Well I have two takeaways, first is on defense. I miss DeRuyter calling defensive plays. Previously it seemed like DeRuyter always knew exactly what play the offense was going to call, and countered with the right blitz call and adjustments. We always had guys in the right place, and the defense played fast and aggressively.
On offense, it feels like Baldwin left his "multiple" playbook behind, and Musgrave picked it up and decided to use it. At the beginning of the game, we had 21 personnel, Dancy was repeatedly getting first downs, we locked the box and we were also winning the resulting 1-on-1 matchups with Crawford and Polk. And then....I don't even know what that was....did we even line up the same way and run the same play twice in a row? Oh, except for the red zone....heavy set, Garbers rolls right and looks for the fade in the corner. We ran that play seventeen times....we did get one touchdown though (after like three penalties) so I'm sure we'll keep seeing it over and over and over for the rest of the season.
I agree that the defensive positioning was OK but not great. We did hold Gebbia to 155 yards passing so that was a positive. But we allowed too many short fields.
Everything needs to be better. MANY plays stood out to me...here's a couple...
There was a clear blown assignment on D, in the 3rd Q I believe, where the OSU RB ran a wheel route and the ILB went with him, along with a corner. This left the TE wide open in the middle of the field for an easy big play. That is probably not on Sirmon, as it's unlikely he drew up coverage to double the RB on the wheel & leave the TE, who despite the Bears seeming belief to the contrary IS an eligible receiver, wide open. The Cal player needs to execute.
4th Q...On yet another predictable run up the middle, Dancy was stopped in the backfield well short of a crucial 3rd and 2 (?)...Remigio completely missed the block. The announcers mentioned the O-Line needs to communicate, admittedly tougher to do with the OL mess we had yesterday. Still, the player needs to execute.
There's SOOO many issues right now, and rare is the season in the last 60+ years where Cal can just show up and win. We're not a program that can play mistake-laden football in all 3 facets and still beat a D-1 foe. Garbers is not a QB that can put a team on his back and win...that final pick was AWFUL - Chase has played too many games to make THAT throw in THAT situation.
That said, while every team has had to deal with COVID-issues, Cal has been hit especially hard. This looks a whole lot like a team that's definitely got some talent and some heart, but just needs more practice reps together with a new OC and, for all intents and purposes, a new DC as well. Spring practice was cut short, fall camp was canceled, and the Bears practices have been a complete mess. More than many others, this team just needs practice reps...it shows.
I guess my point is, I have never thought that trying to be "multiple" was a good thing. Find out what you're really, really good at, and then do that. I think that a lot of coordinators try and get too cute and outsmart themselves. Just get the ball to your best players, in whatever system fits them best.
I'll give it to Dykes, he sure understood that. They were going to line up in a single back offense, run the few routes that they had perfected, and throw the ball 100 times a game. If you tried to flood the field with bodies to stop them, then, they'd hand the ball off. Not saying everyone should run that offense, but he had a plan and stuck to it. I remember the Nebraska teams in the 80's, they'd get the biggest lineman they could find, a punishing fullback, and a monster tight end. They would run the veer to the right on every single play, and nobody could stop them.
Sometimes, simple and predictable can be a good thing.
Finished up my report card. I gave special teams a zero I think. Bad punting with line drive kicks, two stupid penalties, and a 52 yard field goal. I still think we will beat Furd though. One question I came up is how the axe will be handled if the RC is not present.
I guess I still feel like this whole season, all across the country, is nothing but a trivial shadow of real football. No team is as good as they appear, none as bad. Too many COVID issues. In a normal season the playing field is even enough that we are willing to say the wins and losses are on the players and coaches. But this year, is it on Wilcox that he lost 4 lineman today? On Musgrave he got half the time to train his players? On Garbers he got half the time to practice? We are not all in the same COVID boat. Some teams have played more games, and had fewer players missing, so it is comparing Apples and Oranges. So, I wish Cal had won just because, but I don't read anything into us losing because...
