Bleacher Report - Articles by Avinash Kunnath

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Avinash Kunnath — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 05:47:57 -0400

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 more 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.

Tom Schneider: Inside the Huddle

Avinash Kunnath — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 08:00:13 -0500

Tom Schneider is familiar to most Cal fans as our finest placekicker in the Tedford era.

After getting injured in the 2007-2008 season and being denied another year of eligibility, he transferred to Northern Alabama to complete his time as a college kicker.

He blogged about his experiences as a D-II kicker in the South at his blog, "Bama Tom".

He has also been working on other projects—most notably his in-depth look at the inner workings of Cal football titled, "Inside the Huddle".

This photo book takes us inside the locker room and gives Golden Bear fans the opportunity to explore what it’s like to be a place kicker for Cal.

I spoke to Tom to discuss what it’s like to be a kicker and talk a little about the book.

1. Describe what an average kicker’s training regimen is like for those who aren’t familiar with it. Are there any new things do you have to pick up at the college level?

My training regimen consists of lifting, plyometrics, core training, technique training, and mental training. I enjoy cross training with other sports. At the college level I had the opportunity to practice yoga and pilates, which were instrumental in my development as a kicker. Both draw largely on body awareness, strength, and flexibility.

2. How big was the culture shock moving from a Division I big conference school in a place like Cal to a small Division II school in the heart of the Deep South?

The Division II school that I played at [University of North Alabama] is the Rolls Royce of D-II schools. We played in one of the largest D-2 stadiums in the country.

The biggest difference from my experience at Cal and UNA is the size of the staff. At Cal, there is a separate strength coach, academic coordinator, etc. At UNA, many coaches have dual responsibilities doing multiple things.

3. Do you have any favorite moments as a kicker, either at the high school or college level?

I have a lot of great memories as a kicker. One that stands out was my first game playing football my senior year of high school. It was my first time wearing football pads and I don’t think I could have had a more dramatic start. My high school [Las Lomas] was playing Napa in the opener and we were down by two points with two seconds left and I hit a 51-yard field goal to win the game. Fun, fun experience.

4. You probably know that the Bears have struggled at kicker ever since you were injured last season. Do you feel some of the issues concerning the kick and punt units has been fair or unwarranted?

It’s difficult getting in there as a freshmen. Transitioning from high school to the bright lights of college football is a big jump. While these growing pains of young kickers is tough now, these kickers will continue developing physically and psychologically.

5. Talk about the book. You and your fellow teammate Cory Smits both shared this passion for taking photographs during football practice. When did it become a full-time endeavor, and how did your teammates and coaches react to the whole experience?

I decided to make this a full time endeavor after I learned my injury was a season-ender. The players and staff are supportive of me and Cory’s endeavor. Many other players beside Cory and I contributed to the book through by taking pictures and adding to the text. It’s cool because it’s a book “from the player's perspective.”

6. You talk about how getting injured gave you this rare glimpse into the Bears locker room as a kind of fan insider—someone who saw what was going on, but not quite being one of the guys. What were the biggest differences you had to adjust from being an active member of the roster to just being an observer of the process?

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.

7. Do you have any funny stories to share about your experience as a Cal kicker?

During the spring we train early in the morning. During my sophomore season (2004 team), a group of the older players decided to have a little fun after morning conditioning. They had prepared 40 water balloons and let loose on all the players walking out of the stadium. They had water balloon launchers and let loose on everyone.

8. Finally, now that your college kicking career is ending, what does your future look like?

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-Washington: Bears Steal 88-85 Win in Triple Overtime

Avinash Kunnath — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 04:39:36 -0500

(Torrent is here; highlights of the final minutes of regulation and overtime are here, here, here, and 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. Both teams had good point guard play, but Cal adjusted to theirs late by not only switching Gutierrez onto Thomas, who struggled to do anything in the overtimes, but also letting Gutierrez ball handle.

* Husky defense was very good, as they switched multiple players on Randle. 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 was and 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 nail-biter 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 nine-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, which really 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’ 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 two 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 three 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 three. 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.

Isaiah 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 11th 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 Gutierrez 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.

Add your thoughts of Cal’s dramatic triple overtime win in the comments.

A Nod To the Future: Pac-10 Football in 2009

Avinash Kunnath — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 03:52:07 -0500

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?

College Football: Final Blogpoll Ballot

Avinash Kunnath — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 02:15:12 -0500

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

Dropped Out: Cincinnati (#15), Michigan State (#18), Pittsburgh (#19), Brigham Young (#21), Ball State (#22).

I’m sure there are plenty of issues with this one. Let me know if anything catches your eye.

Examining Nate Longshore's Roller Coaster Cal Career

Avinash Kunnath — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 19:30:05 -0500

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, and 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, and 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. 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.

It’s been disheartening watching Nate grasp with his role this season. He hasn’t looked himself at all; it’s as if he took all the criticism from last season to the vest. He slimmed down, but to the detriment of his arm strength. He’s rolling out to showcase his mobility, displaying the art of the throw-away. But the entire mechanics of his game were totally in funk.

By the end, in the last drives of the Emerald Bowl, it just looked awkward whenever he stepped back to pass, and you were just hoping it would be a completion, one yard or three yards. His attempts at long throws beyond 15 yards were woefully short.

It was awful to watch. The quarterback we had been following and rooting for the past three seasons was totally unraveling. We had to compliment the guy whenever he threw a five-yard pass. That’s a far cry from the deep spirals he was uncorking to Robert Jordan, DeSean Jackson, and Lavelle Hawkins the past two years.

It’s strange to see a quarterback integrate himself into Tedford’s system so well, show flashes of brilliance, and then clamp up as time fell apart. Several times in situations where the team still held some aspirations for the BCS, he clamped up and could not deliver.

Just when it looks like he’s about to get over the top, he falls right back to square two. And now he’s barely holding onto square one. It’s a bizarre fall from grace that none of us could have anticipated.

He internalizes his struggles rather than taking them out, which brings up the question of the mechanical way in which he approaches the game. Does he try to absorb too much, and it holds him back as the game wears on? Does he overthink what he should do in a situation and make an ill-advised decision because he can’t handle it all?

Does he not know how to improvise beyond the system he has been taught? Can he not react to the adjustments the defense makes and put the ball where his receiver is going instead of where his receiver was designed to be going?

I’m starting to wonder if Nate is like one of those theoretical physicists of football. He’s someone who doesn’t have an identity he can force onto the field but instead needs to mesh his knowledge onto others who can become practitioners of the game—an intellectual, someone who would be able to impart all he has learned to those who have less experience with running the playbook and the offense.

His greatest weakness is also his greatest strength: His vast understanding of the offense makes him more intelligent than many college quarterbacks, yet at the same time it cripples him cognitively and he overthinks it.

Oh, that ankle didn’t help either.

In that sense, I can appreciate Nate Longshore as the Cal athlete-intellectual; someone who understands the game, yet cannot fully apply it to real-time situations.

It’s like how people appreciate Homer for writing the Iliad; you can tell how much work he put in. Ditto for Longshore. Even if the reps didn’t translate to success, it’s better to be out there on the field than to be on the sidelines crowing. I wish him all the best, in whatever field he chooses to pursue.

Go Longshore, go Bears.

Describe your feelings for Nate Longshore. Keep it civil.

And Now We Wait Again: Cal Football Resurgent

Avinash Kunnath — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 12:32:30 -0500

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, and the moments you have to spend paying attention to it are minimal.

The diehards will always obsess manically, but 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 the ball to No. 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. We 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+

Cal-Stanford: If Only There Were Trees to Cut—The Big Game Experience

Avinash Kunnath — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 05:21:34 -0500

So I attended my first Big Game on Saturday, and it was quite pleasant. Figures that I’d go four years of undergrad without attending one Big Game. I even passed on the 2004 one, when we all thought we were chomping on roses—probably for the best, since I’d probably have been in a coma after the Mack Brown fiasco.

For many years the Big Game was an afterthought. Cal was very good and the ‘Furd were turd farmers. No longer. Last season put everything into perspective and gave every game added meaning, especially to the young Tedheads. So this game had a sense of urgency that most others lack.

Still, even I feel distasteful considering this a true rivalry, only because of how clueless the majority of ‘Furd fans seem to be about their football team and the nature of the game in general. Victorious Cardinal fans revel on the field for a half-hour and then go off to talk about how great their alumni are—I’d be stunned if half the students could name anyone on their team.

I still am still dazed by that disorganized mass of humanity that they call a band. It’s like the MST3K version of Moulin Rouge, except Tom Servo would blow his circuitry out by halftime from the sheer incompetence.

Stanfurd fans cheered so loudly when they scored two garbage-time touchdowns that you felt like they didn’t even know the rules of the game. Awesome guys, you’re down 21. You don’t get extra points for scoring later in the game.

They did have some pretty cool coordinated movement near the end, kind of making me pine for the day when California fans could execute South Korean synchronized cheers. Far better than the Wave.

But other than the bizarro sea of red, the game was a pleasant affair. The Bears played even for the first two quarters, and then put together a dominating display in the third to put the Axe back in safekeeping.

Tedford has made the rivalry game pretty easy for us—in his six wins the Bears have won by a combined score of 189-65. Strangely, he seems to have Cal play much looser in the biggest game of the season for most alum. You don’t usually see those tricks pulled in other games.

I was fairly happy with the way the team played, letting Jahvid Best run the football to death and letting Kevin Riley sit back and watch after the lead grow to two scores. Even though the ‘Furd played like they were the better team early on, just like they did against USC, they couldn’t overcome their own mistakes.

The Cardinal had the chance to make this a game early and took themselves out of it with only three points on three red zone trips early on, even overcoming Bryan Anger’s monstrous punts. You can’t screw up opportunities like that, especially in a road atmosphere (Cal learned that lesson in every one of their losses).

Then the defense stepped up, behind Follett and Felder, Syd’Quan and Rulon, Mohamed and Worrell, etc., etc., and the points kept on coming. No bowl for the Cardinal.

More importantly, barring a bizarro Washington finish, it wiped away the last stains of 2007. That season can finally be buried in the hatchet. We’ve reestablished ourselves in the upper echelon and pretty much guaranteed another top four finish in the Pac-10 (our fourth in fifth years).

We’re going to be a fine team these next few years, and we’ll get many good opportunities to compete for the Rose Bowl as long as our coach is around. That’s all you can ask for in the era of Troy.

Oregon State is one win away from achieving what was once thought impossible. Guess what their record was the year before? 8-4.

You can only ponder what’s coming next. But for now, we’ve got the Axe—and one full year of ruling the Farm.

Report Card

Quarterback: B-
Running backs: A+
Receivers: Incomplete
Run blocking: A
Pass protection: B
Run defense: B+
Pass rush: B
Pass defense: C+
Special teams: B
Coaching: A
Overall: A

California Soul

Avinash Kunnath — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:05:36 -0500

(For information on watching The Big Game countrywide or locations of the 10,000 national meetups, click here)

It hasn’t been your typical Tedford season. Expectations have been low from the get-go, infused with a brief sense of hope for several games, only to be dashed by our team’s shortcomings and inexperience. No one really knew what to expect, so we just plowed ahead, hopeful that our team would rebound and vanquish the ugly memories.

