Cal Football Blog

2013 Cal Football Post-Spring Two-Deep

[Note:  a version this report is cross-posted at GoldenBearReport.com, with Rivals subscribers getting an early look yesterday.  Follow the Cal Rivals team on Twitter @CalRivals]

Pictures here (courtesy @mr_ollins)

After a relatively light practice Friday night, the team reconvened Saturday morning in ideal 65-degree weather.  The efficient 90 minute session began with a brief warmup and drills period, and then featured the second live scrimmage of the spring.  Along with a decent sized crowd in the stands, a good number of high school coaches were in attendance, observing from the sidelines as participants in the annual Cal Coaches Clinic.

A number of players were held out due to injuries:  Joel Willis, Darren Ervin, Bryce McGovern, Griffin Piatt, Todd Barr, Khairi Fortt, Kameron Jackson; plus previously injured and recovering Brendan Bigelow, Spencer Hagan, Chris Adcock, Chris McCain, Brennan Scarlett, Jason Gibson.  Jackson apparently was a late scratch and paced the sidelines in sweats, due to an unknown injury.  Other than OL Bill Tyndall, who left the field on a cart after hurting his ankle or lower leg, there were no additional injuries.  Coach Dykes also noted that McGovern would be out 3-4 weeks with a PCL injury.

Only two players wore yellow “non-contact” jerseys:  QBs Zach Kline and Jared Goff.  Austin Hinder and Kyle Boehm were dressed in “regular” white jerseys.  Hinder had his number called on several designed running plays, and Boehm continued to take snaps at inside receiver as well as quarterback.  Although Kline and Goff got more reps during the scrimmage portion, Coach Dykes made a point to comment on the other 2 QB’s skills after practice:  “Austin and Kyle [bring] something to the table with their ability to run.”

The scrimmage was “controlled to an extent” (to practice specific situations, according to Coach Dykes) and lasted 9 drives.  Kline and Goff ran 3 each, Hinder 2, and Boehm 1.  The tempo was up and down – they played fast at times, but other times the offense, in Dykes’ words, “dragged a little bit.”  Coach also confirmed that there would be different looks (new packages) on offense next week.

Bryce Treggs articulated his coaches’ philosophy well, commenting emphatically:

“We do a small amount of things great, instead of doing a large amount of things average.  It’s a simple offense, but [we'll] execute it well. … Our tempo is all about substitution – once we get our substitution down, our tempo will be fast.”

When the tempo was clicking, the offense ran on average, 3 plays in under 1 minute – so just about 20 seconds per play.  The offense moved the ball fairly well overall – Kline, Goff, and Hinder all accounted for TDs.  This should be taken with the caveat that the defense ran, in Dykes’ words, “incredibly vanilla” schemes – no blitzing or exotic coverage.  In fact, Nick Forbes mentioned after practice that the defense had “high potential” as guys become more comfortable and more packages (including blitzes & coverage schemes) are installed in the future.

Kline turned in the best performance out of the 3 QBs.  He was 5 for 6, with 90 yards, and 1 TD, including a 59-yard completion to Drake Whitehurst down the left sideline.  His TD pass, to Darius Powe in the right corner of the end zone, was on a designed roll-out from 12 yards out.

Goff looked smooth running the offense, showing good awareness – including a nice scramble up the middle, and also saving a bad snap and preventing a negative play.  He went 5 for 11, 93 yards, 1 TD; plus 2 carries for 11 yards.

Hinder didn’t seem as sharp/accurate as usual, but he ran well on designed plays.  He was 4 for 8, 55 yards; with 5 carries for 31 yards, 1 rushing TD.  Boehm got more snaps at receiver than behind center; he only ran one brief drive at QB, where he missed his only pass attempt.

Running back depth was limited with Bigelow (knee), Lasco (shoulder), Ervin (hamstring), and Willis (foot) all out.  Jeffrey Coprich and Jonah Hodges got plenty of work, and made the most of their opportunities.  Coprich showed nice speed and “one-cut-and-go” ability on a 47-yard run down the left sideline off a zone read.  On a later drive, Hodges fought off two defenders for a nice catch on the right sideline.

