What Concerns You About Cal Football? (2009 Edition)
by Avinash Kunnath on Jun 9, 2009 3:00 AM PDT
in California Golden Bears Football
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Concern. That's the state of mind a Cal football fan can find his or herself in during the interminable offseason. There's some giddy anticipation at the potential of great stars breaking out and showing new moves--Darian Hagan this past season, Jahvid Best the year before that, Desean the year before that. Some of us even dream of the great upsets, of going undefeated, of cheering the Cal band on down Colorado Blvd. Boredom and a lot of free time can do that to you.
via imgs.sfgate.com (Link to Big Game photos)
In 2005, we were touting the talents of Nate Longshore, but we were probably uncertain as to how good he would be (and even less enthused about Joe Ayoob when Nate went down). 2006 & 2007 we went in with Longshore, but we weren't quite sure what to expect; Nate was a serviceable QB both seasons with occasional flashes of brilliance, but ultimately did not develop further. In 2008 we suffered through a toss and turn season of "Who's the starter?", a season that led to relative unease everytime the Bears went under center.
National rank in passing efficiency from 2004 to 2008: 5th, 65th, 32nd, 52nd, 72nd
Long, deep breaths everyone!
As for next season, I’m not drinking the preseason top-15 koolaid. I think we’re about a 7-5 to 9-3 team again. More towards the 7-5 range if our passing doesn’t improve, and more towards the 9-3 range if our passing improves. If everything really comes together next year, perhaps 10-2, but the likelihood of everything coming together rather than one or two things is less likely so I’m not betting the bank on a 10+ win season.
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What concerns me most?
Fans who aren’t concerned about anything. And they call themselves Cal fans!
I am the Tyrant Boy King Of UC Eugene! An endless cavalcade of worthless inanities is my currency!
www.CaliforniaGoldenBlogs.com
Just because I don’t watch games curled up in a ball like you makes me less of a Cal fan?
by Avinash Kunnath on Jun 9, 2009 8:38 AM PDT up reply actions
If you arent rocking back and forth bleating the word “Ayoob” over and over again, you might as well root for USC.
I am the Tyrant Boy King Of UC Eugene! An endless cavalcade of worthless inanities is my currency!
www.CaliforniaGoldenBlogs.com
Other acceptable names to rock back and forth and mutter or bleat:
“Justin Vedder”
“J Torchio”
“injured Nate Longshore”
“Perry Klein”
“Kerry McGonigal”
Can you really even say a Teford Kyle Boller instilled a lot of confidence in you?
by HyphyBearsFan on Jun 10, 2009 11:22 AM PDT up reply actions
It can actually numb the pain of a tough loss. I think he curled up with about 6 minutes to go in the NCAA tourney game.
While the rides on the Pain Train and Brock Mansion Party Yacht have been fun, I think its time I hop on the BakBakcycle.
by rollonubears on Jun 9, 2009 10:07 AM PDT up reply actions
I'm concerned about QB, but only to the level of
anything above last year, puts us in the RB or MNCG.
yes, I’m still shotgunning the koolaid.
Go Bears Go
Im concerned for the OLine solely if we have similar health related issues. I think we have a great OLine now. Lotsof depth since so many players got PT last year. But if we have another year of our entire OLine getting injured, its going to be rough. If the OLine stays healthy, I think well be OK.
I am the Tyrant Boy King Of UC Eugene! An endless cavalcade of worthless inanities is my currency!
www.CaliforniaGoldenBlogs.com
I'm concerned that the picture associated with this article is one of you guys.
If it is, one of you has the cutest little baby face or is 16 years old.
by 33SwisherSweet on Jun 9, 2009 9:55 AM PDT reply actions
15, actually.
While the rides on the Pain Train and Brock Mansion Party Yacht have been fun, I think its time I hop on the BakBakcycle.
Man, judging these poll results, NO ONE seems to trust Kevin Riley.
by Avinash Kunnath on Jun 9, 2009 10:21 AM PDT reply actions
During all the Riley cheerleading that happened during the Cal-lapse, who’d have thought this is where our QB situation would be two seasons later? I’m thinking maybe the deal with Riley is he needs to be unleashed. It’s unfortunate that one of his earliest acts of improvisation was The Scramble that took him from hero to zero in 17 seconds. But it’s starting to dawn on me that, while Riley struggles under the yoke of precision mechanics (sailing pass after pass), he’s occassionally brilliant on the scramble, throwing off-balance, etc. Maybe the key is just to let him move/throw how he’s comfortable and give him free reign to take risks.
by Tony Macaroni on Jun 9, 2009 11:04 AM PDT up reply actions
I think we should just forget having set plays.