So it’s back to basics: like Tony says, time to hate your neighbor. Now we’re at our rivalry game, standing at 6-4, hovering between modest success and another let-down season. And for the first time since 2004, beating the ‘Furd matters.

Oh, I’m sure 'taining the Axe has been important, and it’s meant something for Cal fans jockeying for position between Vegas and San Diego, but every year from that magical ‘04 campaign onward, a Bears win over the Cardinal was treated with certainty rather than with jubilation.

There was an arrogance to the way we watched each passing Big Game, as if we were judging the merits of those victories based on past (and superior) performances. We didn’t just want to win, we wanted to win with style?

Remember that uncomfortably close 2006 game, where the Bears struggled to do anything and slogged to a 13-10 halftime? After losing both a BCS berth and the Rose Bowl, the Big Game didn’t seem so big anymore.

If the Cardinal had been marginally better that day, they could have won outright. But their incompetence doomed them to another loss. Their revenge would come a year later.

Strangely, even though we lost last year, even that Big Game didn’t feel like anything more than an afterthought. No one knew what to expect as we lost, and lost, and lost again. Relinquishing the Axe made me feel more numb inside than pain; the Bears had already lost enough in the previous few months that we were used to the feeling. It couldn’t get much lower than that.

But now the ‘Furd are back. They’re not a doormat anymore; they’re a few fourth quarter defensive stops from being 7-4 and right up there with California. As it is, they’re 5-6 and hovering at the edge of bowl eligibility. As discussed at CGB, there are bigger stakes to beat the ‘Furd this time around. The Bears cannot lose three games in a row like they did last season or risk another offseason of depressing second-guessing.

Letting them win in Memorial would be devastating, right on par with Oregon State last season or Arizona the year before. It would build up the Cardinal for their own Rose Bowl campaign of next season (all the signs are pointing toward an 8-9 win team in Palo Alto in 2009). It would reinforce the idea that Tedford can’t win big games in November anymore and that our program has gone as far as it can go under his stewardship, baseless as those accusations would be.

So for once, this game matters to both sides. It’s not just to win the battle for each other. It’s to keep our place on top of the Farm. Memorial sleeps Golden Bears. Wake up to reclaim the prize.

Cal-Stanford Football: Me and the Tree

Avinash Kunnath — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 02:48:07 -0500

So, it seems that we at Bears Necessity have been a little dumbstruck by the loss to OSU. Now that my five-day hangover has finally subsided, I’m in a mood to skip right ahead to this week’s "Big Game." Earlier this week, CGB invited readers to share their fondest Big Game stories. Mine begins way back in 1996, when I was but a freshman.

The bonfire rally was memorable because I convinced my football-loathing crush from the dorms to go with me—with sexy results. And the game was memorable because it was my first taste of the kind of soul-crushing disappointment that would dominate my Novembers for years to come.

But most memorable was the aftermath of the game. That was the year the Stanfurd Tree tried to march across the field, the Tree became engulfed in a sea of Blue and Gold, and the Tree became no more.

For many years, pieces of the 1996 Tree adorned the guitar amp in my dorm room, in my room at the now-defunct Le Chateau co-op, and in various New York apartments. Each year we lost to Stanfurd. Each year we rushed the field—with sexy results. But I always had those “pieces of Tree” to remind me of a time when justice had been served in a ruthless and pointless fashion.

And then a miracle happened! The Holmoecaust ended before my eyes on a sunny Thanksgiving weekend day in New Brunswick, New Jersey and we got a new coach. And that new coach actually won the 2002 Big Game. And all was finally, for once and for all, right with the world.

Still, whenever I looked upon the foam and felt pieces of costumery that adorned my guitar amp, my thoughts would wonder to that poor, nameless, faceless douche who had made the mistake of trying to march across our field while wrapped in foam cushion.

New York is a funny place. It’s obviously huge and filled with millions of strangers. But you still run into people you know all the time. And it seems that everyone you meet has a mutual friend from college or grad school or work or whatever.

Thus, in 2003, I found myself seated at dinner next to the boyfriend of my girlfriend’s new roomate (hereafter, “BOMGNR”). This chap was a Stanfurdite. And since I generally have nothing to say to Stanfurdites other than trash talking, I immediately told BOMGNR of the time when I and a couple thousand of my closest friends rushed the Stanfurd Tree, tore it to shreds, sent its inhabitant to the hospital, and eventually delivered pieces of it onto my guitar amp.

While I was gleefully relating this story, BOMGNR leaned in and said something that stopped me in my tracks.

“It’s funny you should say that, because you’re going to meet the guy who was in that costume tonight.”

WHAT!?! COMO, OTRA VEZ POR FAVOR!?!

Well, as it turned out, this BOMGNR was in a NYC-based comedy troupe (obviously, right?) with not one, but two former Stanfurd Trees—one of whom was the very tree we demolished in 1996.

True to his word, at a house party later that night BOMGNR introduced me to my (our) erstwhile victim by saying “this is Tony, he has a piece of your tree in his room.” Of course, the Tree had no idea what BOMGNR was talking about (he at first assumed BOMGNR was referring to the tree that grew in their Brooklyn backyard).

Details were filled in, and it slowly dawned on the Tree that I was one of his tormentors from seven years prior. He was a good sport about the whole thing, but I felt pretty bad (at least I pretended to feel bad while actually being totally geeked by the coincidence).

As it turned out, I went on to see the Tree at many social events and, truth be told, he was a totally rad guy. Their comedy troupe was actually pretty hilarious (and nothing like the “comedy” gold offered up by Stanfurd halftime shows).

Ultimately, I genuinely got the sense that these Stanfurd lameasses pretty much understood their inherent inferiority to Berkeleyans. And on that common ground, I forged a friendship with someone who had, at one time, been only a faceless repository of my rage and angst.

Of course more years passed. I broke up with my girlfriend. The comedy troupe parted ways. And the Tree moved back to California. Cal went on to win many more Big Games. And I never parted with those pieces of tree that, to this day, remind me of what Cal football is really about: hating Stanfurd!

Now let’s GO BEARS AND BEAT THE FREAKING CARDINAL!!!

Pac-10 Football Scoring Trends, 2004-2008

Avinash Kunnath — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 19:46:40 -0500

(Scoring offense is points scored by the team, and scoring defense refers to points given up, just to avoid any confusion. This is not a competition between how many touchdowns Jahvid Best or Syd’Quan Thompson would score, although that would be sick.)

WOOOOOOOOO! Graphs baby graphs!

There are some immediate trends you can notice. The powerful USC offense might’ve declined in relevance, but the USC defense has become freakishly dominant the past five seasons. Everyone else’s defense has kind of vacillated in the middle, which is probably why they end up bowling before New Year’s Day.

Surprising to note: Not only is Arizona’s offense high-octane this season (first in the Pac-10), their defense is actually better scoring-wise at keeping points off the board than Cal’s (even though all the yardage stats goes to the Bears). This is what happens when you give up 28 points in a quarter, Bears!

For the basic gist of the next segment, you want blue line above red line. Otherwise your team probably is spending winter break Christmas shopping at Target rather than getting free goodies.

A few isolated trends bear mentioning.

The Washington Schools

Oh the horror.

Oh my goodness. The state of Washington football is like Brundlefly, totally emaciated and ready to burst forth into a sickly gangly creature of the night. The devolution has been spectacular, with fans probably vomiting acid everywhere and violently controlling it.

There are sadists in Seattle and Pullman savoring every moment of this. These people also voted for Lyndon LaRouche.

Washington State’s complete breakdown is even more startling than Washington—the Huskies have at least had seasons in the past where they’ve proven to be totally outclassed.

Then again, there isn’t much consolation for one school to be losing games by an average of 37 points, only for the other to get battered around for their average 27-point defeat. Even the 1-11 ‘Furd in 2006 lost their games by only an average of three touchdowns.

It seems the wheels have come off both these programs, and the only thing these teams can try and do in these final few games is cover their unprecedented 30-40 point spreads.

(Oh wait, Washington is only a touchdown underdog to UCLA? God. Damn. It.)

Second Level of Terrible (ASU and UCLA)

Arizona State’s collapse speaks volumes about how an eight-game home schedule—2007—can earn one a 10-win season.

How the hell does that work anyway? When was the last time Cal played eight home games in one season? And has Rudy Carpenter finally been battered into irrelevance? What fun that UCLA-Arizona State game will be in the post-Thanksgiving glow.

Rick Neuheisel could get outscored by double digits next season and Bruins fans would start building a shrine. Of course, this team will probably win seven games next season though and beat Cal in the Rose Bowl like they always do. Typical Bruins football.

On the uptick (the ‘Furd)

After recoaching them from reprehensible to mere substandard, Harbaugh has the Cardinal (dare I say it) looking mildly respectable. They’ve come a few ticks away from beating Oregon and UCLA on the road and battled Notre Dame to a standstill, so this is a team on the rise.

Keep an eye on them. They have a decent shot at being the third-best team in the Pac-10 next year.

Senior quarterback always helps (Arizona)

It’s going to be fun to see what that ex-Texas Tech offensive coordinator does with Elway’s son. If he’s like his old man, the results might not be pretty (Elway was many things, but he was no spread offense pocket passer). Still, sitting at 6-3 with a powerful offense and an underrated defense promises plenty of upside in Arizona’s future.

Probability of this being a one-hit wonder with Mike Stoops: 7000 percent.

Nick Allotti Needs to Rot in Hell (Oregon)

Perhaps the most surprising graph of all. The Duck offense insofar is averaging more points and only giving up slightly less than last year’s nearly Rose Bowl-bound team. Masoli and the Blount/Johnson combo aren’t exactly lighting the world on fire, but there’s no evidence to suggest that they’ve been worse. Even Allotti comes out okay here, even if his secondary is easily roasted.

Back to the Typical (California)

After a team regression to the mean last season, everything is back on course for the Golden Bears. Although the offense has declined back to a solid level and no longer can be considered spectacular, we all have to remember that 2004 team didn’t look spectacular on paper either. The next two seasons will be very interesting.

Never Underestimate Mike Riley (Oregon State)

Since they’re losing to Arizona in a week, we’ll have to discount their BCS chances, but Oregon State is well set up for next season and 2010. Their OOC schedule? At UNLV and home dates with Cincy and Portland State. 2010 has home dates with Louisville and Boise State.

Since they’re retaining the core of their offensive talent and will only have a more improved defense with a brilliant DC, Corvallis is here to stay.

I Hate Them. So Much. (USC)

Oregon State hiccup aside, the Trojans have given up a total of 23 points since that game. Not per game, TOTAL. Even if two of those teams were doormats, with only two gimmes against the ‘Furd and UCLA left (and a home beatdown of Notre Dame), only the Trojans can stop themselves now.

Examining point differential, you can see how wide the gap appears to be between first and worst (hell, between anyone and the Washington schools will suffice). And one little infuriating fact—Cal was a little bit better at dominating their opponents in 2004 than the Trojans. This stuff will keep you awake at night.

To view all the Pac-10 scoring numbers and see Division I rankings for that particular season, click here to view the spreadsheet and examine the data for yourself! You can also publish the graphs on your own site by clicking on “chart” on each graph and selecting the “publish chart” option, where you’ll receive the embed code.

If you have any additional data leave it in the comments.

