How To React To A Blowout

(There’s no DBD so I’ll put it here.)

Dear friends of the Grove, may she rest in peace:

As you know the Oak Grove is gone, but there are still four tree-sitters perched in a redwood tree.

UC Police have threatened to physically extract the tree-sitters early tomorrow (Monday) morning. Tree-sit supporters are asking all of those who love(d) the grove to please come and bear witness starting at 8am Monday morning. Please call the ground support phone at 510 938 2109 for questions.

Sincerely,

What’s Left of the Oak Grove

I dunno why, but I don’t think a win like this is going to make the team too overconfident. Sure, it’s great to get a big win, but it wasn’t quite a true big-school blowout. In score – most definitely. But it’s not like we crushed a team who played their best but was just overmatched. Washington State made so many basic mistakes, had so many mental lapses, shot themselves in the foot so many times, that they have to take some of the blame for the way the game went. I think about the illegal formation penalty they received for having too few men on the line. That’s not Wazzu being bested by a superior team – that’s a Pop Warner brain fart. I mean, the commentators asked the sideline reporter, in her experience as a high-school referee, how the officials can help prevent that sort of thing. When a high-school referee is giving tips to a Pac-10 team on how to line up… wow. Now some would argue that those mental lapses could be due to lack of confidence after being dominated so early in the game. But it was more than that. New coach, new system, young team – heck, they hadn’t implemented half their offensive playbook yet, ‘cause that’s all the kids could handle. Those issues definitely played a role in the game, and I think our team knows that (or at least our coaches do).

This is not to take away from our team’s accomplishments – the O-line was amazing, Best and Vareen did what they do best, Nate and Boateng got some confidence back, even Mansion got in on the fun. And it was certainly a fun game to watch (though i was drifting away in the 4th quarter). I’m just saying that a victory like the one over Tennessee would do more to make a team overconfident than one like this.

Overall, i think this game was a good one for our team – it showed in a BIG way where we are already starting to gel and exceed expectations, but it also gave us on opportunity to test, without any real risk, where we need to improve (i.e. passing game, I agree with you).

As Cal fans, I like to think that we can be in a good place – a state of cautious optimism. I, being a pre-Tedfordite, am learning to accept the steady success of our football program, and am finally getting to a place where I don’t have to expect the worst. The events of last year, as you stated, will definitely keep us from getting too cocky. So I think this year will be a good middle ground for everyone.

But I share your wary feelings because it’s my luck that any team I like tends do real well and then produce some heart breakers.

watch the very first play from scrimmage (Jahvid’s first 80 yard TD run). It’s a simple trap play with a pulling weakside guard. In this case, the weakside guard is our left guard, Chris Guarnero. He creates the upper part of the huge hole while Mitchell Schwartz, our right tackle, clears out the lower part. These two devastating blocks created an alley that would have allowed you or me to pick up 5 yards. And, not surprisingly, these are the two new starters I mentioned in my Cal/MSU review. These guys look fantastic: see for yourself here.

I’ll admit to being one of those Old Blues for whom success of this nature automatically raises the defensive shields. It’s one of thos survival instincts, like the third eyelid in sharks, that were developed during the Kapp days, and later perfected in the Gilbertson era (and if you thought Holmoe was bad …).

Anyway, the systematic dismantling of Wazzu was a thing of beauty. However the offensive performance aside from home-run plays was a nightmare. The running game stagnated, Riley couldn’t hit water if he threw the ball off the pier, and the O-line looked like they may have been more than a little confused. If not for Wazzu’s impotent offense and our macho defense, who knows what would have happened after 21 – 0?

But I’m thinking that maybe the offense’s problems was the fact that they never needed to really rev up, and so they played a bit sloppy. That’s good, because it means the offense really isn’t showing problems. That’s bad because they can’t ever afford to leave their heads on the bench.

Either way, I am dead sure Tedford saw what we cynics did, and is addressing it in elevated volume right now.

I wonder if all the USC comparisons will be null and void after they have their turn with WSU this year?

I think that there are two forces conspiring against me this year…

(1) Cal, including myself, fans are always scared by success. This is just normal pessimism. But double that after last season, and we have pessimism of an abnormal variety.

(2) The fact that through two games, there really isn’t a whole lot to criticize. The MSU game was a nice win over a decent team, that ended up being closer in score than it really was on the field. The WSU game was an absolute blowout.

In conjunction it is an uneasy feeling. This is only going to get worse as we play two more teams that are absolute crap of the WSU variety the next two games. Really, my guess is we have another month before we really understand where this season is going. (And even then, beating ASU at home hasn’t exactly been a great indicator in the past.)

I guess it would be different for each different person. But one key thing to remember is doing put your hands on the top or back of her head. Just poor form.

Oh wait, did you say BlowOUT?