Chuck: You are absolutely right and the fact that we played U$C so close last night just adds to the frustration of this season. We seem well coached at times but then we make one stupid mistake (interception before the half) or can't stop a key drive and we come up just a little bit short. Ugghhhh......I swear someone put a curse on Cal Football years ago.
Our o-line was a little better, but still not good. And despite Plummer's stat's his erratic play where he misses simple short throws while under pressure, killing drives, shows me he's not a prime time QB. He has a good arm when he is not under pressure. But he is a terrible game manager. The end of the 1st half INT is just one example of really stupid and desperate playing. I'm hoping Greatwood is able to identify some issues for JW. Based on the post game interview, JW is not happy with the o-line. Hopefully this means a new O-line coach. And, with Transfer Portal guys like Ward, Penix, Nix, Williams and DeLaura (from one PAC12 school to another) playing against us, if Kai Milner is not better than Plummer by nexr season, then we need to find a ringer QB in the portal. We'll never win a lot with a guy like Plummer.
Awful play calling and game planning from Bill Musgrave...there were zero adjustments once Colorado predictably went to a 6 man front, no play action...just 5 and 7 step drops. Just putrid.
So...did the O wake up, or did it parlay a 47-yard TD on a completely busted coverage into an onside kick and shorter field against a soft and worn out D?
Tough to say, tho the Bears did make plays at the Coliseum they haven't made all year. That said, let's see if they can stack a couple of those performances, though doing so may increase the chances of the dreaded Musgrave extension.
Cal fans: I'm not sure that our problems are because of an indifferent administration. They spent $500 million on a new stadium and athletic facility and they are going to spend up to $100 million on a new basketball facility. They may not be like administrators at Ohio State, UCLA or U$C who absolutely bow before football and/or basketball, but I don't see an absolute indifference or disdain for those sports either. Cal can be successful in football and basketball. Look no further than what Tedford and Montgomery (even Cuonzo) were able to do while they were here. We regularly contended for bowl games, NCAA berths, etc. and the stands were full. Cal just has to get all of the ingredients right again (coaching, recruiting, graduation, alumni support, etc.) and we will bounce back again. No offense, but there is no reason that we should be getting out-recruited by Oregon State, Wazzu, Colorado and Utah. Cal is the #1 public university in the nation (I don't care what FUCLA says, they aren't even close but they raise more money) and we need to keep leveraging that to recruit the players we need.
Plummer has guts, no doubt (some of which will be visible due to inadequate protection). Thought it was Millner time after USC built their lead but this was a tenacious comeback.
That pick toward the end of the 1st half felt like a dagger (and may have been).
I rather invest in the future and start Millner the rest of season than go for a possible win once we lose one more game. (I would have preferred to start him earlier but I'll let Wilcox chase wins until we lose bowl eligibility)
Same here, give us something to get excited about, please.
It was nice to see life in our guys, but it was a loss, the losing streak goes. Also the fact that we are happy just not to embarrass ourselves says a lot
The announcers because of the comeback didn't have to get into excuses for poor performance such as difficult academics, lack of depth, hard-to-recruit-to-Cal and so on which I half expected to hear when it was 34-14. Let's beat OSU. BY the way the game time is 6:00 PM on Pac 12 Networks so another after dark game!
Good news: Stanford plays at Utah in the role of sacrificial lamb on the main ESPN channel at 7:30
To be fair, USC probably has the 2nd worst defense Cal will play all season, behind just Arizona. This manifested itself in a key blown assignment that led to an easy 47-yard TD…tough to count on that as an offense staple.
Great to see signs of life from the Cal O, but it might be a little too little, a little too late….
Heh, me too, I clicked off in the third. Awoke, checked the score. Surprised, sure but immediately pissed off too….. once again short of the mark particularly because it’s those f’ing trojans in their f’ing coli.
I was watching the Red Box Bowl, and towards the end, the talking heads were talking about the offensive assistants needing to be replaced. That period after the bowl leading into 2020 just seemed to throw a wrench in the mess. Whiffing on Musgrave, and the O line coach, along with the Covid non-year. It seems like there was clear upward trend coming out of the 2019 season and it got derailed and it feels like it’s never been uprighted since then. People didn’t love Beau Baldwin, but damn, the line was blocking, wide receivers were blocking. It was functional.
This is a good point. The Toyota Tercel (to me more like a Mercedes Diesel) offense could get 3-4 yards on run plays in chunks. When we could run the clock and play into a rock fight we had better chances. And the loss of program momentum is the big stinger now; not with just the fans but the RECRUITS. There was a ton of enthusiasm about the direction of the program and Wilcox, which started to stall out well before the contract extension. Note that USF (Bulls) just fired their head coach based on performance; the fricking USF Bulls have higher standards than Cal. Ha.
seeing the offense "wake up" just makes the pathetic performances against Colorado, WSU and UW that much more inexcusable.
Chuck: You are absolutely right and the fact that we played U$C so close last night just adds to the frustration of this season. We seem well coached at times but then we make one stupid mistake (interception before the half) or can't stop a key drive and we come up just a little bit short. Ugghhhh......I swear someone put a curse on Cal Football years ago.
Look no further than a long line of administrative snobs who disdain popular sports.
That's the curse.
If I understand rightly, Cal administration of the time, even threw salt down Pappy Waldorf's back.
