Arizona 2010 (a painful) Recap

(Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

“Absolutely, unbelievably disappointing. Just absolutely, unbelievably disappointed.” -Jeff Tedford following Cal's 10-9 loss to Arizona

I apologize for the delay, for the people who actually visit this site. Despite your presumptions that I have been in hiding while bemoaning Cal’s 10-9 loss in the desert last Saturday, things have actually just been crazy. You know, that little thing called life outside Cal football.

In now actually commenting on the game, Cal’s last-minute loss to Arizona was nothing short of absolutely heartbreaking. The Bears’ defense put on an epic performance in shutting down Arizona’s potent offense to just 301 total yards of offense and 10 points. However, 77 of those yards, and 7 points came in what would be the game-winning drive for the Wildcats in the final minutes of the game.

I will confess that while I’m far from being an “Old Blue,” I’ve seen my share of gut-wrenching losses as a Cal fan. And to some level of self-credit, I’ve prided myself in the ways I’ve matured as a fan the last few years in the ways I’ve been able to more easily swallow tough losses.

This past game still feels like it’s lodged in the back my throat however, and at the very least leaves an awful taste in my mouth.


As Ken Crawford over at Excuse Me For My Voice noted, it’s one thing to lose big time to a team you expected to beat, it’s another to lose narrowly to a team you expected to lose to.
[By the way, credit to the guys at EMFMV for their composure in recording a podcast almost immediately following last Saturday’s game. I think even the most reserved Cal fans would be much more emotional than those guys were. I feel like someone could crap on their shoes and they’d simply respond, “Man…well this sucks.” Kudos to you guys.]

But yes the game hurt, and not solely because of the implications it had on Cal’s Rose Bowl chances, which are still not squashed by any means. Rather, it was the combination of the Bears having fought so valiantly against a team they were expected to lose to, and the painful missed opportunities that ended up costing them the game in the end.

And to provide some context, you have to understand the circumstances that surrounded me while watching the game.

Here's the Story
The scene was Saturday night at the Australian Bar in New York City, surrounded by a host of Cal Alum and a number of friends who happened to be in town.

The Bears start off on defense as if their collective and proverbial hair is on fire. They had hassled Arizona quarterback Nick Foles entire half and forced two turnovers while shutting out the Wildcats to zero points.

“We’re going to win this F***ing game!” yelled an exuberant and inebriated Cal fan.

“Hmm, he must be a recent graduate,” I thought. I was absolutely giddy with the way our defense had played, but was disturbed by our missed chances on offense.

The game wore on as an unexpected but refreshingly entertaining defensive slugfest. Fast forward to the 6:58 mark in the fourth quarter, and Arizona’s kicker Zendejas had just missed a 48 yard field goal. The Bears started at their own 31 yard line, up 9-3, and one sustained drive would put the game away if the Bears could come out with any, I mean ANY points.

However, in order to do so, the Bears would need to pound the ball, and impose their well in the running game. Something they had struggled to do all year really.

Vereen rushes for 9 yards to the 40. Nice start.

Another Vereen rush for 3 yards for a first down. What I like to see.

Kevin Riley incomplete pass to Anthony Miller. Milk the clock gentlemen.

Vereen for 19 yards to the Arizona 38 yard line. Holy crap! The bar breaks out into a “Roll On You Bears!” chant, and deservedly so!

Vereen rushes for just 1 yard, but the Bears can put themselves into amazing position with another first down.

Isi Sofele gets a toss to the outside and burns Arizona for 8 yards. Atta kid. So close.

Nice playcall as fullback Eric Stevens gets the carry to the Arizona 27 yard line. Oh my god, we’re a field goal away from putting this game out of reach.

Vereen rushes for 3 yards. Timeout Arizona. Nice, if we can get a first down while keeping the ball on the ground, we won’t need the field goal.

The Bears try the toss to Vereen this time, but it’s sniffed out for a loss of one. The Wildcats use their second timeout. Suddenly an impending sense of doom begins to pervade into my consciousness.

Does Tedford trust his offense to pick up the first down, or Giorgio Tavecchio to put the game away with a field goal? Either option scares me. Then it slowly dawns to me as I watch Mike Stoops nearly explode while pacing the sidelines that it’s going to come down to Tavecchio. Oh my god.

Shane Vereen cuts to the right on his run and is cut down after picking up just 3 yards. The Bears are on the Arizona 24 yard line and the Wildcats have used their final timeout. There is just 2:41 remaining. Just five yards for a first down and the game is over. But we all know where this is headed. And I know. I begin hyperventilating and begin rubbing my temples.

A friend of a friend (who happened to be an Alabama fan) tries to console me.

“Dude, it’s a 40 yarder. You make this and it’s over. Relax.”

“Clearly, you’ve never seen a Cal game before. This isn’t going to end well.”

“Hey, have faith!”

“Sorry, the lack of championships has a tendency to jade a fan.”

“Alabama was like that until just a few years ago. It wasn’t until recently that we were really dominant.”

“Please don’t ever compare us to Alabama again. Ever.”

Giorgio Tavecchio trots out to the field and “Viva Italia!” is heard somewhere in the background while the rest of the bar settles into a low hush.

The ball is hiked. The snap is good. The kick is wide right.

The shocked silence is followed up by the inevitable collective “F***!” from the crowd.

I stare at my beer and bite my lip.

“Wow. That was what, 40 yards?” The ‘Bama friend pats my back and says, “It’s ok. One defensive stop. Your defense has been kicking their asses all night. You need just one stop.”

I don’t even look at him. While I know what he is proclaiming is absolutely true, I can’t shake the sick sense of what is to come. “I’m going to throw up.”

Bama friend laughs. I’m not kidding.

Arizona picks up a first down on a Grigsby rush to the 37 yard line. Then the pain comes. Foles completes a 51 yarder to Juron Criner who was supposed to be freaking gimpy heading into the game. He’s not supposed to be playing! First down Arizona at the Cal 12 yard line.

A few plays later, Cameron Jordan is called for offsides giving the Wildcats a 3-1 on the Cal 3 yard line.

This can’t be happening.

Oh it happens. Foles throws off his backfoot, completing a pass to Criner (again!) for a touchdown in the back of the endzone.
I’m dry heaving into my hands while shaking uncontrollably.

“Wow, what a lucky pass.” ‘Bama fan says. “Well hey, you guys have got over a minute, two timeouts, and you just need a field goal. You guys got this.”

I slowly turn my head to face him. “Please stop talking.”

The Bears start their drive on their 23 yard line.

Riley completes a 7 yarder to Vereen. Golf claps follow.

Riley hits Keenan Allen (where have you been?) for 9 yards as Allen runs out of bounds. The Bears are spotted at the Cal 39 yard line.

Tavecchio reportedly has a 50 yard leg in him, so the Bears would need just 30 yards in less than a minute to give ourselves a chance. Hope begins to rise again in the room. This would be epic. This would clear so much of the Tucson—

--Riley’s pass goes off Marvin Jones’ hands (wait, what?) and right into an Arizona defender’s.

Michael Calvin desperately forces a fumble. But it’s promptly recovered by the same player. Of course.

The game ends with a shocked team and bar crowd watching Foles taking a knee. Stoops is seen shooting infants out of a canon into the crowd in jubilation.

The game is over.

“Wow. That sucks. Who would have thought it’d end like that?” says incredulous looking ‘Bama fan.

I did. I knew it would end like this all too well. And it hurt like hell.


“To come back off of that Nevada loss, where, I know we were embarrassed, to show an effort like this, it’s a great feeling, but to come short like that, man, it hurts, bad. I’ve never been a part of a football game that hurts more than this game. Not in my life. Never. This is the worst I’ve ever felt after the game, by far.
“I just, I just did what Coach Pendergast wanted me to do. I tried to execute, and I felt like I played a pretty good game, and then, to lose like that, man, it makes it hurt. It makes it hurt really bad.”
-Chris Conte
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Keys to the Game: Arizona 2010

"Oh sunshine. How I fear thee."

The more I reflect on last week’s performance and consider the team as a whole going into this week, I am more ready concede that last week’s game has the opportunity to stand on its own. I won’t say that it was a “fluke,” but I’m less consumed with drawing far-reaching extrapolations about the Nevada game and what it means for the season. The team was outcoached and underprepared, which led to them being outplayed that week. Plain and simple.

However, even before the loss to Nevada, I had anticipated that Cal’s game would be a likely loss, though I did think it might have been much closer had Cal rolled Nevada. Regardless, I thought Cal would have to play absolute lights out to stand a solid chance to stage an upset, and given the recent performances by both teams (Arizona in particular), it hasn’t done much to shake my initial prediction.

Can the Bears stage an upset? Absolutely. But they’ll have to be nearly flawless in gameplan and execution to take down a team that’s playing nearly as well as any team in the nation at this point in the season.

Here’s What You Need to Know
There were a number of question marks surrounding this Arizona coming into this season. Both offensive and defensive coordinators left, and the Wildcats were suffering some big losses, particularly losing their entire starting linebacking corps. Still, many projected the Wildcats to be as good as last year’s 8-5 squad.

Turns out the Wildcats might be better. A whole lot better. Arizona has looked polished and confident in its last three performances, thumping Toledo and Citadel while scraping out a character-building upset of number nine ranked Iowa last week.