“SET….SET….BLUE 42….EVERYONE RUN AROUND LIKE CRAZY….53….SOMEONE DO SOMETHING…..HUT HUT….HIKE”
CGB: Our points are reliable. Our logic is infallible. Our past records are illogical. And our ham is dynamite!
You just want to see them run laterals on every play.
by Avinash Kunnath on Jun 9, 2009 1:35 PM PDT up reply actions
50.7
While the rides on the Pain Train and Brock Mansion Party Yacht have been fun, I think its time I hop on the BakBakcycle.
by rollonubears on Jun 9, 2009 11:05 AM PDT up reply actions
To be mildly contrarian
QB is my biggest concern here, but it’s relative to the rest of the team. Just like Rocks, I’m mainlining the kool-aid because I think everyone else is just that good. I would say I am more confident about Cal’s QB situation than UCLA, WSU, ASU, and UA, and about equal with UW and Stanford. So, Cal’s in the 50-70th percentile of QBs which is all that’s needed. Every other unit belongs much higher.
Meanwhile according to the Athlon preview I’m holding right now, Cal’s got the 4th best secondary in the country, and the third best RB unit and I would challenge anyone that its DL should be in the top 10 as well.
But our QB situation relative to UCLA/WSU/etc doesn’t matter – our QB situation relative to last year is what’s important if we want to win the Pac-10.
First, I agree. Our QB situation is of such special concern because the rest of our team is so stacked and we just don’t have much else to worry about. My opinion, worth as much as you paid for it.
Second, I disagree. It does matter. While it’s unfortunate that our chief competition for the conference title (Oregon, Oregon St., USC) don’t have the same level of questions – assuming Corp’s spring is related to how he’ll play during the regular season – shaky QB situations elsewhere + stout Cal secondary/DLine = less reliance on strong QB play for Cal victory. Or do you honestly think that UCLA running Kevin Craft back out there would have no impact on Cal’s chances for victory?
Oh. Yeah, I agree. I meant that our QB play being better than WSU’s QB play is not a huge factor because we’re highly likely to beat them anyway, and thus I’m more concerned with the question of whether we can beat USC, which is more contingent on whether our QB play is better than it was last year.
*pounds another jar of kool-aid*
the people at Athlon are also swill’n kool-aid.
Go Bears Go
by Rocksanddirt on Jun 9, 2009 10:47 PM PDT up reply actions
Phil Steele's taken the cake, though
Cal’s number 9 and his 4th Surprise Team in his rankings. Kool-aid for all!
Personally I feel like the bottom 2/3rds of the Pac-10 are all engaged in prolonged rebuilding efforts, so it comes down to how well we play against Oregon and USC.
I honestly think the Oregon game is ours for the taking. Masoli and Blount are great but they’re surrounded by talent that looks like the deeper shade of green on the field at Autzen, and the experience differential is going to lead to our defense taking a lot of scalps. Even if our offense doesn’t play well, I think we can manufacture points on defense and special teams to put us over the top against what will probably be a characteristically middling UO defense.
As for USC, I feel like this is the year. If Cal can score more than 17 points I think they win the game; Bob Gregory’s got too good a feel for USC’s offense, I’m dubious about Aaron Corp, and Kevin Riley for his sins takes too good care of the rock to set USC with a turnover. USC couldn’t score on us with a better quarterback in Los Angeles, they’re going to have a hell of a time in Strawberry Canyon. The rest is just finding a hole for Best, finding a spark for Kevin Riley to show what he’s really capable of, and not shooting ourselves in the foot every other play with a penalty.
(Yes, I know, if it’s just down to that we’re probably doomed, but I don’t think we are. And I don’t think it’s just blind hope, either.)
After that? There are trap games to be sure. Pasadena, Palo Alto, even back home against Oregon State (Scratch that: especially at home against Oregon State. They’ll be inexperienced at the beginning of the year, but Mike Riley teams grow up quick.), but I honestly think Cal can run the table this year.
So yeah, I’m mainlining the koolaid, but at the very least I’m 90% sure that Oregon will disappoint everybody’s expectations this season, so I’ll probably have that cold comfort at the end of the year if it all goes wrong. If Cal doesn’t break through but Oregon does then I quit predicting college football forever (until the next season).
Thank you. I said that last week and everyone shot me down. Exactly how I feel.
While the rides on the Pain Train and Brock Mansion Party Yacht have been fun, I think its time I hop on the BakBakcycle.
by rollonubears on Jun 10, 2009 7:31 AM PDT up reply actions
You know what you should do, seriously? Change your handle with a new email and come back pretending to be 25. You will get 10X more respect. Really.
