Glad we got a win, definitely really disappointed with how we started off but appreciate the team showing up for the latter 3/4 of the game.

Thoughts:

- Ifanse is great! I think he's a beyond capable backup and honestly would be a solid if not good starter on many teams
- I think the OL is markedly improved from last year, and feel confident saying that 3 games in with enough sample size
- I have had issues with our pressure generation in the past but genuinely the defense did get a lot of pressure today. It just didn't manifest itself in a huge sack line but generally disruptive in the pocket
- Sam had some great moments including strikes to hunter, trond, but his statline leaves a lot to be desired
- Hope Ott was kept out mostly as a precaution so he can be ready for the rest of the season
- Feel back for Luckhurst because his last kick might've been actually good but still- not ideal
- I really don't get why we start off so slow under Wilcox in many games. It's a common theme across coordinators. Its like we wake up in the second half (or in the second quarter today). Whats up??
- I am somewhat disappointed to say this but I am a little let down by our WRs. I really thought we'd more than make up for JMS being gone because there's a lot of talent in the room but I feel like our separation isn't really that great... maybe just me?

My overall thoughts are that this team honestly isn't going to win that many more games given our tough schedule. I've seen this story before and we probably beat Furd, ASU, and maybe WSU (though they look a lot better than people thought). Maybe one upset against UCLA or something. But this team just probably isn't good enough to win 6 games, just being honest. Sucks to say but it's the truth. Overall happy we came out with a win, saw some good things, but also a classic Wilcox game where we look really bad for a few moments vs a clearly worse team.

Thoughts?

Spot on - don't see more than 4-5 wins. Zero wide receiver separation - seems like we just got WRs with good hands but no speed. And yes, SJV is too short and too inexperienced to beat the average and above teams in the conference.

Dante Moore at UCLA looks like the real deal and chip Kelly has his mojo back. That is a lock loss at LA.

I think you nailed most everything.

My one thought you didn't touch on is Sam Jackson's effectiveness will always have to include his legs and running ability, but his small stature won't survive a season of hits and tackles. He missed time today after a hard hit on a QB run. As we play bigger and stronger defenses the rest of the way, I worry we'll have a banged up Sam many weeks.

If we can't run up the middle, this puts even more pressure on Sam to make plays with his legs. That isn't sustainable.

Very true but I think he is learning each game and will reduce these boneheaded risky runs.

The only hope is we get better and fast. Right now the QB and recover rooms need to really get it together.

Off this topic - the other team seems super well coached and that QB really is something else.

My biggest question regarding Jackson is his ability to consistently complete intermediate timing patterns. I haven't see that at all, and it is imperative to prevent the box from being flooded.

Sam Jackson throws a good tight spiral on time and before the receivers break.

The problem is communication still isn't there with receivers, he can only throw it on a rope, and he never gets air under the ball to let his receivers run under it. This is why we dont have many long passes....oline can't hold up more than 2-3 seconds and receivers can't get down field fast enough to catch the ropes.

There are great ways to make this work....but we aren't doing them. Add into that that spavitals bread and butter is bubble screens and our wrs don't seem capable of blocking and our passing game is in real trouble.

Lastly... Give me some damned deception. The only deception play I recall us running was a fake to the left (that the defense bit on), a fake to the right (defense was still going left), followed by a run to the left....where the defense was waiting because they had bitten so hard on the first fake.

Gimme some play action to a tight end up the middle. Pump fakes to the bubble screen with a pass deep down the line. Make the defense commit one way and go the other. That's how you get big separation for wrs...and it's how you get a short QB a better view of a more spread out field.

Our running game is way better this year....but we need to find a passing game from somewhere....

Cal Strong has not seen much improvement on the O-line. They did okay against two weak opponents, but there were times when Idaho pushed them around. And then they could only push the ball into the end zone once against Auburn.

Part of the problem is Wilcox's weak recruiting. The other part is that we have taken in a stanfurd transfer.

" …but his small stature won't survive a season of hits and tackles."

If he gets hit running top speed by an elite linebacker……

He takes off early and his throws are hold your breath throws.
Finley s throws had zip and were on target. (somewhat) i don't understand how we can't recruit a QB with our QB
lineage.

Crowd today was terrible. Losing the Auburn game was another blow to building up the fan base.

