Reveling in Victory
by CBKWit on Oct 4, 2008 6:08 PM PDT
in California Golden Bears Football
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PrintFirst of all, I was wrong. About the Lipizzaner Stallions, they are from Spain, not from Portugal (ROLL TIDE). Also, about the point spread. Clearly, Cal -8 to 10 was the correct line, not Cal -5 as I would have pegged it. Avinash, to the victor go the spoils. For your reward, you may now have sex TwistNHook.
The biggest surprise to me, and the difference between a Cal victory of 7-14 points and a Cal victory of 3-6 points, was the defense. Our offense performed pretty much as I expected, but our defense dominated a major opponent like I haven't seen in a while. Here's what I saw:
Cameron Jordan, official badass
1) Our opening drive was exceptional. We have struggled in this area for a while, dating back to at least 2006. I can remember a number of 3 and outs followed by long TD drives by the opposition to open games, but not much of the opposite. I don't believe we had a third down until we were at the 4 yard line, and while it was disappointing not to score a touchdown, I felt this drive put ASU on the defensive, and it gave us a lead we would not relinquish.
2) Our goal line woes continue. I thought we should have rammed it down their throat from the 4, but we ended up with 3 incomplete passes. Of course, last year we ran it right up the middle all the time for limited success, so I think I'm just using hindsight to criticize obvious failures. And as the game wore on, it was increasing clear that our offensive line was not doing a great job opening holes for Vereen. Still, I thought we had ASU on their heels on the first drive, and I felt we let them off the hook by being too cute.
3) The passing game still isn't clicking. Like Riley, Nate missed a number of receivers. Unlike Riley, he threw a horrible interception. When we needed third down conversions during the fourth quarter, he threw too far in front of Morrah on an out and too short of Calvin on a fly down the sideline. I slightly favor Riley over Longshore at this point, because Riley does a better job of limiting turnovers than Nate (especially impressive considering Longshore's experience), but I think Jonathan Okanes has it right that neither QB has separated himself.
4) Our secondary...wow. When Tedford told us this spring that he had been trying to hire new DB coach Al Simmons for a while, I was excited. Good hire, coach. Syd made great strides towards the end of last season, but I don't know if I expected him to be THIS good. He seems to make a play on every ball that comes his way; it's gotten to the point where I'm surprised when he doesn't break up the pass. Meanwhile, Darian Hagan came in very highly touted but had done nothing until this fall; suddenly, he is making plays on the ball that Syd didn't make until last year and is obviously a natural in run support and open field tackling. Add in Sean Cattouse coming up with a pick and a critical pass break up in the back of the endzone and this unit might be even better than the 2006 Daymeion Hughes secondary.
EntireSecondaryBoner
5) The Chris Conte interception deserves its own bullet point; other players may have had better games (Cameron Jordan, I'll get to you), but his pick in the 3rd quarter was the play of the game. Our offense did NOTHING in the second half, save for a touchdown drive immediately following Conte's pick. That put us back up by 17, and while we may not have needed it in the long run, it sure made our lead much more secure. Conte has vacillated between average and bad this year, but that pick was a great play at a critical time.
6) Bryan Anger. He had two pretty bad punts in the second half which allowed for big returns and good field position by ASU, but that 71 yard punt was unbelievable, even for him. It effectively clinched the game for Cal. Twist asked me if a punter had ever declared early for the draft; let's hope he's not the first.
7) On the subject of field position, our kickoffs were much better. I won't say they were good, as most were pretty low and I don't think any approached the 5 yard line, but compared to kicks landing at the 20 or out of bounds, they were great. Our kick coverage was also much better, and the result was ASU starting around the 20, not the 40.
8) Our offensive line needs work. Losing Guarnero hurts, especially because Malele hasn't done much at the other guard postion (he was absolutely destroyed on a 1st down run in the 4th quarter). He and Teofilo especially need to assert themselves.
9) Our linebackers can hit. I can remember at least one big hit by each of our four starters; Worrell destroying a receiver over the middle to end the first half, Eddie Young body slamming (I think) someone on the outside, Felder eating up an inside run, and Follett doing his best reenactment of his hit on Ainge to cause a fumble in the 4th.
10) Finally, I'd give the game ball to Cameron Jordan. He sacked Carpenter on ASU's first series. I can't count the number of times I turned to the people next to me saying "he's REALLY fast". The defense was out there for most of the second half, but I didn't feel like our depth at DE was challenged. For him to step in for a vocal senior leader like Rulon and play at the level he did, for the entire game, is phenomenal.
What did you think? I was encouraged, but I think we'll need Jahvid Best and an improved passing game to beat Arizona. Jahvid, get healthy, and GO BEARS.
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Oregon's #1 rated secondary leaves a safety to cover half the field
Boy that was bright. Touchdown USC, 17-10.
again, I wouldn’t trade either of our corners for their over-hyped secondary.
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I don’t even think it’s the secondary. They’ve made good plays.
