Archive for Analysis

How Cal Lost in The Rose Bowl, Part IV

Click to read Part I, Part II, and Part III of the Rose Bowl series. And now, for the last part in our series, we move onto the crucial play, the Verner interception return. Here Cal has Hawkins and Jackson lined up to the top, and two running backs, fullback lined up on the weak […]

Posted by: Avinash on Thursday, June 5th, 2008

How Cal Lost in The Rose Bowl, Part III

Click to read Part I and Part II of the Rose Bowl series. As the game progressed, DeWayne Walker seemed to take into account the adjustments Cal was making to his UCLA defense. Here you can see him revert from the Cover 4 and go back to the Cover 2. In a Cover 2 set, […]

Posted by: Avinash on Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008

How Cal Lost in the Rose Bowl, Part II

(Continued from Part I) Today we look at particular examples of how Cal would attack the UCLA’s Cover 4. If you recall from yesterday’s post, two particular ways to attack the Cover 4 were to work the outside routes. I’m not going to go into too much exposition, just show pictures of how Coach Tedford […]

Posted by: Avinash on Wednesday, May 14th, 2008

How Cal Lost in the Rose Bowl, Part I

Note before you start: This is an extensive, abstract, three part piece. Better grab some popcorn and chow down. Summer might be around the bend, but here at Bears Necessity it’s school time, football fanatics. Parts II and III coming later this week. UCLA 30, Cal 21. While the Oregon State game was a mixture […]

Posted by: Avinash on Monday, May 12th, 2008

Outsmarting the Enemy (Three Fake Handoff, Cal at UCLA)

Last week we went over attacking the Cover 2 scheme, which is to look for the mismatch on the field (read where the safeties will bite to) and to attack where the safeties aren’t in a position to make a play on the ball or the receiver. Today’s post is a little more of a […]

Posted by: Avinash on Wednesday, May 7th, 2008

The Noodles at Cal (Wonderlic Scores)

(This is 90% Danzig, with some great data; my small contribution is the Analysis section after the scores and before the sources) I was catching up on my RSS feed yesterday and I came across a report that Mario Manningham of Michigan scored a ‘6’ on his Wonderlic IQ test. A fricking ‘6’?? I thought […]

Posted by: Danzig on Tuesday, May 6th, 2008

Breaking Down the Cover Two (Cal at UCLA, 2007)

UCLA has one of the most feared defenses in the Pac-10. Their defense is not only very talented, their coordinator DeWayne Walker is one of the best in the biz. He mixes packages, his corners play great on the edges, his run defense stuffs everyone on 1st down. So the only ways for an offensive […]

Posted by: Avinash on Wednesday, April 30th, 2008

Spring Forward

Hey All. Since I’ll be posting here on a regular basis, Avinash suggested I introduce myself. For those of you who don’t know me already, I’m a 2000 Cal alum currently living and practicing law in New York. Thanks to Avinash for the opportunity to contribute to the discussion and thanks to you for reading. […]

Posted by: Tony on Tuesday, April 29th, 2008

Black Swans of Cal Football

(As the offseason moves along–four more months to go, WOOOOO!—I’m going to give smarter Cal fans their chance to voice out your opinions. If you want to become a regular contributor or a guest poster, just check this post out for details on what to do. Today I’m handing it to Tony, a longtime commenter […]

Posted by: Tony on Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008

3rd Down Offense in the Pac-10

Numbers are always fun to look at, and this week I’m going to look at the all-too-crucial third down conversion. While I can’t generate anything as awesome as MGoBlog’s graphs, I can do some basic breakdown of numbers. The Division I rushing yards per carry ranking is listed in parentheses. Rushing 3rd and 1-3 3rd […]

Posted by: Avinash on Tuesday, April 15th, 2008