CBS Sports Blogpoll Week 12

Avinash Kunnath — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 06:03:14 -0500

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Texas Tech	2
2	Alabama	1
3	Texas	1
4	Florida	2
5	Oklahoma	2
6	Southern Cal	2
7	Utah	4
8	Penn State	6
9	Boise State	1
10	Oklahoma State	5
11	Missouri	1
12	Georgia	1
13	Ohio State	3
14	Ball State	–
15	TCU	6
16	Michigan State	1
17	Brigham Young	4
18	LSU	3
19	Oregon State	3
20	North Carolina	4
21	Cincinnati	5
22	Air Force	4
23	Pittsburgh	3
24	South Carolina	2
25	California	6

Dropped Out: Northwestern (No. 18), Maryland (No. 20), West Virginia (No. 23), Minnesota (No. 25).

The only reason I didn’t drop Cal completely out was because Cal would asswhomp Tulsa, Florida State, or Virginia Tech on any given Saturday on a neutral field. Screw them.

It’s also uber-creepy that my top 10 almost completely agrees with the aggregate Blogpoll (with only Penn State and Utah switched around). Nice to know I’m so finely tuned to the college football nerd conscience.

I didn’t watch any college football this week. One of the rare times I failed on my lifelong bondage to sport. So only the poll will have to do.

California-USC Report Card

Avinash Kunnath — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 06:16:42 -0500

Nate Longshore

Another strange performance. It wasn’t like Nate was bad, even though he had those two interceptions called back on bizarro penalties. Interestingly enough, he seemingly replicated his 2006 USC performance with three nice rollouts.

But the offense moved like it was playing in a mudstorm (three timeouts had to be called to avoid delay of game penalties), and Nate has to take some blame for that.

Although his statsheet looked nice (11 of 15 for 79 yards, including 3-5 on third down), Tedford probably assumed he’d gotten the most out of Nate and decided to go to Kevin to try to get the offense into the end zone.

Grade: B-

Kevin Riley

Went 3 for 5 on his first drive, should have had the tying touchdown, and then threw the interception into the end zone (great tip before then). After that, he threw seven incompletions in a row, not helped much by a few dropped balls and an occasionally bad receiver route. His accuracy was good at first, but then he started overthrowing his receivers

I still don’t know what to make of him. Obviously he’s in an awkward situation, but he hasn’t begun to prove he can sustain drives. If the Oregon State game can’t get him fired up—he should be the starter now that Cal’s Rose Bowl chances are kaput—then I don’t know what will.

Grade: C

Running backs

Jahvid Best did not look 100 percent. There was no explosiveness out of the box after the first drive. He doesn’t look quite set into his motions, often just running into a pile and kind of moving at 80-85 percent most of the game. He had a few good runs with run blocking, but in the open field he didn’t have quite the jets that he had earlier on.

Shane Vereen wasn’t much better, although he did find the open seam to give the Bears what appeared to be a touchdown. The most impressive back was surprisingly Ta’ufo’ou. Sadly Cal’s offensive schemes predicate the fullback to block more than run, so we didn’t see more of that. It’d have been an interesting experiment though.

Grade: C

Receivers

Boateng and Tucker seemed to establish themselves as the two big receivers for the stretch run and going into next season, especially with their amazing catches to start Riley’s drive. There was a total brainfart on the crucial Vereen swing play, although he did have a nice “ooooh” leap play. There were drops, of course, but they played at around the mean.

Grade: B-

Run blocking

Tony asked where our run game went in his post-game column, and it really didn’t have anything to do with the running backs. The problem started up front. Alex Mack picked a terrible time to have his worst game of the season. A few penalties here and there, some iffy blocking, and the Trojan D-line just looked faster at the point of contact.

The rest of the unit had a few flashpans, but they just weren’t on the same level as USC. Our offensive line was cobbled together and showed its greenness with penalties, penalties, penalties. Every time Cal took one step forward, they took two steps backward. Just that type of game. Against the Trojans, it was too much to overcome on offense.

And as much as I love our linebackers, USC’s are just sick. It’s not even fair. Every year we provide a great unit somewhere on defense, the Trojans always seem to one-up us.

Grade: C-

Pass protection: See run blocking.

Grade: C-

Rushing defense

Although the Trojans had some huge gains and generally dominated at the line of scrimmage, they were held to only 4.8 yards per carry and could not gain much penetration otherwise.

The 3-4 for the most part held up, not relinquishing any huge yardage plays like in last year’s game and giving the Bears offense plenty of opportunities to tie the game. Follett’s huge forced fumble on Joe McKnight stalled one drive.

The platoon of C.J. Gable, Stafon Johnson, and McKnight only had 93 yards on the ground through their first seven drives, well below their average. Sadly, Cal’s offense sputtered, and the run defense eventually caved.

Grade: B+

Pass rush

Highly impressive. The 3-4 didn’t let up until the fourth quarter. Sanchez was hurried and pressured much of the time he went to pass, and even though there were occasions the blitzes were picked up, for the most part it was effective in stalling the Trojan offense from breaking through early on.

Grade: A

Pass defense

I was wrong about Mark Sanchez. He looks like a decided improvement over John David Booty and is progressing nicely into Carson Palmer range in the résumé of Pete Carroll era quarterbacks. If he can kick himself into Matt Leinart gear for next week’s game, he’s going to be a terror to play against the next two seasons.

Gregory did the right thing and tried to get the pass rush on him while letting the secondary play conservatively. Hagan had a few nice plays, but otherwise we didn’t see the Bears take too many chances on Sanchez’s throws.

Considering the Trojans weren’t trying to make any mistakes and kept their passes on the short side, this was an effective strategy and kept USC out of the end zone. Well, except for that TD incompletion.

Grade: B+

Special teams

I’ve always thought it was appropriate that our walk-on field goal kicker became Cal’s answer for kickoffs and field goals. This might sum up the Pete Alamar era in a nutshell when it comes to kicking. Anger did his thing, Syd’Quan had one solid return, and for the most part there were no huge returns given up. Yay, nothing to be said here!

Grade: B+

Coaching

I’ve been frustrated with Cignetti at times, but it appears he called a solid game against the Trojans like he did in 2005. Gregory seems to have reestablished his groove. Alamar is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Unfortunately, the mental errors abounded.

Tedford’s stoic nature might have come back to bite him in this game. The green offense probably needed some raw emotion to charge them up for a huge “Rose Bowl on the line” game in the Coliseum. Riley’s insertion provided it for a bit. But the offense just looked slooooow getting into their progressions, and the mistakes piled up.

Grade: B

Overall

Execution, execution, execution. If the Bears’ offense could have executed most of their plays correctly, this is probably a tied game, and then who knows what happens late. But once the drops and penalties accumulated, the opportunity for upset grew dimmer and finally turned off by the fourth quarter.

Cal’s offense again could not step up when the defense did their job, and while the result was close again, it was still a defeat.

Against any other team, a defensive performance like the one the Bears put up probably has them heading into the showers with a victory. Unfortunately, they were playing the Condoms.

Grade: C+

Cal Bears Football: Initial Post-U$C Thoughts

Avinash Kunnath — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 03:37:11 -0500

1. My first thought is SCREW YOU ‘SC. I’m really tired of this program and its fanbase treating “knocking players out of the game” as its animating principle.

For an example, see Conquest Chronical’s Q&A with CGB the other day. If you need another example, try having a conversation with a U$C fan without them making some reference to the hit Desean Jackson took against them in 2006.

All euphemisms aside, these people are talking about deliberately injuring opposing players. It’s weak, it’s classless, and it’s bad karma.

They were bringing it again tonight with their helmet-to-helmet crap and late hits on the quarterback and what have you. I pray that Pete Carroll is duly punished in the afterlife (by which I mean as head coach of the 49ers).

2. As I expected, this game proved to be a bit of a replay of 2006 and 2007. Cal stays with the Trojans until U$C puts the game out of reach in the final minutes. It’s getting pretty old, isn’t it?

This one was a little different, because Cal was absolutely dominated in the stats, but stayed in the game due to (1) U$C penalties; and (2) fortuitous defensive stops at just the right time.

This game was winnable, and that’s the best you can hope for against the Trojans. The Bears let it slip away, again.

3. Did anyone else notice that, for once, we didn’t take a big dump in the third quarter? Both teams were scoreless on the quarter, but that was when Cal was continually driving in ‘SC territory (before coming up empty, of course).

4. Our QB controversy is alive and well. There is no doubt that Riley brought a special electricity to the game when he came in to start the second half. And that drive featuring the called-back Vereen touchdown and Riley’s pick was otherwise a thing of beauty.

But he continues to sail balls over open receivers, and he continues to have too much faith in his ability to escape the pass rush.

Longshore lacks that electricity, but he hit his receivers and he evaded the blitz. I’m still torn and, I guess, just happy to have both of them.

5. Where was our running game? Many have noted that our running game was extinguished to a large degree by all the penalties that put us in long yardage situations. I would add that U$C was clearly keyed in on the run, and we needed a more consistent passing game to open it up.

In fact, if memory serves, the only stretch of the game where we had some successful running plays was the aforementioned third quarter drive. That was the only time the U$C defense looked to be playing scared.

6. It finally time to engage in premature outlandish Cal Rose Bowl scenarios. Yes, there are several avenues whereby Cal could still go to the Rose Bowl. The first would be if Cal wins out and U$C loses two conference games.

Of course, the chances of U$C losing its only two remaining conference games (Stanfurd and UCLA) is basically zero. The second scenario would be if Cal and U$C both win out and U$C manages to move into the BCS top two.

However, for Cal to receive an at-large invite to the Rose Bowl, it would have to be in the BCS top 14. That didn’t work in 2006 and it won’t work this year either.

So here’s the most likely scenario whereby Cal could still go to the Rose Bowl: Cal wins out, U$C splits against UCLA and Stanfurd, OSU loses to Cal but wins out thereafter, and Arizona loses its three remaining games (OSU, Oregon and ASU).

It’s complicated, but not crazy. Under that scenario, Cal, U$C and OSU would be three-way-tied in the Pac-10 standings with no head-to-head tiebreaker.

Under the Rose Bowl selection rules, such a tie is broken by comparing “each remaining tied team’s record against the team occupying the highest position in the final regular season standings…with the procedure continuing down through the standings until one team gains an advantage.”

If Cal, OSU and U$C are tied and Arizona ends up in the standings below whichever Stanfurd or UCLA team beat U$C, then U$C will be eliminated first from the tie.

That would leave Cal and OSU, with Cal winning the two-team tie-breaker through head-to-head competition.

However, we need Arizona to lose out because if Arizona finishes tied with the Stanfurd or UCLA team that beat U$C, then the Rose Bowl will move to its next tie-breaker: final BCS ranking. U$C definitely takes that one.

There are a couple other ways this scenario could work out (e.g. if UCLA is the team that beats U$C and UCLA craps out against ASU or Washington), but the above is what I think would be most likely.

Of course all of this depends on Cal winning out. Go Bears, let’s beat the Beavs.

Will Cal’s Offense Finally Break Through Against USC?