"We are not all in the same COVID boat. Some teams have played more games, and had fewer players missing, so it is comparing Apples and Oranges"
The teams are never the same any year. Some teams have more of better athletes than others. Some teams have better coaches. Some teams have better training facility. That said, I think we are all in the same Covid boat.
Those normal differences we all know are just part of the normal landscape, and teams and schools have every opportunity to try their best to control the variables as they choose. This year, with COVID, is it fair that Utah is playing their first game today? No, no it's not. Is it fair that UCLA had to have a backup qb start due to COVID only and not injury? No. COVID is a randomness that is extra or additional to the normal randomness of injury and such. My point is this. It is far from a year where we can apply anything like the same measures to judge quality.
Of all the replacement players who played today in place of those sidelined by positive covid tests, did any look equal or greater than the starter? I am a bit surprised that it was even a game given all the O-line starters out.
What's crazy is if you look at the stats we killed these guys every place but the scoreboard (they did outrush us but 150 of their total rushing yards came on two plays). We beat ourselves today; the effort was there but big brainfarts and stupid penalties hurt us bad. Both are on the group coach or the position coach. We have smart teachable kids.
I agree. We dominated in time of possession, Dancy was somewhat effective. I still think Garbers would have pulled it out with less than 30 seconds on the clock as he has done several times before if not for the deflection.
I just hope there are no more covid cases resulting in a cancellation of the Big Game. It looks like we will have to go with that same group of frosh and sophomores on the O-line as quarantining will keep the normal starters out for 15 days.
Was mulling over my loss reaction. Very familiar with the Beaver syndrome. Aside from feeling let down, I have the lingering annoyance that's it OSU. Rarely an easy game for us and too many losses in the recent years for my taste.
That would be bad, even during a season with mitigating circumstances like Covid it would be terrible for a coach in his 4 season and with a team and roster with so much experience.
OL played a great game and I think the staff has some tape now to get some new faces on a unit that hasn't performed well for 3 years. On that pass to Polk with about a 1:15 left, the OL picked up the blitz and did a great job; Garbers needed to step up into the pocket and make that pass to the wide open Polk!! Really a poor pass by Chase.
D played great save 2 plays (long runs by Jefferson) but our ILB play has had a YUGE dropoff as expected. DL did their job and deserve a lot of credit.
Special teams, welp 2 YUGE plays called back and a blocked punt whoops. That was a great play by that OSU player on the block.
All in all, not a bad performance and we have some new talent that should be getting a lot more PT, especially on the OL.
But no such thing as a moral victory and to win in the PAC12 you have to bring your A game, even against OSU.
Go Bears!!
btw, fUCLA looked pretty good against the Ducks even though they had to start their 2nd string QB. Seems like there are a lot of good young QBs in the conference this year and atm I would rate Chase at the bottom of the conference.
Cal is among the teams that were returning the most talent and yet it seems like they have regressed so much. It always feels like coaching is so underwhelming. And Wilcox can clearly coach, but it’s his position coaches and coordinators that seem to kill us every time.
Without the stupid deflection we win the game, period. Hats off to the young on-line that stepped up big time. Special teams are a huge problem though.
2020 was supposed to be the year for Cal. Cal was in the discussion for winning the division. We had Top 25 votes. Underachieving is something we've not had since Tedford days because there never was expectation the last 10 years. But how can we be this bad? Where did the momentum of 2019 go?
Covid 19 means fewer practices. I think people underestimated the impact of our coaching changes and just assumed they would be about the same or better.
Sirmon appears to be a downgrade from TDR.
I was happy to see Baldwin go but I was very skeptical of hiring a NFL OC that never saw much success in the NFL.
Losing Alexander and Greatwood also seems to have a negative impact so far this season.
So while the roster didn’t see much turnover, we saw a lot of turnover in the coaching staff. New coaches and less practicing time isn’t a recipe for success.
I think special teams are showing more promise this year than in recent years. Mostly that is a factor of better recruiting to allow for depth and getting your better players on special teams.
But as others have stated, Ragle is here more so for his recruiting than his coaching.
Yeah no doubt the special teams play has eroded over the years (though we might have something with Longhetto). If we can upgrade on Ragle fine, but I actually liked the recruiting he's been doing in AZ...but again the key is upgrade.
