Rankings Update: Week 5

Not that it matters too much any more, but the Bears stumbled 18 spots to number 24 in the latest rankings following their 42-3 loss to the Oregon Ducks on Saturday.

The Ducks who have beaten back to back ranked teams in the past few weeks have reentered the rankings at #16.

The Bears face #7 ranked USC in a critical home game this Saturday. A loss would drop the Bears from the rankings and possibly out of the conference race altogether.

Honestly, although I thought the Bears should have been ranked I wouldn't have been surprised one bit had they fallen out of the rankings completely. Top 10 teams simply don't lose the way Cal did yesterday.
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Oregon 2009 Recap

Clearly we did not guess right.

What the hell was that?

Okay. Okay. I’m being a bit to rash. Let me start again.

…

What the hell was that?

Yesterday’s loss is beyond any simple description. There are a plethora of reasons why the Bears and their shiny number six ranking were devastated by the Oregon Ducks yesterday 42-3. At the same time, the game can also be simply described as the worst loss in Jeff Tedford’s tenure. By far.

The 2006 UCLA loss was heart-wrenching, but it was easy to explain: Alamar courtship of Maurice Jones-Drew. The Tennessee loss was vomit-inducing, but a loss that at least had the built in excuse of the incredible pressure of playing at a hostile environment with lofty expectations. The 2007 Washington and Stanford losses were mind-numbingly bad, but it was clear that there something very wrong with the team, and could be chalked up to the downward spiral that was the entire backend of that season. The Maryland loss last year was also embarrassing, but the Terrapins would be hot and cold all year, and there was always the humidity or 9 AM PST start time excuse.

Yet something yesterday was something entirely different. Cal was blown out by the Ducks to the tune of 39 points, and quite frankly folks, it didn’t even feel that close. There would be no talk about weather, start times, traveling, absence of star players, or an inexperienced team.

No excuse, and no where else to point but to the team itself. Yesterday, was as my friend described as a “systematic meltdown” all around.

However, now that that’s out of the way, let’s get our bearinga straight and attempt to make sense of this.


Coaching/Playcalling
The game was lost on many fronts, and without a lone performance to brandish as the scapegoat, one has to look at the coaching. The Bears were flat out out-coached on Saturday, and there were very few, if any, adjustments made.

Cal’s defense had no answer for Oregon’s swing pass game (more on the pass coverage in a second), and it was maddening to see the Bears continue to spot just two defenders with a far off safety against Oregon’s stacked 3 WR sets. Everyone could see the swing passes coming—except the Bears.

The pass rush was near non-existent, as the Bears seemed to be set on challenging Masoli to drop back and throw. I had also made this a key to the game, but with the assumption that Cal would play decent zone coverage. Crazy right?

Yet, Masoli isn’t inept. The kid can throw if you only rush 3 or 4 consistently and give him time to find pockets in zone coverage and set his feet. He’s also particularly lethal when on the run. Again, more on the pass coverage in a bit.

Offensively, I was amazed at the playcalling. Where were the reverses and sweeps that shined in the first three games? Why was Cal set on only passing downfield or on swing passes? Why were ten yard outs and slants completely removed from the playbook? Maybe I wasn’t seeing something. Perhaps the Ducks were playing too tight on coverage to try anything close to a mid-range passing game. But you can’t argue for the results of what we saw yesterday.

Zone Coverage Woes
Some of my worst fears were realized yesterday. Cal’s linebackers and secondary had struggled all year in zone coverage, and Oregon absolutely abused them in this category.

Specifically, I’d written a few times this year that Cal continues to open up the middle for the tight ends to sneak out for easy yardage. Someone forgot to remind the Bears that the Ducks have a potential first-day NFL selection in Ed Dickson, who would go on to roast the Bears for 3 TDs and 148 yards on 11 receptions. Ouch.

The pervading issues appear to be that (1) the linebackers aren't playing tight on zone coverage, giving their receivers and tight ends much too much space to settle into a zone pocket and that (2) the linebackers are too susceptible for play fakes and are too out of position by the time opposing QBs get the ball off.

I can’t remember if it was Dickson’s second or third reception, but you can clearly see Cal’s coverage LB (I think it might have been Kendricks) who easily let Dickson slip out to the weak side of the field and was a good five to six yards away before he realized that Masoli was going to throw.

Even Syd’Quan was pump faked again this week, and would have been burned for a 30 yard TD had Masoli not sailed his ball early in the game. But he had the flu so no one shall speak ill of Squid.

Again, it was clear that Cal’s secondary was going to get roasted from the get go due to the defensive schemes that let Masoli have all day to get into space and go 21-25 for 253 yards and 3 TDs. But Cal’s soft zone coverage is going to continue to hurt the Bears for some time to come. Imagine what Jake Locker or even Andrew Luck will be able to do. Shudder.

Sloppy Play
While yesterday’s game was far from being the sloppiest Cal game I’ve seen (some games from 2007 say hello), it was still by far the sloppiest of the season. Players missed assignments all around, and there were also a number of mental errors that would go onto kill any type of momentum.

Josh Hill’s fumble (AFTER HIS FUMBLE RECOVERY!) was painful. Recover the ball and slide! Best’s fumble on his bobbled handoff exchange (AFTER THE BEARS’ FUMBLE RECOVERY) was also unlike anything I’d seen in some time. And why oh why Verran, would you feel the need to get in the face of your defender after a blatant pass interference? Clap your hands, nod your head in agreement, and head back to the huddle with your shiny new 15 yards and a chance to score and get back in the game. Sigh. Sorry. Getting excited again.

Pass Protection Struggles
While Ducks have had a history of being able to get to the QB in its history against the Bears, yesterday’s game was a whole other story. I’ve long stated that Cal’s offensive line is much deeper than it has been in other years. Unfortunately, this seemingly means that the entire unit as a whole doesn’t appear to be as polished as previous years'. Cal gave up 5 sacks on the day to bring their season total to 10 through four games. As some context, at its strongest, the Bears’ 2006 squad gave up just 13 on the season. We’re nearly there with 8 more games to go.

Kevin Riley was unable to set his feet or step into most of his throws, being rushed into inaccurate passes that would often just be off his finger tips. Riley was just 12-31 for 123 yards, with 50 of those yards coming one throw to Verran Tucker. Riley has still yet to get intercepted this year, but also has been kept out of the endzone for the past two games.

The Offensive line also struggled to pave a path for Jahvid Best. I was actually pretty impressed with the running game early on, with Jahvid consistently running for 4-5 yards at a time. After Oregon began stacking the box however, Cal went away from any type of offensive balance however and would often go on to pass three of the next downs, to end any drives. Frustrating all around.