Allotti’s schemes are just horrid.
by BearsNecessity on Oct 4, 2008 6:41 PM PDT up reply actions
I've been hearing all season about their secondary
but I haven’t really seen them perform as well as ours. A lot of these USC big plays are excellent play-calls, but Oregon’s secondary isn’t making things too difficult for USC.
ಠ_ಠ
Just got back...
I’m excited to hear about Jordan – I was at the game I was never sure who was playing well on the d-line. I was especially happy about the run D. Erikson was talking about getting back to the run after passing too much against Georgia. Hey Dennis – your run game isn’t any good!
As for Nate, A for the 1st quarter, C- for the 2nd quarter, B- for the 3rd quarter, and an incomplete in the 4th because the only play we had that quarter was ‘up the middle to Vereen’. If he hadn’t thrown that goofy screen INT I would have been totally happy.
Also, after a shaky start, USC was waxing Oregon. With AZ destroying Washington and playing Stanford next week, our matchup in Tucson will probably be between the only 2 undefeated Pac-10 teams – raise your hand if you had that prediction a few weeks ago.
That line barring a Stanford upset of the Wildcat is going to be Arizona -2 or -3. The Wildcats have looked totally dominant in Pac-10 play, even if it’s against the bottom dwellers.
by BearsNecessity on Oct 4, 2008 6:53 PM PDT up reply actions
Is it not kosher to note that Longshore threw 3 TDs?
I'm no The Maharg! But I try. Oh, how I try!
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Stop exposing my ignorance of my heritage!
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it means not kosher in yiddish.
Go Bears!
by RollOnYouBears667 on Oct 4, 2008 10:35 PM PDT up reply actions
I really fucking want a pastrami sandwich on rye with mustard. Now.
by Spazzy Mcgee on Oct 4, 2008 10:36 PM PDT up reply actions
Recruiting
Has anyone heard how the 4 big possible recruits liked their trip and game today?
I have got to think it is a positive experience for them. Big win over a really good Pac10 team.
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True, and the knowledge that that wobbly tub of lard out there under center will be gone by the time that they get here was a fact probably not lost on them.
Stanfurd Delendum Est.
Good points
My general thoughts
(1) Jordan is pretty great. It looks like we finally might have a dominant end. Unfortunately, ASU has the worst o-line ever, so it could just be a fluke.
(2) The fourth quarter was the ultimate it Tedford’s grind-it-out philosophy. He really wanted to sit on the 17-0 lead, but had to resort to scoring another touchdown. What happened to having any killer instinct at all?
(3) Nate was good early, less good later, and irrelevant in the fourth. I don’t think this was a whole lot different out of Nate. He threw a really bad pick. He still can’t hit a guy in stride, which has always been concerning. I’m not sure I would have wanted him out there in the fourth. But solid effort overall.
(4) Running game wasn’t too hot, it appears that there actually may be a drop off from Best to Vereen. Or maybe just another bad day for the line.
(5) Erickson obviously is an idiot for throwing at Syd all day. Not quite sure why he thought that might be a good idea.
Overall, a quality win, but a little underwhelming because we decided to cruise to victory rather than making a statement.
On the run game
ASU had 8-9 in the box regularly, and there didn’t seem to be a ton of holes. There were a few outside runs where I thought maybe Best would have gotten a bit more, but overall I think Vereen was very solid and made the most of what he was given.
I blame the O-line for the running game
I thought we came in this year with the most touted O-line in the Pac-10. Yea that turned out just like Oregon’s secondary except for us it was the fucking injuries.
Only Mack and that Schwartz guy seem good
In other words, Go Bears!
Also, LB Eddie Young may have sprained his ankle.
It was being very heavily taped in the fourth quarter.
ಠ_ಠ
The quarterback injuries in the Pac-10 are appalling
Sanchez got horsecollared and got his leg buckled. Got up though. Too early to tell
It’s pretty much us and Arizona left in the conference with healthy QBs. And we can’t decide on which one to choose. Maddening.
Can we stop whining about the QB situation?
It’s pretty clear now that neither Longshore nor Reilly will separate himself as “the guy”. Both quarterbacks are good; neither are great. Nate had a solid game today, but I’d probably grade him a “B”, and credit for this win obviously goes primarily to the defense.
A 2-QB system isn’t what anyone wants, but it’s probably what we’ve got with the Bears for the rest of the season. And that might be OK, given how each guy brings something different to the table and might actually complement each other pretty well. Most importantly, a 2-QB system is far, far better than what a lot of the teams in the conference have: a 0-QB system.
Thinking ahead, I’m far more concerned about the running game than I am about whether it’s Longshore or Riley behind center. Still, a little bit of love for Nate would be nice from the Bear faithful; he is, after all, the only quarterback since freakin’ Joe Roth to lead Cal to a share of the Pac-10 title.
Go Bears!
by California Pete on Oct 4, 2008 8:10 PM PDT reply actions 3 recs
Pretty much my thoughts — I think we would have won this game with Riley, too, as long as the defense stayed consistent. And it’s not the running game I’m so worried about, except as it results from a good O-line.
