Play calling, O Line, and FG kicking needs vast improvements in the next two weeks.
We've all let our frustrations out about our placekicker here during the game, and i think that's okay, but it's totally unacceptable to be leaving trash comments on Coe's social media. That is just not not right. It's sad.
Agree on all counts. Honestly I’m suspect of Bloesch’s play calling ability. Last year’s independence Bowl game gave us a preview of Bloesch’s talent in this area and he failed miserably. It appears that he believes the Bears can run between the tackles at will and his play calling in all four games demonstrates this thought.
Defense held to 14 points- they did their job. Yes, there were a few mistakes, but they battled like champions. Remember, last year the Beavers lit us big time with DJU. IMHO, DDJU's accuracy was about the same last year, he just had more shots and an unstoppable run game last year. This year's D may be our best yet under JW. Our LBs and DBs are elite. Our D line and edge are damned good..
Nando continues to show leadership, strength, improving skill, and intelligent decision-making.
Jet was brave and made progress.
Ott was finally making some rushing progress and opened up the pass game.
The Oline was brave, despite being overmatched in many cases. Prayers for Siope Vatikani.
The offense was challenged more so than ever, but was in the game to the end.
Instead of criticizing our kicker, personally, I would morally seek to out answers that would be constructive and helpful. Clearly something is affecting his established skills. And, yet, he makes some long ones. I'm not sure why we're favoring the right hash mark, when he mails it from center.
Our punter is lights out. IMHO, he may be one of the best in the country.
Yes, our expectations (demands) were ratcheted over the red line for this game. We always knew FSU had elite talent, because we put our pride into slapping the face of a program that paid us insult, we set ourselves up for a greater fall than usual. Most Cal-centric pundits figured we only had a chance to win 1 of the three out of Auburn, FSU, and Miami. I won't throw shade on our team, when we knew, from the beginning, that the odds did not favor us and the most optimistic amongst us were forecasting an eight win season. The win at Auburn raised our expectations to fanciful levels and I, for one, upon reflection, see our program making continued improvement. It's a marathon, not a dash.
We definitely should have a football program that is worthy of our academic reputation. We should consistently be in the top twenty five. It will be interesting to see how our final record bears out, but sometimes fans can create a self-fulfilling prophecy of defeat by disheartening the people fighting for them. If I could do it better, I'd suit up and do it. If I can't, then I'd shut up or give them my heart-felt support. We need to shift the culture of the whole campus and alumni network. IMHO, we are the ones who can restore our program to glory- it's been 100 years, so, I would call it "about time."
I had pointed out in the prediction thread that it could come down to a field goal or two. Their defense was tough. I'm all in for supporting the team at this point. They fought hard. Nando even said that the close loss might be a blessing in disguise as the team prepares for Miami. Gotta love his positive attitude and fortitude.
Nando, as well as being an inspiring leader on the filed, presents a positive academic image of us. He's a developing talent, like Goff, and he makes me proud and excited. We need to hang on to him.
Very thoughtful, level-headed (as opposed to knee-jerk), and glass half-full perspective. The instantaneous doom and gloom by some Cal fans is predictable but not constructive in any way. This team is tough and will continue to battle all season, and our D is good enough to keep us in games. Also, this 0-3 FSU team is in no way analogous to some of the recent 0-X teams Cal has lost to. Still, the W was there for the taking, which is why this loss stings so much.
Yep, hope for one final explosive play went over Trond's head. It was not a poor play. Pawlawski said the pass was where it needed to be to avoid the interception. I think the hope was that Trond, not noticeable until that moment, would fly under their radar. Overall, I can't be mad about, just, as you say, stung.
A bit unrelated, but another cause for optimism is the hopefully soon return of Merriweather and Grayes. Adding two explosive, deep play threats will add another dimension to the offense and also hopefully open up the run game some more.
If we can't snap the ball correctly or pass block well enough to give Nando time, and if we can't run a silent count correctly, it won't matter how great our returning receivers are...
I'm always pumping sunshine but we SHOULD have won this game. We blew them out in all the stats except scoring. We need to score and the little things doomed us. I have to be real about that. Se my post above. If we don't fix the basics on offense we are going to have a long season. It's a bummer because we have the talent. This loss was all about a failure with coaching. Btw, here are the stats:
Ok, but one question...if it's all about coaching why did we manage to not make this level of errors in the first three games...isn't the quality of the defense an equally important factor? I do agree something really let us down on the motion calls, but again they have trained for that and did not succumb at Auburn in a similar environment. So is it all coaching or a combination including poor execution and a really tough defense?
We did make these errors in the first three games, but the teams we played previously weren't nearly as talented as FSU and other teams we will be facing this season and thus we were able to overcome them. Btw, I don't have a problem getting beat by a good defense on some of our drives, but make them earn it. Snapping a ball poorly has nothing to do with the defense we are facing and has everything to do with the center. McDonald was back from injury for his first game and he is not historically a center (he's a guard). Maybe Bloesh should have considered this and kept Swinney at center and made McDonald a guard for now. The multiple back to back offsides penalties that killed our drives deep in FSU territory have nothing to do with the defense and everything to do with silent count preparation AND tempo. In critical situations an experienced OC will look at the situation and slow things down. Execution is far more important than speed. If you can do both then great, but we didn't show we could do that against FSU.
