Dammed by the Beavers - The Cal Football vs. Oregon State Report Card

Berkelium97: Each week these are looking less like report cards and more like triage tags.

	Average	Standard Deviation
Pass Offense	.316	.185
Rush Offense	.162	.139
Pass Defense	.195	.151
Rush Defense	.446	.222
Special Teams	.51	.195
Coaching	.258	.184
Overall	.209	.131
Win Chance vs. Washington	.069 (-.45)	.090

Once again special teams is the only highlight of the game. The offense scores have fallen to late-Tedford levels and the defense is doing what it has (or hasn't?) done all season.

Those UW predictions are a little surprising. We only have a 7% chance of beating a one-handed, one-legged Keith Price?

They can take away our wins, but they'll never take our awards.

AWARDS!

First we an editor's choice award to hand out. It is our great privilege to give the Tolstoy Award to:

"The pitiful decline of Cal football continues with absolutely NO HOPE of a return to power. As the Jeff Tedford era declined, the Sonny Dykes era has begun. Mediocrity in every aspect is clear .

Sonny may be successful but it is very doubtful. Jeff Tedford offered hope during his first year after the previous team (hopeless Holmoe) took us to a 1-11 season. With coach Tedford fired for declining performance and academic challenges, we are now heading for another 1-11 season which is WORSE than the previous season.

Cal is not Washington State so we should not accept the hype that we too will see small success next year. Now is the year that counts and no other.

The horrible defense and weak offense all show poor recruiting, weak coaching and an all american failure on the field.

This all falls on the shoulders of the Athletic Director and no other."

Yes, that is all one username.

Now for our usual slate of awards.

Sonny Delight

1. Maveric23	3.90 (55.7%)
2. Stay Golden	3.40 (48.6%)
3. BTown85	3.20 (45.7%)
4. sup_doe_library	3.05 (43.6%)
5. Nor-Cal Scott	3.00 (42.9%)

Only one grade above 50% and none above the typical cutoff for an F. Yep, it was that kind of game.

Sonny Yikes

1. RIP CALBANDGREAT	0.00 (0.0%)
2. schmidttymcfunstuff	0.19 (2.7%)
3. beson	0.30 (4.3%)
4. Skwahcky	0.55 (7.9%)
5. Calbasketballschool	0.90 (12.9%)

Our fifth-place finisher brings up a good point. After the past several seasons, we're probably back to being thought of as a basketball school.

The Voice of Reason

1. 1988goldenbear	.061
2. Start Zach Kline	.072
3. sacman701	.076
4. Bearly Legal	.080
5. puresilence	.099

For most of the season I've been mocking the voices of reason for their unusually high deviation scores (usually they're .03-.07), but these aren't too bad! 1988goldenbear leads the way followed by Start Zach Kline (the reader formerly known as Rose Bowl Oski). You know things are bad when puresilence is consistently among the voices of reason.

Will next week's report card be better? I certainly hope so. Let's turn it over to Sam and the comments.

Sam Fielder: Another game, another blowout, another late night, and less comments again. And yet, once again, you all deliver some laughs, some great stories of gameday, and even the great noises of the fox. WHAT? You haven't seen this video yet? Well if you want beson's comments to make any sense, go ahead and take a few minutes and watch this video. And laugh a little. After this weekend, I think we all could use it.

Pretty great right? Ok, on to the comments.

GameDay Experience
Bearly Legal: The MVP of the year has been Spencer the Mic Man. He's outstanding.
puresilence: Sad. Slowly getting colder
Jacobs.: The good thing about everyone leaving is that you can run along the side and always get the best view of the team! GO BEARS!!!
beson: Ring-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!
Gering-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!
Gering-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!
ososdeoro: Missy Franklin is unbelievable.
SoCal Oski: Several thoughts come into mind.
First, I hate these late kickoffs, because most Saturdays already involve spending time with friends and beers, and by 7:30 things can get a bit wiggy
Second, what a horrible turnout for the game. All I could hear on the tee vee were OSU fans
Third, I never thought I'd actually have to question Mike Riley's classiness, but last night I saw him morph into a complete douchenozzle by keeping his starting offense in well after the game was decided.
Nor-Cal Scott: Due to the late kickoff, the BART strike, a poor year, and the fact that I would not have been home until after 1am I did not go to a Cal home game since 2007 when I missed due to a wedding. I watched at home from the comfort of my living room.
the beer: yeah, well, the beer at Barclay's in Oaktown is pretty amazing. they currently have Weihenstephaner Hefeweizen and the Santa Clara Valley Brewing Company's Peralta Porter. it has been been determined that several hours of preloading with a combination of these two in the company of great friends results in a pleasant gameday experience, regardless of what our boys do on the field. and so to the middle aged blue referred to as the beer, this is what Cal football is all about.
Skwahcky: Emptiness. Dykes was hired to put rears in the seats but with ticket sales sliding lower at each successive game, there's a whole lotta emptiness in the stands these days. Dykes is on a short leash because of the financing thing so, if you want to see the worst coach in Cal history, better do it soon. Why you'd want to see this trainwreck is a mystery, though
Oski Disciple: It's always great at Memorial Stadium. Day night. Sunny cloudy. I love the place. The only way to enhance the experience of being there is for Cal to win. Sigh. Oh yes and the band is absolutely awesome, would that the football team was as good. Student section thinned a little too fast but those there lended their voices to the team's efforts. They're gamers.
rollonyoubears111: I watched in my hotel room in Hawaii because there were duck fans in every local hooch and grub joint. Which is all good because I had cheap beers stored away in my hotel fridge.
prd74: Saturday night I went to a retirement dinner with free food and drinks. Lots of great ex -coworkers attending (I'm retired). I watched the game unravel on my phone (Thank You Slingbox app). I had permission to watch the game from the retiree. Okay, game is over and I am already getting excited about heading to Berkeley for the next home game. My former college roommate is coming up from Los Angeles with his super nice Cal wife. My girl friend is very excited to show off her new Navy Blue and Gold Coach handbag that I bought her last week on eBay. It's awesome! We are all going to watch and applaud the Great Cal Band and keep our fingers crossed for the team. Ready for a fun time. GO BEARS!