Avinash Kunnath — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:02:18 -0500

Continuing where Tony left off, it’s not hard to envision a scenario where USC goes down, and it starts on the defensive end. For all the complaints about Bob Gregory that have been voiced, there’s no doubt the defense has been the strongest part of the 2008 California Golden Bears. Currently the Bears defense are allowing 2.88 rushing yards per carry (9th in the country), an astounding 92.61 passer efficiency (3rd in the country), and are only allowing opponents to complete less than half of their passes (49.1%, second best in the country). Whether you chalk it up to lousy Pac-10 quarterback play or the switch to a 3-4 defense is up to you.

Bears With Fangs points out that the defense will have to be world beaters again, and I have to concur. Stafon Johnson, C.J. Gable and Joe McKnight aren’t as strong as the Masoli-Johnson combo we faced this week in terms of pure yardage, but they can keep drives alive and shorten down and distance. Although he’s had his hiccups, Mark Sanchez has played much better than John David Booty, and is progressing quite nicely. It is noteworthy that he struggled against Arizona and Oregon State for much of those games though. (And for God’s sake, watch out for the half back pass to Stanley Havilli swinging out of the backfield. Ohio State, Oregon, Oregon State and Arizona have all missed it; let’s not be #5 on the list.)

If you’re a historical trend kind of guy (I’m not), you can turn off the TV if the Trojans hit 24 points, since they’re almost certainly going to win this game. They’ve only needed 23 on two occasions and 24 on the other. Cal’s defense has performed admirably in the big USC games, but it’s been the offense that’s let us down.

Dr. Saturday has a nice little breakdown of all the play-action Cal’s offense ran in the Joe Roth game last year, and while we will need that part of our game to run effectively, we might need more, much more. We can’t rely on Jahvid Best and Shane Vereen bouncing for 70 yard scampers, since those only happen in the Coliseum when the uniforms are red. The offensive line is still very much beat up and we can look for USC to make a concentrated effort to stop the run and turn Cal into a one dimensional team. Whoever starts at quarterback is going to have their hands full, but if they put 20 points on the board it would probably exceed expectations.

In the last four meetups, the Bears have scored 17, 10, 9, and 17 points, and one of those was the famous Aaron Rodgers game at the Coliseum. Every year the Bears play the Trojans, it turns into a defensive slopfest, where each game is decided by the barest of margins. And while the defense does its part, the offense chokes the bone.

2004: The Bears double up the Trojans in first downs (28 to 12), double up in total yardage (424 to 205), but turn over the ball three times in the first half (twice on 4th and 1s), leading to 13 USC points. On the biggest plays, Cal came up short. It never should’ve come down to 1st and goal at the 7.
2005: The defense played pretty well, holding the slot machines (PAY OUT TROJANS SCORE 50 ON EVERYONE LOL!) to 35 points. The passing offense did nothing. Less said about this game, the better.
2006: Nate Longshore has a string of three good passes that set up Cal’s only touchdown; the rest of the game was a series of missed opportunities. Longshore threw two interceptions in USC territory (albiet one on the meaningless last play of the game), but the remaining drives in USC territory? Punt, INT, punt, fumble, punt, field goal miss, INT. Cal was also awful in short yardage situations, going 2 for 7 on downs of 3 yards or shorter.
2007: This game could have swung either way. But Cal’s defensive injuries finally caught up to them, Chanucey Washington gashed us and Booty played an error-free game. Cal’s offense stagnated at too many turns and three second half turnovers doomed us (stalling two 4th quarter drives and giving USC a crucial field goal).

So again it’ll come down to the California offense making plays at the right time. Nothing from the past eight games indicates that the Bears are up to the task yet. We’ve seen about half a dozen disjointed efforts from our offense this season, and you could argue the best they’ve played as a unit all year was opening day! Even with Malele returning and Rulon Davis back on defense, it’s hard to put Cal’s chances at winning at any less than 3:1.

Then again, I’ve seen stranger stuff happen in college football. Pete Carroll and LA raising hell about the BCS, USC off another drubbing of a Washington school, Will Ferrell saving people or something. It’s been a weird week, you know?

No liveblog, but I might be on the Golden Blogs open threads tomorrow. Liveblogging this could leave me 200% more depressed 95% of the time, and even if we do win it’ll feel horribly incomplete. “Watching the game instructions” to appear tomorrow morning.

Nine Reasons Why Cal Might Beat U$C

Avinash Kunnath — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 04:34:25 -0500

In a week where the political sphere saw a decisive underdog perform exactly like an underdog, allow me to caution that these are reasons why Cal might beat U$C, not a declaration that Cal will beat U$C.

In truth, I only restrain myself for fear of jinxing the team. Since way back in 1996, I’ve consistently believed Cal would beat U$C every season. But let the official record before the Football Gods show that I am technically being humble this year. No whammies.

1. Cal is improving as the season goes on.

The Oregon game, while far from perfect, shows steady improvement in several key areas, most notably in areas central to the passing game: (1) improved pass protection and (2) fewer receiver drops. If Cal can bring a balanced offensive attack to the game, we’ll have a chance at taking it.

2. Cal 2008 is better than the Cal team that played U$C tight for most of last year’s game.

Whether the 2008 Cal edition has the raw talent or depth of 2007 is debatable at best. But the 2008 edition is undoubtedly coalescing and performing better. We now have more conference wins than we had all last season, and our 6-2 overall record is better than the 5-3 record we sported at this point last year.

Moreover, our losses have come exclusively on the road to good teams with winning records (can’t say that about 2007), and our out-of-conference win over Michigan State probably trumps our win over Tennessee last year.

3. U$C 2008 is not markedly improved over 2007.

I remain unconvinced that this year’s U$C team is any better than last year’s. Granted, U$C 2007 had two losses at this point, but those losses came against a Stanford team that snuck up on them to win by the narrowest of margins, and a seven-point loss to a healthy Oregon team capable of winning a national title.

By contrast, this year’s road loss to Oregon State was a game in which U$C spotted the Beavers a several-touchdown lead and failed to mount a legitimate comeback.

4. U$C has less experience winning gritty games.

Almost every U$C-Cal matchup since 2002 has been a gritty contest that wasn’t decided until late in the game. For better or worse, Cal has played those gritty games all this season—and has won nearly all of them.

U$C has arguably played in two such contests this year—at Oregon State and Arizona—and split them. All the rest of U$C’s wins have been routs. Obviously that’s because U$C is pretty damn good. But the point here is Cal has more experience winning the tight ones than U$C.

5. It’s hard to gameplan against Cal.

U$C always wins the big games big. When U$C loses, it always loses to some team they didn’t see coming. I think that’s because Carroll’s greatest strength as a coach is his tremendous game-planning ability. The upside of being a volatile team with an ongoing QB controversy is that U$C can’t know exactly which Cal it’s going to face on Saturday.

6. If you lack faith, just remember 2003.

If Cal 2003 could beat U$C 2003 at home, then it’s within the realm of possibility that Cal 2008 can beat U$C 2008 on the road.

7. In recent years, home field advantage has been muted in this rivalry.

As noted above, this rivalry has in recent years produced mostly tight contests that aren’t decided until late in the game. The one exception to that trend was 2005, when Cal was dominated at home. 2002, 2004, and 2006 were all gritty contests played in the Coliseum.

8. U$C sports a first-year starter under center.

Cal beat U$C in Matt Leinart’s first year as a starter. During John David Booty’s first year as a starter, Cal played right with U$C until the final minutes of the game. Perhaps Cal can deliver enough harassment to Sanchez to make him play more like a first-year starter than a national-champion-to-be.

9. U$C is a program in decline.

I’ve said it before, and I mostly say it just to get a rise from U$C fans. But it is obvious that the U$C program peaked in 2004 and has been in gradual decline ever since.

Now, it’s certainly possible that 2008 is an inflection point in the program’s development and U$C is on its way back up (I know the media always assumes U$C is on its way back up). Having watched the loss to Oregon State, however, this year doesn’t feel to me like U$C’s return to dominance.

Now let’s Go Bears and Beat the Trojans. It is time.

CBS Sports Week 10 Blogpoll

Avinash Kunnath — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 20:58:30 -0500

To see the total blogpoll, click here for the poll and analysis by Brian Cook of MgoBlog.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama	2
2	Penn State	–
3	Texas Tech	7
4	Texas	3
5	Oklahoma State	–
6	Florida	–
7	Oklahoma	3
8	Southern Cal	1
9	TCU	3
10	Boise State	1
11	Utah	2
12	Missouri	1
13	Georgia	5
14	Ball State	–
15	LSU	3
16	Ohio State	–
17	Michigan State	2
18	Northwestern	8
19	California	4
20	Maryland	6
21	Brigham Young	–
22	Oregon State	4
23	West Virginia	3
24	North Carolina	–
25	Minnesota	8

Dropped Out: Tulsa (#15), Oregon (#20), South Florida (#22), Florida State (#25).

Why is Okie State over Oklahoma? I dunno, but their win over Missouri on the road seems more impressive than Oklahoma’s beatdowns of TCU and Kansas. Their loss to Texas looks better by the week.
Before you shoot up Tech to No. 2 over Penn State, take a look at the other teams they’ve beaten. The struggles with Nebraska and A&M are a telling sign that they aren’t quite there, and that OOC schedule is a joke. If they hold off the Oklahoma schools though…
Texas Tech, Texas, Oklahoma St., Oklahoma looks right for now, althought in terms of projections, it’ll probably end up Texas, Okie State, Oklahoma, Texas Tech by the end.
USC drops down. Their signature win of the season is Ohio State. Their second biggest win involves penetration of a sterile Oregon secondary. Their third biggest win was a slopfest in the desert with Arizona. Although their aggregate victories will add up as the season goes along (a rout over Cal would go a long way), they have a long way to go before resubmitting their name in the BCS title race.
Probably could have shifted Florida and Okie State considering their huge performance in the Cocktail Party, but it’s looking more and more like Georgia took advantage of a down year in the SEC.
Good night Tulsa. That leaves Boise State (best win: Oregon), TCU (best win: BYU), Utah (best win: Oregon State), Ball State (best win: Navy) to bust up the BCS. Good good good. Ball State-Florida in the Sugar Bowl is just too good to comprehend. Let the bowls BURN.
The bottom half of this poll is just a list of teams that suck too little. Bowl season is going to be fun to bet on.
Cal at 19 seems right. In the end they’re probably the second/third best team in the Pac-10, depending on how Oregon State and the ‘Furd finish the season. The Beavers belong in because despite three defeats, two of their losses are to top 10 teams (and Utah should’ve been a win barring a drastic collapse). The 5% chance that Cal-Oregon State could be the Pac-10 title next week is a little too bizarre to picture.

California-Oregon Report Card

Avinash Kunnath — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 06:24:50 -0500

More postgame thoughts: Hydrotech at the Golden Blogs , The Bear Will Not Quit , Bears With Fangs , Oski Talk , Ken’s podcast from Excuse Me For My Voice .

Quarterback

To his credit, Riley was looking good out of the blocks after that “whaaa?” interception. Kevin converted all of his remaining third down opportunities into first down, first down, touchdown, first down. Just when it seemed he was ready to make the leap, WHAM. Oh well.

Grade: B

Nate Longshore was adequate. 13-for-27 isn’t going to win him any awards, but he acquitted himself well through horrid conditions. He could only manage one scoring drive for three points though, which does work against him, but he didn’t make any mistakes (although there were some wince-worthy moments). He’s going to have to do much more at USC if Riley isn’t able to go.