Interesting wrinkle we might see in the future:  During the pre-scrimmage offense-only walkthrough period, Boehm ran a goal line play where he faked a QB keeper and threw a jump pass to a receiver flashing across the end zone.  A few other new looks observed during the scrimmage period included:  an option package with Hinder at QB and Boehm at inside reciever, plus a formation with trips WRs to one side, with the single outside receiver on the other side lined up tight (~about 2-3 yards away from the offensive tackle) rather than split wide.

One last note about Dykes’ philosophy with regards to accountability:  The team did extra post-practice conditioning work, after some players missed tutoring and treatment sessions.  When asked, he explained:

“We set our standard and [need to] hold each other accountable, [and] follow through with what we say. … Part of getting the culture of our program established is to set parameters, and obviously there’s going to be punishment when the parameters aren’t met. …  We’ve got to perform both on the field and off the field.  Part of being a good teammate is not letting your teammates down … [including] taking care of business off the field. … We’ve got a standard that we’ve got to meet, and part of my job is to enforce that standard.”

Drive Highlights:

- 1st:  Kline started with the 1st unit and completed his first 3 passes, but a bad snap on the next set of downs killed the drive.  Cole Leininger booted a 39 yard punt, with a fair catch by Chris Harper.

- 2nd:  After a facemask on Keni Kaufusi negated the first play of the drive, Hinder went 2 for 4, with the drive stalling and ending on a missed 49-yard FG attempt (wide left) by Vince D’Amato.  3rd down formations included an empty backfield on offense, and 2 DTs standing up (both DEs with hand down) on defense.

- 3rd:  Goff executed a nice zone-read handoff to Coprich, who ran down the sideline for 47 yards before being pushed out of bounds by Forbes.  Deandre Coleman had a sack, while Goff completed both of his passes.  Goff finished the drive with a TD pass – a perfect 33-yard fade down the left sideline to Bryce Treggs.

- 4th:  Kline went 2 for 3 on this drive, including a 59-yard completion to Drake Whitehurst, who used his size to out-position Cedric Dozier, who had been running step-for-step in coverage.  Kline executed a nice designed roll in the red zone, throwing a perfect ball to Darius Powe for a 12-yard TD.

- 5th:  Hinder was a bit off on his throws, but this drive included the aforementioned catch by Hodges between 2 defenders.  Hinder ran 3 times for nice gains, including his TD run around the left edge.  Tyndall was injured early on this drive, and was replaced with Brian Farley the rest of the way.

- 6th:  Goff showed good awareness saving a bad snap, and also scrambling up the middle for a nice gain.  Drive stalled, with Leininger punting to Treggs for a fair catch.

- 7th:  Boehm directed mostly run plays (almost exclusively zone read to Coprich & Hodges), and overthrew his only pass of the afternoon.

- 8th:  Drive stalled, but the highlight was a sack by Vei Moala with the offense starting in the shadow of their own end zone.

- 9th:  Scrimmage ended a bit earlier than expected (around 1230pm) with a successful 42-yard FG by Noah Beito, but not before Bouza showed nice run-after-catch moves on a long 30+ yard reception down the middle.

Unofficial Unit Charts:

1st Team O – Tagaloa, Rigsbee, Cochran, Crosthwaite, Tyndall;  [Kline / Goff / Hinder], Coprich;  Treggs, Bouza, Espitia, Lawler

2nd Team O (skill positions rotated frequently) -  Farley, Moore, Brazinski, Gibson, Okafor;  [Hinder / Goff / Kline / Boehm], Hodges;  multiple receivers rotated in

1st Team D – Jalil, Coleman, Kragen, Camporeale;  Jefferson, Forbes, Broussard;  McClure, Sebastian, Lowe, Lapite

2nd Team D – Davis, G.King, Kaufusi, Egu;  Barton, Nickerson, L.King;  Dozier, Drew, Morgan, Fadelli.  Moala and others also rotated in.

Post-Practice Videos:

Sonny Dykes – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAjMjEns11E

Bryce Treggs – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq-am4zEYXk

Zach Kline – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDZx12nl4P4

Austin Hinder – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8WSOubMOjY

Scrimmage Recap – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_jkMhsbARA

No clear Starting QB yet. I guess we’ll have to wait til the Spring Game.

As many of you guys know, I tried to have a live twitter feed of last Friday’s practice. I’ll definitely try to attend more to keep you up to date, just follow me here https://twitter.com/calfootballblog.

