2016 Football: Cal vs. Oregon Report Card - 2OT Thriller

Berkelium97: For the second week in a row pass offense has been dethroned. And by run offense, shockingly enough! I thought the Bear Raid was supposed to be unable to run the ball—that’s what television announcers keep telling me, at least.

Fortunately the return of a healthy Webb means pass offense was the second-highest rated category of the week. Overall was third-highest, likely due to the fact that we snapped a seven-year losing streak to Oregon and rightfully reclaimed CGB North. The rest of the categories hovered around 50%, with coaching earning the lowest marks of the week. The forfeiture of a 20-point lead in 8 minutes likely contributed to that poor coaching score. Looking ahead to tomorrow (I’m not sure if my heart can take another Cal football game so soon), we’re slightly more optimistic about our Bears’ chances heading into the house of horrors known as the Coliseum.

Awards

We have an editor’s choice award this week! I’m giving the “Does Anyone Here Speak Jive?” award to Rollonyoubears111, who submitted a report card in binary. For reasons I have yet to understand, I had the patience to translate the binary to decimal and use those scores when running the report card numbers. Now, no more binary report cards please.

Now onto the rest of our report cards, which were submitted in a format that my code knows how to read.

Sonny Delight

First we highlight the sunshine pumpiest of report cards.

Uthaithani gave us our only perfect report card of the week, followed by BTown85 and such a BadNastyHombreWoman. Nor-Cal Scott and AlohaBear round out the top five.

Sonny Yikes

Next we have our lowest scores of the week, led by a familiar face.

ChairmanMeow probably turned on the game in the third quarter and turned it off after we failed to score a TD in the second OT. Surprise! We won! What’s a handle? A handle is another term for a container of alcohol, which seems to make these agonozing Cal games much more tolerable. Mitchgobears and BrooklynBear finished third and fourth while a visitor from the Palouse finished fifth. I can see why Coug29 was pessimistic; Cal was a moderately wacky team last time the Bears visited Pullman. This team is certifiably insane and this year’s Cal-Wazzu game will make the 60-59 game seem downright quaint.

At the opposite end of certifiably insane we have the Voice of Reason, which is becoming quite an impressive award as this season gets more and more bizarre.

The Voice of Reason

nedbear leads the way and BearOnAMesa makes yet another appearance on the VoR award list. Normally we hand out 5 of these awards, but this week we’re handing out 6 because I finished 6th and I want an award and I make the rules anyway, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

If you could grade the game in words, what would you say?

GoldenBearsBandwagon: Up and down, up and down and all around. A whirlwind of emotions for many of you, myself included, I’m sure. Let’s see what people have to say.

Gameday Experience

BadNastyHombreWoman: How can you spend so much time having a sinking feeling and yet win?

Leon Powe: Highly highly highly questionable sequence in the third quarter when we are just gashing Oregon. From the QB punt to the I-formation run, we let Oregon right back into the game.

And that's a shame that's going to be the narrative because Tre Watson and Kalhfani Muhammad were running hard and were nails. Vic Wharton and DRob were catching balls. Things were going oh so well - I know all the analytics guys say there's no such thing as momentum, but the air got sucked out of the team with that 6 minute sequence and it took to the last drive of the game and the OT before we got any semblance of mojo back, and by that time Oregon woke up.

Uthaithani : Exciting game and WE WON! People shouldn't complain when the team wins, that's for the coaches.

Goffuhninny: I tried to take my 4 year old to the game. 7 pm Friday games aren't great for kids. But man I love memorial stadium.

FrmrG8r: A beautiful night at Kabam. The usual Sturm und Drang from our bi-polar bears, but hey, we'll take a W whenever we can get one.

TKE Prytanis 79: Watched it via sling box in my hotel room in Amsterdam while texting with my son... perfect

Mallrat92204: I wasn't there, but the stands looked empty at kickoff on TV. It was a Friday game so I give it a soft pass, but these guys need the fan support. WE can't depend on the conference or TV partners to give us favorable schedule/kickoff times. If you're a fan you gotta be out there and support these guys, because while they aren't the most talented team they play their tails off. If I still lived in the Bay I would be backing up my words with actions.

