Great write up Nick. I think Coach W was clear when he said we did some things well but there is plenty to improve on. The season is a process and the goal is to get better each week. Only time will tell, but it is nice to win one coming out of the gate. Btw, one YouTube channel that I watched tha was ranking performances from this weekend ended up raving about JKS. He was the top vote getter and not by a little. Now, if we can just get our receivers to hang onto the ball.
Rugbear, after this performance I feel like our (perpetual) pre-season sunshine pumping has been vindicated! We’ve both lived through too many Cal heartbreaks to know this is just one game, but as Nick noted, this one is NOT in the same category as many of those other letdown season openers.
The thing is that even if the After Dark games are on late on the East Coast, anyone who IS watching football at that time is watching that game. So it actually does get notice.
I read that JKS had the best PFF score of any QB on the weekend! I don’t think he rushed a single throw, nor did he miss any throws. The line gave him the time to be patient. No sacks. Lots of young, and sometimes not so young quarterbacks, get impatient and start running. The only time JKS pulled the ball down and ran, he got 25 yards and set up a field goal. Phenomenal.
Went to the Cal Washington game a couple years ago and I remember coming out of it saying that Penix throws the best deep ball I have ever seen from a college quarterback. I saw ALOT of Penix in JKS on Saturday.
JKS is going to have his rookie moments this year, but this is as auspicious as it gets. I couldn't keep my jaw closed out of shock that the dude launching dimes is wearing Cal blue and gold.
I liked them taking a shot with six seconds before halftime. In hindsight it’s easy to say “just take the three”, but at 49 yards it’s probably 50/50 of coming away with nothing anyway. By running one play, you may get a touchdown, or a much shorter field goal. There’s some risk of time expiring, but 6 seconds is usually long enough as long as JKS doesn’t pull a Riley and try to run with it.
The real coaching note here is "Hey, Justin Wilcox, you don't get to carry time outs over to the second half." They shouldn't have had to take a shot with 6 seconds left and a time out still in their pocket. That time out needed to be taken after JKS made a long run in the middle of the field.
Which, significantly, JKS understood perfectly. He popped up signaling for a timeout. Maybe JKS can sit Wilcox down and explain it to him before the next game.
Yeah, the freshman QB had a quicker understanding of game situation than the veteran coach!
If we call a time out right there we have a good 15-20 seconds left at the end of the half and don't have to gamble with a quick throw with 6 seconds to go.
Wilcox stated that since the clock stopped to move the chains they already had a play ready and wanted to go fast, but the team took too long to get set. Kinda makes sense to go tempo while the defense is on its heels, but with 2 timeouts yeah I'm taking one there to be safe.
I don’t mind a play there, so long as the parameters are clear - quick and throw it away if not there. Now why you should do that in that situation is less clear - you are highly unlikely to score a TD, you are just playing for a few more yards. If you wait for a big play (which cough is what we did) then you have a very high chance of time running out (which is almost what happened, and we are fortunate to get that last play allowed).
So why not just kick the ball with those six seconds, or if you want to burn a couple to prevent having to kick off, then center it up and call a quick timeout? What we did there felt like we were in desperate need of those points (we were not) and willing to risk the three for the seven.
It depends on the odds, really. You can make up your own, but suppose there’s a 10% chance of a TD, a 10% chance of a chip shot field goal, a 20% chance of a sack or screwup by JKS, and a 50% chance of making the 49 yarder. Then the expected value of kicking is 1.5 points, and the expected value of running a play is 1.9 points.
I also like the idea of showing trust in JKS in that situation.
Ya I just have different percentages. With six seconds, and a freshman qb playing in his first game, I believe the chance of holding it too long, or just as likely throwing it to the middle of the field and not getting the timeout in time, and coming up empty is way over 20% and came within a second of happening in this case.
Clear eyed and well written as always Nick..Thank you. Now I will retire to a quiet room and continue to scream my head off in sunshine pumping joy. Go Bears Forever baby!
It was a first game with 51 transfers. Give them time to "jell" and then we'll make some more factual opinions. We have a big pool of WR's and I'm sure that there are a few who are really fast and can catch the long bombs which were dropped last night.
