Very interesting weekend of college football. Really surprised at the Washington loss, though I didn't watch the game. Saw about 2/3 of the Stanford game. My impression is that the smash mouth character of Stanford in its glory days is gone. Either the running backs are lousy or the line can't block. They also played with an amazing lack of urgency. Never tried tempo and seemed content to just lose the game. I'm surprised at Cal's relatively high ranking but I guess this Saturday will be the real litmus test as to whether the Bears can have a winning season.
Nick....you say that Cal is probably now resigned to a 6-6 season as though it is the worst outcome imaginable after one game. I would be delirious over a 6-6 season because it probably means that Cal would have its first winning record in the Pac 12 since 2009. I am penciling in a loss next week at TCU. By all accounts, they play much better defense than Nevada. This is a team that held high powered offenses like Texas Tech and Oklahama State last year to 18 and 22 points respectively. It will also be 100 degrees in Fort Worth on Saturday, and Cal will be starting the game on their 10:30 a.m. clock.
Although Coach Wilcox would undoubtedly also be disappointed with a 6-6 record in his fifth year, he must know deep down that he has permanent job security at Cal if can keep churning out those .500 records.
The game is at 12:30 p.m. Texas time, but the Cal players' inner clock will be at 10:30 a.m., which is when the game starts on Pacifica Coast time. It was a similar situation when Cal played Mississippi two years ago and had no problems. The bigger issue might be the Texas heat. It's just miserable there this time of year with higher humidity than what we typically see in California.
I wonder what the conditions were like in the 2008 Maryland game when Jahvid Best took a hard hit and puked up all the Gatorade he had in his body. The Bears were not prepared for that heat and humidity.
It touched 90 degrees that day and the dew point was around 70, which means it was extremely humid. The dew point in Fort Worth is forecast to be around 55, so there will not be too much moisture in the air. The humidity shouldn't be too bad, even for those coming from dry environments.
Good to know. So no blaming the weather. My only experience with Texas late summer weather was a conference I attended in Austin. It was just miserable outside the whole time. The town was also overhyped, IMO. Reminded me of downtown Sacramento.
It's available to view on You Tube for anyone interested. Best took some vicious hits in his days at Cal, but none more violent than that. It set the tone for the game. Cal returned the favor the next year at Memorial and dropped 52 on Maryland.
That's equal parts a "compliment" to Cal and skepticism about the quality of most of the Pac-12. Other than possibly USC, everyone on Cal's schedule looks beatable. I seriously doubt they're going to win most of those games, but the conference has plenty of mediocre-to-bad teams and Cal should scrap together some wins against them.
What happened to Lake? He might be fired after this season. He can’t even seem to recruit well anymore. He seems to be in the same category as Wilcox; Good recruiter and coordinator but that is their ceiling.
I don't know but Husky fans are ready to run him out of town. For Wilcox this three game stretch coming up might determine his fate. If we go 0-3 then it's going to be sad Bear face time.
I say he's in a worse category than Wilcox. I think we started out-recruiting UW, even though they're coming from a recent history of playing in the playoffs and ours is just being happy to be in a bowl.
Christopher_h, how’d did you have the Huskies as high as 6? Or was that a misprint?
Probably has to do with how ugly all 6 losses were.
Definitely not a misprint because he had to input it twice. (And turn a number of keys and pull a series of levers--it's a very meticulous process.)
I'm guessing he is still crediting them for their raw talent and coaching potential and not just one (terrible, embarrassing) data point.
Having been filling these out for years, I can say that it's a tough balance.
Very interesting weekend of college football. Really surprised at the Washington loss, though I didn't watch the game. Saw about 2/3 of the Stanford game. My impression is that the smash mouth character of Stanford in its glory days is gone. Either the running backs are lousy or the line can't block. They also played with an amazing lack of urgency. Never tried tempo and seemed content to just lose the game. I'm surprised at Cal's relatively high ranking but I guess this Saturday will be the real litmus test as to whether the Bears can have a winning season.
Nick....you say that Cal is probably now resigned to a 6-6 season as though it is the worst outcome imaginable after one game. I would be delirious over a 6-6 season because it probably means that Cal would have its first winning record in the Pac 12 since 2009. I am penciling in a loss next week at TCU. By all accounts, they play much better defense than Nevada. This is a team that held high powered offenses like Texas Tech and Oklahama State last year to 18 and 22 points respectively. It will also be 100 degrees in Fort Worth on Saturday, and Cal will be starting the game on their 10:30 a.m. clock.
