Cal's coaching falls into a pit at Pitt
Fans have seen the same movie for three straight weeks
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” - Albert Einstein
When people show you who they are, believe them.
After yesterday’s fiasco in the Steel City, Cal is now 15-25 in one score games under Justin Wilcox. What some (including myself) once thought were demons put aside after Auburn have come back as the painstaking nightmare that they always have been through eight years of this coaching staff.
Cal out gained Pitt 335-277 in total yards. They out threw them 272-133. Earned 23 first downs to Pitt’s 14 and converted 6 3rd downs as opposed to Pitt’s 1.
At the end of the day, its the same song with a different verse. The Bears continually find ways to lose, but in this case the sores were right front and center.
The worst decision(s) I’ve seen in eight years
Justin Wilcox in my mind doesn’t tend to actively make bad decisions (hear me out), rather the lanes he chooses don’t work out by the end. These were some of the only times where it was clear from the start that these were not great ideas, compounded by the lack of execution from units that have struggled all season.
Early on, Cal moved the ball down the field, got into the end zone, and then went for two? In a sequence that felt similar to the Cal vs TCU 2021 showdown, the Bears didn’t convert on a play that looked open, and led coaches to chase points that were at a premium throughout the day. There was little reason to do this, was contrarian to the style of football that Wilcox shoots for, and became part of the genesis for the loss.
At the end of the game, the offense was moving the ball with under four minutes remaining, getting to the Pitt 23 yard line. In the next set of chains, the offense sat on the ball, took out Fernando Mendoza on a crucial third down, and turtled the possession into a 40 yard field goal attempt. Normally that’s whatever, but when you consider the turbulent nature of the kicking unit, the philosophy to rely on that is troublesome at best, gobsmacking at worst.
Postgame, he defended his choice at the end, stating the team was going for first downs and trying to move the ball.
I don’t buy it.
That field goal sequence was an unmitigated disaster and a complete failure to put their team in the best possible position to win. When Ryan Coe missed the 40 yard field goal, it became a sum of the parts fans have seen over the years. Inconsistent aggression, flawed process, capped off with turbulent execution.
Coe is not absolved in this scenario but it runs to a point of malpractice in running a kicker out there with 50% accuracy. Needless to say, this kicking competition needs to be more than open.
Fernando Mendoza is trying
I really want to give Fernando Mendoza his flowers for staying upright despite taking hit after hit in the backfield. He’s really trying. Sometimes, he just doesn’t even have a chance to make it happen, and that’s really unfortunate. The offensive line is teeing him up for pass rushers to get into the backfield and there just isn’t much that fans can ask of him when he never gets the time.
Here is Cal’s chart of giving up sacks and TFL’s through 6 games:
UC Davis: 1 sack and 6 TFL’s
Auburn: 3 sacks and 5 TFL’s
SDSU: 6 sacks and 7 TFL’s
FSU: 3 sacks and 7 TFL’s
Miami: 2 sacks and 7 TFL’s
Pitt: 6 sacks and 11 TFL’s
Too many times, this offense has been set behind the chains for it to work. It’s a combination of coaching, process, and execution*. Jaydn Ott or not, this line hasn’t been able to churn out anything consistently aside from the second half on the ground against SDSU. Fernando Mendoza was seemingly under duress every time he dropped back, crumbling the offense before it began. This style has forced Cal to become one dimensional in its play calling, forcing max protection and as a result allowing teams to pin their ears back.
The 2024 team will only go so far as the offensive line will let them.
*Mike Bloesch is not called out by name but he needs to be better. He has not been up to the task in any aspect whatsoever this season and its set this roster back from reaching their ceiling. Play calling, coaching, preparation, all of it, his balance of responsibility so far has been a failure.
A shoutout to the Bay Area boys
Jaivian Thomas and Jack Endries were tasked to step up to the plate against Pitt. They both delivered and then some. Endries had a career high eight receptions for a career high 119 yards and a touchdown, making play after play in soft spots of the zone. He became the safety valve on a shaking canvas and came through with several clutch catches. With no Corey Dyches against the Panthers, the onus was on Endries to make plays and the former walk-on answered the call.
In the backfield, the JET was taking several hits and had to get up off the mat numerous times. Considering the last calendar year for him, you can’t question his toughness, desire to win, and resiliency. Thomas got off said mat numerous times, working through several nicks en route to a 17 carry, 72 yard, and one touchdown performance. When Jaydn Ott departs at the end of this season, the fanbase should have trust in Oakland’s own to get the job done when his number is called.
Conclusions
After Miami, I stated that everyone would find out exactly what type of team Cal is after facing their biggest adversity to date this season. I think we’ve found out exactly what team this is.
A scrappy, 2018-2019 esque team that is limited by an offensive line that doesn’t generate push and inconsistent decision making from the coaching staff. They didn’t wilt. They also didn’t win.
It’s year eight of this regime, and the same movie continues to air at Cal fans theaters. Yesterday revealed a team that’s on the precipice of breaking down the door but trips over themselves right at the finish line. The talent floor has been raised, but the consistency continues to remain the same.
At this juncture, that’s not good enough. Not when this fanbase has ponied up the dollars, showcased their support, and fought their way back to buying back in only to be kicked in the face again.
Sure the schedule gets easier down the stretch. But there’s only objective that matters. Win.
Wilcox came to Cal wanting to make it a run oriented, ball control, and defensive oriented team. He wanted to make us like Wisconsin or Stanford. Which is fine but in order to do that you better have a strong OL and a great FG kicker who can make critical FGs because most of your games will be low scoring and points will be at a premium.
Wilcox has 8 years to implement this and he has failed completely. Our OL has never been great, let alone good. It is often average to below average. He has made terrible OC hires (Bill Musgrove) and terrible OL hires (Angus McClure) and this year he came to the puzzling conclusion that our OL, with years of struggling as a unit, did not need a dedicated and full time position coach. I wish someone would ask Wilcox why he felt our OL was good enough that it didn’t need its own dedicated position coach. Why when we play low scoring games, Wilcox can’t find a consistent FG kicker that can make 90% of their FGs within 40 yards? You would think a coach who believes in ball control and defense would also make special teams a priority but he hasn’t. Under Wilcox, only 1/3 of our team has been functional.
This is why Wilcox needs to be fired. He can’t even create the type of team he wants.
Setting up for a 40-yard kick was NOT "whatever" even with a good kicker, because it was TOO EARLY to turtle up like that. Pitt had a kicker who had nailed a field goal from 58 yards away! You can't just give them the ball back with 1:50 remaining. Cal needed another first down, at minimum.
Wilcox may SAY he was trying for first downs, but the team's actions say otherwise: two runs into the middle and then taking Mendoza off the field. And this after Mendoza had gotten us to that position by slinging the ball downfield! I could not believe what I was watching.