Nor-Cal Scott: Not surprised by all of the empty seats. Stupid Friday night game, Oregon not who they used to be, and competing against HS football. That is probably the last late kickoff game we attend. Got home after 2am.

PRD74: I love Cal football. The gameday experience from last night is why. Everyone who made the effort by going to a Friday night, 7:30 PM, rush hour, chilly, "OMG what happened to our team third quarter", 4 hour game, were rewarded with a memory of a lifetime. After watching Cal football for forty years I realize that we are and will always be a work in progress. Last week the complaints were that the Band did not play enough. This week - fixed. We have no running game - fixed. Our players have no energy - fixed. Webb isn't throwing to anyone but Hansen - fixed. Our ST give up big plays - fixed. Looney is being double teamed and has become a non factor - fixed. Our defense against the run and pass - somewhat better. We are a work in progress. Our 2 point conversion plays never work - fixed. Our offensive coordinator throws too many screen passes - tell that to our receivers in the endzone who were so wide open that people were laughing. I heard no complaints when we were holding Oregon to 7 points for a long stretch while our players were being helped off the field or barfing on our fake turf. Sonny has recruited an amazing collection of men who do not give up and fight until the last second. His players equaled those recruited by Oregon who had a decade of unbelievable teams to showoff, while we went bowl less year after year. No team is perfect. This one for sure, but for giving me my money's worth of entertainment and a huge smile when I leave the Memorial, the 2016 Cal football has done that, and more. Thank you to the coaches, the players, and everyone who overcame all the negative obstacles and made it to game. The Cal Band, Oskie, the Dance Squads, the Student Section, the roaring kids, the food and drinks followed by the West Side restrooms - all good. Can't wait for the next home game. Go Bears! Beat the Trojans.

BTown85: Knowing we had a better chance to win if I DIDN'T watch the second half, I went out dancing a watched the DVR later that night. MUCH less stressful that way…….

Lacenaire: Still disappointed of seeing so many empty seats. But the fans are upbeat generally. Great to see the team play with effort and emotion.

WantARoseBowlB4IDie: For those of us on the East Coast, the game day experience is more like a battle of attrition. As in, can the adrenaline of watching a nail biter overcome the abject exhaustion of a long work week exacerbated by a game that lasts until just shy of 3:00 AM!

Pass Offense

Goldenlikethebear: No turnovers... but gave up 2 sacks. Seems like a good job.

Leon Powe: Webb still seems hurt - no downfield passing. But DRob and Vic Wharton showed up big. Stovall looked good too.

Justbear: Not even one deep ball, very disappointing, but at least we stuck with what's working and not turning the ball over.

FrmrG8r: Flashes of brilliance, combined with far too many really bad throws and drops. Kudos to the O-line for a magnificent night of pass protection. The lone breakdown was clearly a coverage sack.

Hardtobecalfan: more inconsistent than the 5 TD's would suggest. bug was great.

Mitchgobears: Too many throws that are either too high or too low that don't allow any run after catch.

Nor-Cal Scott: Webb did not look good, but just average. Some throws off the mark, either short at feet or behind. Webb did not look smooth moving around the pocket or sliding to a side. Is his mojo off that bad with no Hansen?

Oregon-finally!: Better execution by Webb this time. The pass to Tre for TD was a gem. Still too many underthrown passes, but good to see the passing game improve from two weeks ago. Also good that he wasn't huried too many times.

BearOnAMesa: Webb was clearly still off and consistently underthrew many of his receivers. Not many deep balls thrown, but you have to think his arm gets tired from all the plays we're running. Given Oregon's woeful pass defense, this should have been better.

Sacman701: This is what our offense looks like without Hansen and with Webb around 70%. Webb was entirely unable to use deep and medium passes, and his usual touch wasn't there on the shorter stuff. That said, he made good decisions, the line protected well, and the receivers did a good job. 5.3 yards per attempt is bad, but nearly 70% completions mean the chains keep moving even without big plays.