CGB: Our points are reliable. Our logic is infallible. Our past records are illogical. And our ham is dynamite!
by Spazzy Mcgee on Jun 10, 2009 11:43 AM PDT up reply actions
Well that is true, but that is a cop out. It is basically me changing who I am so I can fit in or whatever. I’m not going to do that. My age is part of who I am as a Cal fan, just like the age of some of the older posters on this blog is part of who they are as a Cal fan. I have a somewhat different perspective from most on here, and that is probably a good thing for the interestingness of this blog, because it is good to have as many perspectives as possible when having a discussion. While it would be nice if I got a little bit more respect, it doesn’t really matter and I will keep posting as who I am as a Cal fan. Eventually people will start to respect me more. But I am not going to change just so that can happen faster.
While the rides on the Pain Train and Brock Mansion Party Yacht have been fun, I think its time I hop on the BakBakcycle.
by rollonubears on Jun 10, 2009 12:39 PM PDT up reply actions
Dont take TwistNHook2. Ill be on to you if you do that!
I am the Tyrant Boy King Of UC Eugene! An endless cavalcade of worthless inanities is my currency!
www.CaliforniaGoldenBlogs.com
Tell me when you confirm.
While the rides on the Pain Train and Brock Mansion Party Yacht have been fun, I think its time I hop on the BakBakcycle.
by rollonubears on Jun 10, 2009 11:47 PM PDT up reply actions
Is this f’realz?
I am the Tyrant Boy King Of UC Eugene! An endless cavalcade of worthless inanities is my currency!
www.CaliforniaGoldenBlogs.com
Yeah.
While the rides on the Pain Train and Brock Mansion Party Yacht have been fun, I think its time I hop on the BakBakcycle.
by rollonubears on Jun 11, 2009 12:39 PM PDT up reply actions
What pleases me is how so many concerns I had at the end of last season are gone...except one
I was unsure about replacing our departing trio of LBs, our mediocre kicking, and questionable receivers. Those groups all seem to have assuaged my fears during spring practice and the arrival of Vince D’Amato gives me even more confidence in our kicking.
What concerns me most is Kevin Riley. My memories of Riley’s admirable play in 2007 against OSU and AFA have been replaced by memories of him throwing passes in the Arizona game that we on track to be caught up at Sun Devil Stadium. His poor numbers last year are somewhat skewed by how often he was put into a game to throw his way down the field in fourth quarter situations as well as our receivers’ tendencies to drop passes. This does not, however, inspire much confidence. Maybe he’ll be better off without the feeling that Tedford could pull him in favor of Longshore (which he admitted), but I won’t necessarily believe it until September 5th.
Whose domicile? OUR DOMICILE!
I wouldn’t hold that Arizona game against Riley. He was thrown into pretty much a no-win situation there, and while his performance was far from inspiring, I don’t think it tells us much about how good of a quarterback he is.
So, basically, you gotta Go Bears!
That’s the problem, it wasn’t just the Arizona game. He had wild bouts of inaccuracy all season.
Whose domicile? OUR DOMICILE!
Too true
I was just pointing out that the Arizona game was a rather special case. His performances against Oregon State and (especially) Washington State (where there was no pressure whatsoever) are more concerning to me.
So, basically, you gotta Go Bears!
I think the Wazzu game was when the Riley bubble popped for a lot of hardcore Cal fans.
While the rides on the Pain Train and Brock Mansion Party Yacht have been fun, I think its time I hop on the BakBakcycle.
Agreed. Of course the less hardcore fans don’t watch every game or really pay that much attention to how people are playing, so they continued loving Riley.
While the rides on the Pain Train and Brock Mansion Party Yacht have been fun, I think its time I hop on the BakBakcycle.
Of course the less hardcore fans don’t watch every game or really pay that much attention to how people are playing, so they continued loving Riley.
I recall no Riley love-fests after the Wazzu game. What are you talking about?
by Avinash Kunnath on Jun 9, 2009 1:55 PM PDT up reply actions
Not directly Riley love fests, but Longshore hate fests. Fans still were calling for Riley whenever Longshore played. Whoever the other person was really didn’t matter, fairweather fans (nobody on here) were going to love the person so long as it wasn’t Longshore.
While the rides on the Pain Train and Brock Mansion Party Yacht have been fun, I think its time I hop on the BakBakcycle.
I recall a lot of annoyance with both QBs last season. It didn’t really matter who was in the game.
by Avinash Kunnath on Jun 9, 2009 2:16 PM PDT up reply actions
The Riley chants at the Emerald Bowl?
