right now. His record-setting 311 yard, 4 TD rushing performance against Washington vaulted him to the top of the Pac-10 rushers, notched him into the school record books for the best single-game rushing performance, earned him an ESPN helmet sticker, and has entered his name into the mix of a few early 2009 preseason Heisman talks.

But most importantly, Best has taken the Bears with Fangs Helmet Sticker for Offensive Player of the Game for the fifth time this season. Unbelievable!

It goes without saying that Best has been a focal part of this offense this season. At times, he has been the offense this season. Cal looks radically different when their line is healthy enough to open a seam for Best to bust through, and once he gets to the second level, the Jet is rarely caught. He’s also improved as the season has gone on in waiting for his holes, especially in the zone rushing scheme which should be even more prominently displayed next year.

I won’t engage in any Heisman talk just yet, as that has been the Kiss of Death for previous “contenders” in Aaron Rodgers, Marshawn Lynch, and Desean Jackson. But let’s just say if Best can put on similar performances consistently next year, he’ll be hard to ignore.
Honorable Mentions
Nate Longshore: 5-10 for 84 yards, and 1 TD.
Shane Vereen: 10 rushes for 49 yards and 1 TD.
Cameron Morrah: 3 receptions for 39 yards and 1 TD.


Defensive Player of the Game: Tyson Alualu
It’s about time I gave the beast his due. Alualu has been an absolute stud on the defensive line this year and has proven to be the most consistent lineman. He has earned honorable mentions with BWF numerous times this season, but this recognition has been a long time coming.

Tyson Alualu earned Pac-10 Player of the Week Honorable mention with his performance in which he rolled up 10 total tackles, getting in the backfield twice, with one being a sack.

With Alulau returning next year with both starters Derrick Hill (NT) and Cameron Jordan (DE), along with the return of a healthy Cody Jones and Kendrick Payne, along with the developing Ernest Owusu and Trevor Guyton, Cal’s d-line should again be a force to be reckoned with.

Honorable Mentions
Zack Follett: 5 tackles, 2 for a loss (1 sack), 1 Forced Fumble.
Darian Hagan: 2 Interceptions

Play of the Game: Jahvid Bests’s 84 yard TD run.
Best ripped off a highlight reel of runs, but the honor goes to his 84-yarder in the 3rd quarter which I believe is the longest of the season (amazing that I even have to think about that huh?). Best shifted, juked, and broke tackles to entrench himself in Cal record books.

Read the rest of the post and comments here >>

Bear Bits: All Pac-10 Selections, New Recruit, Team Awards and More

There’s a whole slew of info to get to. I’ll try and post my helmet stickers later in the day, before it gets too late in the week. But you guys probably already know where they’re going…

Emerald Bowl: Must Watch?
Rivals has the Emerald Bowl listed as the 16th best “must watch” bowl out of the 34 available. Not bad, about where I would place it. I think Cal vs. Miami is actually a darned good matchup, and one most fans would be drooling over had it been scheduled as a non-conference game to start the season. It’s a tad more interesting of a matchup than “Clemson vs. Nebraska” but I would agree in placing it behind some of the BCS Bowls.

By the way, who wants to make the road trip to catch Louisiana Tech take on Northern Illinois in the Independence Bowl? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Another Bear Backer
Cal picked up another big recruit over the weekend. Middle Linebacker Steve Fanua from Bay Area Milpitas, CA, committed to the Bears over the weekend, adding to the building linebacker corps. that figures to replenish the loss of three senior starters. Fanua is considered a bit undersized for the MLB position at 6’1, 200 lbs., but there is consideration that Fanua might redshirt right off the bat to spend time bulking up for the critical defensive position. Fanua is rated 3 stars and is considered the 18th best MLB by scout.com, and 37th best OLB by Rivals.com (he really plays both).

Check out the Bear Insider’s story here.

Welcome Steven!


End of the Year Awards
Cal handed out their End of the Year Awards at their annual banquet on Sunday evening: Jonathan Okanes has a full breakdown of all the awards here.