Lacenaire: The play calling was inventive and caused Oregon all kinds of problems. There were wide open receivers all night. Davis didn't always find the open man.

He also has a tendency to hang onto the ball too long when in the pocket. The blocking held up for the most part and there weren't any consequences. Against USC however ...

Davis still has a tendency to throw dangerous balls. As this is reflected in his interception rate across his whole college career, it has the appearance of a problem that will linger this year and perhaps his whole career.

Run Offense

Goldenlikethebear: No turnovers. Needed more out of the backs/o-line to get better 1st downs on some of those stalled drives.

J.lee: we have a run game!

Gumibears: Pretty good. Sometimes Oregon got penetration, but otherwise Watson and Muhammed did really well.

Justbear: Just when we lost Vic, Khalfani and Tre really stepped up. Excellent game.

FrmrG8r: Had some good success but stalled far too often against a 3-man front. Looks like we will see teams dropping 6 and forcing us to run for the rest of the season.

Nedbear: Impressive. That's what we should have done to Oregon State from the first snap.

Wiata78: Two guys over 100 yards, wow!

Mallrat92204: I know Oregon's defense is not good, but DEAR LORD that was the best rushing performance I've seen form Cal in a LOOOOOOOOOOONG time. By far best in Sonny era. This is probably the best rushing performance (311 rushing yards) since Jahvid had 311 by himself in 2008 against hapless Washington (remember those days?).

Oregon-finally!: LOVED the fact that we established the run, and kept sticking to it. Balance did wonders for the offense. I thought that we gave up on it towrds the 2nd quarter, but recommitted to the run on the second half, which was great to see.

PRD74: No Vic Enware. No Problem. KM is electrifying. Watson is as determined a runner as anyone who ever put on a Cal uniform. How many yards did these two guys get? So I guess Sonny and our OC weren't lying about our running game. Awesome.

Mendogriz: Intermittent. In some series, it was great, others, moribund.

Sacman701: The run offense won the game for us. Oregon's run defense is awful, but we did what good offenses do to bad defenses. The line made holes, and Watson and Muhammad ran through them with authoritahhh.

BrooklynBear: Great. I really admire #29 & #5. They run hard and harder. #29 is a sneaky great pass blocker.

Pass Defense

BadNastyHombreWoman: I kept waiting for an interception. And waiting. And YES!!

J.lee: still can't defend a tight end going up the middle.

Gumibears: Our guys started either getting tired or injured or both in the 2nd half and obviously penalties were bad. Franklin seems to be our best cb, but does have a hot head to go with it. Thats okay, cause it gives him a fire.

Uthaithani : Got the game winning pick. Clearly the plan was to play the run and left secondary on an island.

FrmrG8r: Really disappointing tonight. A freshman was able to shred this pass defense despite a bevy of drops and poor throws. Can't blame the breakdowns on heavy run support this week.

Wiata78: What pass defense? OK, a smigden of credit for the end of game interception.

Mallrat92204: Giving up that many yards and 6 TDs to a freshman in his 2nd start was not great. They looked lost a few times, but they came up big when they needed to in 2OT.

Oregon-finally!: Better than our game at OSU, but still painful to watch. Other than the greater interception at the end, the overall play was pretty dreadful. We cannot cover anyone indivudually, and even a freshman QB was able to basically tear us apart. Personal fouls and other bondheaded mistakes have already cost us a couple of games now, and this could have been another.

BearOnAMesa: It's really concerning how sharp the drop off was after Allensworth went out. Fortunately it didn't look too serious.

Still, points for good quarterback pressure and the game winning play.

Sacman701: 6.4 yards per attempt doesn't sound bad, but the rush was pretty feeble and the coverage mostly too soft, especially after Allensworth went out. We were abysmal in the red zone, allowing Oregon to throw for 6 (!) TDs and forcing no field goal attempts or failed 4th down conversions.

