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Aug 31, 2022Liked by Christopher Helling

Brilliant comprehensive write up…even if Cal doesn’t always do so, WFC and in particular Chris here consistently exceed expectations.

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Chris, when are we getting a Steer Wrestling break-down?

In all seriousness, I think a thread that's kinda disappeared in the offseason is our lack of a dedicated special teams coach. Seeing how Davis has some average threats in the return game, it'll be interesting to see if they can pop anything off. Obviously, special teams is one of the most variable things in an already high-variable sport, but if Davis makes this game closer than it should be, I think it'll be because they were able to take advantage in that phase of the game.

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Title IX requires schollies for barrel racers if we offer steer wrestling, and actually I'm good with that!

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Do you smell that? It's the smell of Cal football games coming to your living room!

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Living room? Isn't it only on P12 Bay Area?

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If you don't have a local Cal alumni bar or the Pac-12 Network on your local cable package, you can watch any of the Pac-12 Network channels anywhere on internet TV providers like Sling, Fubo, or Vidgo through your smart TV.

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Of course... I do stream P12 but only rarely and happen to only do it on my laptop sitting beside my main system when I'm coincidentally working during a game... so it's not in my living room... but valid point.

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True enough. My Smart TV lets me stream, via my phone, any local Pac-12 broadcast in HD with the Pac-12 now App. Otherwise since I no longer get Pac-12 Bay Area I would be shut out of the broadcast. You can also see Pac-12 Mountain, Pac-12 Washington, etc.

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I am going to watch the Artemis launch on Saturday (approximately 11:30 am Pacific time) to celebrate the launch of the season.

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And Top Dogs!

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Ahhhh, finally feels like football season again.

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Aug 31, 2022Liked by Christopher Helling

Thanks. A lot of stuff packed into this.

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Aug 31, 2022Liked by Christopher Helling

Nice write-up. I have no idea what to expect from the Cal offense, so we shall see.

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Awesome stuff as always! I'm excited to be in attendance.

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Aug 31, 2022·edited Aug 31, 2022Author

I'm already afraid I am going to overload the page with too many GIFs, so it didn't cross my mind to include the steer wrestling clip. I'm a California native and thus have no idea what steer wrestling is, but it looked like you ride a horse alongside the steer, then you jump off the horse onto the steer to try and tackle it. If Lan Larison played defense, I may have included a clip of him tackling a steer.

I was just teasing about Tulsa, as it was the only game of theirs I saw last year, but Tulsa looked awful. I wasn't impressed by how UC Davis was playing, I was surprised at how poorly Tulsa was playing. That was my feeling on the game.

I also saw the Dan Hawkins claim this was the best UC Davis clip ever. I joked that I always say the same thing about Cal until Cal actually starts playing. That said, I think last year's UC Davis team was better.

I actually did watch a few games of Jack Plummer's last year (Oregon State, Notre Dame). I'm withholding judgment until I can see what he does in the Cal offense, with a new system and new weapons all around him. I'm going to guess that Cal plays ultra-conservative to avoid putting anything interesting on tape early in the season, and that Cal will primarily run the ball while Plummer dinks-and-dunks his way down the field. From the tape I saw, he was a generally risk-averse QB (at least in 2021) which generally fits with how Wilcox's offenses have been (don't remember the exact stats, but Cal was something like #2 in the Pac-12 in winning the turnover margin). I expect Cal will again try to win games on the strength of their defense. All that said, Plummer has an arm, and I'd love to see him use it to win some games, and have the Cal offense (instead of the Cal defense) win the game for a change.

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Yeah, I am not sure. My assumption was also that it was the coach's gameplan to play that way, but then the other Purdue QB Aidan O'Connell would come in an absolutely uncork it, so I don't know who is to say.

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I think you're referring to berk18, he did have fantastic videos. I'm not sure what he's been up to. I checked his YouTube account and it looks like he now appeals to a broader audience; he's got a bunch of videos breaking down (more popular) teams.

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