Here are some of the notable ones:
KEN COTTON AWARD (Most courageous player): Anthony Felder (defense), Nate Longshore (offense)
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER: Worrell Williams
LIFTER OF THE YEAR: Dominic Galas (freshman), Anthony Felder (senior)
SCOUT TEAM PLAYERS OF THE YEAR: Beau Sweeney and Spencer Ladner (offense), Aaron Tipoti and Nick Rosato (defense) and Charles Satchell (special teams)

All Pac-10 Selections Made
The Pac-10 Selections were announced yesterday with a number of Bears making the list. RB Jahvid Best, Center Alex Mack, LB Zack “Pain Train” Follett and CB Syd’Quan Thompson made the first team.

DE Tyson Alualu, RG Noris Malele, and Punter Bryan Anger made the second team and linebackers Anthony Felder, Worrell Williams, Mike Mohamed, DE Cameron Jordan, and FB Will Ta’ufo’ou received honorable mentions.

The honors cap off some spectacular years for a number of the players. Mack was a near unanimous pick, and Best might have also received Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year had the voting not been completed prior to Saturday’s record setting game for the Jet.

A few players that I thought could have, and probably should have made the list:
Darian Hagan who had an absolutely spectacular season in his first as a starter, and in my mind, is one of the most improved players of the year in the conference. Hagan is second in the conference in passes defended and broken up, and has netted three interceptions on the year.
I also thought TE Cameron Morrah had a legitimate argument for second team honors at the Tight End Position, being just behind Ryan Moya in receiving yards but finding the endzone a ridiculous 8 times on the year, just two behind 1st team Gronkowski.

It’s exciting to see where a number of these players will be next year, with most (with the exception of the linebackers), returning.

Read the rest of the post and comments here >>

Washington Recap

Cal hosted Washington (poor poor Washington) on Saturday to the smallest crowd in 5 years (coincidentally the last time the Bears trounced the Huskies 54-7 on Nov. 15, 2003) of just 50,308. However, those who were in attendance we fortunate enough to savor some memorable performances by the departing seniors, and one for the history books by stud RB Jahvid Best.

There was much question that Cal would be the better team against the hapless Huskies, but some wondered whether we would see the small chance that the Bears might come out flat enough to be unable to show the disparity between the two teams. That would hardly be the case with the Bears racing out to a 31-0 lead by halftime, holding the Huskies to just 58 yards at the half, while racing out to 325 of their own. The Bears also recorded 4 turnovers in the first half, ensuring that the second half would give ample playing time for the seniors and youngins who could use the valuable game time in preparation for next year.

Let’s to a few spots:

He Really is the Best
Best needed just 171 yards on Saturday to take the conference’s regular season rushing record, and ended up surpassing that number in the first half. The Jet (nickname pending) put on a performance for the ages in his 3rd Pac-10 Player of the Week honor, by rushing for setting a school single game record of 311 yards, while hitting paydirt on 4 of his 19 carries. Best’s performance was good enough him to vault him to the top spot in rushing yards, maintain his spot in yards per game, and Best will finish the regular season with a staggering 8.01 yards per carry and 13 touchdowns.

Wow.

(Best gets a College Game Day Helmet Sticker)

Longshore says goodbye
You had to feel good for Nate Longshore by the time the game was over. Longshore received one of the loudest ovations during the senior introductions (best only by Alex Mack) and subbed in for starter Kevin Riley to start the second quarter. Longshore played through two full quarters, and finished the day 5-10 for 84 yards. More importantly, Longshore tossed a 6 yard strike to Cameron Morrah, recording his 50th career passing TD, good for 4th all time in the Cal record books.

Longshore will finish one of the most storied (in ways both heartwarming and wrenching) QB careers in Cal history, and it was encouraging to see him finish out his career with a solid performance in his final game at Memorial Stadium.

I’ve heard some mumbles and grumbles from Cal fans who thought Riley or redshirt frosh Brock Mansion (who played part of the 3rd and the entire 4th quarter) should have gotten more playing time. Personally, I’m okay with what happened. An extra quarter wouldn’t have benefited Riley too much in the long run, and Mansion was able to enjoy an entire quarter of actual game experience. He also got 4 passes in (completing two of them), and any more and it would have been seen as classless. Say what you want, but considering the game was never really in question from Best’s opening strike, I was fine with letting Longshore get some playing time in his last time stepping onto the field in Strawberry Canyon.