BTown85: Only gave up one big play; was pretty solid. Penalties killed us, though.

Lacenaire: Lack on consistent pass rush and quality player depth is a problem still. However, they continue to make timely plays. Given the amount of plays the defense has to play I think's that's all we have a right to expect.

Run Defense

Goldenlikethebear: Contact sport. Please feel free to agressively touch the other guy.

Gumibears: At least in the first half, I believed we had a run defense...

Uthaithani : Pettty good. Must be the Memorial turf, they weren't stopping anything last week against a much weaker running team. Go figure.

Goffuhninny: What a turnaround from OSU.

Justbear: What? we stopped Royce Freeman? What?? 15 carries for 10 yards?

He had like 400 yards against us last year.

FrmrG8r: First half was as solid as we've seen all year. Not sure what goes on at halftime but the second half was a continuation of Oregon State.

Mallrat92204: They had a few errors against Tony Brooks James, but holding Royce Freeman to 10 yards on 15 carries is insanely good, even if he isn't 100%.

DBer321: Solid on short yardage. Laughable after.

Oregon-finally!: We were much better than OSU. It seemed as though each defender was more disciplined in their lane assignments and kept the runner in front of them instead of over-pusuing.

BearOnAMesa: Very solid inside, but very vulnerable on the edges. Oregon's got a good run game and the performance was adequate. Need more speed on the outside.

Mendogriz: They shut down Freeman. That's good. Otherwise, meh.

Sacman701: Oregon averages 5.8 yards a carry. We held them to 4.3. This was night and day better than the 'performance' against the Beavs. The line got a good push, and guys swarmed to the ball all night. The one negative was that the safeties did a poor job of cleaning up plays where the Ducks got the corner.

WantARoseBowlB4IDie: Not bad, swarming on sweeps. A bit soft up the middle.

Special Teams

Leon Powe: Missed field goal by Matt Anderson. Bad punt catch by . . .Wharton? But otherwise ok. Except for SDSU our best unit all season honestly.

Well, except that punt by Webb, but that was a play call issue.

ChairmanMeow: Field position battle was disgusting and almost cost us the game. And that FG miss. Lol.

Uthaithani : Bummer the Bears couldn't win in regulation on a FG but they won in 2OT on a FG, so net positive.

Handle on what? Try playing smarter : Pretty good

FrmrG8r: Regressed this week with a missed FG and two shanked punts. Not sure about the high kickoffs to the 30 but at least there were no big plays. It is frustrating watching the opposition drill kicks to the goal line very time.

Mallrat92204: The pooch kicks were puzzling and the blocking on returns would always look good to start but more often then not someone would shoot in and tackle the guy before the 20. Earlier this season ST was a wash, but now I think it's becoming more of a weakness again.

Nor-Cal Scott: Let's face facts: Webb is no Goff. His botched pooch-punt was the beginning of Oregon getting itself back into the ball game. I am subconsciously blocking out Matt's missed FG at the end of regulation since we did win the game.

PRD74: A couple of miscues, but we won. By next season I will have forgotten everything but that last part.

BearOnAMesa: Kind of limited by the vote of no confidence Sonny made on kickoffs, but between the shanked pooch punt and missed FG it's hard to give the squad a good score.

Mendogriz: Missed game winning FG. Failed to cover muffed punt. Shanked an excruciatingly predictable pooch punt. What the bleepidy bleep bleep is up with the high short kickoffs? What is that supposed to accomplish?

Sacman701: Pretty bad. Webb's punt was ugh. Anderson went 3-4 but the made FGs were all short and he missed from 40. The short kickoffs may have been the right strategy but they consistently gave Oregon good field position.

Lacenaire: Kickoff coverage still a problem. It's a pathetic when we concede field position at 35 yard line on pooch kicks because we're afraid of bigger plays on returns. Our own kickoff returns are looking better. That we can't return punts is troubling, especially when we have returners fair catching inside the 10 yard line. Traditional punt coverage looks strong. The interference call was a bad call.