This is like building a house. You can build a beautiful house with all the latest gadgets, smart wiring finishes and everything else, but if you build a crappy foundation the house won't stand up in difficult conditions. I am talking about really basic stuff that needs attention. Good coaches pay attention to the details in every minute of every practice and reinforce fundamentals. I did not see an abundance evidence of that in our offense against FSU.
Yes, I listen to Rugbear, since he actually suited up and played in his time. When he's being critical, he's speaking as a Bear whose been in the trenches. Figures lie and lairs figure. Crucifying Wilcox does not change the campus culture and, likely, undermines the team's spirit. Are we the team's scowling, disapproving owners? I wonder how the team feels when we say, "We need more talent"?
"[A]rm chair coaches" are not helpful, if they are not realistic in their expectations.
FSU was one injured QB from being in the four team CFP. Their talent finally came through. And, yet, our team hung on and was in it until the final minutes.
However, I don’t believe it is arm chair coaching to say we need to be better at special teams and finding a FG kicker who can consistently make their FGs. Stanford seems to always be able to find great kickers. Our kicking game has cost us 3 games that I can name off the top of my head.
2021 Big Game
2023 Auburn
2024 FSU
Arm chair coaching, IMO is constantly questioning a play call or a blitz or which players we are starting. Questioning poor special teams play, especially when it is a long running trend with Wilcox isn’t the same as arm chair coaching.
True and they can both be true. I think you get more of the arm chair coaching in the game threads. That’s where fans tend to question a play call or a blitz or lack of blitzing or going/not going for it on 4th down.
I had a bad feeling about this game from the moment I found out FSU had lost three straight. I didn’t think they could possibly be 0-4 bad. I figured it would take a flawless performance as a team with better athletes would exploit our struggles to the point the good areas could not compensate. That seems to be what happened. Maybe I’m just melancholy, but this one didn’t feel as disappointing as they usually do.
I was worried about the game mainly because DJU shredded us last year. We mostly kept him in check, but we lost because we couldn't finish drives. I'm not surprised the offense had some problems. We've had problems in every game, and FSU's defense hadn't really been wrecked in any of their losses.
I think since most of us had penciled in this one as a potential loss, the hope against the probability, after Auburn and being 3-0, just made me greedy enough we could beat the odds. Inflated hopes, now, stand corrected.
Long time Bear fan here. I’m not ready to give up on this team…I see very dedicated talented hardworking players. They made mistakes, but they were in this to the very last minute. Previous years we’ve been done by the start of the second half. Go 🐻!
Doc, IMO they’re really similar L’s, but I think FSU is worse because this is a better team, with a decent road win already and a reeling opponent that we should have beaten. Plus, Wilcox teams continue to make the same mistakes, and he continues to give the same post-game press conference.
Redzone offense needs to execute and Bloesch’s play calling needs to improve. The stat line of 6 redzone visits and only coming away with 9 points is anemic.
I don't love the Twitter part of it, but it is unfortunately the only mechanism in which the plurality of college football media interacts.
I really think we have to stop being fearful of defeat. There is no team that is ever going to win every game so we need to just stake our place in the college football discourse and learn to be relevant somehow.
Yes, and Cal’s passing game excelled for much of this game. Mendoza had a very good game, executing multiple third and longs, had a great run late in the game on 3rd and 13 and got a crucial 4th and long conversion to Endries. Starling emerged as a dependable senior receiver. This was really a team effort from the receivers. Dyches was fierce as usual. The defense pressured DJU nearly all game. Cal kept fighting back when the going got tough. But I have to give FSU credit for also making clutch plays, especially key conversions on third and longs and then that perfect throw to Douglas who got a step on Jair Smith. But with time winding down, if that throw by Fernando to Trond in the end zone is a foot lower we’re talking about an epic slugfest won by Cal and we’re praising Wilcox and his staff for preparing the men for what would have been a gutsy victory in hostile territory, after its second 2,000 mile trip in three weeks to one of the most storied venues in college football. What a heartbreaker, but a damn good game. Lick wounds and gear up for Miami.
Royrules22: I started getting nervous when I saw all of those "Calgorithm" postings. We aren't good enough to talk smack like that. Even if we were, it's a classless thing to do. Be humble, play hard and good things will happen.
The Calgorithm isn't about smack talk, it's about building a culture where people around college football are talking about Cal and then watching Cal. I think the community did their best to keep it lighthearted and for the most part the response has been mostly positive.
Avi: Good point. I'm probably just superstitious. This morning on some college football program on Sirius XM, they were talking about Cal as a tough team that nobody should take for granted. We could be seeing the start of one of the many benefits associated with moving to the ACC.
Unless a miracle happens and Cal wins 10 games this year I want Wilcox gone. Time and time again when the game to turn the corner as a program comes he finds ways to lose it. Nothing against him personally but who gives a fuck about going 5-7, 6-6, or 7-5 in a weak ACC every year.
Also for as long as I can remember kicking has been a negative for Cal, regardless of kicker and regardless of coach. Must be some curse. If I was running the program I would decide no more field goals, punting or going for it until a touchdown is scored. Take some risks
We were one catch away from a win on this one. If we won, there would have been a good chance at being ranked. Some of you are so quick to go to the “fire Wilcox” language. This team is vastly improved over last year and we are on an upswing. Firing Wilcox would mean that we have to reset once again and it would be a disaster considering our financial woes.
