I'd say the mantra of Cal winning or losing close is not going to change too much, at least during the last year of Garbers. I don't anticipate many Cal 49, Oregon State 7 lines in my future. Assuming equal health, the Bears will probably be winning most games between 1-10 points and losing most games between 1-10 points.
So we'll be exciting to watch week-by-week, if nothing else.
I learned Coach Browning is an excellent coach and recruiter. I learned that the culture and future of Cal football is also envisioned by all the young men that stuck to their commitments while Cal was stinking it up on the playing field. I view this as a major endorsement of Wilcox and staff and good on them.
I was reminded that in 4 years the OL hasn't improved, at all. Saffell announcing that he is returning made me cringe (yeah, yeah I get that he is a fan favorite).
I learned that once we have an offense that can run the ball when they want to and develop a QB that is in the top third of the conference and not the bottom third that Wilcox will have what he seeks (although if it takes much longer he may need to change the plan). Should Cal achieve these two things, they will be competitive with any team in the conference. That said, I'm not holding my breath on the OL. Musgrave gets a full pass on this year without a doubt.
I learned that Ragle is what we thought he was: a recruiter.
I learned that my cardboard pic never gets hungry or thirsty during the game and never misses a play cuz he had to piss. So, I have that going for me which is nice.
I'm the opposite on #2. It's too early to tell, but I think the early signals for Musgrave were more positive than Beau's first games. This is considering Musgrave had like 0 weeks to install his offense before we got a first look.
Generally I view the entire season for all teams as a worthless measure. I err on the side of not reading too much into anything for our Bears. Taking what we did in 2019 and subtracting a few and adding the good incoming class, I would just project us as a top 30% team in the league for 2021. And this was one of very few years since 1987 that I didn't attend a game at Memorial. I'll be buying season tickets for 2021 even though I can only make it down from Seattle for a couple games, as a donation. Give away the rest. Go Bears!
I'm adopting the view that 2020 was just one long spring football session.
#1 - Yes, Brett is awesome.
#2 - The lack of practice time impacted the ability of the offense to take in the new system and gel. It'll take some real snaps on the practice field before we can evaluate Musgrave as the OC. Also, Musgrave probably didn't have a chance to evaluate the talent he had early on and craft the offense to match their skills/abilities. For 2021, we did get a couple WRs that can stretch the field (Sturdivant and Anderson), and the O-Line backups got on-the-field experience which is good.
#3 - Hard to see a defense match Takers 1.0 with the loss of Coach Alexander (notice how Miami's DBs have stepped up their game this year?). But with Coach Wilcox, defense should always be a strength for the team, so I'm not worried here.
#4 - Special teams is always a function of dedicated situational practice time and I'm guessing it got the short end of the stick with all the COVID practice time restrictions. Under normal circumstances, I'm confident they will improve to at least be neutral and not hurt the team's chances at winning.
I decided a couple of weeks ago that we really cannot learn anything from the 2020 season other than the fact that special teams were abominable. We were 1-3 but easily could have been 3-1 minus a freak interception and a blocked PAT. Then the season would have had the patina of success. Alas, it was not to be. Given the fact that so many players were out (perhaps with the exception of the Oregon game where we seemed to have put things together) and then Covid striking again, it is clearly a season to forget. The silver lining is a Top 25 recruiting class which should benefit Cal in coming seasons. The staff (and players who zoomed) kept the class intact despite all hell breaking loose. They deserve kudos for that.
I learned how much I truly miss attending games, even if they're road contests for the Bears.
I'd say the mantra of Cal winning or losing close is not going to change too much, at least during the last year of Garbers. I don't anticipate many Cal 49, Oregon State 7 lines in my future. Assuming equal health, the Bears will probably be winning most games between 1-10 points and losing most games between 1-10 points.
So we'll be exciting to watch week-by-week, if nothing else.
I learned Coach Browning is an excellent coach and recruiter. I learned that the culture and future of Cal football is also envisioned by all the young men that stuck to their commitments while Cal was stinking it up on the playing field. I view this as a major endorsement of Wilcox and staff and good on them.
I was reminded that in 4 years the OL hasn't improved, at all. Saffell announcing that he is returning made me cringe (yeah, yeah I get that he is a fan favorite).
I learned that once we have an offense that can run the ball when they want to and develop a QB that is in the top third of the conference and not the bottom third that Wilcox will have what he seeks (although if it takes much longer he may need to change the plan). Should Cal achieve these two things, they will be competitive with any team in the conference. That said, I'm not holding my breath on the OL. Musgrave gets a full pass on this year without a doubt.
I learned that Ragle is what we thought he was: a recruiter.
I learned that my cardboard pic never gets hungry or thirsty during the game and never misses a play cuz he had to piss. So, I have that going for me which is nice.
I'm the opposite on #2. It's too early to tell, but I think the early signals for Musgrave were more positive than Beau's first games. This is considering Musgrave had like 0 weeks to install his offense before we got a first look.
Generally I view the entire season for all teams as a worthless measure. I err on the side of not reading too much into anything for our Bears. Taking what we did in 2019 and subtracting a few and adding the good incoming class, I would just project us as a top 30% team in the league for 2021. And this was one of very few years since 1987 that I didn't attend a game at Memorial. I'll be buying season tickets for 2021 even though I can only make it down from Seattle for a couple games, as a donation. Give away the rest. Go Bears!
I think even if Covid or its mutation goes on for another season, we still would not be able to meaningfully predict.
I'm adopting the view that 2020 was just one long spring football session.
#1 - Yes, Brett is awesome.
#2 - The lack of practice time impacted the ability of the offense to take in the new system and gel. It'll take some real snaps on the practice field before we can evaluate Musgrave as the OC. Also, Musgrave probably didn't have a chance to evaluate the talent he had early on and craft the offense to match their skills/abilities. For 2021, we did get a couple WRs that can stretch the field (Sturdivant and Anderson), and the O-Line backups got on-the-field experience which is good.
#3 - Hard to see a defense match Takers 1.0 with the loss of Coach Alexander (notice how Miami's DBs have stepped up their game this year?). But with Coach Wilcox, defense should always be a strength for the team, so I'm not worried here.
#4 - Special teams is always a function of dedicated situational practice time and I'm guessing it got the short end of the stick with all the COVID practice time restrictions. Under normal circumstances, I'm confident they will improve to at least be neutral and not hurt the team's chances at winning.
I decided a couple of weeks ago that we really cannot learn anything from the 2020 season other than the fact that special teams were abominable. We were 1-3 but easily could have been 3-1 minus a freak interception and a blocked PAT. Then the season would have had the patina of success. Alas, it was not to be. Given the fact that so many players were out (perhaps with the exception of the Oregon game where we seemed to have put things together) and then Covid striking again, it is clearly a season to forget. The silver lining is a Top 25 recruiting class which should benefit Cal in coming seasons. The staff (and players who zoomed) kept the class intact despite all hell breaking loose. They deserve kudos for that.