If he's going to turn it around, it has to happen next Saturday. If Cal loses to TCU, it will require them to have a winning season in the Pac 12 just to finish 6-6 (assuming they can beat my alma mater, Sac State). We all know that Cal has not had a winning record in the Pac since 2009. Tedford couldn't do in his last three years, Sonny…
If he's going to turn it around, it has to happen next Saturday. If Cal loses to TCU, it will require them to have a winning season in the Pac 12 just to finish 6-6 (assuming they can beat my alma mater, Sac State). We all know that Cal has not had a winning record in the Pac since 2009. Tedford couldn't do in his last three years, Sonny couldn't do it in his four years, and Wilcox appears not likely to do it in his fifth year.
I just had an epiphany and a way to get revenge on a Nevada team that has put the whammy on Cal three straight times. Let's say Wilcox takes a header this year and does not turn the offense around. It would then become apparent his ceiling was never a head coach, but a always good defensive coordinator. The Cal administration and boosters pony up and go after Jay Norvell as the next head coach. He would be the first African American head coach at Cal with the bonafides to turn the offense around pretty quickly. He has been a successful offensive mind at places like Nebraska, Oklahama, Texas and Arizona State. And now he has one of the best offenses on the West Coast at Nevada after finding and developing NFL level talent like Strong, Doubs, Cooks, and Turner.
I only dare bring this up because five straight three and outs against a team you should beat at home is just too painful to consider for the short term and long term future.
THAT is a great idea! We should take a page from Oregon. When we beat them last year with a great defense they decided to hire 'Root and one of our other coaches and I'm afraid it is going to have an impact when we meet them in a few weeks. I really like Wilcox but if he can't turn things around, then I hope that his replacement will bring good offense AND defense to the program. Ever since Tedford was fired, we are either all offense (Dykes) or all defense (Wilcox). Why can't we get it right?
Tell me why we were supposed to beat UNR at home. Because they are a Mountain West school? That's unreasonable thinking. As a P5 school we should be a solid matchup against Mountain West schools. But UNR is a preseason favorite to win their conference. They have a QB who has been touted as a to 3 draft pick. They have two WR's and a tight end who will probably play on Sundays. They are a GOOD team and we should not fool ourselves into thinking we're a better team just because we are in the PAC12 and a P5 conference.
Let's start with Cal was not supposed to be just any Pac 12 team. They were picked by the experts and fellow coaches to finish third behind Washington and Oregon in the North Division. And they were named 3.5 point favorites by Vegas. And then you add in a returning 4-year quarterback in Garbers who had the rep - last year notwithstanding - of winning games he started and finished. Lots of experience behind him, too. Then you add in the size advantage in the trenches. Cal proved it by running the ball down Nevada's throat and going up by 14 points before you could blink.
So yes, Cal should have won on paper. But what was not calculated was player development during the off season and game planning by the coaches. It was pretty clear from watching the game that Nevada wanted it more and had coaches that made better adjustments. I will just go right out and say it now...they have better coaches with better schemes that fit the talent they have. For that program to have four or five NFL ready guys on their offense when probably none of them received much attention from Pac 12 programs is pretty remarkable.
I don't know if any of you read my prediction of the game outcome: I said we would either win big going away (like the 1st quarter) or we would lose close in the final minutes. Lastly, I understand everything you are saying, but go back to what I said about UNR having a potential TOP 3 DRAFT PICK at QB, two WR's and a tight end that will play on Sundays, they ARE a good team, probably better than TCU. As to adjustments, we made them, but we DID NOT EXECUTE. And we did not have any explosive plays, unlike UNR. Lastly, in 2010 UNR had Colin Kaepernick at QB and they ended the season ranked 15th in the December 5th BCS poll. This year's UNR team could be better than the pundits realize.
We can't make explosive plays when our fastest receivers are on the bench. Honestly, our best receivers all transferred and now we're sitting here relying on who would have been their backups while the freshmen sit. I don't get it. I know playbooks can be hard to pick up in your first year, but we're instead deciding to just rely on a roster that hasn't worked for 3 years.
We will find out how good of a team Nevada is when they go on the road to play Kansas State, the team that just knocked off Stanford. I predict they lose that game. I agree with you they are a very good Mountain West team, but they do not play particularly well on the road (until Saturday night, that is). They got beat in Hawaii last year. They will have a nice little 10-2 regular season and beat Tulane in the Captain Crunch Bowl. And I am thinking that record would be 6-6 if they played Cal's schedule.