It’s year 8 of Wilcox’s tenure. I believe I have seen enough of his work to move on from him. Enough is enough. This is mediocre quality at best and Cal needs to try something different. The team is in the ACC now and need to show they can put a better product out there on the field; Wilcox ain’t it.
This game was basically a repeat of last seasons Auburn game. Poor special teams, settling for FGs, missed FGs, bad penalties at the wrong time and our opponent gets a couple of TDs.
This loss is basically a carbon copy of the 2023 Auburn loss.
We have maybe 4 years left in the ACC and we need to win, 6-7 or 7-6 isn’t saving this program.
I disagree that this team is vastly improved. The defense looks better so far. Offense looks about the same as last season so far. Special teams, especially FG kicking looks about the same so far.
Kicking is the same here as it is most places in college football--they aren't coached. Like at all. At practice they're sent off by themselves and told to just kick a ball through some uprights over and over. No outside critique or supervision.
Considering how much power they have win and lose games (and impact job security), I can't believe coaches would just outright neglect something like that.
I remember watching Jimmy Breech practicing a net on an edge of Kleeburger. It wasn't team practice time, he was just working out on his own. Something in Coe's head is defeating him.
the most controllable thing that can be fixed is the OL penalties. I always expect a "brainier" team to not do that kinda crap. That's my biggest disappointment with this game, especially being that it's their fourth game already.
I just view it from the lens of whether this current staff is good enough to ever get Cal to the ‘92/‘04/‘06 levels, and my issue remains that a lot of these L’s really do look the same. Unfortunately, it’s safe to wonder if Wilcox will ever get this program over the hump…to do so would involve winning THIS game, and avoiding the type of post-game press conference he gave once again last night in Tallahassee.
In many ways, this is really similar to AUB at CMS last year IMO…a competent tho highly flawed P4/5 foe with a middling O tried to hand us a game that the team was unable to take because of missed FGs, self-inflicted mistakes, and complete red zone inefficiency caused in large part by bonehead play.
The D will hopefully take us to loftier heights here on out, but this pattern really helps explain how you have a coach that is 17-games below .500 against conference foes.
But Go Bears - let’s get healthy and work on the OL over the Bye.
I honestly don't think our failure in the red zone was the result of bone head plays...their D was very stout, big and fast. Yes we hurt ourselves with the penalties but we were just out muscled on the line and the various blitz packages...too big and fast. And finally a big yes...GO BEARS and lets win some more games!
Starting to have doubts about Bloesch. The play calling was far from good yesterday and Fernando was not prepared for when FSU stacked the box. Not sure why we run into a box stacked with 7 players. Either we did not have blitz beater plays or Nando was poorly coached on how the execute them. The last play of the game was a great example: FSU brought 7 which means we had man coverage on our 4 receivers. If Nando gets rid of it quickly we have a great chance to complete the play. So what happened? We had a terrible snap and slow response by Nando in the face of overwhelming defensive pressure. The horrible penalties we took both times we were down around FSU's 10 yard line where we came away with no points is another place where coaching lacked. It's great to draw up plays but you have to be prepared to execute in all environments. That was clearly the case in this game. We need to be effective with silent counts. Sometimes its better to slow the tempo down. Nando needs to be coached up on getting rid of the ball quickly to the safety valve. The O-line really needs to be coached up and our guards need serious coaching: Swinney had 3 holding penalties and Reimer cannot pass block for shit (all about technique).
We had a lot of really good plays and Ott was just getting going. But the little shit beat us: bad snaps, offsides penalties galore, holding penalties galore, not reading the blitz correctly and having an adequate response. Fixing one of these won't make us win. We need to fix all of them. We are a P4 program and it boggles my mind that we don't have a center who can snap the ball correctly. Our kicking game sucked as well, we need to figure out blocking schemes when the line is overloaded and our kicker really needs to figure out how to make some kicks. He has the leg, he just seems to line up incorrectly when he misses.
We have the players to win. Our kids can ball out, but we are poorly coached when it comes to the little things that make the difference between winning and losing close games on the offensive side of the ball. I'll put that on Bloesch. Hopefully he figures it out. In the end, it doesn't matter how good your players are if your fundamentals aren't sound. They need to get back to the basics.
8 yrs of nonsense excuses from Wilcox. He needs to be fired NOW. He gets paid near $5 million dollars a year for such a garbage product. Any other school would have fired him years ago. He's incompetent to be clear over 8yrs he has and has lost more games for his unpreparedness/play calling than the players have for their mistakes. The fact our AD gave him a $29 million guarentee with an extension thru 2027 shows every reason why he should be fired too. How is the school and the leadership not embarrassed by this product/program. The level of acceptance for this mediocrity is disgusting.
You armchair critics crack me up. It was a good game, mistakes happened, but they do in every game by every team. They played well, both offense and defense. A few critical penalties, in the face of a hostile, loud crowd, otherwise they would’ve won. And criticize the coach for that? I guess you guys come from some place where everything works perfectly. It was a good game, with a couple of breaks, they would’ve won.