Special Teams…Decent?
Kickoffs and kickoff coverage was the lone bright spot. What? Yes, you read me correctly. While still needing to improve his consistency, as D’Amato appears to be the answer at kickoffs, able to knock his second kickoff two yards deep into the endzone. Cal’s inability to score however, makes it difficult to see how much D’Amato would be able to do over the course of a game in which the Bears actually…you know, score.

I see quite a bit of potential in the true freshman though. His 47 yard field goal to open the game in Autzen is impressive, though you wish he could have kept his composure with the second 42 yarder. Keep him at both kicking positions though. Continue to build that consistency.

Bryan Anger’s off performance was also a bit shocking but fitting with the rest of the team’s shocking performance. It was Anger’s poorest outing in what has thus far been a spectacular career. Anger was unable to land a number of punts inside the 20 despite working with some great field position, and went on to shank another. I’ve never seen that before. There was little leg on most of the others, even with ample space for him to get his punt off. Bizarre.

Oh, and continue to have Vereen on KR. He ripped off a number of great returns, and gave the Bears great field position that the offense would continue to squander, but it was still great to see. I’m curious to see if he’ll be able to return one for a TD by season’s end.

Where dost thou go from here?
Ultimately, I’m disturbed not so much that the Bears lost. Losing on the road in the always hostile Autzen stadium against a solid Ducks squad that has appeared to rectify all the issues from their opening game debacle is always understandable. It was rather the way in which they lost that is so disturbing. I would never have anticipated such a face plant, and never would have expected that so much of it would be on the shoulders of those at top, from Tedford to the coaching staff who had up until now been so effective and focused this season.

The season isn’t over by a longshot, and I still believe this can be a very good Bears squad. But I can only hope that I’m only scratching the surface of all the issues that the team and coaching staff are likely discussing now to prepare themselves for the rest of the season.

Next week’s game against USC could have been golden for the Bears. A win at Autzen and over the Trojans would have given the Bears a three game lead over USC in the conference race. Huge with Cal’s remaining schedule.

Now, USC and Cal will be battling it out to salvage their season. The winner regains its swagger with some of its toughest games out of the way and very much in it for the conference title. The loser finds itself with two conference losses and needing a prayer and miraculous turnaround to find some way of playing in January.

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Keys to the Game: Oregon 2009

(Blount's next step after Oregon: "LaGarrette Blount's Punchout")

I know I’ve stated this multiple times on this site, but I’ll say it again: very few games during the course of the season get me as excited as Cal’s annual one with the Oregon Ducks. They are most typically some of the most thrilling contests I get the pleasure of watching in the conference year in and year out. All of our victories have been a blast for different reasons, from the monsoon that was last year’s contest, to the thriller in 2007, to the rout in 2006 and the final dropped pass in 2004. Even the losses have been whacky, from the lights going out in 2003, to the overtime heartbreaker in 2005.

I’m also usually the most nervous about the Oregon game each year, given the propensity for the two teams to play each other close and the game expected to come down to the wire.

And to provide some context, I’m usually worried about every Cal game. And when I say worried about every game, I mean I-was-even-sweating-at-points-during-the-EWU-game-worried.

So it goes without saying that I still I’ll have my tums ready for a game against an Oregon squad that appears to be gaining confidence and swagger with each game following the Boise State debacle.

Yet, I can’t help but look at some facts that give me a slight level of relative confidence that the Bears absolutely should win this game. My fears around the Oregon team usually center around their potent offense, yet this offense appears to be the most stagnant and vulnerable that it’s been in years. And even when Oregon’s team has been high rolling, Cal has done a pretty solid job of holding the Ducks to well below their yardage and scoring average.

So with these conflicting emotions in play, let’s look at what are in my mind, the keys to the game.


Run Down Oregon’s Defense
While Oregon’s offense has left much to be desired this year, their defense has looked fairly stout. The Ducks feature some playmakers at the linebacker spot in Casey Matthews and Spencer Paysinger as well as an experienced secondary led by Walter Thurmond and TJ Ward.

Their defensive line on the other hand, entered the season with a number of losses on the defensive line. Their lone returning starter Will Tukuafu has failed to make plays in the backfield this season with just 15 tackles, and none for a loss.

What this translates to is an Oregon defense that will typically draw in their linebackers to help stop the run along with their safety TJ Ward acting as a bit of a rover to cover gaps and make plays at the line of scrimmage on running plays. Ward is questionable for the game though, and that responsibility with fall on freshman Jon Boyett.

The results have worked reasonably well thus far with the Ducks giving up 151 yards per game on the ground (8th in the conference). While that seems like a high amount, Oregon’s opponents have run the ball on the Ducks A LOT this year, an average of 45 attempts per game. This works out to the Ducks giving up 3.33 yards per carry which is actually pretty decent.

Also, Oregon’s speed at the linebacker positions pose a problem for the Bears as it closes up running lanes on the outside where Cal’s speedy backs have had much success over slower opponents in the previous weeks.

Yet, I’m confident that Cal’s offensive line is more talented, deeper, and more physically dominating than the Oregon’s defensive line which should at least allow Cal to eventually rip off 3-4 yard runs. This should naturally draw Oregon’s linebackers and secondary into the box. While there may not be too much heavy scoring in the first half, early success in a running game could set the stage for some explosive plays later in the game. Play action, reverses, fly sweeps, and quick passes on 1-1 WR matchups on the outside could become incredibly fruitful if Cal’s offensive line is able to assert its will on Oregon’s D-line and linebackers.

Keep Masoli Airborn
This key is fairly similar to last year when I wrote that Masoli, who had struggled to pass the ball while staying successful on the ground, would need to be limited on the ground to set up constant passing situations on third down for the Bears. The formula worked as the Bears held Jeremiah Masoli to 7-21 passing for only 44 yards to go with his two picks.

The funny thing is, as much as Masoli had struggled passing last year prior to Cal’s game (189 yards passing in the previous two games), his passing numbers this year have regressed even further. Masoli is currently completing just 45.3% of his passes for just 379 yards on the season with 2 interceptions and no touchdowns. He has however remained a running threat, rushing for 145 yards and 4 TDs.

Also, after LaGarrette Blount’s suspension, Oregon has fewer answers at running back than ever. No longer having the luxury of a Jonathan Stewart or a Jeremiah Johnson, the Ducks will have to hope that freshman’s LaMichael James’ continued progress will pose enough of a threat that the Bears won’t have to commit more players than necessary to the running lanes in the middle. James will certainly threaten though, as he’s faster than Blount ever was, and could really hurt the Bears if Cal isn’t disciplined in their assignments.

