Just to have this written somewhere: Rankings for Cal
Week 1: Composite ranking #69 (49 different rankings pooled)
Highest ranking #38 [James England rankings, no notes on methodology]
Lowest ranking #103 [Howell, FBS *power* ratings] (side note, I think this site went back and did power ratings for every season of footbal going back to 1800s
No Colley rating yet (my favorite as they are unbiased by reputation of school)
Just did a bit of research - this was Cal's highest-scoring result on offense against an FBS/D1A opponent since the 2008 destruction of WSU. And that WSU team went 1-10, and broke the all-time conference record for giving up the most points in a season. And we did it on the road, with our backup quarterback, and without our best offensive lineman.
I would love to see us win out over our rivals this year.
$C and Colorado are two examples of why talent can give a team an edge.
Williams is a marvel, but when Heisman voters are oooing and aaahhing over WIlliams, they seem to forget the ready-for-Sunday receiver corps he has. IMHO, take away those receivers and Williams might have just been a candidate.
Let us also underscore the importance, never lost on the L.A. schools, of PR and media campaigning, which, also, gives Williams a boost, say, 10%.
This all emphasizes what we need to do to be the athletics program that we should be. If $C has bought their way to fame, then until there are sensible and enforced rules in place, we must do the same. If we are proud of our university, then we all need to step up and show it. Throwing test scores and admission standards does not win.
Special teams had issues and 1st half was not always pretty (some blown coverage in secondary, some sloppy offense). Did the Wilcox "great 1st drive then stall."
But HOLY COW DID WE TURN IT ON!!! OL looked decent even after losing Cindric. Finley seemed like he belonged under center, though I really hope SJV is ok. Not sure who will be starting against Auburn. Mendoza didn't look good but kinda hard to assess with 3rd stringers working during garbage time. Ott is special and Ifanse has my attention now.
I can nitpick and worry and whatnot but, man, that Spavital offense was a breath of fresh air. I worry that the Mean Green defense will happen to just be outright bad, negating good feelings of our offense. But, still, their track record is that of a competent G5 team and we unloaded on them. We looked like we belong in a P5 conference and it felt good.
Immediacy is the coin of the sports realm these days Rug.
I’m just so tired of the half-assery. I mean we’re still showing that stale “You See” commercial after what, a decade? It’s astonishing. It’s negligent.
I hate to air all this after a big win, but there is no margin for error anymore with this program. You would think the horrors of the last few months would have scared us straight.
Sign Spav to a life long contract. For the first time under Wilcox, they stepped on the throat and blew an opponent out. Never happened with musgrave. This was a refreshing win and it wasn’t even competitive in the second half.
It was a huge leap from Cal's less-impressive show against the Mean Green in Berkeley, at home, and I'LL TAKE IT. Unlike last season, the Bears ended up dominating, which was fun, especially on the road. There were warning signs, too, of course... but we can save the hand-wringing for next weekend :)
Sidenote: the weather was hugely helpful. It was warm, sure, but the humidity was low, there was cloudcover, and a fairly steady breeze. Gaia is a Cal fan.
A road winfor the first time since '21. A road win outside of California for the first time since '19. Most points by a Cal football team since '16. A second half shutdown, not just of points but of first downs. Bring on Auburn.
The no first downs thing is huge to me. Went from giving up big plays to complete shutdown of their offense. That to me gets me excited for the defense this year.
So happy for my Bears and glad they get a nice trip back from Texas. Lots of good signs. Horror show on special teams. More concerns about defensive backs than I thought would be the case. Online generally good but need expert views on that. Finley is a fine QB but not a leading QB in the PAC. Hope Cindric and J Jain are a go for Saturday! I’ll be there fresh off my motorcycle from Seattle!
Always appreciate any insights you provide on line play. I have an especially hard time distinguishing between good line play and bad D line opponents. Those holes looked big, but would that work against SC?
I'll need to watch the film. We did some things very well. Our inside dives and bellys with double teams on the UNT noseguard with a bounce to the ILB looked like it was springing Ott for big yards. I've watched some of our Fall camp practice film and our inside and double team blocking looked good. against a 3-3-5 it was destined to be successful as long as we could sustain our blocks at the LOS and work off to the ILB. Against a 4-4 or a 4-4-3 the assignments will be different. Against a 4-3-4 I'd use the run to make them stack the box and then throw on them. If anyone is stupid enough to run a 4-4-3 I'd just pass on them all day.
