Watching Ott run tentatively up the middle and immediately get arm tackled for a two yard loss makes me think he is still hurt. He doesn’t make quick cuts or bounce putside like he used to. Agree Jet should be primary RB and Ott basically a slot receiver
I agree with most of your article. However the blocking on Cal's running game could be improved with DOWN blocks and faking to a dive back who will occupy a ILB and then giving to primary back and guards pulling to kickoff the DE. This scheme was used mostly out of the QB under the center a few years back and was very successful
I like the Bears operating more under center too. Miami supposedly has a solid D line but GTech ran counter runs over and over and beat Miami. Why couldn’t the Bears do this?
If others are like me cheering for both our players and not the team for which we hold allegiance, then we must all be immensely pleased for and proud of Ryan Coe's perseverance and performance Friday night. Those were not garbage time kicks but both were critical in the victory and Coe and the coaching staff knew it when each was happening. I'm so very happy for him - literally jumped off the couch with joy! Well done young man and GO BEARS!!
I'm cautiously optimistic - unlike last year, even in our losses we've been in the game. Yes, we've had a ton of heartbreakers. However, with Nando and a solid defense, we're never out of a game even with an almost non-existent run game. I went to Seattle next year, so I can definitively say that was not the case last year.
I'm definitely not a huge Wilcox fan but I feel like things are looking up which is a rarity to be enjoyed in the last decade or so of Cal football.
A nice summary of the game at Wake Forest, and the season. I agree with the notion of running wide and add dumps to the running backs over the line of scrimmage with short drops. The defensive weaknesses in the 3rd and 4th quarter coupled with the inability to run the ball will be tested in two of the last three games.
I think you were pretty accurate in this article. To me the issue with Cal is the offensive line primarily. It’s an axiom as old as football. You run the ball to establish the pass and if you’re passing 50 times in a game that may be exciting. to watch for us, but it isn’t the sign of a balanced offense at all. I would think Cal being the university which is of such high academic reputation , it should be a no-brainer for a smart offensive lineman to want to show up and play next year., When it comes down to scholar, athletes, offensive lineman a lot of times are among the brightest. Hopefully they will address that next year. Whether Cal can do that or not would be obvious to anybody who has followed Cal for a long time. During the Joe Roth / Chuck Muncie years Cal had one team that had exactly the same number of yards running as they did passing, they were the perfectly balanced offense and they shared the PAC 8 title that year. Thanks for your observations. They were really good , generally.
In my experience Cal has never been a much of a destination for prized offensive lineman. We may have (Tarik Glenn and/or Jeremy Newberry maybe?), but I don't recall getting many if any 4-star + lineman. NIL has probably made it a little harder for us given the value of the position. But we've generally been good at identifying guys that we've been able to develop into plus value players at the position.
During the WF game I focused on the center the entire game. What is going on with the center or I'm I missing something? No wonder Ott can't get to the second level and Mendoza is under constant duress. #54 Williams is an uptick on the OL.
Clearly a bit of a re-evaluation of the running game is in order. Ott is not himself it appears and at any rate given the oline situation it makes sense to use more of the bigger and more powerful backs who can get three to four yards coupled with perhaps Thomas as the featured back. Hopefully Ott will come back next year once healed.
It has been observed here and elsewhere that we need to rethink our run strategy given our line talent and Ott's injuries. It occurs to me that this is so obvious it must be obvious to the coaching staff as well. And I too was fascinated to see how GT was able to consistently beat Miami outside, so why not us. What am I missing?
Blitz on obvious passing downs. 3 man rush and giving up long passes is a huge problem. Where do the extra guys in the back field go? Seems like to take a break. Miami game was the such an example of this.
Nice write up. Stop running the ball up the middle. Only use Ott in space. More Jet as the primary RB.
