Holiday Bowl Post-Game Thoughts
by ManBearCal on Dec 30, 2011 3:00 AM PST
in California Golden Bears Football
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PrintUnfortunately for all of you, I'm filling in for Hydro for this final installment Post-Game Thoughts for the 2011 Cal football season. As a result, this will be devoid of any real in-depth analysis or unique insight. Rather, I'll be highlighting the points that were abundantly clear as we all watched the Texas defense go all Terrible Terry Tate on Zach Maynard and Co. Apologies in advance.
Despite the result and the way in which it unfolded, I found things really weren't all bad. Well, at least one thing wasn't...
1. The Cal Defense played tough.
They battled like hell, despite Cal's offense offering them little respite. Stats don't lie. Texas converted just 3 of their 14 3rd downs. Texas had 255 total yards, 146 through the air and 109 on the ground (3.1 yards per carry). The bulk of that rush yardage happened on three plays, the biggest one when it looked like we were gonna tackle speedster Marquise Goodwin for a five yard loss. We didn't, and he busted it for 37 yards to set up Texas' last touchdown. A 19 yard scamper by freshman running back Malcolm Brown and a 15 yarder from Jeremy Hills on a pitch where Dave Wilkerson bit badly on an inside fake represented Texas next two longest runs. That's 71 yards out of the 109 surrendered. Similarly through the air, there were the two big plays that padded the Texas numbers significantly. the 30 yard throw to TE Blaine Irby where nobody bothered to cover him and the 47 yard TD bomb to Goodwin where Marc Anthony got flat-out burned. 107 yards out of 146 right there. If those execution errors are eliminated, this effort looks that much better. But we can't go back and undo what was done. Still, I was really proud of the effort. Kendricks had a fine game. Aaron Tipoti absolutely abused Texas' young center. Sad that it wasn't enough.
2. The Texas Defense is better.
Why wasn't it enough? Because Texas' defense was even better. Like, ridiculously better. I knew they would be tough, but damn. They forced 5 turnovers (more on that shortly), sacked Maynard 6 times, recorded 13 tackles for loss, and just generally suffocated the Cal offense. Repeatedly. The byproduct of steady and sustained great recruiting along with a brilliant young defensive coordinator were on full display last night. Talented safety (but real-life jerkoff) Kenny Vaccaro hurdling Isi Sofele to sack Maynard is an image that we will see for the rest of Bowl Season on ESPN. DE Jackson Jeffcoat was too fast for our OL and TE's to handle. Repeatedly. The secondary refused to give up many big plays, keeping Keenan and Marvin in front of them all night. Our running game sputtered between the tackles because a heavy rotation of 8 DL were absolutely crushing our offensive line. As a result, Cal was continually facing 2nd and long (then 3rd and long) situations. Not a recipe for success. The blitzers came fast and frequently from the secondary and the linebackers. If we weren't the team getting our asses handed to us, I might have even enjoyed watching that display. It would have taken an offense as good as Baylor or Okie State to have had a chance against this unit. We're not there.
3. Turnover margin LOL.
When you're -5 in turnover margin, it's hard to win. The fact that we only lost by 11 is a testament to the defensive effort (and Texas' offense just not being all that good). But...wow. The first turnover was a Maynard armpunt the likes of which we haven't seen since the UCLA game. He made several other extremely ill-advised throws, but thankfully they all fell to the ground because too many Texas defenders were squabbling over who got to catch it. The second turnover was just a pure execution failure when Zach and CJ Anderson got tangled up on a zone read. The ball fell to the ground, and Texas got it. The third was on Isi. Just as it looked like he might be able to bump a run outside, one of the Texas DT's popped a hand on the ball. Isi, as he has repeatedly done this year, was holdly it too loosely. Out it came. You know what? I don't much feel like re-capping each turnover. That's no fun, and I'm just getting pissed off now. Let me just say that this was an opportunistic defense, and we gave them opportunities. The first two were the most egregious and fault lies with the Cal guys, the last three were plays made by the Texas defense. There could have been more. On the flipside, I was disappointed that our defense couldn't force any turnovers. My only real beef with the defensive effort.
4. OL and TE play unsatisfactory.
Understatement. They got abused. I thought this could happen, but I foolishly hoped it wouldn't. It bothers me that much blame has been heaped on Maynard, when there's very few (if any?) quarterbacks that could have done anything facing the kind of pressure he did. Galas got worked inside by the Texas interior DL, and once again had a couple awful shotgun snaps. Long time till spring ball, Dom. Let's work on that. MSG had his hands full and looked completely outmatched...because he was. Would love to see him get a chance to move back to guard. But then who gets thrown to the Wolves at tackle? Miller had one catch and an incredibly stupid personal foul that was immediately followed by a sack/fumble on Maynard. Hagen didn't record a catch and had a holding call that negated a nice little catch and run by Marvin. We were outclassed here. I'm a big believer in Coach M, and I think we'll get to a place where OL play can once again be a real team strength. But we're not there yet. MAAAARRRRSHAAALLLL!!!!