This is the best offensive coaching staff Wilcox has put in place. Harsin, Rolo, and Ron are all former head coaches. Rolo will be coaching up all the QB's! I like the center and linemen didn't look lost.
Nice even handed assessment. It was a nice start and did feel different than past years. However, as you pointed out there were several areas where the team fell short that will hold us back from having a really solid year (like Ron Rivera's 8 wins minimum)...1. OL run blocking was better than last year (particularly the formations and movement) but not good enough to beat the better teams on the schedule. 2. Receivers did not get enough separation, Trent Walker had much better separation than any of the Cal receivers. 3. Defensive tackling, as Wilcox pointed out, was not up to par and not as good as last year. Of these, the one that concerns me the most is the run game. We have got to build on that first game and improve the running game significantly. I think the RBs are good enough, we just need to keep working on opening up running lanes, whether that be through play calling or execution. Everyone involved needs to step up realizing (as the team itself said in the fall camp videos) that the team will only go as far as the OL and specifically the run game can take them.
Most college football players have nervous jitters at the opening of the football season, so we can't count on the first game of the season to determine the outcome of a good or bad team throughout the entire year. We wait and see how good the team is until after the second or third game before we know how good the team is.
Well said, as usual. Many thoughts but will stick with only one question: who provided those wreaths or garlands or leis? That was so awesome to see in them.
Great write up Nick. I think Coach W was clear when he said we did some things well but there is plenty to improve on. The season is a process and the goal is to get better each week. Only time will tell, but it is nice to win one coming out of the gate. Btw, one YouTube channel that I watched tha was ranking performances from this weekend ended up raving about JKS. He was the top vote getter and not by a little. Now, if we can just get our receivers to hang onto the ball.
Rugbear, after this performance I feel like our (perpetual) pre-season sunshine pumping has been vindicated! We’ve both lived through too many Cal heartbreaks to know this is just one game, but as Nick noted, this one is NOT in the same category as many of those other letdown season openers.
This feels good…..
That JKS's performance broke through despite being a Pac-12 After Dark Reunion Special is very impressive.
The thing is that even if the After Dark games are on late on the East Coast, anyone who IS watching football at that time is watching that game. So it actually does get notice.
I read that JKS had the best PFF score of any QB on the weekend! I don’t think he rushed a single throw, nor did he miss any throws. The line gave him the time to be patient. No sacks. Lots of young, and sometimes not so young quarterbacks, get impatient and start running. The only time JKS pulled the ball down and ran, he got 25 yards and set up a field goal. Phenomenal.
Let's be fair. He had a bad throw. Exactly one bad throw, where he left it short of the receiver into the ground.
The entire game. One bad throw. This kid is special.
Went to the Cal Washington game a couple years ago and I remember coming out of it saying that Penix throws the best deep ball I have ever seen from a college quarterback. I saw ALOT of Penix in JKS on Saturday.
I like this comp. If JKS can develop Penix’s pocket manipulation skills, oh boy.
And some of his fellow islander, Tua,
JKS is going to have his rookie moments this year, but this is as auspicious as it gets. I couldn't keep my jaw closed out of shock that the dude launching dimes is wearing Cal blue and gold.
I liked them taking a shot with six seconds before halftime. In hindsight it’s easy to say “just take the three”, but at 49 yards it’s probably 50/50 of coming away with nothing anyway. By running one play, you may get a touchdown, or a much shorter field goal. There’s some risk of time expiring, but 6 seconds is usually long enough as long as JKS doesn’t pull a Riley and try to run with it.
The real coaching note here is "Hey, Justin Wilcox, you don't get to carry time outs over to the second half." They shouldn't have had to take a shot with 6 seconds left and a time out still in their pocket. That time out needed to be taken after JKS made a long run in the middle of the field.
Which, significantly, JKS understood perfectly. He popped up signaling for a timeout. Maybe JKS can sit Wilcox down and explain it to him before the next game.
Yeah, the freshman QB had a quicker understanding of game situation than the veteran coach!
If we call a time out right there we have a good 15-20 seconds left at the end of the half and don't have to gamble with a quick throw with 6 seconds to go.
Wilcox stated that since the clock stopped to move the chains they already had a play ready and wanted to go fast, but the team took too long to get set. Kinda makes sense to go tempo while the defense is on its heels, but with 2 timeouts yeah I'm taking one there to be safe.