Offensively, the whole system gels because of junior QB Nick Foles who is about as accurate as it gets, and puts up some gaudy numbers in ‘Zona’s passing offense. Add on a talented receiving corps, and a solid downhill runner in Nic Grigsby, and Arizona can put up points with the best of them.

The offense works from two different looks: the singleback set, with four wide receivers spread out wide, and the two TE pro formation that runs the rushing attack with the occasional passes (mostly to the TEs). Both formations either get the ball off quickly to a WR or allow the line to pull and trap for some pretty gaping holes for their backs to run through. Both sets spell can gain yardage and fast.

Defensively, I’ve been very impressed with how well Arizona has been playing. They’ve surpassed my expectations so far, and it all starts up front with one of the better defensive lines in the conference. Ricky Elmore and Brooks Reed form the best defensive end duo in the conference, and Arizona’s defensive tackles have been nearly as solid. While the linebacking corps is less experienced, I think they’re actually faster than last year’s squad, and Arizona’s secondary has given up just 134 yards through the air per game.


Basically, the Wildcats are playing very well right now. And the game is at Tucson. At night. Blah.

No Hesitation on Defense
I know, I know. We got burned against Nevada because we were likely too aggressive. We bit hard, and we bit often on the zone read. Yes.

With that said, I don’t think the Bears should really take a wait and react approach to the Wildcats offense. That’d likely get them shredded. After our win over Arizona last year, I distinctly remember the difference in our defense being its aggressive play on the field. The Bears didn’t give up the short yardage plays, and despite getting burned on a few occasions, allowed their pressure and disciplined run defense to disrupt Arizona’s offense.

If they can do the same this year, I think this game becomes a whole heck of a lot closer than people might think.

To be clear though, I’m not talking about sending seven rushers on each down. Arizona gets the ball out so quickly, that sacking Foles is nearly impossible to do. While pressuring Foles should be a priority, it’s also about jamming receivers. It can also be mixing in zone blitzes so that Foles has to think twice or three times about where he’s going. Variety in pressure can lead to disruption, which might be the only plan to stop Arizona’s attack.

The defense can’t play scared. They have to get the last play (which might still have been one big yardage) out their heads and be ready to stick to an aggressive and disciplined gameplan.

Running Game Must Gain Traction
Let’s be clear here. Arizona is going to stack the box. They have a solid run defense. The best in the conference in fact. They’re going to dare Riley to beat them through the air. And the passing game will have to show some semblance of a consistent threat.

Ok, that’s been covered.

But listen, the Bears will not have a chance at winning this game if they can’t form a rushing attack. While it might seem like a bit of a chicken-or-the-egg-first quandary, if the Bears can’t get a solid push off the line to open up running lanes for Vereen, there will be no passing windows for Riley. Creating balance with a rushing attack just does so much against an aggressive defense like Arizona’s.

Says Cal’s offensive line coach Steve Marshall,

“Our running game has got to be a staple. It always has to be part of what we do, because it creates the play action and those types of things. As long as we’re running the ball effectively, we’ll always have a chance to make plays-not only in the run game, but in the pass game.”

See? He agrees too. That has to count for something.

And this effort won’t be completely on the offensive line as well. While I haven’t been thrilled with Cal’s run blocking, I do agree in that it has improved. Slowly. But I have been disappointed with the blocking whiffs on the tight ends and backs. You’ve gotta cut that crap out. Seriously. It’s like, really important.

Prediction
I’m not feeling very well, so I’m going to cut the keys a bit short this time around, but nearly suffice to say, the Bears will have to attack, stay disciplined and patient. Here’s hoping they’re ready to attack after last week’s performance.

My heart hopes the Bears pull this one out, but they certainly have the odds stacked against them Saturday night. But hey, I felt the same way last year, and we all know how that turned out.

Arizona 27 Cal 17
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Nevada 2010 Recap

(AP Photo/Cathleen Allison)

(Kaepernick: "This is going to be so fun.")

"He asked me what I was doing," Riley said. "I said, 'Obviously I forced the damn ball.' "
-Kevin Riley

Shellshocked.

I’m guessing that’s how a lot of Golden Bears, fans, coaches, and players included, are feeling still this morning after the Bears were steamrolled by Nevada on national television 52-31. While many had thought the game might be a tricky one, few thought that their worst fears might be realized in allowing the Wolfpack to blow the game open the way they did.

The Big Story
While there are a number of different issues that will be attributed to the reason for the loss, at the end of the day, the biggest story will the defense’s inability to stop or even slow down Nevada’s pistol offense. After the Bears entered the game as the top ranked defense in the nation, giving up just 160 yards per game, it became evident early on that they were not prepared for the pistol attack in the least. Nevada rolled up 52 points, 45 on offense, and 497 total yards on the day.

Nevada QB Colin Kaepernick singlehandedly accounted for 329 of those yards, passing for 181 yards and rolling up 149 on the ground to go along with his five total touchdowns.

The Wolfpack offense was firing on absolutely every cylinder, and the Bears’ defensive confusion was evident in nearly every series. I have to go back and watch the tape (if I can manage it) to try and get a real assessment of what Cal’s defensive strategy was for the game, but it appeared to me that the goal was to attack either the runningback and quarterback on each play. I wrote in my Keys to the Game that the Bears would likely have to commit a linebacker to spy on Kaepernick on each play and play disciplined gap-assignment defense. Yet it seemed like it was nearly all “read-and-react” with the Bears jamming the middle of the defense leaving the outside gaps FAR too open.

Is it that simple? Probably not. But the Bears sure made it look that way.

Let’s get into a few details.


Linebackers and Defensive Struggles
Again, for as much praise as Pendergast’s defense has received for being an attacking one, they also showed they were just as much ill-equipped to handle Nevada’s spread-option attack.

The first issue was the absence of inside linebacker Mike Mohamed. Mohamed had been kept out of practice all week with a sprained toe, but had been expected to play in Friday’s game. Turns out the injury was more serious than expected, so Mohamed was out and the Bears spent the rest of the game trying to find a suitable substitute with JP Hurrell, Robert Mullins, and Steven Fanua all taking turns getting burned on defense.

Would Mohamed have been the difference between winning and losing? Probably not, but I can tell you the game certainly could have been far different with Mohamed manning the middle. Mohamed is the quarterback on defense and his presence on the inside may have allowed the Bears to commit an extra player on the outside to shorten the edges. But again, the defensive strategy I saw may contend that it might not have that much of a difference.

With Mohamed gone though, DJ Holt had another strong performance, racking up 16 tackles. We’re going to want to have both back together manning the inside as soon as possible.

I’m not going to try and pile on any player, nor am I saying the loss is on any player by any means. But I will say OLB Keith Browner stuck out to me on too many plays. Browner appeared to make the wrong decision on every play, rushing the inside to take out the linebacker only to see Kaepernick spring past him to the outside for big yardage.

Also, if you watch a lot of the replays of the Nevada touchdowns, you can visibly see Browner along with a few other players such as Ernest Owusu, Josh Hill, and Bryant Nnabuife, frozen in place doing a head shake as they tried to figure out which player was blazing past them with the ball.

Granted Browner forced that fumble that led to the Bears TD, but I will say we were really hurt by our linebacking corps and coaches not having the answer to the zone-read.

Nevada Was On Fire
It’s always hard to assess how prolific an offense looks because of their own execution, and how much of it is what the defense gives them. And trust me, our defense gave the Nevada offense plenty of favors with the way we left the outside part of the field wide open on nearly every big gain.

But sometimes, teams are just on. In the same way Kobe Bryant makes impossible shots despite having a defender right in his face, the Wolfpack offense was simply on that night and would have put up points on any team. Kaepernick was throwing with precision and his receivers were making some amazing grabs in tight coverage. Nevada’s blockers were getting to blocks quickly and decisively, and Kaepernick was reading the defense perfectly. Even as a Cal fan, you had to appreciate how polished they looked on offense. It really is the result of a senior-laden team who has had the chance to play with each other for years.

Secondary
The secondary was beat on Friday, but I’m a little less disappointed with this unit. While I do think they needed to have made more plays and blew a few assignments to allow for some wide open receivers on some big plays, I actually thought our defenders blanketed the Nevada receivers fairly well on a number of the receptions.

A number of terrific grabs by Nevada were just that: excellent catches. You could see Anthony or Hagan covering their receivers quite well, trying to make a play on the ball only to see a Wolfpack receiver come up with a big catch. There’s not that much you can do about those plays.

Still, the Bears secondary gave up some big yards on some critical third and long plays, and you simply can’t let that happen with this offense. Converting a 3rd and 20 was all you needed to see of how this game was going to pan out.

Scratch that, when you see Josh Hill blanket a Nevada receiver and Marc Anthony force a fumble only for it to be recovered in the endzone for a TD…yeah that’s all you need to know about how this game.

The Offense as a Whole
Was it pretty? Not really, but you know, the offense moved the ball fairly well. They actually outgained Nevada in total yardage, racking up 502 yards of total offense and 31 points.

The most brutal part though was turnovers (aka interceptions) and the inability to convert in the redzone. All three of Riley’s interceptions came in Nevada territory, with one being returned for a TD.

But the struggles in the redzone was the real killer in my mind.

The Bears failed to convert from 1st and goal at the seven yard line and had to settle for a field goal.