5. Were we out-coached?
Yeah, I think so. I've already covered the Texas defensive effort and scheme. But I think our playcalling was pretty poor. I'm no armchair coach. I don't have a lot of answers as to what I would have done differently. But I trust my eyes. Manny Diaz (the Texas DC) had a good gameplan for our offense. And he blew us the hell up. How much of that can be attributed to better talent, which Texas clearly possessed? I don't know. Probably a lot. But it sure appeared that Texas had an answer for everything we tried on offense.
As for defense, I think this would have looked worse if Texas had a better offense. They still found ways to make plays when they needed to, despite being so clearly limited by a poor OL, a young QB, and injuries at RB. We did a nice job taking away the power running game, but then looked totally out of sorts when Texas went to the air on a couple long passes. I almost crapped my pants when Anthony got beat on the long pass play after Texas had a third and long at their own one-yard line. We were fortunate that Goodwin stepped out of bounds. This happened twice if I remember correctly. In fact, we got lucky a few times on similar plays.
6. Goodbye to our Seniors.
I need to get away from my crappy analysis to finish this off *turns off Angry Bear mode*. We're saying goodbye to a good group of guys. I only wish we could have sent them out on top. Despite all the redundant criticisms that have been leveled at this team, the effort given on Wednesday night cannot be doubted. They gave it everything, and we shouldn't ask any more of our players than that. Marvin Jones fumbling the last time he'd touch the ball as a California Golden Bear broke my damn heart. For all he's given the school and the program, he deserved better. John Breech got a great pic of Tedford and Marvin after the game. Maybe I'm a bit of a softie (okay, I definitely am), but I think its pretty awesome. I'm not going to go through and name every departing senior, but the void they leave will be huge, and they all deserved better. That void will be more tangible for some (Kendricks and Holt for instance), but every guy deserves our respect. I hope we can all take a minute to appreciate this group and what they've given to Cal Football during their time. I know I'll miss them.
I warned you guys this wouldn't be up to snuff. So there. Again, apologies for that and for not really being capable of generating a product of Hydro-level quality. I'm still a little raw over the game and the sad realization that we won't have any more Cal football until Spring (yeah, that counts too!).
I'd love for everyone to add their own feelings and comments below. It would be a great way to compensate for me not doing as much. Go Bears!
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Sorry that the first post is from a Texas fan, but I gotta ask you about your Vaccaro comment.
How is he a “real-life jerkoff”? I don’t recall any issues with Vaccaro, but it’s certainly possible that I’ve missed something.
Great game recap. I think you nailed it. Two very solid defensive efforts…turnovers and a couple big plays by UT were the difference. Best of luck in 2012 to the Bears, and Happy New Year CGB’ers.
We're going to play like we're in a bad mood.
it's not letting me post the link, so i'll just copy and paste:
An arrest warrant has been issued for Longhorns freshman safety Kenny Vaccaro for misdemeanor assault after he was involved in an alleged fight with another Texas student during a pickup basketball game.
According to an arrest affidavit issued by a Travis County justice of the peace, Vaccaro and Jonathan R. Fuhrman were involved in an incident Sept. 20 when both were playing basketball at Gregory Gymnasium on the Texas campus.
Fuhrman, a law student at Texas, alleges that Vaccaro and his friends were throwing basketballs at him. The affidavit states that Fuhrman threw a basketball back at Vaccaro, hitting him in the head.
Fuhrman said Vaccaro then punched him in the face. The police affidavit stated that Fuhrman had blood streaming from a cut lip when he was interviewed by police.
According to the affidavit, Vaccaro told police that Fuhrman was “always on the court trying to start a fight.”
The arrest warrant is for assault-bodily injury, a Class A misdemeanor under Texas law.
Vaccaro has developed into a key reserve for the Texas secondary and a special-teams standout. He’s made nine tackles on special teams and is listed as second string at right safety heading into the Longhorns’ game Saturday night against Colorado.
Texas coach Mack Brown released a statement shortly after news of the arrest warrant surfaced.
“We’re aware of the situation with Kenny Vaccaro,” Brown said. “We’ve talked to Kenny and his family, and pending the completion of the legal process, we’ll do what’s best for the university, Kenny and the team. One thing we have really prided ourselves on in our program is our family atmosphere, and this will be handled within our family.”
I am THE DOOMBRINGER. We Are Cal.
