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Cal Football vs. Washington Report Card: The Streak Is OVER!

A satisfying, albeit stressful, win that ended Cal's woes against Washington and moved the Golden Bears to 4-0. So what did you think of the big win?

By Sam Fielder and Berkelium97
Jennifer Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Berkelium97: Another week, another demon slain.  After a decade of agony, we finally won another game in Seattle.  And we did it in a most unexpected manner: with defense!  In an incredible turn of events, pass defense is the highest rated category.  After surrendering 9500 passing yards over the past two seasons (that's nearly 5.5 miles), we've held our third opponent this season under 200 passing yards.  Until this season, only twice in the Sonny Dykes era had we held an opponent under 200 passing yards: Sacramento State last season and Oregon in that water polo match in 2013.  Run defense also rates highly, higher than either offensive category.  It certainly is nice to win with defense.

Average Standard Deviation
Pass Offense .706 .124
Rush Offense .666 .134
Pass Defense .827 .106
Rush Defense .746 .128
Special Teams .631 .204
Coaching .671 .189
Overall .756 .114
Win Chance vs. Wazzu 84.5% (+8.7%) 9.6

Aside from some dropped passes, spotty pass protection, and a few too many inside runs in the red zone, the offense had a decent day.  We penalized them for the aforementioned shortcomings, but it was a respectable performance against a tough UW defense.  Special teams had the highest standard deviation of the week, as we weren't sure whether to reward Anderson for kicking a couple long field goals or to punish them for more kickoff woes.  Ultimately, special teams suffered the lowest score of the week.  Coaching did not fare particularly well this week, although these are not the final numbers.  Sonny challenged a few of the report cards, so I have to wait for the Pac-12 to finish reviewing them (which should be in time for next year's Washington game).

We're not too concerned about facing a Wazzu team that lost to Portland State earlier this season, as our predictions of a win have climbed nearly 9%.  Hopefully we don't have a repeat of last year's game.  I don't think our hearts could take it.

Awards

Editor's Choice

For the second week in a row we have an Editor's Choice award!  You all have earned the Say My Name Award!

For the first time since we started doing these report cards back in 2009 or 2010, everyone provided a name with the report card!  For whatever reason, a large number of report cards usually have blanks in the "Name" category.  Not this week!

And now for our tried and true triumvirate.

Sonny Delight

Here are our five most positive report cards of the week.

Name Grade
1. FiatLux 7.00 (100.0%)
1. Mike Taka 7.00 (100.0%)
1. Rocksanddirt 7.00 (100.0%)
4. Goldenlikethebear 6.80 (97.1%)
5. CalBear91 6.20 (88.6%)

FiatLux? What a surprise!  Mike Taka and Rocksanddirt also gave perfect scores while Goldenlikethebear and Calbear91 round out the top five.

Sonny Yikes

Now we hear from those who got stuck sitting by a particularly annoying section of UW fans.

Name Grade
1. Mitchgobears 2.93 (41.9%)
2. Got couth 3.64 (52.0%)
3. Piedmont 3.65 (52.1%)
4. golden oso 3.70 (52.9%)
4. j.lee 3.70 (52.9%)

WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF

That would drive anyone insane.

The Voice of Reason

Finally, we have those whose report cards were closest to the community average.

Name Deviation
1. 1988goldenbear .0374
2. #BearRaid .0397
3. dahim0301 .0462
4. VolCrush .0482
5. 17jahsi .0495

Last season 1988goldenbear was a regular amount the VoR winners and has reclaimed the throne this week.  Congratulations on staying so level-headed despite the fact that we're ranked for the first time in over five years.

And now we turn it over to Sam, who has rounded up the best and brightest of your comments.

Sam Fielder: Huge number of comments this week again. You all are really delivering the goods on these report cards and I truly enjoy reading them all and reliving the game and seeing your insights. Keep up the good work!

GameDay Experience

LEONPOWE: I am serious about Cal giving me heart palpitations. Why do we need to make it interesting?

Jacobs.: Drank half a bottle of wine. I am ok.

BTown85: Glad I had my cardiologist on speed dial......

Bowles Hall: How many fans are dead from heart attacks after this week and last week? What will the toll be from this season?

TrumanHugh: I am thrilled with this win, and I promise to enjoy it. (I just wish Cal would learn how to secure a lead and maintain it to the end. I wish they could find a way to keep the pedal on the gas all the way through and drive home a victory.)

