LeonPowe: Not really no. Well only that our young talent is still out there making plays - just not finishing all the way. Bigelow, McCain, Sebastian these guys are still showing up. Our guys are still playing hard, but its not getting results.
TwistNHook: Very few. Losing 21-3 to Stanford is a frustrating pill to take. Most people went into this game with some modicum of hope. Yes, Stanford has been to back to back bowl games, but the Luck era is over. They've struggled recently and were very close to a 3 game losing streak. As Kodiak noted, they've scored as many TDs on the road as they have discovered elements. ZING!
But, what positives are there? Well, Cal did shut down the Stanford offense in the 2nd half, pointswise.
Let's look at the drive chart:
STAN 3rd C49 13:02 Punt C40 10:58 Downs 4-9 2:04
STAN 3rd S20 09:32 Punt C40 05:43 Punt 7-40 3:49
STAN 3rd S20 02:54 Punt S48 13:15 Punt 8-28 4:39
STAN 4th C42 11:39 Downs C16 09:18 Interception 6-26 2:21
STAN 4th S05 05:14 Interception C14 00:00 End of half 9-81 5:14
In their first drive, they went 9 total yards and turned the ball over on downs. Then, they went 40 yards, but punted. Only 28 yards (in 8 plays) in the next drive and they had to punt. The next drive, they only went 26 yards (on 6 plays), but that drive ended with an interception. The last drive was basically Stanford doing a 5 minute long victory formation. They did manage to 81 yards, but by then the game was essentially over.
The offense could not get anything started, but the D did its job in the 2nd half. Credit should go to them.
Berkelium97: I missed the live telecast and had to watch a recording of the game. As a result, my entire day wasn't ruined, just the last couple hours. I feel sorry for those of you who've had to suffer through this agony for about 8 hours longer than I have!
Kodiak: In honor of my late grandfather, we made his favorites for our tailgate: my grandmother's special fried chicken, bbq spareribs, oven fries, and coleslaw. It made me smile remembering all the games that we went to as a family while I was growing up.
On the field, the defense stepped up in the 2nd half and prevented us from being completely blown out. Brendan Bigelow is looking strong as well as fast.
TwistNHook: Great way to honor your grandfather, Kodiak.
Here is another positive: We actually cut down on the penalties.
5 for 63 for Cal. Stanford had 9 for 90. Silver lining, perhaps, but good to see things more in the right direction there.
Kodiak: While we're looking at positives, my parents reported that the Men and Women's Basketball exhibition went very well. In particular, they were impressed by Lindsay Gottlieb. She really engages well with the fans and has a great vision for promoting the team as more than just players but as student-athletes with unique personalities.
We'd also be remiss if we didn't give a shout out to the Cal students. They filled their section and absolutely brought it all game long.
I was also impressed with the turn-out for the pre-game Bonfire(less) Rally. Even if they had to bring out some old washed up guy to lead some cheers, it looked like a great event.
Unclesam22: I got to watch the game on my TV instead of a stream, which was nice. The defense did not allow any points in the 2nd half, which was good.
JahvidKnowsBest: I really like how our young guys showed up to play on Saturday. Sebastian played well as usual, Bigelow had a few really nice plays, McCain was a monster. I'm confident in saying that we are going to move forward (next season and beyond) from here based on our young talent alone. Outside of that, there are not many positives besides the fact that we didn't get shutout or completely blown out at home. Our pass defense was able to play decently (Marc Anthony interception), despite the fact that we were getting utterly dominated upfront. Other than that, we lost to a physically dominant, better coached team, so I wasn't very surprised in regards to the outcome.
NorCalNick: There were some nice special teams moments. If things had gone just a little differently Cal might have had two return touchdowns on the game.
Ohio Bear: Cal got off to a good start forcing the turnover. And Cal did a somewhat unbelievable job to shut Stanfurd out in the second half. Other that: I got nothin'. This was a deflating Big Game performance.
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