Thanks...I didn't remember that 'event'
Meh…a freshman gets into a tiff during a basketball game. Not condoning, but let he who isn’t that sort of real-life jerkoff cast the first stone. I guess if it’s enough for an arrest though… Maybe he just hits too hard!!
We're going to play like we're in a bad mood.
Plus, the other guy was a law student? You just KNOW he deserved it!! :)
We're going to play like we're in a bad mood.
fair enough
i’ve got no beef with Kenny V. still just a little butt-hurt about the other night. please forgive my hyperbole.
I am THE DOOMBRINGER. We Are Cal.
They grow up to be lawyers :)
"i, for one, welcome our new atomic overlords" - GoldBlooded
by atomsareenough on Dec 30, 2011 11:47 AM PST up reply actions
I played alot of intramural/pickup sports in college......
….and I never threw a basketball at anyone’s head. Sounds like a jerk to me, and I didn’t even remember his name from the Holiday Bowl.
I'd like to smell the Roses before I die.
I remember that
The original police summary report printed on the campus police web site:
“GREGORY GYMNASIUM, 2101 Speedway
Disorderly Conduct (Fighting in a Public Place 2-counts): Two UT students began to argue when one student, who was on a losing basketball team, refused to leave the court after a basketball game to allow a new challenging team to take the court. The two students threw basketballs at one-another. When one of the students was struck in the head with a basketball, he ran toward the other student and struck the other in the face with his fist. Occurred on 09/20/09 at 10:35 p.m.”
I don’t recall how the whole thing worked out, but it does appear that there might have been multiple people vying for the title of Jerk-Off in this one.
FWIW, Vaccaro has apparently been keeping out of trouble since this freshman year incident.
carp
"We lose to Stanford in many sports, but if you want to make a Cal team quit, bring a weapon."
--Coach Clark
d'oh, not paying attention.
Bold is only in the story content, not down here.
by OaktownAggie on Dec 30, 2011 7:09 AM PST up reply actions
These write-ups are tough
To end the season on a bad loss, and then have to re-hash it … it’s yeoman’s work, ManBearCal.
FUTBALL IZ SRS BUSINESS GUYZ // ONLY HAVE FUN WHEN ROZ BWL
--Thoroughbred
it truly is
hopefully the bitterness will dissipate and hope will once again spring eternal come spring ball. that seems to be the way of it.
thanks for understanding. my heart really wasn’t in this post. sorry for that.
I am THE DOOMBRINGER. We Are Cal.
No worries, man.
Thanks for filling in.
Now, I don’t suppose I could interest you in subbing in for the upcoming spotlight post?
Since you’re already bitter and broken-down, n’ all?
Old Toothwrangler
**OUT OF OFFICE**
“Hello, and thank you for your post. Please note ManBearCal will be away from the Interwebz and shirking his CGB duties in favor of getting drunk and punching inanimate objects. His return date is unknown.
For immediate assistance, please throw a rotten tomato at TwistnHook.
Thanks for reading CGB"
I am THE DOOMBRINGER. We Are Cal.
This is the thanks I get for fixing your Bold Print plague?
You’d better have good recruiting news to cure what ails us!
Old Toothwrangler
OK I'm back now.
how did you fix it? I went back in and tried to update it like 5 damn times. The preview post looked fine, and then i’d update and it still would be messed up.
and the recruiting news is more bad than good as of today. next week? plenty of good.
I am THE DOOMBRINGER. We Are Cal.
My heart can't take anymore bad news
I saw that we lost Adams to ucla which sucks.
outside of Admas and McNamara
there’s not any other real bad news. there’s just not a lot of good news either.
Just wait till next week for the good. All-Star games will bring big commitments.
I am THE DOOMBRINGER. We Are Cal.
Gotcha, no problem
IMO, Adams hurts more than McNamara.
If it wasn’t for the Stoops firing we probably wouldn’t have even had a chance with McNamara, plus McNamara isn’t going to a Pac12 school.
Losing Adams to ucla and Jim Mora really sucks.
totally agree
i like Kourtzidis a lot more than McNamara. i’m ok with him going to OU…as long as we get CK.
Adams could have made an impact pretty quickly. There is a better CB than him still out there though (Seymour) that we have a good shot at though.
I am THE DOOMBRINGER. We Are Cal.
I had to switch to html view on the edit screen.
Since it looked like the problem began around the “Turnovers LOL” line, I just removed all of the bold marks before/after that section, then updated.
Old Toothwrangler
No worries
You are truly a stronger man than I to be able to recap this game.
by OaktownAggie on Dec 30, 2011 10:55 AM PST up reply actions
post game thoughts
1) I think we’re over-selling our defensive efforts a bit. It was the best unit on the field for Cal, certainly, but we still gave up 3 TD’s to a 1 dimensional offense, couldn’t get the stop/turnover when we needed it, and had, on several occasions, Texas players behind our DB’s. If there offense was fairly decent, they would have pulled a Tyler Hanson on us.
