We're going to find out. UCLA, Oregon and Stanford on the road as well as USC at home are all clearly big games in our very near future. Large crowds, National TV audiences, rabid interest from Bear fan base, etc.
Can we come ready to play at our best on the biggest stage against the best programs in our conference? We're 0-1 thus far in 2015 although we played Utah down to the wire and our defense showed its ready for prime time in SLC.
We're no longer a rebuilding team, we're a team in contention. We have seniors, we have depth, we have a star QB - Can we get rid of the insecurity and doubt that has plagued us for 4+ years and go out confident, focused and resilient? UCLA has to be more fragile mentally than we are - They've lost two in a row badly. Their true frosh QB has the leadership presence of Stan Gable from ROTN. They've lost their leaders on defense to injury and their coach has a reputation of being emotionally brittle. The matchup is not ideal as the Bruins are pretty solid on pass defense and very strong running the ball yet that's noise relative to the impact Cal's mental preparation will have on this game.
I've been very pleased with the edginess we've shown on defense this year while the jury is in doubt whether our offense has a killer instinct. We've not come close to playing three good quarters in a game this year and now is the time.
Vegas likes UCLA given the view that the Bruins are cornered animals, that teams coming off byes are often flat and out of synch, that Goff has looked less than poised under pressure the past two games and that UCLAs running game is better than Utah's. What Vegas cannot know is the heart and fire in this Cal team. The desire AND confidence we have.
It's time to channel our inner Mike Pawlawski, the spirit of Donne McClesky, the arrogance of Ryan O'Callaghan and the pride of Geoff MacArthur. Let's do it!
Can we come ready to play at our best on the biggest stage against the best programs in our conference? We're 0-1 thus far in 2015 although we played Utah down to the wire and our defense showed its ready for prime time in SLC.
We're no longer a rebuilding team, we're a team in contention. We have seniors, we have depth, we have a star QB - Can we get rid of the insecurity and doubt that has plagued us for 4+ years and go out confident, focused and resilient? UCLA has to be more fragile mentally than we are - They've lost two in a row badly. Their true frosh QB has the leadership presence of Stan Gable from ROTN. They've lost their leaders on defense to injury and their coach has a reputation of being emotionally brittle. The matchup is not ideal as the Bruins are pretty solid on pass defense and very strong running the ball yet that's noise relative to the impact Cal's mental preparation will have on this game.
I've been very pleased with the edginess we've shown on defense this year while the jury is in doubt whether our offense has a killer instinct. We've not come close to playing three good quarters in a game this year and now is the time.
Vegas likes UCLA given the view that the Bruins are cornered animals, that teams coming off byes are often flat and out of synch, that Goff has looked less than poised under pressure the past two games and that UCLAs running game is better than Utah's. What Vegas cannot know is the heart and fire in this Cal team. The desire AND confidence we have.
It's time to channel our inner Mike Pawlawski, the spirit of Donne McClesky, the arrogance of Ryan O'Callaghan and the pride of Geoff MacArthur. Let's do it!