I think the comparison to the 2010 Nevada team is a much different animal. Kaepernick was a player that college football had never seen before. He was also perfectly suited for Chris Ault's pistol offense. He remains the only college quarterback in history who had over 9,000 passing yards and 3,000 yards rushing. No wait a minute....I'm wrong there. There was another quarterback who did that. His name was Cody Fajardo. He also played for Nevada and was the guy who ruined Cal's new stadium opening in 2012.
We had a few explosive running plays but we had no explosive passing plays. That’s a big part of the problem and why Nevada had a much better passing game than us despite similar passing attempts and completions.
Lastly, I agree that on offense they have talent but that defense is not talented enough to hold a decent Pac 12 team to only 17 points.
Our defense played well enough to win the game and held a talented and explosive offense in check. Our offense couldn’t exploit an average MWC defense. Which isn’t a good sign when we will be facing teams with more talent on defense.
I agree with your first premise and would hope to agree with your second one, but if you watch the film, it's pretty clear where we got beat...and for a PAC12 team, it should not have happened.
Yes the Nevada offense is good and has some talent at QB and WR. Our defense did a good job of holding all that offensive talent to 22 points. We didn’t lose this game because we couldn’t stop Nevada.
Nevada lacks talent on defense. How many of those defenders do you think get drafted? The issue is our offense was shut down for 3 quarters against a defense that is probably below average in terms of Pac 12 talent.
I don't know the whole picture. How many were dropped (I counted at least 5). Even with these he had a decent pass completion percentage. And how many misses and the int were obvious throws? The int at the end was an obvious late 4th quarter with no time outs left play. Where do you go in that situation? The sideline. While I wasn't super impressed with Chase's game, from the limited film I watched, he wasn't bad either. He had a better efficiency than Strong, he just didn't have the deep throws. And that leads to the question of why. The film tells me that it's not all on Chase. The o-line did not give him the time to set up in the pocket and throw the deep ball. And that's on the film and the film doesn't lie.
That would be an informed hire. I have always liked Wilcox and he plays the coach at Cal role very well. The problem is the results and the under .500 conference performance as you suggest.
I wonder if the executive search firm AD will hire would be smart enough to contact him. And if Norvell has a successful season someone lease will probably offer him more than we would be able.
If he's going to turn it around, it has to happen next Saturday. If Cal loses to TCU, it will require them to have a winning season in the Pac 12 just to finish 6-6 (assuming they can beat my alma mater, Sac State). We all know that Cal has not had a winning record in the Pac since 2009. Tedford couldn't do in his last three years, Sonny couldn't do it in his four years, and Wilcox appears not likely to do it in his fifth year.
I just had an epiphany and a way to get revenge on a Nevada team that has put the whammy on Cal three straight times. Let's say Wilcox takes a header this year and does not turn the offense around. It would then become apparent his ceiling was never a head coach, but a always good defensive coordinator. The Cal administration and boosters pony up and go after Jay Norvell as the next head coach. He would be the first African American head coach at Cal with the bonafides to turn the offense around pretty quickly. He has been a successful offensive mind at places like Nebraska, Oklahama, Texas and Arizona State. And now he has one of the best offenses on the West Coast at Nevada after finding and developing NFL level talent like Strong, Doubs, Cooks, and Turner.
I only dare bring this up because five straight three and outs against a team you should beat at home is just too painful to consider for the short term and long term future.
Norvell will have sooooo many better offers than Cal if he wins the conference.
THAT is a great idea! We should take a page from Oregon. When we beat them last year with a great defense they decided to hire 'Root and one of our other coaches and I'm afraid it is going to have an impact when we meet them in a few weeks. I really like Wilcox but if he can't turn things around, then I hope that his replacement will bring good offense AND defense to the program. Ever since Tedford was fired, we are either all offense (Dykes) or all defense (Wilcox). Why can't we get it right?
how about we just get a bunch of coaches from Oregon?
Tell me why we were supposed to beat UNR at home. Because they are a Mountain West school? That's unreasonable thinking. As a P5 school we should be a solid matchup against Mountain West schools. But UNR is a preseason favorite to win their conference. They have a QB who has been touted as a to 3 draft pick. They have two WR's and a tight end who will probably play on Sundays. They are a GOOD team and we should not fool ourselves into thinking we're a better team just because we are in the PAC12 and a P5 conference.
