Cal will experience sunshine pumping, wildly excessive enthusiasm after a couple of good wins, wildly excessive expectations of impending DOOOOOM after a couple games don't go as well, and the Bears will still be in contention for bowl eligibility on Veterans Day. Someone at some point will start a "Fire Wilcox!" campaign. Probably also call for at least one coordinator's early termination.
Parking will cost more than game tickets, and traffic will be an expensive impediment to attendance. Complaints about empty seats will coincidentally occur.
Oski will give up and leave earlier than Oski Disciple at some point.
Analysis will conclude that better depth and versatility, and a few more-star recruits and portal transfers would have helped. Hand-wringing about those leaving will ensue.
The Cal Band will proudly play on, and soldier on, undaunted. Regardless of what Ott to be the outcome.
All of these have been safe and accurate predictions for decades, btw, except the Ott references were for various other beasts and Beast-mode drives.
CBS Sports’ college football “experts” are, with the exception of one who picks us ninth, very down on the Bears as reflected in ACC order of finish projections. Five of the eight pundits slot us at thirteenth or worse, and one (Dennis Dodd) picks us to finish DEAD LAST. Alarming but, one hopes, just a reflection of East Coast bias:
1. Our recruiting has been so-so. The Portal is our way forward. Obviously, we can recruit, because we are scoring in the Portal. The NFL is trending to trades and free agents over the Draft. There's something to getting known talents over raw talent that may not be able to last in academic eligibility. So, I am excited about our Portal transfers, although some of the losses hurt, we still seem to be getting net gains.
2. I hate to be a bear, but I never set high expectations for fear of jinxing us. Mostly, superstition, but I also have hope inspired by much more depth at RB, OL, LB, DB, WR, TE gives me cause for hope. But history and my overused defibrilator...
3. Hope for the best, expect the worst.
BTW- Like ourselves, the ACC does not know what to make of our chances.
There is no one we can't beat if we play to close to our potential. I even give us 25% at FSU because I really believe we'd win at least one out of four games on their field. Such is the nature of probability that even a 1% chance of winning can come true on any Saturday. I always forget to add up my numbers, but I can say I'm pretty bullish or pumpy this time around. While I always, as policy, agree with Rugbear on line play, I'm probably more in the camp of wanting to see above average QB play. That cost us at least two wins last year.
I was optimistic about our chances now that we are out of the Pac-12 but it seems as if, aside from missing Clemson, that we got a rather rough draw. Non-con games against Auburn, SDSU, and OSU don't help either. Hoping OSU is not was it was last year because those boys from Corvallis kicked our butts (played very physical and with a purpose). Not an impossible schedule but not easy.
Our team goes where our O-Line takes us this year. It's all on the big uglies. We have three QB''s who can play. If we open holes for the run game and give our starting QB time to throw, we can play with anyone. It's all about our nasty and execution. Time for the big boys to step up and earn their respect.
I don't know how good a play caller Bloesch will be. Perhaps in spite of himself the OL is good enough to mask any weaknesses he has as a play caller...all tbd but should be obvious within a couple of games me thinks. The talent on O is likely the best in Wilcox's tenure, is it used and exploited to crush our enemies? TBD. I sure as shit hope it is. That said, breaking in a new LT (opponents will be sure to stress him) will need to be scrutinized from the first snap on starting with the UCD game.
While fans love to scrutinize the players, I think attention on Bloesch is the paramount issue at hand. He will need to select his starting QB (recall last year's choices crushed Cal early in the season), he will need to get the best 5 OL on the field & his play calling (from the sideline) will need to be pristine.
All the talent in the world can't make up for poor play calling, let's see what Bloesch is made of before we put most of the responsibility on the players and OL.
All great points GEAT. I am hopeful that Bloesch might actually be a better play caller than Spav was...time will tell. And hoping that Sterlin Gilbert has a role in the play calling.
No surprise a former big ugly like you would emphasize the line, but I agree. So does Bloesch and the players, based on interviews. I don't really doubt they will be well coached. So then it comes down to the horses and genetics. Hard to coach foot speed or bone size.
Yes, but in the past we were deficient in other player groups on offense. This year we have 3 solid QB's, we have a great WR room, we have a solid TE room, we might have one of the best RB room's in the country. All of them will execute, but all of them will have no chance without dominant O-Line play. This is the year if our O-Line excels we have the talent across the board to play very well on offense. We finally have some big boys that have some athleticism. Now I want to see them get their technique solidified and their nasty come out. I really want to see this group gel with a reputation of nasty and a 'you don't fuck with us or our boys' attitude. These guys need to know when they walk into an offensive team meeting that they are so badass and their balls are so big and their swagger is so earned, that every other player in the room knows that they owe their success to the O-Line and that respect is given. When you get an O-Line that earns that respect, then they know they are good and the chemistry and confidence that builds among them is amazing. Time to earn it.
