Golden Nuggets: All the quotes heading into the Cal-Wazzu game

The Bears chat about the Cougs and the head Coug chats about the Bears.

By Leland Wong Sep 30, 2014, 3:30pm PDT

Who's ready for pregame quotes? Tuesdays mean it's your time to get into the heads of our coaches and players (and the opponents') to figure out how they're feeling about this upcoming game.

But first, the team revisited a sore subject from the Colorado games: penalties.

Dykes calls personal fouls on Saturday "pretty close ... there's a fine line there," and that there were no egregious penalties.
— Ryan Gorcey (@RGBearTerritory) September 30, 2014

Penalties: "We've got to get better. There's always a little bit of a correlation between number of plays and penalties," Dykes says.
— Ryan Gorcey (@RGBearTerritory) September 30, 2014

Moving past those penalties and things that are out of the teams' hands, let's check in with the defense and S Michael Lowe.

"Screens, you have to make the tackle. Some things in the game off football, you're not always going 2 be able 2 stop or prevent," says Lowe
— Ryan Gorcey (@RGBearTerritory) September 30, 2014

"The Colorado game, that helped us pull together as a team," Lowe said.
— Ryan Gorcey (@RGBearTerritory) September 30, 2014

Speaking of the secondary, the Bears discussed losing Stefan McClure and the rise of Griffin Piatt.

Not having McClure: "We have 2 pick up the pieces as they lay. W/ @GPiatt3 stepping in ready to play, I don't think we've lost a beat."
— Ryan Gorcey (@RGBearTerritory) September 30, 2014

But what about the linebackers, like Jalen Jefferson, Hardy Nickerson, and Jake Kearney?

"Jalen Jefferson has really improved. He's been much more consistent. Jalen's some1 who's capable of being a really good player" -- Dykes
— Ryan Gorcey (@RGBearTerritory) September 30, 2014

"I think we've gotten a little bit more out of @younghardy_ than we've anticipated," says Dykes, given his injury.
— Ryan Gorcey (@RGBearTerritory) September 30, 2014

"@Jkearn33 was very well coached at the College of San Mateo, and I think that made his transition faster," says Dykes.
— Ryan Gorcey (@RGBearTerritory) September 30, 2014

But there was no shortage of praise for RB Daniel Lasco.

"He look stronger when he runs through tackles. he's explosive, he's fast, he's becoming an all-around back" -- @JaredGoff16 on @DLasco2
— Ryan Gorcey (@RGBearTerritory) September 30, 2014

The run game isn't the only part of the offense that's looking pretty, as the passing game is working like a fine-tuned machine.

.@JaredGoff16 on deep balls: "It's the receivers. They're running great routes. They're perfecting their streaks and their posts"
— Ryan Gorcey (@RGBearTerritory) September 30, 2014

One particular receiver having a big year is Kenny Lawler (@K_Law2nice).

Dykes says 4 things make @K_Law2nice as good as he is: Big hands, good body control, improved technique, trust from @JaredGoff16
— Ryan Gorcey (@RGBearTerritory) September 30, 2014

This all results in a pretty powerful offense, as discussed by OL Chris Borrayo (@ckb510).

"It's been kind of a shock how many points we're putting up," says @ckb510. Grades O at B+ or A-
— Ryan Gorcey (@RGBearTerritory) September 30, 2014

"Getting told after the NW game that our run game wasn't as good as we thought it was, we needed to pick it up," says @ckb510
— Ryan Gorcey (@RGBearTerritory) September 30, 2014

Fun fact: #Cal has more rushing attempts than passes this season.
— Ryan Gorcey (@RGBearTerritory) September 30, 2014

"We've probably made more big plays this year than any of us anticipated," Dykes says.
— Ryan Gorcey (@RGBearTerritory) September 30, 2014

"That's a gradual progression from year 1 to year 2 in this offense." -Dykes
— Cal Football (@CalFootball) September 30, 2014

In terms of production, that progression seems a little more than gradual, coach.

But let's return to Borrayo and get some insight into how big of a leader he was last year, as a true freshman who wasn't even supposed to be a starter.

.@CKB510 says that "it's been night and day" from when he gave an impassioned locker room speed after Big Game last year, to now.
— Ryan Gorcey (@RGBearTerritory) September 30, 2014

Borrayo also transitioned to looking ahead to the WSU game.

On #Wazzu's defensive front: "We'll be ready for them," says @ckb510. "They'll be one of the better defenses we've played."
— Ryan Gorcey (@RGBearTerritory) September 30, 2014

"You've got to become a good road team and enjoy playing on the road. I've always enjoyed coaching on the road," says Dykes.
— Ryan Gorcey (@RGBearTerritory) September 30, 2014

"There's nothing more satisfying than beating a team on their home field," Dykes says.
— Ryan Gorcey (@RGBearTerritory) September 30, 2014

Even though Leach is known for his pass-heavy attack, are the Bears relying on that certainty to just focus on the pass? They might not, after being tricked by Arizona...

Dykes on playing a pass-heavy team: "We kind of thought going into the AZ game that they would run the ball. They threw it 73 times."
— Ryan Gorcey (@RGBearTerritory) September 30, 2014

WSU Coach Mike Leach took some time away from rambling about who-knows-what to give his thoughts on the Bears in anticipation of our match-up.

Mike Leach on Cal this year compared to last year "they are a more inspired unit" Also called more physical on both lines.
— Ted Miller (@TedMillerRK) September 30, 2014

"Their defense is familiar with what we do," Leach says.
— Ryan Gorcey (@RGBearTerritory) September 30, 2014

Asked about #Cal's defense, Leach says "I think they've played pretty good teams. I think Arizona's a real explosive team."
— Ryan Gorcey (@RGBearTerritory) September 30, 2014

"They have a good, flashy running back," Leach says of @DLasco2
— Ryan Gorcey (@RGBearTerritory) September 30, 2014

But the good news is that we're still flying around out there.

"Cal seems to run pretty well," Leach says. "They have athletic guys that fly around to the football."
— Ryan Gorcey (@RGBearTerritory) September 30, 2014

Before you check out the other Cal links, take the time to vote Football Jeffrey Coprich to be Captain of the Allstate Good Works Team and Women's Swimming & Diving's Missy Franklin for the Perseverance Award (only 1% behind Michael Phelps!) and Female Athlete of the Year!