Pass Offense
MJB: Now it's time to say it: Goff is regressing. He is regressing a lot. He needs to sit next week. Kline should get a full game, or more, to try to earn the starting QB job.
Kline looks like, at the least, he will be a more steady hand for an offense that has slipped drastically since the Northwestern game.
puresilence: I figure Kline is worth taking a shot.
schmidttymcfunstuff: Goff needs to go. I liked what I saw from Kline. Clearly they are both going to turn the ball over but at least Kline requires the opposing defense to take it from him. Kline has a bit more boxy and can make plays with his legs. He should start the rest of the season so we have time to evaluate him properly.
beson: Wa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow!
Wa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow!
Wa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow!
42 Calbear: JUST PLAIN HORRID. No coaching. At one point when Kline was in and scrambling to his right, the back slipped out into the flat about 5 to eight yard in front of Kline. Instead of running to the open area to give Kline a outlet, the back stopped with his back turned to Kline giving him nowhere to go with the ball. These players are completely lost and totally lack any fundamentals of the game.
You can say they are young, injured. or need to give time to Dykes more time but there is no excuse for a total lack of fundamentals.
De La Salle beats CAL by two touchdowns!!
RhetoriCal: First, I blame the o-line for everything. If the opposing D can rush three and drop eight and STILL get pressure, than not even Aaron Rogers could save us. That said, while I wasn't sold entirely on Kline, I'm definitely on sell mode for Goff. Right now, Kline looks more like the guy than Goff and that's all that matters. I love, and feel really bad for, our receivers.
RIP CALBANDGREAT: Start Kline, Its time we try something new. We have to try something.

sup_doe_library: Goff is slowly regressing into looking like a true freshman QB. The fumbles are now a real problem, and not just an area of concern. The INT was a bad decision. Decision-making continues to founder. But an even bigger issue is the play of the offensive line. Pressure continues to be a problem as well as failure to execute on assignments. Tagaloa continues to struggle. Hopefully Cochran comes back ready to play and the line begins to jell more, but as long as the opposing defense is putting Goff or Kline on the turf, the passing game won't improve.The redzone offense is still anemic at best. A running game would help, but so would some pass play calls out of the bone, or some good execution out of the spread--like a slant to Rodgers to go with the fades we throw. I like Kline's energy when he's in the game. His mobility adds another dimension to the offense, but he needs to improve his accuracy in general.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Results wasn&#39;t what we wanted but were going to keep coming harder and harder don&#39;t worry. Friends,Family,Fans hang in there for us thanks 👌</p>&mdash; jeffrey coprich (@JuJuClose) <a href="https://twitter.com/JuJuClose/statuses/391836493347422208">October 20, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Run Offense
Maveric23: It looks better with a mobile QB.
beson: Hatee-hatee-hatee-ho!
Hatee-hatee-hatee-ho!
Hatee-hatee-hatee-ho!
Nor-Cal Scott: What run offense? Nice to see JuJu and Ervin gets some nice runs.
gumibears: Always play the backups cause they seem to run better than the projected starter.
Oski Disciple: Is that the thing we're we give the ball to someone and he gets tackled immediately? I remember not so long ago when the guy given the ball would actually run forward for a little while before being stopped. I miss that and hope we try it again sometime. Maybe some different personnel would make it work in the future.
1988goldenbear: Who would have predicted that Coprich and Ervin would be our most productive backs at this point in the season? More power to them, let's hope they stay healthy. But again, a lot of the production falls on the O-line and whether or not we can effectively make holes for the RBs.
It did look like Kline sells the handoff better than Goff, and it also looks like he has better wheels.