Does anyone know anything about Vereen? He was definitely limping off the field in the 4th quarter.
The receivers played better today except for the interception where DeSean Jackson ran the wrong route.
Stanfurd Delendum Est.
by Olsonist on Oct 4, 2008 8:20 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
I will buy you a new cat. Will that finally make you happy?
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I liked how Tedford had Riley introduced as the starting QB. That was a nice twist.
Stanfurd Delendum Est.
Yes, people cheered for that. And then when Longshore came onto the field to start the game, there was some confused booing.
It was kind of like last year’s OSU game where Longshore was announced, but Riley started. Kind of a minor thing, really.
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Maybe the people who do the video introductions didn’t even know who was the starting QB. Perhaps Tedford made the decision in pre-game warmups. So perhaps the video people just chose Riley’s video since he started last week. I dunno, Olsonist, I don’t know if we can really say Tedford was behind that.
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Clearly the work of Brock Mansion. His fingerprints are all over this.
by BearsNecessity on Oct 4, 2008 9:54 PM PDT up reply actions
Yeah, that was totally expected. Bellotti looked like he picked USC and the spread for three quarters of the game the way he was playcalling.
by BearsNecessity on Oct 4, 2008 9:01 PM PDT up reply actions
The most concerning part of this team is the offensive line
Outside of Mack and Schwartz, there’s no one on that line you’d really call dependable on a week by week basis. The run blocking eroded and the right side looked particularly vulnerable. Malele and Teofilo are going to get punished against a good defense.
‘Leaping penalty’ explained on tv (abc) as you’re not allowed to make a running jump on a field goal block.
That was the craziest drive. Cal had innumerable opportunities to stop it, but things kept getting in the way. 2 4th down conversions (including the odd FG penalty). An easy pick ruined by 2 players going for it at the same time. A few poorly timed penalties (including the aforementioned FG penalty).
That was the bend but don’t break D at both its best, but also oddly enough its worst.
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Them's the breaks
We can’t afford those things in the desert.
by BearsNecessity on Oct 4, 2008 8:54 PM PDT up reply actions
No, I agree. It just seemed odd, insomuch as we thought that drive had been stopped innumerable times. And then it just kept going! Wasn’t that the one with the TD that was the entire ASU OLine dragging the RB into the end zone? It doesn’t seem like a drive that will be replicated often.
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These drives were the norm last season. Drives that we couldn’t figure out why they were still going.
If it only happens sproadically this season I’ll be very pleased.
by BearsNecessity on Oct 4, 2008 9:02 PM PDT up reply actions
I’m glad we have another bye week to heal up. The defense played great, but I imagine a lot of our studs have some knicks and bruises from being on the field for the entire second half. Same goes for our offensive players.
I’m glade Longshore went out there and threw for our touchdowns. I could feel the negativity of the crowd through the TV, and the announcers mentioned how quiet the crowd was at the beginning of the game (THIS IS NOT GOOD FOR RECRUITING…). That said, it seems like our offense just has a higher ceiling with Riley in there. Then again, we did this all without Best to help open things.
Again, our senior leadership (LBs) and younger talent (DBs and DL) make me very excited for the rest of the season.
How was the crowd afterwards
It was very empty for a homecoming game. I blame the fucking pussy ass wimps who were afraid of a little bit of rain.
BUT we did sorta get loud half way through I thought and we did that old inverted C Go Bears chant (people on the C in the student section said GO standing while the others sat and then the rest stood and said BEARS while the C sat
In other words, Go Bears!
Yeah, I was definitely disappointed at how many people stayed away, presumably from the rain. I’m re-watching the game now, and the crowd is really quiet until the ASU fumble on its first drive. And then it’s quiet again — Berkeley’s still not a football town, and I think it’ll take a long time of continued success to build a stadium full of fans who are consistently loud.
Incidentally, the Zach Follett mike’d up thing before the game was fun. If you didn’t see the game, he keeps talking about bringing the pain train to Carpenter, and psychs up everyone around him to bring the pain train. For the rest of the week, I, sec119, will also bring the pain train.
After walking all around Berkeley and standing for 4 hours, the pain train has come to me!
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I think the crowds were quite a bit louder in ‘03-’06. I think it may still be that there were leftover students still from the Holmoecaust, and Tedford’s presence alone was still awesome enough to cause random outpourings of happiness and shouting. Now that we’ve had 2…3? crushingly disappointing seasons (Ayoob…the UT/UA/USC disasters…last year) in a row, the crowd is a little more jaded. Plus, it helps when the teams are nationally ranked. Oregon ’06 was still the loudest crowd I remember, with UT ’07 fairly close behind.
Or maybe it’s just that California fans are more interested in where they can eat dinner or get drunk after the game.
Only half of the student section even cares about the actual game. Usually they’re just there to (a) experience it once, (b) invited by friends, or © because the tickets are cheap. A lot of people leave early.