Defense Rolls
It’s hard to truly applaud the defense for putting on another shutdown performance, when one considers the opponents. But still, you might as well throw out some numbers. The Huskies were held to 200 total yards on the day. They averaged just 2.4 ypc, and their leading rusher Willie Griffin, managed just 60 yards on 24 attempts. Both QBs Taylor Bean and Ronnie Fouch were a combined 11 for 24 on the day, getting sacked 3 times and tossing two picks between the two of them.

The Huskies didn’t get into the endzone until a long pass in the 3rd quarter (which from my view looked like Safety Bernard Hicks was out of position on) set up a QB rollout run.

Tyson Alualu earned Pac-10 Player of the Week Honorable mention with his performance in which he rolled up 10 total tackles, getting in the backfield twice, with one being a sack.

Darian Hagan showed why he just might be not only the best CB on the team next year (I said MIGHT be, Squid), but in the entire conference. The sophomore back recorded two interceptions in the first half.

Zack Follett had 5 tackles, 2 for a loss, and a devastating sack that forced a fumble early in the game.

Playing Time for the Seniors
It was real good to see some of the seniors get some extensive playing time. Kicker Jordan Kay took over for Giorgio Tavecchio in the second half, and was perfect on both extra point attempts and booted a 36 yard field goal in the fourth.

D-linemen Rulon Davis and Mika Kane got their share of playing time and senior receivers Drew Glover and Alex Stroud notched their first career receptions on the day.

Storybook Ending
Really at the end of the day, you couldn’t really write it much better. As much as playing Washington to close the season with Cal’s bowl game clinched was a bit anticlimactic, it provided a great chance for the seniors to get some playing time in their last home game, as well as providing some chances for next year’s generation of players.

Jahvid Best showed why he was ready to be the face of the offense, while Longshore got one last chance to throw a TD for the last time in memorial stadium. The day was a beautiful one for football, not only because of the gorgeous weather, or because of what transpired on the field or in the final score, but because it was one of the last times this season to remember just what we love so much about college football and our Golden Bears.

Read the rest of the post and comments here >>

Rankings Update: Week 15

The Bears will finish the regular season finished unranked for the second consecutive year, but with far more optimism and good feelings than it had at the end of last year's slide.

Cal dropped one spot in the AP Poll to 31st despite getting more voting points this week with 8, but moved up to 30th in the USA Today Polls with 12 points.

The Bears finish 8-4 on the regular season with a perfect 7-0 record at home (3rd time in 5 years) and will face Miami in the Emerald Bowl on Dec. 27th.

Read the rest of the post and comments here >>

Keys to the Game: Washington

On surface level, there really isn’t much to say other than that the Bears face off against the worst team in the College Football Bowl Subdivision, at least according to their record (if you follow that sort of thing). The hapless Washington Huskies are the only winless team in college football, are coming off a heartbreaking loss to their WSU rivals, and play the final game of the season knowing their Coach Ty Willingham is already on his way out.

On the bright side, weather forecasts predict a beautiful day in Memorial Stadium.

So how are the Bears to properly prepare for a game in which a loss would be considered one of the greatest choke jobs in modern college football history? I’ve already touched a few of these issues before, but there are a number of conference stat records on the line, an emotional final home game for the seniors, minor bowl implications, and the opportunity to go undefeated at home for the 3rd time in 5 years.

I don’t know about you, but I’m excited.

As difficult as it may be though, the biggest key for the Bears may be to try their best to not overlook the Huskies. Just consider remote chance that the Bears actually lose on Saturday. Just think about that.

…

Horrendous isn’t it?

Okay, now that you’re ready to take this seriously, let’s get to it.

Take Away the Huskies’ one non-sucky attack
Washington features of a fairly balanced offense, rushing the ball on average 34 times per game versus its average 31 pass attempts each contest. The results however have led to just 13.8 PPG and 268.9 yards per game (both 9th in the conference).

