"They weren't going to sit there and let us run the ball"
So why did we run the ball up the middle 30 times?!?
* 3.4 yards per play.
* Outgained rushing. Outgained passing.
We had 24 points, they had 17.
Can't keep going 3 and out in the 4th quarter when you're trying to hold a lead.
Wow. Dominated a Big Sky team that went 4-8 last year. What an achievement.
They just went plus one in the box and we couldn't throw our way out of it.
While Cal eked by a team that went 3-9 last year and was without their starting QB and RB to boot. And they looked a whole lot worse than the Cal team that beat said 3-9 team on that team's home field last year.
Yes I'd much rather have Jeff Tedford than Justin Wilcox. I'm fully convinced the academic problems had everything to do with lack of administrative support and nothing at all to do with Sonny Dykes being some genius at tutoring football players.
The APR went down under JT because the administration wouldn't give him the resources, which they are now providing (and surprise, APR went up).
Other than the APR, which was not his fault, History has shown JT is head and shoulders above either of his replacements. I don't know how anyone can dispute that at this point, it's an obvious truth.
While Cal eked by a team that went 3-9 last year and was without their starting QB and RB to boot.
At least they were 3-9 playing real football teams in a real football conference.
Cal had (3) 4th quarter possessions with, (1) being the final knee, (1) being a 3 and out, and (1) a six and out (that destroyed by a big sack). Both times Cal gave NC the ball back, they we at their 15 and 8 yard lines respectively. Yes, the Cal offense could have been better in the 4th, but they simply didn't have many opportunities, and helped place NC in a bad spot (which they unfortunately dug themselves out of).
I'll dispute it. JT recruited players who were below Cal's standards and then lost his way in managing the ensuing, predictable breakdown.
I read that post and thought it was so ridiculous I wouldn't even dignify it with a response.
Speaking of JT, this game was eerily reminiscent of a few games from that era where the defense took care of business and the offense was anemic. Although we ended up on the losing end of those games from what I recall.
Tedford was at Cal for 12 years. Over his last 6 seasons at Cal, from 2007 until 2012, Tedford had a losing record in Pac-12 play. His teams were getting progressively worse. His health was horrible, he could have died. Our academic ranking was among the worst in the NCAA. Blaming the administration for that after they spent hundreds to f millions and built him the Student Athletic High Performance Center filled with tutors right next to the stadium seems disengenuous.
His successors have not (yet) improved in the overall W/L record, and gotten us to contend for a conference title, hopefully Wilcox does, but if he does not, it does not mean Tedford is the answer by default. It will be some other young energic coach, like Tedford was in 2001 and Wilcox is now.
We had 119 yards passing on 32 attempts. WHY DID WE PASS 32 TIMES?!?
Tedford may have recovered by now, but zero chance of that while at Cal. He needed a break, and honestly, he was killing the program he built.
I still think he should get a statue on campus someday, but the idea that he would be good NOW if he stayed is ridiculous. He might be better than what we have if he came back, but not if he stayed.
You're joking, right? Nothing wrong with running the ball. Problem is it was the same back between the tackles every single time...and it wasn't working.
With a big, aggressive defense, you need to get those big bodies moving in the wrong direction. What you don't do is be predictable or run right at them.
Uth weighs in with another shot at Wilcox. Not original, but if nothing else, Uth is consistent. Since bashing Wilcox is all Uth ever writes, these posts must be judged on their cleverness, use of language, colorful metaphors, style - the content is too repetitive to be useful.
Uth's post this week has about the same punch & impact as Cal's offense against UNC. Both Uth & Cal need to up their games to be taken seriously.
There are two Tedford eras: the era before he throws the clipboard at the 2007 Oregon State game; and the Tedford after he throws the clipboard at the 2007 Oregon State game. The first era had a really good coach - anyone here will grant that. That second Jeff Tedford era did not feature a great coach or recruiter. Even when we got a standout like Keenan Allen, we were saddled with some horrific play calling and quarterbacking.
Dykes has a better resume than Tedford did when he was hired - it was comparable to Bruce Snyder's resume. On paper, it wasn't a bad hire, but he was never a good fit in Berkeley.