A similar thing happens with most fans throughout the stadium. A majority of these people treat this as a family picnic rather than live or die with this team, for better or for worse.
by BearsNecessity on Oct 4, 2008 9:58 PM PDT up reply actions
Yea my friends are like that
And one of them was an all-american safety in CA and went to the ’SC football camp until he suffered a season ending injury.
He doesn’t like Tedford for some reason, hates Cal fans, thinks most Cal students are jackasses and he wants to leave early, always predicts Cal will lose or win close, hates Riley, patronizes all Cal fans and never tells others he goes to Cal because he thinks that is pretentious and it might hurt others feelings.
Argh.
In other words, Go Bears!
I’d say there is definitely an element like this in the student section, but it isn’t half. More like 20%. Either way, anyone who actually up and attends games and makes noise if they can gets a lot more respect in my book, especially if it involves waking up early on a Saturday in the rain…
by Spazzy Mcgee on Oct 4, 2008 10:20 PM PDT up reply actions
I can’t think of anything I’d rather do with my Saturday. Its dissapointing not many others around here feel the same.
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by 408 on Oct 5, 2008 2:09 AM PDT up reply actions
I flew from Seattle for the game day experience. That and Twist’s sweet caress.
It’s times like this I wish they’d never discovered CougCenterium.
The mic-men this year just aren’t cutting it. They’re just not good at getting the student section into it. They waffle between overdoing it “OH MY GOD YOU FUCKERS IF WE DON’T STOP THEM ON THIS CRUCIAL FIRST DOWN IN THEIR OWN TERRITORY THEN WE ALL DIE, ALL OF US!”
and
“123 go bears. go bears. k thanks. good job. let us all get as fired up as the volcanoes of the andes. fired up. yes. go bears.”
by Spazzy Mcgee on Oct 4, 2008 11:13 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
I think the guy in the 3rd quarter does okay. I think it’s the 3rd quarter. I don’t remember.
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There’s two asian dudes. The less fat one is halfway decent.
by Spazzy Mcgee on Oct 4, 2008 11:19 PM PDT up reply actions
I’ve never been a Mic Man guy to begin with. In 2006 the Student Section organically created its own noise and mostly ignored the moronic commands from the parrots. Translation: Loudest crowds ever at Memorial.
by BearsNecessity on Oct 4, 2008 11:21 PM PDT up reply actions
No, we need Mic Men. And 2006…this dude Harris was the Mic-Man…he was awesome and definitely encouraged the crowd during the Oregon game.
by Spazzy Mcgee on Oct 4, 2008 11:40 PM PDT up reply actions
They’re useful…outside the student section. Where the crowd doesn’t cheer.
by BearsNecessity on Oct 5, 2008 12:43 AM PDT up reply actions
The student section’s cheers would sound terrible without a mic-man…
by Spazzy Mcgee on Oct 5, 2008 11:15 AM PDT up reply actions
Yeah, 2nd quarter girl always freaks out
She acts like another first down will mean that we automatically lose. And she is condescending when we don’t cheer well enough or loudly enough for her.
ಠ_ಠ
It seems like 3/4 don’t even really know what’s going on. We should be making tons of noise during the huddle and when they’re at the line, not yelling “defense bears!”
Also, it really annoys me that they try and do 6-8 iterations of a chant.
Two sharp DE-fense bears, DE-fense clap clap sounds much better than two sharp ones and then six that get slowly lamer and quieter so by the 8th time it’s only Rally Comm cheering.
by Spazzy Mcgee on Oct 4, 2008 11:42 PM PDT up reply actions
The girl asked us to make “ESPN noise.” I DON’T KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS?!??!
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I think it means yelling YANKEES RED SOX RANGERS USC OHIO STATE BRETT FAVRE at the top of your lungs for hours.
by Spazzy Mcgee on Oct 5, 2008 11:16 AM PDT up reply actions
pretty sure she meant be loud because we are on ESPN and everyone is watching. and yes, ESPN on ABC is ESPN. Its produced by ESPN, not ABC. The students practically missed a whole defensive down because they were too busy yelling about technicalities.
I miss more than just 1 defensive down arguing over definitions of “ESPN noise.” I spent like half the fucking 2nd quarter dealing with that shit. First, we started with a discussion of what “making noise” really entailed. Once we got past that threshold issue, we had to delineate between various types of noise, such as ESPN noise, FSN noise, Comcast Sportsnet noise, etc etc etc.
The mic-chick ruined half the game for me!
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so what?
I don’t understand why everyone hates on the mic men? Who cares if they’re not great. At least we have someone directing the yells of the student section. In between all the random idiotic crap they say they get all the students, sometimes all of memorial stadium to yell together which gets the team fired up. If the students quit wasting their energy yelling at the mic men maybe they would have enough energy to be loud on defense once in a while…
Why so surprised about the crowd?