Although Coach Wilcox would undoubtedly also be disappointed with a 6-6 record in his fifth year, he must know deep down that he has permanent job security at Cal if can keep churning out those .500 records.
Cal @ TCU is at 12:30PM PT, no? (not 10:30AM PT)
The game is at 12:30 p.m. Texas time, but the Cal players' inner clock will be at 10:30 a.m., which is when the game starts on Pacifica Coast time. It was a similar situation when Cal played Mississippi two years ago and had no problems. The bigger issue might be the Texas heat. It's just miserable there this time of year with higher humidity than what we typically see in California.
Game is at 12:30 pacific per espn.com
And for the record I detest auto hyperlinking
Game on ESPNU, FYI.
Here's a preview from Frogs O War (TCU blog site)
https://www.frogsowar.com/2021/9/6/22659534/quick-look-cal-bears-tcu-football-college-patterson-duggan-garbers-wilcox-big-12-pac-12
We're exchanging a Q&A with Melissa and them this week, so keep your eyes peeled for the Cheez-y goodness.
Forecast is for 95 degrees at kick-off, 34% humidity which isn't really bad for Texas. The field level conditions are likely to be hotter.
I wonder what the conditions were like in the 2008 Maryland game when Jahvid Best took a hard hit and puked up all the Gatorade he had in his body. The Bears were not prepared for that heat and humidity.
It touched 90 degrees that day and the dew point was around 70, which means it was extremely humid. The dew point in Fort Worth is forecast to be around 55, so there will not be too much moisture in the air. The humidity shouldn't be too bad, even for those coming from dry environments.
Good to know. So no blaming the weather. My only experience with Texas late summer weather was a conference I attended in Austin. It was just miserable outside the whole time. The town was also overhyped, IMO. Reminded me of downtown Sacramento.
That is horrific
It's available to view on You Tube for anyone interested. Best took some vicious hits in his days at Cal, but none more violent than that. It set the tone for the game. Cal returned the favor the next year at Memorial and dropped 52 on Maryland.
Their 10:30am would be our 8:30am
my 5:15pm is UK PM Boris Johnson's 9:15pm
I would gladly go 1-2 in OOC if it meant we went 8-1 in Pac 12 play.
GO least embarrassing loss in the Pac-12 North BEARS!
LEL! LEL! LEL!
I usually don’t advocate someone being released, but I just want to know where everyone’s mind is at.
If Wilcox gets four wins or less this year, should they consider letting him go?
I would hope Justyn Martin or Kai Milliner would get the nod by then.
If he goes 5-7 I think he earns another year. Anything below that and he might be in trouble.
I think 5 wins is the floor for me. Anything below that and I’d probably be calling for his job.
Anything less than 5 wins and he should be let go.
Hard to argue. A bit homer for our Bears but hard to argue.
“Cal looks like a 6 win team.” At this point I think 3-4 wins is more realistic.
Agreed. Wilcox won’t have his 3-0 OOC cushion to prop up his losing record in the Pac 12.
I think we get destroyed this weekend. My prediction is 38-13.
I also think we end up with a 3-6 Pac 12 record.
So assuming we beat Sac State, I have us at 4-8 with a lot of those losses being ugly and by more than double digits.
That's equal parts a "compliment" to Cal and skepticism about the quality of most of the Pac-12. Other than possibly USC, everyone on Cal's schedule looks beatable. I seriously doubt they're going to win most of those games, but the conference has plenty of mediocre-to-bad teams and Cal should scrap together some wins against them.
On the bright side, the North looks like absolute trash this year so what would be unrealistic wins are now within reach.
What happened to Lake? He might be fired after this season. He can’t even seem to recruit well anymore. He seems to be in the same category as Wilcox; Good recruiter and coordinator but that is their ceiling.
I don't know but Husky fans are ready to run him out of town. For Wilcox this three game stretch coming up might determine his fate. If we go 0-3 then it's going to be sad Bear face time.
I can’t imagine this Cal team losing to Sac State. If it does and we start 0-3, Wilcox would have to win the Pac 12 north to avoid being fired.
I say he's in a worse category than Wilcox. I think we started out-recruiting UW, even though they're coming from a recent history of playing in the playoffs and ours is just being happy to be in a bowl.
There are two ratings systems (Congrove & Hatch) that have USC as #1 in the country!
Cal #81 in the meta ratings.