We lost for a lot of reasons and not just special teams.
Poor red zone by the offense.
Two picks by Garbers.
Getting stopped on 4th down in the red zone rather settling for a FG.
If we kick the FG in the first half we could have been down 1 with a 1:05 to go and at the OSU 10. We could have ran the ball 3 times and kicked a FG to win the game 33-31.
It won't stop until under 2 minutes remaining. But it should at least pause until the ball is set. I don't remember if it kept running or it was paused for a while.
Cool. It was paused until the ball was set. I thought it was under 5-minutes, but that explains it. It did stop under 2, so my mistake...
It's typical Cal - with over a minute left AND 3 t.o.'s, a run to Dancy on 1st down from within the 15 actually made sense. Instead, Garbers doesn't see the blitz and then throws it right into him...
Someone said it earlier....Garbers has looked like pre-Ole Miss Chase....
Well I have two takeaways, first is on defense. I miss DeRuyter calling defensive plays. Previously it seemed like DeRuyter always knew exactly what play the offense was going to call, and countered with the right blitz call and adjustments. We always had guys in the right place, and the defense played fast and aggressively.
On offense, it feels like Baldwin left his "multiple" playbook behind, and Musgrave picked it up and decided to use it. At the beginning of the game, we had 21 personnel, Dancy was repeatedly getting first downs, we locked the box and we were also winning the resulting 1-on-1 matchups with Crawford and Polk. And then....I don't even know what that was....did we even line up the same way and run the same play twice in a row? Oh, except for the red zone....heavy set, Garbers rolls right and looks for the fade in the corner. We ran that play seventeen times....we did get one touchdown though (after like three penalties) so I'm sure we'll keep seeing it over and over and over for the rest of the season.
I agree that the defensive positioning was OK but not great. We did hold Gebbia to 155 yards passing so that was a positive. But we allowed too many short fields.
Everything needs to be better. MANY plays stood out to me...here's a couple...
There was a clear blown assignment on D, in the 3rd Q I believe, where the OSU RB ran a wheel route and the ILB went with him, along with a corner. This left the TE wide open in the middle of the field for an easy big play. That is probably not on Sirmon, as it's unlikely he drew up coverage to double the RB on the wheel & leave the TE, who despite the Bears seeming belief to the contrary IS an eligible receiver, wide open. The Cal player needs to execute.
4th Q...On yet another predictable run up the middle, Dancy was stopped in the backfield well short of a crucial 3rd and 2 (?)...Remigio completely missed the block. The announcers mentioned the O-Line needs to communicate, admittedly tougher to do with the OL mess we had yesterday. Still, the player needs to execute.
There's SOOO many issues right now, and rare is the season in the last 60+ years where Cal can just show up and win. We're not a program that can play mistake-laden football in all 3 facets and still beat a D-1 foe. Garbers is not a QB that can put a team on his back and win...that final pick was AWFUL - Chase has played too many games to make THAT throw in THAT situation.
That said, while every team has had to deal with COVID-issues, Cal has been hit especially hard. This looks a whole lot like a team that's definitely got some talent and some heart, but just needs more practice reps together with a new OC and, for all intents and purposes, a new DC as well. Spring practice was cut short, fall camp was canceled, and the Bears practices have been a complete mess. More than many others, this team just needs practice reps...it shows.
They still should've beaten Oregon State though.
I guess my point is, I have never thought that trying to be "multiple" was a good thing. Find out what you're really, really good at, and then do that. I think that a lot of coordinators try and get too cute and outsmart themselves. Just get the ball to your best players, in whatever system fits them best.
I'll give it to Dykes, he sure understood that. They were going to line up in a single back offense, run the few routes that they had perfected, and throw the ball 100 times a game. If you tried to flood the field with bodies to stop them, then, they'd hand the ball off. Not saying everyone should run that offense, but he had a plan and stuck to it. I remember the Nebraska teams in the 80's, they'd get the biggest lineman they could find, a punishing fullback, and a monster tight end. They would run the veer to the right on every single play, and nobody could stop them.