Grade: B-

Running backs

Yeah, yeah, the weather conditions sucked, and it wasn’t hard to understand why Best and Vereen struggled. Still, three fumbles kept the Bears from breaking open the game.

Although the Jet keeps on showing flashes of the acceleration that could make him a game-changer on a complete Cal team, his hampered elbow and makeshift O-line won’t give him much of an opportunity to display that talent this season. His one big gallop ended in a fumble. Maddening bursts of potential followed by nothing.

Grade: C+

Receivers

At least one problem seems to be solved (emphasis on "seems"). Verran Tucker, Nyan Boateng, and Jeremy Ross seem to be our main options going into the third quarter of the season, as they gashed the hyped Oregon secondary. I’d like to think they have the potential to do the same to the Trojans, but can they hold on to the ball for two weeks in a row?

Grade: B

Run blocking

Take away Best’s 50-yard gallop, and Cal rushed for 82 yards on 39 carries, or just over two yards per carry. It was obviously a hasty lineup slapped into place, so they get some benefit of the doubt. Unfortunately, they move from facing the eighth-best rushing defense in the country to the third next week.

Grade: C

Pass protection

Fairly good work against one of the strongest pass rushes in the Pac-10. Insert Donovan Edwards and Justin Cheadle, and they only gave up one sack. Longshore and Riley did experience decent pressure all game, but that was to be expected.

They’ll have to step it up a notch for the biggest game of the season and make sure the feared Trojan front seven doesn’t find the holes to knock us out.

Grade: B

Run defense

What a surprise—the Ducks gashed us for 200 ground yards again. This seems to happen every season we play them, and it again has to be credited to solid O-line blocking.

In the second half Oregon just ran, ran, ran, and our 3-4 couldn’t do much to stop them up front. It took that bailout penalty in the fourth quarter to stop them from taking the lead. Now they move on to face the dragon triad of Gable, Johnson, and McKnight.

Grade: C

Pass rush

I was actually a little disappointed because Masoli should’ve been sacked a few more times, considering how effective we’ve been at getting pressure on the quarterback.

To beat USC, the Bears will need to pressure Sanchez next week with their three-man rushes (with the occasional delayed blitz in stride) while having their aggressive corners play on the ball and break up passes in stride (the Bears are much better at breaking up passes than tackling at this stage).

The Trojans are pretty good at preventing sacks and Sanchez is pretty good at eluding them, so Zach Follett might have to replicate his otherworldly performance from Saturday. We’ll need Worrell Williams, Mike Mohamed, and Cameron Jordan too to replicate their efforts.

Grade: B+

Pass defense

11-for-32 is pretty effective against Masoli. Darian Hagan continues to grow into an outstanding corner, Sean Cattouse is starting to come into his own, and Ezeff and Thompson produced their yeoman work.

Unfortunately, all five of our best performances have come at home. Will they get it together on the road against the deepest receiving corps in the Pac-10?

Grade: A-

Special teams

Oregon’s special teams bad, Cal’s special teams not bad. That was the point difference in this game. It was a tie game if not for the Duck miscues.

Grade: B

Coaching

If we take a lead this week and Frank Cignetti starts running tailback plunges, I’m going to start downing whiskey shots. If Bob Gregory drops seven back into coverage and plays soft defense, I will do the same. And please don’t make me begin to think about Alamar.

Grade: C+

Overall

Not an aesthetically pleasing game to watch, and like about half the Cal games this season, it felt terribly gimmicky (although it looked like a lot of fun to watch from the stands). We are approaching an astonishing level of double-digit leads that just disappear in the blink of an eye (Michigan State, Oregon, Arizona). Obviously this team is a work in progress, but we’re eight games into the season.

Grade: B-

CBS Sports Week Nine Blogpoll

Avinash Kunnath — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 15:46:03 -0400

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Texas	–
2	Penn State	–
3	Alabama	–
4	Oklahoma	–
5	Oklahoma State	1
6	Florida	2
7	Southern Cal	–
8	Georgia	1
9	Utah	4
10	Texas Tech	2
11	Boise State	2
12	TCU	2
13	Missouri	6
14	Ball State	3
15	Tulsa	3
16	Ohio State	5
17	Minnesota	3
18	LSU	8
19	Michigan State	7
20	Oregon	6
21	Brigham Young	2
22	South Florida	6
23	California	3
24	North Carolina	2
25	Florida State	1

Dropped Out: Pittsburgh (#15), Kansas (#21), Northwestern (#22), Georgia Tech (#24), Boston College (#25).

The theme of the week? Impressive.

At first I had Georgia jumping up three spots for their bashing in Death Valley...

Then I realized Florida had done the exact same thing...

Then I realized Georgia’s other victories were looking less impressive by the week...

Then I saw the Gators were six-point favorites in the Outdoor Cocktail Party...

So yeah, less impressed.

Also less impressed by Utah. Their victories OOC look worse every week. They’re still a top ten team, but the teams above them are going to have to lose one or two more before they can rise up for a title game appearance. They aren’t leaving the top 10 though.

Texas Tech’s beatdown in Kansas means a lot, but it doesn’t merit a huge jump in the polls. After a bizarre down year for the Big 12 South, it appears they’ve resumed their slapfest of their Northern rivals. Oklahoma, Okie State, Texas and Texas Tech are now 4-0 against Kansas and Missouri. One of these two teams will get one final shot in the Big 12 title game, but I wouldn’t start putting Tech up there with Texas (who have actually beaten the Oklahomas). 10th sound about right for them; a win over Texas would move them way up.

I do have an affinity for Missouri’s shutdown of Colorado though. They leap a lot, because frankly none of the teams that were ahead of them did much. Plus the fact that their two losses are to current top-five teams is a huge plus in their favor.

Yes, the Ducks and the Bears are ranked, although both of these teams are destined to lay road eggs. They go up here because the rest of the country’s two-loss teams have looked that bad. Frankly, I prefer Oregon State in the Pac-10 (two losses to top ten teams and a transition loss to the ‘Furd), but they might have to wait a few weeks when they notch more impressive victories under their belt.

While I’m less than impressed by either Oregon or Cal, they both seem better than the horrid selection of Big East and ACC schools. The fact that two ACC teams can enter the rankings each week and then lose to fall right back out is too exasperating to merit. Lucky for them, the trend will not completely continue: North Carolina is off. But Florida State’s turn in the chopping block has come (hi Georgia Tech).

Meanwhile Pitt gives up 54 to a three win Rutgers team and South Florida falls to Louisville, ending any interest the rest of the country has for the Big East. I’m tempted to kick both of them out, but South Florida stays for now. This bottom rung of the top 25 is like choosing between lepers and cripples to fight your wars.

Cal-UCLA Observations: Good Defense, Bad Offense

Avinash Kunnath — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 18:51:20 -0400

The Bad

Drops and pass protection. The former may improve, but so far it isn’t trending that way. I was particularly disappointed to see Morrah continue to drop catchable balls. We know from experience that he has great hands—may they reappear during the rest of the season.

Pass protection is less likely to improve. We’ve been plagued by injuries on the line all season, and with two RTs leaving the game with injury, there will be even more holes to patch. Here’s hoping for swift recoveries.

Oh yeah, special teams sucked too. Let’s pretend that’s a fluke.

The Good

Cal D is great! FUCLA sucks, but forcing four picks (two pick-sixes among them) and holding any team to 16 yards rushing is a triumph. It was great to see Ezeff and Mohamed get theirs. Mohamed’s pick was especially satisfying because he’d missed an easy takeaway on the previous play.

The Misleading

I remarked throughout the game (mostly in a drunken mutter) that both teams were showcasing some of the most pathetically anemic offense I’d seen. But the stat padding and scoring bonanza in the fourth quarter made the final numbers look OK for the Bears.

Ultimately, I was shocked to see SportsCenter award the top two spots on Top 10 Plays of the Day to Jahvid’s TD scamper and The Flea Flicker respectively. Most of the world didn’t see the game, and apparently to them, Cal is a scoring juggernaut.

The Encouraging

Last spring, I wrote a post on what I termed “the California State Championship.” I noted how, historically, Cal’s Rose Bowl fate has always been contingent on our ability to sweep the three other California schools. FWIT, one down, two to go.

Surprisingly, with ’Zona’s loss to U$C, Cal and OSU are the only teams presently controlling their Rose Bowl destiny (hat tip to Ken Crawford for beating me to the punch on this). So buck up Cal fans. As I said in my last post, the Rose Bowl depends only on what it always depended on: Cal winning.

The Odd

So far this season, Cal is 5-0 when not ranked in the AP top 25 and 0-2 when ranked there. We’re presently No. 27. Is there any way we can beat Oregon and not move back into the rankings? But it’s apparently a curse!

CBS Sports Week Eight Blogpoll

Avinash Kunnath — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 20:03:05 -0400

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Texas	1
2	Penn State	1
3	Alabama	2
4	Oklahoma	–
5	Utah	–
6	Oklahoma State	2
7	Southern Cal	–
8	Florida	2
9	Georgia	4
10	LSU	2
11	Ohio State	3
12	Texas Tech	2
13	Boise State	2
14	TCU	12
15	Pittsburgh	9
16	South Florida	1
17	Ball State	1
18	Tulsa	3
19	Missouri	8
20	Minnesota	6
21	Kansas	5
22	Northwestern	4
23	Brigham Young	14
24	Georgia Tech	2
25	Boston College	1

Dropped Out: Michigan State (#19), North Carolina (#20), Vanderbilt (#22), California (#23), Virginia Tech (#25).

I have no strong feelings about this ballot. USC rocks/Pac-10 rocks cocks. We’ve heard it all before.

Alabama is starting to feel the heat, holding off a second straight SEC team. That being said, I can easily see Texas and Penn State going down and 'Bama rolling this weekend, setting up the cage deathmatch in Death Valley the second week of November, as the only thing standing between that crook Nick Saban and a BCS bid.
Like Oklahoma and Utah right where they are. Oklahoma State ices down Robert Griffin, setting up a top 10 matchup that 30 percent of the country will see. Thanks, ESPN!
USC gets the weekly honor of scoring 60 on Washington State (that’s the fourth team this season that’s put up 60 or more on them). So they move nowhere because their win proves nothing.
Georgia moves up four spots for outlasting a solid Vandy team that will give the Gators all sorts of fits in three weeks. LSU outlasts a feisty South Carolina team. I still have no clue about either of those teams. The picture will become even more muddled next week.
TCU could very well play a part in the BCS if it knocks off Utah. Caveat: The Frogs’ll only have five days of rest before that game, and they have to travel to Utah. The Utes still seem to be in paramount position to earn that BCS bid if they just keep on winning.
Tulsa runs up 77 points. Tulsa earns three bigger spots. Tulsa will be punished for this by the football gods.
Surprised that Pitt moved up this high, but I guess romping the Midshipmen is all you need to climb the ladder. I’m sure a quizzical Wannstache loss is coming.
Minnesota and Northwestern jump in because Michigan State and Cal jumped out. Well, now.
Four Pac-10 teams are on the outside looking in—Arizona, Oregon, Cal, and Oregon State. If one of them could just win three in a row, they might be in the top 25 to stay. Alas, they have yet to do so, so that means...
...earning the handicapped No. 24 and No. 25 spots are Boston College and Georgia Tech, our two latest ACC “teams that barely won last week so they can lose this week.” Florida State was briefly considered until I realized beating a 2-5 NC State team by nine points doesn’t qualify as “worthy victory.”