Watching Ott run tentatively up the middle and immediately get arm tackled for a two yard loss makes me think he is still hurt. He doesn’t make quick cuts or bounce putside like he used to. Agree Jet should be primary RB and Ott basically a slot receiver
I agree with most of your article. However the blocking on Cal's running game could be improved with DOWN blocks and faking to a dive back who will occupy a ILB and then giving to primary back and guards pulling to kickoff the DE. This scheme was used mostly out of the QB under the center a few years back and was very successful
I like the Bears operating more under center too. Miami supposedly has a solid D line but GTech ran counter runs over and over and beat Miami. Why couldn’t the Bears do this?
Darn "spellcheck" changed when I wrote kickout to kickoff.
If others are like me cheering for both our players and not the team for which we hold allegiance, then we must all be immensely pleased for and proud of Ryan Coe's perseverance and performance Friday night. Those were not garbage time kicks but both were critical in the victory and Coe and the coaching staff knew it when each was happening. I'm so very happy for him - literally jumped off the couch with joy! Well done young man and GO BEARS!!
was great to see people come out and congratulate him too, not just the holder and guys on the field, but also a bunch of other guys.
I'm cautiously optimistic - unlike last year, even in our losses we've been in the game. Yes, we've had a ton of heartbreakers. However, with Nando and a solid defense, we're never out of a game even with an almost non-existent run game. I went to Seattle next year, so I can definitively say that was not the case last year.
I'm definitely not a huge Wilcox fan but I feel like things are looking up which is a rarity to be enjoyed in the last decade or so of Cal football.
A nice summary of the game at Wake Forest, and the season. I agree with the notion of running wide and add dumps to the running backs over the line of scrimmage with short drops. The defensive weaknesses in the 3rd and 4th quarter coupled with the inability to run the ball will be tested in two of the last three games.
I think you were pretty accurate in this article. To me the issue with Cal is the offensive line primarily. It’s an axiom as old as football. You run the ball to establish the pass and if you’re passing 50 times in a game that may be exciting. to watch for us, but it isn’t the sign of a balanced offense at all. I would think Cal being the university which is of such high academic reputation , it should be a no-brainer for a smart offensive lineman to want to show up and play next year., When it comes down to scholar, athletes, offensive lineman a lot of times are among the brightest. Hopefully they will address that next year. Whether Cal can do that or not would be obvious to anybody who has followed Cal for a long time. During the Joe Roth / Chuck Muncie years Cal had one team that had exactly the same number of yards running as they did passing, they were the perfectly balanced offense and they shared the PAC 8 title that year. Thanks for your observations. They were really good , generally.
In my experience Cal has never been a much of a destination for prized offensive lineman. We may have (Tarik Glenn and/or Jeremy Newberry maybe?), but I don't recall getting many if any 4-star + lineman. NIL has probably made it a little harder for us given the value of the position. But we've generally been good at identifying guys that we've been able to develop into plus value players at the position.
Ted Albrecht, Mitchell Schwartz.
>But we've generally been good at identifying guys that we've been able to develop into plus value players at the position.
True under Tedford/Michalczic, not so much after that. Go back and watch some mid 00's highlights, those lines were awesome.
Mike Tepper, Mitchel Schwartz, Matt Summers Gavin, Alex Mack, Noris Malele, Marvin Philip.
Key is you gotta find someone with M in their name.
Freddie Tagaloa was highly rated.
During the WF game I focused on the center the entire game. What is going on with the center or I'm I missing something? No wonder Ott can't get to the second level and Mendoza is under constant duress. #54 Williams is an uptick on the OL.
He's like our fifth string center
he's the starter lol
Clearly a bit of a re-evaluation of the running game is in order. Ott is not himself it appears and at any rate given the oline situation it makes sense to use more of the bigger and more powerful backs who can get three to four yards coupled with perhaps Thomas as the featured back. Hopefully Ott will come back next year once healed.
It has been observed here and elsewhere that we need to rethink our run strategy given our line talent and Ott's injuries. It occurs to me that this is so obvious it must be obvious to the coaching staff as well. And I too was fascinated to see how GT was able to consistently beat Miami outside, so why not us. What am I missing?
Blitz on obvious passing downs. 3 man rush and giving up long passes is a huge problem. Where do the extra guys in the back field go? Seems like to take a break. Miami game was the such an example of this.
So are we not running anymore for the rest of the year or what