Practice Under the LIghts

After three practices, we can already see the changes that Coach Dykes have implemented with the program. Many have observed that the practices are faster, the players are consistently practicing with high energy, and the staff is feeding into that energy as well. Though I’m not too sure how people are saying that we are practicing faster. In terms of the speed of movement, it’s actually not too different from the Tedford years (I would know because I’ve actually attended them). However, there are more reps per minute per player. For example, the quarterbacks who are not in during a play will take shadow reps (imitating snap count, reads, and throws) while one of the quarterbacks is under center. Players do run to each drill instead of gingerly jogging like they did before thanks to coaches constantly yelling at the players to move faster. One thing I have noticed that contribute to the increased number of reps during practice is that the coaches won’t exactly go on long talks with players while on the field. It seems like they have reserved most of the coach talk to the position meetings and the video room.

Technically every position is up for battle since there is a completely new staff. However, I will look into who will be our next quarterback. We all know how important this position is in terms of leadership and how quickly the offense can adapt to what is now called the Bear Raid. So who has been the top three quarterbacks in the first three practices. Here is my observation and ranking.

3. Austin Hinder

In terms of reps, he has a gotten his fair share of plays under center with the first team. His feet moves well, which really helps his escape-ability. Also, even though he is on the move he still has a good touch on the ball. Some issues he has right now is that he needs to gain a little more strength and weight. He also needs to make better decisions overall but that might come once he reps all the plays over and over again with different looks from the defense. I would say at this point, Hinder is a solid backup quarterback.

2. Jared Goff

I am really surprised with this pick. I would have thought Bridgeford would be the one of the top contenders for the starting spot or even the backup. However, Goff has been quite impressive for someone who just came into the program only a few weeks ago after graduating high school. He still needs to learn the speed of the game at the college level and to have a better relationship with his receivers because there have been times where he is literally a split second off with his receivers. Other than that he has good mobility and a pretty good release and touch on the ball. I think most people can see that he has a lot of potential and with the number of team reps Franklin and Dykes has been giving him, the coaches seem to think the same. He’ll most likely take a redshirt this season.

1. Zach Kline

We all knew he was a great recruit and a great high school quarterback. So for most people this doesn’t come as a surprise. Kline has received the most number of team reps throughout the week especially with the first team. I also don’t remember Kline throwing any interceptions even though he has had so man reps. He’s making good decisions but at the same time takes some risky decisions because he trusts his arm. Speaking of his arm, he throws one hell of a bullet. Sometimes his throws are so hard receivers have a hard time getting clean catches on the ball; however, those balls gets past the defenders and to his receivers before the defender can react. I wouldn’t say he has better mobility than Hinder but it’s fairly good (He’s no Nate Longshore, so that’s good). This kid is poised and ready to take on not only the role as quarterback but also the role as one of the leaders of the team. So far Kline has a fair lead on the quarterbacks and he is my pick to be named starting quarterback after the Spring Game.

Still, don’t count out either Kyle Boehm or Allan Bridgeford. There is still plenty of football left this spring. I would highly recommend all of you to attend Saturday’s scrimmage to see for yourself who will win this QB competition.

And so the coaching pretty much official, former Louisiana Tech Head Coach is now coming to Cal with his high powered offense.

Here’s the quick gist Jeff Faraudo:

Dykes, 43, operates a wide-open passing attack that produced 51.5 points per game and was second nationally with 577.9 total yards.

The Bulldogs were 9-3 this season, but they were left out of a bowl game after briefly stalling after an offer from the Independence Bowl.

Dykes has a three-year record of 22-15 at the Ruston, La., school.

He was earning $760,000 per year with Louisiana Tech, barely one-third of what Cal paid Jeff Tedford, who was fired on Nov. 20 after 11 seasons.

Dykes is the son of longtime Texas Tech coach Spike Dykes. His resume includes a stint as offensive coordinator at Pac-12 rival Arizona.

He started off in Texas Tech learning under former Texas Tech Head Coach and current Washington State Head Coach Mike Leach. He was an excellent recruiter there and even won an All-American Football Foundation’s Mike Campbell Top Assistant Award at Texas Tech. He’s also not new to the Pac-10/12 atmosphere. After Texas Tech, he transformed Arizona’s offense from 16.6 points and 252.8 yards per game to 36.6 points and 402.4 yards per game and also helped develop Nick Foles. Sure he loves passing the ball but he is surprisingly balanced with his system with 227.17 rushing/game with La Tech this past year.