Since I first had a reason to follow Cal football in ’95, its always been a weird mix of apathetic students and fair-weather fans (pun intended). Why were there not so many fans, and why were the ones who were there not too pumped up:
1) The weather was enough to convince the apathetic ones to stay home and eat pitas with hummus,
2) The sight of #6 running out to start the offense felt like a kick to the groin and I personally popped a couple Xanax just to cope
3) Cal’s not ranked (until today in one poll, but do we really deserve to be?), so you’re still not gonna fill the stadium, no matter the weather, because not a whole lot to get excited about just yet
I left my heart at the Durant Food Court
by dballisloose on Oct 5, 2008 12:29 PM PDT up reply actions
I was confused about this too. I figure the 3rd-4th quarter would have been a fantastic time to put in a fresh set of legs.
Yeah, as I was watching on tv, I had the benefit of rewinding some of Vereen’s runs where he was stopped for no gain. I noticed over and over how tired he was, he hit the wrong hole, forgot to follow his fullback, etc.
I didn’t think there’d be much drop-off from Best, but keep in mind that even when Best is in there Vereen gets 30% of the carries. So it was really strange that when Vereen was starting, Slocum wouldn’t get 30% of the carries. As a result, Vereen really seemed to get tired and worn down as the game went on. It was a lot to ask for him to take all the carries for the first time in his career.
I left my heart at the Durant Food Court
by dballisloose on Oct 5, 2008 12:31 PM PDT up reply actions
http://cal.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=858910
This article gives fans an idea of Longshore’s value to this team…
I would love to know what Zach Follett said to Rudy after he sacked him.
If you watch the play, it’s clear he said something to him while he was on the ground.
ಠ_ಠ
Toot Toot! All aboard the Pain Train!
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by TwistNHook on Oct 4, 2008 9:39 PM PDT up reply actions 2 recs
Rec’d! It’s Pain Train week!
Here’s what Cameron Jordan said:
“I literally might have stopped playing and just watched for a minute,” Jordan said. “I told the offensive lineman that his quarterback just died.”
Zack said his parents were spit on in Tempe and Carpenter taunted him. Carpenter is walking on crutches and frankly he got off light.
Stanfurd Delendum Est.
I know you stole the pictures from espn...
…but they’re still some pretty badass shots. Thanks for posting them for those of us that haven’t scoured (or even really looked) at espn since the game ended.
It’s almost like being there…or at least I’ll tell myself that.
by RemorsefulBruinBabe on Oct 4, 2008 9:53 PM PDT reply actions
The more I (re)read your comment, I’m pleasantly impressed with how well Vereen runs after contact.
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I agree completely…while I would definitely LOVE to have Best playing, I think Vereen is the better back. Jahvid just does not juke as well, nor does he have 2nd effort; one tackle and he’s gone. That said, if Jahvid gets good blocking, he will gain 2x what Vereen would.
by Spazzy Mcgee on Oct 4, 2008 10:00 PM PDT up reply actions
I don’t think that is a fair comment about Best. He can definitely be tough to take down at times. He’s no Marshawn, but really, who is?
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Best is more of a speedster; like Reggie Bush at USC he’d struggle being an everyday back. Not that i’d ever compare Vereen and Best to White and Bush other than in an analogous sense, but I think that’s how they should be utilized.
by BearsNecessity on Oct 4, 2008 10:12 PM PDT up reply actions
Best is definitely a speedster, but let’s not forget that play where he spun around and threw the MSU player to the ground. He’s got some physical strength.
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That was more elusiveness than physicality. It wasn’t like “heyyyy I’m Marshawn meet my BEAST MODE bye bye!” physical, more like “I travel at the speed of sound and will use my rotational inertia to make you look like mortal” slippage.
by BearsNecessity on Oct 4, 2008 10:22 PM PDT up reply actions
Didn’t Best travel around the globe so fast, he went backwards in time and then was able to cut in the other direction!
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He needs to go faster, so we can go back to the Oregon State game and put chains on Riley’s ankles.
by BearsNecessity on Oct 4, 2008 10:33 PM PDT up reply actions
I almost think that Best is hindered by his speed; he’s literally going too fast to dodge defenders, so he just plows right into them. When you’re Jerome Bettis this can net you another 3-4 yards…when you’re just topping 190 and you’re running into a 220-240 LB, you don’t get much.
Seriously don’t think I think Best is crappy or shouldn’t play or is holding the team back…I just think Tedford should be more open to giving Vereen more carries.
by Spazzy Mcgee on Oct 4, 2008 10:17 PM PDT up reply actions
I think we need to get Brock Mansion more carries!
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how about Cam Jordan…he makes his own holes in the lines.
by Spazzy Mcgee on Oct 4, 2008 10:21 PM PDT up reply actions
There was definitely a play or two I remember from being at the game where it was obvious Vereen was just waiting for his lead blocker to pave the way. I’m not saying that Best doesn’t do this, but I just remember noting to myself that it was pretty savvy on Vereen’s part. Regarding Best’s speed, though, I think that it leads to big plays and defenders grabbing at air more than anything detrimental. I love watching him reach fifth gear, even if he doesn’t use his lead blocker advantageously every single time.
