I thought the bigger clue was that the slot wide receiver didn’t pass block on the play and ran a route to the end zone.

That’s a good point. But sometimes WRs run routes too on screen plays – and not just block for the screen. Whether the OL fake blocks or actually blocks is the biggest indicator of whether the play is a true screen or not.

If it is as you say that the offense hasn’t really been in synch, wouldn’t that say something about Cignetti?

If the receiver runs back toward the quarterback before the throw.

Our crushing victory over BYE has impressed voters!

Funny thing was he didn’t even run that fast, but he got great blocking everywhere.

That’s the only way that anyone knows that Cal and Berkeley are the same thing.

That’ll be nothing compared to when the Niners go to play Marshawn.

BTW, that should read “big pass” not bit pass.

I can’t speak to some of your criticisms there, but I definitely think Morrah has had a central role in the passing game. And I think that they are rotating the WRs on purpose to give more of them chances. None have really proven themselves head and shoulders above the others, IMHO. Nobody has jumped out to me as a “true” starter. So, give them all chances to prove themself.

(1) QB draws… I don’t think Cal has ever called a QB draw before – I’m not even sure if they called those for Ayoob. But I just don’t think Riley is a QB-draw kind of QB. He does have mobility but he doesn’t have the raw quicks and speed, as well as ball-carrier elusiveness (which is different from QB in the pocket elusiveness) to truly be a dangerous QB-draw QB.

(2) JT/Cignetti do usually try to get the ball to Will Tau’ufo’ou about twice a game on playaction fullback dumps. That play was called at least twice against ASU but ASU played it well.

(4) Not enough balls to Morrah. Well, this might be a product of Morrah just not being open. If I were a defensive coordinator, I’d lock down Morrah and make the Cal QBs throw to the green WRs. Perhaps that is what the DCs are doing.

I agree with 1 and 3 and half of 2. I think we have run the ball to Will only once. We throw him the ball, but it seems like we only have a couple of plays. As I mentioned above, we called the same play to him twice in the same quarter against ASU, and it didn’t work either time. I think it’s the same play that he scored on against MSU, so defenses probably have it well scouted at this point.

5 would be nice but as others have said, until someone emerges it’s hard to make a call. Just based on impressions, and without looking at stats, I would start Cunningham and Boateng at this point.

Like it or not, #2 is not going to change. This isn’t a Cignetti thing, it’s a Tedford thing. And it really isn’t a Tedford thing as much as it’s a football thing. The fact of the matter is that it is very rare indeed for the fullback to get his hands on the ball more than 2 or 3 times a game. (One exception I recall from the 1990s was Larry Centers for the Arizona Cardinals, who was an All-Pro because he caught so many balls, but it’s not like those Cardinals teams were any good.)

I love Will T, don’t get me wrong. But the fullback is a blocker first, second, and third, and if he makes even one big play a game with his hands on the ball, that’s an unexpected plus. Think about it this way: You can design a play that puts the ball in the hands of Jahvid Best or Shane Vereen, or you can design a play that puts it in the hands of the fullback. I don’t care how good a runner that fullback might be, I’d rather have Best or Vereen carrying the ball, especially with the benefit of an extremely good lead blocker to follow.

Echoing Hydro’s post from a couple weeks back, I think Cal’s struggles in the run game have more to do with poor execution up front than with poor play calling or scheme.

and NCAA games reinforced my beliefs…

Manderino played 50 games for Cal and carried the ball 50 times for a career average of 4.1 yards per carry. His most prolific season was his senior year (2005), in which he got 68 yards (and 2 TDs) on 17 carries in 12 games. Manderino also caught 43 passes in his Cal career, with 5 TDs. Again, his senior year was tops: 13 catches and 2 TDs.

These numbers do indeed compare favorably to Ta’ufo’ou’s. Last year was Will’s first full season of action, and he carried the ball 11 times for 52 yards—in other worlds, about one carry a game. Will only caught 4 balls last year, though, just one every three games. This year, he’s on a bit higher pace, with three catches (including that memorable TD) through the first five games, but he also has carried the ball just once.

So what does it all mean? Perhaps Will T is being underutilized, but I wouldn’t call this a dramatic departure from Tedford’s past, not even the glory days of Manderino.