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Fade to Black
Two years isn’t so bad.
People might have noticed my writing slow down to a trickle over the past several months, and with good reason. I didn’t really have a handle on how to build a Golden Bears community that could sustain itself, and my interest in writing for Bears Necessity diminished along with it.
Also, information flows too quickly now in the Cal sporting world, and I couldn’t keep up with it running a one-man ship. And really, there are better places you can read about the Bears now, and I was just happy to be part of the second wave.
Most importantly, I never really had a clear focus of what I wanted to write for my site, and without that defined role it was too difficult to finish these goals. It’s something I came to grips with in the past few months, and I focused on writing only when the ideas came to me. That’s not something I can translate into a career though, and certainly not as a one-man site.
I’m not abandoning Bears Necessity, but its time as a Cal football site is done. I have other plans for this site that I think could be fruitful, and when I have the opportunity I’ll reveal them. Right now I have some other projects to focus on, but there should be a time in the future when I can get a chance to work on it.
However,
That doesn’t mean the end of my Cal sports-writing; it just means I won’t be flying solo anymore. I’ll be joining the California Golden Blogs (I’ve pretty much been an honorary member there for awhile) and will be contributing in a less exhausting, and hopefully more rewarding manner there. If you want to stay in touch with me, you can follow my movements over there. I’ll be writing there very soon (expect a post there in the near future), so just subscribe to the RSS feed there or my personal blog that tracks my posts on the SB Nation network if you just want to keep tabs on me.
I’d like to thank several people for their help. Several contributors (most notably Tony, who did a yeoman’s job), as well as danzig and The Play in CA have helped me during the 2008-2009 campaign. It was fun to interact with fellow Cal bloggers from CGB (now my partners in bloggery), Bears With Fangs, Excuse Me For My Voice, and Bear Will Not Quit. And I also have to thank lawvol for donating his time to creating this lovely design. If you ever need a website designer for your sports site (or any blog site), he’s a good guy to email for a quote.
Finally, I have to thank everyone who’s commented, subscribed, read and absorbed (hell, even hated on) any of the ideas and thoughts that passed through my head and onto this site. I’m definitely a better writer and thinker than I was two years ago, and if it wasn’t for the support of you guys and gals I’d probably have quit early on. Now I feel closer toward embracing a Personal Legend I’d never have thought about exploring years ago, and you all played a small part in guiding me that way.
Hey, maybe Cal did change me for the better. Who’d have thought.
Go Bears.
Inside The Huddle with Tom Schneider
Sitting out the 2007 season was very difficult for me, especially with the way it played out. I considered myself one of the leaders on the team, and not being able to keep my finger on the pulse of the team was tough.
This spring I’m training to kick professionally. Kicking is exciting, challenging, and rewarding and I will continue to play as long as I enjoy it. I’m not sure what I want to do after football, but I consider myself an academic late-bloomer and would like to go back to school.
If you can’t find Inside the Huddle on Amazon, it should be available at these local vendors!
Bancroft Clothing * Cal Student Bookstore * Analog Books * Orinda Books * Orinda Country Club * UC Threads
All images provided in this interview courtesy of Tom Schneider and can be found in the book.
California 88, Washington 85 (3OT)
(Torrent is here; highlights of the final minutes of regulation and overtime are here, here, here & here; video tribute by danzig is here)
Only watched the game on my Blackberry last Saturday, so didn’t get time to see it until an hour or so ago. Here are the notes I typed up while watching.
- One thing to note is how the Huskies gave Cal a taste of their own medicine. Instead of trudging up at a halfcourt pace like many of the other Pac-10 teams Cal has faced, they brought the game to the Bears and played at the fast pace that Cal’s smaller defense isn’t quite set to face. The paint was open on multiple occasions as Thomas weaved his way in for numerous drives and layups in the first half. Once Washington slowed things down, Cal was able to make their comeback.
- There are bigger intricacies that are involved in the game, but basketball is mainly about playing at your tempo; a team with a good point guard should be pushing the ball. Both teams had good point guards and although the Bears 1-man struggled early, Cal adjusted to theirs late by not only switching Guiterrez onto Thomas, who struggled to do anything in the overtimes, but letting Guiterrez ball handle.
- Husky defense was very good, as they switched multiple players on Ranlde. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Stanford put multiple players on the point guard and force other players to beat them. Cal looked flustered for much of the game.
