Finally, Nam has come back to Write for California!
Great article. I appreciate how well you capture and articulate a certain ethos of being a Cal fan during that game. And I appreciate the analysis too. Solid work, all around. Glad to have you back.
Hey Nam. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to read your writing here again. You are my favorite Cal author of the past decade or more. Your insights and attitude are perfect to help me understand and contextualize. So thank you for this, and if this has to be your last season, then I hope for all of our sakes it is filled with some great victories!
I re-watched the game. It wasn't that bad actually. I still question our penchant for throwing on first downs when the running game was going so well. And why we had our secondary in such wide zones leaving the middle wide open (btw, Nevada dropped a lot of balls). Overall, the defense played a good game and definitely good enough to win but alas our offense just couldn't execute when it had to. ST's have not improved, enough said.
I would welcome a look at another QB in the next two games. Also, we need a new RT, right now. I noticed Driscoll played a lot at LG, which was good to see.
Cal's play of the game was Miles Williams' INT, he covered so much ground to get it. A great mental and physical play by him.
IIRC, TCU plays the same base defense as Nevada. So they will love watching this tape and will be ready for Cal. uuugh....
Somewhere after halftime I was wondering if 2020 wasn't the outlier that we all (wanted to) believe(d) it was. Nick put it succinctly when he said that actually 2019 may have been the outlier.
I was at that Ole Miss game in 2019 when Chase went downfield and on target more often than I've ever seen him do. He stretched the field multiple times in the Big Game (including I think one to Nikko near the end). I still cannot wrap my head around that being the outlier, but stats don't lie. I don't know why though. Was Beau actually turning the page and we got impatient? Did the DBs that Chase faced in 2019 just give him better looks? Surely Nevada's DBs can't be that much better than Ole Miss'. And it's not like our OL was better than either.
There were two things that left me the most frustrated yesterday. First was the outright inexcusable decision to get away from the run. Moore was gashing the Nevada defense and our first drive nearly ate up 10 minutes and scored a touchdown. It was a lot of power running that genuinely made me excited. And then... gone. I still don't know why. We eventually did it again in the drive after the INT, and then suddenly away from the run until Chase gets sacked after holding on to it forever. With a surrender FG to end that drive.
The second is Peter Sirmon. He was awful at Louisville, didn't really stand himself apart from DeRuyter last two years and now we're seeing exactly what he was like at Louisville. The missed tackles were especially frustrating as it reminded me of the the immediate turnaround that Wilcox made after the Dykes era. It was like seeing a Dykes defense (well the best Dykes defense, but still) tackling out there.
So I watched the highlights on the attached link through the end of the third quarter. Our defense did a good job considering how much they were on the field. They kept a high octane high scoring offense to 22 points even with a top QB and two of the best receivers and maybe the best tight end we will see this year. Our offense was a different story. What you will see is that our run was very effective in reasonable down and distance situations. Even when UNR stacked the box with 7, 8 & 9 guys, we were able to run when we had heavy formations with similar numbers. We got beat in the passing game. And while I hate to name names, watch 61 (Val Daltoso). He got beat like a drum, over and over. Chase Garbers had no time and space, over and over. Val is a solid interior lineman, but he is not the athlete nor does he have the footspeed and footwork to play tackle in a passing game. He bends at the waist instead of dropping his ass. His feet are not wide, and he has no base to shift directions. He is our weak spot right now. He can play on the inside, but Mettauer and Coleman are doing s GREAT job at guard. If we don't find someone to play strong tackle, its going to be a LONGGGGGGG season and you won't see very many deep balls completed. I guarantee TCU is already looking at our film and and drueling at the thought of having a big, strong, speed rusher lined up against 61. It may hurt, but its cold hard truth. Watch the tape and tell me otherwise. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG-uwxWZk6c
Wilcox will go on as far as his offense will take him. And that's not very far. I had this sense from watching last year that the offense did not have any explosive players who could stretch the game and keep defenses honest. Oops, they had one - Makai Polk - and he left the program.
And then I saw something in the third quarter last night that left me bewildered. A guy comes into the huddle wearing no. 40 on his jersey. He lines up on the left , runs straight for the endzone, makes his cut left in the endzone to find a ball heading his way from Garbers. It fools no one with zero chance of a completion.
I looked up number 40 on the roster and found out he was 6-6 true freshman Lekeki Latu from Jesuit High School in Sacramento. Full disclosure, he looked slow running his route, and then I recalled reading a small blurb about him being a potential jump ball guy in red zone situations because of his height. But this was not a red zone play, and it was clear that Latu was Garbers' first choice in the play. It bothered me that this utterly wasted play got called in the first place, and maybe Mr. Latu would have been a better choice for a jump ball pass on that failed goal-line drive late in the fourth quarter. Just throwing it out because a lot of people must be thinking that Musgrave is not getting the best out of the players with the play calls. Not sure how many other true freshmen played in the game.
I turned the last three quarters of the game off after the Bears had been so successful with their running attack in the first that I thought that would be how the rest of the game played out. I thought we were seeing West Coast Wisconsin .What happened? Did the Nevada D-coordinator just throw eight in the box and hope Garbers couldn't beat them or run clock by himself? Musgrave abandoning the ground game was either arrogant or merely surprising.
Finally, Nam has come back to Write for California!
Great article. I appreciate how well you capture and articulate a certain ethos of being a Cal fan during that game. And I appreciate the analysis too. Solid work, all around. Glad to have you back.