No. But this fantastic website is here in part for fans to chat Cal sports…
Your initial comment could have been written about, what, maybe 30 different games out of the 83 that Justin Wilcox has coached at Cal…what’s your beef with passionate fans voicing disappointment with this sad fact in a forum dedicated to discussing tonight’s game? What if we were all hanging out at the Kingfish doing a postmortem after having just watched this offensive line get embarrassed on national TV….would you be basically shaming fans then?
You don’t need to have been a football coach to see consistently sloppy and poorly executed play and be frustrated with 8 years of the exact same silly mistakes costing the team wins.
No, I think a lot of people believe that this type of game is the norm and not the exception under Wilcox. That Wilcox has an 8 year record under Cal and has shown what his strengths and weaknesses are as a coach. This game was a carbon copy of last seasons Auburn game or the time we lost to a winless Colorado team or bad special teams play costing us the Big Game in 2021.
Just such a drag to listen to you guys, you sound like you’ve never played on a football team, that you think it’s like a math class. One reason cal has sucked is because the students are so anti-football, so nerdy and superior acting to football, that recruits don’t wanna play here. And even on this site, which is supposed to be fans of the team, almost invariably has more people hating on the team, the coach, the players, than supporting the team. They act like they know so much, but they’ve clearly never played the game. Real team players don’t talk like this. Sorry.
I don’t think football is like a math class. I don’t even think of CFB or the NFL as a sport. At this level, it is a business. Wilcox is highly paid to win games. He has been given 8 years to win games and in that time he doesn’t have 1 winning conference record. Most programs would have fired him 2 or 3 seasons ago. Cal as a football program doesn’t have the luxury of Wilcox continuing to learn on the job because of conference realignment and stands to lose millions of dollars.
I think plenty of people here and elsewhere have been patient and given Wilcox the benefit of doubt and support but it’s now 8 years of him basically repeating the same mistakes so patience is beginning to run out.
Edit: I don’t see people really hating on the players. Most of the criticism is on the coaching staff.
Breaks are the whistle goes your way or a fortuitous bounce is in your favor. Breaks are not bad play calls, missed FGs, and repeated, drive killing penalties in the red zone. That is called bad poor coaching.
Also, I’m not here calling for JWs head on a stake like others. I am a huge fan of the stability and integrity he brings the program. It doesn’t mean there isn’t valid criticism of JW or the coaching staff in regard to this game and he’s be the first to acknowledge that the outcome of this game falls first on his shoulders.
That TOTALLY SUCKED!!!!! Two missed field goals were the difference which is "Typi-Cal". I thought we were going to stop playing "Typi-Cal" games? I guess we still have work to do. Finally, whoever said that FSU is the USC of the ACC is absolutely right! What a bunch of jerks! They barely won and from the looks of all the dancing on the field, you would have thought that they had just won a national championship. I guess that the good news is that we were in this game until the end and didn't shit the bed like I feared. FSU may have the only defense in the ACC better than ours but I hope that they lose the rest of their games. What a bunch of classless scumbags. Good luck with those SEC or BIG Ten invites. Pukes.
Play calling, O Line, and FG kicking needs vast improvements in the next two weeks.
We've all let our frustrations out about our placekicker here during the game, and i think that's okay, but it's totally unacceptable to be leaving trash comments on Coe's social media. That is just not not right. It's sad.
>>> it's totally unacceptable to be leaving trash comments on Coe's social media
Wow. NOT COOL.
Agree on all counts. Honestly I’m suspect of Bloesch’s play calling ability. Last year’s independence Bowl game gave us a preview of Bloesch’s talent in this area and he failed miserably. It appears that he believes the Bears can run between the tackles at will and his play calling in all four games demonstrates this thought.
Here's my sunshine:
Defense held to 14 points- they did their job. Yes, there were a few mistakes, but they battled like champions. Remember, last year the Beavers lit us big time with DJU. IMHO, DDJU's accuracy was about the same last year, he just had more shots and an unstoppable run game last year. This year's D may be our best yet under JW. Our LBs and DBs are elite. Our D line and edge are damned good..
Nando continues to show leadership, strength, improving skill, and intelligent decision-making.
Jet was brave and made progress.
Ott was finally making some rushing progress and opened up the pass game.
The Oline was brave, despite being overmatched in many cases. Prayers for Siope Vatikani.
The offense was challenged more so than ever, but was in the game to the end.
Instead of criticizing our kicker, personally, I would morally seek to out answers that would be constructive and helpful. Clearly something is affecting his established skills. And, yet, he makes some long ones. I'm not sure why we're favoring the right hash mark, when he mails it from center.
Our punter is lights out. IMHO, he may be one of the best in the country.
Yes, our expectations (demands) were ratcheted over the red line for this game. We always knew FSU had elite talent, because we put our pride into slapping the face of a program that paid us insult, we set ourselves up for a greater fall than usual. Most Cal-centric pundits figured we only had a chance to win 1 of the three out of Auburn, FSU, and Miami. I won't throw shade on our team, when we knew, from the beginning, that the odds did not favor us and the most optimistic amongst us were forecasting an eight win season. The win at Auburn raised our expectations to fanciful levels and I, for one, upon reflection, see our program making continued improvement. It's a marathon, not a dash.