Pass Defense
the townie: There was very little pass defense.
beson: Joff-tchoff-tchoffo-tchoffo-tchoff!
Tchoff-tchoff-tchoffo-tchoffo-tchoff!
Joff-tchoff-tchoffo-tchoffo-tchoff!
Nor-Cal Scott: Kam Jackson played a nice game, against one of the best WR's in the country. Walker also showed he can play, he's getting better.
gumibears: Decent against everyone except Cooks and tight ends.
sacman701: No surprise, our feeble pass rush and green DBs got shredded by the best passing attack in the nation. We tried to mix things up by blitzing, but the Beavs usually burned us with a screen when we tried to blitz. Maybe we need to do a better job of disguising blitzes.
Goldenboiler: We are still trying, that's good
1988goldenbear: The night went about as expected facing the caliber of QB/WR combo of Mannion and Cooks. And there were several plays where Kam had good coverage but Cooks just fought harder for the ball. And then toss in at least one PI call that was BS and one or more maddening personal fouls when we were able to hit Mannion... frustrating. But overall, the defense seems to be making some progress overall. It would be nice to stop handing the opposing team free possessions deep in our territory.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Progression is the concept</p>&mdash; Kam Jackson (@Kameron3Jackson) <a href="https://twitter.com/Kameron3Jackson/statuses/392175326433775616">October 21, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Run Defense
beson: Jacha-chacha-chacha-chow!
Chacha-chacha-chacha-chow!
Chacha-chacha-chacha-chow!
ososdeoro: It wasn't bad, really.
gumibears: Decent only cause Oregon st. can't run.
justbear: Oregon State has no running threat, so our defense was fair.
Oski Disciple: It's not so bad. Course it worked better against this OSU than the one we played earlier in the season. But relative to the rest of squad its decent.
We're not going to complete a trifecta and play Oklahoma State too are we?
1988goldenbear: There was virtually no running in the OSU game plan, and I think we out-rushed them overall. So aside from when Riley finally decided to stop throwing deep routes to Cooks and started running the ball, there was not much to defend.

Special Teams
the townie: Missed FG no bueno.
beson: Fraka-kaka-kaka-kaka-kow!
Fraka-kaka-kaka-kaka-kow!
Fraka-kaka-kaka-kaka-kow!
ososdeoro: Another run out from 4 yards deep in the end zone. Missed FG. This has been the highlight of the team but it seems the disease has spread to this unit.
justbear: Vince D'Automatico missed a FG. Khalfani had a nice return.
We are still kicking off out of bounds
rollonyoubears111: poopier. a missed field goal and kicking out of bounds at kickoff? c'mon man!

