At least we tightened up the score in the end so it doesn’t look so bad as it was…

It is too soon to comment here. I will wait till after the SC game and I have sobered up/.////////////////……………….

I would add one thing… Luck… they got lucky on so many different plays today… seemed as though the stars were aligned for them today. The refs were not seeing anything our way. The safety was huge because we could have really used one more possession and the two points.

1) Offensive line: I think the primary reason we lost was our OL lost the LOS battle. Our offense is based on running it directly at them… Terps were stuffing the hole early… so we started some zone running to the side and they sliced through the blockers… then we started getting creative and screening etc… they basically took out half of our gameplan. Norris and Chet were not playing well and Mack was just ok. I just think they were dead tired.

2) They were dead tired. I could see it. I seriously was afraid of this too. When I travel cross country I never adjust my sleep times like the team did. It works if you can actually get to sleep early, but these are college kids and they can’t hit the sack that early… so it was basically three days of sleep torture. It’s best just to hit the sack early the day before… minimize the torture.

This affected everything. Our LBs were not able to shed blocks and were being pushed backwards. We couldn’t tackle for shit. Our OL men couldn’t push back the DL. We not only looked slow and sluggish… we were. Fatigue literally cascaded down to affect every aspect of the game.

3) DL could not move laterally: Did you guys notice how many slow zone runs they used against us? Given our fast LBs and our 3-4 defense, I was shocked. However for some reason everyone was so tired these slow zone runs kept getting blocked well and we’d lose containment around the edge. Scott’s first TD was a perfect example of this.

4) Nobody was open: I believe 4 of the 5 sacks were coverage sacks. Riley would sit in the pocket… look… and look and keep looking and would then scramble. Even when he wasn’t sacked, he had nobody to throw to until the Terps went into safe mode in the 4th quarter. Coach Tedford wanted to switch to more physical receivers but he’s got to realize that it takes more creativity in the routes and play-calling to get big guys open consistently.

For some reason the zone is working well against us and it’s probably the smart thing to do given our big-play ability with the running backs. In response we need to pick apart the soft areas of the zone, but how come our WRs are not finding them?

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I saw many positive things as well… as you have mentioned. I would say the “leadership” factor you point out was the thing that made me very happy. I was screaming at my TV trying to pump them up… and was glad somebody got around to it for real.

I think people who were at the game will back me up, but I think the heat, humidity, and start time had a huge impact on the game.

I’ve been in College Park for the past 48 hours, and it’s been humid but not terribly hot. That changed this morning at about 10 am local time, when the sun came out for the first time. It was incredibly uncomfortable just walking to the stadium at a slow pace and then standing and clapping in the shaded part of the stadium. Combined with the heat, the humidity makes things pretty miserable. The players looked incredibly flat for most of the game, and I think the heat, humidty, the early start time, and the fact that Cal arrived less than 24 hours ago and never had a chance to get aclimated had a significant impact on the game.

At the end of the game, Cal started to pick it up. Maybe it was Maryland playing prevent defense, maybe Riley final shook off the terrible funk he was in for most o the game. But about halfway through the fourth quarter, clouds started shielding the sun and a nice wind started up. That Cal finally picked it up at the same time that the weather changed doesn’t seem like a coincidence to me. If we started this game at 3:30 local time, we may have had a much different game.

I really don’t buy the early start time bothers the players argument. When I was in high school I had early track meets and ran at 8 or 9 am all the time and it was never an issue. If you’re a competitor you get excited for a game regardless, and I’m pretty sure our team is full of competitors.

Now the humidity I can imagine affecting us. But in the end it’s about execution and playmaking – none of which we did.

I only wish it were actually close in the end so I could feel comfortable blaming the refs – but we played so badly I can’t really do that! Damn

You all have already noted the obvious: sleepy start, several key blown calls by the officials, and just flat out outplayed on the line of scrimmage almost the whole game long. But for me, this game ultimately boiled down to poor execution on third down and in the red zone—on both sides of the ball. And maybe I’m remembering things wrong, but it seems that 3rd-down (in)efficiency on defense was a big problem last year, too, and same goes for the offense’s struggles in the red zone. Does anyone have the relevant numbers from the last 3-4 years to see if these are indeed trends, and disturbing ones at that? I’m just sick of the inability to consistently punch it into the end zone when not delivered by a big play, and even more sick of all the 3rd-down conversions by the Bears’ opponents—even when it’s Third and relatively long.

Finally, did it seem like the Bears went with a lot of 2 tight-end sets today, limiting the role of the fullback? I’ve been so pleased to see the reemergence of the classic Tedford offense during the first two weeks, with Will T paving the way for big games by the tailbacks. But not today. Why not?

At least we now get to see if Tedford really has fixed the “character” issues last year’s squad had, because ASU comes visiting just a couple weeks down the road.

P.S. Danzig: Am I safe in guessing that next week’s Jahvid Best video will be set to the theme of The Exorcist? That was nasty.

Here are some notes from JO about the Cal game today. I posted this in the USC-OSU thread but it probably got lost in there.

–Jeff Tedford said after today’s game that the officials did indeed review Da’Rel Scott’s run from the 1-yard line that appeared to be a safety on the replay.

–Tedford also said that Shane Vereen suffered an ankle sprain but it doesn’t appear to be serious.

–Most guys said after the game that they didn’t feel affected by the time change. They actually said, if anything, it was the heat and humidity that was the hardest adjustment. But nobody blamed the loss on it or said it was a major factor.

–More than one player pointed out that this year’s team is better-equipped to handle adversity than last year’s because of the improved leadership on the roster. The Bears seem pretty sure the loss won’t linger.

–Jahvid Best said he felt a little sore after the game, but not much more than that. He also said the hit he took from Maryland’s Kevin Barnes was the hardest he’d ever taken in his life.