Truth
Our o-line was a little better, but still not good. And despite Plummer's stat's his erratic play where he misses simple short throws while under pressure, killing drives, shows me he's not a prime time QB. He has a good arm when he is not under pressure. But he is a terrible game manager. The end of the 1st half INT is just one example of really stupid and desperate playing. I'm hoping Greatwood is able to identify some issues for JW. Based on the post game interview, JW is not happy with the o-line. Hopefully this means a new O-line coach. And, with Transfer Portal guys like Ward, Penix, Nix, Williams and DeLaura (from one PAC12 school to another) playing against us, if Kai Milner is not better than Plummer by nexr season, then we need to find a ringer QB in the portal. We'll never win a lot with a guy like Plummer.
CU was taken out to the woodshed by Oregon.
Don't know how on god's green earth we lost that game!
cause we arent on god's green earth. we are the knowlton/wilcox dystopian universe
No altitude conditioning?
Awful play calling and game planning from Bill Musgrave...there were zero adjustments once Colorado predictably went to a 6 man front, no play action...just 5 and 7 step drops. Just putrid.
Nah, CO was just emotionally fired up right after Dorrell was fired. We came in flat, thinking we would own them. Oldest story in the book.
Well the Bears have been known to DO that, too…ugh, smh.
So...did the O wake up, or did it parlay a 47-yard TD on a completely busted coverage into an onside kick and shorter field against a soft and worn out D?
Tough to say, tho the Bears did make plays at the Coliseum they haven't made all year. That said, let's see if they can stack a couple of those performances, though doing so may increase the chances of the dreaded Musgrave extension.
;-)
Cal fans: I'm not sure that our problems are because of an indifferent administration. They spent $500 million on a new stadium and athletic facility and they are going to spend up to $100 million on a new basketball facility. They may not be like administrators at Ohio State, UCLA or U$C who absolutely bow before football and/or basketball, but I don't see an absolute indifference or disdain for those sports either. Cal can be successful in football and basketball. Look no further than what Tedford and Montgomery (even Cuonzo) were able to do while they were here. We regularly contended for bowl games, NCAA berths, etc. and the stands were full. Cal just has to get all of the ingredients right again (coaching, recruiting, graduation, alumni support, etc.) and we will bounce back again. No offense, but there is no reason that we should be getting out-recruited by Oregon State, Wazzu, Colorado and Utah. Cal is the #1 public university in the nation (I don't care what FUCLA says, they aren't even close but they raise more money) and we need to keep leveraging that to recruit the players we need.
True. So we just can't whiff on important factors like coaches.
or Athletic Directors.....
Don’t know where you get your info, but Stanford likely has the strictest academic requirements in p5 football.
Thanks Rick.
Plummer has guts, no doubt (some of which will be visible due to inadequate protection). Thought it was Millner time after USC built their lead but this was a tenacious comeback.
That pick toward the end of the 1st half felt like a dagger (and may have been).
Let's right the ship. 3 games to go and three wins!
Go Bears!!!
Oh yeah for sure but my cynical half says we might as well get all the kids in the neighborhood and put on a play too.
>>> get all the kids in the neighborhood and put on a play <<<
okay i literally LOL'd and mister CG2004 (watching the Rams game) looked at me like "huh?"
May I suggest 12 Angry Men? I'd buy tickets to that...
Along with the penalty.
I rather invest in the future and start Millner the rest of season than go for a possible win once we lose one more game. (I would have preferred to start him earlier but I'll let Wilcox chase wins until we lose bowl eligibility)
Same here, give us something to get excited about, please.
It was nice to see life in our guys, but it was a loss, the losing streak goes. Also the fact that we are happy just not to embarrass ourselves says a lot
The announcers because of the comeback didn't have to get into excuses for poor performance such as difficult academics, lack of depth, hard-to-recruit-to-Cal and so on which I half expected to hear when it was 34-14. Let's beat OSU. BY the way the game time is 6:00 PM on Pac 12 Networks so another after dark game!
Good news: Stanford plays at Utah in the role of sacrificial lamb on the main ESPN channel at 7:30
Wow I just woke up after going to bed at the end of Q3. How did our offense get us within 6??? That’s crazy. Good job!
To be fair, USC probably has the 2nd worst defense Cal will play all season, behind just Arizona. This manifested itself in a key blown assignment that led to an easy 47-yard TD…tough to count on that as an offense staple.
Great to see signs of life from the Cal O, but it might be a little too little, a little too late….
3rd worst behind Colorado and Arizona.
That Colorado D that manhandled us? Sorry, how could I forget.
Heh, me too, I clicked off in the third. Awoke, checked the score. Surprised, sure but immediately pissed off too….. once again short of the mark particularly because it’s those f’ing trojans in their f’ing coli.
Keep sleeping!
I was watching the Red Box Bowl, and towards the end, the talking heads were talking about the offensive assistants needing to be replaced. That period after the bowl leading into 2020 just seemed to throw a wrench in the mess. Whiffing on Musgrave, and the O line coach, along with the Covid non-year. It seems like there was clear upward trend coming out of the 2019 season and it got derailed and it feels like it’s never been uprighted since then. People didn’t love Beau Baldwin, but damn, the line was blocking, wide receivers were blocking. It was functional.
This is a good point. The Toyota Tercel (to me more like a Mercedes Diesel) offense could get 3-4 yards on run plays in chunks. When we could run the clock and play into a rock fight we had better chances. And the loss of program momentum is the big stinger now; not with just the fans but the RECRUITS. There was a ton of enthusiasm about the direction of the program and Wilcox, which started to stall out well before the contract extension. Note that USF (Bulls) just fired their head coach based on performance; the fricking USF Bulls have higher standards than Cal. Ha.