The Bears also had a 1st and 10 at the Nevada 12 yard line late in the game, but came up with no points after the Bears gave up a critical false start and Riley’s fourth down pass was helplessly swatted down.

When playing against a high profile offense like Nevada, you’ve got to take every point you can get. And despite showing the ability to move the chains, the Bears simply couldn’t keep up by finishing with enough points.

The Life of Riley
You could make a move about Kevin Riley’s career, and the chapter on last night’s game could be its own spinoff, though spectacularly predictable in some ways.

Let’s get the good out of the way. Riley completed 62% of his passes for 277 yards and a touchdown.

Riley also had a couple of great clutch throws on third down, all to Marvin Jones, to keep the drives alive. His passes on rollouts were also pretty sharp, and led to some big gains.

Alright.

Ok, now let’s get to the bad. Let’s start this conversation by talking about his three interceptions.

Despite what David Norrie may have said on TV, the interception is not on Riley. Yes the ball was a tad high and not perfectly in front of Keenan Allen, but that needed to have been caught. It was a mistake by Allen plain and simple, and the defense capitalized.

Prior to Riley’s second interception, the Bears had closed the gap on Nevada after a spectacular opening drive in the second half made the score 24-21. The Bears were marching down the field after a rare defensive stop and looked like they were swinging the momentum back in their favor. Then, as the clock was winding down, Riley locked on and tried to quickly get the pass out to Alex Lagemann when a Nevada defender jumped the route and returned it for a TD.

It was the very definition of a backbreaker. Head scratching, face smacking, back breaking. It simply killed all momentum, and the Bears would never recover. No one will argue that it was simply a terrible play, one that shouldn’t really ever happen by a senior quarterback.

As for the third interception, it was in garbage time, when Riley just locked on a direction and threw to no one, with the Nevada secondary gladly accepting the gift.

Riley also had a number of other painful misthrows, specifically overthrowing and open Keenan Allen on a critical third down, and missing a wide open Isi Sofele in the endzone. Painful.

Was the loss on Riley? No. Not by any means. When your defense gives up 45 points, you can never pin it solely on the quarterback. However, I will say the pick six was the defining moment when you really knew the Bears had little chance of digging themselves out of it.

The season is still early, but after all the games, it’s pretty evident that the story with Riley isn’t going to be radically different this year from what we’ve seen. He’s going to put up some good numbers, and will make a few spectacular plays. He will take care of the ball for the most part, and is the best option to lead this offense. But Riley simply isn’t going to be a very accurate quarterback, and will have his share of head scratching throws. Let’s accept it, and move on.

Offensive Line
You know, I thought the offensive line actually played pretty well. While they didn’t look like they were really dominating the line of scrimmage, I thought it was actually one of their better performances of the season (which isn’t saying too much I know). They opened up some decent lanes that Shane Vereen was finally able to exploit, and gave Riley some pretty decent time in the pocket.

As for that offensive series in the first quarter (you know which one I’m talking about) that was pure ugliness. Seriously. Just about the worst series I’ve seen in years. The sacks weren’t on the offensive line however. Vereen had a rare whiff on his block for the first sack, and tight end Anthony Miller got beat on the outside for the second. After that, the Bears did decently well in pass protection.

Marvin Jones is a Beast
We all know it, but I’m saying it. The guy is a stud, and the unquestioned number one pass catching option. The guy catches nearly everything thrown his way, and makes big plays when the Bears need it. There really isn’t a need to make comparisons, but I really do see shades of Geoff MacArthur when I see Jones play, which is saying a lot because MacArthur is just about my favorite Cal receiver of all time.

When Jones managed to drag his right foot before on the 39 yard sideline fade, I simply thought, “NFL material.”

You had to feel for Jones towards the end of the game. There was one particular play near the end of the game on an overthrow in his direction, where you could see how worn out he was. And could you blame him? He more than carried his weight that night, catching 12 passes for 161 yards, personal bests for him. The guy left it all out on the field that night.

Vereen Has a Record Night
While we’re continuing to feel good about individual offensive performances, let’s celebrate the welcome back party for Shane Vereen. After two quiet performances, Vereen absolutely exploded Friday night, running 19 times for 198 yards and two TD scores. His first TD run was one of his most impressive ever.

One of things I continue to love about Vereen is the way he fights for positive yardage even when he’s at or behind the line of scrimmage. He isn’t quite a pile mover, but he’s creative in the ways he crawls, spins, tumbles, and jukes forward for positive yardage. He really almost singlehandedly keeps many Cal drives alive.

You have to think the Bears would have liked to have given him the ball more, but he also looked pretty gassed as he continues to get back into football shape recovering from his hamstring injury that kept him out of most of fall camp.

Anthony Miller is Back As Well
Aside from a few rare whiffed blocks, one which led to the second sack on Riley, Miller emerged again as a pass catching threat. After recording just one catch for 5 yards this season, Miller caught three balls for 57 yards. We’re going to continue to utilize Miller, as the guy is a solid threat to keep drives moving.

Much of it is based on what opposing defenses give us, but you have to think that the Bears need to continue to balance the passing attack a bit more than they have.

Other Offensive Issues
You know, I really continue to root for Michael Calvin, but prior to his 18 yard catch, I was thinking, “Man, I can’t remember the last time Calvin caught a pass. What has it been, since like, 2008?”

It had been. And I’m surprised the Bears continue to have as much confidence in him as they do, even throwing that endzone pass to him which he really should have come down with.

Eric Stevens continues to show he has the physicality and athleticism to play fullback, but his inexperience shows. He’s had a number of whiffed blocks the past few games, which I suppose is a little less worrisome than if he just continued to be manhandled physically. The guy needs to continue to grow though, asap.

Isi Sofele can be a great change of pace gap, but there is a noticeable drop off when he comes in the game. He hasn’t developed the ability to fight forward for positive yardage as well as Vereen has, and drives have the propensity to stall quite a bit unless he’s given a fairly clean running lane.

Special Teams
There wasn’t much to dislike with the unit, although I think it’s telling of the type of night the Bears are going to have when Bryan Anger shanks a punt. Thinking about it now, I can’t remember the time I’ve ever seen him do that. It was stunning really.

Other than that, everything else was fairly solid with the unit. How refreshing is it to not have to continually gripe about the special teams in each of my recaps?

I must say, I can’t believe how much more poised Giorgio Tavecchio looks this year. Just seeing his face before the opening kickoff, I remember thinking, “This guy looks like he knows exactly what he’s doing and wants to knock this pigskin out of the park.” Sure enough, the guy nearly knocks it through the uprights on the opening kickoff for a rare touchback. Yeah, the altitude sure helped, but a year ago, I don’t think he would have gotten close to endzone even with that help.

My one gripe is that I wish the Bears could show a bit more explosiveness on kickoff returns. The Bears have showed very little in this area, and you’d think with the playmakers Cal has, that they might be able to get the ball past the thirty yard line at least once.

But hey, given our struggles with Special Teams the past few years, the fact that this is my biggest gripe is a victory for everyone involved.

Outlook
It was an ugly loss, and you know team and fans have very little to puff their chests out about at this point. How the Bears respond at this point will be the biggest issue.

At this point, the question is, “Who Knows?”

Who knows how the Bears will regroup and handle a number of Pac-10 offenses that are likely to be as dangerous and just as varied in schemes?

Who knows how this offense will continue to progress, especially in terms of maintaining consistency in run blocking?

Who knows how the Bears will come out against an Arizona team that I think will contend for the Pac-10 title? Who knows if they will come out refocused, angry, and ready to take it out on a team? For what it’s worth, I think that will be a lost, but then again, who knows?

Who knows how this loss will look at the end of the season if the Bears manage to regroup and rally off seven more wins, especially if Nevada somehow manages to go 12-0 this season? By the way, I definitely think the latter has a chance of happening.

Who knows? Few have answers at this point. Fortunately, with it having been a Friday game, the Bears have one more day to try and figure out.

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Keys to the Game: Nevada 2010

(Oh yes he can.)

“We don’t want to be a defense that stands around and holds bags. We want to be active and disruptive.”

-Defensive Coordinator Clancy Pendergast

The Bears head into Friday’s game against the Nevada Wolfpack riding high off of two dominating wins over lesser opponents in UC Davis and Colorado. The Bears should expect a far bigger challenge as they face off against Nevada’s tricky and dangerous offense.

Many have debated the level of challenge the Wolfpack might provide, but I have long looked at this game as one of the trickiest on the Bears’ schedule for a number of reasons. First off, it’s a Friday night game which means the Bears have one less day to rest up physically and gameplan for a tricky offensive scheme. Secondly, it’s a non-conference road game, and while the Bears don’t have to travel to Maryland or Knoxville, it could still pose challenges with it being the first away game, at a higher altitude which might throw off the Bears. Finally, while I don’t think Nevada is an elite team by any means, I do think they’ll be a substantial jump in quality over UC Davis and Colorado, and they are led by one of the most potent offenses in the nation.

Needless to say, one or two mistakes, and the game could easily starting swinging away from the Bears. Let’s start breaking it down.


What You Need to Know
The biggest concern will be how the revamped Bears’ defense handles the high powered Nevada offense. To put things in perspective, at this early point in the season, we have a battle between the number one offense (Nevada) versus the number one defense (Cal) in the nation. The Wolfpack average a whopping 592 yards per game, while the Bears have only given up on average 160 yards per game on defense.

