731 Comments

Just throw this one away folks. Killed by Covid and the loss of twenty players. Yeah, kind of on the coaches for not having a functional 2nd string option at QB.

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Unfortunately our bowl chances have gone up in smoke. Unless we can win three in a row from the California teams.

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Exactly, no excuse not to have a capable backup

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Bug what’s after this year? All the years and guys behind Garbers (whom we love) and a terrible performance by ghetto transfer “stud” from Pitt(?) and ummm…

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Ghetto?

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Portal

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Come again? So you either called a black player a "ghetto transfer" or you were calling the transfer portal "ghetto", which makes no sense.

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It's obvious it autocorrected. He obviously meant grad transfer. Stop nitpicking other fans

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Bad autocorrect probably

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Sorry I did not catch that! I apologize to all who were offended! No insult or slur was intended. Absolutely a Bad autocorrect. I am going to disable autocorrect and live with my spelling errors/typos.

Ther, naow Nobudy wolll know wat ah sez, bot thet woll b beter then ofendin peeps.

Soari fer thu pane.

Tull nezt weak,

GO BEARS!

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Brutal! Lack of depth exposed. And whatever COVID rules were so over the top. Cal wont ever be able to build a program in this environment.

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Exactly. Wilcox is garbage.

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But at least we all had fun?

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CAL football is like the worst crack you can be addicted too. You use it and it takes you down. Then yo get off it, rehab, but it lures you back and takes you down even further. Btw, where's my crack pipe?

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This COVID 19 protocol stuff is fucking bullshit! The powers that be who implemented the protocol should be ashamed! The state of California has become a joke and has completely gone of the deep end.

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We spent the last half of Q3/all Q4 running straight into the teeth of the AZ defense. Playbook and prep obviously not there. The lack of depth and also QB preparation was appallingly evident, even with missing starters. I’ve been a proponent of hanging onto Wilcox, now feel he is just a moderately good asst. coach posing as a head coach and way over his depth. He’ll make a good MtnWest or D# head coach with the errors made learning the job at Cal’s expense. He’s the best of the level of coach we seem to be able to attract given our academic hurdles and program history. Program has at least 1-2 more big resets before we see another Tedford-like record

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But the AZ defense stacked the box to stop the run and pressure Glover because he was so poor at the passing game. If we make some of those passes then the AZ defense has to play more honestly and then we can run the ball more effectively. It's the chess game. AZ won.

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Huh?? We were missing a bunch of starters. No team in the country save Alabama could overcome that amount of experience lost. And it happened late in the week. Given how AZ has played the last few weeks, Cal actually held them down defensively. So on defense we were prepared. Yes the Glover performance wasn't good, but we couldn't run the ball either, which has been our go to all year. Receivers didn't catch many catchable balls in the 1st half either. A loss is a loss and it falls on Wilcox but I give him a pass on this game.

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No- he should not get a pass. You can’t have the COVID excuse back to back seasons.

Wilcox is garbage. Program will be in a free fall now - as it should.

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You're an idiot.

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Not really, but that’s all you got, you tool…you started the name calling. Wilcox is showing in year 5 that he does not have what it takes to win games unless everything breaks the team’s way. This program is stagnant.

Keep giving him excuses tho, by all means. This was a devastating loss for him, even with COVID. To not have a back-up QB that is even competent is a failure of the coaching staff.

Wilcox

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LOL at someone who calls our coach 'garbage' bitching about name calling.

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Have you not watched 5 years of Wilcox? Gimme a break.

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I'll say it again. Our QB play was what cost us the game. Defense played well enough to win this game over and over. Our O-line played well until AZ starting increasing numbers in the box, and they did that knowing Glover had a hard time completing passes. They took away our run with numbers in the box. And they pressured Glover with the additional numbers. That's not on the O-line. Btw, when you watch the game film, look at how Glover telegraphed EVERY pass he was throwing. I don't blame Glover. I blame the coaches for not having a back up QB ready to go.