We definitely should have a football program that is worthy of our academic reputation. We should consistently be in the top twenty five. It will be interesting to see how our final record bears out, but sometimes fans can create a self-fulfilling prophecy of defeat by disheartening the people fighting for them. If I could do it better, I'd suit up and do it. If I can't, then I'd shut up or give them my heart-felt support. We need to shift the culture of the whole campus and alumni network. IMHO, we are the ones who can restore our program to glory- it's been 100 years, so, I would call it "about time."
I had pointed out in the prediction thread that it could come down to a field goal or two. Their defense was tough. I'm all in for supporting the team at this point. They fought hard. Nando even said that the close loss might be a blessing in disguise as the team prepares for Miami. Gotta love his positive attitude and fortitude.
That guy is an effing gem!
Nando, as well as being an inspiring leader on the filed, presents a positive academic image of us. He's a developing talent, like Goff, and he makes me proud and excited. We need to hang on to him.
Very thoughtful, level-headed (as opposed to knee-jerk), and glass half-full perspective. The instantaneous doom and gloom by some Cal fans is predictable but not constructive in any way. This team is tough and will continue to battle all season, and our D is good enough to keep us in games. Also, this 0-3 FSU team is in no way analogous to some of the recent 0-X teams Cal has lost to. Still, the W was there for the taking, which is why this loss stings so much.
Yep, hope for one final explosive play went over Trond's head. It was not a poor play. Pawlawski said the pass was where it needed to be to avoid the interception. I think the hope was that Trond, not noticeable until that moment, would fly under their radar. Overall, I can't be mad about, just, as you say, stung.
A bit unrelated, but another cause for optimism is the hopefully soon return of Merriweather and Grayes. Adding two explosive, deep play threats will add another dimension to the offense and also hopefully open up the run game some more.
If we can't snap the ball correctly or pass block well enough to give Nando time, and if we can't run a silent count correctly, it won't matter how great our returning receivers are...
I thought it was an ominous portent when SDSU sacked him 6 times
A couple of potentially explosive plays might have exploded with our receivers in the mix.
But, yes, *sigh, better pass protection seems badly needly.
Nando is getting "Plummered" out there.
Not getting a field goal blocked that would have meant Cal would only need another FG at the end to win it would have helped.
YES!
I hear they're awesome.
Hopefully healthy in time for the Miami game.
This....well said. The arm chair coaches on this site would be well to remember this. See a clear eyed perspective above from a one eyed jack.
I'm always pumping sunshine but we SHOULD have won this game. We blew them out in all the stats except scoring. We need to score and the little things doomed us. I have to be real about that. Se my post above. If we don't fix the basics on offense we are going to have a long season. It's a bummer because we have the talent. This loss was all about a failure with coaching. Btw, here are the stats:
https://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/california-golden-bears-florida-state-seminoles-202409210003/?section=teamcomparison
Ok, but one question...if it's all about coaching why did we manage to not make this level of errors in the first three games...isn't the quality of the defense an equally important factor? I do agree something really let us down on the motion calls, but again they have trained for that and did not succumb at Auburn in a similar environment. So is it all coaching or a combination including poor execution and a really tough defense?
We did make these errors in the first three games, but the teams we played previously weren't nearly as talented as FSU and other teams we will be facing this season and thus we were able to overcome them. Btw, I don't have a problem getting beat by a good defense on some of our drives, but make them earn it. Snapping a ball poorly has nothing to do with the defense we are facing and has everything to do with the center. McDonald was back from injury for his first game and he is not historically a center (he's a guard). Maybe Bloesh should have considered this and kept Swinney at center and made McDonald a guard for now. The multiple back to back offsides penalties that killed our drives deep in FSU territory have nothing to do with the defense and everything to do with silent count preparation AND tempo. In critical situations an experienced OC will look at the situation and slow things down. Execution is far more important than speed. If you can do both then great, but we didn't show we could do that against FSU.
This is like building a house. You can build a beautiful house with all the latest gadgets, smart wiring finishes and everything else, but if you build a crappy foundation the house won't stand up in difficult conditions. I am talking about really basic stuff that needs attention. Good coaches pay attention to the details in every minute of every practice and reinforce fundamentals. I did not see an abundance evidence of that in our offense against FSU.
Yes, I listen to Rugbear, since he actually suited up and played in his time. When he's being critical, he's speaking as a Bear whose been in the trenches. Figures lie and lairs figure. Crucifying Wilcox does not change the campus culture and, likely, undermines the team's spirit. Are we the team's scowling, disapproving owners? I wonder how the team feels when we say, "We need more talent"?
"[A]rm chair coaches" are not helpful, if they are not realistic in their expectations.
FSU was one injured QB from being in the four team CFP. Their talent finally came through. And, yet, our team hung on and was in it until the final minutes.
All good points.
However, I don’t believe it is arm chair coaching to say we need to be better at special teams and finding a FG kicker who can consistently make their FGs. Stanford seems to always be able to find great kickers. Our kicking game has cost us 3 games that I can name off the top of my head.
2021 Big Game
2023 Auburn
2024 FSU
Arm chair coaching, IMO is constantly questioning a play call or a blitz or which players we are starting. Questioning poor special teams play, especially when it is a long running trend with Wilcox isn’t the same as arm chair coaching.
Totally fair point...but there also is an awful lot of the knee jerk arm chair coaching on this site. Both can be true.