In terms of personnel, Nevada features a huge offensive line, with the average height being at least 6’5, and a few as tall as 6’8 and 6’6 guards in senior left guard John Bender and senior right tackle John Acuna.

They also have a dynamic and powerful runningback similar to Shane Vereen, in Vai Taua who also rocks the #34 jersey. The kid is fast, can break tackles, and hits the hole hard.

The star on offense who makes it all tick though, is senior quarterback Colin Kaepernick. The 6’6 dual threat quarterback runs Nevada’s pistol offense to perfection and has passed for 7,623 yards and tacked on a ridiculous 6,523 yards on the ground in his three years as a starter. Thus far this season, Kaepernick already has 221 yards and 4 TDs on the ground, as well as 547 yards and another 4 TDs through the air. This guy is a huge threat, plain and simple.

Discipline on Defense
The key to defending “gimmicky” or option offenses, is really to play assignment football. As tricky as the offenses may appear, these offenses are predicated upon trying to get you to look in a direction away from your assignment and get you out of position. The Bears can help themselves if they play disciplined ball on defense.

OLB Jarred Price said it pretty well, “Don’t try to do too much; just do your job. Do what you need to do and don’t try to be anybody else.”

In a way, I wish I could sound a lot smarter and say there’s more to it, but defending the option is truly about being disciplined and following gap assignments to avoid stepping aside for huge running lanes or giving a mobile QB free space to bust a big play.

Granted, there are going to be a few things the Bears will have to do on top of staying disciplined. They will probably want to assign a smart and speedy linebacker to spy QB Kaepernick to help slow down that running threat should he take off and run. By all accounts, that should be ILB Mike Mohamed, assuming he’s fully healed from his sprained toe injury, though that’s far from certain.

The Bears will also want to try to do their best to disrupt the backfield. When Nevada is working out of their version of the triple option, plays can often take a bit more time to develop and the Bears might benefit greatly from rushing one or two speedy backers from the outside to get in the backfield as soon as possible. But the key will be how strategic the Bears are with their blitzes, because they might find a linebacker running head on into Kaepernick just as they see him pitching off to a sprinting back. Discipline.

(Yes this is a scrawny HS Kaepernick at Memorial Stadium.)

Establish the Running Game
As dynamic as Nevada’s offense has been, their defense hasn’t quite matched their counterpart’s performance.

Nevada only ranks 70th in total defense on the season, and their opponents haven’t quite been offensive juggernauts either, in Eastern Washington and Colorado State. While the Wolfpack offense has hung 100 points, they’ve also given up 30 points and an average of 352 yards per game.

Also, here’s an even closer look at the stats. The Wolf Pack have given up on average 120 yards per game on the ground, to go along with 232 yards through the air. More telling is the yards per attempt number, in which Nevada averages 6.1 ypa (47th in the nation), and 57.9 completion percentage (61st in the nation). Really, those are pretty mediocre numbers when one considers the competition they’ve face.

Granted, those numbers are skewed a little bit when one considers that defenses play a bit more of a prevent defense once they build a big lead, and are likely to give up more yards. But all things considered, you have to think the Bears have a chance to put up some points in what has the potential to be a bit of a shootout.

Similar to their defensive approach, I don’t think the Bears should have to resort to any tricks to beat the Nevada offense. I think they have the personnel to match up well against the Wolfpack to have an advantage with most units. So it goes with an understanding that the key should be to establish one’s presence in the running game.

I really do think that this needs to be the game in which the Bears recommit themselves to a higher expectation of run blocking, and allow Shane Vereen to wear the Wolfpack defense down. The o-line needs to play flat out nasty, and just as importantly, we need to see fewer whiffs from the tight ends and fullbacks so that Vereen has a chance to gain positive yardage. You can bet Nevada will plan on stacking the box like Colorado did last week, with hopes that Riley might beat him through the air.

The longer and more sustained the drives, the longer the Bears can keep the Wolfpack’s offense off the field, and control the pace of the game.

Try and Beat ‘Em Early
While I don’t think the Bears need to resort to too many gimmicky plays to get some points on offense, that doesn’t mean I don’t think the Bears shouldn’t refrain from giving the Nevada defense a number of different looks on offense in hopes of catching lightning in a bottle.

Breaking open a big lead early on is huge in road games. It sucks the life out of the crowd and helps the visiting team settle into a rhythm. And added benefit against the Wolfpack however, is that it forces their offense to become a tiny bit more one-dimensional, in terms of hoping to get some points on the board.

Consider this: In all the games that Nevada lost last year (to Notre Dame, Colorado State, Missouri, and Boise St.) the Wolfpack have trailed at half time. While the Wolfpack rarely wilted completely and stayed competitive, they only came back to win after giving up a half time lead once last season, a 35-32 win over Utah State. In short, it helps to be able to put them in catch up mode.

So I’d hope to see some plays intended to try and go for the jugular early on, before eventually settling into an offensive rhythm. It could just be the difference.

Outlook
I do think the Bears can pull this one out. The biggest question will be whether we can slow down the Nevada attack, and secondly, it will be an issue of being able to run the football on a scrappy, but still outmanned defense.

Don’t get me wrong though, my palms are already sweating a bit just thinking about it. If the Bears can keep the Wolfpack under 30 points (Nevada is 0-8 the past three seasons when doing so), I think we’ve got this one in the bag. Their defense simply hasn't shown the ability to keep up. I actually think that number will have to be in the low 20s given the questions surrounding our offensive line, but you get the point.

Prediction
Cal 28 Nevada 24
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Rankings Update: Week 2

I'll admit, it ended up happening a whole lot faster than I thought it would. It looks like the voters were somehow impressed with rolling FCS UC Davis and Big 12 lowrider Colorado.

The Bears cracked the USA Today (Coaches) poll at No. 24. That's a pretty big jump from where they were ranked last week at #37.

They also jumped up to #29 in the AP Poll, so it looks like a win over Nevada could plug them into the Top 25 there as well.


Not quite sure how I fell about this. I'm not quite of the camp that hates being ranked in fear of not living up to expectations. I would hope Tedford has his team to the point where they play outside of expectations and rankings and focus solely on execution and preparation. So in that sense, I welcome being ranked because it reflects a level of respect by the voters which ultimately may be critical in where the Bears end up playing in the post season.

On the other hand, rankings really mean little at this point. Virgina Tech, ranked #10 preseason (no 0-2 having lost to FCS James Madison) can attest to that, and hell, Bears fans know this all too well.

All it really means is that the media and coaches are fickle and are impressed by blowing out bad teams.

It makes us no better or worse of team. We'll get answers to our quality soon enough.
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Colorado 2010 Recap

Nearly everyone had predicted that Cal would beat soon-to-be-Pac-11/12? Colorado on Saturday, though many (including myself) acknowledged the Buffaloes were much improved and might be the Bears’ first actual test of the season.

Well if that was a test, the Bears soared with flying colors, stomping the Buffaloes 52-7, but not without revealing a number of areas of concern that the Bears will have to shore up before starting conference play.

Under Pressure
As much as last week’s big story was Keenan Allen, the story this week has to be the larger taste we had of the new Bears defense under new defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast.

I must say, there were some parts that were flat out delicious.

The Bears’ defensive line was quoted during the summer in professing their love for Pendergasts’ new defensive system, and today you could tell why. Cal got great pressure on Colorado on passing downs, sacking Colorado QB Tyler Hansen three times in just the first quarter, before piling up six sacks on the days. Even when they didn’t actually get to Hansen, there was also enough visible pressure that Hansen was rushed into throwing three interceptions, including one that was returned for a touchdown by the Prophet right before the end of the first half.

In addition to the pressure, one of the other positives was the quality of coverage I saw from the secondary. Hansen had to hold onto the ball a bit longer than he wanted to, a number of times because his receivers were blanketed pretty well by the secondary. When Hansen did uncork the ball, the pass was broken up beautifully by Darian Hagan, and a brilliant interception from redshirt freshman Steve Williams.

Hansen finished his day completing just 18 of 34 passes for 166 yards, and three interceptions. Colorado shouldn’t have been a threat to dominate the Bears with their passing game, but you have to be happy that the Bears didn’t elevate Hansen to Big-12 weekly honors like they might have done last season.

After having a quieter day on defense last week, the Bears left Memorial today with six sacks, two forced fumbles (one returned for a TD), and 3 interceptions (one returned for a TD). They also allowed just 239 yards of total offense, including just 73 yards on the ground.



Linebackers Step Up
Even though I thought the secondary played very well today, I actually was quite impressed with the linebacker play today. Mike Mohamed was his typical spectacular self, notching up 14 tackles, a pick six, and sharing a tackle for a loss.

But I thought Mychal Kendricks had a great day, really honing in on the ball with 11 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, a sack, and a fumble recovery.

DJ Holt was also all over the place, ratching up 7 tackles, a tackle for a loss, and I was actually also pretty impressed with his coverage, as he closed in on a pass fairly quickly for a near interception. We’ll see if he can do that when he matches up against some better tight ends, but it was still good to see that he wasn’t just a statue out there.

