Utah Recap

I don't think there would have been much shame had the Bears gone out to Salt Lake City, competed hard and ended up losing a close one to the Utes like many had predicted. Despite Utah's record, they're not a terrible team. They've got a solid defense and one of the better coaches in college football. Not saying I would have been happy with the outcome, but I wouldn't see much shame in it.

But what transpired on Saturday was one of the more embarrassing performances in recent history, and that's saying something for the Bears. Don't let the final score fool you, the Bears were down 42-6 in the third quarter before falling eventually 49-27. This was a complete and utter breakdown in all three phases of the game.

Blowouts are troubling enough, but getting blown out to Utah is a whole other story. I'm struggling to find the adjective to accurately describe the Bears' game on Saturday. "Uneven" is too kind while "pathetic" is perhaps a bit insulting.

If I had to reach back into my SAT vocab list, I'd probably have to go with "moribund."

Webster's Dictionary defines "moribund" as:

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Cal showed all the signs of a team that's just done. Sure the coach and team will say in their press conference that they're not quitting, and I wouldn't expect them to. I'm not even saying the team has quit. But anyone who watched the game can't say this isn't a team that beat up team mentally and physically.

Let's get into the details. I mean what else do you have to do today, right?

Offense Self-Destructs
The offense was so tough to watch on Saturday. The Bears were undone by three turnovers. The first a Chris Harper fumble on screen pass that was recovered and returned for a score. The second an interception off a tipped pass to Keenan Allen. The third was a Maynard fumble after he had it knocked loose on a QB keeper. Maynard also had another fumble that he miraculously recovered for a POSITIVE gain.

The turnovers in and of themselves weren't really maddening though. It'd be frustrating to watch turnover after turnover if you were expecting great things only to have a turnover yank the rug out underneath you. No, what's really sad is that you could feel the turnovers coming a mile away. It was just that type of day for Cal's offense.

Cal's offensive line continued to struggle, giving up 3 sacks in the first quarter. They would only give up one more the rest of the game, but still struggled to buy Maynard consistent time in the pocket, and only look ok after Utah called off the dogs and showed some restraint in sending blitzes.

Though they outgained Utah's offense 441 to 344 in yardage, most of those yards came when the outcome was no longer in question. It was simply a sloppy, head-shaking performance.

Where's Bigelow
Remember those Where's Waldo books? That's how I feel watching Cal's offense, and much like I did once I got to the part of the book where Waldo's in Europe, I just throw the book down in disgust because he's NOWHERE TO BE FOUND.

Such is the perplexing underuse of Brendan Bigelow. I give up trying to figure this one out. No one's buying the "he doesn't know the playbook well enough" excuse anymore. I've never once clamored to see Bigelow as an every down back because he is indeed far behind both Isi Sofele and CJ Anderson in terms of pass protection. But it's evident to everyone and anyone that next to Keenan Allen, he's probably the best playmaker the Bears have and most certainly needs to get more than 3 touches a game.

This is a player who showed off another jaw-dropping 57 yard TD run on his FIRST CARRY! But that carry didn't come until the very last play of the third quarter. Bigelow finished with just two carries for 66 yards and a 6 yard catch. And anyone who watched the catch know that those 6 yards came out of absolutely nothing.

He's currently averaging 12.7 yards per carry and 13.8 yards per catch. Why the coaches refuse to get him more involved in the offense is beyond me. It'd be like ASU leaving DJ Foster on the sideline or the Ducks keeping DeAnthony Thomas on kickoff returns and on the stationary bicycle on the sidelines. Again, I'm done trying to crack this puzzle.

Defensive Worn Out
So I'm not going to make excuses for the defense, but it's worth noting that this entire defensive unit is incredibly banged up. The Bears were without 3 of their starting linebackers, and were also missing some key reserves at the defensive line, and lost starting CB Marc Anthony again in the middle of the game.

It also didn't help that Utah's average starting field position was from their own 33.5 yard line and that the defense was visibly worn out from Cal's offense being unable to sustain any drives in the first three quarters.

And it's most certainly worth noting that the defense only surrendered 4 of Utah's 7 touchdowns. So they certainly had the deck stacked against them. It's tough for very good defenses to hold teams under those circumstances.

Here's the problem. Cal doesn't have a very good defense right now. And it's tough to watch given how much promise and talent there is on this roster. But this defense showed all the signs of being beat up and sloppy.

The sloppiness was evident in the number of missed tackles which I couldn't begin to count. And they were costly missed tackles too, ones that sustained drives and kept them on the field.

It was seen in Josh Hill doing a dance after a pass breakup when the team was down 28-6. Oh, and the Utes went on to score on that drive. This is a guy who's a captain, and the leader of a defense. I know he's fired up to make a play, but it doesn't sit right that a defensive captain is acting jolly while his team is down 22 points. It seems to me it'd make more sense for the captain to grab a teammate who's doing that by the face mask and tell him to knock that off and get ready for the next play.

But more than just the sloppy play was the clear evidence that the Bears just got manhandled up front. There was no consistent pressure on Travis Wilson who managed just 156 yards through the air but helped Utah convert 8 of their 13 3rd down attempts.

I said in my Keys to the Game that Cal would certainly lose if they allowed 4 yards per carry. This was a Utah rushing attack that was averaging just 2.87 ypc on the year. Saturday? They gave up 4.2 ypc, and 4.7 ypc to both Jon White IV and Kelvin York respectively. Not terrible numbers, but against a one-dimensional offense like Utah's, that's an absolute back breaker.

Special Teams Breakdown
So as much as we hate on Cal special teams, they hadn't actually given up a kickoff return for a score since 2008.

They more than made up for it by allowing two 100 yard returns to Reggie Dunn. And this wasn't a case of Dunn simply being more athletic than the return team. It was rather some of the poorest angles from a coverage unit as I've seen in a while. Some players were simply lackadaisical out there. Falling asleep once on coverage is one thing, but letting it happen to you twice? TWICE?!

And that's all I got to say about that.

Allen-Record Setting
In an ironically quiet fashion, Keenan Allen eclipsed Geoff MacArthur's record and will finish his career as Cal's all time leading receiver in receptions. Hats off to him and it's been really fun to watch him play. I still have to say that Geoff MacArthur is my favorite Cal WR of all time (dude was a warrior), but there's no denying Allen's talent and ability. Congrats to him. I really wish I were happier about this, but it's hard when your team just got bitchsmacked in Utah.

Moving Forward
I'm still pulling for this team, but I must say they're making it increasingly difficult for me to have fun while doing so! I still want Cal to win every game and will continue to support the players who go out there and lay it out on the field. They do a hell of a lot more for this program than many faux-armchair quarterbacks sitting in the stands.

I already said last week I wouldn't continue to harp on any coaching changes in the middle of the season. It's repetitive, it's pointless right now and frankly, it doesn't make me feel any better.

Instead, our attention turns to a short week before the Bears facing Washington. It's a completely different type of seasons that fans had hoped for heading into this matchup, but it is what it is.

Play hard in the now and continue to build for the future. Go Bears.