FYI- Here is Coach Freeze statement about playing Cal. They feel they have a much improved passing game to complement their already established running game.
Sad game, sad result to the start of another Wilcox year. Half glass full after 7 seasons? I think not. I just ask you to consider two other patsy games from other eras:
1991 Cal v UOP (Snyder coaching) - 86-24. A no doubter of the season ahead.
2002 Cal v Baylor (Tedford year 1) - 70-22. An indicator of the good times ahead.
(And for good measure Cal v Air Force in 2004, winning 56-14)
It's really hard to compare eras, and while there's some argument that UCDavis is a decent team, there's a stronger argument that the score (and reflective stats) should be something like 55-10. If the team can't dominate UCD even with injuries, I'm struggling to see how they can beat most of the ACC teams. I'm still targeting a max of 6 wins this year, anything over that feels unlikely. And 5 or less is grounds for firing Wilcox, but we all know this isn't happening. That's maybe the saddest part of it all. Maybe Lyons can find the funds, but probably not.
I'll be at Memorial in 2 weeks, hoping they don't lose to a weak SDSU team with a freshman QB.
Watching the entire game in person, I kept watching the d and o lines to see what stood out the most. The latter was overwhelmed most of the game during runs (meaning they couldn’t push open any holes for the running backs) and Davis’s d line kept out leveraging the online (controlling the line to force them to go towards the outside linebackers and making it impossible to go up the middle without hitting the line or the mike linebacker.
The d line was getting manhandled by Davis’ o line most of the first half where their o line kept our d line standing up and off balance.
The second half looked like more of the same for the o line so we had to use inside screens and quick outs (swings, etc) so it made Davis think.
Auburn is going to exploit the lack of o line play and their d backs will pick us off a few times. Unless by some miracle the online improves dramatically, we don’t have much of a chance offensively.
The auburn cupcake taught us nothing (their opponents defense was just plane bad and so overmatched.)
Cal will likely lose by 45 to 3 and make me feel the pain like the suffering of watching cal vs Oregon 2009.
Or, cup half full- we win 20 to 17 off a pick six. Yeah, let’s go with that!
I’d also add that the kicking game looked pretty solid. All kickoffs into the end zone when we had some issues with this the last two years. Both punting and kicking hopefully will not be adventures this season
In other words, we again have the "Only Semi-Sturdy Golden Mixed Results Bears" that didn't manage to gather the full focus that Game Day requires in order to reach the next level.
In fairness, this appears to be more a function of Berkeley-ism than Wilcox-itis.
Watching Wilcox talk to the team and in his pressers, I believe his approach is too much like Professor Football, when Firebrand Coach would be more inspiring. He cannot honestly think that his restrained mannered moves the team nor would it have so moved him when he played. I am quite sure he played with aggression and instinct.
IMHO, Poet-Warrior > Poet-Professor, for football.
One thing that I think is improved over last year is that the QB situation is more clear. I have to presume he won’t play these qb games against the increased competition of Auburn, so I’m a bit more optimistic than last year when we were still early in a super frustrating qb search.
Yeah. Weirdly, Cal last year appeared to have caught lightning in a bottle with how great Finley looked in the opener. I think we were more optimistic last year after one game than we are today. But, yes, we’ve learned that Fernando is a dependable entity, so I do think the QB play on the whole this year will be more stable and consistent.
I’ll give Cal an Incomplete for now. They need to do more homework and turn in assignments. This is what I think as the new school year starts. Go Bears!!
Schroedinger’s Cal! That captures it. Simultaneously mediocre and horrible with terrifying implications for the future in some ways, in other ways improved in areas that should pay off for the rest of the season.
Offense: have to give them an incomplete. Lots of guys held out as a precaution, playbook restricted. Main takeaway for me is Mendoza looked steady, so that bodes well.
Defense: Sirmon defenses are bend-don’t-break, minimize big plays. 1 touchdown on 12 drives, 6 turnovers produced, no big plays. I hate giving up yards, but only the points count. There was possibly some sandbagging here with Reese being held out. Tons of subs- 20 guys recorded tackles- with no drop off in performance.
Special Teams: Every kickoff into the end zone! No missed field goals. A return touchdown! Not to be overlooked- in game adjustments. Remember the Big Game a couple years ago where that team from the South Bay overloaded one side of the line and blocked a field goal? Cal didn’t adjust, they did it again on the extra point at the end of the game and won.
We’ll see how the season goes. All I really know from this game is that special teams are improved and that can only bode well.
Agree re special teams coaches….seeing how they were kicking to the right or left to avoid Ott, they didn’t wait for halftime to adjust by positioning very fast, athletic players to the right and left sidelines, to which Davis did not adjust defensively. Williams told that ball and shot straight up the sidelines, with Davis reacting like he was some sort of UFO. Blocking on the sideline was good as they had the advantageous blocking angles. I attribute that kick off return to , first, excellent adjustment coaching, and, second, the players excellent blocking and a quick accelerating DB (who undoubtedly was a running back in high school). Our Special Teams are off to a great start. And as we all know, Special Teams wins, and loses games
"I know what universe I’ll be dreaming about for the next week."...the same one I've been living in since the term sunshine pumping was coined (btw, to whom do we attribute this rhetorical stroke of genius?)... Living the dream! Go Bears!