So again, the key will be for the Bears to key in on the run. There’s nothing that discipline and focus won’t be able to cover, as the Bears have the scheme (the 3-4 has done well against the Ducks’ offense) and the talent to limit the Oregon Ducks from going videogame crazy offense on Cal. Unless Masoli has a breakthrough at QB, Cal might do well to trust their experienced secondary to man up on Oregon’s receivers on the outside.

Special Teams…Just…Don’t Lose This Game
Okay…offense needs to establish the run. Defense needs to get Masoli passing in long yard passing situations…now special teams needs too…gawd.

Special Teams is where more talented teams can lose on the road. It’s absolutely not out of the realm of possibility that the Ducks could very easily win this game with Cal’s poor kickoffs and kickoff coverage constantly giving Oregon short field to work with.

Also, let’s not forget that the Ducks currently lead the conference in punt return yards, and opened last week’s game against Utah with a punt return for a TD.

Oh and then consider that given Cal’s history of close games in Autzen, the game could come down to a field goal which would fall on the leg of a true frosh Vince D’Amato is just 2-4 on the season.

There really isn’t much else to say. Let’s forget the positional pop-up kicking for now, drill the ball as deep as you can, and threaten playing time if players aren’t staying in their lanes on coverage. Okay, I don’t know what I’m saying. I’m just trying to think of ways where I won’t be saying, “Alamar cost us Oregon 2009” years from now.

Should Win, Will Win?
I’ll be honest. I’m expecting a defensive battle on Saturday. Don’t be surprised with a 10-3 or 13-7 type of half before things open up in the second half. Special teams, flukey calls, or freak plays might eventually break the game open to swing one way or another, but I believe the Bears are stronger in the trenches and deeper all around to eventually win this one late in the game.

Score Prediction: Bears 31 Ducks 20

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A Minnesota Conversation

This is neither insightful or newsworthy, but I thought it was a bit funny to track the absolute highs and lows during a conversation with a friend while watching the Minnesota on two different sides of the country. Enjoy.

2:25 PM Jessica: BearwithFangs,
i cannot handle this
are you watching
this is ridic
i'm so pisssssed off right now

2:29 PM me: I'm pretty pissed too

Jessica: RILEY SUCKS RIGHT NOW
I"M SOOOOOOOOO MAD
OMG
OMG

2:30 PM me: ..

Jessica: I'm feeling so let down
i hate being let down
because it happens ALL the time

me: ANGER SMASH!
I know
I know

2:32 PM Jessica: we need a better DEFENSE
i'm so pissed
i cant watch this
i really cant
i hate being a cal bear
hate it
2:33 PM OMG
BAD CALLLLLLLL
2:34 PM we have to dig really deep right now!!!

2:35 PM me: That was a horrendous call
Our defense is playing ok
Except for hagan

Jessica: that guy
2 TDs on him
wtf

me: Our ST are killing us
Altho better second half
Penalties and we’re not getting best involved

Jessica: we need best in the game asap!
2:36 PM and we need to prevent them from scoring
i cant watch this phil
i really cant
my stomach hurts
just watching this crap

me: Haha
I know it’s painful

Jessica: so pissed
really
this is embarrassing
2:37 PM me: But just remind yourself that it’s not a conference game
Jessica: i don’t care
it's national tv
if we were truly a top 10 team
we got to play like one
conf or non conf
2:38 PM with rankings... comes expectations
so that's why i don’t like to be ranked

me: But rankings are the only way to be successful

Jessica: syd'quan
coming through

me: All premier programs learn to deal with them

2:39 PM Jessica: i guess... i just cant
haha

me: We can't sneak up on people forever

Jessica: we got to own the ranking tho
u know

me: Jeebus

Jessica: we got to live up to it

me: Omg

Jessica: that's what i struggle with
yes
scary
we gotta have a 8 min usc drive right now

2:42 PM me: Get the ball in best's hands..

2:43 PM Jessica: omg
2:51 PM Jessica: DEFENSE BEARS!

2:55 PM me: Gawd our special teams sucks
But our defense has been fairly solid..

Jessica: yes they do

2:56 PM me: Hold on you bears!

Jessica: thats going to make the difference with usc
special teams
3:00 PM GO BEARS RIGHT NOW!

3:07 PM me: Whew
Gee
Hold on

Jessica: whew
go bears
i can relax now
3:08 PM i love college football
3:21 PM Jessica: go bears!
onto eugene next week

3:22 PM me: HAHA
Man
Honestly I think this was good for us though
3:23 PM Teaches us how to deal with adversity
Playing on the road
Etc

4:21 PM Jessica: yea, i agree! i think we needed to prove that we can pull through at the end

4:33 PM me: Seriously I was going to throw up
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Rankings Update: Week 4

After an eventful Saturday, the latest shakeup in the rankings has the California Golden Bears as the top ranked team in the Pac-10. The Bears used their first road win in five tries to catapult themselves to #6 while USC's surprising loss to the vastly improved Huskies has sent them tumbling to #12.

The Huskies have also gained attention with their turnaround win, entering the Top 25 rankings at #24 for the first time since September 28, 2003. Crazy when you considerthat this was the nearly identical team that went 0-12 last year.


Oregon State lost out on its chance to enter the rankings with a 28-18 loss to Cincinatti (who is easily looking like the best team in the Big East at this point).

Arizona also had a tough weekend dropping a game to Iowa and receiving news that their star tight end Rob Gronkowski is out for the season.

Oregon and UCLA are also on the verge of entering the polls after UCLA's win over Kansas State marked their 3-0 non-conference start, and Oregon ended Utah's 18 game winning streak in Eugene.

Oh and swallow this: Stanford and Washington are tied for first in the Pac-10 while USC and WSU are tied for last.

Yes chew on that.
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Minnesota 2009 Recap

"Here...you do something with it."

(AP Photo/Paul Battaglia)

It was looking like a magical Saturday. I settled down in an Irish pub to watch my Golden Bears hopefully roll the Minnesota Golden Gophers. One giant plate of nachos and two easy touchdowns later, it was looking like many concerns about another road letdown game would have been for naught. Nachos were good. Game was good. Life was good.

Yet after Eric Decker’s second and third touchdown receptions (one catching and one throwing), my stomach began voicing its discontent with me through the form of some warning gurgles. I tried chalking it up to the questionable tasting jalapenos. But the rest of my body knew the truth: the Bears were falling apart in the second half.