Poetic and perfect. There is something deeply primal about a 310 pound man who can squat you and the sofa you are on, and bench you and your wife, having the respect of other amazing athletes who may be only 200 or 250. There is simply something about a giant dude, that if done the right way, can absolutely do what you say. I just keep saying it: Alex Mack, Alex Mack, Alex Mack. Bastard was smarter than you, and all day nice, and would pancake you mercilessly until AFTER the whistle blew.
Perfect! Alex Mack was an O-Lineman's lineman. The guy had it all: smarts, technique, strength and pure dominant nasty. He understood that in the pits, is where football is played in its most base form: violent battles for dominance where respect is earned and only the strongest survive. Now imagine 5 of those guys lined up side by side. If you have 3/4+ ton of fun in 5 guys, then everyone on the team knows there is no other position group that can take these guys on an beat them. O-Lineman never get accolades like a receiver gets after a big catch or a RB after a breakaway run or a QB after a brilliant pass. O-Lineman are the only position in any sport where there primary job is to protect other players. Thus any respect they earn is silent, but their teammates understand better than any that big uglies set the tone and bring the attitude. Respect of their teammates is what the Big Boys live for. I'll close by saying: just Imagine 5 Alex Mack's on an O-Line! Who needs replays of TD's? Just give me the film showing the interaction on the LOS. ;-)
Ha! If Mack was doing it, yes! As for weight, it's really something how while they play many of the lineman bulk up to 300+ and soon after stopping playing they slim way down. If you watch the video of Mike Saffel this week he looks like he weighs about 240. Something I learned later in my football fan life is that every team has guys that weigh 300 lbs on the line. The difference between bad lines and great lines, besides coaching, is that the great line 300 lb guys will also beat most people in a sprint and in basketball. They are just huge amazing athletes, not just big soft guys.
Cal will experience sunshine pumping, wildly excessive enthusiasm after a couple of good wins, wildly excessive expectations of impending DOOOOOM after a couple games don't go as well, and the Bears will still be in contention for bowl eligibility on Veterans Day. Someone at some point will start a "Fire Wilcox!" campaign. Probably also call for at least one coordinator's early termination.
Parking will cost more than game tickets, and traffic will be an expensive impediment to attendance. Complaints about empty seats will coincidentally occur.
Oski will give up and leave earlier than Oski Disciple at some point.
Analysis will conclude that better depth and versatility, and a few more-star recruits and portal transfers would have helped. Hand-wringing about those leaving will ensue.
The Cal Band will proudly play on, and soldier on, undaunted. Regardless of what Ott to be the outcome.
All of these have been safe and accurate predictions for decades, btw, except the Ott references were for various other beasts and Beast-mode drives.
@Oracle Cal's ACC record
*click
Oracle?
8+. LFG
CBS Sports’ college football “experts” are, with the exception of one who picks us ninth, very down on the Bears as reflected in ACC order of finish projections. Five of the eight pundits slot us at thirteenth or worse, and one (Dennis Dodd) picks us to finish DEAD LAST. Alarming but, one hopes, just a reflection of East Coast bias:
https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/acc-expert-picks-2024-most-overrated-and-underrated-teams-projected-order-of-finish-bold-predictions/
Much of that has to do with no clear starting QB.
Welp, Looking to this year and forward:
1. Our recruiting has been so-so. The Portal is our way forward. Obviously, we can recruit, because we are scoring in the Portal. The NFL is trending to trades and free agents over the Draft. There's something to getting known talents over raw talent that may not be able to last in academic eligibility. So, I am excited about our Portal transfers, although some of the losses hurt, we still seem to be getting net gains.
2. I hate to be a bear, but I never set high expectations for fear of jinxing us. Mostly, superstition, but I also have hope inspired by much more depth at RB, OL, LB, DB, WR, TE gives me cause for hope. But history and my overused defibrilator...
3. Hope for the best, expect the worst.
BTW- Like ourselves, the ACC does not know what to make of our chances.
There is no one we can't beat if we play to close to our potential. I even give us 25% at FSU because I really believe we'd win at least one out of four games on their field. Such is the nature of probability that even a 1% chance of winning can come true on any Saturday. I always forget to add up my numbers, but I can say I'm pretty bullish or pumpy this time around. While I always, as policy, agree with Rugbear on line play, I'm probably more in the camp of wanting to see above average QB play. That cost us at least two wins last year.