Sometimes, simple and predictable can be a good thing.
Finished up my report card. I gave special teams a zero I think. Bad punting with line drive kicks, two stupid penalties, and a 52 yard field goal. I still think we will beat Furd though. One question I came up is how the axe will be handled if the RC is not present.
Oh, and I forgot the blocked punt. That was another minus.
Question: I remember reading somewhere that this year didn't count to eligibility. Is that true?
I guess I still feel like this whole season, all across the country, is nothing but a trivial shadow of real football. No team is as good as they appear, none as bad. Too many COVID issues. In a normal season the playing field is even enough that we are willing to say the wins and losses are on the players and coaches. But this year, is it on Wilcox that he lost 4 lineman today? On Musgrave he got half the time to train his players? On Garbers he got half the time to practice? We are not all in the same COVID boat. Some teams have played more games, and had fewer players missing, so it is comparing Apples and Oranges. So, I wish Cal had won just because, but I don't read anything into us losing because...
"We are not all in the same COVID boat. Some teams have played more games, and had fewer players missing, so it is comparing Apples and Oranges"
The teams are never the same any year. Some teams have more of better athletes than others. Some teams have better coaches. Some teams have better training facility. That said, I think we are all in the same Covid boat.
Those normal differences we all know are just part of the normal landscape, and teams and schools have every opportunity to try their best to control the variables as they choose. This year, with COVID, is it fair that Utah is playing their first game today? No, no it's not. Is it fair that UCLA had to have a backup qb start due to COVID only and not injury? No. COVID is a randomness that is extra or additional to the normal randomness of injury and such. My point is this. It is far from a year where we can apply anything like the same measures to judge quality.
Of all the replacement players who played today in place of those sidelined by positive covid tests, did any look equal or greater than the starter? I am a bit surprised that it was even a game given all the O-line starters out.
Dancy looked really good.
What's crazy is if you look at the stats we killed these guys every place but the scoreboard (they did outrush us but 150 of their total rushing yards came on two plays). We beat ourselves today; the effort was there but big brainfarts and stupid penalties hurt us bad. Both are on the group coach or the position coach. We have smart teachable kids.
I agree. We dominated in time of possession, Dancy was somewhat effective. I still think Garbers would have pulled it out with less than 30 seconds on the clock as he has done several times before if not for the deflection.
I just hope there are no more covid cases resulting in a cancellation of the Big Game. It looks like we will have to go with that same group of frosh and sophomores on the O-line as quarantining will keep the normal starters out for 15 days.
Yep and that’s why it felt like we should have been up 14 with 6 minutes to play.
Was mulling over my loss reaction. Very familiar with the Beaver syndrome. Aside from feeling let down, I have the lingering annoyance that's it OSU. Rarely an easy game for us and too many losses in the recent years for my taste.
I don't think we will wina game.
We’ll beat furd next week.
That would be bad, even during a season with mitigating circumstances like Covid it would be terrible for a coach in his 4 season and with a team and roster with so much experience.
And we played the two most winnable games of the season already.
Yep and we supposedly caught a break by swapping out ASU for UCLA.
Covid has impacted all teams in the Pac 12 if we go 0-5 we can’t just blame it on Covid.
Wilcox is stubborn when making coaching changes so I doubt he would make any even if we went winless.
How do you say we suck in Cal bears?
You see....football
"football"
Cal bears.
I would suggest that this is a bad time to start stinking it up with early signing period less than a month away.
OL played a great game and I think the staff has some tape now to get some new faces on a unit that hasn't performed well for 3 years. On that pass to Polk with about a 1:15 left, the OL picked up the blitz and did a great job; Garbers needed to step up into the pocket and make that pass to the wide open Polk!! Really a poor pass by Chase.
D played great save 2 plays (long runs by Jefferson) but our ILB play has had a YUGE dropoff as expected. DL did their job and deserve a lot of credit.
Special teams, welp 2 YUGE plays called back and a blocked punt whoops. That was a great play by that OSU player on the block.
All in all, not a bad performance and we have some new talent that should be getting a lot more PT, especially on the OL.
