Big Game Recap

(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Despite a courageous effort, the Bears fell to Stanford 28-31 on Saturday in the 114th annual Big Game. Cal came in as 18 point underdogs, but continued to battle as they rallied back from being down 15 points in the 4th quarter. Their onside kick effort would fail however, and the Bear's comeback efforts would fall short.

I'm not one for moral victories, because at the end of the day the Bears lost, falling to 6-5 on the season and will leave the axe at Stanford for another year. That alone is enough to leave one incensed.

However, I'm damn proud of this team. It was evident to any mentally functional person in the stadium that the team laid it all out on the field, and went down swinging down to the final play.

Ultimately, the Bears were done in by some critical mistakes and some of the poorest officiating I've seen in a Big Game in years. But their loss was never the result of a lack of effort or heart. It was a performance to be truly proud of.

Now let's get into the details.



Maynard Shines
Quarterback Zach Maynard had his best performance of the season, going toe to toe opposite of Andrew Luck, and outshined the Heisman favorite in some regards.

Maynard started out hot, going 11-14 for 168 yards and a TD in the first half. Though his numbers dropped in the second half, he also made some brilliant plays to keep drives alive and keep the Bears in the game. His pocket presence was at its best all season, taking the sack when the play wasn't there and also finding ways to get out of trouble to extend plays.

The junior gunslinger was also more accurate in the pocket than I've seen all season and by and large, avoided huge mistakes.

That's not to say that there weren't any though.

Maynard mixed up the play call on the second play of the game, just moments after connecting with Keenan Allen for a 42 yard bomb down the sideline. He pitched the ball to Sofele who was expecting a handoff, which led to a Cardinal fumble recovery. It was a costly mistake that allowed Stanford to score on a short field.

And for as much as Maynard has improved in his reads the past few games, the final drive also highlighted some of the ways Maynard needs to continue to grow. He took a sack with less than a minute to go, forcing the Bears to burn a time out. While he was also accurate and correct in his reads, Maynard is still slow in his presnap reads, burning a lot more time than necessary in a two-minute drill with the game on the line. Don't get me wrong, you'd rather have your QB make the right reads and not turn the ball over, but Maynard isn't at a point where he can go through all his presnap checks without burning precious seconds on the clock.

At the end of the day, Saturday was the best Maynard has been all season and the QB the Bears hoped they would have all season. If he can maintain this level of play and not fall into the mental dungeon after mistakes, the Bears have a chance to be a really good offense, if not this year, then next.

Run Game Comes Up Short
The Bears finished with just 81 total rushing yards while Isi Sofele would manage just 84 yards on 22 carries.

Let's face it, the Bears probably would not have been able to manage this total early on in the season. This offensive line and rushing attack has made some strides and performed decently against a stout Stanford rush defense.

However, the Bears still struggled in their inside rushing attack, and I was a bit frustrated to continue to see the Bears not take advantage of getting the ball to the edges a bit more. The option attack was working brilliantly for the bears, and Sofele did pretty well when given the opportunity to bounce it outside.

Yet with the Bears rushing attack struggling, they failed to sustain drives and put any points on the board in a critical third quarter where the game was ultimately decided.

Red Zone Deficiencies Hurt the Bears
The same issue that reared its ugly head most notably in the Washington game but throughout the season, plagued the Bears on Saturday.

The Bears knew that in facing the 4th ranked scoring offense on Saturday that they needed to put up points. Cal likely had confidence in its defense that they could hold the Cardinal in the low 30 point range, but knew they'd have to execute on offense to give themselves a chance.

Yet the Bears had to settle for field goals twice in the red zone which is brutal when you're facing a strong offense. While settling for a field goal with 1st and goal at the 8 yard line is bad enough, getting stopped short at the two yard line is absolutely killer.

I'm not sure what it is, other than having the mental discipline and drive to say that "we're not leaving this field without a TD." The Bears did take advantage of their opportunities late in the game, but by then it was too little, too late.

Defense Up and Down
It certainly wasn't the Bears' best defensive performance of the season, but it was one that was good enough to win the game.

Unfortunately for the Bears' defense, they were a bit up and down. They made some huge plays, stuffing Stanford on a fourth down attempt and holding the Cardinal to a few three and outs in some short yardage situations. That is not easy to do against that Stanford offensive line.