Coaching
MJB: On defense, the coaches deserve credit for a unit that is showing a lot of fight. On offense -- I know the coaches are disappointed with the O-line and Goff, but whatever the coaches are doing isn't making it better. The offense looked better with Kline in there, but that just makes you wonder why the coaches had to wait until Goff's third turnover of the game to put Kline in the game.
Maveric23: Some questionable offensive calls on 3rd and 4th downs.
schmidttymcfunstuff: Offense is steadily moving backwards but defense shows flashes of life. I think if we had more bodies back there the defense would semi-mediocre instead of god awful.
beson: A-hee-ahee ha-hee!
A-hee-ahee ha-hee!
A-hee-ahee ha-hee!
42 Calbear: The BUH 40 defense was true to the name. Lost players, can't tackle, defense linemen never raise their arms to tip passes or impede the view of the opposing QB. How good can Dykes be when he has a Defensive Coordinator who couldn't coordinate or coach a turd to stink.
The overall yardstick for coaching in not wins or losses but is the team showing improvement. This team is getting worst each week and after seven weeks makes the same mistakes over and over and over again.
RhetoriCal: I've got no clue what to say about the coaching from our guys, so I won't say anything. I do have a strong opinion about OSU's coaching. I don't care if a team wants to keep their starters in regardless of score, it's our teams job to stop them and, frankly, the more quality reps our young guys get the better. However, going for a touchdown on fourth and goal was a serious dick move and has made me think a lot less of Riley, whom I used to kinda like despite his habit of killing my dreams.
Skwahcky: We know that Dykes is not *trying* to be the worst coach in Cal history, because if he were he would surely not be succeeding. So far, he pretty much is and the whole 'can't block, can't tackle' thing says it all. Dykes's performance is an embarrassment to his team, his employer and the alums.
CoBears: For a "best week of practice yet," I'm not seeing it on the field. Honestly, I expect more out of the offense. We just aren't getting it done, particularly in the red zone. We can't win any more games this year without offense, as our patchwork defense isn't going to win any games for us.
BTown85: Monty and Coach G will do a great job of coaching this season......
PRD74: I like Dykes' jacket. Mike White's and Bruce Snyder's first years at Cal were pretty sad, too.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Thank you to all the Cal fans who made it out Memorial Stadium tonight <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23GoBears&amp;src=hash">#GoBears</a></p>&mdash; Cal Football (@CalFootball) <a href="https://twitter.com/CalFootball/statuses/391807096112427010">October 20, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Overall Performance
Bearly Legal: All hail Spencer the Mic Man.
the townie: At this point in the season there isn't much to be said. It's a lost year. At least the kids are getting experience and still fighting.
Jacobs.: I was glad I hung around and got to see Kline play. He looked like he really really wanted to play, while Goff looked like he wanted to be elsewhere. Also enjoyed hanging out with the solid core of die hard fans all the way to the end. Also, with Kline at QB we had a quick, explosive offense that found ways to not only move the ball, but to actually score. I liked that.
beson: A-oo-oo-oo-ooo!
Woo-oo-oo-ooo!
SoCal Oski: The only thing I noticed is that, even though he wasn't any more effective than Goff, the offense seemed to have more pop when Kline was in. They got a TD drive, they looked more energetic, and just had that feeling that they could actually do something. This is the second game in a row where I didn't get that feeling with Goff taking the snaps.
This is already an incredibly long year, and there are still five games to go.
the beer: Santa Clara Valley Brewing Company's Peralta Porter
Weihenstaphener Hefeweizen
sacman701: With our weak pass rush and secondary, we weren't going to stop Ore St unless they stopped themselves. To stay in this game, our offense would have had to play lights out. But with a bad offensive line and freshman QBs, we just aren't capable of that. We just don't have the horses to hang with good teams. Note that Northwestern is not a good team, as they just got punked at home by Minnesota.
Goldenboiler: Offense is regressing as the defense keeps showing effort
Start Zach Kline (previously known as Rose Bowl Oski: Start Zach Kline. With a shoddy offensive line and no running game, Kline brings another dimension to the offense. Goff might be a more accurate passer, but his confidence is clearly shaken. Given how stagnant the offense has been the past couple of weeks, the coaching staff has to try something new. Start Zach Kline.
RIP CALBANDGREAT: I watched the whole thing, We just can't give up.
CoBears: I had planned to go to drive up to Seattle (from Portland, where I live now) for the Cal-UW game, but watching this game changed my mind. I can't bring myself to drive 3 hours to get whalloped yet again. It's depressing enough on TV, but at least I can go to sleep more quickly after the game ends when I watch in my living room. This has been a disheartening season, and will probably continue to be so.
sup_doe_library: Discouraging day and tough game to watch. It's hard to see our prior strengths flounder, but on the plus side, the defense is no longer the team's biggest issue (fine, maybe it's sharing that designation with the redzone offense). Was tough to watch Riley run up the score, I would have liked to have seen some statement hits from the defense on Mannion (which we did get in the form of two 15 yard personal fouls) to temper the throwing the ball while up 32 points shenanigans, but in the end, we lost this game from the 2Q on in a big way.
BTown85: I'm almost too depressed to fill out a report card, and I LOVE the report card.....

So thanks again to all of you who took the time to leave some great comments. You really are the best fans. GO BEARS!

<h4>More from California Golden Blogs:</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.californiagoldenblogs.com/2013/10/21/4860816/cal-olympic-sports-recap-mens-soccer-and-womens-swimming-shined?utm_source=californiagoldenblogs&utm_medium=nextclicks&utm_campaign=blogs">Cal Olympic Sports Recap: Men's Soccer and Women's Swimming shined</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.californiagoldenblogs.com/cal-bears-osu-beavers-2013/2013/10/21/4860706/cal-football-does-sonny-dykes-stick-with-jared-goff-or-turn-to-zach?utm_source=californiagoldenblogs&utm_medium=nextclicks&utm_campaign=blogs">Cal football: Does Sonny Dykes stick with Jared Goff or turn to Zach Kline?</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.californiagoldenblogs.com/2013/10/21/4857704/cal-vs-oregon-state-postgame-thoughts?utm_source=californiagoldenblogs&utm_medium=nextclicks&utm_campaign=blogs">Cal vs Oregon State postgame thoughts</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.californiagoldenblogs.com/2013/10/20/4857746/cal-vs-oregon-state-postgame-notes?utm_source=californiagoldenblogs&utm_medium=nextclicks&utm_campaign=blogs">Cal vs. Oregon State: Postgame Notes</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.californiagoldenblogs.com/2013/10/21/4860558/this-week-in-the-pac-12-disillusionment-week?utm_source=californiagoldenblogs&utm_medium=nextclicks&utm_campaign=blogs">This Week In The Pac-12: Disillusionment Week</a></li>
</ul>