Let’s not forget “the midget” though, Jarred Price (who cannot be 5’11, probably closer to 5’9) who made life a living hell for Colorado LT Nate Solder, a likely first-round draft prospect. Great decision to match up Price against Solder, as his speed off the edge made Solder look absolutely plodding, and sacked Hansen twice.

Speaking of the linebackers, I’m not convinced Keith Browner will stay as the starter at the OLB spot by the end of the season. We didn’t see much from him today, whether that was by design, or a result of his play, but I do think that he may eventually be beaten out by either Price, Ryan Davis, or even true frosh Dave Wilkerson. I think his play will likely peak at simply “adequate,” and I’m not sure he’ll ever be a consistent playmaker for the Bears. Who knows? It’s only week 2.

Gripe with Defense
If there was one grip I had on defense, it was the Bears’ inability to stop the Buffaloes in third and short situations. First, inherent to this issue is the fact that the Buffaloes put themselves in position for very manageable third downs. But it became virtually assured that the Buffaloes would convert on third-and-one, with a tiny runningback no less. I know the Bears faced one of the larger offensive lines they will see all season, and giving up a yard often can’t be helped, but I would have liked to have seen the Bears win a few more of those battles in the trenches.

First Things First with Offense
I can understand why one might be excited by 52 points. There were plenty of nice plays, and some good production from the receivers, which I’ll talk about in a minute. Whee! But first, let’s talk about my biggest concern: the offensive line.

The Bears’ offensive line is slowly become an irking point of concern particularly in terms of the rushing attack. I saw the o-line getting very little push, and they were simply moved back far too often.

Many might look at Shane Vereen’s mere 61 yards on 16 carries (3.7 ypc) and wonder whether he is at 100% (which he isn’t, in my opinion), but the issue is the lack of running lanes for Vereen and the fact that he was getting touched in the backfield far too often.

In terms of pass protection, the play was slightly better, but still not quite where the Bears will need to be if the Bears want to challenge for the top tier of the conference. You could see a noticeable difference in passing production when they could effectively pick up Colorado pressure, and when they didn’t. Colorado was really stacking the box to put some pressure on Riley and force him to make high quality throws under pressure. There were a couple of open men on a number of plays that Riley either missed or didn’t have a chance to get to because of the pressure.

This offensive line is going to be the key for this offense, plain and simple. And while many might be giddy with back to back performances of 52 points, it’s the small battles in the trenches that might be more revealing. Fortunately, the Bears still have a bit more time to continue to work through this, but it needs to be addressed ASAP.

Now onto some other offensive notes.

Riley’s Grade
Riley had an OK day. He continued to hurry a number of his passes, and missed a few throws including two passes in the flat to Vereen, and nearly overthrew Jones on a screen pass. And if we really want to nitpick, Jones had to slow down a tiny bit on that great 61 yard grab.

But he also had some really nice throws when he had time. Riley looked confident, checked down, and got the ball nicely into his receivers hands over the middle. You also had to like his gutsiness and athleticism when he decided to take off and run.

In all, Riley took care of the football, managed the game much better than he did last week, and executed well in the red zone. He finished the day 15-24 for 197 yards, and 4 TDs. Thus far on the season, Riley is completing 66 percent of his passes, and has 7 touchdowns with no interceptions. You would like to see him complete a few more of those routine passes, and again, you can’t take too much away from these games, but you can’t be that unhappy with what you have seen so far.

Wide Receiving Corps is Alive
Despite fewer “Oh My %^$#!” plays this week, I really think we’re seeing the beginning of a very good receiving corps. Marvin Jones and Keenan Allen are a great one-two punch with Allen recording 6 catches for 66 yards and touchdown, and Marvin Jones reeling in 3 catches for 77 yards and a score as well.

Again, props to Jones for making an amazing grab and showing shades of dare-I-say Geoff MacArthur as he fought through and carried defenders to near the goal line.

Jeremy Ross also reeled in a nice 27 yard catch, and showed much better mitts than last season. With Ross in your third spot, I think you’ve got a real nice starting rotation at wide receiver.

Other Notes on Offense
There were a Bears’ share of mistakes that are still getting worked out as we move along. Matt Summers Gavin made his long awaited return and promptly got flagged for a false start. FB Eric Stevens missed a block on the corner which led to Isi Sofele taking a tackle for a loss.

Also, for a second week in a row, the first passing TD has gone to Vereen on an amazing back shoulder fade. That’s a tough ball to throw, and a difficult one to catch and Vereen did a great job reeling that in. Vereen shows why Tedford specifically said Vereen had an edge over Best in running routes.

Finally, I will say I was pretty happy with the play calling. Ludwig continues to draw up the QB draw every so often, and threw in a faking of the fly sweep on the Jones TD catch. Oh, and you also got to like a few deep shots in the third quarter instead of simply running the ball and playing to super conservative with a 31-7 lead.

Overall, I would have liked to have seen more sustained drives, not only to show the offense can move the ball, but to also give the defense some much needed rest. And yes, that offensive line play needs to get better.

Special Teams
The Special Teams continue to be a refreshing bright spot for the team. I thought the kickoff coverage got a little spotty as the game wore on, with the Bears giving up a 39 yard return to CU Brian Lockridge. And despite the level of talent they played against, you had had to be happy with the effort on special teams with all things considered.

Bryan Anger continued to show why he’s one of the best punters in the nation, averaging 48.3 yards per punt, including some a monstrous 66 yarder. Just ridiculous stuff.

Giorgio Tavecchio continued to show great consistency on his kickoffs, including a few impressive boots that even got deep inside the endzone. More than just the distance on kickoffs though, which is a 64.8 yard average by the way, is the consistency we’re seeing from the Italian Stallion. There’s just such a visible change in the level of confidence in his kickoffs. We’ll see how that confidence plays out with field goals, as he hasn’t really been tested in this regard.

A quick note, I had hoped that a few other kickers such as Vincenzo D’Amato or David Seawright might get a chance on some kickoffs last week, but after seeing D’Amato boot one out of bounds on his lone try, I’m content with Tavecchio handling the vast majority of these duties.

Finally, I have to praise Jeremy Ross for his continued excellent work on special teams. Ross keeps making good decisions in fielding the ball, as well as some nice moves on punt returns. The guy will take one all the way before it’s all said and done, but I’m more than content with him ripping off some solid 20 yard gains.

Colorado Self-Destruction
I said in my preview that Colorado was a disciplined team. What I meant was that they play scrappy on defense and cover their gaps well. I probably should have been more specific, because it’s rare that I’ve seen a team shoot themselves in the foot as often as Colorado did with penalties.

Let’s be honest here. Even if Colorado had played a near flawless game, they were unlikely to walk out of Memorial Stadium with the win. They were that outmatched both in terms of coaching and talent.

However, the Buffaloes were in full out LiLo self-destructoid mode, committing four penalties in the first eight minutes of the game, and finishing with 9 penalties for 75 yards. Yes, I know the Bears were far from perfect in this category, as they committed 6 of their own. But those types of penalties, are a reflection of the level of coaching and team discipline, which Colorado apparently lacks.

I do think the Buffaloes can end up rebounding on their way to a bowl eligible season, but they’re going to have to get a lot of things in check, and play for themselves, because it doesn’t look like they’re going to get a whole bunch of that from their coaches.

Looking Forward
I’ve said for some time that we really won’t know what the true identity of this team until at least the Arizona game. Again, we’re slowly learning more and more, and there are a number of good things, with a fair share of concerns.

The early prognosis?

Special Teams are likely better. Defense is more aggressive, but can they be consistent and do they have the personnel? Offensive Line play is still a concern, but some playmakers are emerging on the outside. Kevin Riley is playing well, but we won’t jump up and down until we see him play in truly testy conditions.

For now, enjoy the win over a BCS conference (albeit bad) opponent, and get ready for a tricky test against Nevada.

Go Bears! Sleep well tonight.
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College Gameday Picks Cal Over Colorado

Catching College Gameday just before our day of football kicks off, and the Gameday crew has ole' Bobby Bowden on the show to contribute with their picks on today's games.

There is a consensus for Cal to take the win over Colorado with 79% of America (AMERICA!) favoring the Bears.

Bowden credited what Coach Tedford has done with the program and thought the Bears would handle the Buffaloes.

Lee Corso cited the number of road opener losses that Colorado has had under Hawkins and voted for Cal as well.

Kirk Herbstreit predicted a big day from runningback Shane Vereen and stated that Riley would need to build some rhythm with his receivers.

And for those who care, Corso dawned the the elephant mask with the Crimson Tide beating the Nittany Lions.
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Keys to the Game: Colorado 2010

(Dan Hawkins is pumped for this one.)

At the beginning of the season, I barely looked twice at the Colorado game on the schedule. Chalk up an easy “W.” And by “W” I really meant a big “Dubya” because Colorado has been bad under Coach Dan Hawkins and was really bad last season. They have yet to post a winning season under Hawkins and were just 3-9 last year. That’s almost Holmoe-esque.

To provide some further context for my dismissal of the game, the Buffaloes have lost 12 straight road games under Hawkins. Colorado quarterback Tyler Hansen describes the frustration best. “We always want to sing the fight song in the plane coming home. We haven’t done that in a while.”

Suffice to say, next the UC Davis, this was about as much of a “gimmie” as I thought Cal would have all season. And we have WSU on the schedule.