However, there are some big cons. He had a defense that allowed 38.5 pts/game (they only won games because they scored 51.5 pts/game). They also had one of the most penalties/game in the nation (only Washington, Cal and UCLA had more) with 8.2/game, now imagine that team playing with Pac-12 refs. Also, Dykes was not able to beat any big name teams this past year, as he lost to Texas A&M, Utah St, and San Jose St.

The biggest question now is who is going to be part of his staff? Who will be the defensive coordinator (Lot’s of people are saying DeWayne Walker)? If Dykes can haul in a great crew of assistants like Jim Mora did over at UCLA, next season will be very fruitful for Cal, if not very entertaining.

Coach Pete as Cal’s next coach?  Please make it happen SB!

It’s been less than 2 weeks since Jeff Tedford was relieved of his duties as the head coach of the California Golden Bears.  Since then, rumors of contact with potential candidates have run rampant, while Sandy Barbour and the Cal athletic department have offered minimal comment on the ongoing search.  What we do know so far is that Cal has retained DHR International – the same executive search firm that Stanford used to uncover the then obscure Jim Harbaugh from the depths of Division II.

Sandy Barbour recently confirmed in an interview (courtesy Bearinsider) that the search process will “be moving as fast as we possibly can without sacrificing the right person filling the position.”  She also noted that while there was interest in the Cal job during the season, she would wait until prospective candidates’ seasons are over before conducting formal interviews.  But now that the final games of the college football regular season are over, the Cal coaching search should soon kick into high gear.

Sandy Barbour’s ND connections should put Diaco on the list

Our friends at Cal Golden Blogs have been tracking the coaching search quite thoroughly, beginning with an in-depth list of possible candidates (HT Berklium97).  CGB has also compiled extensive bios on several top targets, including Chris Petersen, Mark Helfrich, and Bob Diaco.  These three candidates also happen to be in Cal Football Blog’s Top 5:

1. Chris Petersen, Boise State HC

- Great fit for Cal (more below).  Proven winner & 2 BCS appearances, including a Fiesta Bowl win over Oklahoma.  Exceptional developer of talent (multiple NFL draft picks despite recruiting disadvantages).  NorCal (Yuba City) native & UC Davis alum.

2. Mark Helfrich, Oregon OC

- Young (39) and highly regarded in coaching circles.  Innovative offensive mind & creative game planner, despite not calling plays for Oregon’s high-octane offense.  Track record of developing college QBs (Bart Hendricks, Andrew Walter, Jeremiah Masoli, Marcus Mariota).  Reportedly the heir apparent to Chip Kelly at Nike U.

3. Bob Diaco, Notre Dame DC

- Young (39) and charismatic.  Excellent motivator & recruiter (outrecruited USC for Manti Teo).  Bright defensive mind (turned ND’s defense from a mediocre unit 3 years ago to arguably the top defense in CFB this year).  Brian Kelly’s right-hand man at ND.

4. Mike MacIntyre, San Jose State HC

- Named AFCA assistant of the year while DC at Duke.  Rebuilt SJSU program from the ground up, both on the field and in the classroom (raised APR to bring SJSU off of NCAA probation).  Solid recruiter (top rated class in the WAC last recruiting cycle).

4a. Dave Doeren*, Northern Illinois HC

- *No longer available as of 12/1.  Accepted offer & officially hired as NC State head coach, a day after leading NIU to the MAC championship.

5. Doug Nussmeier, Alabama OC

- West Coast ties (former UW OC).  Coached productive offenses at UW, developed QB Keith Price.  Possible sleeper candidate.

Other rumored candidates include NFL coaches Hue Jackson (Bengals assistant/former Raiders HC) & Ron Rivera (Panthers HC & Cal alum), and current college head coaches Sonny Dykes (Louisiana Tech) & Gary Andersen (Utah State).

By most accounts, Petersen is the obvious #1 target – Cal fans’ “dream candidate” if you will – but more on Coach Pete in a moment.  Jackson has expressed strong interest and will reportedly be interviewing, per tweets by Yahoo columnist & Cal alum Mike Silver.  Dykes has also reportedly interviewed, and a report by the CC Times’ Jeff Faraudo does nothing to quash that rumor.  As of December 1, none of these rumors have been confirmed by the Cal AD, while Andersen stated that he will remain at Utah State after signing a contract extension.