We are a year and a game into the Wilcox era. I think it's too soon to say whether you'r rather have Wilcox versus any other Cal coach.
There is no pre and post discussion. Failing to make a statement against Southern Miss and taking a crap in the Holiday Bowl was 2004. Failing to win the conference outright with massive talent was 2006. Losing three times with that team was a freaking joke, and it easily could have been 4 with the dreadful home game against UW.
His most impressive season was his first. After that, it was the Rodgers lightning strike, eating gallons of foie gras in Blackhawk and looking like Jabba in the end. Dignified it was not.
Believing that he didn't have to run up the score against so miss was his biggest sin.
No it wasnt. It may have seemed like that, but watch the game again. A number of runs were closed down on the outside by fast LBs and bad WR blocking.
A statue on campus? Are you joking? Tedford never even led us to a major bowl... You need to raise your standards.
The Stadium remodel and the High Performance Center are tributes to Coach Tedford.
This is very true. We may not have a bcs program today if it weren't for tedford's effort. But criticisms of his pre-2007 failures are more than fair. 2002 was great. 2003 was where it started to fall apart with conservatism. Starting with nearly blowing a massive lead against u$c.
When the defense is that big, fast and aggressive you need to take advantage with misdirection. I still think that all the spread formations, even empty backfields, using a bunch of freshmen WRs, is not an advantageous use of our personnel.
Next to Southern Cal, no Pac-10 team won as often as Cal. Our recruiting classes up through 2007 were about 3rd best based upon average stars. As high as 2nd and low as fourth a couple times. Good solid recruiting, not approaching elite classes. He and his staff were credited quite a bit, and often, with developing that incoming talent. Maybe JT would have achieved more in those earlier years without the CMS obstruction, tree sit BS. Maybe Southern Cal wouldn't have been quite as good without their shenanigans... What JT did last year at Fresno State is reminiscent to how he started here. I watched the Bulldogs the previous year, and they were the worst team in the conference, losing to SJSU in the finale.
The next two games, Cal will be playing teams that didn't out-recruit them, based upon average star classes.
I still think we go 3-0, like last season, then our wonderfully timed BYE before we get the Ducks at home. Of note, that will be their first road game, after four at home to start the season. And, they will have had Stanford the week before us. This is the crux game that I'm calling for Cal in my 6-1 to 7-0 start, that I still stand by, albeit somewhat more reluctantly after our offensive showing on Saturday. We damn near beat Arizona last year (overtime loss), and beating UCLA in Berkeley is not a stretch either. And the Beavs is a game we expect to win... Enter UW in Berkeley for game eight.
Oh my. Your post made me realize we really have to stretch to spin Saturday's win as a "quality" win and our remaining games as hopeful based on what we saw, especially if Goode is out for the year.
I'm thinking the start will be more like 2-5. I doubt we get picked off by an FCS team, though with Cal football, "you never know". But the Pac-12 season looks like it'll be really ugly unless we see some kind of miracle development in Provo next week.
We honestly won't know if it's a quality win until at least a few games into the season, and by then we'll know how good or not so good we are via other games, notably Pac-12 ones... I wasn't trying to make the case that it was a quality win. I am very disappointed in the offense and that the D didn't close well.
For those worried about the talent still to face us in the Pac-12, at 3.2 average star classes, UNC would be in the top 1/3 of our conference... That's top 30 classes nationally.
We need not minimize the win either because UNC is not Texas by name, or that it's a hoops school. We beat a talented team.
My, my the NEGABEARS are out trolling! I really want to say something nasty and cruel but you know what, CAL WON. Why wreck it?
Okay, I won't say anything nasty or cruel but I will make an observation that...Negabars of this caliber are the kind of guys who get fragged.
Some can make the argument that UNC took us lightly in 2017. One can see how given the last year under JT and the SD years... With a first year HC and QB, Cal simply "surprised" them... That certainly didn't happen on Saturday.
I don't know if it was this thread or another, but my colleague is a UNC grad and worked on the team. Last year was an aberration for them. It all started with Cal and they were hell bent on returning the favor in our house and starting the season on a wining note.
Lost to Minnesota 21-14. I hope there are many more losses to come.