Fresno State Recap

(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

After a longer than usual offseason, the Bears finally kicked off the 2011 season by squaring off against the Fresno State Bulldogs at Candlestick Park. Again, I felt a bit like the Nintendo 64 kid yesterday, and little did I know the zaniness of the game that was about to ensue.

Overall, one could say that the Bears had a fairly sloppy game. In fact, I'd argue that it was one of the more uneven performances the Bears have had in a season opener in quite some time. There were just a myriad of mistakes, missed assignments, penalties and miscues throughout the entire contest.

But as you watched the game unfold, the Bears' talent and potential was so evident that you got the sense that if the Bears could really tighten things up, they could be a real force to be reckoned with all season.

And the final boxscore and stats will tell you just how much that was the case in their game against the Bulldogs. Despite winning big 36-21, the game really shouldn't have been as close as it was. Cal really dominated Fresno State in every aspect of the game other than special teams (GGGEEENNNYYYKKK!!!) and could have won by a bit more. Check out these stats via ESPN.



Boom. Domination.

Alright, let's get into some specifics, including my thoughts on the passing game and the defense.


Maynard Debuts
Obviously, one of the biggest interests on fans' minds coming into the game was how new quarterback Zach Maynard would do. Little was known about Maynard, but there was plenty of varying levels of optimism and concern about the Buffalo transfer.

Maynard and the offense got off to an inauspicious start, to say the least. After lining up in the pistol (whaaa?), the Bears were immediately flagged for an illegal formation. On their next try, Maynard threw an interception after what appeared to be some type of miscommunication between him and Marvin Jones, who ran a shorter hook than Maynard anticipated. Or the ball just got away from Maynard. Either way, it sucked.

Our entire living room after Cal's first play of the game.

But after Fresno State scored on short field position, Maynard and the offense redeemed themselves on the ensuing drive. After a critical third down pass to his brother Keenan Allen, you really saw Maynard and the Bears begin to settle down and find their rhythm. Maynard began hitting his receivers with zip and authority, and the Bears proceeded to have a nice couple of drives to end up scoring three touchdowns in the first quarter.

All in all, Maynard had an uneven, but promising performance. Maynard finished 16 for 35 for 266 yards, 2 TDs and 1 interception. He also added 52 yards on four rushing attempts. Unspectacular, but solid.

There was a lot to like about Maynard's game. He shook off mistakes, showed poise in the pocket, was decisive with most of his throws, and showed nice escapability. Fans also got to see his wheels as he broke off a nice 43 yard run on a zone read play. It was exactly the type of play that got me excited about the offense's potential in the offseason.

There were also plenty of moments that made you kind of throw your hands up in disbelief, and a part of me is convinced that it won't be the last time this season. When Maynard gets a bit juiced or flustered, he begins patting the ball, and gets sloppy with his footwork which leads to some inaccurately thrown balls. In fact, I believe he attempted two jumped passes in the game. Maynard also got away with a handful of passes that makes me convinced he's going to throw a pick six some time this season.

Here's hoping that Maynard's issues on Saturday weren't so much by habit, but by him being just a bit rusty and amped in his first start for the Bears. And you can't look too deeply into the first game of the season from Maynard. It was his first game in nearly two years after all. But as much as you anticipate Maynard being a bit up and down this season, he also has enough "playmaker" written on him that this blogger has a quiet sense of confidence in him.

New RB Generation
Isi Sofele also had a chance to show off what he could do as Cal's starting runningback, and the results were nearly as mixed. Sofele finished the day with 88 yards on 24 carries for two touchdowns. He also had three fumbles, one of which was recovered in the endzone for FSU's second score after Sofele tried run the ball out of the endzone on a botched snap.

Sofele, and the offensive line's run blocking had a much better performance in the first half, when Sofele piled up 76 yards and both scores on 14 carries. Sofele had some decent running lanes, picked up some nice blocks, and showed good burst and some fancy moves in the open field to keep the running game productive. In fact, I was a bit surprised to see the Bears pass as much as they did with how well the ball was being run. Sofele also did a nice job picking up blitzes, particularly one on Maynard's first TD pass to Marvin Jones.