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No swing screen, bubble screen, shuttle pass to throw off the D from constant run calls? A few simple plays. I saw the same RPO play run twice, worked first time and then it didn’t. If the arm can’t hit deep, and can’t run short plays, why is he even in the lineup? Lack of recruiting depth?

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I'm sure they had a much smaller playbook for Glover to run and as a result they ran some of those plays multiple times. AZ had it figured out.

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Or at least trying the 3rd string when it was apparent by the second quarter Glover was in over his head

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Sigh. This game was the revelation the the Emperor is naked.

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Agreed, such a thin veneer of ability on a core of mediocrity. It’s just that the parts (recruiting) don’t come together well (coaching)

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Actually, our defense played really well. Our ST were decent. Our offense was decent EXCEPT for Glover's ability to complete passes.

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Glover was throwing well in first quarter. Then he started airmailing every throw. Reminds me of frustrations of Mansion or McIlwain

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Wilcox gotta go. This is a weak program.

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I’m pretty hot about this one. Vocalizing to the dog who slunk away. Hot, that this was winnable with some sort of offensive tweaks beyond the standard blue plate fare.

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Standard blue plate would have been fine. Bears couldn’t even execute that

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We need a recruiting head coach, and coached that can “coach ‘em up.” Until then ….

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Arizona should be ashamed of them selves. If I was on the Arizona team I wouldn't be celebrating. Literally took a ridiculous circumstance for them to win. In reality if we had our normal team we win by like 5 touchdowns.

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Nobody will care.

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10-3. I think that we lost by the same score in 2011 or 2012. That was officially the most embarrassing loss in Cal Football history! We just lost to a team that hasn't won a game since 2019! We are cursed!

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I have spent much much worse days watching Cal football. At least there was a chance in this game until the end and there was a reason, even if it was insufficient.

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I think that was 10-7

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Was that 2010? I remember Conte had INT in endzone

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Ya…Cal led most of game & a late TD got it done… I F-ING hated U of A fans since.

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The Big Game should be a battle; Stanford played the worst game I've ever seen last night. I turned it off in 2nd quarter with Utah ahead 38-0.

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This game confirms how weak overall the program that Wilcox has built is. No speed, no depth, poor coaching. Covid excuse is shallow.

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Yeah, absolutely no speed at all!

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Too many, throughout the season, shoe string tackles on RBs with open green ahead of them.

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COVID excuse is weak. This program is weak

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We just lost to an 0-8 team because we have a back up QB who was unprepared and sucks. We would have been better off giving Zack Johnson a couple of series in the second half. I blame Wilcox for this. And, I wonder if they told all the guys who missed the trip to avoid Halloween parties last weekend. Probably not. Covid is NOT an excuse for this loss. Piss poor preparation it the reason for this loss.

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We lost to an 0-8 team because we are generally a team who plays to the level of our competition when we are at full strength regardless, but we were down double digit starters for this one.

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Kinda unreasonable. 3 new OL, a QB that has had perhaps 10% of 1st team snaps all year. Had we had our complete OL with Glover we likely run all over AZ.

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Our O-line was doing fine until AZ figured out we couldn't throw a completion with the QB under pressure. If we complete just a few more easy passes (like the TD that was overthrown) we are not just in the game, but it changes how the AZ defense has to play. Defense played a helluva game to limit AZ to 10 points considering diminished numbers of players, the heat and the number of 3 and outs we had on offense. On offense our worst player was our most important position, and it wasn't because of the O-line, it was because he was unprepared. We lost to an 0-8 team with a 3rd string QB who played way better than our 2nd string QB. That was the difference in the game.

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The O-line wasn't responsible for the poor passing and numerous overthrows. The o-line was not responsible for poor decision making ti not get rid of the ball instead of taking sacks. Sorry, this QB was terrible. If our coaches could not see how bad he is or if he is good and they failed to coach him up, they failed either way. If he completes some passes our run game starts working cause AZ can't stack the box. It's a team game, but the worst player on the team for this game was the most important player on the field. That's on the coaches.