As we approach Saturday’s 12:30 kickoff against Colorado, I thought it was worth taking a closer look at the Buffaloes. Not only are they expected to join the new Pac-12 next season, but they posted a slightly eyebrow-raising win over rivals Colorado State last weekend, to the score of 24-3.

I looked further. Their offense returns 10 starters including the new quarterback Tyler Hansen who took over after Coach Hawkins finally took away the driver’s keys from the previous starter, his son Cody who was sent to timeout on the bench midway through last season.

It turns out the Buffaloes also added some real speed on the outside with USC transfer Travon Patterson who bolted to Colorado before last season in hopes of getting some real playing time before his college career was over. Colorado also has transfers Toney Clemons (from Michigan) and Paul Richardson (from UCLA). They join senior receiver Scotty McKnight who has all sorts of records at Colorado, and is like, a big deal.

The Buffaloes defense features some disciplined, well-coached players, but their stars are most definitely the veteran senior cornerback duo of Jahlil Brown and Jimmy Smith. Suddenly, you’ve got to wonder how Marvin Jones and Keenan Allen might fare against a veteran and talented set of defensive backs.

What is the unsettling sensation that feels as if it is slowly creeping into the nether regions of my stomach? Could it possibly be fear? Of freaking Colorado?

I sure as hell hope not, because despite this being a far stiffer test for the Bears, think they should eventually take care of business. Here are a couple of thoughts and hopes.


Cover ‘Em Up
I don’t have too much fear about Colorado’s rushing attack. Their starting runningback Rodney Stewart is a quick and dynamic little scatback, but doesn’t appear to be getting much help from his massive offensive line, and gained just 67 yards (3.3 ypc) last week against Colorado State. This isn’t much of an improvement over last year’s paltry rushing production, when the Buffaloes were ranked 11th in the Big-12 conference.

Needless to say, I’d be sick if the Buffaloes mounted a consistent rushing attack against the Bears. My guess would be that their gameplan is to spread the Bears out with a quick strike offense that would allow some of their playmakers to get into space. We’re talking about passing like five yard crossing patterns, smoke screens (the Bears’ poison), and 10 yard outs.

The key may not necessarily be in rattling QB Tyler Hansen, because I don’t think their plan will be for him to be in the pocket very long and I would expect just 3 and 5 step drops. To make matters worse, I think they operate out of the shotgun quite a bit. Rather, the test will be for the secondary, and how they find ways to disrupt the rhythm of the receivers. How often will they jam them off the line, and how quickly can we expect the safeties in Josh Hill and Chris Conte to come lay the lumber in support?

The Buffaloes are far from a potent passing offense, but any passiveness in pass defense can be just what they need to lull the Bears to sleep into giving up a big play over the top or allow big yardage underneath.

Keep Hansen Contained
Tyler Hansen isn’t a Jeremiah Masoli or Colin Kaepernick, but the kid is athletic and make plays if forced out of the pocket. I’m not suggesting using a linebacker to spy at him all the time, but Cal’s linebackers are going to have to be very conscientious of where he is at all times, especially once they start sensing the play begins breaking down.

Flushing Hansen out of the pocket might work to Cal’s advantage if they bring the pressure. While they’ll undoubtedly give up a few big plays, they can be sure to extra physical when tackling Hansen, and finding ways to disrupt his rhythm and forcing his receivers to freestyle a bit more. Less rhythm on the road for the Buffaloes is a good thing for the Bears.

Get Your Playmakers in Space
The Buffaloes aren’t going to blow too many assignments, as they’re a fairly well disciplined team on defense. They play instinctively, cover gaps well, and are pretty scrappy in getting to the ball. While the Bears could simply try and pound the Buffaloes into submission, it may be a nicer idea to try and find ways to get the Bears’ playmakers into space early on.

One of the most obvious places to start will be with Cal’s dynamic wide receiver duo in Jones and Allen. The question though will be how free they’ll be with the aforementioned Colorado veteran duo guarding them.

I do think Jones and Allen will leave their mark when all is said and done, though I’d be surprised (happily of course) if they repeated their combined 200+ yard receiving performance.

The Bears benefit from having Vereen in the backfield as well as spreading out Anthony Miller over the middle. I’d like to see plenty of looks for Vereen to motion out to the slot, or even bring Sofele in at the same time to utilize his speed.

In sum, I think a number of big plays will help get Colorado out of their rhythm a bit, which would then set the stage for the Bears to run downhill a bit more on the Buffaloes defense, as well as opening up a number of passing lanes for Riley down the line.


Outlook
I do think Colorado is improved this year, and the number of close losses last year lead me to believe that the Buffaloes certainly have a good shot to be bowl eligible this year. And I will admit, that I definitely overlooked the Buffaloes quite a bit heading into this week.

Still, I do think Colorado is still a bit of a ways out from coming to Cal and upsetting the Bears. I don’t quite know what the Bears are made of just yet, but I do think it will be enough to perhaps keep it close with the Buffaloes, before running away with the game late in the third quarter.

Prediction:
Cal 35 Colorado 17
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Pac-10 Week 1 Thoughts

I had a chance to catch a number of games, and the rest are thoughts simply on results and recent happenings in the conference.

USC
After a fairly ridiculous night out on the town, I did have a chance to come back and take in the second half of their matchup against Hawaii, and the buzz is spot on. While USC’s offense looks to be rolling, the Trojans were surprisingly awful on defense. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I enjoyed watching the USC defense get ripped to shreds to the tune of 588 yards and 36 points. While the outcome of the game was rarely in question, the tackling was shoddy, the zones were chasm-sized, and their young but inexperienced secondary simply looked confused.

It became apparent watching the game, that we really aren’t going to see a return of the Carroll-led defensive dominant squads from some of the past several years.

With that said, I would be shocked if USC continued to look this bad by mid-season. I think their secondary is too talented and they have too strong of a defensive mind in coordinator Monte Kiffen to wallow in this absurdity forever. The Trojans will get much better on defense. How much better? Not sure, but they won’t be this bad consistently.

Oregon
Didn’t catch the game (saw the highlights) but didn’t need to. I know it was only New Mexico, but beating anyone short of a pee-wee team 72-0 is impressive. Kenjon Barner looked absolutely ridiculous out there, and one can only imagine how much more dangerous this offense will be once they get LaMichael James back and QB Darron Thomas grows as a starter.

Losing Masoli hurts, but this team still has too much returning talent for me to think any other conference team looks like it might take the conference crown this year…


Arizona
…Although, I will say Arizona looked up to the task on Friday after thumping Toledo 41-2. I actually caught the entire game and thought that initially, the Wildcats looked a lot more impressive on defense than on offense. In fact, given the losses on defense in the front seven, I thought Arizona actually looked faster on defense than they did last year. And don’t get it twisted, Toledo can put up points on offense, yet managed none against Arizona. By the end of the game, Arizona’s offense completely woke up and showed why they might easily average 30 ppg this year.

I’m actually a lot more scared of the conference opener against them than I previously was.

Stanford
Immediately after beating UC Davis, I texted my friend, a Stanford Alum and after a bit of an exchange, stated, “let’s see who thumps the FCS school better.” Turns out Cal did, but Stanford still did everything they needed to do against Sacramento State.

I still have questions about Stanford’s backfield, which was evident in the lack of a playmaker emerging from their runningback corps on Saturday. I do think Andrew Luck will do just about everything in his power to mask those deficiencies however.

We’ll see also whether Stanford has added any speed to a defense that has been burned on a number of occasions in the past. While I do think they’re a bowl-bound team, we’ll get a better sense of their conference-contention chances after their matchup against UCLA this Saturday.

Oregon State
Unfortunately, I could catch this game, but despite losing to TCU, it hasn’t shaken my belief that this is still a solid OSU squad that will again heat up starting in October and challenge for a conference title.

What has to be concerning for Beavers fans however, was their run defense that gave up 278 yards to a TCU run offense that wasn’t very strong. You have to wonder if some of those defensive losses become a bit more critical now.

Washington
The Huskies flopped against BYU like I expected. I still think they’ll be a threat to most conference teams this year, but I think they’re still a few years out from actually challenging for a conference title like some have boldly suggested.

Washington State
Ouch. Getting drubbed by Oklahoma State 65-17 is not how Coug fans expected to start the season. I was slowly sipping the “WSU will be better this year, and might surprise some people” kool-aid, so you can imagine my surprise after seeing them be absurdly uncompetitive against the Cowboys.

This upcoming game against Montana State now has a looming cloud over them. In what is considered their lone “lockdown” win, anything less than an easy win and you really have to start thinking about throwing this season out, and looking for other answers at the head coaching position.

Arizona State
Arizona State’s game against Portland State affirmed my thought that ASU’s offense (once a weakness) will be a bit stronger this year, and that their defense (once their strength) will experience a bit of a letdown. The Sun Devils whipped the poor Vikings 54-9.

We’ll see if they can consistently execute the new spread against the conference defenses, but new QB Steven Threet seemed to look the part, going 14-21 for 239 yards and 2 TDs with one pick.

I’m still far from sold on ASU, and think they’ll again miss a bowl game. They’ve thrived on lower competition, but have usually been beaten up by team’s with a pulse, and it’ll take some more impressive outings by Threet to have be convinced otherwise.