I think you kind of have to expect that it would take too long to get set in that situation, after a long broken-play run.
Agreed. I do appreciate though that the coaches had a play ready and wanted to capitalize in theory, but shouldve been aware of the practicality.
I also don't understand why the refs didn't blow the whistle when JKS signaled for it either way, unless they didn't see him..
I don’t mind a play there, so long as the parameters are clear - quick and throw it away if not there. Now why you should do that in that situation is less clear - you are highly unlikely to score a TD, you are just playing for a few more yards. If you wait for a big play (which cough is what we did) then you have a very high chance of time running out (which is almost what happened, and we are fortunate to get that last play allowed).
So why not just kick the ball with those six seconds, or if you want to burn a couple to prevent having to kick off, then center it up and call a quick timeout? What we did there felt like we were in desperate need of those points (we were not) and willing to risk the three for the seven.
It depends on the odds, really. You can make up your own, but suppose there’s a 10% chance of a TD, a 10% chance of a chip shot field goal, a 20% chance of a sack or screwup by JKS, and a 50% chance of making the 49 yarder. Then the expected value of kicking is 1.5 points, and the expected value of running a play is 1.9 points.
I also like the idea of showing trust in JKS in that situation.
Ya I just have different percentages. With six seconds, and a freshman qb playing in his first game, I believe the chance of holding it too long, or just as likely throwing it to the middle of the field and not getting the timeout in time, and coming up empty is way over 20% and came within a second of happening in this case.
Clear eyed and well written as always Nick..Thank you. Now I will retire to a quiet room and continue to scream my head off in sunshine pumping joy. Go Bears Forever baby!
Hopefully the WR room takes this game personally and steps up...they got a dude who can get them the ball
It was a first game with 51 transfers. Give them time to "jell" and then we'll make some more factual opinions. We have a big pool of WR's and I'm sure that there are a few who are really fast and can catch the long bombs which were dropped last night.
This is the best offensive coaching staff Wilcox has put in place. Harsin, Rolo, and Ron are all former head coaches. Rolo will be coaching up all the QB's! I like the center and linemen didn't look lost.
"JKS dropped absolute dimes 20+ yards downfield from start to finish"....Sums it up
A fair assessment. Thanks Nick!
Nice even handed assessment. It was a nice start and did feel different than past years. However, as you pointed out there were several areas where the team fell short that will hold us back from having a really solid year (like Ron Rivera's 8 wins minimum)...1. OL run blocking was better than last year (particularly the formations and movement) but not good enough to beat the better teams on the schedule. 2. Receivers did not get enough separation, Trent Walker had much better separation than any of the Cal receivers. 3. Defensive tackling, as Wilcox pointed out, was not up to par and not as good as last year. Of these, the one that concerns me the most is the run game. We have got to build on that first game and improve the running game significantly. I think the RBs are good enough, we just need to keep working on opening up running lanes, whether that be through play calling or execution. Everyone involved needs to step up realizing (as the team itself said in the fall camp videos) that the team will only go as far as the OL and specifically the run game can take them.
The Calgorithm must get cranked up for JKS!!
The Cal fan in me is over the moon about JKS!
The Cal fan in me is also worried about WR and RB talent levels.
“Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele is a Bear, and if you’re putting a ceiling on what he might do in a Cal uniform then your heart has hardened beyond repair.”
With all due respect, this reads like (understandable) projection.
I may or may not be talking to myself!
You wrote a fine recap, as usual, Nick. The closing sentence read a bit harsher than perhaps you had intended. As I say, with all due respect.
Most college football players have nervous jitters at the opening of the football season, so we can't count on the first game of the season to determine the outcome of a good or bad team throughout the entire year. We wait and see how good the team is until after the second or third game before we know how good the team is.
Well said, as usual. Many thoughts but will stick with only one question: who provided those wreaths or garlands or leis? That was so awesome to see in them.
I wondered that too - is it something he/his family does for all games? Only special games (like a debut)? Only when he plays really well?
Yes, his family was there and security let us get on the field after the game!
that was an obscenely good first start. the numbers don't even do it justice.