Dying is easy...the bear will not quit, the bear will not die. I personally cannot impact anything that happens on the field. The only thing I have control over is how I chose to support this team. I will be critical, but I will also be unwavering. This shit is hard. Go bears forever.
Thx Nick, with you that 2026 is now fundamentally a lost season. So we are back on the Wilcox yearly OC hamster wheel - unless we keep Rolo and make him the OC for the rest of this year and into 2027. That might be the ONLY way to save JKS for next year. For me, staying alive means checking the box score on Sat night or Sunday AM, as I'm dying watching the Cal football program right now... GO BEARS (sigh).
I don't know if Rolo is the answer at OC either. Do we keep Rolo as OC next year just to keep JKS? And who knows if he will stay even with Rolo with this disaster OL.
I really appreciated that Tosh did something with the offense this past game. It was obvious Rolo had a big role in the game but it felt like an emergency treatment. We needed a change and it was there, but it didn't look sustainable. I get it was a short notice so maybe it will be better this week, but how is it that a pass rusher gets to JKS on almost every play?
I too appreciate that Tosh realized the O was going nowhere due to the ineffective O line, and he used the best guy he had (Rolo) to make that change. The Air Raid O emphasizes getting the ball out faster (2.0-2.5 secs) vs Pro-style (2.8-3.5 secs) , with shorter blocking times needed for the O line and less processing for the QB. That is how Mike Leach won so many games with smaller O lines and only OK QBs. As the GBs embrace this O I believe things HAVE to improve overall. The Air Raid / Run and Shoot is the only path for this O to stay alive...
I just do not believe JkS will tie his future to this coaching staff, whether Rolo stays or not. There is so much money waiting on the sidelines to get JKS to play for a competitive P4 team next year that he’d be a fool to trust his future to this crew. And what do you think Fernando Mendoza will tell JKS when he asks him what he thinks he should do, as he surely will if he hasn’t already.
Yes, this program is not going to help is draft stock. He can fill right in on a playoff team and become a household name next year. I would encourage him to leave, we've just got too much shit to deal with here and can't even utilize his talent, other than using him to lure in WR recruits.
McCann has been an OC at Fresno State, but I still think Rolo is a steadier hand. Just my opinion. As for the other comments on this thread, I give JKS a 1% chance of being a GB in 2027. He deserves to go to a top 10 or top 20 program (also if he wants his draft stock to move up). No hate, just reality. I do hope the new Air Raid O can click in the rest of the year, as we need some fun at CMS - and an Air Raid O is at least fun to watch!
Cal will beat VT this Saturday. Why? Because Cal has lost its best offensive and defensive players to injury. Because Cal is a massive underdog. And because that’s Cal football! Go Bears!
I don't know if you saw the news, but apparently Tosh confirmed that we changed play callers mid-game. So Somerville was demoted, and then our backup QB immediately dropped 24 points on the same team that shut out JKS. Gives some hope for VT that we don't have to watch THAT version of a putrid offense ever again.
AH-HAH, as I posted earlier, I thought I saw a noticeable change after half. Wasn't sure if it was personnel or scheme (apparently both with a huge change in scheme). If a jabroni like I can notice a change...anyone can. 1st half was same ole same ole. 2nd half was much better.
Nope. You've got to stop drinking the Lupoi Kool-Aid. I appreciate the dream, but unless there is a miraculous transformation in the offense and the walking wounded on the injured list somehow recover, there is no chance that this is going to be anything other than another long afternoon for Bear fans. Both our running and passing attacks are completely hobbled by either injured personnel or personnel that can't seem to do the job they are assigned. How do we beat anybody with that problem? Answer: We don't!
Great, on point analysis, Nick. Wondered where your cab ride was taking us but in the end thought it a perfect analogy.
My answer to the questions posed in your last graph is no to all of them, except the OC change which seems already in the works.
As I and others have predicted previously, JKS is essentially already gone for next year — his style of play needs a big, well coached OL that will give him the NFL-type pocket and protection he needs.
Brousseau, on the other hand, in many ways looks like more of the kind of QB this particular Cal team needs, more maneuverable and more adaptable to a predictably collapsing pocket and to WRs who take forever to find separation. He may in fact also be more durable and more able to run the ball than JKS, thinking about many of the ACC DL’s that Cal is going to encounter for the rest of the season. Under the circumstances we currently face with injured running backs, having a QB who is also a running threat could turn out to be a big plus and something that JKS definitely is not. In fact, given the DL meat grinder Cal is about to face, JKS might prefer to be QB2 in order to preserve his talent from being crushed under a pile of defensive linemen and blitzing linebackers. He will be playing in the SEC or Big 18 next year and likely have the kind of year we had hoped he’d have this year at Cal.
