You nailed the Bears with your word pictures that long time fans recognize and understand. We are a fan base that suffers through tough injuries of players who we have expectations. We moan and groan at penalties bad calls staff we want replaced. But, then it happens. The dark turns to light and our Bears play their hearts out and make plays that are needed at that particular time... Our team and coaching staff brought their A Game to Memorial Stadium and the cheering didn’t stop. It’s great to a Bear, but sometimes it’s better than great. Going forward, it’s on to the next game💙🏈💛Go Bears💙🏈💛
Let us not forget that had VT had a better field goal kicker Cal would likely have lost this game.
Brousseau played well and the OL actually looked better, perhaps helped by Brousseau’s ability to stay in the pocket when threatened, unlike JKS. Furthermore, Brousseau showed a running ability thst JKS simply does not have. Play calling improvement certainly helped, particularly since it was adapted to the new offensive set and was oriented more to a QB like Brousseau rather than JKS.
The run game was still pretty anemic and one had to wonder how this game would have gone with both Brousseau and Mohammed in the backfield. The powerful running game represented by Mohammed would definitely have helped balance out this new offense.
Still way too many stupid and costly penalties, which goes to coaching and Cal has had way too many targeting penalties already this season.
I make no predictions on where this team will end up, but it now heads into the heart of its ACC season against a set of teams that will take advantage of every mistake and weakness. I am hoping we can beat Stanford to avenge that awful defeat from last year, but even that isn’t a foregone conclusion.
First VT field goal attempt was very long, so that miss can be credited to the Cal defense holding them that far back. Second one? Yeah, hard to explain that. But if they'd gotten that then maybe Cal plays the end game differently, so who knows.
Yes, The Bears have rallied in some unusual ways. But, the one word that I believe you were missing from your description of this team is CHAOTIC. Except, for the Wagner game they haven't been able to control any of the games over 50 percent of the time. Now ,We will face another top 25 team in WF next week at home. Then We go on the road 3 weeks in a row against possible top 25 team in SMU . Then also Virginia and NC State with only one lost at home combined. They need to get their act together and prove they belong to get in a decent bowl game.
The announcers pointed out an interesting pattern: at least three times, after giving up a big gain, the defense came back on the next play and forced a TFL.
A W is a W no matter how you get it and I'll take the W over the L any day of the week. Hopefully with the change in our play caller that resulted in more varied and faster developing plays, and getting the ball out quicker, our offense enters a new phase that wins us more games.
However, we still have a new coach who hired a guy like Somerville. That is not a good sign of executive management and experience. But, the fact that Tosh had the guts to replace him midseason is a very good sign. Our Defense forgot how to hit and tackle this week, but they were good enough to do their part to contribute to the W. It sure would be nice to see our team come out and play fundamentally sound football on both sides of the ball.
I hope Tosh and his team win the rest of their games, though I doubt it will happen. Meanwhile UCLA, with their new hire Bob Chesney, is undefeated and is ranked #12 today. As of today they are playoff qualified, but we'll see if it holds. Something tells me they will get there.
I'm supportive of Tosh, but why didn't we hire someone like Bob Chesney with a long track record of success as a HC?
Let's keep the winning streak alive! Our 2-1 ACC record puts us ahead of 10 other schools! What a difference a new play caller makes! Who's sunshine pumping now? Go Bears...
Seems clear that merely having a functional offense means a lot, and even with our top QB and RBs out Cal was still able to move the ball better than in any game since the opener (adjusting for the expectation that Wagner and UNLV have weaker defenses). Just changing the playcaller helped so much. Feels like we might have only one loss if we'd had this kind of offense all along?
Avi, while you may not have originated the “Rule of 21”, ever since you mentioned it a few seasons back, it’s stayed with me as a way of judging Cal’s chances of pulling out a win.
This season, it proved its validity against ‘Cuse, when the Orange failed to hit two late FGs which would have gotten them to 21 before Lopa’s pick-6.