2) Game managing Maynard turned into FCS-level Maynard and I’m sure he’ll start all 12/13 games next year on a 4+ loss squad. We’ll do well when Maynard and Isi can run for 150+ yards but the games vs good defenses will be the multi-turnover variety. I was really looking forward to taking a trip to tOSU, but I think I’ll invest that money in my children’s 529 accts instead.
3) Isi’s come a long way, and there’s a lot to be thankful there, but he can’t outplay an entire defense like a Best or a Lynch. No shame there, but it will be interesting to see how The Experienced RB does vs the Talented Youngsters this offseason.
4) I feel bad being this negative, but I have nothing good to say about our pass and run blocking efforts. And we’re losing our best lineman who also happens to be our starting LT.
5) Ideally, Tedford’s career experiences a renaissance and he rides us to a couple of Top 25 finishes and maybe even Pasadena which will probably require two wins over USC in a season. More realistically, I’m worried the messenger, not the message, is ineffective and that sucks. I don’t think your pass and run blocking can play like that, have your QB throw into quadruple coverage, have another multiple turnover game, and have your secondary repeatedly get burnt and then come back and say “We were ready to play and came out playin!”
"We lose to Stanford in many sports, but if you want to make a Cal team quit, bring a weapon."
--Coach Clark
we still gave up 3 TD’s to a 1 dimensional offense
That’s not very fair. We only allowed the Texas offense 1 legit scoring drive where they started on their own 20. Even the vaunted Texas D allowed our offense to go on a full-field scoring drive, so that happens to any unit. The other two TDs came on extremely short fields caused by turnovers. And we gave them many, many short fields and usually our D was able to bail us out anyway. They did a great job.
The things that bothered me the most were that 1) The offense was very vanilla and conservative. Mack Brown understood that you can roll the dice a little in a bowl game if you want to try and win the damn thing, and he threw in a few wrinkles to try and keep us on our heels a bit, and it worked. 2) Execution errors. We didn’t looked like a polished team in many respects, and that’s one thing that is troubling. Good teams hold on to the football better than we did. They don’t have to burn 3 timeouts seemingly needlessly. They don’t line up in illegal formations.
Both of those things I believe are on Tedford to at least some degree. I don’t think that he deserves to get canned immediately or anything, and as I said earlier, I think the program is rebounding from last year and still headed in the right direction long-term, but I will grant the Tedford-haters and those that are calling for his head that there are a couple of issues that are indeed somewhat troubling.
"i, for one, welcome our new atomic overlords" - GoldBlooded
by atomsareenough on Dec 30, 2011 10:40 AM PST up reply actions
I’m upset with the ease at which Texas ran the ball for the game-clinching 3rd TD. The D needed a stop or turnover, at least a FG attempt, and when you have a good front 7 and the Pac12 DPotY, you shouldn’t give up a TD on 2 carries. I know field position sucked, but so did the results of their effort.
"We lose to Stanford in many sports, but if you want to make a Cal team quit, bring a weapon."
--Coach Clark
can't put that one on the D
they were exhausted, and the Texas short yardage back is 250 lbs. that was a losing battle at that point in the game.
our offensive ineptitude fucked them over a few too many times. the D deserves a pass for that score.
I am THE DOOMBRINGER. We Are Cal.
Disagree, 1) you could equally blame our D that we didn’t win the game 3-0, and 2) at that point our D had been on the field too long, and 3) for me it was the second TD; we had just taken the lead on a great drive, the D was rested ( after halftime); that was the one that drove me nuts.
Am I known as Cugel the Clever for nothing?
Eat shit and die
"We lose to Stanford in many sports, but if you want to make a Cal team quit, bring a weapon."
--Coach Clark
I agree with everything you just typed.
I feel like Carp is being a bit too harsh on the defense. If you had told me before the game that the Cal offense would turn the ball over five times and Anger would shank a punt that allowed Texas to start at midfield, I would assume Cal would have been blown out of this game.
However, despite the 5 turnovers, shanked punt and short fields Texas was only able to put up 21 points on us. The Cal defense kept us in that game or else the final score would have been much more lopsided.
The Cal offense was very frustrating that night, they would take two steps forward and five steps back.
their fail
"We lose to Stanford in many sports, but if you want to make a Cal team quit, bring a weapon."
--Coach Clark
2) Game managing Maynard turned into FCS-level Maynard
Which I’m sure is completely unrelated to the FCS level of protection and run blocking he was getting.