UCLA
I’m still amazed some times that Rick Neuheisel hasn’t made his team more competitive despite their incredible recruiting success. I know the answers lie in his inability to keep an offensive line intact for a season, but you’d think they’d be doing a bit better than this.

The Bruins went down in flames against Kansas State, with missed opportunities being the common theme. Looking at their upcoming schedule, and I can easily see them dropping to 1-3 (or gasp 0-4) before facing Washington State who could potentially have a better record than the Bruins headed into their matchup. Can you imagine that? In fact, looking at the entirety of UCLA’s schedule, it’s hard for me to imagine them winning more than 4 games this season.

Unless their offense begins clicking and the defense finds some answers, you’d think even that might be a stretch.

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UC Davis 2010 Recap

(Photo: TouchedTheAxeIn82 at Bearinsider.com)

And we’re off!

After much waiting, the season finally kicked off Saturday in front of an enthusiastic crowd at Memorial Stadium. The game did little in answering some of the key questions the Bears have in terms of whether they will make a run at a conference title this year, but it didn’t truly need to. The Bears came out and expectedly dominated UC Davis to a tune of 52-3, and gave fans plenty to smile about in the meanwhile.

A Star in the Making
Obviously the biggest story is the debut of true Keenan Allen. Allen had about as memorable of a debut a freshman could have, and wowed everyone watching with his gamebreaking ability.

Allen absolutely exploded on Saturday, gaining 120 yards and a TD on 4 catches, as well as 38 yards on 3 rushes for another score. It seemed that Allen turned in one big play after another. A sweep that was supposed to be a pass turned into an 18 yard rush in which Allen reversed field and eluded the entire Aggie defense on his way into the endzone.

Seriously, just watch the absurdity in action.



Yet with all the hoopla around Allen’s big plays, it was the small things he did that really blew me away. The way he kept his legs moving to move a pile after a swing pass. The patience he showed his waiting for his blockers on his down-the-line screen pass. The crackback block on Shane Vereen’s TD run. Cutting off his defender’s lane on the outstretched catch attempt.

All this from a true freshman. The less noticeable aspects of Allen’s game impressed me nearly as much as his big plays.

Oh, and as for the flag for high-fiving some kids in the stands? Please. Give me a break. If it happens again then we might need to have a conversation, but there’s nothing to see here. Move along folks.


The Receiving Game
With Allen’s emergence, suddenly we’re looking at what could be a very good wide receiving corps.

Let’s not forget that Marvin Jones was an absolute beast on Saturday, and that 48 yarder reception in which he fought off pretty severe interference to bring the ball in was just ridiculous. Class Jones.

With Jones and Allen as you’re 1-2, I’m liking Ross in his role in the slot. I’d like to have seen more from either Coleman Edmond or Michael Calvin to give me a lot of confidence in the top four receivers, but I’m cautiously optimistic as move forward.

As for the tight ends, Miller and Ladner had a quiet day, but they did a solid job with their blocking assignments.

A New Kevin Riley?
It’s still too early to tell, but Riley did little to dissuade fans (yet) from drinking the Tedford kool-aid about the breakthrough we’ll see from him this year.
Riley was sharp and efficient on the day, completing his first nine passes, while going on to complete 14 of 20 for 258 yards and 3 TDs with no interceptions. There were a few things that will need to be shaped up, including ball security after Riley fumbled on a handoff when RG Justin Cheadle bumped into his arm on a pull. There were also a few “bleh” moments including a false start after he got mixed up in the snap count and a delay of game penalty.

Save for a few passes, Riley looked good. The pessimistic Cal fans will be quick to jump on the “See! Riley, still can’t throw!” bandwagon, but I don’t buy it. He knew exactly where he wanted to go, checked down well, ran the offense, and looked sharp on the majority of his passes. Again, we’ll see (after all, Riley turned in a 298 yard, 4 TD performance last year in the opener against Maryland), but I still think I’ll be taking a shot of the kool-aid down the line.

The Running Backs and O-Line Go Together
The o-line was a bit of a mixed bag. On the positive side, the Bears rolled up 230 yards on the ground and didn’t surrender a single sack. On the more nitpicky negative side, I didn’t see as much of a push from the o-line as I expected, and there was the obligatory false start from true sophomore Brian Schwenke.

I would have liked to have the o-line simply man handle Davis’ front four, but they did just enough to be productive. You have to wonder what that will mean when they same some stiffer tests, but I guess we’ll just have to see.

As for the running backs, the Bears’ top four backs all got a decent number of reps, a luxury we won’t often have this season. Shane Vereen had a workman like performance, churning out 67 yards on just 14 rushes for 2 TDs, while also nabbing in 2 catches for 28 yards a score. Isi Sofele showed why the coaches like him at the number two spot, break off some solid gains on a 9 carry, 52 yard day. Covaughn Deboskie-Johnson got little help from his backup offensive line, but still managed 21 yards on seven carries, while Dasarte Yarnway rushed 5 times for 23 yards. He experienced the Tedford wrath after coughing up the ball though, which was fortunately recovered by an offensive lineman.

Oh, and fullback Eric Stevens says he knows how to hurdle as well.

Improved Special Teams
There were very few things to dislike about the special teams unit on Saturday. As much as one can knock the level of competition on Saturday, special teams is one of those units that can be evaluated a bit more objectively on its own, as it is one of those components of a game that greater reflects individual and team focus, rather than what the opponent is doing. That is, if complete care and focus is laid into special teams work, it is much easier to evaluate the quality of player without having to consider what the opponents do as much.

This was visible in the general special teams play. There were one or two kickoffs that were head scratchers, but nearly everything else landed inside the five. I know some fans of other teams might scoff at such an “achievement,” but given the poor play in this area, it becomes more reassuring to know that Giorgio Tavecchio has really begun to come on. Tavecchio averaged 65.2 yards per kickoff which is a big improvement of last year’s season average of 58.91. I don’t think he’ll ever become a consistent touchback guy, but we’ll certainly take consistent performances similar to Saturday’s versus what we’ve seen for the last several years.

Bryan Anger was his solid ole’ self, averaging 49 yards on just 3 punts, including an impressive 52 yarder that was fielded at the Davis 4 yard line for a 0 yard return. That was fun to watch.

The coverage units played fairly well, although this is one of the areas where Davis lacked the playmakers at return men that might force the coverage unit to play a bit more tight.

Also, you had to like what you saw out of Jeremy Ross at the punt return position. He showed good awareness of where the opposing hawk players were, and displayed nice athleticism in his returns, ripping off a nice 18 and 37 yard return. Oh, and boy does this guy like to hurdle. I’m still afraid he’s going to hurt himself some day on one, but they’re so bloody fun to watch in the meanwhile.

Defensive Preview
Overall, you had to like what you saw out of the defense. While new defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast’s aggressive defensive scheme didn’t result in any turnovers, the Bears’ defense held the helpless UC Davis offense to just 81 yards of total offense and 4 first downs.

Each facet of the Aggies offense was smothered, as they managed just 14 net yards on the ground while UC Davis’ passing attack managed just 67 yards on just 9 of 27 attempts. On average, the Aggies managed just 1.8 yards per play.

Now UC Davis didn’t help themselves much, as that should certainly be taken in under consideration. Aggies receivers had plenty of drops, the depleted running back stable found no running lanes, and despite taking just two sacks, the Davis quarterbacks were still hassled.

So what can we take from the performance? I’m still not convinced this defense will be a top-tier one, but do think they have the potential to end up in the top half of the conference. I think the Bears will continue to be strong in defending the run game, and I liked the speed at which they closed in on the runningbacks and the gang tackling looked solid.

As for the secondary, I think you’re going to see tighter coverage in defending the pass. I still saw plenty of zone on Saturday, but it was still refreshing to see the defensive backs and safeties line up in man coverage and smother their receivers.

However, the biggest thought I had was in how judicious the Bears are going to have to be in some of their gameplans this year. I think the Bears might be a bit more prone to being hurt on screen passes with the blitzes we were sending (saw about 7 players thrown on a few occasions) and I’m still unsure how our linebackers will be able to defend the middle of the field against some slot receivers and more dangerous tight ends.

In sum, the performance was expectedly dominant, and given some of our lapses last year, you have to be content when the Bears avoid giving up big plays or shooting themselves in the foot.

UC Davis Fans
I’m going to say, I’m impressed with the Aggies fans. They showed up well, cheered hard, and apparently were classy by most fan interaction accounts.

While the Aggie team didn’t give them much to cheer about, they were loud whenever given the opportunity. After Wright hit his tight end for a third down conversion in the third quarter, the Aggies fans were audibly heard making a ruckus. Their lone score, a 43 yard field goal elicited a reaction louder than most visitor scores.

They’re a good bunch, and I hope we schedule another series with them down the line.

Moving Forward
The Bears face a stiffer test this week against Colorado. Their performance on Saturday showed they should still put the Buffaloes away, but you would like to still see a few issues get shored up before the Bears face their first challenges this season against Nevada and Arizona. (I’m actually fearing for the worst on that ‘Zona game, but more on that later).

[By the way, let it be known that I accurately predicted the Bears' score of 52, though I whiffed a bit in thinking the Aggies would be able to roll up 13 points.]

For now, don’t take too much out of the game. Enjoy the game, because it was a fun one, and keep yourself cozy with more visions of Keenan Allen racing up field.