But no such thing as a moral victory and to win in the PAC12 you have to bring your A game, even against OSU.
Go Bears!!
btw, fUCLA looked pretty good against the Ducks even though they had to start their 2nd string QB. Seems like there are a lot of good young QBs in the conference this year and atm I would rate Chase at the bottom of the conference.
UCLA looked pretty good even with a back-up QB. They probably would have beaten Oregon if DTR had played.
When you say that about Garbers, do you mean just based on our 2 games, or given last year as well?
Cal is among the teams that were returning the most talent and yet it seems like they have regressed so much. It always feels like coaching is so underwhelming. And Wilcox can clearly coach, but it’s his position coaches and coordinators that seem to kill us every time.
It hurts to see.
Without the stupid deflection we win the game, period. Hats off to the young on-line that stepped up big time. Special teams are a huge problem though.
O - line. Dumb autocorrect
2020 was supposed to be the year for Cal. Cal was in the discussion for winning the division. We had Top 25 votes. Underachieving is something we've not had since Tedford days because there never was expectation the last 10 years. But how can we be this bad? Where did the momentum of 2019 go?
2020 was supposed to be the year for ME, but it had other plans.
Well this is a very unusual year.
Covid 19 means fewer practices. I think people underestimated the impact of our coaching changes and just assumed they would be about the same or better.
Sirmon appears to be a downgrade from TDR.
I was happy to see Baldwin go but I was very skeptical of hiring a NFL OC that never saw much success in the NFL.
Losing Alexander and Greatwood also seems to have a negative impact so far this season.
So while the roster didn’t see much turnover, we saw a lot of turnover in the coaching staff. New coaches and less practicing time isn’t a recipe for success.
Yeah, I guess the coaching change probably had more impact in the short, limited practice/training season.
We need to move on from Ragle. Our special teams have slowly regressed every year under his leadership.
I think special teams are showing more promise this year than in recent years. Mostly that is a factor of better recruiting to allow for depth and getting your better players on special teams.
But as others have stated, Ragle is here more so for his recruiting than his coaching.
But what about all those vaunted AZ recruits???
He’s gotten 3 four star recruits in his entire career. All committed to UA.
Get me a guy who can coach and can build relationships in the Bay.
Correct me if I'm wrong but did he bring in Brett Johnson?
He did indeed recruit Brett Johnson who was a monster today. But remember, we still lost bc special teams was a disaster.
Yeah no doubt the special teams play has eroded over the years (though we might have something with Longhetto). If we can upgrade on Ragle fine, but I actually liked the recruiting he's been doing in AZ...but again the key is upgrade.
We lost for a lot of reasons and not just special teams.
Poor red zone by the offense.
Two picks by Garbers.
Getting stopped on 4th down in the red zone rather settling for a FG.
If we kick the FG in the first half we could have been down 1 with a 1:05 to go and at the OSU 10. We could have ran the ball 3 times and kicked a FG to win the game 33-31.
True dat, our red zone offense has been very weak this season.
They definitely cost them this game...but hey, at least we can get 3* guys from AZ now.
I think we keep him for his recruiting ability and not coaching.
Ragle and Tui are just there to be our recruiters. Tui has been better since he's moved to TE coach from QB coach. Ragle not so much.
I agree on those assessments. Tui seems to be doing much better since he was moved back to being a TE coach.
Line drive, returnable kicks, plus the block. welp
Question: Why was the clock running under 2:30 on Cal's last drive after Garbers went out of bounds. Does it not stop until under 2:00 remaining?
It won't stop until under 2 minutes remaining. But it should at least pause until the ball is set. I don't remember if it kept running or it was paused for a while.
Cool. It was paused until the ball was set. I thought it was under 5-minutes, but that explains it. It did stop under 2, so my mistake...
It's typical Cal - with over a minute left AND 3 t.o.'s, a run to Dancy on 1st down from within the 15 actually made sense. Instead, Garbers doesn't see the blitz and then throws it right into him...
Someone said it earlier....Garbers has looked like pre-Ole Miss Chase....