While the rides on the Pain Train and Brock Mansion Party Yacht have been fun, I think its time I hop on the BakBakcycle.
They preferred Riley over Longshore, even though Riley was worse last year, basically because he wasn’t Longshore.
While the rides on the Pain Train and Brock Mansion Party Yacht have been fun, I think its time I hop on the BakBakcycle.
by rollonubears on Jun 9, 2009 2:51 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Hardly. That was a weird game with no ebb and flow. Cal went up to a 21-0 lead in what seemed like 3 minutes. Riley didn’t play well, but he didn’t have many chances to throw.
by Avinash Kunnath on Jun 9, 2009 1:54 PM PDT up reply actions
6 for 14 in a 63 point win? That is scary.
While the rides on the Pain Train and Brock Mansion Party Yacht have been fun, I think its time I hop on the BakBakcycle.
You can’t tell anything from 14 passes. It’s too small a sample.
by Avinash Kunnath on Jun 9, 2009 2:12 PM PDT up reply actions
Washington State, where I think he overthrew a guy so bad it landed in Stanley Park.
While the rides on the Pain Train and Brock Mansion Party Yacht have been fun, I think its time I hop on the BakBakcycle.
by rollonubears on Jun 9, 2009 11:28 AM PDT up reply actions
I really hope Riley doesn’t read this blog.
While the rides on the Pain Train and Brock Mansion Party Yacht have been fun, I think its time I hop on the BakBakcycle.
We’re not saying anything he doesn’t know already.
by Avinash Kunnath on Jun 9, 2009 1:27 PM PDT up reply actions
What about the O-Line?
I get the heavy emphasis on the QB, it’s a concern of mine too, but did nobody see the offensive line get abused at the Spring Game like I did? Twist, you were there… how can you not be concerned about what you saw?
Mark my words, Riley is going to either thrive of struggle based on the protection he gets from his O-Line. Add in that Best is at his best once he gets in the open field (necessitating the O-Line spring him free) and the O-Line is by far our biggest thing to worry about in these idle months.
Well, I did mention the O-LIne above, but more in the concept of “we cant handle that amount of injuries again.”
I think we could have a really good O-Line. We had so many players play last year, I think our depth will be really solid. Even if we dont have a player like a Alex Mack in there.
That said, I think OLine takes a while to develop. Compared toa DLine, which doesnt need as much time to gel (and is REALLY good), that might explain some of the problems at the Spring Game.
Im a glass half-full guy. I didnt see a rickety OLine. I saw a great DLine! ;)
I am the Tyrant Boy King Of UC Eugene! An endless cavalcade of worthless inanities is my currency!
www.CaliforniaGoldenBlogs.com
I'm with you on this one
At the spring game I was deeply worried about the O-line. They got penetrated easier than a horny guy with a prostitute.
Hopefully the whole spiel about the D-line gelling faster than the O-line is true. I don’t want to see the O-line abused as it did against USC again.
In other words, Go Bears!
Wouldnt it be the other way around. Why would the prostitute be penetrating the horny guy?
I am the Tyrant Boy King Of UC Eugene! An endless cavalcade of worthless inanities is my currency!
www.CaliforniaGoldenBlogs.com
….money
CGB: Our points are reliable. Our logic is infallible. Our past records are illogical. And our ham is dynamite!
It’s just this special secret code language Royrules and Twist have. “Prostitute” means “happy person,” “Penetrating” means eating," and “horny guy” means “delicious ice cream!!!”
See? They’re just making plans to meet up later and get ice cream!!! No need to be alarmed.
CGB: Our points are reliable. Our logic is infallible. Our past records are illogical. And our ham is dynamite!
Why worry when Jon Wilner has a crystal ball
So first off, hi everybody. I’ve been a CGB lurker since the days of blogsome but finally decided to sign up at SBN and post a comment.
So like a true Cal fan I’ve had a LOT of concern about the 2009 season. There are QB questions, replacing our LBs, hell I’m concerned about how Javid will be now that Will Ta’ufo’ou isn’t there to block for him. Anyway I stumbled upon a post on the SJ Mercury News College Sports Blog that Jon Wilner wrote predicting the Cal Football 2008 season, check it out, it is crazy how accurate it is and could have just as easily been a post season analysis. I’m looking forward to his post on the 2009 season though he should put a spoiler alert around it.
Hey, thanks for commenting. Wilner is actually fairly decent for a journalist/blogger although you’ll find many a Cal fan who does not like his ‘analysis’.
It’d be an interesting Fanpost to see what Cal fans think of their local beat reporters.
by Avinash Kunnath on Jun 10, 2009 9:05 PM PDT up reply actions
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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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