And, finally, I agree that this year is lost. Cal will (almost mercifully) not make it to a bowl game and could easily go 3-9 or 2-10, the latter if we lose to Stanford, which is looking like a distinct possibility. That said, a truly dismal season combined with a crushing loss to Stanford (56-6) could result in Lupoi’s dismissal, but I can’t be sure how much pain the money guys will accept before just throwing up their hands and accepting that this is Cal football and so not worth trying to salvage, again, by writing more big checks.
RR went all in on Lupoi and his crew and came up with something that, sorry to say, is looking worse than what we had under Wilcox last year — and Big Game is still weeks away….
He was my choice before they went with Lupoi. So far this season he's had four blow-out wins and a close loss to Oklahoma. His Lobos have given up 45 points, an average of nine a game.
This is just pure speculation, but my sense is that meathead Tosh valued energy and enthusiasm and potential over proven experience. Therefore, he surrounded himself with guys like Jordan and Michael who really haven’t done much of anything but showed a lot of energy and potential. I’m sure they’re also willing to stay up until 4 AM every day with Tosh.
Rivera bears some of the blame also for allowing his young coach to do so. But who knows, maybe meathead Tosh dictated those terms to Ron during the hiring process.
I am sad that Cal donors collectively thought that this was the right hire.
But I’m looking at the positives: either we can turn it around (and I eat my words) or we struggle through a 4 win season and hopefully this Tosh experiment will finally come to an end and I never need to hear his name uttered or have to see his face.
I hate this post, Nick. Because every word is the absolute truth. 🤬 The frustration watching this team struggle is overwhelming, and I am sure many die-hards like me are rethinking travel plans for some of the remaining ACC road contests. I WAS looking forward to Charlottesville, but after this mess Saturday I think I will pass. I pray that Tosh is capable of some serious self-reflection and may even reach out to old mentors like Nick Saban for guidance. I still have a kernel of hope in my soul that this too shall pass and the Bears WILL rise from the ashes. Unfortunately, for the many decades of my fandom before and since my undergrad days, more often than not those hopes were burned in a funeral pyre. 😭
I’d add, Can Cal retain enough of its 2027 recruiting class to give us any hope NEXT year…..
Re: bubble screens, OMG why can every other team run them but we can’t??? I feel like we were never good at them and somehow that’s baked into our CalDNA…..
Our Chancellor and GM gambled everything on not hiring a proven head coach, with the stakes as high as they could be. We were all on board, to say the least. Painful case study for MBA students.
Nick, excellent analysis and confirms my view that it was Rolo’s offense. However I couldn’t tell how much of our Summerville offense was still being used.
First hint was the opening drive when we passed, passed, passed…
The problem is we still can’t burn the blitzes and can’t protect very long vs 4 man rushes.
Last year’s OL wasn’t great but this year’s is horrible with a defender seemingly breaks through with a different line at the QB at full speed every other play.
On option is to juke the defender to buy more time but neither of our QB’s can do that so they try to roll out (and get sacked or hurried from behind)
I did like the one play where we dropped back and then spun around. That play threw off the defenders to buy more time, but it also requires the QB to take his eyes off the field.
I’d like to see more counters and misdirection like that, although when you’re opponent loads up the box every play regardless if they blitz or not it’s hard to catch them off guard as those plays typically take time to work
The biggest fundamental problem I see on offense is our OL but in this game it might be a toss up with penalties which took away one TD for sure and killed countless others. Interesting that our OL didn’t have one hold.
Defensively losing 3 of our best defenders and all in the secondary resulted in explosive plays that had they been in would at most resulted in first downs.
I would say freshman Tuitele had a breakout game, and a player we definitely need to retain
Dying is easy...the bear will not quit, the bear will not die. I personally cannot impact anything that happens on the field. The only thing I have control over is how I chose to support this team. I will be critical, but I will also be unwavering. This shit is hard. Go bears forever.
Spoken like a true Golden Bear.
Thx Nick, with you that 2026 is now fundamentally a lost season. So we are back on the Wilcox yearly OC hamster wheel - unless we keep Rolo and make him the OC for the rest of this year and into 2027. That might be the ONLY way to save JKS for next year. For me, staying alive means checking the box score on Sat night or Sunday AM, as I'm dying watching the Cal football program right now... GO BEARS (sigh).
I don't know if Rolo is the answer at OC either. Do we keep Rolo as OC next year just to keep JKS? And who knows if he will stay even with Rolo with this disaster OL.