In our opinion, neither Jackson nor Dykes should be considered serious candidates for the Cal job.  Jackson, despite his West Coast history, including past stints many years ago at Cal & USC, doesn’t seem like a good fit for Cal.  He’s been a journeyman coach (no coaching stop for longer than 3 years), and was a polarizing figure at his last high profile job as HC of the Raiders.  As for Dykes, while his explosive Air Raid offenses (at LA Tech, Arizona, Texas Tech) and Pac-12 background are a plus, his team’s lack of success on the defensive side of the ball is a concern.  LA Tech is among the nation’s leaders in both scoring and total offense, but trends towards the bottom in several defensive categories.

This leads us back to Chris Petersen – a clear longshot, but nevertheless the guy at the top of most Cal fans’ lists.  Avinash of CGB put it well:

Chris Petersen would fit Cal right down to a tee.  He’s one of the most well-prepared gameday coaches in the business, and can make creative in-game decisions that occasionally swing games in favor of his team. … He has great recruiting roots in the region.  He’s a Northern California guy and graduated from the UC system and is fairly dedicated to academics.  And he’s still relatively young (48 years old, and entering his college football prime).

The $3+ million dollar question is, however, what will it take to get him?  One thing for sure is, money isn’t the only factor – indeed, Petersen turned out lucrative offers from UCLA (last year) and Stanford (two years ago) to remain at Boise State.  Earlier this week in an interview with the CC Times, CP’s coaching mentor (Jim Sochor) said that the timing could be right for Coach Pete to make a move, and that Cal would a great fit:

“A lot of changes have taken place there,” said Sochor, referring to the Broncos’ scheduled move to the Big East Conference [in 2013] and the arrival of a new athletic director last year.  “I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if he’s had maybe some change of heart.  At some point I do believe he will go elsewhere.”

“He’d be great at Cal. He has all the requisites that Cal would be looking for,” Sochor said.  “He’s a great football coach and really good person and good ambassador.  He would be one of the best people they have brought on board ever.”

For Cal, offering a market-rate compensation package (for both CP and his potential staff), plus highlighting the consequences of the changes mentioned above (particularly BSU’s move to the geographically-challenged Big East), are a given at the negotiating table.  But for Coach Pete, family is likely the most important consideration:  his father still lives in Yuba City, and his wife’s family also lives in Northern California.  The health of his son (diagnosed with a brain tumor several years ago, but now healthy) is a factor as well.  Moreover, Cal would potentially be competing against Oregon for his services – CBS Sports’ Bruce Feldman was quick to report that Cal & Oregon were the two jobs that CP would consider leaving Boise for.  And lastly, Petersen could easily decide to stay at Boise, making this whole discussion moot.  But until he says no, we can hope for the best.

New Cal coach could lead a turnaround like Mora at UCLA

Whomever Cal hires – whether Petersen, or another candidate – will be inheriting a fairly talented Cal team in 2013.  Cal has talent on both sides of the ball – Kline, Bigelow, Harper, Treggs, Powe, Rodgers, Tagaloa on offense; Sebastian, McClure, McCain, Scarlett, Forbes, Coleman, Barr on defense – the cupboard is certainly not bare.  While there are question marks, especially at OL and depth on the DL, the new Cal coach could conceivably lead a first-year turnaround similar to Mora’s results at UCLA this year.  The key will be to find a coach that can maximize our players’ potential both on the field and in the classroom.  In any case, the upcoming week should prove to be interesting, as most Cal insiders predict the new coach to be selected and announced within the next 10 days.  Stay tuned and Go Bears!

AND THE NEWS HAS BROKEN! Jeff Tedford has been let go.

BERKELEY - Jeff Tedford, who has overseen the Golden Bear football program for the past 11 seasons, has been relieved of his duties as head football coach at the University of California, Director of Athletics Sandy Barbour announced Tuesday.

“This was an extraordinarily difficult decision, one that required a thorough and thoughtful analysis of a complex set of factors,” Barbour said. “Ultimately, I believed that we needed a change in direction to get our program back on the right track. Cal football is integral to our department and our university, and its influence can be felt well beyond the walls of Memorial Stadium. The program clearly serves as an important part of the connective tissue that binds our community together, and it is imperative that Cal football be recognized as a leader in competitive success, academic achievement and community engagement.

