Golden Nuggets: Zach Maynard Vows Improvement Next Week Against Colorado

From throwing a pick in his first pass as a Bear to going 3/5 for 42 yards with two crucial third-down conversions on his first sustained drive, Zach Maynard certainly had a debut to remember.  Thankfully, he put together several big plays to give the Bears a 36-21 victory over Fresno State.

Tedford commented on Maynard's debut:

On QB Zach Maynard:
"I think he would say he wishes he would play better. It was good for him seeing game speed; this was his first live play. He didn't have any delay of game calls - he handled the clock well. He made good decisions, except the first ball. I'm not sure what happened there. After that, he threw the ball when he needed to. He made some plays with his legs to get us out of bad field position - we had bad field position all day. He made some big throws and some big runs. After the first pass, he just shook it off. Early in the game he was playing a little fast, but as the game progressed he calmed down. He adds a dimension to the offense, being able to run the ball around. Overall he played okay. He missed a couple balls, but also made a great play down the middle of the field to Marvin (Jones). He slid to his left (out of the blitz) and threw it right on the money. There is a lot of room for improvement, but all in all we are 1-0."

Maynard spoke to the media after the game

On self and team assessment of the first game of the season

"Four-and-a half, five out of 10 I felt like. A lot of mental mistakes and not being very consistent with the ball. We had some good plays, but we've got to be a lot better than this. A lot of mental mistakes from our guys along with first game jitters. We got them all out and we're going to be ready for Colorado next week."
...
On bouncing back on the next offensive series after the interception

"It was very important. I got to the sidelines, talked to my guys and they rallied around me. Then we got out and drove the ball at will.'

On further describing the interception and the speed of play against Fresno State
"Well, I rushed the pass a little bit. I just felt as if it was going to break earlier for me, but it didn't. I threw it up field and it got picked. As the game progressed, the speed is a lot faster during the game, even more so than practice and I haven't gotten hit in a long time, so as the course of the game changed, I felt a lot better." 

After the jump Ted Miller predicts the Bears will end up in the Sun Bowl, media outlets break down Maynard's performance, and Tedford explains why Anger was using the rugby-style punt.

Cal Football

• Ted Miller projects the Bears to go to the Sun Bowl.  This is the equivalent of a 4th/5th place finish in the entire conference (depending on whether we're ahead of USC).  He has Stanford going to the Rose Bowl, though...
• What did Ted Miller and the rest of us learn this week?  Next week is "measuring stick" week for many teams, including Colorado who wants redemption after last year's blowout loss.
• The pair of Marvin Jones and Keenan Allen earned one of Ted Miller's coveted helmet stickers.
• SBN Bay Area recaps the game.
• SBN Bay Area reviews the positives and negatives of Maynard's debut.  Positives: chemistry with Allen and Jones, mobility, and sideline throws.  Negatives: sloppy mechanics at times, accuracy issues after the first quarter, going through his progressions after the first two options, poor snaps from Galas, and footwork.  Still, the future is bright at QB.
• BearTerritory recaps the game.  Particularly interesting is this quote from Tedford on the rugby punts:

"These guys come after you pretty hard, and they had everybody up there coming at you," Tedford said. "So, you just -- we didn't do it all day, but we did it most of the day and that was mainly to move the pocket and get the ball off, and not let them have a chance to block one.

• JO recaps the game and includes some photos.
• JO has news and notes from the press box, including the list of players who made their debut with the Bears.
• Zach Maynard may not blossom into Aaron Rodgers (at least, not this season), says Mercury News' Tim Kawakami, but he is a QB to give Cal fans hope.
• CalBears.com recaps the game.  They also have a photo gallery.
• Cal Athletics released an 18-page summary of the game with stats, play-by-play, and much more.
• Trevor Guyton's TD was his first touchdown since he started playing organized football.
• The Fresno Bee's sunshine pump is out-of-order after yesterday's game.