My dad, an Old Blue, class of '55, always used to say to us, his kids, as we walked into Memorial Stadium, "I'm already over the loss."
Growing up I decided to be optimistic and positive as a Cal fan but boy oh boy when the UCDavis game was over I could hear my dad from the afterlife saying, "I'm already over the loss to Auburn."
Pessimism and cynicism are traits of a negative personality. Optimism is a trait of a GOOD personality. I would rather not hear people of the former talk at all and I avoid them. So, look forward to going to a or coaching a winning game. If we lose, well it's over and I look forward to the next week.
this game basically the same as Idaho last year, looked like crap early, give up a ton of passing yards, fall behind, then recover.
Still mildly optimistic for the year - passing game looked better, maybe held out more key guys for our FCS game, and played more of the depth chart against Davis. Also ACC doesn't look too strong; Auburn maybe sixth-toughest game last year; this year they're probably third.
Yes, that’s one excuse. But thinking back to our much anticipated bowl game last year, he took over the OC role (granted under dire circumstances with our existing OC abruptly quitting before the bowl) and the offense was horrible. Against Davis he did not go deep: for no good reason. So hopefully I’m missing something here.
Sometimes it’s a good idea to throw deep just to give the dbs etc something to think about…..similar to a brushback pitch in baseball, followed by the late breaking outside slider.
FYI- Here is Coach Freeze statement about playing Cal. They feel they have a much improved passing game to complement their already established running game.
https://youtu.be/yZuZ-xbSL5M?si=8M8PnAdaF_9yoN_l&t=1015
Our point spread against FCS #17 UC Davis was 8 points larger than #3 Oregon's win over FCS #7 Idaho... FWIW
Sad game, sad result to the start of another Wilcox year. Half glass full after 7 seasons? I think not. I just ask you to consider two other patsy games from other eras:
1991 Cal v UOP (Snyder coaching) - 86-24. A no doubter of the season ahead.
2002 Cal v Baylor (Tedford year 1) - 70-22. An indicator of the good times ahead.
(And for good measure Cal v Air Force in 2004, winning 56-14)
It's really hard to compare eras, and while there's some argument that UCDavis is a decent team, there's a stronger argument that the score (and reflective stats) should be something like 55-10. If the team can't dominate UCD even with injuries, I'm struggling to see how they can beat most of the ACC teams. I'm still targeting a max of 6 wins this year, anything over that feels unlikely. And 5 or less is grounds for firing Wilcox, but we all know this isn't happening. That's maybe the saddest part of it all. Maybe Lyons can find the funds, but probably not.
I'll be at Memorial in 2 weeks, hoping they don't lose to a weak SDSU team with a freshman QB.
Watching the entire game in person, I kept watching the d and o lines to see what stood out the most. The latter was overwhelmed most of the game during runs (meaning they couldn’t push open any holes for the running backs) and Davis’s d line kept out leveraging the online (controlling the line to force them to go towards the outside linebackers and making it impossible to go up the middle without hitting the line or the mike linebacker.
The d line was getting manhandled by Davis’ o line most of the first half where their o line kept our d line standing up and off balance.
The second half looked like more of the same for the o line so we had to use inside screens and quick outs (swings, etc) so it made Davis think.
Auburn is going to exploit the lack of o line play and their d backs will pick us off a few times. Unless by some miracle the online improves dramatically, we don’t have much of a chance offensively.
The auburn cupcake taught us nothing (their opponents defense was just plane bad and so overmatched.)
Cal will likely lose by 45 to 3 and make me feel the pain like the suffering of watching cal vs Oregon 2009.
Or, cup half full- we win 20 to 17 off a pick six. Yeah, let’s go with that!
Maybe Ott is ok? This was posted this am. Or maybe they just used a timed post.
https://x.com/CalFootball/status/1830636909875564824?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
I’d also add that the kicking game looked pretty solid. All kickoffs into the end zone when we had some issues with this the last two years. Both punting and kicking hopefully will not be adventures this season
Would have won the Auburn game last year with this kicker.
In other words, we again have the "Only Semi-Sturdy Golden Mixed Results Bears" that didn't manage to gather the full focus that Game Day requires in order to reach the next level.
In fairness, this appears to be more a function of Berkeley-ism than Wilcox-itis.
Watching Wilcox talk to the team and in his pressers, I believe his approach is too much like Professor Football, when Firebrand Coach would be more inspiring. He cannot honestly think that his restrained mannered moves the team nor would it have so moved him when he played. I am quite sure he played with aggression and instinct.