What killed the Bears though, was their inability to defend the tight ends and fullback Hewitt out in the flats. It was frustrating to see because it was evident to everyone and their mother that those were Stanford's only real receiving targets, yet the Bears continued to let Luck hit his ends and backs on those playaction passes.

It was most evident on Stanford's final 7 minute drive in the fourth quarter that really decided the game. While Stanford would settle for the field goal, it would be just enough to hold off the Bears.

Clock Management Woes
Again, I know this might seem a bit ticky-tack given the Bears ended up scoring in the final minute to give themselves a to tie the game late in the fourth, but there were some very costly clock management issues by the players and the coaching staff.

The overall pacing on the final drive was far from urgent. I've already talked a bit about the speed at which Maynard made his presnap reads, but some of the decisions were blunders as well. Maynard hitting Miller in the flat when any tackle in bounds would eat clock was costly. I've already mentioned the sack in the red zone.

However, the most mind-blowing moment was the decision to huddle after CJ Anderson picked up the first down at Stanford's one yard with 30 seconds left in the game. A huddle?! In that moment you call a timeout, spike the ball, or at the very least go to your no-huddle goal line set. That decision cost the Bears 12 seconds.

Again, am I happy the Bears scored on that last drive? Absolutely. But consider this. They started that drive with 3 minutes to go. Had they been able to score in half that time instead of using nearly the full 3 minutes, they still give themselves a shot even if their onside kick attempt fails, given that they had two timeouts. It was a fun but frustrating way to end the game. That's mostly on the coaches.

Secondary Gets Lucky
No this is not an Andrew Luck pun, though he is relevant to this discussion. This game could have gotten out of hand early on had Andrew Luck been on because the Bears' secondary got absolutely lost on a few plays. Their eyes weren't on their receivers because some Stanford receivers were wide the hell open on some of those plays.

And Luck not sucked early on, it wouldn't have been a game. Seriously.

Fortunately, the Bears secondary recovered a bit later in the game, but still struggled with the aforementioned tight ends and fullbacks.

Worst Big Game Officiating
Although I could gripe about officiating more often, I usually don't, choosing to accept that our conference's officiating crews are just terrible.

But wow, was it bad on Saturday.

It wasn't so much that they often got calls egregiously wrong, but they were far from balanced.

The Bears were flagged for a late hit on Andrew Luck as he was sliding, while Cal's defender Deandre Coleman was already in motion. Bad call, but it happens.

Yet on Cal's very next series, Zach Maynard dives on a run, only to get hit by a Stanford defender with no call. What kind of double standard is that?

Shall I go on? Sure, why not?

Cal was flagged for sideline interference on Steve Williams interception return. He was already in the endzone and the FIELD GOAL UNIT WAS COMING ON.

Isi Sofele's fumble in the third quarter was perhaps the most egregious error in the game. Sofele steps out of bounds, gets hit helmet to helmet, causing a fumble, which he holds on to as he falls to the ground. As the whistle is being blown, a Stanford defenders snatches the ball out of a dazed Sofele. They had whistled the play dead!

The refs then proceed to ignore that Sofele was clearly out bounds on the replay, and award the ball to Stanford. Huh?

This is to not even mention the ticky tack holding and pass interference penalties. And that was not a block in the back on Luck on the interception return. Atrocious.

If you're going to suck at a ref, so be it. But suck both ways (eww) and not just for one team.

Would the absence of these calls have resulted in a win for the Bears? I'm not sure. Possibly. But why even let it become a possibility?

For all the great things Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott has done for the conference, and he has done a lot, it amazes me that he still has been unable to rectify the poor quality officiating crews. It's an embarrassment.

Moving Forward
At the end of the day, some costly mistakes, questionable coaching decisions, and poor clock management ended the Bears' chances at pulling off a monumental upset.

But consider this, the Bears hung with the 9th best team in the nation, and likely one of the best Stanford teams in forever. The Bears didn't lay down or quit, and they fought hard until the end. As biting as the loss is, I get the feeling most Bears fans are still proud of the performance.

I really want to believe this team has made strides and matured over the latter half of the season since the UCLA debacle. Signs would point to it after the Bears dominated WSU and OSU squads that have shown the ability to beat some decent teams. The close battle with Stanford might affirm this.

However, all this would be washed aside with a loss to ASU. To put it simply, if the underdog Bears can beat an ASU team on the road, then you'll have me really believing that the Bears have turned the corner.

Otherwise, the Big Game will unfortunately just be a bittersweet spike on an up and down season.