- I’m still not quite sure how they lost this game considering how quiet our point guard play wasand how strong Washington’s point guard play was. The ball was moving much more fluidly for Washington. Sharp cuts, backdoor passes, breaking the zone, etc.
- Cal only utilized a little bit of their zone offense; there wasn’t a lot of ball movement, probably attributed to fatigue from the last leg of a road trip. Washington actually moved the ball much better for the majority of the game. I wouldn’t be surprised if they came to Haas and played another nailbiter with this experience under their belt.
- I was impressed by how well Cal rebounded as a team. Teamwise the Bears boxed out pretty well, and with only minimal help from Boykin or Wilkes. Christopher was a monster at following his own shots.
- Surprised Washington did not try once to go at Christopher defensively down the stretch when he had four fouls during the overtimes. You foul him once and it’s probably over for the Bears.
- It takes a lot to blow a 9 point lead with three and a half minutes left in a college game at home, but Washington just tried to work the clock too much and couldn’t execute. Romar probably overcoached them by calling a half-dozen timeouts down the stretch. eally took the Huskies out of their rhythm when they had seemingly insurmountable leads and gave them a little too much time to think about it. Only two points in the final four and a half minutes of regulation at home??? Cal’s defense was solid, but they weren’t exactly shutting down Washington’s driving lanes. Huskies just didn’t play well when they needed to close.
- Montgomery looked like the calmer coach down the stretch. Bears mentioning.
Jerome Randle: Thomas’s play got a little bit in his head and he tried to outduel him a little too much early on as Cal fell behind. I’d say he was bothered a lot by players switching on him. Far more effective on the fast break but in the half court he struggled to do anything. He didn’t get much help from his teammates early on though, who sort of stagnated off the ball. He ended up playing much better late when he switched to the 2 and extended the game to the third overtime before fouling out.
Jordan Wilkes: He sets good picks. Mostly a finisher of plays, but the defense I’ve seen from him so far is basically putting his hands up in the air.
Jamal Boykin: Him and Wilkes can drive me crazy. For all the good things they do on defense they often get lost on offense. Too many times they got in the way of the scorers and crowded the shots of Robertson and Christopher or weren’t in position for Randle. I guess they’ll be more useful when the zone offense is moving more crisply.
Theo Robertson: Struggled creating his own shot early; was much more prolific with the catch-and-shoot. He didn’t look comfortable dribbling around the perimeter, but did finish the game with the go-ahead drive. Can go inside and shoot outside though, and that was all they needed in the third OT.
Patrick Christopher: The most complete player on our team. Can shoot the 3 ball, creates his own shot, moves well off the ball, has the speed to grab his missed shots. Still not sure about his defense though. Played like a man possessed in the second half and the third overtime. This could partly be due to the fact that no one on Washington could really guard him one-on-one. Also played great defense on Dentmon on the last crucial possession without getting called for the foul.
Harper Kamp: He’s very good at those backdoor passes, and has excellent defensive skills that make him valuable down the stretch. He breaks up passes in the paint, can bother his man in the post, etc.
D.J. Seeley: Might end up eating into Knezevic’s minutes down the road, simply because he plays better defense and can shoot the 3. His fast break defense was especially notable. Oh, and let’s not forget the clutchness.
Jorge Gutierrez: Strong defender (really bothered Thomas in the last few minutes) and plays well in the system on offense, had a crucial drive to the lane in the third OT, even has a nice pass; Montgomery allowed him to ball handle at times, showing how much confidence he has in him playing spot point. All you ask for off the bench. He’s the kind of player the fans of opposing teams will love to hate. That swipe across the face of Thomas is a perfect example.
Didn’t pay as much attention to Washington, but here are my quick (and probably biased) notes.
Isiah Thomas: Very strong point guard, and does remind me of the real Isiah at least in terms of the way he attacks the basket. I love aggressive point guard play, and off the dribble he was unstoppable much of the game. Cal really doesn’t have anyone who can guard him–their point guards are too small and their big men aren’t quick enough. It’s going to be interesting when the Bears face good point guards down the road and how they deal with him; my thoughts are zone-zone-zone. Of course, I don’t know what the hell he was doing reaching in on Seeley on that final shot.
Jon Brockman: Another big awkward white dude. Of course he has that hustle and rebounding that most journalists drool over in college, but has too much Hansbrough in him (and even Tyler can make his free throws). A good eleventh man on an NBA team before people realize he’s kind of useless.