Willis Chong: Again, the Pac-12 Network announcers seem not to understand the rules of college football. Thankfully, I don't listen to them that much.

FrmG8r: 5 turnovers and we win by 6? No peace this year. One more week to prepare for the buzz saw.

Young_bear: I was at the game and that place got LOUD. Especially late in the 4th quarter.

Rocksanddirt: Didn't actually get to watch much of the game. Thanks to whomever does the goldenblogs twitter updates.

sacalum66: Too nervous to watch the 4th quarter, so I took a nice long walk. When I came back, we had won. Watched the DVR. I think I'll do this more often.

The Unsung: I just want to give Seattle a shout out for coming through with a perfect sunny day.

Bowlesman: Where's the aspirin? Gotta' say, despite a bunch of mistakes and bad breaks, our boys did not give up in a very tough house. On PAC12 online, I could hear fan comments, many of which I have never heard Bear fans say about Washington. It was a sweet win, but torture.

ABVidale: 1. I'm getting too old for this.

2. Pac-12 refereeing continues to maintain its high standards (cough, cough) ...of lousiness. It wasn't bias toward one team or another; rather, it was just general shoddiness.

Joe Bandsmen: The first game of the season I find myself stuck behind a screen having to watch. The refs were atrocious to both teams. This game was a textbook example of why they all need to be sent to training or have their cans kicked.

coolingfan: Welcome back, Cal defense. Where have you been all these years? Thank you for winning the game for us. I'm so proud of you.

FiatSlug: My experience was only detracted by Ted Robinson's announcing.

Fire Art Howe Now!: I understand that many of you are against drugs and prostitution, but the coke and hookers are what got me through the game.

Goldenlikethebear: I haven't been this excited since marshawn drove the injury cart.

heyalumnigo: Awesome!!! Shout out to fiatlux for getting me a ticket. Husky stadium is pretty good and has a very good view of the bay. Had fun hanging out with Evans Hall Escape, Daveman and son, and fiat. Post game seeing the players come out was cool. fiat knows everyone and introduced us to everyone. Met Coach and Mrs Coach, Goff, Lawler, Treggs, Borrayo (absolutely huge hands), Stephen Anderson, Pawlawski, among others. They were all really nice. Asked our names if they forgot. All the players loved Daveman's son.

Ososdeoro: I felt like I was going to throw up the whole game, because one always knew the comeback was going to happen.

golden oso: Once again, game day tacos sealed the victory. Going forward, I will be having tacos every game day despite what's on the menu at the tailgate.

Rose Bowl Oski: Ted Robinson wasn't as annoying as usual, and he was a huge step up from Gus Johnson.

FiatLux: A few things... remodeled Husky Stadium is mucho nicer than old Husky Stadium. Huge difference. Great setting... Not as great as Memorial, of course, but pretty stunning none-the-less.

Husky fans by and large were totally nice... I think years of mediocrity has finally humbled them a bit.

Small but vocal Cal contingent and I thought the Straw hat band and in particular the director did a great job.

We brought a huge California state flag and help it as the players all entered... one of the people holding it? Kate Dykes. She is seriously awesome.

I had Joe Starkey on my flight back this morning, so it felt like an official cap to the end of a Cal road trip weekend.

Nick T: My....heart....can't....take....this....any....more.....

cruidzoid: Talking politics at the bar while the game is on. What a Berkeley thing to do.

PRD74: I woke up wanting to beat the huskies in the worst way. Was it the embarrassing loss last year at Home which started the sinking of the season or the long losing streak? No, it is because the uw has the douchiest fans in the Pac12. fucla, suc, big zero, pitchforks all have annoying fans, but they are super blood mooned eclipsed by the sheer quantity and consistent d*ckness of the huskie "fans". Remember their delusional comments about how JT was going to be their coach? Now it was how a new kid was going to best the possible number one QB in the NFL draft. A huge Thank You to the Blue Team. Way to Go Bears!

Pass Offense

jadeleo: STOP DROPPING BALLS. and STOP FUMBLING.

sf-gigantes: Lots of drops, but also tight coverage by a good defense. Strong as always.

Calinative UMstudent: Need to Put more on Goff's plate. They run too much.

gumibears: Quite a few drops, but thats cause we expect perfection now. Treggs TD catch was on the money.

dantheman007: This game was tough. The pass offense could of been so much better, but too many dropped passes, by the usually sure handed CAL receivers.

dahim0301: Seemed out of sync for much of the game... I think credit for that goes to UW's top-level defense

I married a Longhorn: Poor protection throughout the game. The O-line seemed mystified by the stunts.