Then came the questionable (the Mike Tepper holding call) and down right inexcusable penalties (Cattouse’s pass interference). Shades of Arizona crept into my mind. Riley’s inaccuracy began rearing its head. I checked the stats. My worst fears were affirmed by ESPN. Since 2:24 in the second quarter, Cal had gained only 15 yards of offense. My nachos began knocking on my throat’s door asking to come out and play.

Then the Bears emerged and to take control of the game. It began with Kevin Riley’s beautiful 35 yard pass to Jeremy Ross to convert to convert a crucial 3rd and 16 pass. My stomach expressed its confusion. Best showed his speed in a 2 yard TD run to the outside. No more bubble guts. Mohammed picked off Weber on Minnesota’s ensuing drive after Weber was pressured by Eddie Young to give the Bears the ball back in Minnesota territory. All retching had ceased.

After Best’s school record tying fifth TD, it appeared I could finally breathe out. The Bears continued to get tremendous pressure on Weber to shut down Minnesota’s passing game in the closing minutes of the game to give the Bears a relieving and much needed road win.

Sigh. Whew. Fart.

Let’s get to some of the good, bad and ugly.


Defensive Line Pressure
The Bears D-Line continues to show why they are one of the best in the conference. Make no mistake about it: this is a solid, physical Minnesota offensive line. For the Bears to notch 3 sacks, and force Weber outside of the pocket a few times, particularly late in the game, is a testament to their talent and the schemes.

How much more can be said about Tyson Alualu? He was wreaking havoc in the backfield all game with two sacks, and continues to mark his stamp as the best Bears defensive end in the Jeff Tedford era.

The Bears continued to be stout on the ground, with 6 tackles for a loss, including two sacks.

Riley and Receivers
Riley again overcame a rough patch of passing to continue to have an overall decent game, going 16-25 for 252 yards. While Riley never found the endzone, and had some errant passes that would have likely been picked off had the Minnesota defenders hadn’t had rocks for hands, he made some critical passes when necessary to keep some drives alive.

The receivers also had an up and down game. The corps was plagued with a number of drops, but also made some nice grabs as well. Tucker’s deep catch, Ross catch near the goal line, and Anthony Miller’s one handed grab come to mind.

It’s been somewhat of a relief to see that any of the receivers are capable of stepping up to have a big game. Jones exploded against Maryland, Ross this week against Minnesota, and Tucker has been consistent (save a few drops this week) for the past few days. Cal really does have the luxury of slinging the ball around the field a bit and not having to rely on target week to week, unlike Adam Weber and Eric Decker.

Shameful Special Teams
I’m going to come out and say it. Special Teams will cost the Bears this season. Previously, I had stated that it would simply hurt the Bears in select games, but after today’s game, I am absolutely convinced that our kickoff and kickoff coverage will cost the Bears at least one game this season. It almost did today.

It’s become head-shakingly unbelievable. I don’t knock the Bears’ defense too much for giving up 21 points today, simply because of Minnesota’s amazing field position. The Bears averaged just 54.3 yards per kick, meaning the Gophers were fielding balls on the 15 or 16 yard line on average. With the exception of starting at their own two-yard line thanks to Anger’s amazing punt, the Gophers had the incredible luxury of starting often at either the thirty or forty yard line. One first down, and the Gophers were already in Cal territory.

You simply can’t continue to win games that way. There’s got to be an answer. I don’t know what. But it absolutely boggles my mind that we still don’t have a kicker who can kick the ball consistently inside the five. Hell, I’ll take the ten.

Rush Defense Dominance
It’s worth noting that Bears haven’t faced anything close to a strong running game. However, it’s still impressive to see the Bears haven’t given up too many big runs this season. In fact, the Bears gave up just 37 rushing yards, letting up just 1.8 ypc, to total out to 187 yards on the season. They will see a stiffer test to Oregon’s run heavy offense next week, and USC’s solid rushing attack the week after.

Unimpressive Zone Coverage
This is the second week that I’ve walked away from a game completely unimpressed with Cal’s zone coverage. Eastern Washington quickly found the open spots last week, and Adam Webber did the same for most of the game until the pressure got to him down the stretch.

It was a poor outing for Darian Hagan, who was stuck in the wrong spots for two of Minnesota’s three scores today. I know he’s been bothered a bit by injuries this past week, but I’ve been let down a bit with his performance this past year. He hasn’t shown as much aggression and closing speed on the ball as he did last year, and has given up quite a bit of space on some medium ranged throws. He’s still a great talent, but we will see how his performance continues the next few weeks.

On the other hand, Syd’Quan showed why he’s an All-American candidate, leading the team with 8 tackles (1 for a loss) with a pass breakup. His tackling ability for a player of his size is absolutely unreal. We still may have to wait until the end of the season to answer whether Thompson is better than Dante Hughes, but his durability, toughness, and tackling ability clearly outshines his Cal predecessor.

Best carries the Load
Best has done nothing so far to dissuade voters from seriously considering him as a Heisman finalist. Best carried the rock 26 times for 133 yards, hitting pay dirt five times.

I am a bit concerned by his limp after some of his TD runs, but my guess is that it’s that sore toe coming back to bite him, especially given that he carried the ball more today than he has since…well ever really I think. Can anyone else confirm or deny this?

I was also pulling my hair out a bit in the second half as to why it appeared the Bears weren’t giving the ball to Best. While it wasn’t getting to Bob Griese levels, it still didn’t make sense given how productive Best had been getting yards. I think much of it had to do with what Minnesota was giving the Bears, but I also think the coaching staff knew it was going to be a close game, and that they would need to save Best for the fourth. The gamble paid off, and the Best and Bears continued to roll.

Half-Full?
In the end, I think the game is going to help the Bears a lot more than it hurts them. While Cal’s zone coverage and kickoffs remains a concern, the Bears still beat a decent BCS conference team on the road in a pretty hostile environment. That’s never easy to do.

And though the game was closer for a while than it really should have been, you have to think that this experience can really only grow the Bears. Two blowout wins over inferior teams can only enhance egos and add apathy. But digging deep, and taking control of the game with two straight TD scores when it looked like the game was about to spiral out of control, only builds the fortitude necessary to help the Bears later.

All in all, it’s great preparation for next week’s critical road game against Oregon. Again, answers are starting to come in regards to this team’s character and ability, and you still can’t knock 3-0.

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Keys to the Game: Minnesota 2009

I apologize for the lack of updates this week. Those who know me personally know that I've just recently moved to NYC and am pursuing an incredibly draining and time consuming (but rewarding) career. Hence, I haven't had much of an opportunity to sit behind my computer for very long. In fact, I still don't. I'm actually typing this from my blackberry (amazing!) on my way to New Haven for the weekend. So you'll have to excuse any typos and plain text.

