txwharfrat said:
socaltownie said:
One thing that is clear is that there are "fans" on BI that watch the game through blue and gold colored glasses and can't step back a bit.
Here is what I saw on Friday night - an undersized Cal offensive line and a defensive line that is SLOOOOOWWWW. Secondaries that are vastly difference in skill. Runners who are as well. Ditto WR.
Oregon shot itself in the foot three times and absent that would have had likely a 2 TD lead and milked the clock at the end of the game (and likely put Garbers on a stretcher).
But rather than look at the skill (and recruiting) gap we have posters who say that people like Musgroves are idiots and if they just could call the game all would be right.
It is talent and thus recruiting. That is, bluntly, the alpha and omega and absent coaching who can do that (and continuined improvements in the structural challenges of recruiting to a place like Cal) we will not compete.
And I don't know who else saw the crawl on the broadcast but it gets EVEN BETTER with the NCAA proposal to the Presidents to do away with test score requirements to qualify SA. Will make it even harder to compete talent wise with the rest of our conference.
It's not the X's and the O's, it's the Joes and the Schmoes.
It is both. Oregon has a lot more talent. They actually played down to Cal's level for much of the game IMO. But when they needed to they made plays. Cal played hard but not always well. They hung around due to effort and Oregon turning it over twice. But Cal when it really mattered did not have the right stuff.
The play calling was weak. But Qb play in key moments was not good enough. A WR did not catch a catchable ball. It was not an easy play but a very makeable play.
So far this season Oregon was the only team they faced where the talent was clearly better. UW and TCU probably had a slight advantage. The P12 is full of teams like Cal. Mid tier talent. What is the difference? Coaching, injuries, turnovers, motivation.
This program lacks difference makers. They are not fast. They need everything to go well to win. Especially against a strong team like Oregon. Where coaching really makes a big difference is when the talent is close. But Cal loses too many games against similar talent. They are 1-3 vs Stanford. 1-3 vs UCLA. 2-2 vs OSU and WSU. 0-2 vs UA . You expect the team to lose to Oregon. To USC where the on field talent is lopsided. USC is the poster child program for underachieving and dysfunction.
The recruiting has to get better for the program to get better. The coaching has to improve for the close games to fall Cal's way more often. They will have an occasional upset or win a close game against a similar opponent. And many will declare the program is turning the corner. You need a minimum of 3 strong recruiting classes piled up on top of each other to truly change the program. You need good coaching to win the close games. You need some luck with injury etc.
Cal is really an average talent program, that is below average in some key places. And the coaching is not great. They need to play with terrific effort every game to have a chance. When they are flat like vs WSU they get throttled.
I do believe this team should be sitting at 3-3 right now. There are a stretch of winnable games coming. Colorado and Arizona are less talented than the Bears. Arizona by a lot and Colorado by a decent margin. OSU is similar to the Bears but have a better overall staff than does Cal. USC is who knows what. They have the 2nd best overall talent in the conference. They rarely play like it. They are a mess. At Cal if the Bears show up and USC does not it could go Cal's way. If USC is motivated they should win. Perhaps easily. Stanford is similar to Cal. UCLA is better but like Cal has swings in effort.
When you go 11-23 in conference it is mostly a talent issue. This staff is not awful, just far from elite. They are not difference making. I think some changes in coaching could help. But really this program only turns around if the recruiting really perks up. Not just an occasional stud, but 8-10 real top guys each class. And few misses. The program still has too many guys that cannot play at the level required to compete for a P12 North championship. In any one game you can pull an upset or eke out a narrow win. But the more games you play the more the talent takes over. In the close games where coaching really matters, the team comes up short more than it should.
Both need to improve. Can it happen under Justin Wilcox? I do not believe it can.