Coaching

NinjaNed: POOOOOOOOOOOCH PUNNNNNT?!?!?!?!?

Goldenlikethebear: Maybe quibble about some calls and adjustments. But at the end, it was execution. We could have won in regulation, we could have won by more with better execution.

Leon Powe: It was going great. Until it wasn't. I'm sure everyone else will complain about the punt/i-formation 4th down run call. But there were spots of good in there. The 2-point conversion and touchdown right before were great.

ChairmanMeow: Wouldn't even be mad if Sonny goes for it on 4th and less than 1 and fails. Furious he called a pooch from his side of the field and got 10 yards (and almost lost the game) from it.

Uthaithani : They won. Very short-handed and clearly needing some prices on defense, but even still the team rose up and found a way to win. Program is getting better, this year nothing comes easy but the player believe in their coaches which is a very big deal.

Handle on what? Try playing smarter : Bad call having Webb quick kicking that resulted in a 3 yard punt and got Oregon all pumped up. Almost cost Cal the game!

Goffuhninny: I love that we went for it on 4th when we did.

FrmrG8r: The aggressive fourth down calls are highly encouraged as long as we quit trying to run off tackle.

Mitchgobears: Too many calls in the third quarter that let Oregon back in the game. Calling time out to have Webb punt. Fourth and 1 and we don't spread the field and try to run up the middle.

Nedbear: The pooch punt is an example of Dykes trying to be cute instead of just playing football. And I think that translates to Webb. Maybe it's a Texas thing. Use trickeration when tried and true would work much better. AND I AM TIRED OF THE WIDE RECEIVER SCREEN!!! That stupid play works about 35% of the time. Burn that section of the play book, please!

Wiata78: The usual mix of well executed plays and extreme head scratchers.

Mallrat92204: Coaching get my lowest mark because I truly believe they were the biggest reason why this game went to OT. The pooch punt was horrible, either punt or go for it. Also not every 4th down decision to go for it was bad, some made complete sense, but there were too many 4th downs that were bad decisions. The bad pooch punt and bad 4th down decision effectively acted like turnovers so even though we had a 0 in that column it was like we had 2.

ABVidale: Given the injuries, Cal had a good game plan for the game. I saw punts from the other team!

Nor-Cal Scott: Jake out coached by DC Brady Hoke at halftime. The third quarter was horrible. Once again poor clock management and calling pass plays kept stopping the clock in the 4Q.

Oregon-finally!: Gutsy or foolish going for it on 4th down multiple times in our own backyard. Really didn't understand that, but I guess there was something about the film that gave them confidence. But the pathetic pooch punt call after a timeout was awful. The lack of emotional control by the players, especially on defense, is all on the coaches. It's their job to educate and mold these young men so that they know not to commit these dumb fouls.

BearOnAMesa: Look, they came into this with a good game plan that quickly paid dividends. They called some ballsy 4th down conversions that worked like a charm. And they quickly adjusted to rely on the ground game after the first drive. There were good things here.

BUT, the second half was a total mess and very nearly cost us the game. There's no excuse for giving up three touchdowns in 9 minutes. There's no excuse for coaching your team to quick 3-and-outs by moving away from the successful run. There's no excuse for bad discipline costing us points. And there's no excuse for some of the uninspired play calling on crucial downs.

What I think it comes down to is bad game management and a failure to anticipate the opponent's adjustments. If it's a close game and there are clear ways to improve, it's fine. But when we're performing well and go into halftime with a lead, the fire goes out. Players get sloppy and complacent and we repeatedly let the other team back in the game before recovering later. Even when we're winning big, the coaches need to stay on the players to remain sharp, aggressive, and hungry.

Oski's sweater: Dykes' bonehead decisions on 4th down in the 3rd quarter completely changed the momentum. Punt the frickin ball when you have a 20 point lead!!!!