Christ, how many times do we have to go over this? The quarterback can not do it on his own. A great quarterback can make up for bad line play, but merely bad line play in that game would have been a vast, vast improvement.
"Let me tell you a story. I was a political prisoner for two years. The instant I was released I ran to McDonald's. I had a Big Mac and a Coke.
It was fantastic."
-Toyama Koichi, US Presidential candidate from Japan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGZqOkeYbB0
I thought that was addressed in 4) and 5)? He still sucked.
"We lose to Stanford in many sports, but if you want to make a Cal team quit, bring a weapon."
--Coach Clark
Because it's always the quarterback's fault, forever and ever amen.
I guess some things never change.
For the record, I think there’s a difference between analyzing a player’s flaws and HE’S NOT A DIVISION 1 PLAYER PAWWWWWWWL
"Let me tell you a story. I was a political prisoner for two years. The instant I was released I ran to McDonald's. I had a Big Mac and a Coke.
It was fantastic."
-Toyama Koichi, US Presidential candidate from Japan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGZqOkeYbB0
I’ve given up on diss’ing Maynard. No more “Maynard G. Krebs” references. He is not a Pac-12 level quarterback. Neither am I. Not his fault. So why the hell is he starting at Cal? Tedford says, he ‘keeps plays alive with his feet’ and ‘he throws pretty well on the run’. Translated from coach speak, that means ’he’s the best we’ve got a running for his life’. My frustration is how we cannot land a capable Pac-12 quarterback, and IMO, we have been really hurt by that position over the last few years. If Tedford is the QB guru who has a history of turning out pro QB’s, from his Fresno State days through Oregon and his early years at Cal, why don’t we have one? And please don’t tell me they are in the program, because if they were they could start ahead of Maynard.
by Old Blue 1975 on Dec 31, 2011 1:08 PM PST up reply actions
He is not a Pac-12 level quarterback.
Not sure what this means, he did start, and win 5 of 10 against the Pac-12 in his first year. If he doesn’t improve by fall camp, he’s likely to be replaced; but there is a real possibility that he will improve next year.
Am I known as Cugel the Clever for nothing?
Positive note
Both the kick returners looked pretty fast and had good vision. I think they’ll fit in nicely next year whatever their increased role is.
FUTBALL IZ SRS BUSINESS GUYZ // ONLY HAVE FUN WHEN ROZ BWL
--Thoroughbred
hoping a game-changer will emerge at the returner positions…we’ve had a few “serviceable” returners over the years. KA should be utilized in the KO return for sure, injury risk or not. The guy can get 6 points whenever he has the ball and has 5+ yards away from a defender. The potential risks are at least matched with potential rewards.
"We lose to Stanford in many sports, but if you want to make a Cal team quit, bring a weapon."
--Coach Clark
Regarding KA21 as a KO returner next year, the reward is not worth the risk
KA will be our only returning WR with starting experience and probably our best playmaker on offense, it isn’t worth risking an injury on a KO return next season.
A gripe I have had over the past few games
is how late Kiesau (at least, I’m guessing it’s Kiesau) will call a check-with-me. How many times have we wasted a time out because we decided to change the play with 15 seconds left on the playclock?
Hopefully next year Maynard will be comfortable enough reading defenses that he can change the play at the line of scrimmage instead of having the coaches do it.
"Some people watch adult videos on their computer - I go to YouTube and watch Jahvid Best highlight clips. That’s what gets me going."- Jim Schwartz, Detroit Lions head coach
California Golden Blogs
agreed
the disorganization and poor clock management needs to stop.
I am THE DOOMBRINGER. We Are Cal.
I just got back from San Diego and here are my quick thoughts (Apologies if these comments have been made
in previous threads as I have not read anything).
1: The OL played like complete shit practically the whole night. MSG played ok. Galas really bad (snaps? hello?). Schwartz bad. Schwenke very bad. Cheadle terrible. This is the worst game the OL has played since fucla and it showed. I’ll have to call Schwartz out on this one: YOU WERE THE CLOSEST PLAYER TO THE BALL WHEN MAYNARD FUMBLED. WHY DID YOU GIVE UP ON THE PLAY?!?!?! BECAUSE YOU AND THE REST OF THE OL DID NOT COME TO PLAY. DON’T LEAVE YOUR GAME AT SEA WORLD next time.
2: Anger Smash? I’d rather have a guy that can consistently averages 40 yard punts with no shanks every time over a player that consistently shanks punts when it matters. This shanked punt turned the game around and led to Texas’ first score. Absolutely terrible.
3: Maynard did not play as bad as people are probably thinking. He had a few forced passes that were really bad and there were 3 drops or so. A QB needs time to throw and Maynard was under pressure most of the time.
