14 Comments

As far as Ott, he will go as far as the O-line takes him. If they can't throw, they will put 8 in the box to stop him.

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Definitely. The line WILL be better. Better coaching, and Cal picked up two proven starters in the portal. It’s just a question of whether there is an effective passing game. Spavital has never not had an effective passing game, so I think we’ll do just fine. If Jackson V struggles, Ben Finley is a proven QB.

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Cal is interesting. They are going to be really good or really bad. No middle ground.

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Hope so. I mean good.👍

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Are you kidding? Ott is one of the few people who pass the eye test + have the advanced stats on their side + is widely regarded as a budding superstar. "one good game"??????

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I hope Cal goes like 9-3 just to make negabears like you look ridiculous

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Seriously!

When was the last time you said “that team has the best rb group and best rb in their conference and the best dline and best dlineman in their conference and add mid upper receiver corps and top 3 defense but yeah I don’t expect them to make a bowl game”

No you never hear it anywhere except Cal.

On the one side you have apathy galore and on the other you have an engrained pessimism that never goes away.

The team will be fine. Like I’ve said a bowl game is the floor. A conference title is the ceiling.

The negativity runs deep. I don’t think people quite understand exactly how terrible Baldwin and Musgrave were at game management.

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I think the schedule is incredibly difficult and a bowl game is tough but achievable – IMO this is a team that can go anywhere from 4-8 (with bad injury luck) to 9-3 (if things click right and we get some lucky bounces). Assuming most guys stay and next year's transfers are either a wash or an upgrade, 2024 has a higher floor and ceiling. It's admittedly a young-ish team this year.

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just sat there unironically and said 100 yard rushing games are chopped liver

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A lot of variance in his performances last year. Assume this was partly the line and a lack of offensive balance. Slippery if you can get him moving into the secondary, but not great at busting through the first line of defense. Curious to see how this year goes.

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It wasn't "partly" the line, it was almost entirely the line. I watched Ott get met in the backfield and somehow turn it into a gain of 1, 2, 3 yards week after week...

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Even in his "bad" games, there were so many of his 1-2 yd rushes that should have been TFLs. The guy clearly has amazing vision, shiftiness, strength, and pass catching ability all as a true freshman. He is not overhyped one bit

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Ott-in-space seems to be the thing.

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You literally just directly contradicted your first comment "Ott had one good game". No, he had several good games. Removing the "one good game" he still had 623 rushing yards and 8TD in the other 11 games. He average over 100 APY per game...

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