Not sure we can win many games with this passing game. Jackson is just not effective enough. Also disappointed in the receivers so far, not enough separation. Seems like we have some big receivers but not enough speed/elusiveness. I think we will be in trouble now that we have plenty of game tape, teams will key on stopping our run game and force us to pass.

Defensively, today was disappointing. I think we have a good defense, but probably not as good as we thought after last week. Going into the season, the fears of not having a pass rush appear to be justified. Also seeing an FCS QB and receivers wide open and catching balls all over the field is concerning…scary what Penix, Nix, etc may be able to do to us.

Boot said:

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He takes off early and his throws are hold your breath throws.
Finley s throws had zip and were on target. (somewhat).

---

Finley was 1 of 2 for 6 yards.

calumnus said:

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Boot said:

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He takes off early and his throws are hold your breath throws.
Finley s throws had zip and were on target. (somewhat).

---

Finley was 1 of 2 for 6 yards.

---

So other than one miss, he was perfect!

I'm sticking with wins against
$C, furd, wazzu, and oregon st
I think we match up extremely well against those schools.
The surprise is I don't think we win the asu game

Boot said:

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He takes off early and his throws are hold your breath throws.
Finley s throws had zip and were on target. (somewhat) i don't understand how we can't recruit a QB with our QB
lineage.

---

Not to take anything from Findlay. IMO Jackson is clearly better. His passes are more accurate and his escapability is greater. He needs to put more arc on some of his long throws to give the receiver time to run under them. But some of his long passes are beautiful

CNHTH said:

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I'm sticking with wins against
$C, furd, wazzu, and oregon st
I think we match up extremely well against those schools.
The surprise is I don't think we win the asu game

---

LOL. USC, WSU and OSU will curb stomp this team. Stanfurd and ASU do not look that good, so we might have a chance there. Four wins is the ceiling.

HKBear97! said:

---

CNHTH said:

---

I'm sticking with wins against
$C, furd, wazzu, and oregon st
I think we match up extremely well against those schools.
The surprise is I don't think we win the asu game

---

LOL. USC, WSU and OSU will curb stomp this team. Stanfurd and ASU do not look that good, so we might have a chance there. Four wins is the ceiling.

---

Extension time?

Bobodeluxe said:

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HKBear97! said:

---

CNHTH said:

---

I'm sticking with wins against
$C, furd, wazzu, and oregon st
I think we match up extremely well against those schools.
The surprise is I don't think we win the asu game

---

LOL. USC, WSU and OSU will curb stomp this team. Stanfurd and ASU do not look that good, so we might have a chance there. Four wins is the ceiling.

---

Extension time?

---

Better extend JW before Bama comes knocking.

Bobodeluxe said:

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calumnus said:

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Boot said:

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He takes off early and his throws are hold your breath throws.
Finley s throws had zip and were on target. (somewhat).

---

Finley was 1 of 2 for 6 yards.

---

So other than one miss, he was perfect!

---

That one required a great catch by hunter.

GivemTheAxe said:

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Boot said:

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He takes off early and his throws are hold your breath throws.
Finley s throws had zip and were on target. (somewhat) i don't understand how we can't recruit a QB with our QB
lineage.

---

Not to take anything from Findlay. IMO Jackson is clearly better. His passes are more accurate and his escapability is greater. He needs to put more arc on some of his long throws to give the receiver time to run under them. But some of his long passes are beautiful

---

I know this is no longer a 'thing' due to the portal but Jackson could probably use a year on the bench learning with the intent of taking over next year.

golden sloth said:

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GivemTheAxe said:

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Boot said:

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He takes off early and his throws are hold your breath throws.
Finley s throws had zip and were on target. (somewhat) i don't understand how we can't recruit a QB with our QB
lineage.

---

Not to take anything from Findlay. IMO Jackson is clearly better. His passes are more accurate and his escapability is greater. He needs to put more arc on some of his long throws to give the receiver time to run under them. But some of his long passes are beautiful

---

I know this is no longer a 'thing' due to the portal but Jackson could probably use a year on the bench learning with the intent of taking over next year.

---

He is raw but he has sat on a bench for a year already and needs game action.