Let's start with Cal was not supposed to be just any Pac 12 team. They were picked by the experts and fellow coaches to finish third behind Washington and Oregon in the North Division. And they were named 3.5 point favorites by Vegas. And then you add in a returning 4-year quarterback in Garbers who had the rep - last year notwithstanding - of winning games he started and finished. Lots of experience behind him, too. Then you add in the size advantage in the trenches. Cal proved it by running the ball down Nevada's throat and going up by 14 points before you could blink.
So yes, Cal should have won on paper. But what was not calculated was player development during the off season and game planning by the coaches. It was pretty clear from watching the game that Nevada wanted it more and had coaches that made better adjustments. I will just go right out and say it now...they have better coaches with better schemes that fit the talent they have. For that program to have four or five NFL ready guys on their offense when probably none of them received much attention from Pac 12 programs is pretty remarkable.
I don't know if any of you read my prediction of the game outcome: I said we would either win big going away (like the 1st quarter) or we would lose close in the final minutes. Lastly, I understand everything you are saying, but go back to what I said about UNR having a potential TOP 3 DRAFT PICK at QB, two WR's and a tight end that will play on Sundays, they ARE a good team, probably better than TCU. As to adjustments, we made them, but we DID NOT EXECUTE. And we did not have any explosive plays, unlike UNR. Lastly, in 2010 UNR had Colin Kaepernick at QB and they ended the season ranked 15th in the December 5th BCS poll. This year's UNR team could be better than the pundits realize.
We can't make explosive plays when our fastest receivers are on the bench. Honestly, our best receivers all transferred and now we're sitting here relying on who would have been their backups while the freshmen sit. I don't get it. I know playbooks can be hard to pick up in your first year, but we're instead deciding to just rely on a roster that hasn't worked for 3 years.
We will find out how good of a team Nevada is when they go on the road to play Kansas State, the team that just knocked off Stanford. I predict they lose that game. I agree with you they are a very good Mountain West team, but they do not play particularly well on the road (until Saturday night, that is). They got beat in Hawaii last year. They will have a nice little 10-2 regular season and beat Tulane in the Captain Crunch Bowl. And I am thinking that record would be 6-6 if they played Cal's schedule.
I think the comparison to the 2010 Nevada team is a much different animal. Kaepernick was a player that college football had never seen before. He was also perfectly suited for Chris Ault's pistol offense. He remains the only college quarterback in history who had over 9,000 passing yards and 3,000 yards rushing. No wait a minute....I'm wrong there. There was another quarterback who did that. His name was Cody Fajardo. He also played for Nevada and was the guy who ruined Cal's new stadium opening in 2012.
We had a few explosive running plays but we had no explosive passing plays. That’s a big part of the problem and why Nevada had a much better passing game than us despite similar passing attempts and completions.
Lastly, I agree that on offense they have talent but that defense is not talented enough to hold a decent Pac 12 team to only 17 points.
Our defense played well enough to win the game and held a talented and explosive offense in check. Our offense couldn’t exploit an average MWC defense. Which isn’t a good sign when we will be facing teams with more talent on defense.
I agree with your first premise and would hope to agree with your second one, but if you watch the film, it's pretty clear where we got beat...and for a PAC12 team, it should not have happened.
Yes the Nevada offense is good and has some talent at QB and WR. Our defense did a good job of holding all that offensive talent to 22 points. We didn’t lose this game because we couldn’t stop Nevada.
Nevada lacks talent on defense. How many of those defenders do you think get drafted? The issue is our offense was shut down for 3 quarters against a defense that is probably below average in terms of Pac 12 talent.
Watch the tape. It tells the truth.
It does, it shows Garber missing passes both short and long, thus why he only threw for 177 yards.
I don't know the whole picture. How many were dropped (I counted at least 5). Even with these he had a decent pass completion percentage. And how many misses and the int were obvious throws? The int at the end was an obvious late 4th quarter with no time outs left play. Where do you go in that situation? The sideline. While I wasn't super impressed with Chase's game, from the limited film I watched, he wasn't bad either. He had a better efficiency than Strong, he just didn't have the deep throws. And that leads to the question of why. The film tells me that it's not all on Chase. The o-line did not give him the time to set up in the pocket and throw the deep ball. And that's on the film and the film doesn't lie.
Just take I-80 West until he gets to Berkeley. This would be a great hire.
That would be an informed hire. I have always liked Wilcox and he plays the coach at Cal role very well. The problem is the results and the under .500 conference performance as you suggest.
No one ever has looked better in Cal gear on the sidelines.
I wonder if the executive search firm AD will hire would be smart enough to contact him. And if Norvell has a successful season someone lease will probably offer him more than we would be able.