Justin Dentmon: Made some absurd shots. Also works well off the ball and had some good rebounds off his own shot (Randle was switched onto him after Guiterrez took over defensive responsibilities). The senior dominated the second and third overtimes and nearly took them home. Got Randle fouled out too drawing the charge.
Venoy Overton: Great penetrator to the inside.
Justin Holliday: Nice block.
Quincy Pondexter: Lives up to his name. Did a lot of quizzical things in this one (not closing out on his man, not finishing his shot, travelling trying to turn around in the paint, etc.)
Matthew Bryan-Amaning: Like every Euro player, can’t believe he’s ever committed a foul in his life.
Buy tickets for Montgomery’s return to Maples, or get ready for the first home games of the spring semester at Haas against Oregon State and Oregon!
Add your thoughts of Cal’s dramatic triple overtime win in the comments.
A Nod To the Future: Pac-10 Football in 2009
Fall 2009 is a long way away for a Cal football fan, but it’s really hard for Golden Bears not to be anticipating the possibilities of next season. The Bears have made plenty of runs after the Rose Bowl fiasco of 2004, but there were always good reasons as to why Cal never were able to make the leap to the Rose Bowl.
- In 2005, we lost many of our offensive playmakers and our starting quarterback; USC kept both.
- In 2006, youth and a QB/RB ill-suited fora spread scheme eventually did in the Cal offense late in the season; a deeper and more experienced USC team had just enough to seal us off.
- In 2007, the lack of depth defensively eventually allowed teams to keep the ball away from the potent Cal offense.
- In 2008 the Bears retained none of their starters at the skill positions and struggled to move the ball without #4 breaking to daylight.
However, in 2009, the cards might finally be falling in our favor. A look around the Pac-10 amplifies those hopes.
Washington State
Oh god. It doesn’t get more barren than this, does it?
Pros: Uh. Their home games are easier this year. So they have that going for them. Wulff’s recruits might finally start seeing PT at key positions, so the Cougs shouldn’t be as thin at every position as they were this season.
Cons: They go to Memorial next year. That takes care of this one.
Conclusion: If that game is even close next season, something has gone horribly wrong. Best not to think about it.
Washington
You can only go up from bottom right?
Pros: Jake Locker is back. That’s enough for two-three wins right there, as long as he stays healthy. And this was a young team, which explained many of the tough losses all season; you’d expect with a year under their belt the new coaching regime would get these players back into working order after the mess of the Willingham era.
Cons: This team won zero games last year. Bagel. Empty. Nada. Nothing There is a lot to work on, and there are no quick fixes.
This year LSU, USC, Cal and Oregon all come to town, plus a trip to South Bend. Their schedule is even more brutal than last season. To expect the Huskies to rise up and win more than five games is a little unrealistic.
Conclusion: They’re a little bit more of an uncertain commodity than Wazzu because their coaching staff should be way better, but I still have no clue. Nevertheless, the Bears still have yet to face Locker, and he is not to be underestimated (as BYU can attest).
Arizona
Mike Stoops is barely safe once again. Took all his effort and a senior quarterback and Texas Tech’s old offensive coordnator, but they finall put a winning season under their belt. Good for them. Let’s hope they revert to sucking.
Pros: This is a young team with a lot of returning starters. Antolin and Grigsby will both be back, as will their tight end Rob Gronkowski. More importantly, their defense (lose five starters) and O-line (lose two) will return mainly intact with plenty of seniors manning each group.
Cons: Willie Tuitama is gone. So is Mike Thomas, and thus half of their offensive production. Considering Tuitama has been the de facto starter for nearly three and a half years, it’s hard not to see Arizona taking a step back in this game with one of the freshmen quarterbacks taking the reins. Their offense is entirely dependent on a good QB game, so we’ll have to see how well they adapt to their surroundings.
Conclusion: They will be much like Cal next year, albeit weaker at the skill positions. However, they do come to Memorial, so the Bears should have the advantage in this one.
Arizona State
Danny Sullivan or the Elway kid? Rudy Carpenter is now gone (up to you to wonder if that’s a good or bad thing), and the jury’s out on whether Dennis Erickson is washed up–my guess is he’s over the hill, but I’ve been wrong about these things before. We’ll know when they go to Georgia what type of team they are.
Pros: Carpenter’s gone, which can be good if you really hate Rudy Carpenter. It’s Arizona quarterback battle II this offseason, as Danny Sullivan fights for the right to start his senior season, although he might take a backseat to the frosh as well. Also only three seniors on the defense leave, so this squad will escape 2008 relatively intact (which can be a good or bad thing).
