Well, I guess my prognostication for this game wasn’t so great this week – I mean I only missed it by close to 80 points! And frankly, it probably should have been a lot worse; we easily could have won by another couple of TDs, maybe more. I will have to say that I still cannot fathom what occurred last night and I may not for some time. I actually watched a bit of WSU’s games against SC and Oregon and I thought they looked great. And I saw our game against Washington and thought we looked bad. This was all set up to be a major boat racing, and it sure was, only the team I thought would get boat raced, did the racing. And then some.
I will say this was the most surprising – and pleasing – game experience I’ve had at Cal, even over the OT win against a #2 SC team a few years back. As I said before, I thought this staff would wring out the most possible from this team, and I believe they’ve done that to this point. Maybe we could have beaten SC, but I think that was a lot to ask of this team especially that early in the season with a very young QB. I think this team has done as well as it could have to this point, and that is saying a lot, considering our schedule, which has not been easy. All in all, 4-3 is pretty damn good, especially as a signature win against a #8 team is part of the mix.
Here are my thoughts:
Positives
I’m still shaking my head over last night. How did that happen? It seems like a dream. It was a truly spectacular game and one that I will long remember. It’s a signature win that they can coach to and recruit to; they have evidence that the system works against top flight talent. They looked confident in every phase last night and played with an assuredness. The next game is critical to see if this is a mirage or not, as if they beat Arizona, they are almost certainly bowl bound as OSU is a real mess. I am very excited to see a team that I expect to play better in October and November after three long years of Dykes when I knew the opposite would be true. I’m not certain how they will finish. They absolutely positively could win all 5 remaining games and I would not be surprised if they did. If they go 2-3 I’d be disappointed, but even that would be a successful season. 3-2 would be great, 4-1 exceptional. 5-0 might be too much to ask for, but again, it’s not impossible. It’s good to have some excitement during this part of the season, instead of awaiting the implosion.
I will say this was the most surprising – and pleasing – game experience I’ve had at Cal, even over the OT win against a #2 SC team a few years back. As I said before, I thought this staff would wring out the most possible from this team, and I believe they’ve done that to this point. Maybe we could have beaten SC, but I think that was a lot to ask of this team especially that early in the season with a very young QB. I think this team has done as well as it could have to this point, and that is saying a lot, considering our schedule, which has not been easy. All in all, 4-3 is pretty damn good, especially as a signature win against a #8 team is part of the mix.
Here are my thoughts:
Positives
- Coaching won the game. The defensive game plan was brilliant and completely mystified WSU (the pass rushing tactics were varied, well hidden, and often perfectly executed and the two-deep on the outside was very smart), the offense did several new things to make enough key plays (the rolling out of Bowers worked well and running Enwere when they got tired in the second half was perfect). The team was very well prepared, played with fire and intelligence, and made few mistakes. The staff’s calm demeanor and willingness to coach within the game is so far and away from the Dykes era, it amazes me. Very impressive.
- This was the best defensive performance I’ve ever seen from a Cal team in my 30+ years of watching them. They stuffed the run, befuddled Falk, pass rushed their asses off, tackled well (other when their WRs sometimes made outside people miss, but that was minor in the grand scheme of things), were ball-hawking fiends, and the coverage was absolutely fantastic, especially against a very good WR corp. This was a completely dominating performance even without the TOs, now through in seven, and it was otherworldly against this good an offense. I’m still not sure how they pulled it off, but they did and it was magnificent.
- I want to especially single out the LBs for yesterday. The lot of them made many great plays, not just on pass rushing, which was exceptional, but getting four turnovers, and making solid tackles, especially on the outside. I hope Downs is OK, because he is an All-Pac12 first-teamer who had another great game, but even when he went down in the second half, our LBs were fabulous – Brown stepped in without missing a beat. What an absolute turnaround on a unit that was probably the worst LB unit in the conference last year. Incredible.
- Cameron Bynum has been my favorite DB all season and he had his statement game yesterday. His first pick set the tone and his second one was a very athletic and important play, snuffing out a major scoring chance for them. I think he’ll be playing on Sundays.
- Is it just me, or did Cal do a switcheroo on the 24s? I could have sworn it was 24 Bynum who speared the guy on the kick return and hence should have been tossed, but then Matt Rocket, who was also wearing 24, got sent to the locker rooms. Is this coaching staff that smart? Surely I just got it wrong. Wink, wink.
- I don’t know if I’ve ever seen so many wild interceptions. One could say that Cal just got the luck of the bounce over and over again, but I think this team has a nose for the ball and a lot of players with great hands. All of the tipped picks were not easy ones, but they held onto all of them. Obviously this coaching staff has emphasized this and it all came together in a crescendo of successful tip drills yesterday. Pretty awesome stuff.