Calarchaitect75: Lawler dropped some key balls....

ballboy: Washington did a good job disrupting Goff, but he still got it done. The numbers partly worse due to dropped passes by the receivers.

Throwtheballmoredykes: We need to throw the ball even more. And you might say, "well we threw for 350 yards didn't we?"

Yes, but we should have been throwing the ball throughout 3rd and first half of the 4th quarter way more than we did. Especially against a team like UW which was big bruisers up on their line that our O-line struggles to move.

CATCH THE GODDAMN BALL: CATCH. THE. GOD. DAMN. FOOTBALL.

I understand that Washington is a great defensive team and all, but there were half a dozen drops that should have busted this game wide open. Probably one of Goff's worst games offensively, as he threw under 60% completion and averaged about 3 yards per pass play. Pass protection vacillated between porous and sidelined from injuries.

The Unsung: Can Darius Powe get some love for having his best statistical day ever? All he does is tie a career best six catches while averaging a first down each time.

hk_bear: Wasnt our best, but good enough to get the job done. Goff had 2 bad decisions at the end of the the first half which may have cost us a score and himself an interception. there were another few passes that were off the fingers of treggs or thrown behind andersen - and the kLaw drops - things that should be fixable. Sun in the eyes of goff in the 2h might have been a factor.

Jacksonian hitocracy: Goff continues to show that he is a stud. Atypically missed a few throws but overall another very nice performance. Looking forward to seeing him in the NFL. Lawler had a couple drops - if he is to take his game to another level I think he needs to get a little tougher catching balls in the middle of the field, a la Stephen Anderson. Where has Davis gone in the passing game?

Slims: The O-Line shored up pretty well - only four sacks given up and I think most of those were in the first half, right? Goff only completed 60% of his passes today but there were a TON of drops - gotta shake the yips. With the exception of the one INT, Goff looked sharp. Congrats on the share of the TD record!

napabear: It helped them get enough to win. Goff did well under pressure, took plenty of hits, more late ones than the one that got flagged. There was one play where he essentially got punched after throwing it. Some bad "Oops I took my eye off the ball" drops. Lawler is a BEAST!

Run Offense

mrjpark: Every game we can run like this without Lasco, the happier I am. That said, we should be able to gain 1 yard rushing on 4 tries.

@seriouslyrick: I can't wait until Lasco is back. Thinking about Enwere and Lasco running amok is exciting already.

Old Grey Blue: Very inconsistent, especially w/ series @ 1st & Goal from 1 yd line.

phred: not good on 4th and one's

Big Dog: Great, given the problems of running out of a two-point stance. But to be realistic, the Bear Raid is not designed for short-yardage situations. Indeed, just the opposite. That is why running on 4th down at the Goal line was a bad decision. (The lowest pads almost always win on the Goal Line.)

LeBron: Couldn't get yards when we needed them. If washington knew we were going to run, they would stop it. Hope Lasco is back soon.

KMac: Very strong, I'm still not convinced Vic actually fumbled but Pac12 refs…

Piedmont: Half the field is outside the hash marks, maybe try a run outside if the middle is plugged up.

WineBear: Enwere left, Enwere right, Enwere up the middle. Nice teflon uniform, the UW tacklers were 'no-stick' all day.

harmonpreservationsociety: Nice to see the Bears grinding out runs without Lasco. The depth at RB has saved us the last 2 weeks. But can these guys please hold onto the ball? Two weeks in a row with devastating fumbles.

Bleed Blue & Gold: Red Zone run blocking was poor. Line needs to line up in a 3 point stance to get leverage off the line better. That is a coaching mistake IMO.

werj: Enwere is hard to take down... puts an effort in like Beast Mode used to. The one fumble returned for a TD gave me nightmare flashbacks to last year.

Uthaithani: We really miss Lasco. Other runners looking good, but once again Lasco's ability to get the first down and hold onto the ball was very much missed. The first-and-goal-from-the-one-run-every-time is a Cal tradition over the decades that NEEDS to GO!!

Gio: Why do coaches keep calling runs at the goal line into the heart of the defense?

OaklandishBear: A lot of effort but not too much to show for it. YPC awfully low.

Then of course the fumble resulting in the return for TD.

No bueno.

Lucky 1715: Really got pushed around up from this week, and it's not going to get easier. Those goal line rushes showed how far we have yet to come to play with [literally] the big boys.