Cons: That offensive line was terrible last year, was worse this year, and doesn’t show any signs of changing this year considering only two of those players graduate. This team is going to have all sorts of trouble adjusting to Cal’s 3-4 front.
Conclusion: Dangerous game in the desert (all of them are), but it should be Cal’s easiest in the last four trips to Arizona.
Stanfurd
AXE.
Pros: Gerhart is back, and he was tough to take down all year, so it’s going to be tough playing him straight up. Also the O-line is in place, so you have to expect Harbaugh to power run up the gaps for most of the season.
Cons: The ‘Furd loses eight starters and five more backups on defense. Let me repeat, they lose THIRTEEN of their primary and secondary defenders. Jahvid Best could very well march for 250 on them in the Big Game.
They lose Pritchard, who at least showed signs of competency. We have no clue what Alex Loukas or Andrew Luck or even Josh Nunes will do or whether a clearcut #1 will emerge.
Conclusion: We’re going to have to see what Jim Harbaugh’s recruits can do as most of Walt Harris’s recruits move on. If they excel, the Big Game will be tough, but if they are merely adequate we’re keeping the Axe.
UCLA
I would like to say this team is an easy out, but it all depends on Kevin Craft. Will he really develop into the QB that Neuheisel thinks he’s capable of becoming? The other options aren’t pretty.
Pros: UCLA loses only two offensive starters–their center Micah Reed and tailback Kahlil Bell. For all the misery they went through last season, the Bruins should be much improved going into 2009 with plenty of experience under the belts of the youngins. Their defense loses more, but they should be solid, depending on who they hire to replace DeWayne Walker.
Cons: Uh…quarterback play (am I sensing a trend here?). Craft murdered them in several of their losses. If he can just tone down the interceptions they could be a dark horse pick to challenge for the Pac-10 crown (their home schedule is favorable with Cal and Oregon coming to town).
Conclusions: If we have good quarterback play, we will end our miserable road record in Los Angeles. If we have bad quarterback play, we probably don’t.
Oregon
What is it with the Ducks? Almost every season they find a way to mirror our exact struggles the season before. The Ducks went 10-2 but were denied a BCS berth and sunk in the Holiday Bowl in 2005 the season after Cal got jobbed and did the same. Oregon collapsed in 2006 after our matchup, we collapsed in 2007 after our matchup. Now in 2009, they face the same issues Cal did in 2008 by losing a ton of senior talent. And I mean a ton.
The good: Oregon’s got three exciting quarterbacks competing for the starting position. Although Masoli played very well in 2008 and starred in the Holiday Bowl, you can expect him to compete again with Justin Roper and the sophomore Darron Thomas. Why can’t we have a positive QB controversy like that?
Also, that monster LaGarrette Blount is taking over for Jeremiah Johnson, so the spread attack should be just as potent as it always is. Also returning are the cornerbacks Thurmond and Byrd, and Byrd seems to be coming on for the Ducks.
The bad: Oregon’s two centers are graduating, including Max Unger (heralded to be just as good as Alex Mack). Three guards and the starting tackles are also gone. Terrence Scott and Jaison Williams are on his way out with Jeremiah Johnson. They also lose six defensive starters (including Chung and Boyd), but I never know if that’s a bad thing for a team like the Ducks that never seems to get it together on that side of the ball.
Peachy.
Conclusion: If this game were at home Cal would probably win handily, but since this is an Autzen it’ll be our second or third toughest game on the schedule, depending on how you view the next two opponents. The Ducks are never an easy out though, and their O-lines never seem to drop off, so we’ll have to see how their team adjusts to their new trenchmen.
Oregon State
I hate playing these guys, and I’m sure Tedford does too. The Bears have losing records against two Pac-10 teams since he arrived, and against Oregon State he’s a grand 2-5. They’re a well-coached team that keeps on spitting out upset after upset. And their defensive coordinator doesn’t get hired anywhere for no apparent reason. Drives me nuts. It’s looking like we’ll have to deal with him again this season.
Pros: Moevao and the Rodgers brothers return, and you’d figure that offensive talent will be enough to solidfy them. Darrell Catchings should slide in to replace Morales. McCants is a solid backup in case Rodgers gets hurt.