Ya it is definitely a thing of beauty to watch Best accelerate from 0-Lights Out in like 1 stride. But remember the MSU game where he had a nice block, directly in front of him (I think Cal was on its own ~20 yd line), with gaping holes on either side, and Best took two blazing fast strides…..directly into the blocker and fell down. Definitely a situation I think Vereen could’ve shifted and picked up another good chunk of yards.
by Spazzy Mcgee on Oct 4, 2008 10:35 PM PDT up reply actions
Hey, stop taunting the Ducks fans! They aren’t gonna like that.
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See, usually I would be worried that Duck posters would come here and flood the boards with shit talk. But with CGB posters I think the shit talking would be drowned out in a flood of verbal flotsam and jetsam the likes of which they had never seen.
Unless of course they read these boards on a regular basis.
by Spazzy Mcgee on Oct 4, 2008 10:41 PM PDT up reply actions
This blog/board is amazing
No one can troll us (except Olsonist and CaliSeth) because we somehow find a way to make it silly and hilarious
In other words, Go Bears!
I’ve been working tirelessly to “declaw” Olsonist and CaliSeth. I’ve been more successful with CaliSeth.
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I remember that, too. Very patient running. Of course, often the holes would close by the time Vereen made it up there, so it doesnt always work out.
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I disagree, Vereen missed his lead block many times as the game went on. He was overused. Carries in a game when Best starts are split 70/30 Best/Vereen. Slocum should have spelled Vereen as the game went on. It was too much to ask of Vereen.
I left my heart at the Durant Food Court
by dballisloose on Oct 5, 2008 12:34 PM PDT up reply actions
Honestly, I think the issue is more second level blocking
Best is just too fast for our receivers right now. Once they get used to his speed and stick their blocks earlier, he’s going to have a lot more big runs.
www.californiagoldenblogs.com
Well, but once he’s into the secondary, or turned the corner on the outside, I think most would consider the run successful if he picks up 6-10 yards. It’s the we-need-2-to-4-yards-on-3rd-down-in-our-own-territory that I’m much more worried about.
by Spazzy Mcgee on Oct 4, 2008 11:01 PM PDT up reply actions
Fresno and Hawaii are in OT
Fresno missed their field goal. Hawaii can win it with a field goal here.
Hawaii wins. And we can finally banish Fresno from the top 25.
by BearsNecessity on Oct 4, 2008 10:32 PM PDT up reply actions
By the way, a DVR is a new addition to my life, and I love it. Section Q is pretty close to the Bank of the West Bearvision jumboregular-tron, but it’s still hard to pick up a lot of detail on those replays.
I don’t even know if that qualifies as a regular-tron. It’s more just a tron.
by Spazzy Mcgee on Oct 4, 2008 10:59 PM PDT up reply actions
Message to Olsonist:
Dude, that comment you made on SFGate about Nate and the interception list was not cool.
Not cool at all. Nate demands an apology.
PS I assume that was you unless there is someone else with an SFGate username of Olsonist.
Go Bears!
by RollOnYouBears667 on Oct 4, 2008 11:01 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
ohhh good find! well done watson!
I left my heart at the Durant Food Court
by dballisloose on Oct 5, 2008 12:37 PM PDT up reply actions
..sigh BI sucks..
there’s a lot of anger and fighting on the boards right now, but I favor complete anarchy. Perhaps this post will nudge us a touch closer to that objective.
Whatever else came out of this week, one thing that’s changed for me is that I’m no longer a “fan” of Jeff Tedford. I’m now indifferent. That’s not to say I want him fired or gone; that isnt’ the case. I really do appreciate the miracle he’s worked with this program. But I don’t have any particular affection for him either. I’ve come to believe that whether or not he can get us to the “next level” is no better than a 50/50 proposition, and I don’t have much faith in his ability to exceed the level of an 8-4 type program.
How will my lack of fandom manifest itself? I dunno. I won’t bother going to the next recruiting function (unless we miraculously pull off a top 10 class) because I’m just not particularly interested in what he has to say. I don’t see any reason to believe that it will be particularly astute (he didn’t make a huge amount of sense at last year’s event). I’ll have to try to reach my own conclusions.
Oh well, I’ll continue to root for the team just as strongly. But JT is kind of just another coach now.
In other words, Go Bears!
How will that guy’s lack of fandom manifest itself? is a fun game we can all play!
I'm no The Maharg! But I try. Oh, how I try!
www.CaliforniaGoldenBlogs.com
how will this affect Pain Train week?
And more importantly, what can I find for Eating the Enemy?
I'm still wondering why the Nets didn't draft Leon Powe.
by yellow fever on Oct 5, 2008 8:00 AM PDT up reply actions 2 recs
Well, you already did the Bye Bye Constipation thing. Not sure what else you’d want to go bye bye. Gout? Herpes? What can you eat to make the herpes go away?