This could have been an 80 point game for us. We beat the spread of 5 by 32 additional points. Our top end talent and depth showed as the game wore on. More importantly, Finley was 71% in the completion department with a shit ton of yards. He got more comfortable as the game went on. I think he's our new #1 QB. Jackson was at 60% for something like 36 yards or which one pass was a 25 yard tug. Our o-line showed up and got better as the game went on, same with our DB's who had a tough start. We need to find a way to pressure opposing QB's. All in all, if we beat Auburn next week we should be ranked based on what UW, OR, and USC are doing.
And Sam just could not break out with his run. I think they were keying on Ott and Jackson. Ott mostly had blocking, while Jackson not so much in the one design run play, but still Jackson did not show the great legs until he got injured, which will be an ongoing risk with him.
My view is the same with both SJ and Finley; be a passing QB, but IF you NEED to, extend the play out of the pocket and make something happen. Don't RUN THE QB.....he might (HELLOOOOOOOOOO) get hurt. UO did that with....was it Herbert against us? They were cruising, called a QB run, broken bone.............................seriously??? Play it safe and EFFECTIVE, Bears. Maybe in desperation, but NOT in an OCC game when it's NOT on the line...............
Just to have this written somewhere: Rankings for Cal
Week 1: Composite ranking #69 (49 different rankings pooled)
Highest ranking #38 [James England rankings, no notes on methodology]
Lowest ranking #103 [Howell, FBS *power* ratings] (side note, I think this site went back and did power ratings for every season of footbal going back to 1800s
No Colley rating yet (my favorite as they are unbiased by reputation of school)
PS. North Texas composite was 90
and furd was 95. muhaha
Just did a bit of research - this was Cal's highest-scoring result on offense against an FBS/D1A opponent since the 2008 destruction of WSU. And that WSU team went 1-10, and broke the all-time conference record for giving up the most points in a season. And we did it on the road, with our backup quarterback, and without our best offensive lineman.
Absolutely cannot wait for Auburn...
That was 66-3 win and a breakout game for Jahvid Best who had two 80 yard TD runs.
It’s nice not to have to reveal the playbook in game 1 bc you’re struggling to win- I’m sure there’ll be a variation on that WR screen next week
Hope SJackson V recovers, looks like he knew what happened, like the ac joint or something?
Much credit to the UNT stadium music person, the songs following penalties were hilarious
You mean a screen where everybody picks up their blocks?
I'ma gonna' say this right, here.
I would love to see us win out over our rivals this year.
$C and Colorado are two examples of why talent can give a team an edge.
Williams is a marvel, but when Heisman voters are oooing and aaahhing over WIlliams, they seem to forget the ready-for-Sunday receiver corps he has. IMHO, take away those receivers and Williams might have just been a candidate.
Let us also underscore the importance, never lost on the L.A. schools, of PR and media campaigning, which, also, gives Williams a boost, say, 10%.
This all emphasizes what we need to do to be the athletics program that we should be. If $C has bought their way to fame, then until there are sensible and enforced rules in place, we must do the same. If we are proud of our university, then we all need to step up and show it. Throwing test scores and admission standards does not win.
And we must win or die.
That was fun....time to focus on Auburn....... C'mon Bears; made a statement!
Special teams had issues and 1st half was not always pretty (some blown coverage in secondary, some sloppy offense). Did the Wilcox "great 1st drive then stall."
But HOLY COW DID WE TURN IT ON!!! OL looked decent even after losing Cindric. Finley seemed like he belonged under center, though I really hope SJV is ok. Not sure who will be starting against Auburn. Mendoza didn't look good but kinda hard to assess with 3rd stringers working during garbage time. Ott is special and Ifanse has my attention now.
I can nitpick and worry and whatnot but, man, that Spavital offense was a breath of fresh air. I worry that the Mean Green defense will happen to just be outright bad, negating good feelings of our offense. But, still, their track record is that of a competent G5 team and we unloaded on them. We looked like we belong in a P5 conference and it felt good.
GO BEARS
A good W!
No postgame pressers to be found.
Cal’’s PR/communications team is an abomination.
It’s 2023. Film the postgame interviews and post them ASAP.
This is the sort of thing we can no longer afford to tolerate.
They will be out, they should just be ready for public consumption earlier.
Immediacy is the coin of the sports realm these days Rug.
I’m just so tired of the half-assery. I mean we’re still showing that stale “You See” commercial after what, a decade? It’s astonishing. It’s negligent.
I hate to air all this after a big win, but there is no margin for error anymore with this program. You would think the horrors of the last few months would have scared us straight.
That “You see UC” commercial debuted in 2003 🙃🔫
⚰️
The official North Texas Athletics YouTube channel managed to post their postgame press conference up two hours ago, by the way.
They’re at home Vs most of the time our team is hustling to get out of there to get on a flight home.