In other news, the Bears face off against an underwhelming Minnesota team what has squeaked by in their first two games against Air Force and Syracuse. I haven't had too much of an opportunity to watch much recent footage of the Gophers thus far, but I have been moderately unimpressed with what I have seen. Most strikingly, I've noticed an obvious lack of speed from a team who appears to be fundamentally solid and stout, but lacking in any eye opening athleticism.

Nevertheless, it's a game that has been the center of media speculation and fan worry. The overarching question appears to be whether the Bears can do what they haven't been able to do very well since 2006 which is beat BCS teams on the road. One only needs to look at the debacle that was Maryland last year for a recent illustration of this. In fact, all four of the Bears losses were on the road with their one road win being against lowly WSU.

Still there's reason to be optimistic. While the obvious talent differential has come to provide little comfort for Cal fans who have seen their Bears slip on the road to inferior opponents before, Cal's team has much more experience at nearly every unit to potentially avoid some of the mental mistakes that have cost the Bears such games in seasons prior.


On offense the Bears are likely to exploit their speed in a gameplan that will otherwise intend on pounding it out on the ground at matching the Gophers' physicality on defense. Headlined by a talented linebacker trio, the Gophers have been fairly stout against the run, allowing just 3.51 ypc, which is made even more impreessive by the fact that they faced a run heavy offense in Air Force last week. This can be primarily attributed to the veteran experience with the Gophers defense that plays solid and executes their assignments fairly well.

I would expect that the Bears would subsequently come out throwing early on in hopes of testing Minnesota's secondary and keeping their LBs on their heels. Given Riley"s slower starts, this may take a quarter or so, but things could really open up in the second half.

Also, I must reiterate my generally pleased impression of OC Andy Ludwig's playcalling thus far and am excited to see what he has in store for a defense that plays fairly straight-up, execute, hit-you-in-the-mouth physicality. Misdirection, tosses, reverses, Oh My!

On defense, the Bears face off against two things that have either hurt or helped them: a power rushing attack and a short quick passing game.

Through the air, Minnesota's most obvious target is All-Conference receiver Eric Decker. He has accounted for 60 percent of the Gophers offense and is a beast in the air, catching everything that is thrown his way. He also has a fairly deceptive level of speed, with long strides that easily create distance and separation from defenders. He reminds me a bit of Chase Lyman in that way.

I'll be interested to see some of his 1-1 matchups with Syd, as well as how the Bears plan on mixing enough coverage to confuse QB Adam Weber long enough to get flushed in making mistakes. The 3-4 should be able to provide some more accurate answers on how it intends to stop solid receivers this season.

On the ground, the Gophers are pretty vanilla, not incorporating too many misdirections or counters. They use their beefy O-line to try and assert their dominance on you and wear you down over the course of the game. Fortunately, the Bears have fairly well against such running schemes since switching to the 3-4, and have enough depth at the D-line to keep up.

The biggest issue I see is a tendency to over commit to the run which either leaves the middle wide open for TEs to creep out for passes and bigger gains on playaction calls. Again, the Eastern Washington FB should NOT have been that open on that score last week.

Overall, the biggest issue will be for the Bears to stay focused nd to not get rattled by playing outside of the safe confines of Memorial Stadium. They have the depth and athleticism to eventually win (possibly handily).

Score Prediction: Cal 31 Minnesota 17.
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Rankings Update: Week 3

The Bears continue to roll. Cal moved up two spots to #8 this week after bulldozing Eastern Washington. They benefited from Oklahoma State's upset by Houston and the Ohio State Buckeyes late game loss to USC in Columbus.

This is the Bears' highest ranking since being ranked #2 in October 7th, 2007. The Bears were on the verge of taking the top spot before their stunning loss to Oregon State at home. The Bears had also been ranked 8th in 2007 after consecutive wins as well.


The Pac-10 also continues to be missing in action in the Top 25, with only the Trojans and the Bears in the rankings. Oregon State slid a few spots to 28th, preventing their entrance into the Polls after an all-close come-from-behind win over UNLV. UCLA continues to move forward after beating Tennessee for the second year in a row, moving up to 30th with 44 points.

Oregon has received some votes with 5, and Arizona's second consecutive win the season nabbed them 4 points.

[Edit: Wait...Ore...Oregon is receiving votes?!? HOW?!?!]


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Eastern Washington 2009 Recap

(CalBears.com)

"They were the most complete team I'd ever seen on film. They're big up front, they're fast on defense. They just do everything right."

-Eastern Washington Head Coach Beau Baldwin.

First off, let’s give credit where credit is due.

Give it up—for me.

Let’s not forget that I predicted a 59-10 victory for the Bears in my earlier Keys to the Game posting http://www.bearswithfangs.com/2009/09/keys-to-game-eastern-washington-2009.html, and would have most certainly been spot on had Eastern Washington’s kicker not showed the leg strength of a five-year old school girl.

Anyway, moving on to the game…

Early on I was definitely feeling the cursory effects of playing in a seemingly no-win type of a game against a cupcake. Anything less than a blowout is unacceptable. A tied game? Your team must be absolutely atrocious.

To be honest, I thought that Eastern Washington actually looked better at times, particularly on offense than Maryland last week. Granted, some of it was certainly due to Cal’s defensive confusion early in the game, but give credit where credit is due. The Eagles featured a number of veteran and talented offensive skill players, particularly senior QB Matt Nichols who looked poised while carving up Cal’s secondary in the first half. Of course, Cal’s strength on defense and offensive line eventually put the game away, but EWU looked polished and efficient on offense, without any of the wide-eyed looks one would normally expect from a FCS school.

Defense Tightens Up
With that said, it would be an understatement to state that Cal’s defense looked a bit confused early on in the game on Eastern Washington’s second possession. You know things are bad when your All-American cornerback is getting pump faked. The Bears got little pressure on Nichols, and the soft zone coverage allowed EWU receivers to get plenty of separation from Cal’s defenders. The Eagles would go on to carve up 83 yards of mostly passing offense before scoring.

In all fairness though, I think Cal’s defensive playcalling was pretty conservative by design so as not to reveal too much for future opponents. After the drive, the Bears mixed in more blitzes and looked much better the for the rest of the game, shutting down the Eagles’ offense and holding the Eagles to just 42 yards in the second half and no points. The Eagles were also sacked three times and for just 14 yards on 28 tries.


At this point, I’m still a bit concerned by Cal’s propensity to give up big yards over the middle to tight ends. Also, I’d like to see an interception or two by the end of next week from a secondary that is considered to be one of the conference’s best. But it’s no time to panic.

