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For me, the Dykes inflection point was the complete meltdown of the offense against Utah on the national stage. Something about seeing Goff go 5 INTs was dispiriting. Add in the refusal to groom a long-term QB replacement by giving him snaps behind Goff/Webb also struck a nerve.

I think ASU in 2019 was an inflection point, there was genuine momentum in the program and the fandom that was hampered by Chase's injury, 2021 Nevada is much the same but without the injury. The weakness of the Pac-12 North means that if we can't be #2 then Wilcox stops being the future of the program and will be the present that won't last.

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While I hope we really haven't reached an inflection point one could say that the writing is on the wall. Unless we can score 28 or more points per game we are going to lose most of the contests facing us. Have to figure out a way to score 28-35 points per game. The decision to make Chase a pocket passer looks like the 49ers attempt to make Kaepernick a pocket passer.

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I feel like the inflection point for Wilcox was the Nevada game and said so before the game. I keep thinking that Musgrave could not help himself in trying to fundamentally change the way that Garbers plays the game. My guess that he has been pounding into his head to stay in the pocket to complete his check-downs. But Garbers does not seem to be a check-down guy. It looks to me like he locks on a primary receiver and his check-down amounts to looking for a back to dump the ball off to.

It seems like every extra second that Garbers stays in pocket leads to a hurried throwing decision - i.e. the ill-advised and lucky completion in the flat to Remigio - as opposed to looking for a running lane that served him so well in the 2019 season. And that fourth quarter intereception that Garbers threw told me a lot. He just heaved the ball up for grabs without really looking to see if the receiver was going to be open. No check downs on that play.

I still think the Remigio is the most talented receiver for Cal. That fact that he only had three receptions in the first three games last year started to tell me that Musgrave and his development of Garbers was not working. I am not optimistic this can be turned around, but I was not feeling too good about Cal's offense before the 2019 Mississippi game, either.

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The good news is I think we have turned a corner on offense.

The bad news is I think we are stuck in a dead end cul-de-sac.

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Thanks Avi. For those of us with grey hairs this sort of reflective history is useful. It really does make me sober as I'm such a sunshine pumper. Boy I miss that gif.

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I am not surprised that so many would see last Saturday as "the end is nigh." It is a logical place to couch our frustration and also, makes us look wise if indeed such gloom comes to pass. It is a way to divest emotionally and watch with a bit less interest, especially when the team currently seems to lack a single player that embodies the identity of the program the way Weaver did. Call me naive, I am optimistic that our team will respond to this loss and it will be evident next Saturday. Not that they will necessarily win, but that they will fight like hell, as they often do for Wilcox. Longer term, I am hopeful for the returns from the current and incoming talent and the chance for these new kids to develop. I've read the arguments regarding year five, senior class, and where we should be and I can't argue that. These folks are likely right. Maybe I want to ignore the obvious , stick my head in the and, and just pump more sunshine until its too late and I end up with a sunburn!

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If the new hits do drop, we won't notice if coverage is going to become irrelevant, cloaked from public view.

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