After last week vs Nevada at home I feared a no contest two digit loss to TCU on the road. The loss today was frustrating because WE SHOULD HAVE WON. That is a lot better than I feared. We actually played well. Garbers's stats were decent despite the low percentage play calls. Musgrave let him use his feet. Moore is a good every down back. I enjoy watching him run.

I have been a Wilcox skeptic, was a Baldwin critic and am a Musgrave skeptic, but I do think Musgrave learned from game 1 to game 2 and wil continue to figure out what works with this team. Sure, ideally a good OC has most of that figured out going into the season, but we are clearly not watching genius. I am still hoping for competence. I am confident we will not be last (or second to last) in the PAC-12 in offense for the first time under Wilcox. The defense still has trouble with running QBs, and had late game break downs in the Texas afternoon heat, but I think we are OK.

We did not lose this game due to talent which cannot improve, we lost due to bad coaching decisions which can improve.

That said if the Hornets play us close next week I am on the Troy Taylor to Cal train.

calumnus said:

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After last week vs Nevada at home I feared a no contest two digit loss to TCU on the road. The loss today was frustrating because WE SHOULD HAVE WON. That is a lot better than I feared. We actually played well. Garbers's stats were decent despite the low percentage play calls. Musgrave let him use his feet. Moore is a good every down back. I enjoy watching him run.

I have been a Wilcox skeptic, was a Baldwin critic and am a Musgrave skeptic, but I do think Musgrave learned from game 1 to game 2 and wil continue to figure out what works with this team. Sure, ideally a good OC has most of that figured out going into the season, but we are clearly not watching genius. I am still hoping for competence. I am confident we will not be last (or second to last) in the PAC-12 in offense for the first time under Wilcox. The defense still has trouble with running QBs, and had late game break downs in the Texas afternoon heat, but I think we are OK.

We did not lose this game due to talent which cannot improve, we lost due to bad coaching decisions which can improve.

That said if the Hornets play us close next week I am on the Troy Taylor to Cal train.

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Once upon a time, Tiger Woods was asked to work with a wealthy amateur who was struggling with his golf game. After watching the guy hit some shots, Woods told him that his problem was LOFT. When the amateur asked what he meant by that, Woods said - LOFT - Lack Of F*ckin* Talent. Harsh but true. Cal lacks f…ing talent.

71Bear said:

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calumnus said:

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After last week vs Nevada at home I feared a no contest two digit loss to TCU on the road. The loss today was frustrating because WE SHOULD HAVE WON. That is a lot better than I feared. We actually played well. Garbers's stats were decent despite the low percentage play calls. Musgrave let him use his feet. Moore is a good every down back. I enjoy watching him run.

I have been a Wilcox skeptic, was a Baldwin critic and am a Musgrave skeptic, but I do think Musgrave learned from game 1 to game 2 and wil continue to figure out what works with this team. Sure, ideally a good OC has most of that figured out going into the season, but we are clearly not watching genius. I am still hoping for competence. I am confident we will not be last (or second to last) in the PAC-12 in offense for the first time under Wilcox. The defense still has trouble with running QBs, and had late game break downs in the Texas afternoon heat, but I think we are OK.

We did not lose this game due to talent which cannot improve, we lost due to bad coaching decisions which can improve.

That said if the Hornets play us close next week I am on the Troy Taylor to Cal train.

---

Once upon a time, Tiger Woods was asked to work with a wealthy amateur who was struggling with his golf game. After watching the guy hit some shots, Woods told him that his problem was LOFT. What the amateur what he meant by that, Woods said - LOFT - Lack Of F*ckin* Talent. Harsh but true. Cal lacks f…ing talent.

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Wilcox's recruiting his first 4 years was bad, pretty much 8th in the PAC-12 consistently. I do not know if Cal ever recruited that poorly over a 4 year stretch since I've been a fan, but maybe under Theder? Holmoe definitely recruited better, much less Snyder, Gilby, Mooch, Tedford and Dykes.

The talent level under Wilcox has actually declined year over year as we lost the players that Dykes (not a great recruiter) brought in to graduation or transfer. Not just offense, but on defense too.