Cal dominates on the Ground
Cal’s offensive line really imposed its will over a mostly outmatched EWU defense. It was common to see the Eagles defensive line pushed back a yard or two to open up huge holes for all of Cal’s backs. The Bears had three RBs score on the ground Saturday (four if you count Sofele) for a total of seven rushing TDs. They also amassed a whopping 342 yards on the ground, putting them at 586 for the season.

While one expected production from both Best and Vereen, it was particularly encouraging to see Covaughn Deboskie-Johnson get his first collegiate TD and a huge day rushing. Granted, CBJ’s second productive outing was again against the second-string of a weaker defense, but it was still fun to finally see how explosive he can be when given the opportunity. Cal will continue to have a wealth of riches at the tailback position.

When watching Isi Sofele play, I can’t help but think the same exact thoughts I had while watching Jahvid Best play during his freshman year. While not nearly the gunner (yet) that Best was, Sofele has shiftiness and burst that Best demonstrated his first year that makes me think this guy is going to make plays over and over again. Sofele would have certainly gone the distance on his TD run had that been any further out.

Some Pleasant Surprises So Far
Really liking the play calling so far. I think we’ve been pretty vanilla for the most part, especially today, but we’ve shown great balance and I enjoy the occasional passes on first down. Props to Coach Ludwig.

Also, I’m loving what I’m seeing from FB Brian Holley so far. While he’s isn’t quite the blocker Ta’ufo’ou was (very few are), he’s held up well, as is a better threat rushing and receiving than Will was. You’ve got to think that Tedford and Ludwig are getting increasingly interested in possibly involving Holley more in some select offensive packages.

Finally, good to see Anthony Miller get a few more grabs this week. Tight end play will be particularly critical in coming weeks. His blocking has also been solid thus far.

Passing Production
I noted in my Keys to the Game that Cal would need to continue its passing rhythm and consistency. While the Bears weren’t able to match last week’s 298 yard production, Riley still demonstrated his renewed confidence, going 13-20 for 148 yards and a TD.

While Riley has yet to turn the ball over, and seems much more sure of himself driving this offense, one might be concerned by the lacking of receiving production by receivers. Yes, the drop by Ross and Boateng’s slowdown were slight eyebrow raisers, but keep in mind that many of the passing numbers were down this week because they didn’t really need to be inflated. Once your team jumps out to a big lead early on, there really isn’t much reason to sling it around.

Kickoffs are still a weakness
Cal’s kickoffs were by and large about the same as last week. The Bears averaged 60.4 yards per kickoff against Maryland, and only marginally improved that number this week to 60.6. While Tavecchio showed he is physically capable of kicking it inside the five, knocking one kickoff to the three-yard line, the Bears are still struggling to pin opposing offenses behind the twenty yard line.

Again, there appear to be few strategies to rectify this. Tavecchio needs to become more consistent. Plain and simple. And unless Seawright or D’Amato can provide another option, the Bears are just going to have to bite the bullet for the rest for the year.

So How Good Are the Bears?
I still don’t think we can really answer that just yet. Maryland and Eastern Washington have been far from being the stiffest competition.

What we do know is that the Bears are good enough to do what good teams are supposed to do—which is to put away obviously weaker opponents comfortably.

We also know that the Bears are incredibly deep, particularly at both lines, running back and the secondary. The value of this can’t be overstated enough, especially as the Bears will face teams like the Trojans who are able to take over games because of this very reason.

Next week’s contest will begin to reveal the team’s character as they face a likely bowl team on the road for the first time. It’s also looking more and more like Cal’s schedule will be a bit more backloaded than initially anticipated with a much improved conference. Until then, fans need to continue to enjoy the blowouts while holding their collective breaths just a bit longer.

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Keys to the Game: Eastern Washington 2009

(Okay, their logo's actually pretty cool.)

I don’t know about you but this week has absolutely flown by this week. We’re just a little over a day away from game 2 of Cal’s football season, and many fans are just now settling down from the euphoria of a successful home opener.

In a game that’s likely to go unnoticed by national media outlets, and even some Cal fans, the Bears face off against FCS (Div IIA) ranked Eastern Washington. The Eagles are coming off a season opening over Western Oregon, and are understandable huge underdogs to the Cal Bears, appeared to be primed and ready to give it their best shot against the #10 ranked Golden Bears.

Really, there’s not much to expect from a game in which the Bears are expected to roll. For once I’d like to see one of Cal’s cupcake teams talk mad game and threaten to decapitate Jahvid Best, just to spicen things up. But the Eagles appear to be upbeat and ready to compete.

With that said, my usual keys to the game will be focused not so much on just the outcome of the game in the sense of who wins, but also considering what the Bears should hope to accomplish and gain from one last prep game before hitting the road against Minnesota and Oregon.

Contain Jones
When it comes to FBS teams facing off against FCS teams, you usually don’t hear words like “contain.” You usually associate such contests with words like “destroy,” “bulldoze” or even spiffer verbs like “castrate.” But the Bears need to pay special attention to the Eagles who actually have a number of talented weapons on offense, most notably RB Taiwan Jones.


Jones is a speedster much in the same model as Best and Vereen, and actually even raced against Best in 2007 CA Track Finals. He came in 4th at a 10.56 which still recorded him as being one of the fastest high school athletes in the state. Jones showed his speed for much of his productive high school career, including a senior season in which he averaged 9.3 yards per carry while racking up 1,466 yards and 19 TDs on the season.


In last week’s win over Western Oregon, Jones took his opening carry the distance on an 87 yard rush. He finished the game with numbers similar to Best’s opening performance (Jones: 12 carries for 122 yards and 2 TDs / Best: 10 carries for 133 yards and 2 TDs). Needless to say, the kid can fly and can be gone if not treated carefully.

Of course, the Bears are more than sufficiently suited to handle the speedster, practicing against such speedy backs like Best and Vereen in practice. I wonder as well who has been running the scout position to emulate the speed and explosiveness of the RB named after a country. But for a team that was hurt a few times with runs to the outside last week against Maryland, the Bears are going to need to stay disciplined on their assignments, and more specifically, the defensive backs need to be focused at all times on quickly reading the run and direction on plays. Their play along with the outside linebackers might be more critical than anything in ensuring that Jones doesn’t take a simple toss into an 80 yard embarrassment.

Save the Special Teams
Everyone is hoping last week’s kickoffs were just anomalies. Poor, never-to-be-seen again anomalies. Right?

Right?

What happened to all the reports of Tavecchio booting inside the 5 yard line consistently?