- I absolutely loved that Cal did not resort to going to a prevent defense in the second half when they got a lead. They stayed aggressive and kept coming at Falk, playing tight coverage. That was very smart and kept them from having any chance of coming back.
- Gutsy call going for it at the end of the first half. Personally, I wouldn’t have done it as a FG would have put us up two scores, but I admire the courage and the ballsy and well executed play call. Frankly, I think the protestor helped us there as it gave us a free timeout and let us get set up and better ready. Thank you, pig woman!
- Matt Anderson had a great game and all of his FGs were important ones, especially the long one he kicked in the second half. Good to have him back on track.
- Wake me, I must be dreaming, but did we actually have a punt return? And a good one at that? It’s a miracle.
- Zero turnovers on offense is always going to get into my positive column. It is critical for this team to win the turnover battle.
- McMorris had another great game. I wish they’d get him the ball every once in a while, if only because it is so entertaining, but he is an absolutely devastating blocker coming out of the backfield.
- Enwere had a great game. Yes, he’s a step too slow, but I think he just gets better as he gets the ball more. We need him now more than ever, so it was good to see him get untracked. The first TD run in particular was a thing of beauty.
- Ross Bowers is a gamer – I’ll give him that. He will never be the most accurate thrower and the offense will struggle to put together long, multi-play drives as it is a challenge for him to complete third-down throws, but there is no doubt the kid has moxie – and the backing of his team. You could see it with how excited they were for him after his flip TD. He’s doing better with not making mistakes and he had several great throws on the roll outs, but he’s never going to be perfect. Regardless, for better or for worse, he’s our man. He reminds me a lot of Pawlawski, which is definitely not a bad thing.
- I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, Wilcox has put together a really excellent coaching staff, but he clearly has the reins and is orchestrating things well. It was absolutely delicious to see him outcoach Mike Leach at every turn (he looked like he was having a cow the whole game – boy, did he not have them ready to play – love it). He always has us looking composed, while still being passionate. Play hard and with fire, but stay even-keeled and be smart. That could really work well at Cal because they can recruit those kind of kids.
- Noa and Veasy had great games – really they did, but these two still drop too many passes IMO. Noa dropped a perfectly thrown long pass by Bowers early and his drop / fumble could have been a big problem. In that case, I’ll take the drop! And Veasy continues to have problems with contested balls (I also don’t like that he almost always complains for a flag on every play – he needs to stop that IMO).
- What happened to all of our other WRs? I never see Singleton, Bankhead, or Hawkins in there, and I only see Duncan in there every once in a while to drop a pass. What happened to our deep WR corp?
- And how come there were no carries Zion Echols? I like him and would like to see him get the ball more.
- Bowers still struggles on the timing of deep passes. They need to work on this in practice more if they don’t already. We really need him to complete at least one or two a game.
- I don’t like the QB punting. Just lose that and bring in the experts, pretty please.
- All game long I was wishing they’d have Bowers keep it on one of the pseudo-read handoffs, just to keep the defense honest. And especially against an over pursuing one, I’ll bet he could have busted a few big gains. Yes, it’s a risk, but they need to use Bowers’ athleticism more IMO.
- I thought Baldwin called an excellent game, but sometimes he is too cute when a simple FG will suffice. Twice we were down in FG range in the second half, which would have put us up three scores and he called slow-developing pass plays that led to a sack and a holding call, which twice took us out of FG range. Just run it and kick the FG. It’s not pretty, but sometimes it’s good enough.
- Too many illegal procedure penalties, especially on first down. We need to clean this up – STAT.
- Evan Weaver’s facemask was a dumb penalty, He’s got a bright future, but you can’t make that play when the QB is obviously going to be sacked and they have to punt.
I’m still shaking my head over last night. How did that happen? It seems like a dream. It was a truly spectacular game and one that I will long remember. It’s a signature win that they can coach to and recruit to; they have evidence that the system works against top flight talent. They looked confident in every phase last night and played with an assuredness. The next game is critical to see if this is a mirage or not, as if they beat Arizona, they are almost certainly bowl bound as OSU is a real mess. I am very excited to see a team that I expect to play better in October and November after three long years of Dykes when I knew the opposite would be true. I’m not certain how they will finish. They absolutely positively could win all 5 remaining games and I would not be surprised if they did. If they go 2-3 I’d be disappointed, but even that would be a successful season. 3-2 would be great, 4-1 exceptional. 5-0 might be too much to ask for, but again, it’s not impossible. It’s good to have some excitement during this part of the season, instead of awaiting the implosion.