Brett Favre: Drama Queen

Avinash Kunnath — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 04:52:32 -0400

In light of recent developments surrounding one of the media's most favorite players (like, ever!), I present to you excerpts from the upcoming Brett Favre soliloquy.

"Hi, I'm Brett Favre. Do I make you smile?"

"Wow, people really liked how I turned my car over like a stupid tailgating teenager and came back from the dead. Maybe I can keep on playing this up."

"Watch me throw that ball. Don't you see how I inspire people with those longballs? Don't you wish you could throw the way I can throw? Don't even need a playbook, Coach Holmgren just gives me something like "X42Post route" and I translate that into "ThrowdeepBrett." Sounds good to me coach."

"Hey look at me running around in the Super Bowl. I love the game. Can't you see how much I love the game? No one else loves the game like I love the game."

"Man, it's so hard, being addicted to painkillers. Don't you see how drugged up I am all the time? How else could I have started 420 games in a row? I can't even feel pain anymore. Except when I'm with you, Peter King."

"Hey there, lemme cry again. See my tears? I'm genuine. Real. Human. The rest of the guys, they're machines. I breathe like you."

"It's just so hard, so damned hard for me to play football. What so many people dream about doing every day. Don't you know how much it hurts to have an adoring fanbase and a beautiful wife and two kids? My life sucks man."

"Oh, look, we've won the game. Instead of running out the clock, why don't you let me roll out to get sacked by Strahan. It just shows how nice a guy I am. Ain't I cuddly?"

"Kornheiser's right, I can't do stupid things like game manage. Don't coaches know how simple football is? I run back, I throw to someone with same helmet as me, no coverage or especially triple coverage."

"Hmm, I'm thinking about retiring. It just sounds like a nice idea, retiring so early. But do you guys want me to go? If you want I can come back, just for you guys. Especially if you talk more about how great I am."

"Time for me to retire again. Or maybe? Or maybe not? The dilemma is too much for me. I might as well soak Aaron Rodgers's jersey in doe urine while I'm at it. I'm hilarious."

"Man, my team is good. They're young. They're definitely good because of one person, and his name is Brett Favre. We struggled last season because these guys couldn't catch up with me, the grizzled gunslinger. Now Ryan Grant and Greg Jennings are getting all the pub? Time to start airing that ball out so Madden and Kornheiser can keep on talking about how great I am."

"Oh whoops, an interception. Well, you can't go to the Super Bowl all the time. But they decided to make me a game manager. Don't they know me? I'm Brett Favre, I throw ball and people catch it. If the other team catches it, my teammates let me down. No wonder I lost. I can't handle these 13-3 seasons anymore."

"Maybe it's time to go. But hey, if I want to come back, I can come back right? I did so much for these guys, and this is only like the seventh time I've said I'm retiring. I'll just walk into training camp and get my job back. Isn't that what the real world's like?"

"The true fans will follow me wherever I go, even if it's Minnesota or Chicago. They know that the Green Bay is in the wrong here, no matter how well they do without me. I made Packer Nation. It should be my right to beat 'em up twice a year, no matter how much it hurts them."

"Here I am in New York. Where the hell's the deer? Oh God, I think I might have to retire again, they're making me game-manage. Gotta complain to the media so they clean up this mess and let me be the Favre that everyone loves. I've just gotta be a kid out there, y'know?"

"Aaron Rodgers might be a quarterback someday. But he ain't me. He ain't me, Brett Favre. Every time they mention him they mention me. If he throws a deep spiral it's Favre like."

"Can't let Green Bay forget about me, no matter how promising their season might look. I might be in New York now, but if this Rodgers kid gets good I got trouble on my hands. Better call up the Lions, since they seem like a quality team. They'll rough up Aaron good."

"Wow, we lost to Oakland. Why'd my teammates let me down? I brought them back in the fourth quarter and they couldn't get the job done. If you're not having as much fun as me, I'll start hunting you guys and stuffing you in lockers. And Peter King will defend the move because he knows everything I do is for the love of football."

"I'm Brett Favre. If you didn't have me, you'd be nothing."

Cal-Arizona Report Card: Bears' Bad Third Quarter Defense Leads to Loss

Avinash Kunnath — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 03:39:52 -0400

Nate Longshore

We’ve seen this script before. It’s the typical Nate Longshore game we’ve seen the past two years. Let’s move on before people start yelling.

Grade: C

Kevin Riley

Ditto.

Grade: C

Running backs

Just when it looked like Arizona was ready to run us off the field, Jahvid Best scorched the Wildcats and shifted the initiative back to the Golden Bears, although he sat out the fourth quarter. Shane Vereen had a nice gallop in relief but was stuffed on his remaining three carries.

‘Furd’s power back game tore up the Wildcats—Cal’s smaller backs were not able to make enough plays on their own to open up the passing game.

Because I reward process rather than bursts, this grade is probably a little bit lower, but we can’t discount the promise that Best holds as a game-changer, all on his own.

Grade: C+

Receivers

Verran Tucker was a bright spot, making some huge catches in stride with Longshore early in the game. He and Morrah adjusted to make some brilliant touchdown catches. Sean Young was the most consistent in running his routes in stride. Nyan Boateng and Jeremy Ross spread the wealth.

On the flip side...dropped passes. They just keep on coming, and I’m not sure how much of that has to do with quarterbacks and wide receivers not getting on the same page, our quarterbacks throwing crappy passes, or the relative inexperience of our skill players.

Then again, when the Bears couldn’t run the ball, and the Wildcats started dropping seven into coverage on second and third down all the time...

Grade: C

Run blocking

The lack of depth in the offensive line finally hit us hard. Neither Vereen nor Best were able to do much in the run game, as Arizona played tight up eight in coverage. The Bears couldn’t push the Wildcat defense back for most of the game, and there were only a handful of runs over four or five yards.

Grade: D

Pass protection

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen California’s quarterback pressured, hurried, broken up, and fleeing for his life in the pocket. Only Mitchell Schwartz and Alex Mack have been consistent, and they were merely adequate in Tucson.

Just like the weak defensive line caved in last season, the usually sturdy Golden Bear offensive line might be our Achilles' heel in 2008. The yet-to-be-determined injury to Noris Malele, slow-footed as he was, does not help matters.

Grade: C-

Pass rush

Very strong—some good blitz packages meant Tuitama felt the pressure for much of the game. Sadly, the times Cal’s blitz packages were picked up, the pass defense got burned, so the results don’t exactly match up with how well the 3-4 did against the front line.

Grade: B

Run defense, pass defense

Aaaand...this is what happens when you get two weeks of effusive and excessive praise.

In the Arizona preview, I examined at length the spread offense and ways the Cal defense would have to protect against it. Unfortunately, none of this involved the Wildcats using their third string running back to gash us for 140 yards behind solid run blocking.

Where has Arizona been hiding Keola Antolin, and how did they morph into a power run squad able to block out Cal’s supposedly vaunted 3-4 on the ground?

Add in the sloppy tackling, Syd’Quan and Marcus Ezeff getting totally manhandled in coverage assignments against Mike Thomas and Rob Gronkowski, and leaving Cal’s coverage in one-on-one schemes with defenders, and you’d have to say the secondary couldn’t handle the responsibility it seemed to earn.

Their third quarter performance earns them a FAIL, which weighs down any of the good they did the rest of the game.

Grade: D+

Special Teams

At last, a bright spot. Well, Pete Alamar got it together. Other than the kickoff coverage, which looks...rough, most of Cal’s issues seem to be working out.

Bryan Anger’s leg might have been the MVP of this defeat, keeping the Arizona offense from gaining traction much of the first half and the fourth quarter. With Giorgio Tavecchio also asserting himself with two long California field goals, our special teams kickers might be set for the next three years.

Syd’Quan Thompson is becoming a better returner with every passing week, showing a weaving ability to elude tacklers. One bad punt return and one missed field goal keep this from being perfect.

Grade: B

Coaching

Gregory’s schemes were pretty good, but the players didn’t execute, and Alamar and the special teams seem to be back to normal. No, the biggest issue I had with Cal’s loss is something Hydrotech already noted: Something isn’t quite right with what I’m seeing from Cal’s quarterbacks.

Longshore and Riley have played...below par, and their play continues to show little or no signs of improvement. No progression, just stagnation.

Grade: C-

Overall

California and Arizona were rated at pick’em before the game, and aside from that ghastly third quarter, there’s no doubt the game could’ve swung either way.

When you’re on the road, considering the inexperience of the offensive unit and the swings between good defense and bad defense, this game wasn’t awfully surprising. The swings went Arizona’s way when they needed to, and Tuitama and Antolin brought them home.

Factoring all this in, the Bears still seem on pace for the 8-4 season we expected from them. Tough loss, but we’ve seen much worse in the Tedford era.

Final grade: C-

The Cal Bears are Roaring: Arizona Previews

Avinash Kunnath — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 00:23:59 -0400

The Bear Will Not Quit talks on Arizona’s spread offense

“How do you defend against [archnemesis/former Texas Tech OC's Sonny Dykes's spread] offense?

1. You must limit yards after the catch.

When this offense racks up 40+ points, it is due to big gains off short passes.

Think of how the Patriots used Wes Welker (who played at Texas Tech) last season, hitting him in stride all over the field. How do you limit these yards? There is only one way, and it’s got very little to do with scheme or coaching: fast, athletic linebackers. If you have quick, rangy linebackers, the receivers will get stopped dead in their tracks. If you don’t, this offense will run your defense ragged.

Cal really didn’t have that kind of quickness versus Tech in 2004, and it made it hard to stop them.

2. You must have success with disguised, well-timed blitzes, preferably zone blitzes.

Arizona’s spread is a bit more susceptible to the blitz than the Tech spread because they do not subsist entirely on short passes. They will look deep, and they do run the ball occasionally. But with 5 options to throw to, a good QB like Tuitama is going to burn a blitz if he sees it coming.

3. Punish the receivers for catching the ball.

This offense needs receivers to catch over the middle to be truly effective and spread the defense out. A couple huge hits can cause receivers to be hesitant or drop balls, which kills the timing and rhythm of the offense.

4. Keep your offense on the field as long as possible.

This offense can score alarmingly fast, so no lead is really safe. But it can also go 3 and out in 10 seconds. If you can make them pay by keeping them off the field, it disrupts their rhythm.”

Some great video of Tuitama and the Arizona offense in action if you click the link above; and you could check out some of the CGB stuff (video and stats, take your pick! or pick both!)

Bears With Fangs on the Running game

“If Cal can successfully run the ball tomorrow against Arizona, it is very difficult for me to see them losing against Arizona, barring any costly turnovers. In their two losses this season, Arizona has given up 507 yards on the ground rushing the ball.

They face a Cal offense that is currently 3rd in the conference in rushing yards per game, averaging 180.0 yards on the ground. Cal shouldn’t get too excited just yet however, as the commonality in the two rushing attacks that Zona stuggled against were power running games with both Stanford backs Toby Gerhart and Rodney Ferguson of New Mexico, topping out over 230 pounds.