For all its faults this year, Washington actually features a marginally mediocre rushing offense. Currently ranked 7th in the conference in rushing yards per game (with Cal in 6th, although the dropoff is pretty significant), the Huskies average 98.91 yards per game. Granted, they only manage 2.9 yards per attempt, but injured QB Jake Locker (out for the season), had accounted for 180 rushing yards on 56 attempts, so that number is actually closer to 2.8 yards per attempt sans Locker.

That’s relieving news to a stout Cal run defense that is ranked 3rd in the conference in yards per game, to just 124.2 yards per game and only 3.26 yards per attempt.

Shutting down the running game will put the onus on QB Ronnie Fouch, who has filled in for Jake Locker to courageous but lackluster results. Fouch is the one starting QB in the Pac-10 who has a lower completion % than Kevin Riley (45.3 vs. 50.9), and has thrown 12 interceptions versus 4 touchdown passes. It goes without saying that if Washington is forced to pass, an opportunistic secondary, currently 3rd in the nation in interceptions, will put itself in position to lead the nation in that category.


Balanced Attack
Washington is actually equally bad in their passing defense as they are in their rushing defense. The Huskies have given up 23 TDs through the air on the season, and 28 on the ground. The truth is, the Bears could probably choose one mode of offensive attack, and attack either the secondary or the defensive line fairly equally.

However, given the Bears’ recent success rushing the ball and continued struggles through the air, I recommend the Bears jump out to an early lead with their running game, and work out a few kinks in the passing game, before settling back into running out the clock on the ground (preferably with Peter Geurts and Tracy Slocum).

The Huskies are the one team where I actually expect Cal to match the rushing assault they put on Washington State in which they amassed 391 yards. Washington has given up nearly as many yards per game as the Cougars, yielding 223.27 YPG vs. WSU’s 247.62. Give Best a shot to take the conference rushing title, and then pull him after a 4 TD lead or the 3rd quarter. Whichever comes first.

Show Up
I don’t mean this to disrespect the Huskies, although I am well aware on its obvious intimations. The Bears still need to show up, and play with the same level of pride and passion that they have demonstrated at home all year.

This means no stupid penalties, no snaps sailing over Bryan Anger’s head, no forced passes, wrapping up instead of trying to blow up knees, discipline on gap assignments, etc…

Outside the chance that Coach Tedford instructs Nate Longshore to fake a point after attempt on every snap of the game to atone for the Big Game snafu, there is absolutely no chance the Bears lose on Saturday if they show up the same way they’ve done every week. Cal simply features better athletes, better coaches, home field advantage, and a freaking canon. Enough said.

Read the rest of the post and comments here >>

Bear Bits: Failed PAT Conspiracy, New Recruit, and a Painful Reminder

A few Bear bits from around the web.

Failed PAT Conspiracy?
Hydrotech at the California Golden Blogs has a great writeup regarding the rumor that Nate Longshore had called his own number and attempted to fake the point after during the Big Game, against the knowledge or permission of well…anyone on the team really. I mentioned this on the Bearinsider forum, but it’s really, really hard for me to believe that someone who has been so “team above self” all season would crack Britney Spears style and attempt such a boneheaded endeavor.

I posted my thoughts on the CGB board as well:

“Coaches’ reactions. Does Jeff Tedford strike anyone as the type to have just let Nate off with a “tsk tsk tsk” scold on the sideline had he attempted these shenanigans? Or any other coach on the staff for that matter?

This is the same Tedford who yanked Levy by the facemask on national television. He verbally raped a coach on his staff after they had to burn two timeouts to Washington State in garbage time. Tedford does not F around.

Also, from what I could see, Alamar just had his hands on his hips after the botched attempt with a “Oh Nate! You silly goose!” type of reaction when Longshore ran back to the sidelines.
The fact that Tedford already publicly stated that Longshore might get some snaps during the Washington game is telling enough.”

But don’t take it from me. Hydro has actually taken the time to break it down, so it’s worth a look to hopefully but to rest a ridiculous rumor.