Sacman701: Pooch punting from our 30 is stupid. Otherwise, pretty good. On a day when deep and medium passes were off the table, we did a good job of mixing runs, screens, and short passes and taking what the defense gave us. Also, the team never panicked even after blowing a 20 point lead.

BTown85: When you're in the lead at the half, the OTHER team makes the adjustments. Coaching needs to prepare for adjusting to the adjustments, or else.

2-pt conversion play was awesome call !!!!!

Lacenaire: There are lingering time management issues. There was another opportunity for a play squandered before the missed field goal and that was caused by taking the last timeout on the previous play. Overall, they're getting wins and with good production from many players. This is a big positive.

WantARoseBowlB4IDie: Sonny still makes terrible decisions - pooch punt, no halftime changes, too many penalties (coaching)

BrooklynBear: Everyone will comment about the 2nd to final regulation Cal drive.It was atrocious. Bad coaching is revealed in bad penalties, no?

Overall Performance

Goldenlikethebear: Please. Stop playing games with my heart.

J.lee: i'll take winning every time.

Gumibears: We won with an interception much like 2009 Stanfurd.

Uthaithani : I love the excitement and the win. This is our lot in the program rebuilding path- somewhere between "win small" and "lose small." Still a year or two away from the good stuff, but this program is evolving. We'll get there. Go Bears!!

FrmrG8r: The first half was a thing of beauty. Up 17, getting the ball to start the second half, going against a freshman QB and this game should be OVER. What transpired from the moment Cal settled for 3 early in the third until overtime was a complete shit show. Three and outs, undisciplined penalties and a total lack of defense had us handing the game to Oregon. This team can beat or lose to anyone left on the schedule - with the exception of Washington.

TKE Prytanis 79: Another "we'll take it". ... the meme for the season?

Mitchgobears: Penalties, penalties, and more penalties. Hey, we won and no one around me has died of a heart attack..........yet.

Mallrat92204: A gutty performance. The fast start put the pressure on Oregon. Even though they both went to OT I like this way of getting out to a lead versus against Oregon St where we had to come from behind. Oregon was a few execution errors from us winning this game by 1 or 2 scores. Our rushing performance was great this game, but we still need to work on putting away games (obviously).

Nor-Cal Scott: Started great. 17 point lead at halftime which jumped to 20. Then the wheels fell off but somehow this team kept it together and the Defense came up big with Jordan's INT in 2OT. Another close ugly win.

Will need a much more consistent performance nexy Thursday if we want to have any chance of beating an average U$C team.

Oregon-finally!: We won, so great, right? Maybe. The overall game was marred by too many dumb boneheaded penalities by our defense that absoultely killed us. But I will cherish this win. It was a fun and entertaining game, which every single game this year (except Hawaii) has been.

PRD74: This team fights and never gives up. That interception was right in front of my section (EE) and to say that I went from "We are going to lose" to "OMG, I cannot believe we just won!" in one second is something I will never forget. Same thing happened in the eighties when Rivera got the game winning safety against A&M. Unforgettable and fun evening.

BearOnAMesa: I'm happy we won. I really am. But the way we won, by coughing up a big lead, combined with Oregon's poor performance this year really leaves something of a sour taste. It feels good to finally beat Oregon, but it's more a consequence of the Ducks' decay than our improvement. I'm not satisfied to wait for UCLA, Stanfurd, USC, and the rest of the Pac to fall apart in order to get our big wins.

Mendogriz: This Cal team is not the greatest team in college football history. Not even close. But they may well be the most entertaining team in college football history.

Oski's sweater: Happy for win but my god, can we ever play a complete game? Cal showed what they CAN be in the 1st quarter, then showed they haven't forgotten how to pull a "Cal". Horrible coaching decisions and stupid penalties at critical times. How many times have we seen this script before. Go Cal, but C'mon man!

BrooklynBear: Well we beat the Ducks for the first time in 7 years! Still, a well-orchestrated and well-coached team could have gotten this to 61 - 31 or something.

Thanks for stopping by, hope to see you after the Thursday game against USC(...). Go Bears!