Neither of Cal’s featured backs in Jahvid Best or Shane Vereen even break up the 200 lb. mark, so breaking tackles and moving piles won’t really be a big part of Cal’s rushing strategy.

However, if Cal’s offensive line can control the line of scrimmage and open up enough holes for Best or Vereen to break into the second level, it might be a long day for the Arizona defense. Cal’s run blocking struggled mightily in the second half of the Arizona State, as the Sun Devils’ defense keyed in on the run as the Bears nursed a lead.

They need to reestablish themselves as a unit against the Wildcats Saturday, and with Arizona’s lack of depth at the defensive tackle position, it might just the place to do it.”

Daily Cal focuses on the Wildcat offensive players

“Historical implications aside, Tuitama has stepped up his game even further this season, tossing just two picks to 13 touchdowns. His accuracy has also steadily improved, and the senior trails only USC’s Mark Sanchez for the conference’s top mark in passer rating with 152.2.

'You can really see that his comfort level has grown,' Tedford said. Arizona’s bevy of downfield options has only helped Tuitama notch his impressive stats. Wideout Mike Thomas, who went for 1,038 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns in 2007, returned for his senior campaign and has maintained his status as the quarterback’s main draw this season.

Terrell Turner and Delashaun Dean have also emerged as steady targets for the Wildcats, while tight end Rob Gronkowski (five touchdowns) also merits mention as one of the best in the nation at his position.”

What Arizona thinks of Cal

“With Best likely to return to action this week, Arizona will have a big challenge on Saturday as it tries to stop the Golden Bear running attack, especially considering that the Wildcat defense gave up 286 yards to Stanford last weekend.

'I’m sure they’ll see that on tape and see, ‘Hey, we got to try and run the ball on them and get some big plays in the run game,’' said UA defensive coordinator Mark Stoops. “We’re gonna have our hands full.”

The California defense, ranked in the top 27 nationally in total yards allowed per game (290.6) and points allowed per game (18.0), also has a difficult job ahead. The Sonny Dykes version of the spread offesne creates favorable matchups for Arizona.

It could be tough for the Wildcats this weekend, however, if Cal’s defensive line is as disruptive as in recent games. The Golden Bears have 13 sacks through five games. But Cal head coach Jeff Tedford sees this weekend’s Arizona game as a huge test.”

I only have one contribution this time around: NEVER FORGET.

Cal Bears Football: My Contribution To the Infinite Regress

Avinash Kunnath — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 09:19:54 -0400

At 4-1 with seven fat Pac-10 games to go, Cal is once again ranked, once again in first place in the conference, and once again besot with a doubting fanbase wondering just how good (or bad) the team really is.

Why are we still wondering? Because college football is epistemologically… well, complicated. The future is unknown. The past is impenetrable.

Consider: to answer how good you are, you look at the games you’ve played. And to assess those games, you look at the quality of the competition. And to assess the quality of the competition, you look at their competition, and so on.

In other words, mere records are deceptive because they ignore strength of schedule. But strength of schedule is deceptive, unless it takes into account the records and competition of one’s competition.

And if you follow that reasoning too far, you wind up with a muddle of contradictions and a world in which every team has approximately the same strength of schedule because every team plays competition that plays competition that plays competition drawn from the same interconnected pool of something like 150 teams.

This is also one of the main reasons why the BCS never works out.

Now, having set out the philosophical limitations of our inquiry, let us go forth into an examination of what our past and our future appear to tell us about the 2008 edition of the California Golden Bears.

Our Past Through Its Future

What we know about Michigan State (6-1, 3-0)

Since losing the season opener to Cal, the Spartans have been spotless. They boast the nation’s leading rusher and a darkhorse Heisman candidate in Javon Ringer.

Aside from being undefeated against all non-Cal competition, MSU has posted wins over Notre Dame (whose only other loss was to No. 18/21 North Carolina) and the previously-undefeated Northwestern (albeit previously-undefeated against jokey competition).

What Michigan State tells us about Cal

Cal held Ringer to 81 yards rushing. Since that game, Ringer has averaged more than twice that at about 172 ypg. In other words, the 3-4 works, Cal is capable of shutting down any rushing attack in the nation, Cal D great!

What we know about Washington State (1-6, 0-4)

They’re terrible.

What Wazzu tells us about Cal

We’re slightly better at beating up Wazzu than Oregon and Oregon State were. Although, as I noted after the game, our rout of Wazzu was the most decisive conference win in Cal history, that really says more about Wazzu than about Cal.

What we know about Maryland (4-2, 1-1)

They’re erratic. Maryland has famously beat ranked Cal and Clemson, but inexplicably lost to Middle Tennessee and, in perhaps the most shocking result of the year so far, got shut out 31-0 by an atrocious Virginia team.

It’s possible that Maryland has a problem with looking ahead (the loss to Middle Tennessee was immediately before the matchup with Cal and the loss to Virginia preceded this weeks matchup with No. 21/19 Wake Forest).

Another possibility is that Maryland’s competition has been misjudged. Perhaps Clemson just isn’t as good as people thought (having themselves just lost to Wake and having just fired head coach Tommy Bowden) and maybe Virginia isn’t as terrible as they seemed (losses to Duke and UConn no longer look so bad, and UVa did just knock off former cinderella East Carolina by more than two touchdowns).

What Maryland tells us about Cal

Bears hate humidity. Other than that, Cal is capable of losing—not just to a U$C—but to any reasonably skilled BCS-conference team that happens to execute on a day when Cal doesn’t.

Cal also has the ability to come back against a skilled team when it does execute. Unfortunately, it was too little too late. Also, Cal’s D has a much tougher time against a balanced offensive attack than one that goes one-dimensional.

What we know about Colorado State (3-3, 1-1)

At 50 percent on the season and in conference, the Rams have won two games by three points apiece, and lost another game by six.

Their only decisive win was a 41-28 victory over UNLV (the same UNLV that beat Arizona State in OT), and their only decisive losses were the opener to Colorado and the rout at Cal.

What CSU tells us about Cal

Cal has enough talent and explosiveness on defense to rout mediocre teams regardless of how the Cal offense performs. That’s worth keeping in mind for future games against some of the Pac-10’s less fortunate. It’s less comforting when it comes to above-average competition.

What we know about Arizona State (2-4, 0-2)

Talented, but hopelessly flawed. ASU is in the midst of a four game losing streak that began with an inexcusable OT loss to UNLV, that then meandered through drubbings by Georgia, Cal and, in a 28-0 shutout, U$C.

That last loss is tempered a bit by the fact that, in injuring Carpenter, Cal softened up ASU’s best (okay, only) offensive threat. In any case, ASU doesn’t look to be anywhere near a complete team capable of competing in the Pac-10.

What ASU tells us about Cal

Cal’s defense is about as efficient at shutting down a quality one-dimensional passing attack as it was at shutting down a one-dimensional rushing attack. If Cal’s offense can achieve its own balance and rhythm, it’s definitely capable of putting points on the board.

Our Future Through Its Past

The inconsistency of the Pac-10’s performance makes it difficult to draw many conclusions about the teams we have yet to face. Each has either lost a game it had no business losing (Arizona @ New Mexico/Stanford, Oregon v. Boise State, U$C at Oregon State, Oregon State @ Stanford) or has otherwise been dramatically routed by a mediocre team (UCLA @ Utah, Stanford @ ASU, UDubb against anyone). This tells us that any of the teams we face is capable of going down… but so are we.

The most frightening feature of our future through its past: Stanford has already played four Pac-10 games, and has won three of them. The Axe comes first people, and let’s not forget it.

Is Nate Longshore a Better Quarterback Than a Machine?

Avinash Kunnath — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 09:30:47 -0400

(Started a thread about cardinal sins for Cal fans last night over at CGB. Come take a gander.)

Lowell Cohn provides his bizarro logic as to why he rides the Nate Hate Train.

I am not a Nate Longshore fan. I admit that.

It’s nothing personal because he seems like a nice young man, polite, cheerful, upbeat. He is an undergraduate the University of California can be proud of. But I don’t like him as a quarterback.

He is too programmed, too much like a machine, has no intuition or feel or imagination for quarterbacking. He is Kerry Collins instead of Steve Young, and that means he does well when everything is perfect, when things go right and he can line up a receiver and throw with no one making his life miserable by chasing him out of the pocket. He is a serviceable college quarterback, although his coach Jeff Tedford has not believed in him.

Let’s ignore the fact that Kerry Collins guided the Penn State Nittany Lions to a Rose Bowl, because facts are inconvenient and we have no use for them here. Lowell does bring up an interesting point: Is Nate Longshore a capable enough machine? Or are there other machines with a better quarterback package that Jeff Tedford should consider trying out?

Here are some candidates we’ve found for the job.

C-3PO

Upside: Already has the golden colors to distinguish himself as Golden Bear through and through. Very good quarterback draw runner, since he’s best at panicking and running away from danger. Debatable if knowing the Wookie language will help subdue the beasts running to sack him. Already has an affectionate nickname of Goldenrod.

Downside: Flatfooted in the pocket. Not capable of lateral movement. Has difficulty grasping ball since he lacks ability to clasp his hands together. Not sure if tackled, very likely to break into a thousand pieces.

Needs R2-D2 to be successful in anything he does, and the astromech has a terrible history of dropping catches that any regular receiver could make. Prissiness and British accent prone to make him least popular player in the locker room.

Chances he’s a better quarterback=The odds of successfully navigating an asteroid field.

Bender the Robot

Upside: Quick-witted, so usually knows how to get himself out of trouble. He has extendable arms, which would make it hard for someone to tip his passes. Also very likely to throw a deep ball, although it’s debatable how accurate that throw would be.

Downside: Hostile and belligerent. Not terribly mobile. VERY flatfooted—as in his feet are flat. Bender would probably end up tailgating before, during, and after the game and would toxically belch his offensive line into submission. Probability for intentional safety increases by 700 percent.

Chances he’s a better quarterback: 01011 (translate into base ten please?)

Sasha Vujacic

Upside: He’s foreign, he’d attract half the girls in the school, he has played in championship situations.

Downside: He’s foreign, he’d attract half the girls in the school, he has sucked in championship situations.

Chances he’s a better quarterback=chances he’s a better two-guard than Kobe.

Robocop

Upside: Has awesome depth perception, so should be able to read routes within seconds and find the open receiver without much trouble, depending how mobile his throwing arm is. Anyone trying to tackle him would end up cracking their helmets on his metal exterior.

Additionally, would kick everyone’s ass. If Rey Maualuga were to attempt to sack him, RoboCop would simply aim his Cobra assault cannon in his direction. Wham. No more Rey Maualuga. Could use his explosive cache of weapons to subdue any defenders on the warpath. Option play for RoboCop would send Pac-10 defenders fleeing.

Downside: Probably would be suspended after one or two games. Would most likely destroy the stadium and its fans with his explosive gameplay. Could also come after his teammates who have committed felonies since he has been programmed to uphold the public trust.

Ensuing collateral damage would mark him as a threat to aforementioned public trust. Would hence commit suicide and be wildly mourned and feared. Stadium takes 15 years to rebuild. Assuming Tedford survives and witnesses the ensuing fallout, heads off to revive some fledgling program somewhere.

Chances he’s a better quarterback: 1100X percent.

The Borg

Upside: An efficient collective hive mind allows for generally proper analysis and logical decision-making in the pocket. Would probably be most like Longshore of all the machines on this list, although that’s not saying much.