True and they can both be true. I think you get more of the arm chair coaching in the game threads. That’s where fans tend to question a play call or a blitz or lack of blitzing or going/not going for it on 4th down.
I think this hurts a bit more than it should, because we had some hyped up hopes of winning this one, even if we knew we shouldn't.
I need to slow down my hype consumption, because this game left my grumpy and depressed- just ask my wife and son. LOL
1000%
I had a bad feeling about this game from the moment I found out FSU had lost three straight. I didn’t think they could possibly be 0-4 bad. I figured it would take a flawless performance as a team with better athletes would exploit our struggles to the point the good areas could not compensate. That seems to be what happened. Maybe I’m just melancholy, but this one didn’t feel as disappointing as they usually do.
I was worried about the game mainly because DJU shredded us last year. We mostly kept him in check, but we lost because we couldn't finish drives. I'm not surprised the offense had some problems. We've had problems in every game, and FSU's defense hadn't really been wrecked in any of their losses.
Same feeling.
I think since most of us had penciled in this one as a potential loss, the hope against the probability, after Auburn and being 3-0, just made me greedy enough we could beat the odds. Inflated hopes, now, stand corrected.
Long time Bear fan here. I’m not ready to give up on this team…I see very dedicated talented hardworking players. They made mistakes, but they were in this to the very last minute. Previous years we’ve been done by the start of the second half. Go 🐻!
It was no blow out.
If the Noles needed a "statement" win, this was not it. They hung on for a win and our mistakes helped.
Yep, and this was a Cal re- statement.
Exactly
That might have been the most Justin Wilcox game of all time.
In yet another spot to really change the narrative, he fails to do so, yet again.
Yep, it sure was.
Nice things, can't have.
Our team played well but too many mistakes cost us the game. We could’ve had this one. Still proud of the team though.
Self inflicted injuries with the penalties, but credit to the team for not caving.
Honestly I think that makes this L even tougher. FSU basically handed us that game.
I didn’t watch it but had someone texting me updates. What was worse, this one or Auburn last year?
Doc, IMO they’re really similar L’s, but I think FSU is worse because this is a better team, with a decent road win already and a reeling opponent that we should have beaten. Plus, Wilcox teams continue to make the same mistakes, and he continues to give the same post-game press conference.
It’s just real tired.
Agreed
Redzone offense needs to execute and Bloesch’s play calling needs to improve. The stat line of 6 redzone visits and only coming away with 9 points is anemic.
Frustrating. But there are still a lot of wins out there for us still. Heads up. Next up.
With you
DOOOMMM>>>>>Calgorithm
Nah. I’ll take Calgorithm for the win, and I’m too old to twitter. This doomy gloomy bullshit gets old faster than that stupid fsu song.
auburn week was chef's kiss. this week already felt like a retread of an old playbook...much like this game!
As in 2019 when Ole Miss completely fell apart, I think it’s safe to wonder how good that Auburn win is gonna end up being.
But they got it…win the games you’re supposed to win here on out.
This is why I was nervous with the whole Calgorithm thing. And not to mention giving Twitter more traffic
I don't love the Twitter part of it, but it is unfortunately the only mechanism in which the plurality of college football media interacts.
I really think we have to stop being fearful of defeat. There is no team that is ever going to win every game so we need to just stake our place in the college football discourse and learn to be relevant somehow.
100%
^^^This!
And I like Musk.
I used that scent in the late 70’s.
Chicks dig it?
On the plus side, that game could’ve gone sideways a number of times and the D kept them in it.
Not my usual approach, but feel the Bears did acquit themselves alright, especially with their toughness.
Yes, and Cal’s passing game excelled for much of this game. Mendoza had a very good game, executing multiple third and longs, had a great run late in the game on 3rd and 13 and got a crucial 4th and long conversion to Endries. Starling emerged as a dependable senior receiver. This was really a team effort from the receivers. Dyches was fierce as usual. The defense pressured DJU nearly all game. Cal kept fighting back when the going got tough. But I have to give FSU credit for also making clutch plays, especially key conversions on third and longs and then that perfect throw to Douglas who got a step on Jair Smith. But with time winding down, if that throw by Fernando to Trond in the end zone is a foot lower we’re talking about an epic slugfest won by Cal and we’re praising Wilcox and his staff for preparing the men for what would have been a gutsy victory in hostile territory, after its second 2,000 mile trip in three weeks to one of the most storied venues in college football. What a heartbreaker, but a damn good game. Lick wounds and gear up for Miami.
Royrules22: I started getting nervous when I saw all of those "Calgorithm" postings. We aren't good enough to talk smack like that. Even if we were, it's a classless thing to do. Be humble, play hard and good things will happen.
The Calgorithm isn't about smack talk, it's about building a culture where people around college football are talking about Cal and then watching Cal. I think the community did their best to keep it lighthearted and for the most part the response has been mostly positive.
Avi: Good point. I'm probably just superstitious. This morning on some college football program on Sirius XM, they were talking about Cal as a tough team that nobody should take for granted. We could be seeing the start of one of the many benefits associated with moving to the ACC.
Yea I absolutely didn't say it was talking smack! And after a night to think about the game, I was definitely being pessimistic
Definitely wormed their way into the collective consciousness.