What happened to it being a close race between all three kickers (Seawright and D’Amato) suggesting any of them could do the same?

Let’s hope that Tavecchio has spent enough time in the room and on the field this week to show that indeed his nerves had just worked up enough for him to undercut the ball, and that this won’t be a perpetual thing.

Let’s.

Keep up the Passing Rhythm
No one on the team can afford to stay content with last week’s offensive spectacle in which Riley and the wide receiving corps accounted for 298 yards and four TDs through the air. While it was a solid performance, and a revelation given the spotty passing performances of the 2008 season, the Bears’ offense needs to continue that level of rhythm and confidence into its second game.

One doesn’t need to look back any further than lat year to see Riley’s solid Michigan State performance followed up by the bland game that was his 6-14 for 51 yard performance against Washington State the week after.

Another efficient and comfortable outing from Riley and company can not only maintain their swagger headed into the more challenging portion of their schedule, but also continue to cement fan’s optimism that last Saturday’s performance was no fluke.

Continue to Build Depth
Watching the season opener again this week, I was amazed at how many substitutions there were in the first half, particularly on defense. Ken Crawford mentioned this in one of his podcasts, but it appeared that DC Bob Gregory made some gutsy and bold decisions to keep his defensive units not only fresh, but specifically composed of the most precise personnel for specific offensive plays.

Last week’s blowout also afforded the team the opportunity to continue to rest key players such as Best and continue to give key reserve players valuable game time. This might quite possibly be one of the deepest defenses of Coach Tedford’s era, and Saturday’s game could be a valuable opportunity for many such as Owusu, Guyton, Hill, Nnabuife, etc to play for extended periods of time. Even a full half perhaps.

On the offensive side of the ball as well, knowing the level of QB attrition in Pac-10 play, Brock Mansion could also be served well with a full half of football under his belt.

Of course…
…this all assumes the Bears build a comfortable enough of a lead to do so. Without being egregiously disrespectful to Eastern Washington, very few, and by very few I mean not even EW’s players’ moms, think Eastern Washington has much of a chance of knocking off the Bears.

But if the Bears aren’t focused and see a drop off in efficiency and physicality, they may have a game that’s too close for comfort, losing out on valuable opportunities to build depth and preparation for the coming weeks.

Final Score? 59-10

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Rankings Update: Week 2

After a dominating performance against an overmatched Maryland Team, the Bears moved up two spots in the AP Rankings, grabbing the tenth spot in the Top 10.

The Bears also benefited from a number of upsets and Top 10 losses this weekend, including Oklahoma's shocker to BYU, and Georgia and Virginia Tech's losses to Oklahoma State and Alabama respectively.


Most of the Top 10 is about where I expected it to be. The only eyebrow raiser is BYU's huge jump to the ninth spot, but a bit more understandable given their win over last year's National Title Game contender.

There are also no other Pac-10 Teams in the Top 25 other than USC, after Oregon's debacle against Boise State. Oregon State is on the outside looking in after their lobsided win over Portland State, and could break into the Top 25 with a win over UNLV, and most certainly if they can knock off Cincinatti the week after.

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Maryland 2009 Recap

Let me preface this recap by stating that I had the opportunity to watch the game at MJ Armstrong’s in NYC at the Cal Viewing Party (which was awesome by the way). Two mega pitchers (550 ounces of Blue Moon) shared among friends limited my ability to watch the game in any analytical sense. With that said, yesterday reminded me just why I love college football so much. After an excruciatingly long off season, the Bears more than delivered last night in appeasing our football appetites.

Overall, I thought the Bears looked very polished. Granted, Maryland wasn’t the most competitive team as many project the Terrapins to finish last in the ACC. However, I thought they had enough talent to provide enough of a challenge to the Bears to establish basic expectations for the year.

Offense Rolls
Particularly, I was very surprised with how sharp the offense looked Saturday night. In fact, I would say the offense outshined the defense, surprising given how strong our defense is supposed to be this year. I was pleased with playcalling and balance, as the Bears rolled up 542 yards of offense, split fairly evenly with 244 yards on the ground and 298 through the air.

Jahvid Best lived up to Heisman expectations, running for 137 yards and 2 touchdowns on just 10 carries. The 73 yard run early in the game was again classic Best, as he begins to assemble his highlight reel for the year. Both Vereen and Deboskie-Johnson were also impressive in backup duty, accumulating a combined 102 yards on 19 carries and another score.


The obvious star on offense last night though was Kevin Riley, as one can not say enough about last night’s performance. Riley was in complete command of the offense and always looked like he knew where he wanted to go, quickly checking through his reads, and delivered the ball with good strength and accuracy. While there were certainly a number of passes that Riley would have wanted back (particularly early on), Riley maintained great composure and pocket presence despite getting knocked to the ground many times after releasing the ball.



Even more encouraging was how evenly the ball was distributed through the air. Riley hit nine different receivers (3 backs, 1 tight end, and 5 WRs) and unlike last year, Cal’s wide receivers made up the majority of the receiving yards (215 of the 298). It’s this type of balance that really reflects Riley’s grasp of the offense, and might be a strong indication of things to come.

Oh, and I’ve been saying this for awhile, but Marvin Jones is going to bring the business this year. The 20 yard grab over two defenders to set up Best’s second TD in the middle of the first quarter was eye-openingly impressive. We’ve all read about Jones’ breakout in offseason camp, but seeing really is believing.

Defense Bears, Defense

I got the sense the defense let the Terrapins move the ball a bit more than they would have wanted to, but had to walk away fairly pleased with the performance. And who can blame them? The Bears held Maryland to just 6 points for most of the game, until a late TD score by Da’Rel Scott.
The Bears also limited the Terrapins to just 4-17 on 3rd down conversion attempts, and just 3.2 yards per carry on the ground. While Da’Rel Scott did roll up 90 yards on just 13 rushes, most came late in the third quarter on 39-yard burst against a mostly reserve players.

I had a feeling that the Bears defense would have a field day in Maryland’s backfield, and the Bears didn’t disappoint, notching 11 tackles for loss, including six sacks against an outmatched an inexperienced Maryland offensive line. Ernest Owusu in particular, looks to be a dominant pass rusher, and will continue to provide solid depth at the DE position.

While Cal’s secondary didn’t record any interceptions, they held QB Chris Turner to just 167 yards on a 17-30 night, which also featured some outstanding (as usual) pass breakups by star DB Syd’Quan Thompson.

By and large, the Bears defense didn’t look quite dominant, but certainly did enough to look fairly impressive. It’s also important to note that it was a bit difficult to fully evaluate the defense as the Terrapins often made it much easier with a number of mental mistakes including a number of drive killing penalties.

