25 Comments

It bothered me in the TCU @ Colorado game in the first quarter with when Colorado had 3rd & 5 at the TCU 12. The refs called a delay of game that wasn't. It looked like an iffy call to me in real time, so I backed it up & re-watched in slow motion & the play clock showed :01 as the shotgun snap was clearly out of the center's hand. There was no score at the time, so mentally the game was up for grabs, CU had some momentum, and that bad call killed it. They settled for 3 points and lost their mojo. Some games can turn on a play, this one may not have, but I would like to back up the time machine & see what would have happened on that 3rd & 5 play.

Expand full comment
author

I mean, I don't remember this play, but it's also possible that the TV display of the play clock was wrong. Especially since we're talking about ESPN, who are known for their terrible production quality, particularly when it comes to the Pac-12.

Expand full comment

Good point

Expand full comment

Perhaps the Utah, Colorado, Arizona and USC games were the most revealing. The first three were against respectable opponents, and USC showed expected prowess. Utah should have won and is still the class of the conference. Colorado will need to make major adjustments to avoid being in the cellar, and Arizona presents an intriguing possibility for Wildcat fans. Each week will tell us more about the Golden Bears.

Expand full comment

I fear that the Arizona game will be something that trips us up. Either DeLaura beats us or we'll be flat after the strong effort we put out against Notre Dame. Probably Pac-12 after dark at Memorial. Plus Arizona has been a chamber of horrors for Cal like something out of Edgar Allen Poe.

Expand full comment

Cal will need to face the challenge if our program wants respectability.

Expand full comment

Jaden DeLaura is the real deal at Arizona. At WSU last year, he engineered wins against Arizona State, Washington and Arizona and lost by two points to a ranked BYU team. He is likely going to give fits to a Cal defense that gave up 400 yards to UC Davis. He is not much of a runner, but has good pocket presence and a quick release. I watched him during the COVID year and was really impressed with his first year. He is obviously much better now. Cal is likely going to need to take some chances on blitz packages to get him out of his comfort zone. Should be fun to watch......or maybe not.

Expand full comment
Comment removed
Expand full comment

Yeah, we should watch out for Arizona, especially since we beat them last season and have typically dominated Arizona over the last 20 years.

Expand full comment

Brandon McIlwain game.

Hail Mary game, etc.

Last year's debacle.

Expand full comment

I remember growing up in the sixties hearing about UCLA's great young QB, DTR. All these years later he's still there. Seriously, how much eligibility did this guy get?

Expand full comment
author

The best example is Brit Covey, who actually still had a year of eligibility left. Brit Covey, who first appeared for Utah in 2015, could have played an extra year in 2022 if he so desired. 2015-Fr, 2016-2017 LDS mission, 2018-So, 2019 redshirt, 2020 doesn't count, 2021-RsJr, and this 2022 RsSr. From that perspective, DTR is less surprising, as he is on his 5th year (4 seasons + covid year).

Expand full comment

For anyone curious, UNLV played a meaningless game against an extremely bad Idaho St. team, in which the Runnin' Rebels scored 35 points in the second quarter before shutting down and cruising to a 52-21 victory. Unless they've gone full Arizona, next week should be a fairly easy victory.

Expand full comment
Comment removed
Expand full comment

Marcus Arroyo, Keith Heyward and Kenwick Thompson there too.

Expand full comment

Has the recruiting class lost another recruit? I.e. the Australian punter? Leaking like a sieve...

Expand full comment

Wins will lead to better recruiting. Potential is one thing - success is another.

Expand full comment
author

Not sure what you're talking about. The Aussie punter - Ethan Baxter - was a late-cycle recruit who then quickly enrolled. He's on the roster.

Expand full comment

I mean he was listed on the 2022 recruits until, as I recall, last week when his name was removed. Yes, I do now see he is listed on the roster for 2022. Although this type of situation may have occurred in the past, first time I've ever seen a recruit for a particular class for a particular year get on the roster for that same year. Hopefully another strong Aussie leg..........

Expand full comment

I mean he was listed on the 2022 recruits until, as I recall, last week when his name was removed. Yes, I do now see he is listed on the roster for 2022. Although this type of situation may have occurred in the past, first time I've ever seen a recruit for a particular class for a particular year get on the roster for that same year. Hopefully another strong Aussie leg..........

Expand full comment

I did not see any of these games, so the comments are welcomed. Seems Arizona is for real again, dang it! Also, I bet the coaches have the Cal defense practicing tackling all week long. They missed a bunch on Saturday.

Expand full comment
Comment removed
Expand full comment
author

Yeah, I think you absolutely go for the win in that situation. On the 6 yard line, 22 seconds left, 2nd and goal; you have plenty of time to throw the ball on 2nd and 3rd down there and kick a short FG if it doesn't work out. The one thing you can't do, of course, is turn the ball over.

Watching that play again, there's a ton of contact with all the receivers, and I can see why TE Dalton Kincaid (the tight end who fell) was unhappy with all the contact that was made. You could probably call PI on a play like that elsewhere on the field, had it not been in Florida with the game on the line and refs thus very reluctant to intervene ("let them play"). It's easy to say in retrospect, but it probably wasn't the best play call. Utah kept running plays out of this formation, with a bunch set (including the TEs) on one side of the field. The wide receiver on the boundary side, WR Devaughn Vele, is being redirected by the CB and nowhere close to open. On the other side of Cam Rising is the bunch formation. Rising's favorite target, Brant Kuithe, is perhaps a decoy on this play, running an out route which like perhaps it's intended to draw defenders away, as it's a high difficulty throw and Kuithe isn't open at all (not that Rising even looks his way -- and also, I don't think it fooled the defense either). Instead, Rising is sitting on the the throw in the middle of the field where TE Dalton Kincaid and WR Solomon Enis are running practically side-by-side. The way Solomon Enis is fighting with his defender, it looks to me like this ball was always intended for Kincaid, as Enis is probably trying to pick the defender and get in his way to free Kincaid. It looks to me like Rising is waiting on a stop route from Kincaid and he's staring it down the whole way. Because of this, the linebacker sitting in coverage, Amari Burney, is watching Rising's eyes and sitting on a route thrown in this direction. On the stop route, instead of coming back to the ball, Kincaid seemingly falls on his own accord (there's contact, but definitely not enough to knock him over). So instead of Kincaid coming back to the ball, he falls, and the linebacker (Burney) jumps the route anyway for the interception to win the game. If Kincaid is coming back to the ball, maybe this is a contested catch, but honestly it probably wasn't the best play call and it wasn't executed well, and that's what cost Utah the game. There's a number of things Utah could have done better there. If Rising knew where he was going with that ball the whole way, he could have at least tried to look off the linebacker sitting there (instead of having 3 defenders in an area with 2 receivers). Kincaid shouldn't have fallen, Enis could have broken earlier, Rising could have bought time in the pocket instead of forcing that throw, etc. It's tough because it's an anticipation throw, and Rising needs to make that throw before Kincaid makes his break, but Kincaid makes the worst break possible by just falling over instead. If Rising gets a do-over, I don't think he makes that same throw again.

In short, Florida just executed better on the play with the game on the line. Nothing anyone can complain about, Utah just came up short when it counted.

Expand full comment

I think Rising, with no timeouts left and all his receivers covered and in position to tie the game and send it to OT should have tried to run for the touchdown.

Expand full comment

WSU - Idaho was almost a draw. Vandals were driving for a tying TD when the QB threw an interception. Not exactly a good performance against a middling FCS team.

Expand full comment
Comment removed
Expand full comment

I hope they're great team, and we beat them handily.

Expand full comment