Then yesterday, despite grabbing the 20-19 lead, VaTech’s failure to convert the 2-point try, prevented the Hokies from reaching 21 before Cal rallied to take the lead, and eventually the win.
(Suffice to say, that didn’t happen in the losses to uclol, Clemson, or UNLV.)
It’s illustrative of this new era of Cal football that #drop50 of a previous iteration has given way to scratching and clawing just to beat our opponents to the magic number of 21.
We should try JKS in the new scheme first. He has a much higher ceiling and we saw flashes of his brilliance last year. It's, of course, possible that he did truly regress or that Brousseau is the next Mendoza, but we have a more plausible alternate explanation to disprove first.
We need to see JKS with the better play calling. I think we now have an option each game if JKS just isn’t performing, but I think stopping our investment in him would be stupid.
He looked good. I think we have a bona fide qb controversy. My only doubt is JKS did not get the benefit of a competent play caller. But there is a trend in dropped passes with completely different sets of receivers over two years now…
Look this season hasn't gone the way anyone has wanted, and the offense has looked quite poor. But we've been in every game until late even with an anemic offense, and UCLA looks a lot better than anyone expected.
A few calls, a few bounces, some slightly adjusted play calling and we'll be back into a decent season.
You nailed the Bears with your word pictures that long time fans recognize and understand. We are a fan base that suffers through tough injuries of players who we have expectations. We moan and groan at penalties bad calls staff we want replaced. But, then it happens. The dark turns to light and our Bears play their hearts out and make plays that are needed at that particular time... Our team and coaching staff brought their A Game to Memorial Stadium and the cheering didn’t stop. It’s great to a Bear, but sometimes it’s better than great. Going forward, it’s on to the next game💙🏈💛Go Bears💙🏈💛
Beautifully put
Thank you so much💙💛🏈Go Bears💙🏈😊
Let us not forget that had VT had a better field goal kicker Cal would likely have lost this game.
Brousseau played well and the OL actually looked better, perhaps helped by Brousseau’s ability to stay in the pocket when threatened, unlike JKS. Furthermore, Brousseau showed a running ability thst JKS simply does not have. Play calling improvement certainly helped, particularly since it was adapted to the new offensive set and was oriented more to a QB like Brousseau rather than JKS.
The run game was still pretty anemic and one had to wonder how this game would have gone with both Brousseau and Mohammed in the backfield. The powerful running game represented by Mohammed would definitely have helped balance out this new offense.
Still way too many stupid and costly penalties, which goes to coaching and Cal has had way too many targeting penalties already this season.
I make no predictions on where this team will end up, but it now heads into the heart of its ACC season against a set of teams that will take advantage of every mistake and weakness. I am hoping we can beat Stanford to avenge that awful defeat from last year, but even that isn’t a foregone conclusion.
First VT field goal attempt was very long, so that miss can be credited to the Cal defense holding them that far back. Second one? Yeah, hard to explain that. But if they'd gotten that then maybe Cal plays the end game differently, so who knows.
VT's kicker is usually quite good. The earthquake fault must have given him the yips or something.
John Love is an EXCELLENT college kicker. He's caught the yips though - the game before ours and then now ours.
Yes, The Bears have rallied in some unusual ways. But, the one word that I believe you were missing from your description of this team is CHAOTIC. Except, for the Wagner game they haven't been able to control any of the games over 50 percent of the time. Now ,We will face another top 25 team in WF next week at home. Then We go on the road 3 weeks in a row against possible top 25 team in SMU . Then also Virginia and NC State with only one lost at home combined. They need to get their act together and prove they belong to get in a decent bowl game.
Cal led for a total of about 3 minutes in the game, definitely not in control as you said.
ChALotic? CALotic? yes, that is us. ChaotiCAL! that's it.
It's ironic that after spending 20+ million in NIL, we need a walk-on to win the game.