Unless a miracle happens and Cal wins 10 games this year I want Wilcox gone. Time and time again when the game to turn the corner as a program comes he finds ways to lose it. Nothing against him personally but who gives a fuck about going 5-7, 6-6, or 7-5 in a weak ACC every year.
Also for as long as I can remember kicking has been a negative for Cal, regardless of kicker and regardless of coach. Must be some curse. If I was running the program I would decide no more field goals, punting or going for it until a touchdown is scored. Take some risks
We were one catch away from a win on this one. If we won, there would have been a good chance at being ranked. Some of you are so quick to go to the “fire Wilcox” language. This team is vastly improved over last year and we are on an upswing. Firing Wilcox would mean that we have to reset once again and it would be a disaster considering our financial woes.
It’s year 8 of Wilcox’s tenure. I believe I have seen enough of his work to move on from him. Enough is enough. This is mediocre quality at best and Cal needs to try something different. The team is in the ACC now and need to show they can put a better product out there on the field; Wilcox ain’t it.
This game was basically a repeat of last seasons Auburn game. Poor special teams, settling for FGs, missed FGs, bad penalties at the wrong time and our opponent gets a couple of TDs.
This loss is basically a carbon copy of the 2023 Auburn loss.
We have maybe 4 years left in the ACC and we need to win, 6-7 or 7-6 isn’t saving this program.
I disagree that this team is vastly improved. The defense looks better so far. Offense looks about the same as last season so far. Special teams, especially FG kicking looks about the same so far.
totally agree..
Well, true, I guess but still….
His act is tired.
Kicking is the same here as it is most places in college football--they aren't coached. Like at all. At practice they're sent off by themselves and told to just kick a ball through some uprights over and over. No outside critique or supervision.
Considering how much power they have win and lose games (and impact job security), I can't believe coaches would just outright neglect something like that.
huh? Ryan Longwell is on staff.
I remember watching Jimmy Breech practicing a net on an edge of Kleeburger. It wasn't team practice time, he was just working out on his own. Something in Coe's head is defeating him.
the most controllable thing that can be fixed is the OL penalties. I always expect a "brainier" team to not do that kinda crap. That's my biggest disappointment with this game, especially being that it's their fourth game already.
Agreed.
If they get the OL cleaned up, they can still make some noise this year.
What’s troubling is the OL has been a mess since Bloesch took over play calling duties v Texas Tech….that’s a major concern.
The OL and special teams have been a mess for the majority of Wilcox’s tenure at Cal.
It was bad but I gotta say it was very loud down there. But yea your point stands
Good teams don’t completely fall apart, repeatedly, in that situation.
50% of teams lose every week...even great ones. This was a tough loss but not one to bemoan too much. Way better than Auburn last year
Agreed, losses happen. No arguments there, TKE.
I just view it from the lens of whether this current staff is good enough to ever get Cal to the ‘92/‘04/‘06 levels, and my issue remains that a lot of these L’s really do look the same. Unfortunately, it’s safe to wonder if Wilcox will ever get this program over the hump…to do so would involve winning THIS game, and avoiding the type of post-game press conference he gave once again last night in Tallahassee.
In many ways, this is really similar to AUB at CMS last year IMO…a competent tho highly flawed P4/5 foe with a middling O tried to hand us a game that the team was unable to take because of missed FGs, self-inflicted mistakes, and complete red zone inefficiency caused in large part by bonehead play.
The D will hopefully take us to loftier heights here on out, but this pattern really helps explain how you have a coach that is 17-games below .500 against conference foes.
But Go Bears - let’s get healthy and work on the OL over the Bye.
I honestly don't think our failure in the red zone was the result of bone head plays...their D was very stout, big and fast. Yes we hurt ourselves with the penalties but we were just out muscled on the line and the various blitz packages...too big and fast. And finally a big yes...GO BEARS and lets win some more games!
I dunno - failing to get the snap count correct on 5 separate crucial occasions is kinda bonehead, regardless of the reasons. ;-)
Starting to have doubts about Bloesch. The play calling was far from good yesterday and Fernando was not prepared for when FSU stacked the box. Not sure why we run into a box stacked with 7 players. Either we did not have blitz beater plays or Nando was poorly coached on how the execute them. The last play of the game was a great example: FSU brought 7 which means we had man coverage on our 4 receivers. If Nando gets rid of it quickly we have a great chance to complete the play. So what happened? We had a terrible snap and slow response by Nando in the face of overwhelming defensive pressure. The horrible penalties we took both times we were down around FSU's 10 yard line where we came away with no points is another place where coaching lacked. It's great to draw up plays but you have to be prepared to execute in all environments. That was clearly the case in this game. We need to be effective with silent counts. Sometimes its better to slow the tempo down. Nando needs to be coached up on getting rid of the ball quickly to the safety valve. The O-line really needs to be coached up and our guards need serious coaching: Swinney had 3 holding penalties and Reimer cannot pass block for shit (all about technique).
We had a lot of really good plays and Ott was just getting going. But the little shit beat us: bad snaps, offsides penalties galore, holding penalties galore, not reading the blitz correctly and having an adequate response. Fixing one of these won't make us win. We need to fix all of them. We are a P4 program and it boggles my mind that we don't have a center who can snap the ball correctly. Our kicking game sucked as well, we need to figure out blocking schemes when the line is overloaded and our kicker really needs to figure out how to make some kicks. He has the leg, he just seems to line up incorrectly when he misses.