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Agreed Glover either played tight or he played what he shows in practice (I don't know, I'm not there). To me, the lack of establishing a run game really hurt us. And the catches that should have been made in the 1st half, likely weighed on Glover's confidence. That said, if he is indeed our best 2nd QB than Cal has to go to the transfer portal and get like 3 QB's in this cycle.

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But Glover is our transfer portal player...

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and apparently we need a bigger pool to choose from, I guess.

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Btw, we had a decent run game until AZ figured out Glover couldn't complete a pass. Then they stacked the box and forced him to throw.

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Agree to a point. He had way to many balls that he over threw....the one in the end zone was a ball buster. That was a missed TD.

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Agreed Glover missed basic throws. I'm not surprised by it however. Frustrating as hell and most kids in school lots can make those throws. A winnable game for sure. I'd like to think that if Zach Johnson had been available they would have at least TRIED him, but not to be.

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I usually agree with your posts, but your take here is ridiculous. 24 players, including 10 starters weren't available. Several coaches missing. 3 offensive linemen seeing their first real action. Yeah, Glover looked bad, but WTF would you expect with that many missing pieces?

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But we lost the game by 7 points. And look at the QB stats. With a decent QB who completes a few more passes, connects on a couple of long balls, our run game opens up and the whole game changes. This loss was on the team, but as I said earlier, the most important position on the team had the worst performance of the day. That's on the coaches.

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So if we lost by 40 it would be sign of good coaching? Maybe if we weren't starting a true freshman at center, and we weren't missing 2 other O linemen, Glover would have had enough time to throw more accurately. Given how few players were available today, the fact that we didn't lose by 40, that the game was within reach to the very end, is a sign of great coaching.

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Glover had time to throw the ball, until he showed he couldn't complete a pass. The AZ changed up their scheme, loaded the box to stop the run and came after him. It worked. Nah, this wasn't great coaching. They had a 3rd string QB who outplayed our 2nd string QB by a ton. They had missing o-linemen and still played well enough to win, even though our defense did a stellar job of holding them to 10 points when we had replacements playing in 91 degrees. Our offense sucked and it sucked because our most important player, our QB, was ill prepared.

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So every position was well coached except for QB. Got it.

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I did not say that. What I said is that clearly Glover was not prepared the way he should have been. In light of the new info on when we received the news and that Zach Johnson did not travel, I'll back off on how tough I've been. I still think a lesson needs to be learned by the coaching staff: get all your backups regular reps over the course of the season.

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Zack did not make the trip, Rugbear.

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Zona was playing with third and fourth string QBs so yeah.. no excuse

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He's been 1st string for weeks!! He's had a lot of playing time. btw ~ AZ scored 34 points against U$C, they scored 10 against us and our depleted defense.

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Wilcox is too soft and always plays not to lose

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Wilcox is a problem

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He plays to lose.

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I'd prefer it if he played too loose

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They storm the field for beating Cal lol

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Jedd Fisch's coaching record vs Cal is 2-0. Seems worth celebrating.

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They haven’t won since 2019

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Over 2 years, and that win wasn't in Tucson.

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Random Fan '23

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Cats are going to win the shootout with the Bears...10-3.

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Mike MacIntyre '23

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How could the coaching staff leave their QB2 this unprepared? Astonishing

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We got beat by a #3 !

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Well, our second stringers are just a little worse than Arizona's first string. Oh well.

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This is on coaches, kinda setting Glover up to fail.

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Agree

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sigh

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Given the loss of 24 players, including many starters, and a number of key coaches, it was laudable that Cal even agreed to play this game. There's no team in the country that could play to their potential given what they went through the past few days. The easy way out was to simply forfeit.

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It's worth noting that this year, calling off a game for COVID is not "free". It's marked as a forfeit and thus a loss on one's record. Thus, it's better to go ahead and try to play even if it's a long-shot.

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No, the team should always be ready for next man up. When only same guys get pt all the time the 2’s are not ready.