Enwere still looks really, really great. I still am pleased with how far Muhammad has developed this year, but the rest of the guys are still a work-in-progress.

GoldenBoiler: Vic looked great. I still don't understand how the fumble play wasn't blown dead already. Ready for Lasco to return, but love the production this year. While the line can't pass protect, they can run block

Pass Defense

sup_doe_library: Good to see the defense come back after a heartstopper in Austin to play like this. Kragen finally breaks through, the DB's made plays, the Cal Pass D broke an opposing QB.

CoBears: Made their QB look like the freshman he is.

1988goldenbear: Great game for the defense, nice to see them take advantage of a young QB and get those sacks and picks. Really good turnaround from last season. It didn't look like we ran a bunch of fancy stunts or blitzes, just good solid wins in the trenches. Gotta give a shout out to Kragen - he set the tone early and the whole team was solid all day.

rollonyoubears111: The pressure from #13 was superb, yet I feel like that he was slowed down as their OT figured to try to maker wider steps to the outside to force him up the middle where he could get help from his OG/C.

Nick T: KING IN THE NORTH! The only numbers that you need are 14 and 1. Those are the number of forced turnovers and our corresponding FBS rank. Who knew that defense could win football games?

lacenaire: Good consistent pressure on QB. Kyle Kragen finally shows what coaches have been talking about. Great ball awareness on back end. 2 interceptions and there might have been 2 more.

#BearRaid: Lights out. Except for that one drive that UW featured the TE, they were amazing. the INT's saved us. And of course, the pass rush had a lot to do with this. As whole, best performance by the CAL D in years.

Long time Cal fan: keep working on this

@seriouslyrick: Washington's QB threw for under 200 years, right? Great!

j.lee: interception!

spam musabi: Release the Kragen!!!!

SonofaBear: Sooo glad D.white's foot thing was just a passing... thing. You know what I'm saying.

Mike Taka: Getting better

Joe Bandsmen: We actually have interceptions? And sacks? And fumbles from sacks? This was great to see! Where was the problem? Lack of pressure in the 3rd quarter, lack of close coverage in the 3rd quarter and sloppy tackling in the 3rd quarter. We need to take care of things down the stretch. Glad they stepped up and got that final pick- but we cannot lapse as we have and let teams come back.

alpha1906: Ball hawks. Interceptions. Timely interceptions. Constant pressure.

Ghost of Joe Roth: Best looking pass D in 3 years

CALiforniALUM: The box score and turnovers speak for themselves

goffuhninny: Browning wasn't that bad, and I think we played pretty well.

Los alamos bears: Release the kragen. Also release the kragen.

TrumanHugh: FIVE (5!) turnovers?!? Fabulous!!

These guys came to play today and were aggressive and hungry.

LEONPOWE: Allensworth and White were on lockdown. Lots of INT. I like this defensive back group so far. Kragen was creating a lot of havoc in the backfield.

Run Defense

sf-gigantes: Pretty solid. Gave up some big runs, but tackled well.

Jacobs.: Again, I am so impressed by our defense! They won this game!

Bowles Hall: Gashed. But stood tall when needed.

mendogriz: Other than that one horrible W drive in the first half,run D was just fine.

Willis Chong: Bad Q1. Better for the rest of the game, but it's starting to look like our run defense is suspect.

The Unsung: Let's all give a shout out to Marcus Manley for causing the fumble in the 4th that killed Washington's go-ahead drive.

hk_bear: Although there were a few costly miscues, i think the we put in a good effort and are continuing to show improvement. having a solid run defense is the signature of a unit, and so far this year we are proving that we are no pushovers.

ABVidale: 3 fumbles forced.

It's worth repeating: 3 fumbles forced.

GOt couth: good except for the one dub drive

FiatSlug: Aside from the one possession where the Huskies ran five straight times on carries by Dwayne Washington, the Huskies didn't mount much of a rushing attack. Cal's rushing D allowed only 76 yards on 12 carries otherwise.

sacman701: One horrible sequence in the first quarter with especially poor tackling, but apart from that Washington was unable to sustain anything on the ground.

lacenaire: Fair. 4.0 average not great but did enough with Cal offense to keep Washington passing.

OaklandishBear: Washington's stats look good because of that one running drive resulting in a TD. Otherwise, the run D was stout. Gotta give the D credit. They still miss gaps or can't get off blocks sometimes, but when they are in position they are vastly improved in making tackles.

PRD74: Missed the Moose a lot.