4: Both teams sold out to stop the run. I’m not the type of person who blames playcalling all the time but Cal needed to call more stuff to take advantage of Texas man free coverage. The dangers of playing man coverage were exploited by Texas on their 2nd TD when their WR beat Anthony’s press coverage and got behind him with the safety help too far away to help.
5: Texas’ defense was pretty good. Not all the blown up plays where Cal looked bad were a result of Cal messing up. Texas’ defense had a lot of good plays to the credit.
6: Texas was blitzing from the edges and overloading one side of the offense with rushers. Cal never really adjusted to that and the results were pressure, sacks, and a fumble.
I’ll stop now. There was not much more positive things to say. I think I’ll go put in my end of the year donations now to Cal.
Regarding Anger, I agree but IIRC correctly his shanked punt didn't lead to a Texas score
I know this only because reflectinig back on the game I thought the same thing.
You are talking about Angers punt in the 1st quarter that went like 24 yards and landed around midfield right?
The first Texas score was a result of the Sofele fumble at mid field. That is, IIRC, we had so many TO’s and fumbles it is hard to remember which ones resulted in Texas scores and which ones didn’t.
The shank was midway in the 2nd quarter.
http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/playbyplay?gameId=313620251&period=2
Texas could not get anything going until this drive and did not score until this happened.
4th and 6 at CAL 24 Bryan Anger punt for 24 yards to the Cal 48, no return.
DRIVE TOTALS: CALIFORNIA drive: 3 plays 4 yards, 02:17 CALIFORNIA PUNT
Cal 3 Texas 0Texas at 7:27
1st and 10 at CAL 48 David Ash pass complete to Jaxon Shipley for 14 yards to the Cal 34 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at CAL 34 Malcolm Brown rush for no gain to the Cal 34.
2nd and 10 at CAL 34 David Ash pass complete to Blaine Irby for 30 yards to the Cal 4 for a 1ST down.
1st and Goal at CAL 4 Jaxon Shipley pass complete to David Ash for 4 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Justin Tucker extra point GOOD.
DRIVE TOTALS: TEXAS drive: 4 plays 48 yards, 01:19 TEXAS TD
Okay, that seems right to me.
During the post game thread I thought the short punt resulted in a Texas score but I was confused because people in that post (I also think the stadium scoreboard also said this) that Texas scored 14 points off of Cal turnovers.
However, it seems like Texas only scored 7 points off of Cal turnovers. They scored their first TD on a short field due to the Anger shank and they opened the 2nd half with their long TD drive.
I am not sure where people were getting the 14 points off of Cal turnovers.
They didn’t score 14 points off turnovers. If the shanked punt is classified as a turnover or likened to be just as bad as turnover, then yes, it was 14 points scored off turnovers. If not, it was only 7 which were scored off the Maynard fumble.
Yeah, that was my bad. Amazing that they only scored 7 points from 5 TOs, then. Though, the shanked punt did give them the ball at mid-field, so it wasn’t a full-field drive from their offense.
"i, for one, welcome our new atomic overlords" - GoldBlooded
by atomsareenough on Dec 30, 2011 2:27 PM PST up reply actions
6: Texas was blitzing from the edges and overloading one side of the offense with rushers. Cal never really adjusted to that and the results were pressure, sacks, and a fumble.
YES YES YES. For example, the play where Vaccaro leaped over Sofele, there were 2 Longhorns there rushing from that side and Sofele actually did a great job to manage to get in the way at least of both of them. What I don’t understand is how we weren’t able to get enough protection in place, especially when we were taking the time to run a check with me. Texas did keep shifting their defense until the snap, but we should’ve had an answer. Soooo many times Texas had players coming into the backfield unblocked.
"i, for one, welcome our new atomic overlords" - GoldBlooded
by atomsareenough on Dec 30, 2011 11:54 AM PST up reply actions
What I don’t understand is how we weren’t able to get enough protection in place
There’s no easy answer for that because the breakdowns occurred in different formations using different blocking schemes.
Sometimes the protection was there but somebody pooched their assignment in the blitz pickup. Other times guys got beat 1 on 1 or Cal didn’t have enough blockers to pick up the blitz (play was doomed from the start. Texas just had a better playcall dialed up – it happens).
Texas also was running a variation of the scrape exchange when Cal was doing zone read and play actions from the zone reads that blew those plays up. I don’t think anybody else tried that against Cal this year.
…can you please elaborate on that last point?
"i, for one, welcome our new atomic overlords" - GoldBlooded
by atomsareenough on Dec 30, 2011 2:27 PM PST up reply actions
The DE being read just went upfield (often he was going wide to prevent Maynard from escaping the pocket) while a safety or linebacker took over the vacated gap or went upfield as well (which would be more of a blitz). This forced Maynard to handoff on run plays or if it was a play action, he had pressure in his face immediately. I noticed Texas did a good job of keeping Maynard from going left. There was some success on designed plays with Maynard going left but there was way more pressure than usual.