I really appreciated that Tosh did something with the offense this past game. It was obvious Rolo had a big role in the game but it felt like an emergency treatment. We needed a change and it was there, but it didn't look sustainable. I get it was a short notice so maybe it will be better this week, but how is it that a pass rusher gets to JKS on almost every play?
I too appreciate that Tosh realized the O was going nowhere due to the ineffective O line, and he used the best guy he had (Rolo) to make that change. The Air Raid O emphasizes getting the ball out faster (2.0-2.5 secs) vs Pro-style (2.8-3.5 secs) , with shorter blocking times needed for the O line and less processing for the QB. That is how Mike Leach won so many games with smaller O lines and only OK QBs. As the GBs embrace this O I believe things HAVE to improve overall. The Air Raid / Run and Shoot is the only path for this O to stay alive...
I'm doubtful Rolo is the answer, but appreciate him for his role in retaining JKS this year being some shelter from the storm.
Also, my Hot Take: I think it's in everyone's best interest that JKS moves on.
I think it will be our best interest that JKS regains control of our offense and dominates this year, and then does even better next year.
That I would like, but I'm not gonna hold my breath..
I just do not believe JkS will tie his future to this coaching staff, whether Rolo stays or not. There is so much money waiting on the sidelines to get JKS to play for a competitive P4 team next year that he’d be a fool to trust his future to this crew. And what do you think Fernando Mendoza will tell JKS when he asks him what he thinks he should do, as he surely will if he hasn’t already.
Yes, this program is not going to help is draft stock. He can fill right in on a playoff team and become a household name next year. I would encourage him to leave, we've just got too much shit to deal with here and can't even utilize his talent, other than using him to lure in WR recruits.
I’m back to taping the games and fast forwarding when we crash. Eases the pain.
Yes - I watched the 1st half live; so painful. But speeded through the 2nd half wasn't as bad; glad they fought back some.
What about McCann?
McCann has been an OC at Fresno State, but I still think Rolo is a steadier hand. Just my opinion. As for the other comments on this thread, I give JKS a 1% chance of being a GB in 2027. He deserves to go to a top 10 or top 20 program (also if he wants his draft stock to move up). No hate, just reality. I do hope the new Air Raid O can click in the rest of the year, as we need some fun at CMS - and an Air Raid O is at least fun to watch!
Cal will beat VT this Saturday. Why? Because Cal has lost its best offensive and defensive players to injury. Because Cal is a massive underdog. And because that’s Cal football! Go Bears!
Sounds about right. That would suck in a lot of us to believe again only to pull away the football at the last minute.
I don't know if you saw the news, but apparently Tosh confirmed that we changed play callers mid-game. So Somerville was demoted, and then our backup QB immediately dropped 24 points on the same team that shut out JKS. Gives some hope for VT that we don't have to watch THAT version of a putrid offense ever again.
AH-HAH, as I posted earlier, I thought I saw a noticeable change after half. Wasn't sure if it was personnel or scheme (apparently both with a huge change in scheme). If a jabroni like I can notice a change...anyone can. 1st half was same ole same ole. 2nd half was much better.
Like I said…..lol. Cal football is predictable!
Nope. You've got to stop drinking the Lupoi Kool-Aid. I appreciate the dream, but unless there is a miraculous transformation in the offense and the walking wounded on the injured list somehow recover, there is no chance that this is going to be anything other than another long afternoon for Bear fans. Both our running and passing attacks are completely hobbled by either injured personnel or personnel that can't seem to do the job they are assigned. How do we beat anybody with that problem? Answer: We don't!
So basically the Louisville game before we got crushed by Stanford.
I'm on board for this.
Starting to think we should’ve just went with Brousseau and spent 3 mill on linemen. JKS probably would’ve been happier elsewhere
I'm sure we'll have a chance to redistribute JKS' 2027 money soon enough
Well, Brousseau was more decisive on his throws. I didn't expect him to do that well.
Great, on point analysis, Nick. Wondered where your cab ride was taking us but in the end thought it a perfect analogy.
My answer to the questions posed in your last graph is no to all of them, except the OC change which seems already in the works.
As I and others have predicted previously, JKS is essentially already gone for next year — his style of play needs a big, well coached OL that will give him the NFL-type pocket and protection he needs.
Brousseau, on the other hand, in many ways looks like more of the kind of QB this particular Cal team needs, more maneuverable and more adaptable to a predictably collapsing pocket and to WRs who take forever to find separation. He may in fact also be more durable and more able to run the ball than JKS, thinking about many of the ACC DL’s that Cal is going to encounter for the rest of the season. Under the circumstances we currently face with injured running backs, having a QB who is also a running threat could turn out to be a big plus and something that JKS definitely is not. In fact, given the DL meat grinder Cal is about to face, JKS might prefer to be QB2 in order to preserve his talent from being crushed under a pile of defensive linemen and blitzing linebackers. He will be playing in the SEC or Big 18 next year and likely have the kind of year we had hoped he’d have this year at Cal.