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Next man up in this case, was 10 starters to include the most important position in football ~ the QB. Next man up applies when you have 1 or 2 starters out. But 10 with additional 5 players who get a lot of game reps is a lot to overcome. Next man up does not apply in this game.

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QB is such an important position that you MUST have your back up ready to go if #1 goes down. No excuse for a performance this bad by the back up QB.

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We are not a football factory, we do not have 5 stars in as backups. There will be a drop off going to the 2's. There will be a significant drop off given the pure number of starters out. Do I think our backup situation is good? Heck no, but the transfer portal means you can't keep moderately good backups that you've recruited - only freshmen waiting for their moment.

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"only freshmen waiting for their moment." We literally have a freshman waiting for his moment all year, but played a grad transfer.

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Kai wouldn't have been any better. Zach Johnson may have been much better.

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You dont know that. Neither do I. But point is, why not try and get him some experience in the meantime? At some point? I guess once Glover got us up by 3 scores, that wouldve been the time.

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I can tell you that a true freshman with no game experience and just scout team reps would have been a disaster, no matter if he was a God as a recruit. I can tell you that with a straight face and 100% confidence.

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Agreed, we decided that we could win with the grad transfer. Not sure I agree with the decision, but it was *almost* right.

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(backup qb that was supposed to say)

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That's all true, but that has nothing to do with how terrible Glover is. If he could be half decent we would win this game

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Agree overthrow a lot of passes

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If only Glover had had a day of practice to get the timing right...

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He's had plenty of reps.

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He had all week taking first teams reps in practice this week

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Glover has put on the worst QB performance I can remember and that includes the Zach Maynard Era and the chase forest cheezit bowl

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Really? Brock Mansion or Allen Bridgford are right up there.

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None of u lived thru Justin Vedder

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I can't wait for Nam's novel.

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3.6 ypa for Glover. A drop off is expected but jfc

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F-me

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he needs to throw up 50/50 balls at this point

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Here's the good news.. If Garbers comes back next year that means we'll instead start 2023 with 0 experience at QB instead of 2022.

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Dr. Blitz is gunna bring his troops on every play.

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The stuff dreams are made of right here.

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Tbh Arizona is garbage. Actually sad they are giving it their all and it is this competitive. Had this been a normal game it would of been a blow out win for the Bears. We must be cursed!

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I still think a screen to Brooks or Sturdivant should work.... all evidence to the contrary

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Let's Go Bears!

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This game punched me in the dick

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now is the time for Glover's moment in the sun

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To get baked to a crisp

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I’d say zero chance

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Troy Taylor '23

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They gave us 2 minutes to work with.

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hahahahahahahaha

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But we might only need 20 seconds for 4 incomplete passes

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It was 50 seconds

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All right here comes the 4 and out!

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C'mon guys who do you allow that?!?!

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Arizona has had the ball 10 minutes longer than Cal. That's a lot of time in the hot sun for the defense to roast. Can't blame them - they got 3 picks and kept Arizona to 2 scores. Offense needs to score

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Defense did everything I could ask of them.

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Defense was fine. Im just frustrated and still think they should stopped that play.

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How*

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Well all the respect to the many good folks here, thanks for reminding me why I've stopped following the live feed...adios

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Hot there. Been on the field a long time

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Our defense is either gassed or decided to be bad at the worst time of the game

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Gassed. Arizona leads time of possession by 10 minutes. Backup Defense got 3 picks and only gave up 2 scores. Can't ask for anything more.

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Gassed.

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Doesnt help when offense keeps going 3 and out

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exactly. they've been on the field too much.

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Who is worse...Brock Mansion or Ryan Glover?

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Mansion

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looking grim. this is on coaching. didn't prepare QB2 and then stuck with him when he couldn't make even the most basic throws

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And really dumb calls like that last play from scrimmage when we NEEDED 5.

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Time to start using timeouts Mr. Wilcox

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we have to actually stop them for that to be effective

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