Oregon vs. Oregon State Playbook: The Recipe for a 100 points
Speaking of in-depth analysis, ‘Nash at BearsNecessity has a detailed look at the Civil War Playbook that resulted in 103 combined points.

Another Recruit: Jared Price
Cal picked up its 8th commitment of the year from JC Linebacker Jared Price who had committed to Cal earlier in the summer, before opening up his recruitment again a short time later. This time, it’s for real, with the Blinn College LB having reaffirmed his commitment to the Bears.

While undersized (5’10 220lbs) for a linebacker, the 2 star recruit (according to Scout.com) has been an absolute beast of a player for Blinn College, already recording 18 sacks on the year. Blinn defensive line coach Keith Browning says of Price:

"Jarred is a great athlete with tremendous strength and quickness. He runs a 4.51 forty, benches 375 lbs, squats 550, has close to a 40-inch vertical and is very explosive. He understands the game and can get to the QB."

The Bear Insider has a great story up on Price.


Really really smart
Four Bears players have been name to the All-Academic Pac-10 Team: Zach Smith, Alex Mack, Mark Boskovich, and Mike Mohammed. Mitchell Schwartz and Will Ta’ufo’ou were deemed “pretty smart, but not quite smart enough” with honorable mentions.

Need another reason to get up for the Washington Game?
Just try and remember (painful I know) what Washington did to Cal on the ground last year—without Jake Locker. The Huskies ran for 334 yards and 3 touchdowns. Louis Rankin rushed for 224 yards, with 125 of those yards coming in the first quarter. After having his way with the Bears, Ranking let his backup Brandon Johnson embarrass the Bears even further with 121 yards. That’s nearly as many yards as Johnson has all season this year.

The Huskies ended up breaking a 5 game losing streak to the Bears with a 37-23 victory. In a season full of lows, the Washington game was one of the most dreadful.

Read the rest of the post and comments here >>

Conference Statistical Champions

Coming off an emotional exciting Big Game victory, typically Cal fans would be readying themselves for their upcoming bowl game at this point in the season. Not so this year. Cal squares off against a winless Husky team on Saturday to finish the season, potentially leaving a number of Cal fans wondering what to be excited about.

For most Cal fans, it should provide one of the few last opportunities to say goodbye to the beloved seniors, many being fan favorites. It’s also the last home game of the season, before college football fans head off to endure the nine months of baseball following bowl season. Also, depending on how the game goes, it might be allow a bit more game time for some of the players who have been all but forgotten this year (Tracy Slocum) or might be prominent players next year (Brock Mansion).

Still, the contest should do very little to affect Cal’s national ranking, or bowl picture (unless Cal should do the unthinkable and lose), and the whole “Every Game Counts” motto has to be interpreted in a few creative ways for some Cal fans to tune in to watch Cal potentially pound hapless Washington.

Fortunately, a handful of Cal players stand an excellent chance at taking the conference crowns in several statistical categories. Coach Tedford has obviously shown very little regard changing gameplan to help players achieve to individual records. Justin Forsett’s 999 yard season says “hello.”

Still some of these categories are interesting to keep in the back of one’s mind while watching the game this Saturday.

Conference Rushing Champion
Cal has had an outstanding history in recent of years of boasting some of the conference’s top rushers. In fact, a Cal rusher has finished in the top 3 in the conference in rushing yards for each of the four previous seasons.

2007: Justin Forsett finished second in the conference in rushing yards behind Jonathan Stewart, with 1546 yards on 305 carries, and a whopping 15 rushing TDs. Forsett averaged 118.92 yards a game.
2006: Marshawn Lynch led the conference with 1356 yards and 11 TDs.
2005: Marshawn Lynch finished 3rd the conference with 1246 yards and 10 TDs.
2004: JJ Arrington did what few in NCAA history had done in breaking the 2000 rushing mark, to lead the conference with 2,018 yards and 15 rushing TDs.

As it stands now, Jahvid Best would need 170 yards to take the Pac-10 conference rushing title. Jacquizz Rodgers currently holds the spot with 1253 rushing yards on the season. Best would need 53 yards to surpass Stanford’s Toby Gerhart to slide into the second place spot. “The Jet” currently ranks second in the conference in yards per game at 108.30.