The second half was another story however. Sofele managed just 12 yards on 10 carries, and there was plenty of blame to go around. The offensive line showed less push, a few blocks were missed, particularly on one halfback toss, and Sofele showed less burst and power than we saw in the first half. Part of it could be him adjusted to getting 24 carries, but the running game as a whole disappointed in the second half against a mediocre FSU defensive line. It is important to note also, that the Bulldogs began run blitzing a lot more in the second half.

Covaughn Deboskie-Johnson was shut down in his only carry, and CJ Anderson had 10 yards on two runs. I'm looking for a lot more balance in the workload as both backs get into season form.

While the Bears were able to get away with an uneven day on the ground, they won't be able to sneak away with many more with similar performances. I have confidence that Coach Michalczik and Coach Gould will begin rectifying mistakes immediately though.

Offensive Line: Tale of 2 Sides
Continuing with the offensive line, the aforementioned run blocking was very suspect in the second half. However, I thought the pass protection was actually pretty solid. They gave Maynard plenty of time in the pocket for most of the game. The o-line did give up two sacks, but the first one was one a failed blitz pickup in which Maynard should have thrown the ball away. Granted, Fresno State's defensive line was pretty average, but I can definitely live with the type of pass protection seen today, if it continues throughout the season.

What does need to be fixed pronto is getting the snap count absolutely down. With a new center and quarterback, the offensive line has to begin gelling more consistently, immediately. Fresno State's second score occurred on the aforementioned play in which Galas snapped the ball while Maynard was still motioning two players to the strong side of the line.

The Bears also inexcusably had three false start penalties on three consecutive play attempts! I don't know if I've ever seen that before. Also, if I'm not mistaken, I believe each starting lineman was flagged at some point in the game.

I do believe those are the types of things that are specific to the first few games of the season, and become less of an issue later on. What's more concerning is the second half run blocking performances, but again, we've got 11 (maybe 12?) more games. Overall, I think there was more bad than god.

Dynamic Duo
The Bears' coaches had been raving about their new wide receiver depth this offseason, while staying quiet about the talent they had in the starting receivers Keenan Allen and Marvin Jones. Well the opening game was about the dynamic duo, as Allen and Jones both received for over 100 yards each, the first receiving pair to do that in five years for the Bears.

Jones had 5 catches for 118 yards and 2 scores, while Allen had 8 catches for 112 yards. Both made ridiculous catches, and Marvin Jones was straight up beast as he shook off defenders on both of touchdown receptions. As my friend noted, it's the "Geoff MacArthur special."

While each had an uncharacteristic drop, I'm excited about this pair. They're physical, get open, show great hands, and Allen in particular is really coming along as a blocker, being instrumental in Isi Sofele's 39 yard touchdown score.

Little was seen in the backups, but a lot of that seems to do with with Maynard's comfort throwing to Allen and Jones, which is comforting to me.

Variety in Offense
Last note about the offense. I was pleasantly surprised and impressed with all the looks the offense showed on Saturday. While I expected some newly added spread and zone read, I was also treated to the pistol, empty set shotgun formations, and the typical diversity in pro formations. Some offensive formations led to more success than others, but I was happy with the way the Bears handled the game plan. They were certainly able to move the ball.

The offense may be a bit more feast or famine this year, but the feasts may be a lot more diverse than we're used to.

Defense is Heating Up
Cal's strength this year easily lies in its defense. Early on in the game, the Bears' defense was solid, but appeared to be a bit stiff. But they appeared to get stronger, faster, and more aggressive with each ensuing series. The Bears held the Bulldogs to just 210 yards of total offense, and just 157 yards of offense going into the fourth quarter. In fact, Fresno State didn't convert their second third-down until late in the fourth quarter.

While the defense surrendered two touchdowns, the first was on a very short field after Maynard's interception, and the second happened on Fresno State's last drive against mostly backups until the Bears' goal line defense. I guess we know that a decent WAC team can move the ball down the field against our second string defense.