And, finally, I agree that this year is lost. Cal will (almost mercifully) not make it to a bowl game and could easily go 3-9 or 2-10, the latter if we lose to Stanford, which is looking like a distinct possibility. That said, a truly dismal season combined with a crushing loss to Stanford (56-6) could result in Lupoi’s dismissal, but I can’t be sure how much pain the money guys will accept before just throwing up their hands and accepting that this is Cal football and so not worth trying to salvage, again, by writing more big checks.
RR went all in on Lupoi and his crew and came up with something that, sorry to say, is looking worse than what we had under Wilcox last year — and Big Game is still weeks away….
"There is no choice but to get on with the hard work of trying to live, because we all know how easy it is to die."
I hate how comfortable this is to Cal fans
Nothing comfortable about it.
Nice work, Nick. Telling it like it is; no sugarcoating.
Can we get Eck out of new mexico? if someone can win there, they can win anywhere
He was my choice before they went with Lupoi. So far this season he's had four blow-out wins and a close loss to Oklahoma. His Lobos have given up 45 points, an average of nine a game.
This is just pure speculation, but my sense is that meathead Tosh valued energy and enthusiasm and potential over proven experience. Therefore, he surrounded himself with guys like Jordan and Michael who really haven’t done much of anything but showed a lot of energy and potential. I’m sure they’re also willing to stay up until 4 AM every day with Tosh.
Rivera bears some of the blame also for allowing his young coach to do so. But who knows, maybe meathead Tosh dictated those terms to Ron during the hiring process.
I am sad that Cal donors collectively thought that this was the right hire.
But I’m looking at the positives: either we can turn it around (and I eat my words) or we struggle through a 4 win season and hopefully this Tosh experiment will finally come to an end and I never need to hear his name uttered or have to see his face.
Yeah, getting an experienced OC, and DC would have made more sense. However, the defense seems to be playing alright.
But with key injuries on both sides of the ball the likelihood that Cal can overcome them seems very slim.
I hate this post, Nick. Because every word is the absolute truth. 🤬 The frustration watching this team struggle is overwhelming, and I am sure many die-hards like me are rethinking travel plans for some of the remaining ACC road contests. I WAS looking forward to Charlottesville, but after this mess Saturday I think I will pass. I pray that Tosh is capable of some serious self-reflection and may even reach out to old mentors like Nick Saban for guidance. I still have a kernel of hope in my soul that this too shall pass and the Bears WILL rise from the ashes. Unfortunately, for the many decades of my fandom before and since my undergrad days, more often than not those hopes were burned in a funeral pyre. 😭
I’d add, Can Cal retain enough of its 2027 recruiting class to give us any hope NEXT year…..
Re: bubble screens, OMG why can every other team run them but we can’t??? I feel like we were never good at them and somehow that’s baked into our CalDNA…..
Thanks Nick!
Screens only work when the defense has to worry about literally anything else.
Our Chancellor and GM gambled everything on not hiring a proven head coach, with the stakes as high as they could be. We were all on board, to say the least. Painful case study for MBA students.
Tosh should have little trouble pitching early playing time to the incoming freshman class
Lincoln Riley will be available for OC in 2027...
This is an excellent summation of a very difficult game to watch, thank you Nick.
Nick, excellent analysis and confirms my view that it was Rolo’s offense. However I couldn’t tell how much of our Summerville offense was still being used.
First hint was the opening drive when we passed, passed, passed…
The problem is we still can’t burn the blitzes and can’t protect very long vs 4 man rushes.
Last year’s OL wasn’t great but this year’s is horrible with a defender seemingly breaks through with a different line at the QB at full speed every other play.
On option is to juke the defender to buy more time but neither of our QB’s can do that so they try to roll out (and get sacked or hurried from behind)
I did like the one play where we dropped back and then spun around. That play threw off the defenders to buy more time, but it also requires the QB to take his eyes off the field.
I’d like to see more counters and misdirection like that, although when you’re opponent loads up the box every play regardless if they blitz or not it’s hard to catch them off guard as those plays typically take time to work
The biggest fundamental problem I see on offense is our OL but in this game it might be a toss up with penalties which took away one TD for sure and killed countless others. Interesting that our OL didn’t have one hold.
Defensively losing 3 of our best defenders and all in the secondary resulted in explosive plays that had they been in would at most resulted in first downs.
I would say freshman Tuitele had a breakout game, and a player we definitely need to retain