Those are all good reasons, but they aren’t excuses. Either (a) our linemen got their asses whipped or (b) our coaching staff could not adjust or © some of both. I’m not sure our line was THAT bad in any game this season, so I’m leaning toward (b), but I guess you could sell me on ©. Either way, the coaching staff owns some of it.
by Old Blue 1975 on Dec 31, 2011 1:14 PM PST up reply actions
Galas got worked inside by the Texas interior DL, and once again had a couple awful shotgun snaps.
2 of those shotgun snaps led to “sacks”.
One of those I thought Maynard had time to pick up the ball and throw it away (the second one) but clearly he’s been coached just to fall on it.
Am I known as Cugel the Clever for nothing?
noticed that too.
i’m somewhat ok with it, seeing as how I have very little faith that anything better than losing 7 yards would come of Maynard trying to throw after a botched snap.
that’s where we are right now. /pukes.
I am THE DOOMBRINGER. We Are Cal.
I still think falling on it is the right thing to do, especially that night
the pass rush was coming so fast that Maynard just had to assume a Texas defender was within a few feet of him.
i agree
but it would be nice to
1. have a guy who can still make chicken salad out of chicken shit in that situation
2. have our OL give the QB time to do something depsite a bad snap
neither thing was true in the Holiday Bowl, so go ahead and fall on those Zach.
I am THE DOOMBRINGER. We Are Cal.
I think in that situation it all depends on the confidence a QB has in his OL
If the Cal OL had done a better job in pass protection perhaps Maynard has the confidence to pick up the ball and try to make something out of that play.
Yes but falling on it is the best result of a bad situation
I fear if he had tried to pick it up he would have rushed a throw and it would have been picked.
Not only were there 2 out of control snaps, but there were many, many snaps that were low or knuckling instead of spiraled but Maynard caught it anyway. However, if the QB has to concentrate so hard on just catching the snap, it’s hard for him to keep his eyes downfield. At the very least it takes a second or two of concentration away from the rest of the play developing.
There is absolutely NO excuse for this. It’s completely inexcusable for an upperclassman center who has been starting ALL SEASON LONG to be screwing up that many snaps in the 13th game of the season.
"i, for one, welcome our new atomic overlords" - GoldBlooded
by atomsareenough on Dec 30, 2011 11:57 AM PST up reply actions 2 recs
Was Guarnero ever that bad at snapping? I was not his biggest supporter but I don’t think he struggled nearly as much as Galas with the shotgun snaps hence the reason why he was starting over Galas.
I don’t remember noticing the snap issues until Galas took over.
"i, for one, welcome our new atomic overlords" - GoldBlooded
by atomsareenough on Dec 30, 2011 2:28 PM PST up reply actions
He was never bad at snapping. He was average/mediocre at everything else.
by Avinash Kunnath on Dec 30, 2011 2:41 PM PST up reply actions
There is absolutely NO excuse for this.
Agree. So who is responsible for this, 13 games in as you point out.
by Old Blue 1975 on Dec 31, 2011 12:53 PM PST up reply actions
Some Quibbles
But mainly agreement. To me the number 1 through 10 main reasons we lost was because the Texas run defense was truly stifling. Because we couldn’t run, they were able to tee off on Maynard, making our his life miserable. Our O-line looked really sub-par; both with getting any push or opening holes for running, and in pass defense.
But the frustrating thing for this Bear fan, is even given that the Texas front 7 was quite impressive, this was a winnable game, if we don’t make a ton of self inflicted mistakes. On top of all the miscues, I agree, we were out-coached, and that hurts. We had time to prepare, but they should have made better adjustments, and gone with what was working (short passes) until Texas committed to stopping that, and then go with something else.
I am one frustrated fan right now. But despite the fact that Texas’ defense was impressive – that’s no excuse for how we played, we should be able to control that.
Am I known as Cugel the Clever for nothing?
we let the Texas D dictate the offensive gameplan
it should have been the other way around. hence, we were outcoached by the Texas DC.
I am THE DOOMBRINGER. We Are Cal.
And who do you think is ultimately responsible for all this?…..I am more than frustrated over a team that has only one win against a winning team this year…and more blowout losses in the last 3 years than any team not named Wash. St. Yes, I know that has nothing to do with the Holiday Bowl but reading all this shit just brings back bad memories….sorry.
Cal-fan, one thing I’ve noticed this year is that we haven’t had any “blow-out losses”. Frustrating losses, yes. Games we should have won? Maybe, UW for sure. UCLA if we play like we should.