Downside: Can only back up one step at a time in the pocket. Might require that his own offensive line commit a billion holding penalties to prevent from careening into him.

Oh yeah, and as a sidebar to winning football games, might require all Cal coaches and players to submit to the Hive Mind and assimilate. Coach Tedford would not be pleased with this outcome. Would probably send the Borg searching for humpback whales.

Chances they’re a better quarterba–SUBMIT TO THE HIVE. California Golden Borg 4ever.

Which machines do you think would be better quarterbacks than Nate Longshore?

The Great Hype Machine: Cal Bears Shouldn't Think About Being Ranked

Avinash Kunnath — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 22:43:16 -0400

Tony brought up an interesting point yesterday about Cal football players drinking the Kool-Aid. More so than in any other sport, fans of the best college football teams swing dramatically based on their team's performance week-to-week.

While we haven’t had outright stinkers in huge games our team's expected to win, the Golden Bears usually earn the maximum effort from their opponents while they struggle with their mental focus. Result: Painful loss that causes fan to drink heavily until blacked out.

The Washington State rout was their big “hype package” this year; rolling a sterile Cougar team by 63 points seemed to indicate they were a great team, that they were capable of going undefeated and rolling to a BCS bowl.

Obviously, that rosy scenario hasn’t played out exactly as planned. And considering how Wazzu has performed since that obliteration, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that this might not rank among its top five most embarrassing losses.

This brings me to yesterday’s carnage, specifically Missouri-Oklahoma State. See how Heisman frontrunner Chase Daniel and Missouri struggled to get on the same page the whole day? A combination of Oklahoma State getting angry about not getting any respect and mistakes by Missouri, and the Tigers' national title hopes were put on life support.

They bought into the hype and they paid for it. Ditto Oklahoma for being hyped up as the best team in the country, and then getting outscored, 25-7, to blow a rivalry game that it usually owns.

The Missouri-Oklahoma State game reminds me a lot of the one forthcoming this week—a fairly confident Cal team travelling into the desert to meet with a unknown commodity.

I would be a thousand times more worried about the Arizona game if the Bears were 5-0 rather than 4-1, because Cal hasn’t really done anything to show me it's much better than it is. The Wildcats, still fairly peripheral to the national spotlight, would definitely be looking for a prime reason to knock off the Bears to assert themselves in the conference.

Nevertheless, we have a less attractive version of that scenario emerging this week. Arizona gets thoroughly dominated at the line of scrimmage last week by the resurgent 'Furd. Cal is 4-1, and despite not looking sharp on offense at all, has to be pretty confident about cruising past a stumbling Arizona State team.

It’d be easy for the Bears to look ahead, but hopefully with only minimal hype and a fairly quiet No. 25 ranking, they won’t buy into it quite yet.

So for all those people griping about California not getting any respect—shhhh. It’s the best thing that can possibly happen to us. In college football, the best teams are only as good as next week’s performance.

What I Learned from the Bear Insider

Avinash Kunnath — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 04:47:22 -0400

There are so many things I learn from reading message boards. I get these deep, penetrating insights that I could never get from being in the locker room and can thus virtually coach the game based on what anonymous posters have discovered through the game. You just get the feeling that they should be watching the game.

Most of it is the usual blah blah “Hey everyone was great IN TEDFORD WE TRUST LOL!” or provide decent analysis of the situation with grand story arcs thrown around to encompass their viewpoints of “GO BEARS!”

But some angrier and more maligned folk try their best to spread the true darker world of Cal football. Without them, we’d be lost in the desert, waiting for Tom Holmoe and Keith Gilbertson to bring us home.

Here’s the prescient lurkerbear with some brilliant opining.

Whatever else came out of this week, one thing that’s changed for me is that I’m no longer a “fan” of Jeff Tedford. I’m now indifferent. That’s not to say I want him fired or gone; that isn't the case. I really do appreciate the miracle he’s worked with this program. But I don’t have any particular affection for him either. I’ve come to believe that whether or not he can get us to the “next level” is no better than a 50/50 proposition, and I don’t have much faith in his ability to exceed the level of an 8-4 type program.

Absolutely; when a coach doesn’t do better than winning two-thirds of his games, something is clearly wrong with him. In any other sport this would be a blinding success, but not in college! It’s not like coaches will ever not go 8-4 and then occasionally do things like get to a BCS bowl.

It’s kind of like a video game. If you haven’t reached that next level yet, shouldn’t you just take over and make all the personnel decisions? Let lurkerbear lead us to the promised land!

Incognito, however, is the grand vizier of sports forum theory. He finally reveals the grand conspiracy behind Jeff Tedford’s quarterback machinations. Even I have to admit even I didn’t think Tedford was capable of such ingenuity. But don’t put it past this modern-day Klemens von Metternich:

I have to believe that the way Tedford spoke to the media after the CSU game that Riley’s job would have been in jeopardy regardless. Nothing short of a perfect performance on the part of Riley would have saved his job. Tedford has been looking to bench him since MSU. The only thing that earned Riley a start the next week at WSU was Longshore's two interceptions. Tedford started Riley, overloaded him with bs mechanics, and looked for him to fail so he could reinstall Longshore. The only reason he started Riley week 1 was to placate the fan base.

Of course! Clearly Tedford wasn’t concerned with the trivial matter of winning games or building a program. Nor was he trying to evaluate who would give the team the best chance to succeed on the field. What he clearly planning the entire time was setting up Riley to fail so he could please them early on and spite the fan base in the long run.

Knowing that Riley couldn’t handle the most basic quarterback development via “bs mechanics,” he schemed in a dark corner with Frank Cignetti, champing at the bit to put Nate back on the field. So obvious. That Tedford, such a crowd pleaser.

Sometimes you just can’t get at the deeper truth being on the field or viewing practices up close. You need to watch from a television 500 hundred miles away. But that’s what we have citizen Cal football activists like incognito for.

Cal Bears Football: “We Are 4-1 and We Couldn’t Have Sucked More”

Avinash Kunnath — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 09:05:48 -0400

These mumblings were recorded and parsed together of a slightly inebriated Cal fan. His ramblings below are to be considered the drunken incoherency of a derelict and not an accurate sample of the actual Golden Bear fanbase. I hope.

WHAT IN JESUS CHRIST? NATE LONGSHORE? What’s he doing in there? Might as well just leave right now. This one’s done.

OH wow NATE, you can throw that swing pass so well. Must be a real challenge. I’m sure Kevin could never have made that throw, it’d have probably murdered a ref, right Tedford?

It must be so nice to have your coach smitten with you. You going to Chez Panisse with him after the game, you love handle?

Hey, good touchdown. Always tough to score on a 40-yard field. Now we’ll see Riley when we’ve lost three straight rather than two. Always finding a way to screw us aren’t you, Nate? Might as well reserve my ticket to the Wachovia Toilet Bowl.

Nice job, defense. Why don’t you just hand out first downs like the Fed hands out free money. When they pass, you blitz. It’s simple as that. My fourth grade French teacher knows that, and she doesn’t even watch football. Or was that the Nazis?

WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THROWING AT??? CAN YOU JUST PUT ON YOUR SUN DEVIL HELMET ALREADY AND DECLARE YOUR ALLEGIANCE TO LUCIFER? That dude was fatter than you, and that’s saying something!!

Syd’Quan you idiot! You gotta pick that ball! Don’t do this soft “knock the ball away.” BE A REAL BEAR AND go for the pick! Nate can’t drive us more than 40 yards. The fail is strong in this one.

See what happens, guys? You don’t try for pick sixes and we get two penalties and a Bush Push TD. That’s what you get for not being aggressive.

I could run this defense from the stands better than Bob could with his six-figure salary. How much can I pay off the AD to send Gregory packing?

Man, you’re the savior NATE. No one could’ve lobbed that ball up in traffic quite like you. Gotta be happy Boateng bailed you out.

Why don’t you just kick the ball next time, Longshore, anything to prevent that BS you call “passing”.

Weak hit, Zack. Couldn’t you have hit him harder? LIKE TAKE HIS HEAD OFF? You going to play nice with little douchenozzles like Rudy–I pay big money for BLOOD. YOU GOTTA DECAPACITATE; F’IN PATHETIC.

What was up with that Anger? Look how close that came to being a touchback. WHY DON’T YOU BE A MAN AND KICK THAT BALL RIGHT INTO THE RETURNER’S FACEMASK. This is why you’re the freaking punter, you good-for-nothing pegleg.

Great running, Vereen. You might as well take a knee and not fumble the ball, since you’re not good at things like moving forward or not getting tackled.

A deep pass ends this one and we’re handing it off to you to stumble into the ground. Oh that’s right, you’ve got Mr. Fourth Quarter Nightmare behind you. I’d pity you if my ticket price was six times lower.

Oh wooohooo, we just edged out a lousy Arizona State team. We might’ve tolerated this nonsense when we sucked, but now that we’re good we gotta make our opponents bend over and take it every Saturday. What the hell’s Sandy’s number? She’s gotta hold Coach responsible for this. Steve Spurrier available? He can get it done.

WE’RE 4-1 HEADIN’ ON 4-8. I’MMA GONNA GO FINE ME SOME HOE.

Blogpoll Week 6: WITH PHOTOS!

Avinash Kunnath — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:19:25 -0400

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Oklahoma	1
2	Alabama	1
3	Missouri	3
4	Penn State	–
5	Texas	–
6	LSU	5
7	Texas Tech	1
8	Utah	1
9	Southern Cal	2
10	Brigham Young	–
11	Florida	2
12	Vanderbilt	3
13	Ohio State	3
14	Georgia	–
15	Oklahoma State	5
16	Boise State	2
17	South Florida	10
18	Kansas	1
19	Ball State	4
20	Northwestern	2
21	Tulsa	5
22	Auburn	10
23	Michigan State	3
24	Pittsburgh	2
25	Virginia Tech	–

Dropped Out: Oregon (#19), Connecticut (#21), Kentucky (#24).

Our weekly thanks to MgoBlog for setting this all up and now getting sponsorship with CBS (woohoo sellout!); you can view ballots by voter and ballots by team here.

This is usually the time where I go off describing why which team goes where and why it goes where and why this team doesn’t go there and why I put some team elsewhere. However, since almost nothing happened this week that tingled me in any way, I’m just going to leave you with pictures of signs from the locales in which this team resides. They might have social or cultural implications or underlying themes that describe how thorough their victories were last week. Or they might just be pictures of signs. You be the judge.

Oklahoma 49, Baylor 17

Alabama 14, Kentucky 7

Missouri 52, Nebraska 17

Penn State 20, Purdue 6

Texas 38, Colorado 14

Texas Tech 58, Kansas State 28

Utah 31, Oregon State 28

USC 44, Oregon 10

BYU 34, Utah State 14

Florida 38, Arkansas 7

Vanderbilt 14, Auburn 13

Ohio State 20, Wisconsin 17

Oklahoma State 56, Texas A&M 28

Boise State 38, Louisiana Tech 3

Kansas 35, Iowa State 33

Ball State 31, Toledo 0

Tulsa 63, Rice 28

Michigan State 16, Iowa 13

Pittsburgh 26, South Florida 21

Virginia Tech 27, Western Kentucky 13