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Keys to the Game: UC Davis 2010

Oh, hells to the yes. It’ just about that time. After eight excruciating months of waiting, the college football season has officially kicked off and we are mere hours away from Cal’s season opener against UC Davis.

Granted, expectations for Cal are lower than they’ve been in quite some time, and Cal starts off the season with a matchup that lacks much of the hype like they had with previous foes such as Tennessee or Maryland. But make no mistake about it, this blogger’s blood is boiling and you can bet the team and coaches are revved up to go after ending last season on a low note with back to back losses to Washington and Utah.

The Bears begin their season at home against the UC Davis Aggies, a Division I-AA (FCS) team and University of California brethren. Honestly, it’s been fairly difficult to find information about UC Davis. Normally, when I write up my weekly Keys to the Game, I try to write about both what Cal needs to do as well as what they need to exploit based on what I know about our opponents. Again, with the Aggies, I know very little.

Here’s what I do know. The Aggies are led by Coach Bob Biggs who has been at Davis for a while (17 years). Their top offensive weapon, QB Greg Denham decided not to return for his senior season and instead decided to go into ministry. He is replaced by redshirt freshman Randy Wright. Yet despite lacking some playmakers, they were the Great West Conference champions last year. They appear to be well coached and play disciplined ball with a strong teamwork ethic.

That’s about all I know. I mean, I could have read a lot more, but that would require…you know, work and stuff.

One thing that has become apparent in days leading up to the game though, is how pissed off the Aggies fanbase appears to be about being underestimated in their matchup. I’m being serious here. I keep reading that the fans feel disrespected by Cal’s arrogance and believe they will make the matchup far more competitive than most might predict. Their reasoning? They beat Stanford back in 2005 and kept it close with Boise State through the fourth quarter last year.

Okay.



Look, I’m not expecting Cal to try and intentionally run up the score, nor am I expecting a 70-0 thrashing. It’s simply not Tedford’s style. In fact, I think the Bears are going to be overly cautious and conservative in their gameplan for tomorrow. But I will say that the Bears are going to amped for this one. Realistically speaking, you’ve got to think that the Bears are hoping to roll up a healthy margin early on and use the rest of the game as a means to work out some kinks and continue to evaluate their talent.

Not that it really matters, but I’m not saying this to be denigrating to the UC Davis fanbase. But the Aggies are simply outmatched in nearly every phase of the game. Their best hope is that they don’t beat themselves, avoid as many turnovers and penalties as possible, and use the game as a learning experience.

As for the Bears, I’m going to keep the actual keys fairly simple. This is less about what the Bears need to do to win, but what their goals should be and what they should be hoping to get out of tomorrow’s matchup.

Begin Building Offensive Rhythm
Given the number of question marks regarding this offensive unit this season, it will be important for the Bears to begin building some offensive rhythm with a tune up game. The Bears can run the ball and know what they have with Shane Vereen in the backfield.

The Bears’ issues last year were with their passing attack, so look for the Bears to air it out early and often. We’re going to see a healthy dose of running plays, and Tedford has already stated that they’ll be looking for offensive balance but the Bears may lean a bit more heavily on throwing the ball early in the game. Tedford has also indicated that they’ll be looking to call more high percentage passes this season, so we may call fewer deep balls or more five to fifteen yard pattern plays. Given the number of receivers we looking to be breaking in this year (Allen, Edmonds, Calvin-sort of), it’ll be critical now to begin building that rapport.

Rattle Wright
I’ve said this one plenty times, and it’s fairly cliché, but when you’re facing a QB making his first career start at Memorial Stadium, you want to show you can rattle the kid. No need to call for a trips corner blitz consistently, but a number of difference looks defensively (stunts, blitzes) can go a long ways in terms of forcing Wright into some errant throws and disrupting his passing rhythm.

It’s not all going to be on the defensive line and linebacking corps, however. Rattling Wright can also be achieving a level of tighter man coverage. This particular aspect will be interesting to see as one can be sure that Pendergast’s new defensive schemes may rely a bit more on man coverage versus the zone coverage we became so accustomed to seeing und Gregory’s defense. Having a defensive back stay on the receiver an additional second does wonders for flushing a QB out of the pocket or possibly landing a sack.

The Bears became notorious last year for giving rookie quarterbacks career days through the air, including UCLA’s Kevin Prince and WSU’s Jeff Tuel. If Wright can anywhere close to those numbers, then, whoo boy, it’ll be a long game and a long season.

Let’s See Those Special Teams
Interestingly, Cal had one of the better kick return units statistically last year. What skews that statistic though, was how short our kickoffs were. The oppositional starting field position was absolutely ridiculous, as Giorgio Tavecchio was last in the conference averaging just 58.91 yards per kickoff, and just 3 touchbacks (2 of which I believe rolled into the endzone).

Ok, that crap needs to stop. Seriously. And I actually believe it will. Kickers take a while to develop at Cal for some reason, and I’m feeling confident that Tavecchio will be much more consistent this year both on kickoffs and with field goals. Don’t expect Tavecchio to boot each kickoff into the endzone, I think most won’t actually, but I think we’ll see far fewer kickoffs ending up at the twenty yard line.

It begins on Saturday.

Outlook
I fully predict the Aggies to show up for this one. They’re a well-coached team, appear to execute well on their gameplans, and will be amped to play a big-time opponent so close to home. They may keep it close through the first half, as the Bears often have slow starts at home.

With that said, it’s not an attack to say the Aggies are outmatched and will eventually be worn down by the Bears rushing attack and done in by a number of big plays.

Prediction:
Cal 52 UC Davis 13

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Cal's Starting Lineup - A Recruiting Ranking Perspective (Defense)

We’re continuing on in our look at our starting lineup for Saturday according to their recruiting rankings as high school players. Remember to read my explanation in my post about the offense, and keep in mind, this is for entertainment purposes only.

Now on to the defense.

Defense

DE - Ernest Owusu
Rivals: 3 stars (Ranking NA)
Scout: 3 stars

NT - Kendrick Payne
Rivals: 2 stars (Ranking NA)
Scout: 2 stars (Ranking NA)

DE - Cameron Jordan
Rivals: 3 stars (Ranked #37 at position)
Scout: 3 stars (Ranked #55 at position)

OLB - Mychal Kendricks
Rivals: 3 stars (Ranked #45 at position)
Scout: 3 stars (Ranked #29 at position)

MLB - Mike Mohamed
Rivals: 2 stars (Ranking NA)

MLB - DJ Holt
Rivals: 3 stars (Ranked #21 at position)
Scout: 4 stars (Ranked #11 at position)

OLB - Keith Browner
Rivals: 3 stars (Ranked #22 at DE position)
Scout: 3 stars (Ranked #44 at DE position)

DB - Darian Hagan
Rivals: 4 stars (Ranked #5 at position)
Scout: 4 stars (Ranked #5 at position)

DB - Marc Anthony
Rivals: 4 stars (Ranked #14 at position)
Scout: 3 stars (Ranked #40 at position)

Safety - Josh Hill
Rivals: 2 stars (Ranking NA)
Scout: 2 stars (Ranking #164)

Safety - Chris Conte
Rivals: 4 stars (Ranked #21 at position)
Scout: 3 stars (Ranked #65 at position)

-or –

Sean Cattouse
Rivals: 3 stars (Ranked #50 at position)
Scout: 3 stars (Ranked #53 at position)

-or-

DJ Campbell
Rivals: 3 stars (Ranked #58 at position)
Scout: 3 stars (Ranked #75 at position)

A few observations and thoughts after the jump.


Observations

- Compared to the offense, the defense looks fairly underwhelming when you look at the recruiting rankings. Most units average about 3 stars, with the lone exception being the defensive backs.

- Speaking of the defensive backs, you got like the combination of 4 star DBs in Hagan and Anthony. Hagan in particular was a prized recruit out of Crenshaw, and I remember how I excited I was when he chose the Cal hat. You also have to like the depth with 4 star Steve Williams waiting to snatch one of the starting spots. Williams was the biggest DB get since Hagan.

- I think the defensive line is Cal’s strongest unit on defense, although you wouldn’t really know it by the star ratings. Kendrick Payne was a mere 2 star recruit but has overtaken senior (and then 4-star recruit) Derrick Hill for the starting spot. While Owusu has flashed potential, look out for Deandre Coleman, a prized 4 star recruit who may end up as the starter when it’s all said and done this season.

- It gets a little harrier with the linebackers, and ironically the lowest rated backer is Cal’s unequivocal leader on defense in Mike Mohamed. After that, it’s a lot of question marks with 3 star Kendricks, Browner, and Holt all needing to step up this year. There had been a noticeable dropoff in linebacker recruiting up until last year’s class, which featured Nick Forbes, David Wilkerson, Cecil Whiteside, Chris McCain, all 4 star recruits. McCain and Whiteside are greyshirting, but look for Wilkerson and Forbes getting into the mix. Wilkerson may even end up starting a few games down the line.

- Though few players jump out too much, one has got to hope that this is far more the case of players being less regarded according to the recruiting rankings and still outperforming expectations. However, it does seem to fall into the general theme of the defense as a whole having a number of question marks. While there are a few star players in Jordan and Mohamed, everyone else will have a bit to show to be at least “serviceable” or “solid.”
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