Cons: Their offensive line loses four of their main men including two starters. I would say losing three of their defensive linemen or their entire starting secondary are huge losses, but the Beavers lost their entire front seven last season and came within one win of the Rose Bowl. I don’t know. I’m terrified of this game. Couldn’t they have scheduled it for June?
Conclusion: The Beavers are coming to Memorial, and even though we’ve lost the last two, we were at our weakest and they were at our strongest in both of those matchups. You’d think we could have this one, but they could clamp down on Best and force Riley to win this one. Who knows whether he’ll be able to do it or not.
USC
The kings, and rightfully so. Everytime you count them out they come marching right back and start scorching Earth. While Pete Carroll’s teams are not as invincible as they once were in the Leinart-Bush-White era, their potency cannot be questioned, and you’d be a damned fool to underestimate them. They are the champs of the Pac until someone dethrones them…and doesn’t subsequently fall apart.
Pros: If the Trojans are going to repeat as Pac-10 champions, they will have to do so behind an experienced offense led by senior Mark Sanchez. Other than the loss of Patrick Turner, the transfer of Hazelton, and the graduation their guard Ross Byers, the entire offense returns. C.J. Gable, Stafon Johnson and Joe McKnight will have another chance to try and distinguish their play from one another or face another platoon type system. Damian Williams is starting to develop into a star, and Ronald Johnson is a decent second option. Anthony McCoy will be featured prominently.
Cons: For the first time in a long time,there are a lot. Other than Everson Griffen and Averell Spicer, the Trojans lose everyone on their front seven. Clay Matthews, Kyle Moore, Fili Moala, Brian Cushing, Kaluka Maiva, Maualuga, all gone. Kevin Ellison and Cary Harris are also on the way out, and Taylor Mays might be joining them. That is nearly 85 percent of their starting corps. Although the Trojans will have the talent they usually have that can fill in, this is going to be a significantly weaker team than the one that just gangbusted Penn State.
Not to mention the coaching. This post will probably be updated when the sitution is figured out, but right now USC is without offensive and defensive coordinators (given that Petie runs the defense, but still). The Trojan identity for next season remains very much cloudy, and we won’t know for certain where they’re going until summertime.
Conclusion: The October matchup in Memorial is already looking like the biggest of many battles for the Pac-10 crown. USC’s offense will be facing a tough Cal defense that held them to 17 in LA, and they will be just as experienced this time around. So for the fourth straight year it’ll come down to the question of whether Cal’s offense can break through against USC’s defense. Will the Bears’s O have enough experience and savvy to finally notch the win against the Men of Troy?
What are your thoughts on next season and our matchups with our Pac-10 conference foes?
Final Blogpoll Ballot
 |
||
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florida | — |
| 2 | Southern Cal |  1 |
| 3 | Texas | 1 |
| 4 | Utah | 3 |
| 5 | Oklahoma |  3 |
| 6 | Alabama | 1 |
| 7 | TCU | 4 |
| 8 | Ohio State | 1 |
| 9 | Penn State | 3 |
| 10 | Boise State | 2 |
| 11 | Oregon | 3 |
| 12 | Mississippi | 4 |
| 13 | Texas Tech | 5 |
| 14 | Oklahoma State | 4 |
| 15 | Georgia | 2 |
| 16 | Oregon State | 4 |
| 17 | Iowa | 8 |
| 18 | Virginia Tech | 5 |
| 19 | California | 7 |
| 20 | Florida State | 6 |
| 21 | West Virginia | 5 |
| 22 | Georgia Tech | 9 |
| 23 | Missouri | 1 |
| 24 | LSU | 2 |
| 25 | Nebraska | 1 |
A Very Longshore Engagement
It’s weird to think three of my formative Cal football years have been spent agonizing over the play of Nate Longshore. And the agony was perpetual; he never seemed bad enough to be benched, but never good enough to be lauded. He was the perfect polarizer, someone who eternally frustrated you, yet never seemed entirely deserving of blame when we came up short. It’s like the cousin who always gets Cs; you just shrug and keep on trudging until he gets a job.
In the early Tedford years, Cal ran their offense through dynamic quarterback play. Aaron Rodgers was rightly regarded as Cal’s greatest modern quarterback; he could throw the deep spiral, check down his routes, go through his progressions, turn secondaries into his personal arcade. It was almost too easy for him. And we never wanted it to end.