The Bears were strong against the run, holding the Bulldogs to just 68 yards rushing, and holding Robbie Rouse on 86 yards on 17 carries. Even though Rouse averaged 5.1 ypc, he's did some nice things to shake some defenders. He's going to do some damage this year.

Cal's secondary also played some shutdown ball, with Steve Williams and Marc Anthony blanketing FSU's speedy receivers and mostly preventing any type of long gain through the air. Devon Wylie did have a 56 yard catch and run a broken assignment, though he was caught from behind impressively by DJ Campbell which prevented the Bulldogs from capitalizing on that play. Steve Williams also recorded an interception after Cal's pass rush caused FSU quarterback to overthrow his intended receiver.

Although I was a bit disappointed with their inability to get pressure on Carr in the first half, I was really impressed with Cal's defensive playcalling in the second half, and their ability to get pressure with just 4 or 5 pass rushers. They completely overpowered Fresno State's new offensive line and made it nearly impossible for Fresno State's offense to move the ball. It seemed as if each Cal defender was taking turns pressuring Carr.

It all culminated when freshman linebacker Cecil Whiteside knocked the ball out of Carr's hand which was returned by defensive end Trevor Guyton for a touchdown. Glorious.

Some Star Defensive Players
There were quite a few notable defensive players on Saturday.

Senior linebacker Mychal Kendricks looked like a man amongst boys at times, and is the unquestioned leader of this Cal defense. He showed great awareness on his blitz and tackle on Robbie Rouse early in the game, and showed great speed on some tackles and in breaking up a pass. Kendricks finished the game with 9 tackles, 2.5 for a loss, and half a sack.

If Kendricks is ILB numero uno, Holt is ILB numero uno-ah, notching 8 tackles, a tackle for a loss, and a filthy hit on an FSU receiver.

I was also a bit impressed with safety DJ Campbell. He continues to give coaches reason to believe there won't be much dropoff from the departed Chris Conte, and added 5 tackles with one for a loss. He's a lot faster than I remember, and showed some pop in his hits.

Oh, and anyone else notice Villami Moala completely blow up the line? Wheee!

Special Tea-GGGEEENNNYYYKKK!!!
Ok, I over exaggerate a bit with the Genyk call. The return team coverage was pretty solid, though there were two obvious gripes.

First, on the two consecutive blocked extra point attempts. Not entirely sure what happened, but I know this: the interior part of the line got absolutely manhandled, leading to to some pretty ugly penetration. What didn't help was the low angle of Tavecchio's kicks. For a point after attempt, I was amazed at how low those looked. The second one looked worst than the first. Just very strange. I don't think Tavecchio had missed an extra point ever, going into the game. Anyone care to check that?

My second gripe is this, you have possible the best punter in college football, why not let him just do his thing? I know special teams Coach Genyk is a proponent of the shield of death formation on punts which allow more gunners with fewer blockers protecting a rolling punter, but it's just not Anger's strength to do that.

I understand the logic in limiting big returns, and Fresno State did only gain 14 punt return yards on 3 attempts. But Anger also only averaged 35.5 yards per attempt, well below his average, and Cal struggled with the field position battle all game long. As long as the Bears don't give up big returns this year, I'll begrudgingly keep my mouth shut for the most part, but I do think we could find a better balance in utilizing Anger's strengths.

On a bright note, Giorgio Tavecchio did hit a nice looking 40-yarder into the wind. Tavecchio: 1-1 on the year. Forza Italiano!

Moving Forward
C'mon guys, it was a fun game. It really was. Was it sloppy? Oh hell yes. We know that much. But Cal's defense was lighting it up, and the Bears had a passing game for the first time in what seemed like forever. There's plenty of reasons to be excited.

There's also plenty of reason to fear for the worst, as the Bears were mistake-riddled in their debut. But most of us have been doing that all off season, so it was just great to see the Bears play again. I'm quietly confident that many of the mistakes we saw today will be fixed as soon as next week. I do think a few issues will linger, but that's for another game and hopefully another win.

Go Bears.