And yes, ultimately, Tedford is responsible for everything.
Am I known as Cugel the Clever for nothing?
Oregon was probably the only true "blow-out loss’ we had this season.
The losses to SC and ucla were ugly and borderline blow-outs.
But even the Oregon loss was nothing like a blow out; we led at halftime. And UCLA and ’SC were both winnable late in the third, my point is they were nothing like the bad losses from 09-2010.
Am I known as Cugel the Clever for nothing?
The losses this year were not nearly as bad as those from 09-2010. However, IMO that was largely due to our defense playing well in those three games (at least the 1st half of the Oregon game) that we were able to stay in those games.
The offense was terrible in those three games and if not for good efforts by our defense those three losses would have been blow-outs.
Can’t agree, we had a really solid D in 2010, that can’t be the difference.
Am I known as Cugel the Clever for nothing?
isn’t the Defense part of our team? Why would you have to separate the defense away from the team and consider it was a bad loss?
I suppose I am separating them because Tedford is supposed to be an offensive minded coach and offense is supposed to be his specialty. However, whenever we have played good/great teams it has often been our offense that has let this team down.
Luckily, this year the defense was able to step up in most games and keep the score close or the team in it despite our offensive struggles.
TBH, this season reminded me a lot of 2008. A good defense with an erratic offense led by an inconsistent QB.
the reason i asked that question is, the last couple of years, we’ve had a pretty good defense.
However, we had those really bad blow out losses to USC and Oregon (‘09) and Washington (’09), and Furd (‘10), where the not just the offense, but the defense didn’t show up either.
This year, our defense showed up on all the games (well, UCLA was really bad) so I would say that’s an improvement and would consider the losses better than the blow-outs from last 2 years.
I would add last season losses to SC and Oregon State
to that list as well.
IMO, the games where our defense didn’t show up might have had something to do with it being Pendergasts first season on the job. He seemed to do a better job this year and perhaps that has to do with him adapting and getting more comfortable with the college football game.
And who do you think is ultimately responsible for all this?
Tedford is responsible for this. Period. But he apparently has been canonized by Cal fans, so please don’t say anything bad about him.
by Old Blue 1975 on Dec 31, 2011 12:46 PM PST up reply actions
Something positive
Tavecchio was nails after that penalty forced him to re-kick; early on, I thought we might win this one a la LSU in a field goal battle after Texas’ kicker missed that short one.
Am I known as Cugel the Clever for nothing?
i was pretty concerned about Texas's speed on KO and Punt returns
was thrilled with our coverage, And Giorgio was even getting them deeper than usual!
I am THE DOOMBRINGER. We Are Cal.
You hate to end the season with a loss
but in my opinion, losing to UW at home that eliminated our postseason hope last year was worse than losing to a ranked Texas in a bowl game.
And also losing to Utah in Poinsettia felt even more awful than this one.
Either way, you still hate it when there’s another 8 months till we win a game again.
gotta say that after 5 weeks of nfl watching, it was pretty obvious from the formation what the play would be for both offenses. i don’t think i guessed wrong the whole first half. usually the nfl/college divide isn’t as drastic for me, but this really felt like watching high school ball for a good part of the game
mdwm
"Let me tell you a story. I was a political prisoner for two years. The instant I was released I ran to McDonald's. I had a Big Mac and a Coke.
It was fantastic."
-Toyama Koichi, US Presidential candidate from Japan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGZqOkeYbB0
by AERose on Dec 30, 2011 11:51 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs
This is just another chapter in the book of "I'm a Cal fan"
F#ck. What a shit game.
I'd like to smell the Roses before I die.
damn
the last time my dad and i traveled to see Cal in a bowl they beat VT in the best game i will probably ever see in person. This was by far the worst i have seen Cal play in person. I will try and remember how awesome the halftime fireworks were and the unbelievably high quality of tail in SD later that evening. thats what i get for living in the sticks i guess.
...
What bothers me is that was our best chance to beat a reeling Texas team in a game that really mattered. This is the second worst Texas team in like 20 years. If we ever want to beat Texas, it should have been now.
by Glanko on Dec 30, 2011 8:06 PM PST via mobile reply actions
in a game that really mattered.
That game didn’t really matter. It was an exhibition.
2015-16? Those are the golden eggs.
by Avinash Kunnath on Dec 30, 2011 9:25 PM PST up reply actions
the perpetual "building for the future" angle
please stop … sooo effin sick of it
that game totally mattered:
to the players
to the fans
to the university
Cal got embarrassed because Tedford fkd us again.
He is paid way too much to perform this poorly.
I’m nauseated yet again.
by the beer on Dec 31, 2011 9:52 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
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