IMHO, Poet-Warrior > Poet-Professor, for football.
One thing that I think is improved over last year is that the QB situation is more clear. I have to presume he won’t play these qb games against the increased competition of Auburn, so I’m a bit more optimistic than last year when we were still early in a super frustrating qb search.
Yeah. Weirdly, Cal last year appeared to have caught lightning in a bottle with how great Finley looked in the opener. I think we were more optimistic last year after one game than we are today. But, yes, we’ve learned that Fernando is a dependable entity, so I do think the QB play on the whole this year will be more stable and consistent.
I’ll give Cal an Incomplete for now. They need to do more homework and turn in assignments. This is what I think as the new school year starts. Go Bears!!
Thanks, Nick.
Great analysis and capture of the Cal football experience.
Schroedinger's Cal: both alive and dead.
I am comfortably numb.
*secretly hoping Wilcox is just playing possum.
Schroedinger’s Cal! That captures it. Simultaneously mediocre and horrible with terrifying implications for the future in some ways, in other ways improved in areas that should pay off for the rest of the season.
Offense: have to give them an incomplete. Lots of guys held out as a precaution, playbook restricted. Main takeaway for me is Mendoza looked steady, so that bodes well.
Defense: Sirmon defenses are bend-don’t-break, minimize big plays. 1 touchdown on 12 drives, 6 turnovers produced, no big plays. I hate giving up yards, but only the points count. There was possibly some sandbagging here with Reese being held out. Tons of subs- 20 guys recorded tackles- with no drop off in performance.
Special Teams: Every kickoff into the end zone! No missed field goals. A return touchdown! Not to be overlooked- in game adjustments. Remember the Big Game a couple years ago where that team from the South Bay overloaded one side of the line and blocked a field goal? Cal didn’t adjust, they did it again on the extra point at the end of the game and won.
We’ll see how the season goes. All I really know from this game is that special teams are improved and that can only bode well.
I am ready for either a season above, at, or below expectations.
Agree re special teams coaches….seeing how they were kicking to the right or left to avoid Ott, they didn’t wait for halftime to adjust by positioning very fast, athletic players to the right and left sidelines, to which Davis did not adjust defensively. Williams told that ball and shot straight up the sidelines, with Davis reacting like he was some sort of UFO. Blocking on the sideline was good as they had the advantageous blocking angles. I attribute that kick off return to , first, excellent adjustment coaching, and, second, the players excellent blocking and a quick accelerating DB (who undoubtedly was a running back in high school). Our Special Teams are off to a great start. And as we all know, Special Teams wins, and loses games
Yes, ST is much, much improved, not that Baghani was not good.
Great adjustment by Coach So'oto. Now maybe he was busy with ST coaching he forgot to coach outside linebackers.
So'oto or Wilcox? Either way, yeah, a stroke of genius that worked out for us.
We won't know exactly who's idea it was. But So'oto is our ST coordinator so I will give him the credit.
"I know what universe I’ll be dreaming about for the next week."...the same one I've been living in since the term sunshine pumping was coined (btw, to whom do we attribute this rhetorical stroke of genius?)... Living the dream! Go Bears!
for giggles (and to gain insight on what makes me giggle) google sunshine pumping and look at the first page results
Urban Dictionary citing?
My dad, an Old Blue, class of '55, always used to say to us, his kids, as we walked into Memorial Stadium, "I'm already over the loss."
Growing up I decided to be optimistic and positive as a Cal fan but boy oh boy when the UCDavis game was over I could hear my dad from the afterlife saying, "I'm already over the loss to Auburn."
Nonetheless, "GO BEARS."
Pessimism and cynicism are traits of a negative personality. Optimism is a trait of a GOOD personality. I would rather not hear people of the former talk at all and I avoid them. So, look forward to going to a or coaching a winning game. If we lose, well it's over and I look forward to the next week.
6-6 prediction is realism; neither pessimism or optimism.
this game basically the same as Idaho last year, looked like crap early, give up a ton of passing yards, fall behind, then recover.
Still mildly optimistic for the year - passing game looked better, maybe held out more key guys for our FCS game, and played more of the depth chart against Davis. Also ACC doesn't look too strong; Auburn maybe sixth-toughest game last year; this year they're probably third.
Great job, Nick! (As usual)
What do you think about Bloesch as OC And Oline coach?
Seems to me he is not doing either job very well.
Too much on his plate?
Yes, that’s one excuse. But thinking back to our much anticipated bowl game last year, he took over the OC role (granted under dire circumstances with our existing OC abruptly quitting before the bowl) and the offense was horrible. Against Davis he did not go deep: for no good reason. So hopefully I’m missing something here.
Going deep requires you give the routes time to develop.
Sometimes it’s a good idea to throw deep just to give the dbs etc something to think about…..similar to a brushback pitch in baseball, followed by the late breaking outside slider.
Hopefully they were just saving all the flashy plays for Auburn and beyond
What he said...