VolCrush: solid but against bigger stronger offensive lines...we shall see

Special Teams

rollonyoubears111: I hope we can figure a way to stop the ball from sailing outside on KO's. It's also pretty scary when UW seemed to have consistently started in good field position.

1988goldenbear: Matt Anderson! Great game for that kid, happy to see they didn't give up on him. Kickoff strategy is questionable, but it didn't really hurt us this game.

CoBears: Made our field goals!!!! Didn't miss any PATs!

I'm not a big fan of our kickoffs, though. Are we never going to kick off normally? Is our coverage that bad? Allowing short kickoff returns to the 45 won't work against good teams. And teams are going to prepare to take advantage of this tendency.

Nick T: Are you going to sit here and tell me that someone can't call up Jack Clark and get him to find someone that can kick a ball out of the back of the end zone? Even the made field goals are dicey, I hate special teams.

mallrat92204: need to cut out the short kick offs and just work on coverage. Also Anderson can kick a touchback so I feel that should be the goal, with the kick coverage team ready

Piedmont: Can we have an open try out for kickoff kicker? There has to be someone on a campus of 30k with a strong enough leg to kick it out the endzone every time. Why kick it out of bounds or squib it to the 40. Against a decent offense, that's a recipe for disaster.

mrjpark: I mean, we can't trust our coverage team. It's as simple as that. Anderson is gaining more and more trust as he makes these field goals and doesn't slip on the grass, but we need to fix our kick coverage so that I'm not relieved when the opposing team "only" starts on their 35.

Calbears91: Fantastic. No scores given up.

Throwtheballmoredykes: Do we really have nobody that we can put on our kickoff team so that they don't automatically start with the ball on the 40 yard line?? Jesus Christ, we can't afford to do that kinda sh*t against UCLA, Oregon, or USC.

Willis Chong: We got the FGs that we needed. A few more and I would feel more secure with Mr. Anderson.

Coaching

Tony the Toe: They seem to executing their game plans.....

CoBears: I was pretty happy with the coaching throughout. Our coaches put our players in a position to win, and the players did the rest. I was even happy with the choice to go for it from the 1 yard line, though the play calling on those four downs was unimaginative and easily defensed. Play action toss to the flat, anyone? The resulting interception (beautiful play) and field goal made up for the choice, and that's what often happens when you have the other team backed up into their end zone.

1988goldenbear: Solid game for the defense for sure. Offense was good enough, and if you eliminate those uncharacteristic drops it would have been even better. Jury is out on the special teams still, but hopefully with time that gets sorted out too. But we pretty much won in all phases of the game on the road in a hostile environment.

werj: Sony Dykes is a steely eyed missile man, sticking with the team he's got and keeping the ball in the air on big downs late in the fourth. 4th down play by Goth took some guts.

Bleed Blue & Gold: Some questionable play calls in the 3rd & 4th quarter

golden oso: Way too conservative in end of game time/yards management. Two weeks in a row we gave up big leads to "hang on" in the end.

Piedmont: Do we have to challenge the first possession of every game? We might need them later. We have the best receivers and qb in the conference, Throw the ball in the red-zone. When we bring the heavy package in, everyone knows exactly what we're doing. To beat the top teams in the conference, the coaching will have to get better.

KMac: Dear Sonny, if running an iso up the middle on the goal line hasn't worked all game, don't expect it to magically start working.

To his credit, great call at the end of the game to ice it.

Big Dog: Didn't see any corrections coming out of halftime, unlike Peterson's directives.

QB option on 4th and short to seal the game was out of the Tedford playbook. But note, Franklin didn't have much a choice -- it was the only running play that he could call since lineman in the two-point stance are at a significant disadvantage in short yardage situations.

mrjpark: I'm actually okay with Sonny's uses of time outs that a lot of people aren't. I think it's fine, as long as he thinks there's a reason for it. We need to stop challenging the stupidest shit 5 minutes into the game. Anyway, they still got a B from me for beating Washington. I'm pretty happy with our current staff minus special teams. They put us into a position to win and make adjustments when the momentum starts moving in the other direction, and said adjustments kick in before the 4th quarter. It's great, really. I don't think I've seen this in like 13 years.

dbroman: what's up with wasting our reviews?

Mitchgobears: I hate it when we try to run down the clock and then can't get a first down.

