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CAL.... Every year they are predicted to win btwn 6-11 games and win 5-9.....


Always, always, over-rated. The Clemson of the west.

QUOTE(#1):

Originally posted 11:36 AM ET  08.03 by Armpit

CAL.... Every year they are predicted to win btwn 6-11 games and win 5-9.....Always, always, over-rated. The Clemson of the west.

For the last 6 years they have been without a QB. Longshore and Riley. Longshore had the strong arm buy not a very good arm for the short game. Riley showed potential, decent arm but was not a very smart player. Cal became to dependent on the run, they turned out great running backs and a few Pro caliber offensive players. The thing they lacked was defense. Last year with a New Defensive Coordinator Cal was 1st in total defense in the Pac- 10 and 18th in the nation. The last two years Cal has had 2 defensive linemen drafted in the 1st round, this years defense should be better than last years, they have better talent and plus their Defensive Coordinator will be more familiar with the rest of the Pac-12. All we need is a ball control offense that can put up 28 pts a game.

QUOTE(#3):

Originally posted 04:57 PM ET  08.06 by GrandTheftHarley

OK, so what is there to talk about? You've said it all. No further discussion required.

I thought that back about a month ago....

QUOTE(#2):

Originally posted 12:23 PM ET  08.06 by narrator

For the last 6 years they have been without a QB. Longshore and Riley. Longshore had the strong arm buy not a very good arm for the short game. Riley showed potential, decent arm but was not a very smart player. Cal became to dependent on the run, they turned out great running backs and a few Pro caliber offensive players. The thing they lacked was defense. Last year with a New Defensive Coordinator Cal was 1st in total defense in the Pac- 10 and 18th in the nation. The last two years Cal has had 2 defensive linemen drafted in the 1st round, this years defense should be better than last years, they have better talent and plus their Defensive Coordinator will be more familiar with the rest of the Pac-12. All we need is a ball control offense that can put up 28 pts a game.

28 pts a game is a fairly tall order for what you have for skill players this year (against solid teams, 28 should be expected against CU and some of the OOC teams).

QUOTE(#6):

Originally posted 01:47 AM ET  08.07 by Armpit

28 pts a game is a fairly tall order for what you have for skill players this year (against solid teams, 28 should be expected against CU and some of the OOC teams).

I see you took Fresno by 7. It was a surprise to me also that Cal really was a far superior team to Fresno 36-21. Cal handed Fresno 7 points on the first play of the game when threw an interception that gave Fresno a great opportunity to score their first TD. Cal went on to score 3 TD's in the 1st quarter. Fresno's second TD came on a botched play by the QB Maynard the RB Sofele picked it up and fumbled in the end zone resulting in Fresno's second TD. Cal later on in the game put in their freshman defense that allowed Fresno to march down the field and score their 3rd TD.

Cal will definitely have to work on not committing so many penalties. Penalties by Cal kept Fresno somewhat in the game.

Cal will be a work in progress and this team will only get better as the season progresses. Maynard showed that he could come back from a setback, after his first ball was intercepted Cal went on to score 3 TD's.

Cal's receivers Jones and Allen both had over 100+ receiving yards. The 2 of them probably could have had more catches but both missed a couple of easy catches. They need to get a solid second string running back to relieve Sofele who is clearly not an every down back.

Cal travels to Colorado next week. Tedford has done a horrible job of preparing his teams for road trips, this is a good game to turn things around and get some confidence on the road.

CALIFORNIA vs COLORADO WEEK 2- Everyone was saying "Oh this will be a walk in the park for Cal." Why do they ever say that about College football games? Even though Cal beat Colorado 52-7 last year, why take them lightly? College is a constant ever changing playing field, unlike the pros. Colorado showed that they are quite the powerhouse at home ( their home games include Cal, Washington St, Oregon, USC, Arizona), by the way what a beautiful stadium Folsom Field is.

Giorgio Tavecchio showed that he is consistent, he missed the first X-tra point, that makes 3 in 2 games he has missed, most kickers don't need to practice the extra point because it's almost a gimme,Tavecchio is one of those kicker that needs the practice. The high altitude allowed all the kickers to kick beyond their average range in this game.

Again Cal was unprepared ( travel and altitude) , thats the coaches fault. Cal's defensive line was man handled by Colorado's offensive line and very seldom pressured the QB, where was Ernest Owusu, and why is Ryan Davis starting, or playing for that matter?. It is a good thing Colorado only has 3 players in their offensive arsenal ( Hansen, Stewart, and Richardson). One receiver made a mockery of Cal's secondary, I'll give Steve Williams a bye on this criticism ( ever hear of double teaming?) and their running back showed that Cal does not have the speed to control a small quick running back like Stewart. They threw screen passes at will, and when they needed a 50+ yard TD reception they just threw to Richardson. Both Hansen and Richardson set school records against a porous, laughably unprepared defense.

Cal's offensive line was also man handled by Colorado's defensive line, very little running room and lots of QB pressures. My question to Maynard and the coaching staff, why do you have a left handed passer rolling out to his right?, he is a good passer when he rolls out, but not to his right, he must then stop and square himself in order to throw down field, these were not broken plays, these were plays by design ( I guess Tedford is to lazy to adjust his complicated play book for left handed QB's ). Again the receivers make the difficult catches but miss the ones thrown right to them. Play calling by Colorado was much more imaginative and unpredictable than Cal's stale offense. Two positives; Cal cut down on penalties ( most notable penalty was when Trevor Guyton had a late hit on Stewart in the second half, it would have been 4th and long deep in Colorado territory yet it gave Colorado a first down and a few plays later they scored on a long bomb, it was questionable to know if Stewart was down, but the whistle blew), and even though they were outplayed and coached they came away with a win in overtime. Negatives; Cal offensive line must get better in a hurry ( they have two weeks till they play Washington) if they are going to survive.

Final thoughts; the officiating in this game was terrible and Hockullie and his crew should be embarrassed. He made more sense when his mic went out for a quarter or so.( Go back and look at the pass you called incomplete to Coleman Edmond; THAT WAS A CATCH, HE HAD CONTROL BEFORE HE WAS SANDWICHED AND HIS KNEE HIT THE GROUND, BESIDES HIS ARM WAS BETWEEN THE GROUND AND THE BALL. If Cal has any say in who Comcast hires to broadcast their games Cal should make it very clear that they don't want want Barry Thompkins broadcasting any of their games. For a guy who made his bones in Bay Area broadcasting Thompkins is clearly anti Cal and is always rooting for Cals opponents. Call me superstitious but Thompkins is bad luck.