However, recruiting has definitely taken an upswing. The 2021 class was 3rd and next year could be better. I really think Martin will be a good QB. The question of whether to keep a coach should always be predicated on your assessment their future. I'm still not sold on this staff, but it does look like the talent level is going to be increasing (keep your fingers crossed).

calumnus said:

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After last week vs Nevada at home I feared a no contest two digit loss to TCU on the road. The loss today was frustrating because WE SHOULD HAVE WON. That is a lot better than I feared. We actually played well. Garbers's stats were decent despite the low percentage play calls. Musgrave let him use his feet. Moore is a good every down back. I enjoy watching him run.

I have been a Wilcox skeptic, was a Baldwin critic and am a Musgrave skeptic, but I do think Musgrave learned from game 1 to game 2 and wil continue to figure out what works with this team. Sure, ideally a good OC has most of that figured out going into the season, but we are clearly not watching genius. I am still hoping for competence. I am confident we will not be last (or second to last) in the PAC-12 in offense for the first time under Wilcox. The defense still has trouble with running QBs, and had late game break downs in the Texas afternoon heat, but I think we are OK.

We did not lose this game due to talent which cannot improve, we lost due to bad coaching decisions which can improve.

That said if the Hornets play us close next week I am on the Troy Taylor to Cal train.

---

Agree with this. I wasn't sure the Nevada game was going to be what to expect on O the rest of the season which would have been quite depressing. But the O and Musgrave actually showed up (except for the lack of execution on 2 point conversions and inexplicable low percentage passes on third and short to move the chains).

We should have beaten one of the better teams in the Big 12. This is supposed to be some special season for them and we almost punked them. That shows me we can hang. This provides some basis for having hope for a good Pac-12 season (partly because the North looks so weak), which really has been the issue for Wilcox all along.

I can see us beating Sac State, UW and Wazzu. Let's see if that actually happens.

*Now I check the Furd/SC score -- hmm, maybe the North is not so weak? But UW and Wazzu certainly do look it.

I will say this, Musgrave called some better plays today than last week. I just don't understand his insistence on passing to the sidelines on a 3rd and short when our RBs and running game were doing well. We just needed 2 or 3 yards to move the sticks and instead he called up plays to get 10 yards, which resulted in no yardage as the pass fell incomplete. I mean, I can understand running a quick screen pass, a curl route, or even a throw across the middle to get the necessary yardage. But to go for long passes down the sidelines on 3rd and short just made no sense. Was it just Musgrave outsmarting everyone, including himself?

Cal89 said:

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A bump in recruiting would be very welcome. Overall classes, average stars, a bit of improvement, generally:

2017 = 2.93 7th
2018 = 2.82 10th
2019 = 2.96 5th
2020 = 3.04 7th
2021 = 3.0 8th

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The total points class ranking is overly skewed toward number of recruits in the class. However average stars can be negatively skewed by number of recruits in the class.

Another metric is the raw number of 4 and 5 star top recruits on the class. These are the "can't miss" guys that everyone is after.

Number of 4 and 5 Star Recruits
2010 8 + 1
2011 11
2012 5
2013 2
2014 2
2015 3
2016 1 + 1
2017 1
2018 2
2019 1
2020 1
2021 4
2022 2

The main issue is the drop in top level talent since Tedford/Tosh, the last in the nation APR and increased academic standards under Dykes and Wilcox.

Dykes got 2 Four or Five star recruits every year except 2015 when he got 3. Demetris Robertson was his lone 5 star and our first since Keenan Allen in 2010. Until this year, Wilcox brought In 1 Four Star ever year except 2018 when he brought in 2.

However this year Wilcox brought in 4 Four Star players. That seems to be a significant improvement.

Comparing with other PAC-12 schools:
1. Oregon 19
2. USC 14 + 1
3. UW 3 + 1
4T Cal 4
4T Utah 4
4T ASU 4
7. UCLA 3
8. Furd 2
9T WSU 0
9T UA 0
9T CU 0
9T OSU 0

Currently 2022 looks like:
1. Oregon 9 + 1
2. Furd 7
3. USC 3 + 2
4. UCLA 4
5. UW 3
6T Zona 2
6T Cal 2
6T Utah 2
6T ASU 2
10T OSU 0
10T CU 0
10T WSU 0

The above will change before it is done. Hopefully our 2021 blip in recruiting was not an anomaly'. Hopefully Martin and Ott stick and we improve on the field and attract more top recruits.