We have the players to win. Our kids can ball out, but we are poorly coached when it comes to the little things that make the difference between winning and losing close games on the offensive side of the ball. I'll put that on Bloesch. Hopefully he figures it out. In the end, it doesn't matter how good your players are if your fundamentals aren't sound. They need to get back to the basics.
Other than the kicking, the deficiencies of the team are Bloesch-related: OL and play-calling.
D is solid. QB, RBs, WRs, TEs all with talent and depth.
8 yrs of nonsense excuses from Wilcox. He needs to be fired NOW. He gets paid near $5 million dollars a year for such a garbage product. Any other school would have fired him years ago. He's incompetent to be clear over 8yrs he has and has lost more games for his unpreparedness/play calling than the players have for their mistakes. The fact our AD gave him a $29 million guarentee with an extension thru 2027 shows every reason why he should be fired too. How is the school and the leadership not embarrassed by this product/program. The level of acceptance for this mediocrity is disgusting.
Any updates on Sioape Vatikani?
In the post-game press conference, Coach Wilcox said Vatikani is at a local hospital. He has movement in his extremities.
You armchair critics crack me up. It was a good game, mistakes happened, but they do in every game by every team. They played well, both offense and defense. A few critical penalties, in the face of a hostile, loud crowd, otherwise they would’ve won. And criticize the coach for that? I guess you guys come from some place where everything works perfectly. It was a good game, with a couple of breaks, they would’ve won.
You new here?
No
Why, is this just a site for supercilious video game football “experts”?
No. But this fantastic website is here in part for fans to chat Cal sports…
Your initial comment could have been written about, what, maybe 30 different games out of the 83 that Justin Wilcox has coached at Cal…what’s your beef with passionate fans voicing disappointment with this sad fact in a forum dedicated to discussing tonight’s game? What if we were all hanging out at the Kingfish doing a postmortem after having just watched this offensive line get embarrassed on national TV….would you be basically shaming fans then?
You don’t need to have been a football coach to see consistently sloppy and poorly executed play and be frustrated with 8 years of the exact same silly mistakes costing the team wins.
No, I think a lot of people believe that this type of game is the norm and not the exception under Wilcox. That Wilcox has an 8 year record under Cal and has shown what his strengths and weaknesses are as a coach. This game was a carbon copy of last seasons Auburn game or the time we lost to a winless Colorado team or bad special teams play costing us the Big Game in 2021.
Just such a drag to listen to you guys, you sound like you’ve never played on a football team, that you think it’s like a math class. One reason cal has sucked is because the students are so anti-football, so nerdy and superior acting to football, that recruits don’t wanna play here. And even on this site, which is supposed to be fans of the team, almost invariably has more people hating on the team, the coach, the players, than supporting the team. They act like they know so much, but they’ve clearly never played the game. Real team players don’t talk like this. Sorry.
I don’t think football is like a math class. I don’t even think of CFB or the NFL as a sport. At this level, it is a business. Wilcox is highly paid to win games. He has been given 8 years to win games and in that time he doesn’t have 1 winning conference record. Most programs would have fired him 2 or 3 seasons ago. Cal as a football program doesn’t have the luxury of Wilcox continuing to learn on the job because of conference realignment and stands to lose millions of dollars.
I think plenty of people here and elsewhere have been patient and given Wilcox the benefit of doubt and support but it’s now 8 years of him basically repeating the same mistakes so patience is beginning to run out.
Edit: I don’t see people really hating on the players. Most of the criticism is on the coaching staff.
That was not a good game. I was not well schemed, executed or anything else.
The 'cuse versus furd game was a good game.
Like you know better. Jesse.
The thing is, more often than not, we are that team who are always in need of a couple of breaks and never get them.
Breaks are the whistle goes your way or a fortuitous bounce is in your favor. Breaks are not bad play calls, missed FGs, and repeated, drive killing penalties in the red zone. That is called bad poor coaching.
You think missed field goals and penalties are the coaches fault? Man you’ve never played football.
Also, I’m not here calling for JWs head on a stake like others. I am a huge fan of the stability and integrity he brings the program. It doesn’t mean there isn’t valid criticism of JW or the coaching staff in regard to this game and he’s be the first to acknowledge that the outcome of this game falls first on his shoulders.
Individual penalties are on a player, a pattern of penalties indicate a coaching issue.
I’m sure he sees he has to emphasize that better. Though the players aren’t really that dumb. They do know not to have a false start.
Not picking up on and cover a blitz coming past the left tackle, now that’s coaching.
Aw
That TOTALLY SUCKED!!!!! Two missed field goals were the difference which is "Typi-Cal". I thought we were going to stop playing "Typi-Cal" games? I guess we still have work to do. Finally, whoever said that FSU is the USC of the ACC is absolutely right! What a bunch of jerks! They barely won and from the looks of all the dancing on the field, you would have thought that they had just won a national championship. I guess that the good news is that we were in this game until the end and didn't shit the bed like I feared. FSU may have the only defense in the ACC better than ours but I hope that they lose the rest of their games. What a bunch of classless scumbags. Good luck with those SEC or BIG Ten invites. Pukes.