ToshLupoiCanSwimToShore: Contain + run the ball for 3 downs with the country's best quarterback = give any team a chance win in the second half.

miniCal: Seemed like they intentionally played for ball control, and ran plays slowly rather than the normal super fast get-the-next-play-in-asap system... I can't argue with success, but sometimes wondered if we'd have been more effective hurrying it up at least once in a while...

Overall Performance

jadeleo: DEFENSE SAVED US. OFFENSE, especially on the pass, needs to clean its game up. STOP FUMBLING and complete those 1st downs!!

sf-gigantes: Very solid win over an underrated UW team.

LEONPOWE: 4-0! I can't handle Cal football.

Jacobs.: Heart attack inducing! But hey, we finally beat the fuskies and we are 4-0!!!

BTown85: Glad I had my cardiologist on speed dial......

Bowles Hall: Oh. My heart.

TrumanHugh: Get ready people: Any game we're still in this season will be just like these last two weeks... Corso always called the 2005 UCLA team, "Cardiac Kids," well, I think our 2015 Sturdy Golden Bears have formally adopted that moniker.

Calinative UMstudent: Defense gave the Offense the ball alot, and they just didn't score when they got their chances.

wiata78: OK, we did have a lot of close games last year. Some were heart stopping. This year the heart stops even more. Because the team seems better, and maybe is actually good, yet also continues to exhibit the capability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Fortunately, that ability seems to be somewhat less than previous years.

dantheman007: THE STREAK IS OVER. We beat Washington and at their place. I think this will be HUGE for CAL. 4-0.

Los alamos bears: Release the kragen = winning.

FrmrG8r: Another ugly win. Who knows though, having to actually play four full quarters every week may pay dividends down the road.

Ballboy: Will we ever win a game by a two or three touchdowns?

Throwtheballmoredykes: I thought overall it was a great win. Jared Goff is an absolute baller, major props to him

goffuhninny: Can we get better? That is the real question. We are definitely a 7 win team. If we can improve, we could be special.

Rocksanddirt: Only one stat matters. 4-0

minsweeper: So happy we finally BEAT UW for the first time since Jahvid ran wild and drove the 0-12 stake into the Huskies.

alpha1906: Who dat? Who dat? Who dat 4-0?

Bowlesman: One game at a time. One more win and defeating UCLA, USC, Oregon, or Stanford (especially Stanford) and this is a great year. So, one more win and an upset, we're good.

hk_bear: We went on the road and beat the toughest team we have faced so far. We knew that their D was strong, but we didn't know that our D was going to steal the show. That would have never happened in the past 2 seasons. This team is growing up in front of our eyes - and I am proud of what i see.

if i had to nitpick, i would say that i don't know what's been with our offense in the 4th quarter - zero touchdowns in the last 2 games. timing miscues, drops, penalties, missed blocks end up in too many stalled drives. coaches need to figure out how to sharpen the execution when the game is on the line.

AlohaBear: This sort of performance won't push us in to the top half of the conference, we can't keep depending on luck and on the opponent giving things away (like all the turnovers today). Way too may breaks could have gone the other way and cost us the game. This will start to cost us games soon, just like last year.

Jacksonian hitocracy: Overall a good performance. Scared to say it, but if does appear Dykes has made progress with the program.

mrjpark: Unfortunately, we're not going to be undefeated. But I still think we can win the North this year. Everyone is beatable.

#BearRaid: A Great win.

UW is a good young team. They've been recruiting well (Thanks Tosh).

A win on the road, a week after a win @Texas is huge. And to think we did it without our #1 RB (Lasco) our #1 DT (Jalil) and Starting DE (Wilson) speaks volumes. (Not to mention we lost our Starting LT mid game and still don't have Piatt.)

It reminds me of a great scene on THE DRIVE when Sonny sat down with Pete Carroll. They talked about how hard it was to rebuild a program. "1st year you lose big... 2nd year you lose close.... 3rd year you win close... 4th year, you should be right were you want to be."

Well, we're right on schedule... even if it's taking years off our life.

"Go Bears!"

Ososdeoro: The system and talent well-suited thereto are getting us some good wins now. Time to cut down on silly in-game errors. It's great to have a real DC.

1988goldenbear: Loved the fight, great result, these Bears are rolling! We are really spoiled to have Goff - he makes it looks so effortless most of the time. Glad to beat the Huskies after all these years, but in truth they were not that impressive. But it feels different this season, like we are catching breaks instead of missing out on opportunities. Love that. Go Bears!

Next up is Homecoming Week in Berkeley and the WSU Cougars. Let's get it to 5-0! GO BEARS!

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