California's Reality Check: The Golden Bears Get Manhandled By Nevada Wolf Pack

As the clock was winding down on Cal's embarrassing 52-31 rout at the hands of the Nevada Wolf Pack, I racked my brain to try and come up with a simple formula that could, if the occasion were to arise, aptly explain things to a layman.

The good: Shane Vereen.

The bad: just about everything else.

The result: a crippling defeat in front of a national TV audience.

Before the game, I wrote about that this was to be a real 'show me' game for the Bears. And it was just that. Unfortunately, what it showed me was that these are indeed the same old Bears that we've grown accustomed to over the last several years.

I'd prefer to end this little epitaph on a down note (it is, after all, an epitaph), so lets get the good stuff out of the way.

After emerging as a star late last season, running back Shane Vereen ran absolutely wild for the first time in 2010. He amassed 198 yards on 19 carries, and scored three touchdowns. Of those three scores, two were from over 50 yards out, and they were products of smart running more than they were of break-away speed. After two sub-par performances in Cal's first two contests against two pretty awful teams, it was damn fun to see Vereen doing his thing once again. He's well on his way to be the next member of a string of Cal running backs taken in the first round of the NFL draft.

Now for the bad, and it starts with the defense. They entered the game the number 1 ranked defense in the country. Nevada was (and still is?) the number 1 ranked offense. Something had to give. And something did. Look at the final score and take a wild guess.

Nevada quarterback Colin Kaepernick was very impressive. Entering the game as the third best total yardage player in the country, Kaepernick took advantage of all the TV cameras to pad his stats. The sheer simplicity of Chris Ault's pistol offense is very frustrating to behold, but Kaepernick deserves credit for executing it perfectly. He rushed for 146 yards, and passed for 180 more. He scored 4 touchdowns. The only mistake he made all night was a fumble on a play that looked like a botched end-around.

As if having to deal with Kaepernick wasn't bad enough, the Bears also had no answer for running back Vai Taua, who added 152 yards of his own. His 54 yard touchdown scamper towards the end of the game may have been superfluous, but it still looked way too easy.

Of course, the defense doesn't deserve all the blame. They were, after all, without their best linebacker in Mike Mohamed. It was obvious from the get go that they weren't going to be able to do much to stop the Wolf Pack's offensive attack, and that they were in for a good old fashioned barn burner. And for that, you need to employ the proverbial "best defense."

Offensively, much of the blame falls on senior quarterback Kevin Riley. Despite the fact that he was, as I recall, third in the nation in passer rating coming into tonight's game, most Cal fans will tell you that they were waiting for the real Riley to emerge. The real Riley misses easy throws, makes poor decisions, and has a knack for ruining perfectly good drives.

... I will now pause so you can nod your head contemplatively.

Right then. Riley's numbers are as follows: 23 for 37, 275 yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs. Alas, those numbers don't tell the whole story. There were several plays that looked like easy completions, but which were spoiled by severe overthrows. One of these was a terrible throw that looked like an easy touchdown to Isi Sofele on a late drive that ended with a turnover on downs.

And indeed, Riley actually threw 4 touchdowns. One just happened to be to the other team, which, in retrospect, was probably the key play in the game.

Before Nevada's Marlon Johnson Johnson returned Riley's second interception of the game 65 yards to give the Wolf Pack a 31-21 lead midway through the third quarter, the Bears looked poised to take control of the game. It happened on a play that Riley barely got off, and there looked to be general confusion all around as the play clock was winding down.

From that point on, it was all Nevada.

At any rate, there goes the perfect season (tongue firmly in cheek). It's on to Tucson next week for a conference tilt against Arizona. The last time the Bears visited Tucson, they endured a 42-27 pounding.

Oh memories...