I'm no The Maharg! But I try. Oh, how I try!
www.CaliforniaGoldenBlogs.com
L-lysine, 1000mg……or so my pimp tells me
I left my heart at the Durant Food Court
by dballisloose on Oct 5, 2008 12:38 PM PDT up reply actions
Vocabulary
I think this “no longer a ‘fan’”‘s problem is that he can’t understand Tedford in a contextually relevant sense, at least not when he’s using words in his own domicile that are of Latin or Greek derivation. If only Coach could throw in a few more “you betcha’s” and reflect on what a “maverick” he’s being by shuffling around his starting quarterbacks, then maybe said former “fan” will jump back on the JT orchestral carriage bandwagon.
Go Bears!
by California Pete on Oct 5, 2008 9:01 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
If anything’s holding us back from the “next level,” it’s the paranoid, smarter-than-thou fanbase. Yesterday was homecoming, and the crowd sucked for the entire first half. We had some big name recruits at the game, and I doubt they’ll go to another game with so little ‘electricity’ in the stands. As sad as it is, Berkeley is not a football town. I expected a drop off from UT’07 craziness to this, but not by this much. No one likes fair weather fans.
by Thoroughbred on Oct 5, 2008 9:32 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
What about yesterday’s game makes this person feel this way? They don’t really explain.
Furthermore, if Cal can’t become greater than an 8-4 program, I think it’s less because of Tedford but because of lack of facilities, tougher academic standards for recruiting, fair weather fans, and insatiable Cal fans who think if every play isn’t a touchdown that some player sucks and some coach needs to be fired.
www.californiagoldenblogs.com
Cal back in USA TODAY/Coaches Poll
Still waiting for the AP top 25.
How in the hell is a pathetic Wisconsin team with two losses ranked ahead of us?
and Sparty is #19…. they should be exactly where we are. Wisconsin’s ranking is totally off. How is the hell are they ranked at all?? True they did lose to a good Ohio St team… but they also lost to Michigan… MICHIGAN!
Remind me: Did we or didn’t we beat Michigan State in the first game of this year???
by Thoroughbred on Oct 5, 2008 10:03 AM PDT up reply actions
Dude, how could you forget, it was like a month ago. We won. Not a super crazy blowout, but it was still a solid victory.
I'm no The Maharg! But I try. Oh, how I try!
www.CaliforniaGoldenBlogs.com
Danzig, we gonna see some great ASU highlight videos or are you still too busy saving the world from imminent financial collapse?
GET YOUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT, MAN!
I'm no The Maharg! But I try. Oh, how I try!
www.CaliforniaGoldenBlogs.com
Wow.
The AP poll is a total joke. We didn’t make the AP poll. See for yourself by clicking the same link I provided above.
For one thing I can’t do any more football related stuff at work. I got caught and was spanked, candle waxed and then finished off with a golden shower… it was pretty embarrassing. I’ll try my best but we’re working on our own survival over here… making HL tapes has been de-prioritized somewhat compared to that.
Anyway, PRD74 is doing great me thinks.
Sorry to hear that. Thats the fear we all have.
I'm no The Maharg! But I try. Oh, how I try!
www.CaliforniaGoldenBlogs.com
But if he gets fired, he’d have more time to do stuff for CGB.
So, alternatively, get fired!
I'm no The Maharg! But I try. Oh, how I try!
www.CaliforniaGoldenBlogs.com
Gee thanks.
The question is not getting fired… the question is will the investment bank i work for still exist in 4 weeks.
True story. A boat I race on is crewed mostly by Barclays and Lehman types. Our regular foredeck couldn’t make the Rolex Big Boat Series this year because of a wifey scheduled vacation. A chunk of Lehman got sold off to Barclays but not that chunk. He got back from vacation with no company and no job.
Stanfurd Delendum Est.
Barclays will be just OK… I have a good friend on the fix income desk there and he said they’re going to make it…plus they were selected to unwind the Freddie/Fannie book so at least Paulson believes they’ll survive.
Barclay’s and Goldman are guaranteed to survive. Morgan Stanley probably. The survivors should do extremely well, hence Buffett’s investment in Goldman.
Myself, I’m convinced that no one understands what is going on. So we just dropped $700B on something we don’t understand. It will probably serve as a short term bridge until the next administration.
Stanfurd Delendum Est.
The survivors should do extremely well,
They will… and how… it’s almost going to be criminal. Having shitty fixed income trading departments never paid off so well.
The crazy part is Lehman’s traders and salesmen were the best in the business… which is exactly why they went under… they were better at gaming the system than everyone else… and got caught when the music stopped.
Although… Im starting to question Buffet’s judgment now cuz he re-capitalized Goldman… in his book he talks about how important brand names are.. but spending that much on a brand name is frickn reckless! If he was going to recap anyone he should have saved lehman.
“fairly stressful” doesn’t really capture exactly what it feels like… everyone is updating their resumes and no one will answer for us exactly how much CDS (credit default swap) liability we have… which makes it even worse.