Barring any sort of injury, Best will undoubtedly see success rushing the ball as Cal faces off against a Husky rush defense that surrenders 223.27 yards per game on the ground. The only question is how long Tedford will decide to keep Best in the game should Cal jump out to an early lead, given Best’s list of injuries this year.

Shane Vereen who has had a solid freshman debut season, would need 370 yards on the ground on Saturday to break the 1000 yard mark, having rushed for 630 yards on 124 carries on the season, as the conference’s 8th leading rusher.

All-Purpose Yards
Best also leads the conference in all purpose yards per game, averaging 170.7--nearly 7 yards better than Terrence Austin’s 163.8 yards a game. Pff 163.8? Weak sauce.

Secondary Statistic Leaders
Darian Hagan is second in the conferences in passes broken up with 15 on the year, behind Alterraun Verner from UCLA. Hagan can wrap of the conference crown in this category should the Huskies decide they want to pick on the redshirt sophomore, and the USC Trojans decide they want to embarrass Verner.

In other secondary statistical news, Syd’Quan Thompson is tied for second in the conference in interceptions with 4 on the season, but is just one away from tying Mike Nixon from ASU for the top spot. The Sun Devils also play on Saturday, so the race should be a close one.


Special Teams
Syd’Quan Thompson could also take another statistical conference crown in the punt return category. If Squid were to gain more than 64 yards in punt returns, he could theoretically surpass OSU’s Sammie Stroughter for most punt return yards this season. And if Thompson were to get a TD on one of those punt returns, he could get a two-fer an lead the conference in punt return TDs with 2. Booyakasha.

Again, Jahvid Best could take home another statistical crown, this time on special teams. Best currently sits atop the conference standings in average kickoff return yardage, averaging 29.8 yards per return. Best was removed from the return mix until recently due to injuries, so it’s hard to speculate where he would have been had he been able to consistently return kickoffs.

Freshman punter Bryan Anger is second in the conference in average punt yardage by the narrowest of margins. He currently averages 44.13 yards per return, while senior punter for UCLA Aaron Perez averages 44.47. Here’s hoping Anger punts one or two 70 yarders, and the Trojans scare Perez into shanking a few for 15 yards.

Tackles For Loss
Senior Linebacker Zack Follett looks to finish an outstanding career at Cal by appropriately leading the conference in tackles for a loss. “Ziger” is currently tied for second in the conference with 17 TFLs and would need at least 3 tackles in the back field to surpass Oregon’s DE Nick Reed who has 19.5 on the year.

Oh, and if the Pain Train can force a fumble, he could move into a tie for first that category as well, currently sitting with 3 on the year.

So Be On the Lookout…
That’s about it for the most part. While a number of Cal players have still done remarkably well this season, there’s very little chance that any other Cal players might break through to the top of any other lists by season’s end.

Noticeably absent are any contenders on the offensive side of the ball not named Jahvid Best. Cal’s passing game and subsequently their receiving game, has for the most part plummeted in terms of conference ranking this season, but should expect a nice return next year.

So there you have it. If not for your love of football, the Bears, or all that is good in the world, at least show up/tune in to see some Bears wrap up some conference statistical titles.
Read the rest of the post and comments here >>

Bowl Scenarios

I've got a number of questions as how the bowl season is shaping up for the Bears and for the Pac-10. With Oregon State’s Loss to Oregon on Saturday in the Civil War game, the once crowded bowl picture is beginning to look a bit more clear, at least at the top. Keep in mind that most bowl invitations have yet to be handed out, so a number of these scenarios could change. Also, I’m less knowledgeable when it comes to opponents for these bowl games, so I’ll run with what ESPN currently has with their projections. Don’t like their opponents? Take it out on them.

But here’s how I’m expecting the situation to fold out.

Rose Bowl: USC vs. Penn State
With a USC win over UCLA (and let’s face it, USC is going to crush UCLA), the Trojans are all but pegged in for an annual romp over the Big 10 champ. This year’s victim? Penn State.