 

Jeff Tedford 2002-2012. Head Coach of California Football Team.

THE RISE

For many fans, the decision to let go of Tedford has been a long time coming, but for others they cling on to those wonder years. The years that brought Cal out of the dark ages, brought us Aaron Rodgers, 3 more bowls games than all the years between our last Rose Bowl appearance to 2002, and even a Co-Pac 10 Championship. So long, to the man with the most wins in Cal history with 82. He brought light to many current NFL players (40+ players) who could not be where they are at without him. Oh and did I mention all those Big Game wins that we pretty much never had a chance before Tedford?

He has always been considered a caring man. He took care of as many players as he could and brought a family atmosphere to those who didn’t have one. He found one of the greatest football players ever in Aaron Rodgers, while recruiting a TE at the same community college. He developed Kyle Boller and even Nate Longshore (before he broke his ankle); everyone called him the Quarterback Guru. Cal was even #2 in the nation in 2007. However, his momentous ship hit an iceberg.

THE FALL

After the 2007 debacle against Oregon State, the Cal team wasn’t the same. 2007-2009, Cal was ranked at least once but never fulfilled its potential. Tedford had lost many of his former assistant coaches and he started to bring in offensive coordinator after offensive coordinator. However, nothing worked for him. From 2008-2012, he went on to take the team to two bowl games, but did not win either. Throughout that bad run from ’08-’12 he kept changing things around like assistant coaches, administrative workers, and even practice times. He just failed to realize that he needed to change to a game that changed beyond him.

The biggest blow, of course, was the year 2012. He lost his best recruiter and Defensive Line coach Tosh Lupoi to Washington. Though it could be easily argued that Lupoi backstabbed all of us including Tedford, it was crazy how players were dedicated to a single assistant coach and not a program. He was about to pull in a top 10 recruiting class, but that immediately fell apart with the departure of Lupoi. Lupoi took the money and many have said he disliked Tedford for throwing him under the bus for Injury-Gate.

In the fall, Tedford welcomed back Cal fans to Memorial Stadium with a shocking loss to Nevada and then fell apart to end the season at 3-9. The painful decline of Cal football could not continue while other teams like UCLA, Oregon State, ASU, Arizona, and of course of rival Stanfurd was thriving. Athletic Director Sandy Barbour had to do something and she did. She relieved Tedford of his head coaching duties November 20, 2012.

But we will never forget his legacy. His major turn around of the program and the high expectations he brought forth. Unfortunately, these high expectations were a major factor to his release.

Let’s thank Tedford for everything he has done for us and what his legacy will mean for the future of Cal Football. Go Bears.

According to the latest Vegas odds, Cal is a 4 point favorite against Washington. That’s quite a head scratcher considering that Cal just got destroyed over at Utah while Washington upset a 7th ranked Oregon State. The reasoning behind these Vegas odds are that Cal has been able to put up points at home while Washington has struggled mightily on the road.

Even with those Vegas odds, both ESPN analysts have Cal losing and even local writer Jon Wilner has Cal going down against the Huskies.  On top of all this, Washington is coming in with some momentum against a huge win against Oregon State.  Oh and did I mention that Keenan Allen (who accounts for 33% of our offense) is out for the season, along with DE Mustafa Jalil and OG Dominic Galas?

It’s not looking so bright out here in Berkeley and we are pretty much depleted of any sunshine pumpers. A loss at home against those damn Huskies will be another step towards firing Tedford. However, if we can somehow pull out our big guns **cough** Bigelow **cough** and play some solid defense, you just never know what may happen for the Cal Bears.

It’s that time of the year again! The Big Game is here. But wait…isn’t it October still?

Feel’s weird, doesn’t it? The Pac-12 kinda screwed us a bit here but you know what, ready or not here it comes! The 115th Big Game and the 30th Anniversary of The Play. Two weeks ago, most of us thought Cal probably had no chance against Stanford but look now, a bunch of sports analysts say Cal is going to pull off the upset including BOTH of ESPN’s Pac-12 Blog Analysts. Uh oh, in the past few years when Cal had to live up to expectations it usually spelled DOOOOOOOM for us. Stanfurd’s offense has not shown up on the road where they have yet to score an offensive touchdown while Cal has looked pretty good the past couple weeks. “IT’S A TRAP!!!”. Remember all those games that Cal played where everyone was like “Oh yeah, the opposing team aren’t looking so hot right now. Cal should have a good chance of winning” and then Cal gets its ass kicked? I may be really pessimistic right now, but that’s the life of a Golden Bear.