Sign Spav to a life long contract. For the first time under Wilcox, they stepped on the throat and blew an opponent out. Never happened with musgrave. This was a refreshing win and it wasn’t even competitive in the second half.
Hope cindric and Jackson are okay.
Agreed....hate to say it, but Cindric's return is more vital than Jacksons. Both SUPER important, but.....
Our defense must feel so much less pressure now
Watching AZ. Milner is playing.
I was disappointed when he left but after seeing SJV and Finley I already forgot about Milner.
And.......................................................................................
And his stats weren't bad. But, yeah, more of a pocket passer. AZ sacked him just once.
Important to do a postmortem on transfers out just to figure out what's important with the Portal.
BTW- I hate commercials, but the Dr. Pepper one this year with the Transfer Portal and realignment jabs is hilarious and on target.
Greetings from a hotel in Denton TX!
It was a huge leap from Cal's less-impressive show against the Mean Green in Berkeley, at home, and I'LL TAKE IT. Unlike last season, the Bears ended up dominating, which was fun, especially on the road. There were warning signs, too, of course... but we can save the hand-wringing for next weekend :)
Sidenote: the weather was hugely helpful. It was warm, sure, but the humidity was low, there was cloudcover, and a fairly steady breeze. Gaia is a Cal fan.
Thanks for repping!!!!!! Well done, my friend.
Maybe we saw you on TV! There were several shots of the Cal rooting section.
(Man, special teams. OOOF).
Upside. Smart fair catches. No fumbles. I am giving Luckhurst a Mulligan. for that game.
A road winfor the first time since '21. A road win outside of California for the first time since '19. Most points by a Cal football team since '16. A second half shutdown, not just of points but of first downs. Bring on Auburn.
The no first downs thing is huge to me. Went from giving up big plays to complete shutdown of their offense. That to me gets me excited for the defense this year.
So happy for my Bears and glad they get a nice trip back from Texas. Lots of good signs. Horror show on special teams. More concerns about defensive backs than I thought would be the case. Online generally good but need expert views on that. Finley is a fine QB but not a leading QB in the PAC. Hope Cindric and J Jain are a go for Saturday! I’ll be there fresh off my motorcycle from Seattle!
Yes, Spav did a good job of easing him in. As he grew more comfortable he looked very good. He just needs more practice reps with his receivers.
Always appreciate any insights you provide on line play. I have an especially hard time distinguishing between good line play and bad D line opponents. Those holes looked big, but would that work against SC?
I'll need to watch the film. We did some things very well. Our inside dives and bellys with double teams on the UNT noseguard with a bounce to the ILB looked like it was springing Ott for big yards. I've watched some of our Fall camp practice film and our inside and double team blocking looked good. against a 3-3-5 it was destined to be successful as long as we could sustain our blocks at the LOS and work off to the ILB. Against a 4-4 or a 4-4-3 the assignments will be different. Against a 4-3-4 I'd use the run to make them stack the box and then throw on them. If anyone is stupid enough to run a 4-4-3 I'd just pass on them all day.
Give me those double-teams and pulling OLs and a mobile QB (both of them) and I'm a happy guy..... Looks like SJ will be fine in the short term.....
This could have been an 80 point game for us. We beat the spread of 5 by 32 additional points. Our top end talent and depth showed as the game wore on. More importantly, Finley was 71% in the completion department with a shit ton of yards. He got more comfortable as the game went on. I think he's our new #1 QB. Jackson was at 60% for something like 36 yards or which one pass was a 25 yard tug. Our o-line showed up and got better as the game went on, same with our DB's who had a tough start. We need to find a way to pressure opposing QB's. All in all, if we beat Auburn next week we should be ranked based on what UW, OR, and USC are doing.
And Sam just could not break out with his run. I think they were keying on Ott and Jackson. Ott mostly had blocking, while Jackson not so much in the one design run play, but still Jackson did not show the great legs until he got injured, which will be an ongoing risk with him.
My view is the same with both SJ and Finley; be a passing QB, but IF you NEED to, extend the play out of the pocket and make something happen. Don't RUN THE QB.....he might (HELLOOOOOOOOOO) get hurt. UO did that with....was it Herbert against us? They were cruising, called a QB run, broken bone.............................seriously??? Play it safe and EFFECTIVE, Bears. Maybe in desperation, but NOT in an OCC game when it's NOT on the line...............
Finley also needs to stop running backwards
You know we play Auburn, next week at CMS, right?
I can't stop laughing. I hope he doesn't end up in Auburn next week by accident
Now, now - he’s planning ahead, getting a jump on 2024 air fares.