FWIW preseason FPI gives us an 18.7% chance
I was optimistic about our chances now that we are out of the Pac-12 but it seems as if, aside from missing Clemson, that we got a rather rough draw. Non-con games against Auburn, SDSU, and OSU don't help either. Hoping OSU is not was it was last year because those boys from Corvallis kicked our butts (played very physical and with a purpose). Not an impossible schedule but not easy.
OSU got demolished in the portal. They're dead last on on3 having lost 7 different 4* outgoing transfers and gained none.
Our team goes where our O-Line takes us this year. It's all on the big uglies. We have three QB''s who can play. If we open holes for the run game and give our starting QB time to throw, we can play with anyone. It's all about our nasty and execution. Time for the big boys to step up and earn their respect.
I don't know how good a play caller Bloesch will be. Perhaps in spite of himself the OL is good enough to mask any weaknesses he has as a play caller...all tbd but should be obvious within a couple of games me thinks. The talent on O is likely the best in Wilcox's tenure, is it used and exploited to crush our enemies? TBD. I sure as shit hope it is. That said, breaking in a new LT (opponents will be sure to stress him) will need to be scrutinized from the first snap on starting with the UCD game.
While fans love to scrutinize the players, I think attention on Bloesch is the paramount issue at hand. He will need to select his starting QB (recall last year's choices crushed Cal early in the season), he will need to get the best 5 OL on the field & his play calling (from the sideline) will need to be pristine.
All the talent in the world can't make up for poor play calling, let's see what Bloesch is made of before we put most of the responsibility on the players and OL.
All great points GEAT. I am hopeful that Bloesch might actually be a better play caller than Spav was...time will tell. And hoping that Sterlin Gilbert has a role in the play calling.
No surprise a former big ugly like you would emphasize the line, but I agree. So does Bloesch and the players, based on interviews. I don't really doubt they will be well coached. So then it comes down to the horses and genetics. Hard to coach foot speed or bone size.
Yes, but in the past we were deficient in other player groups on offense. This year we have 3 solid QB's, we have a great WR room, we have a solid TE room, we might have one of the best RB room's in the country. All of them will execute, but all of them will have no chance without dominant O-Line play. This is the year if our O-Line excels we have the talent across the board to play very well on offense. We finally have some big boys that have some athleticism. Now I want to see them get their technique solidified and their nasty come out. I really want to see this group gel with a reputation of nasty and a 'you don't fuck with us or our boys' attitude. These guys need to know when they walk into an offensive team meeting that they are so badass and their balls are so big and their swagger is so earned, that every other player in the room knows that they owe their success to the O-Line and that respect is given. When you get an O-Line that earns that respect, then they know they are good and the chemistry and confidence that builds among them is amazing. Time to earn it.
Poetic and perfect. There is something deeply primal about a 310 pound man who can squat you and the sofa you are on, and bench you and your wife, having the respect of other amazing athletes who may be only 200 or 250. There is simply something about a giant dude, that if done the right way, can absolutely do what you say. I just keep saying it: Alex Mack, Alex Mack, Alex Mack. Bastard was smarter than you, and all day nice, and would pancake you mercilessly until AFTER the whistle blew.
Perfect! Alex Mack was an O-Lineman's lineman. The guy had it all: smarts, technique, strength and pure dominant nasty. He understood that in the pits, is where football is played in its most base form: violent battles for dominance where respect is earned and only the strongest survive. Now imagine 5 of those guys lined up side by side. If you have 3/4+ ton of fun in 5 guys, then everyone on the team knows there is no other position group that can take these guys on an beat them. O-Lineman never get accolades like a receiver gets after a big catch or a RB after a breakaway run or a QB after a brilliant pass. O-Lineman are the only position in any sport where there primary job is to protect other players. Thus any respect they earn is silent, but their teammates understand better than any that big uglies set the tone and bring the attitude. Respect of their teammates is what the Big Boys live for. I'll close by saying: just Imagine 5 Alex Mack's on an O-Line! Who needs replays of TD's? Just give me the film showing the interaction on the LOS. ;-)
Ha! If Mack was doing it, yes! As for weight, it's really something how while they play many of the lineman bulk up to 300+ and soon after stopping playing they slim way down. If you watch the video of Mike Saffel this week he looks like he weighs about 240. Something I learned later in my football fan life is that every team has guys that weigh 300 lbs on the line. The difference between bad lines and great lines, besides coaching, is that the great line 300 lb guys will also beat most people in a sprint and in basketball. They are just huge amazing athletes, not just big soft guys.
I'm a short 6'5" these days and tipping the scales at 260...I'm not fat, but would like to get 'skinny' as I get older... ;-)