I know, I know. Big 10 fan “But this year will be different! Penn State is the real deal!”

Yes Penn State is a quality team. But expect them to bend over for the Trojans like every other “quality” Big Ten team in years past (Michigan, Ohio State, Illinois).

By the way, this is less of a lovefest over the Trojans than it is an honest indication of what I think of the Big 10.

The Trojans do run an very small chance of squeaking into the BCS Championship game, but it’s all but finalized that the title game will consist of the SEC Champs (Florida or Alabama) and either Oklahoma, Texas, or Texas Tech from the Big 12. My money’s on the Sooners. Unfortunately.

Holiday Bowl: Oregon Ducks vs. Missouri
The Pac-10’s second place team, the Oregon Ducks, are going to be enjoying another December trip in sunny San Diego, most likely against the team I had projected to being in the championship game this year, Missouri. Whoops.

You thought Saturday’s game against the Beavers was a high scoring affair? Watch out for this matchup. You take the nation’s 4th best scoring offense (Missouri – 45.0 PPG) vs the nation’s 7th best scoring offense in the Ducks (41.9) and look for muchos puntos.

Wait, does “punto” mean point or is a derogatory term for a homosexual? Dangit…five years of Spanish and for what?


Sun Bowl: Oregon State Beavers vs. Pittsburgh
This one gets a tiny bit sketchier. While it’s most likely that the conference’s 3rd ranked team will fall in its due spot in the Sun Bowl, there are a few potential quandaries in the way.

The Sun Bowl could choose to go with Arizona, because of their geographic proximity, and the likely crowd that would follow. But it’d be hard to justify passing over two teams who are ranked higher in the conference than the Wildcats.

("I don't even know where El Paso is...")

Also, I’ve heard mumbles and grumbles about the Holiday Bowl still liking the Beavers just because of how longs its been since OSU has been there. But again, a bit hard to see that happening.

The Beavers vs. the Panthers it is!

Las Vegas Bowl: Arizona vs. TCU
-and-
Emerald Bowl: Cal vs. Miami

Alright, so here’s where some of the icky stuff begins hitting the fan. Normally, Cal would be the natural pick for the Vegas Bowl. You take the team in 4th place standing in the conference and throw them in the Vegas Bowl.

But here’s the thing: Each year the Vegas Bowl and the Emerald Bowl switch off with first dibs, and while the Las Vegas Bowl has it this year, it’s been no secret that the Emerald Bowl, which holds its game in AT&T Park in San Francisco, is squirming in its pants to have a Bay Area team in the game.

Naturally, that could have been Stanford but…oh wait—oh yeah...Cal crushed Stanford, thereby ending the Cardinal’s bowl dreams.

("Did I do that?")

So, the Emerald Bowl’s man crush has focused squarely on Cal, and it’s pretty likely at this point that the Bears will make the 30 minute drive over to Candlestick park, a stadium that somehow matches Memorial Stadium in its antiquated amenities and also features 20 minute walks from the parking lot to the stands. At least Berkeley has a BART station near by.

[Edit: My bad, so the Emerald Bowl is held at AT&T.  Must have confused it with all the talk about Cal playing at Candlestick in one of its upcoming seasons.  While it doesn't make any more attractive than the Vegas Bowl, AT&T is by leaps and bounds a nicer venue than Candlestick.]

 
So that would leave the Wildcats to face off against a solid TCU squad in the Vegas Bowl.

I know a number of Bears fans have told me their strong preference to play in the Las Vegas Bowl. It sure does make for a more fun bowl trip. There’s also a disparity in bowl payouts to the tune of a few hundred thousand. And it’s always nicer to face a ranked team.

Is there a chance the Bears land in the Vegas Bowl? Possibly. But I wouldn’t go booking any flights just yet. Instead, I’d be ready for some Candlestick loving (that just sounds bad) and a night out at the bars (win or lose).

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl: Hawaii vs. Arizona State
The Sun Devils can still crack this bowl if they pull off an upset over the Wildcats and--ah no one cares.

Read the rest of the post and comments here >>