Now it’s shifted the other way. We have been blessed with such a plethora of talent over the past several seasons that you wonder if the dynamic has turned; we’ve become stagnant in our quarterback development whereas every other facet of our game has grown. We’re sending running backs, wide receivers, o-linemen, defenders, special teams players to the NFL on a yearly basis, and there’s no denying that this trend won’t continue in future seasons. But for once, Tedford, the QB guru, is not going to be seeing a successful amateur turn pro.
Sometimes even the fanbase can lose perspective; we saw a season of effortless quarterback play that isn’t likely to be replicated anytime soon, yet we keep on thinking our quarterbacks should replicate that play. And so far the replacements haven’t been up to the task or even close to the task. It’s something we’re going to have to wrestle with.
And Now We Wait Again: Cal Football Resurgent
Twelve games, fifteen weeks. How quickly the time goes.
Football is one of those sports where you can ride the highs but escape the lows without feeling like you’re wasting an epic proportion of your time. If you sense a down year coming, if the season goes south, you can quit it easily and not look back. The time commitment is short, the moments you have to spend paying attention to it are minimal. The diehards will always obesess manically, but for the majority of Cal football fans can hang it up, get ready for a bowl game, then prepare for the eight month interlude where there is nothing but hoops and hockey.
California’s 2008 campaign didn’t really pick up on the theme of redemption many were hoping for. Many of the seniors did assume the mantle of leadership and ensure that dissent would not be a problem this season. Nate Longshore settled into an uneasy relationship, never quite part of the experience yet never quite being able to associate with it either (three starts, seven game appearances). Kevin Riley never became starter de facto, bouncing around with average efforts followed by clunkers
This season was more about rebuilding identity for the new wave. It’s about figuring out where we want to go the next three years rather than discovering about where we were bowling in December. There were glimpses of promise followed by frustrating letdowns. But these things were expected from a mainly raw offense and an emerging defense.
Obviously you can’t be totally happy with the way the offense, whose strategy seemed to be ‘hand ball to #4, he knows what’s Best’. Although Cignetti’s offense had a few gimmicks that opened up the offense a few times during the home stretch, this was clearly Jahvid Best’s offense from Arizona onward. When he had a great game we won, when he had a good game we were always in it, and when he struggled we did nothing. A battered offensive line and an uncertain rhythm between quarterback and receiver plagued every facet of our game, and we struggled every Saturday to get going without Best unleashing.
However, we did discover that there was more than one way to win than an explosive passing game. discovered how to win using the other side of the ball too.
Although the 2004 Golden Bears had a monster defense, it was far from their trademark; we knew the team for its offensive machinery rather than its defensive efficiency. This season would have been lost though without the weapons on the defense stepping up. Sure, there were occasional lapses, as to be expected from a weak 3-4 and an anemic offense not doing its part, but the Bears D more than did its job for much of the season, and will always remain a bright spot for the future.
All in all, 8-4 is what reasonable fans expected, and that is what they got. Four closely contested losses, eight very strong wins. It was satisfying in a way to get exactly what we expected, especially considering the chaos of the past season. It was a welcome relief to the usual pain that accompanies a California loss (the Bears lost the three games they were expected to lose and only had one well-explained stinker in College Park), and provided a quiet reflection before being plunged back into the sea of expectation.
Next year the Bears will again be thrust into a position where they are expected to challenge for the Pac-10 crown. Best returning for what could be his prime season. A hopefully healthy offensive line returning under the stewardship of left tackle Mike Tepper. A defense that will be stronger and should fill in many of the gaps our seniors leave behind. USC coming to town to October. At the moment, outside of Eugene and Minneapolis, what is looking like a very anemic road schedule. If only the quarterback issues could be resolved, we’d have a competitive conference contender. For now we can only wonder.
There are reasons to be brimming positivity. The potential for great things is just around the winter, spring and summer.
Grades for Cal-Washington:
Quarterback: B
Running back: A+
Receivers: B
Run blocking: A
Pass protection: A
Run defense: B+
Pass rush: A
Pass defense: B+
Inside the Civil War Playbook: Oregon 65, Oregon State 38
Days later, the entire Pac-10 continues to reel from the obliteration of Oregon State’s vaunted defense in the Civil War. With a Rose Bowl berth on the line for Mike Riley’s Beavers, how could the Ducks march into Reser Stadium and torch them in such spectacular fashion?
Sample notes extracted from Oregon’s coach-in-waiting Chip Kelly reveals the grand master plan that he laid out to wreck such havoc on his rivals. Strangely the playbook was only four pages long. Yet if you’ve seen the gametape, you’d understand that was all that was needed.
