Lowe McCain Moala at Oregon
A day after Cal’s 55-16 road loss to Oregon, DE Chris McCain was dismissed from the team, according to an official Cal news release:
Junior defensive end Chris McCain has been dismissed from the Cal football team due to conduct detrimental to the team head coach Sonny Dykes announced Sunday.
Coach Dykes was not available for comment, as there was no practice on Sunday. More information should come to light after Monday’s practice.
Marcus Mariota
The California Golden Bears play their first road game of the 2013 season – today at 7:30pm – versus the Oregon Ducks. For previews and a scouting report on the Ducks, head over to our friends at California Golden Blogs:
Oregon is favored by at least 35 points, so it would be a minor miracle if Cal were to pull off the upset. Both teams had byes last week, and the Cal coaches put in considerable work in shoring up the defense. The Bears will look to compete hard and go toe-to-toe with Marcus Mariota and the Ducks’ explosive offense. We’ll see if Jared Goff & Co. can keep pace and have a chance to win in the 4th quarter.
Lots of exciting games this weekend in the Pac-12. Can the rising Cougars pull the upset of the year against Stanfurd?
Last week: 6-1. Overall: 29-4
Colorado @ Oregon State: Huge game for the Buffs and with the way the Beavers defense has been playing. I think the Buffs can pull it off. Colorado 35 – Oregon State 32
Arizona @ Washington: Washington looks really good right now and I expect their defense will be just as strong against Arizona. Arizona 14 – Washington 38
Stanfurd @ Washington State: I would be shocked if the Cougars win this one, but you never know with the Pac-12. Stanfurd 42 – Washington State 21
USC @ Arizona State: After a toss loss to Stanfurd, I think Arizona State can come back and get the win in front of their home crowd. USC 20 – Arizona State 24
Smiley Face
Chris Conte is one of nineteen NFL players to have played on every NFL snap this season. He had the interception that sealed the game, on Sunday Night Football, as well as another one during the middle of the 4th quarter which was extremely acrobatic and more than likely would have been challenged and overturned if the Bears weren’t up by 3 possessions at the time.
Alex Mack is looking for a huge payday next year. As all fantasy pundits know, Trent Richardson is gone so the holes might be harder to open on run plays. In a league where centers are starting to be recognized as being important when it comes to picking up blitzes and during audibles, the Browns are definitely fearful Mack might leave. Mack anchors a solid O-Line alone with Pro Bowler Joe Thomas and Cal Alumni Mitchell Schwartz.
Frowny Face
Bryan Anger unfortunately has been punting a lot for the Jaguars this year. The Jaguars beat writers have noted his punts this year have more resembled line drivers and haven’t hung as much. This allowed the Raiders to return an early kickoff and get an early touchdown against the Jaguars in a winnable game. However Anger did make the Sporting News best under 25 list.
Jeremy Ross was cut by the Packers because of a key fumble early in the game against Cincinnati which put the Packers down 14 before Aaron Rodgers even touched the ball. I’m sure Jeremy can find himself back on some roster especially if a GM remembers this highlight or this one.
Remember the last time Cal won at Autzen Stadium? The amazing last defensive effort by Marcus Ezeff who forced a touchback that ultimately won the game for our Golden Bears? I sure do. But if you don’t, here is the second half of the 2007 Cal vs Oregon game.
Credit to CalBearsArchive for providing these videos.
| GOFF | Att | Comp | Pct. | Yds | Yds/Att | TD | Int | Rating | Att/G | Yds/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 167 | 102 | 61.1 | 1301 | 7.8 | 7 | 4 | 135.56 | 55.7 | 433.7 |
| MARIOTA | Att | Comp | Pct. | Yds | Yds/Att | TD | Int | Rating | Att/G | Yds/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 82 | 49 | 59.8 | 889 | 10.8 | 7 | 0 | 178.99 | 27.3 | 296.3 |
| GOFF | Att | Yards | Avg. | TD | Att/G | Yards/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | -17 | -0.81 | 1 | 7.00 | -5.67 |
| MARIOTA | Att | Yards | Avg. | TD | Att/G | Yards/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | 262 | 17.47 | 4 | 5.00 | 87.33 |
Mariota has a higher QBR rating while Goff is higher in almost everything else in the passing game. The reason why Mariota has such a high QBR is because he has 0 interceptions with high efficiency due to his ability to run. Mariota’s running ability keeps many defenses honest while when Goff steps back the defense knows that he’s looking downfield. Overall, I would say that Mariota is a much more dangerous quarterback because he doesn’t make many mistakes and he has amazing running ability. On the other hand, I would say Goff is a more accurate QB. Either way, this Saturday will be really fun to watch because Goff and Mariota are ideal quarterbacks for their respective offenses.
I was SPOT ON about UCLA vs Nebraska AND I predicted the rest of the winners correctly. Not too shabby…
Last week: 9-0. Overall: 23-3
Idaho St @ Washington: The way Washington has been playing, this should be in the bag by the first half. Idaho St 3 – Washington 52
Utah St @ USC: I wouldn’t be surprised if Utah St pulled the upset here, but I’m going to say that USC will just barely survive this one. Utah St 13 – USC 17
Arizona St @ Stanfurd: HUGE game for both teams. ASU showed a lot of trouble against Wisconsin’s offense last week and I expect the same this Saturday. ASU 21 – Stanfurd 38
Oregon St @ San Diego St: It looks like Oregon State is on the way back after that terrible week 1 loss. Oregon St 42 – San Diego 10
Utah @ BYU: The Holy War! I’m a bit skeptical about Utah after their loss last week and a bit higher on BYU after their victory against Texas. Should be a close game to the end. Utah 24 – BYU 27
New Mexico St @ UCLA: Cupcake game for the Bruins. New Mexico St 7 – UCLA 42
Idaho @ Washington St: Cougars are looking better every week and this game should be an easy victory for them. Idaho 17 – Washington St 49
I submitted a question to Uncle Ted and Uncle Kevin @ the ESPN Pac-12 blog. Hopefully it gets answered. I re-posted it below, hopefully it will get answered! Here’s a link to previous post of mine that made it to ESPN.
Ted – After the Wisconsin/ASU referee debacle, I’m wondering how the referee/replay crew/ball is agreed upon for a game. For example, the past weekend during the Cal game, I saw a Cal football being used for a game in Berkeley. However in Lincoln, Nebraska, UCLA was using its own ball with Pac-12 refs with Big-10 replay officials. Thanks.
Our biggest weapon needs to run wild today if our Golden Bears are to have any chance of upsetting the #4 Buckeyes. Pretty amazing last year’s coaching staff was only able to put the ball into his hands 4 times, but I expect Sonny to run him 25+ times today in our Bear Raid. A lot of the front 7 for OSU from last year is in the NFL right now, and the unit probably hasn’t seen much action in their blowout wins against SDSU and Buffalo this season. Regardless, it’s a talented front, and if Bigelow is able to get into the open field, it should open up some down-field passing lanes for Goff later in the game. The one good news for the Bears is that there doesn’t appear to much of a dropoff when Khalifani Muhammad or Daniel Lasco enters the game.
