Texas vs. Cal: Game Grades, Analysis for Longhorns and Bears
For the second year in a row, the California Golden Bears have emerged victorious from a shootout with Texas, topping the Longhorns 50-43 at home.
Quarterback Davis Webb and top target Chad Hansen led the upset of the No. 11 Horns, connecting 12 times for 196 yards and two touchdowns. Webb added two more scores, picking apart a clueless Texas secondary for much of the night.
As for the Longhorns, it will be a rough week of film review. Charlie Strong's team held multiple double-digit leads on the evening but committed costly penalties in scoring territory and failed to capitalize on great games by running backs D'Onta Foreman and Chris Warren III.
The Horns may feel wronged by a controversial ruling on a dropped ball on Cal's final drive, but they had their chances. Instead, Cal's a winner, and Strong's storybook start to the season has lost much of its luster.
Texas: Offense
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Texas' passing game struggled for the first time this season, but the offensive side of the ball did its job in this one.
As expected, D'Onta Foreman and Chris Warren III tore up a Cal run defense that's among the worst in the country. Foreman led the way with 157 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries, with Warren putting up 119 and two scores of his own. These two will eat all year, and Foreman belongs in any discussion involving the best ball-carriers in the Big 12.
The passing game was another story. Freshman quarterback Shane Buechele got banged up early and never looked the same, completing 19 of his 33 passes for 196 yards and a touchdown. He's lucky he only threw one pick, and his health is worth monitoring as the team prepares for Oklahoma State.
The killer for this group was penalties. Most notably, center Zach Shackelford committed a hold and a false start in Cal territory that kept points off the board. That could have easily been the difference in this game.
But when you put up 43 points and 568 yards, it's hard to shoulder too much of the blame.
Grade: B+
Cal: Offense
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Aside from a near-blunder by running back Vic Enwere, it's hard to nitpick the Cal offense's effort tonight.
Davis Webb consistently got time to find the open man, and Chad Hansen went to work on a hapless secondary from start to finish. Even the running game went to work on the Longhorns, with Enwere racking up 110 yards and two scores on 18 carries.
The only hiccups were a careless near-fumble by Webb, and Enwere pulling a DeSean Jackson on his game-sealing 54-yard run. Cal kept the ball after a controversial ruling, so the junior tailback will be laughing about it soon.
Because of its defensive struggles, Cal has to win shootouts like this. The Bears did what they do best to secure the upset.
Grade: A
Texas: Defense
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Texas will need every day of its early-season bye to figure out exactly what it was doing when it didn't have the ball on Saturday night.
The Horns were completely lost in coverage all night in Strawberry Canyon. Chad Hansen and the rest of the Cal receivers were getting open at will, and even casual observers could tell the secondary was completely out of sorts. When the pass rush is having trouble getting home, that's a recipe for disaster against an offense like Cal's.
Tackling continues to be an issue as well. The Horns are lucky 50 points and 507 yards was the extent of the damage. It could have easily been worse.
Grade: F
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Cal: Defense
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On paper, the Cal defense was every bit as bad as Texas'.
The Bears gave up 43 points to Texas' 50. Both teams gave up 6.3 yards per play, third down was barely an obstacle and Art Kaufman's group once again gave up over 300 yards on the ground.
But we expect Cal to be bad, because that's been the case for three years. And for a team that's known for being awful on the defensive side of the ball, the Bears did a good job keeping Texas in check. The pass rush especially did its job in getting physical with Shane Buechele, keeping an explosive aerial attack under 300 yards for the night.
All that can reasonably be asked of this group is to get enough stops to give the offense a chance. The Bears did that, allowing the offense to stick to the game plan en route to the win.
Grade: C
Texas: Coaching
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Every time you think Charlie Strong has earned some good faith, his Longhorns put on a performance that makes you scratch your head.
His offense did its job, but Sterlin Gilbert's play-calling is going to come under fire this week. The Horns dialed up almost 40 passes in a game in which Shane Buechele was clearly banged up and the running backs were doing whatever they wanted.
However, Gilbert's mistakes are nothing compared to what happened to Strong's defense. The Longhorns secondary was downright pathetic and did very little to force someone other than Chad Hansen to beat them. Surrendering 50 points is one thing, but the Horns let Cal make it look easy.
Strong's game management was also lacking in this one. He did a poor job handling the clock at the end of the first half, which probably cost the Horns three points. And electing to punt when you're down seven with under two minutes to play is a losing decision no matter how you slice it.
The good news is the Longhorns have two weeks before they square off with Oklahoma State. This staff has plenty of work to do before then.
Grade: F
Cal: Coaching
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A week after a tough loss at San Diego State, Sonny Dykes and his staff came through for the upset at home.
The Bears took it to Texas early and kept the Longhorn passing game out of sorts. Whether it was putting hits on Shane Buechele or taking away his quick hitters, the freshman quarterback was never comfortable in this one.
The opposite was true for Davis Webb and the Cal offense, as Dykes' Air Raid attack was able to pick apart the young Texas defense. The game plan was solid, and the players delivered the win.
Grade: B
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