Sagarin has updated his computer rankings, too, and it’s an interesting week because one of his two systems—the official BCS “ELO_CHESS”—is now “unbiased”, while the other “PREDICTOR” method is still partly based on pre-season start values. Note that USC is ranked #1, by a huge margin, in the PREDICTOR, but only 13th by ELO_CHESS. (The gap is even more dramatic for Florida, which is #2 and #46, respectively. As for our Bears, Sagarin has them at #13 and #28, while Michigan State is #24 and #22.
Forget Sagarin’s averaged “RATING”, which is worthless in my opinion. I prefer the PREDICTOR, because it includes margin of victory while ELO_CHESS does not. But since only the latter is unbiased now, it perhaps warrants the most attention now. Here’s his ELO_CHESS top 10:
1. Alabama
2. Northwestern
3. Missouri
4. Vanderbilt
5. Utah
6. Oklahoma
7. Ball State
8. Penn State
9. Georgia
10. Texas
Go Bears!
by California Pete on Oct 5, 2008 11:08 AM PDT up reply actions
Assume that our only conference loss at the end of the season was to USC, and both Cal and USC were tied for first in the conference. Would USC go to the Rose Bowl because they beat us? I guess we’d be in the same scenario as usual, and hope that they’d go to a BCS game.
Ok, I’ll shut up now and just savor another win, no matter how plain yesterday’s game was.
I left my heart at the Durant Food Court
Assume that our only conference loss at the end of the season was to USC, and both Cal and USC were tied for first in the conference. Would USC go to the Rose Bowl because they beat us?
That’s correct, sir. Since the Pac-10 now has a true round-robin schedule, complicated Rose Bowl tiebreakers only come into play when 3 or more teams are tied for the conference championship.
So, basically, you gotta Go Bears!
How are Auburn and Wisconsin still ranked, but Illinois isn’t?
Wisconsin lost to a good OSU team (this OSU team and the one that lost 30-3 have very little in common) and a mediocre to bad Michigan team.
Illinois lost to two top-six squads (Penn State and Mizzou) and beat that same Michigan team that defeated Wisconsin.
Auburn lost to two top-fifteen teams, but also struggled against lesser competition.
And Cal should be ranked.
is it too early for me to give up on the Eagles
or would doing so just make me a typical Eagles fan? SIGH
I'm still wondering why the Nets didn't draft Leon Powe.
Aaron PICKED
Aaron lose. Packer grumblings for Brett Favre grow deeper.
by BearsNecessity on Oct 5, 2008 2:09 PM PDT up reply actions
Someone find CaliSeth
I think he might be in a dark alley somewhere, terrorizing Favre fans.
by BearsNecessity on Oct 5, 2008 2:27 PM PDT up reply actions
But WHERE IS THE PASSION FOR THE GAME ON AARON RODGERS’S FACE?
by BearsNecessity on Oct 5, 2008 9:56 PM PDT up reply actions
it also helps to commit stupid penalties like illegal forward passes when you're beyond the line of scrimmage
Because that just shows how much you want to make a play, RULES BE DAMNED!
I'm still wondering why the Nets didn't draft Leon Powe.
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Golden Bears Football Schedule
| Fresno St. | Sat 09/03 | W 36 - 21 |
@
Colorado
|
Sat 09/10 | W 36 - 33 |
| Presbyterian | Sat 09/17 | W 63 - 12 |
|
@
Washington
|
Sat 09/24 | L 23 - 31 |
|
@
Oregon
|
Thu 10/06 | L 15 - 43 |
|
USC
|
Thu 10/13 | L 9 - 30 |
|
Utah
|
Sat 10/22 | W 34 - 10 |
|
@
UCLA
|
Sat 10/29 | L 14 - 31 |
|
Washington St.
|
Sat 11/05 | W 30 - 7 |
|
Oregon St.
|
Sat 11/12 | W 23 - 6 |
|
@
Stanford
|
Sat 11/19 | L 28 - 31 |
|
@
Arizona St.
|
Fri 11/25 | W 47 - 38 |
|
@
Texas
|
Wed 12/28 | L 10 - 21 |
Pacific-12 Conference Standings
(updated 1.2.2012 at 11:12 PM PST)
| North | Conf | Overall | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | W | L | |
|
Oregon Ducks
|
8 | 1 | 12 | 2 |
|
Stanford Cardinal
|
8 | 1 | 11 | 2 |
|
Washington Huskies
|
5 | 4 | 7 | 6 |
|
California Golden Bears
|
4 | 5 | 7 | 6 |
|
Oregon St. Beavers
|
3 | 6 | 3 | 9 |
|
Washington St. Cougars
|
2 | 7 | 4 | 8 |
| South | Conf | Overall | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | W | L | |
|
USC Trojans
|
7 | 2 | 10 | 2 |
|
UCLA Bruins
|
5 | 4 | 6 | 8 |
|
Utah Utes
|
4 | 5 | 8 | 5 |
|
Arizona St. Sun Devils
|
4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
|
Arizona Wildcats
|
2 | 7 | 4 | 8 |
|
Colorado Buffaloes
|
2 | 7 | 3 | 10 |
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