I’m glad Cal still values walk ons. That leaping, spinning catch will always be burned into my brain
Irony of ironies
We also spent money on coaches and used a different OC too!
The announcers pointed out an interesting pattern: at least three times, after giving up a big gain, the defense came back on the next play and forced a TFL.
Resilient Golden Bears!
A W is a W no matter how you get it and I'll take the W over the L any day of the week. Hopefully with the change in our play caller that resulted in more varied and faster developing plays, and getting the ball out quicker, our offense enters a new phase that wins us more games.
However, we still have a new coach who hired a guy like Somerville. That is not a good sign of executive management and experience. But, the fact that Tosh had the guts to replace him midseason is a very good sign. Our Defense forgot how to hit and tackle this week, but they were good enough to do their part to contribute to the W. It sure would be nice to see our team come out and play fundamentally sound football on both sides of the ball.
I hope Tosh and his team win the rest of their games, though I doubt it will happen. Meanwhile UCLA, with their new hire Bob Chesney, is undefeated and is ranked #12 today. As of today they are playoff qualified, but we'll see if it holds. Something tells me they will get there.
I'm supportive of Tosh, but why didn't we hire someone like Bob Chesney with a long track record of success as a HC?
Chesney brought a staff and a bunch of players to the bruins. Instant fit.
Chesney also kept most of the good players that were there and got good guys from the portal.
Let's keep the winning streak alive! Our 2-1 ACC record puts us ahead of 10 other schools! What a difference a new play caller makes! Who's sunshine pumping now? Go Bears...
Ah Avi, you nailed it with "..eat the tacos." I couldn't have said it better myself!!
Seems clear that merely having a functional offense means a lot, and even with our top QB and RBs out Cal was still able to move the ball better than in any game since the opener (adjusting for the expectation that Wagner and UNLV have weaker defenses). Just changing the playcaller helped so much. Feels like we might have only one loss if we'd had this kind of offense all along?
I’m taking it with joy, and moving with it forever. Thank you Avinash, one of your best works in a pantheon of many.
Avi, while you may not have originated the “Rule of 21”, ever since you mentioned it a few seasons back, it’s stayed with me as a way of judging Cal’s chances of pulling out a win.
This season, it proved its validity against ‘Cuse, when the Orange failed to hit two late FGs which would have gotten them to 21 before Lopa’s pick-6.
Then yesterday, despite grabbing the 20-19 lead, VaTech’s failure to convert the 2-point try, prevented the Hokies from reaching 21 before Cal rallied to take the lead, and eventually the win.
(Suffice to say, that didn’t happen in the losses to uclol, Clemson, or UNLV.)
It’s illustrative of this new era of Cal football that #drop50 of a previous iteration has given way to scratching and clawing just to beat our opponents to the magic number of 21.
Really? The team showed guts. Enough of the doom and gloom
rewatching the game and it seems like VT was just content rushing 4 the whole game. Wonder why they didn't bring more pressure
Very Cal to win when not expected and lose when expected. Which Cal will show up next week....
This has been Cal's mo for decades.
Should Brousseau be the starter for the rest of the season?
We should try JKS in the new scheme first. He has a much higher ceiling and we saw flashes of his brilliance last year. It's, of course, possible that he did truly regress or that Brousseau is the next Mendoza, but we have a more plausible alternate explanation to disprove first.
We need to see JKS with the better play calling. I think we now have an option each game if JKS just isn’t performing, but I think stopping our investment in him would be stupid.
He looked good. I think we have a bona fide qb controversy. My only doubt is JKS did not get the benefit of a competent play caller. But there is a trend in dropped passes with completely different sets of receivers over two years now…
No
Look this season hasn't gone the way anyone has wanted, and the offense has looked quite poor. But we've been in every game until late even with an anemic offense, and UCLA looks a lot better than anyone expected.
A few calls, a few bounces, some slightly adjusted play calling and we'll be back into a decent season.