Hey Nam. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to read your writing here again. You are my favorite Cal author of the past decade or more. Your insights and attitude are perfect to help me understand and contextualize. So thank you for this, and if this has to be your last season, then I hope for all of our sakes it is filled with some great victories!
Nam, it is great to have you back. Your voice is a ray of sunshine in an otherwise nuclear winter known as Cal football.
I re-watched the game. It wasn't that bad actually. I still question our penchant for throwing on first downs when the running game was going so well. And why we had our secondary in such wide zones leaving the middle wide open (btw, Nevada dropped a lot of balls). Overall, the defense played a good game and definitely good enough to win but alas our offense just couldn't execute when it had to. ST's have not improved, enough said.
I would welcome a look at another QB in the next two games. Also, we need a new RT, right now. I noticed Driscoll played a lot at LG, which was good to see.
Cal's play of the game was Miles Williams' INT, he covered so much ground to get it. A great mental and physical play by him.
IIRC, TCU plays the same base defense as Nevada. So they will love watching this tape and will be ready for Cal. uuugh....
Excellent article.
Thanks Nam…great article.
You know, I'm tired of mediocre Cal football. I just am.
THE HIVEMIND IS ACTIVATED.
RESET THE CLOCK.
Somewhere after halftime I was wondering if 2020 wasn't the outlier that we all (wanted to) believe(d) it was. Nick put it succinctly when he said that actually 2019 may have been the outlier.
I was at that Ole Miss game in 2019 when Chase went downfield and on target more often than I've ever seen him do. He stretched the field multiple times in the Big Game (including I think one to Nikko near the end). I still cannot wrap my head around that being the outlier, but stats don't lie. I don't know why though. Was Beau actually turning the page and we got impatient? Did the DBs that Chase faced in 2019 just give him better looks? Surely Nevada's DBs can't be that much better than Ole Miss'. And it's not like our OL was better than either.
There were two things that left me the most frustrated yesterday. First was the outright inexcusable decision to get away from the run. Moore was gashing the Nevada defense and our first drive nearly ate up 10 minutes and scored a touchdown. It was a lot of power running that genuinely made me excited. And then... gone. I still don't know why. We eventually did it again in the drive after the INT, and then suddenly away from the run until Chase gets sacked after holding on to it forever. With a surrender FG to end that drive.
The second is Peter Sirmon. He was awful at Louisville, didn't really stand himself apart from DeRuyter last two years and now we're seeing exactly what he was like at Louisville. The missed tackles were especially frustrating as it reminded me of the the immediate turnaround that Wilcox made after the Dykes era. It was like seeing a Dykes defense (well the best Dykes defense, but still) tackling out there.
So I watched the highlights on the attached link through the end of the third quarter. Our defense did a good job considering how much they were on the field. They kept a high octane high scoring offense to 22 points even with a top QB and two of the best receivers and maybe the best tight end we will see this year. Our offense was a different story. What you will see is that our run was very effective in reasonable down and distance situations. Even when UNR stacked the box with 7, 8 & 9 guys, we were able to run when we had heavy formations with similar numbers. We got beat in the passing game. And while I hate to name names, watch 61 (Val Daltoso). He got beat like a drum, over and over. Chase Garbers had no time and space, over and over. Val is a solid interior lineman, but he is not the athlete nor does he have the footspeed and footwork to play tackle in a passing game. He bends at the waist instead of dropping his ass. His feet are not wide, and he has no base to shift directions. He is our weak spot right now. He can play on the inside, but Mettauer and Coleman are doing s GREAT job at guard. If we don't find someone to play strong tackle, its going to be a LONGGGGGGG season and you won't see very many deep balls completed. I guarantee TCU is already looking at our film and and drueling at the thought of having a big, strong, speed rusher lined up against 61. It may hurt, but its cold hard truth. Watch the tape and tell me otherwise. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG-uwxWZk6c
Wilcox will go on as far as his offense will take him. And that's not very far. I had this sense from watching last year that the offense did not have any explosive players who could stretch the game and keep defenses honest. Oops, they had one - Makai Polk - and he left the program.
And then I saw something in the third quarter last night that left me bewildered. A guy comes into the huddle wearing no. 40 on his jersey. He lines up on the left , runs straight for the endzone, makes his cut left in the endzone to find a ball heading his way from Garbers. It fools no one with zero chance of a completion.
I looked up number 40 on the roster and found out he was 6-6 true freshman Lekeki Latu from Jesuit High School in Sacramento. Full disclosure, he looked slow running his route, and then I recalled reading a small blurb about him being a potential jump ball guy in red zone situations because of his height. But this was not a red zone play, and it was clear that Latu was Garbers' first choice in the play. It bothered me that this utterly wasted play got called in the first place, and maybe Mr. Latu would have been a better choice for a jump ball pass on that failed goal-line drive late in the fourth quarter. Just throwing it out because a lot of people must be thinking that Musgrave is not getting the best out of the players with the play calls. Not sure how many other true freshmen played in the game.
I like so many others feel like we may have saw the first brick fall in the Wilcox tenure. You don’t get to fire two OCs and keep your job.
Dang, that win against LSU was enough to make you a full-time Bruin? 😏
Banished my gold t-shirt to the washer after the game to be rid of bad juju
I was ready to pay for subscription but not after that game. Maybe I will be in different mood after we beat TCU
I turned the last three quarters of the game off after the Bears had been so successful with their running attack in the first that I thought that would be how the rest of the game played out. I thought we were seeing West Coast Wisconsin .What happened? Did the Nevada D-coordinator just throw eight in the box and hope Garbers couldn't beat them or run clock by himself? Musgrave abandoning the ground game was either arrogant or merely surprising.