Special Teams

I was most disappointed with this unit on Saturday night, as I felt really optimistic going into the game that a lot of last years’ issues particularly on kickoffs would be vastly improved. However, I observed much of the same last night starting with the opening kickoff to the final botched attempt at a squib kick. While the wet game conditions weren’t optimal for any boomers, Giorgio Tavecchio wasn’t able to show off his allegedly much improved leg strength, averaging just 58.8 yards on kickoffs. That worked out to Maryland consistently fielding kickoffs around the 11 yard line. It hurt the Bears last night, and will continue to hurt the Bears as the season wears on, especially in closer contests. The team had the same issues last year, and will have to find some kind of answer among Tavecchio, Vince D’Amato, or David Seawright. For the record, Seawright had a slightly better night, averaging 65 yards on two kickoffs.

While star sophomore punter Bryan Anger had a solid night, his pumps didn’t appear to have the normal pop as some of his booming punts last year. Anger punted just three times, averaging 43.7 ypp, including two downed inside the twenty. Backup punter Ryan Theimer sailed a 48 yarder in his lone attempt. By the way, you know the game has gotten out of control, when you bring in your backup punter.

Moving Forward

We still probably won’t get a full sense of how good the Bears really are for another few weeks. Next week’s matchup against Eastern Washington should be even more lobsided, and I’d be surprised to see most of the starters in the game after halftime.

Still, I felt pretty good about what I saw on Saturday. Maybe it was just the Blue Moon talking. Maybe. But the Bears came out the tunnel with all guns blazing, and exhibited much of the talent, confidence, and discipline necessary to have a special season. It’s still early though, and Cal may not even be truly challenged until their huge matchup with USC. Minnesota and Oregon, what the hell was that?

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Keys to the Game: Maryland 2009

I apologize for the lack of updates recently. As some of you may know, I just recently moved to NYC and am things have been a bit chaotic with the move and career wise. Not that most of you care. But nonetheless, I am absolutely juiced, like A-ROD (Rodriguez, not Rogers), for the beginning of football season and the opener just days, no just hours away.

(BWF is PUMPED.)

I was going to do a full depth chart breakdown, but most avid Cal fans have already undoubtedly exhausted most recent developments in recent days (Seawright with placekick, Sofele will not redshirt, Riley is starting, Tedford is coaching, yadda yadda). So instead I will get back into my Keys to the Game feature, as should hopefully be the case for each game.

Hopefully, you have all checked out my interviews with the Testudo Times as well as the Terrapins Examiner to get some insight about the Terrapins. Here are some quick keys to the game to ensure the Bears are most certainly golden this Saturday.

Watch the Blitz!

Cal should be more talented than the Terrapins on both sides of the ball. Plain and simple. They have arguably more athletic and experienced players at nearly every position. Case in point: Maryland has 28 players on its two-deep depth chart that have not played in a single FBS collegiate game.

However, if there is one aspect of the Maryland squad that I’m a bit fearful of, is that they feature a much publicized and somewhat mysterious new offense under former Massachusetts Coach Don Brown. The new scheme is under wraps in some ways, as Brown’s former team was in the FCS subdivision, limiting the amount of actual game tape and scouting information available to coaches.

What is known however, is that the defense is expected to be blitz heavy and with DB presses. What this means is that one can expect the safety to drop down, have seven to eight men load the box, and that defensive backs will likely press receivers and be forced to play one on one. A recent Washington Post report even described an instance in which three defensive backs blitzed from one side, blowing up a play completely. Don’t be surprised to find yourself asking, “Is that a…geez, they’re running a 2-3-6!”

Naturally, this shakes things up offensively for the Bears to see a completely different defense this year as opposed to last. The onus really falls on the offensive line, the backfield, and particularly QB Kevin Riley to pick up on pressure before the ball is snapped.

Also, playcalling will obviously need to be adjusted to account for the pressure, with short passes and plays that will take advantage of one on one matchups. I thought Tedford and Cignetti did an excellent job last year for example, during the Big Game, in really using Stanford’s blitzing defense against them for long gains on reverses and screens.

Inside traps could also bode well for the offense and open up huge holes for Best and company.

While I expect that it might take the Bears a few series to adjust and familiarize themselves with the Terps defense, the matchup should provide a very early and challenging test to see how in sync the Bears can be in executing efficiently on offense.


Dominate on Defense

In a game where I have but just a few questions on the offense’s ability to adjust to facing a new defense, my expectation that the Bears will emerge as winners is predicated on the fact that we have more talented players, particularly on defense.

That is, even with the my lingering fears on offense, I think the Bears will roll because I’m THAT confident in our defense (which is too experienced and talented not to be as good as, if not better than last year’s squad) that it’s hard for me to imagine that the Bears should control the game from the get go.

Furthermore, throw Maryland’s inexperienced offensive line, and like many Cal fans, overconfidence begins to pulse and lead to my belief that the Bears will absolutely dominate the Terrapins’ offense. However, one needs to only remember last year’s debacle when Maryland rolled up 28 points in the first three quarters.

The truth is that Maryland will actually feature a good amount of talent with a veteran QB in Chris Dynamite Turner and one of the best backs in the ACC in Da-Rel Scott who absolutely rolled over the Bears last year before leaving the game with an injury. Their receivers, albeit inexperienced, might be even more talented than last year.

(Peligroso!)

The Bear Will Not Quit has an absolutely outstanding breakdown of Maryland’s offense that highlights a number of things I was going to argue, which in essence call for the Bears to be incredibly disciplined in their assignments particularly on runs to the outside, as well as passing routes in 1-1 situations.

Read it there. And save me the work.

Don’t Let the Hype Getcha

As much as the Bears have vowed to be focused on Maryland, there are a lot of ways a team might fall flat on its face in the season opener.

The highest preseason ranking since 2006 (which also subsequently coincided with an embarrassing debut at Knoxville).

A Las Vegas Line at 21 points.

The natural expectations for a veteran team to reach the illustrious berth to Pasadena.

Opening day jitters.

Whatever the case, the Bears will need to focus in early and quickly to execute and not beat themselves in a game against a widely-considered inferior opponent. Penalties, turnovers, missed blocking assignments could lead to a nightmare situation in which the Bears just squeak by or *gasp* lose. Talk about a disaster.

Let’s face it. Given all that is on the line this season, style points will matter. In a season in which many eyes will be on the Bears wondering whether they will finally step up into becoming one of the elite programs or again crumble to become a West Coast version of Clemson, it will be absolutely critical that the Bears look the part of a BCS bowl team.

Prediction: 31-13
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