So what does Cal need to focus on in order to win back the Axe?

1. 3rd and Longs:            Cal needs to avoid 3rd and longs like the freaking plague. In the past couple games, Marcus Arroyo has done a great job of selecting the right plays for Maynard to manage on 1st and 2nd downs to allow us to open up the playbook on easy 3rd downs. However, look for Stanford’s Chase Thomas to bring the heat all game long to force Maynard to make those dumb decisions that we have seen in most of the first half of the season. On the flip side, Cal’s D needs to force 3rd and longs to force Nunes to make plays. He’s no Luck and as he has shown in Stanfurd’s losses, he is not very capable of making clutch plays on 3rd and longs. Pendergast will need the same formula that Washington and Notre Dame had on defense to make Nunes uneasy the entire game.
2. Tight Ends:          Stanfurd has a great All-American Tight End in Zach Ertz  and potential future All-American Levine Toilolo. As it always has been since Harbaugh, the tight end has been used on pass plays extensively. Stanfurd’s tight end has been the top receiver for every game except for their first. The tight end was also one of the main reasons Cal lost last year against Stanfurd. Is Nick Forbes or Jalen Jefferson up to the task to prevent big plays from Zach Ertz? For Cal, we have a great tight end in Richard Rodgers, and I think it’s time for him to continue the Rodgers legacy during Big Games. Notre Dame did a pretty good job last week in keeping their tight end involved so Cal should do the same.
3. Play-Makers:          We know who are playmakers are. Maynard and Tedford just has to get it to them. Anderson will most likely be used extensively to pound it hard on the Stanfurd Defense just like Shane Vereen did in 2009. Bigelow’s speed will create a lot of problems for Stanfurd if he can get into space. And of course, get that ball to Keenan Allen, unless he’s getting tripled team because Stanfurd will most definitely have at least two sets of eyes on him all game. For Stanfurd, it’s their tight ends and running back Stepfan Taylor. Cal’s front seven must be stout but also smart.
4. Penalties:        Cal is still one of the worst teams in terms of penalties. Luckily, Cal’s offensive line only had one flag the entire game against WSU, which is outstanding. However, there were a lot of PIs (though many controversial) and dumb plays that Cal must cut back on in order to defeat Stanfurd.

Let’s get the AXE you Bears! Fans need a reason to rush the field this season and this is the perfect mid-season boost that the team needs! Go Bears! Let’s do this!!!!

With the BIG win against UCLA last weekend, a ton of Cal fans are feeling really good about the team and looking TOO forward at our daunting schedule, which includes Stanford next weekend.

However, the Cal Bears just can’t afford to look ahead because you never know, this could be the weekend where Washington State’s quarterback finally clicks with the wide receivers.

Here are 2 things Washington State will test Cal on:

1. Marquess Wilson & Co. vs Cal’s secondary: The Air Raid will constantly test whether our backs can go toe to toe against a pretty good set of wide receivers. However, a lot of aggressive attacks from our front line will help tremendously.
2. Discipline: First of all, Cal has yet to really decrease the number of penalties they have been suffering, and Cal just can’t afford to do that on the road. Secondly, the Air Raid feasts on undisciplined defenses. One mistake could lead to a lot of yards for Washington State

Here are 2 things Cal will need to win:

1. Winning the Front Lines: As we have seen from previous losses Washington State has suffered, whenever the opposing defense can at least rush the quarterback, Washington State can’t get anything going. Cal’s front seven will have to take advantage of that and get to their quarterback quickly. On the other side, if Cal’s offense line can somehow beat down on the opposing defense’s front seven (something Cal has not done this season) then Cal will have no problems scoring on the Cougars.
2. Establishing the Run Game: The Cougars defensive plan is to force Maynard to get “involved” in the game to force him to make bad decisions. This means Cal will have to make sure they can establish a powerful run game, which was vital against the victory against UCLA. If the Cougars have to worry about Cal running all over them, all Maynard has to do is manage the game as he did against UCLA.