From BI:

3) Sitting about 5 rows off the field behind CAL’s bench, it was clear that a few of Riley’s errant passes were due to WRs cutting the wrong way or taking the wrong route. Riley was visiably frustrated on at least 2-3 drives – Tedford seemed to agree. His INT was a result of the WR slipping on the field and the DB jumped the route.

4) Tedford had another blow up, this time directed at one of his trainers who was madly trying to retape Vareen’s ankle in the second half. I’m guessing it took way too long and Vareen missed a play he was supposed to be in on.

I was surprised and disappointed at the multiple on-side kicks. Not only do they rarely work but we were not in such desperate circumstances to warrant them. I thought our D played fairly well even towards the end, but it gave the turtles such a short field, we were just asking for that last touchdown. Without those seven points on the boards we would have been right in there at the end. Obviously their D may have stepped up play, but we had them on their heels.

Bonus: Does anyone know the recovery percentage of the on-side kick?

ASU 20, UNLV 13, 3 min in 4th quarter; UNLV about to get the ball back
Wisconsin 13, Fresno State 7, 3rd quarter

Just over 2 minutes left

UNLV in the red zone

Review stands.

Watching this on an incredibly choppy feed.

HOLY SHIT!!! WHAT A TOUCHDOWN!

UNLV’s Quarterback scrambled around for 10 seconds before finding his receiver who made a ONE HANDED catch in the end zone! Tied at 20 with 19 seconds left!!!

Now 4th and 3

No good. UNLV WINS.

ASU is FUCKED.

 It was amazing. I can’t get over it.

You guys really need to check out this game. Very exciting low scoring affair. Can’t believe ASU lost and Oregon almost lost. What a weekend.

If Fresno loses this game, I’m breaking the bottle back out. Just too much to stomach in one day.

That Fresno field goal kicker is terrible.

Stupid Big Ten. Everyone hates them.

Well, great. Now everyone is going to think Wisconsin is for real, and with a weak Big Ten there is no telling how far they could go. I have to say, the only good thing today was seeing SC smash tOSU. And that sad. Anyone else feel kinda bummed out? No need to answer that…

I just stumbled into the Bear Insider for the first time in about a year. Man. And you guys think I am crazy and extreme? Those guys are really out there. Their simple solution to everything seems to be to blame, fire, blame, fire, and blame some more… Be it on the coaches, the players, hell, even Oski! Wow. I’ve never, EVER, liked the term fruitcake. Hell, I’ve never even used it, but I believe it applies aptly to them.

Based on Baylor’s (!) thrashing of WSU, I think we can officially conclude that our “big” win last week didn’t mean too much.

Hard to be optimistic today. This still looks like a team with leadership issues, particularly on D and a penchant for mysteriously mailing it in from time to time. Uninspired coaching, uninspired play, we got dominated at the LOS.

I still think we will improve as the year progresses, and at least we got rid of the treeshitters!

Let’s not read too much into this one, but today I’m bitter!!

we dominated both lines of scrimmage in our first two games. This game, our O line didn’t have enough power to open up holes and our D Line and Linebackers weren’t quick enough to stop their run. I don’t think these guys suddenly suck, but I know I felt miserable just sitting there and I was in the shade.

This may seem like a lame excuse, but those guys on the eastern seaboard are used to it. California players aren’t used to playing in a swamp.

The Lions just scored………… They’re now winning 25 – 24. This is unbelievable.

OK so that games over. GB scored again.

After hearing first-hand accounts from Ragnarok, CBKWit, and other readers of our blog that went to the game and said the weather was a factor, I am inclined to change my opinion regarding whether weather really did have a factor. Earlier, I said I didn’t really believe the weather affected us that much but I now I do open myself up to the idea that it did. But if that’s so, it’s peculiar how the team picked up its play in the 4th quarter. If the weather affected the team negatively, you would think it would have a detrimental effect all game long with an increasing effect as the game wore on. Thus, it would seem as if a team would get progressively worse and more affected by the weather as the game went on (tiredness, cramping, etc.), when clearly our team got better as the game went on. So was the team only “shocked” by the weather for the first three quarters?

Finally, the worst that has happened to Cal this year so far is not losing to Maryland but Maryland losing to Middle Tennessee State. Had UM not lost to MTST, we wouldn’t be getting reamed as badly by the MSM (main stream media). Instead of saying “Cal laid an egg against a horrible Maryland team that lost to MTST last week” they would be saying “Cal lost a tough conference road game against a decent Maryland team,” right? Afterall, Maryland does actually have some very decent talent on their team. Their problem was never talent, but perhaps just getting up for games.

I was a little perturbed with our play calling…..

one drive in particular got snuffed out after we got to the MD 40, then 20 yard passes were called on first and second down, fell incomplete, then we had a 3rd and 10…. play call: screen pass for 4 yards. Cignetti is great, but he got beat bad by MDs D coordinator

It seemed like once we realized our run game was in trouble and we were down 14-0, our offense panicked and was looking for the homerun play. We were throwing screens, play actions, deep posts, etc…. it was like we were trying to force it. The fourth quarter went so well because we started throwing 5-7 yard hooks and slants and the YAC took care of itself. You got young receivers yeah? so have them run simple routes. They are talented guys, and I saw a couple great catches from Calvin and Boateng. Until the fourth quarter, we had short passes, and long passes, but the midrange was totally missing.

And there’s that scene where the football team goes out drinking and to a strip club the night before a big game, then they’re too tired to play the next day?

Yeah, that’s probably what happened here.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Cal look this slow. I immediately had to go drink afterwards.

Many of them. There were some nice people here and there, but the drunk smack talking douche bag was more prominent than most places I’ve been. Why is the east coast so dumb and angry all the time? Is it the weather?