HKBear97! said:

---

CNHTH said:

---

I'm sticking with wins against
$C, furd, wazzu, and oregon st
I think we match up extremely well against those schools.
The surprise is I don't think we win the asu game

---

LOL. USC, WSU and OSU will curb stomp this team. Stanfurd and ASU do not look that good, so we might have a chance there. Four wins is the ceiling.

---

All 4 are top 10 in sacks allowed against scrub competition. Our d will eat against them and as such the games will be low scoring and being that the games are at home and we will have Ott back…we will prevail.

CNHTH said:

---

HKBear97! said:

---

CNHTH said:

---

I'm sticking with wins against
$C, furd, wazzu, and oregon st
I think we match up extremely well against those schools.
The surprise is I don't think we win the asu game

---

LOL. USC, WSU and OSU will curb stomp this team. Stanfurd and ASU do not look that good, so we might have a chance there. Four wins is the ceiling.

---

All 4 are top 10 in sacks allowed against scrub competition. Our d will eat against them and as such the games will be low scoring and being that the games are at home and we will have Ott back…we will prevail.

---

Edit: sc furd and osu are top 10
Wazzu just won't win because they don't win in Berkeley

CNHTH said:

---

HKBear97! said:

---

CNHTH said:

---

I'm sticking with wins against
$C, furd, wazzu, and oregon st
I think we match up extremely well against those schools.
The surprise is I don't think we win the asu game

---

LOL. USC, WSU and OSU will curb stomp this team. Stanfurd and ASU do not look that good, so we might have a chance there. Four wins is the ceiling.

---

All 4 are top 10 in sacks allowed against scrub competition. Our d will eat against them and as such the games will be low scoring and being that the games are at home and we will have Ott back…we will prevail.

---

Um, both OSU and WSU have played stronger teams than us. All three have BLOWN out their competition with the exception of WSU's nine point win versus Wisconsin. So yeah, hang your hat on that one stat.

CNHTH said:

---

HKBear97! said:

---

CNHTH said:

---

I'm sticking with wins against
$C, furd, wazzu, and oregon st
I think we match up extremely well against those schools.
The surprise is I don't think we win the asu game

---

LOL. USC, WSU and OSU will curb stomp this team. Stanfurd and ASU do not look that good, so we might have a chance there. Four wins is the ceiling.

---

All 4 are top 10 in sacks allowed against scrub competition. Our d will eat against them and as such the games will be low scoring and being that the games are at home and we will have Ott back…we will prevail.

---

Wilcox's defenses tend to keep themselves in low-scoring games and be in position to get some lucky breaks and steal one against a superior team. It's happened basically every year except last year (when I think we had our weakest D under him). So I expect it to happen again.

Still probably 5 wins max. We needed that Auburn game.

Boot said:

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He takes off early and his throws are hold your breath throws.

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This is why the coaches are not calling pass plays over the middle.

sycasey said:

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CNHTH said:

---

HKBear97! said:

---

CNHTH said:

---

I'm sticking with wins against
$C, furd, wazzu, and oregon st
I think we match up extremely well against those schools.
The surprise is I don't think we win the asu game

---

LOL. USC, WSU and OSU will curb stomp this team. Stanfurd and ASU do not look that good, so we might have a chance there. Four wins is the ceiling.

---

All 4 are top 10 in sacks allowed against scrub competition. Our d will eat against them and as such the games will be low scoring and being that the games are at home and we will have Ott back…we will prevail.

---

Wilcox's defenses tend to keep themselves in low-scoring games and be in position to get some lucky breaks and steal one against a superior team. It's happened basically every year except last year (when I think we had our weakest D under him). So I expect it to happen again.

Still probably 5 wins max. We needed that Auburn game.

---

Agreed and I'll make the following disclaimer that I don't want us to win those games because it just buys more time under this abysmal nonsense under Wilcox. Whereas if we lose those games and win the 2 we're supposed to he's on shakier footing.
But this d is good. It is top 10 in the country and we played all 4 of those teams well in the last 2 meetings.
I don't expect that to change.
For reference.
UNT put up 225 against us and 562 and 548 in their other 2
Auburn put up 562 yards today; and 492 in the opener…they put up 230 against us
Idaho put up 467 and 497 in the previous 2 while putting up 387 against us

I'm not writing us off quite yet because our defense is top 10 in all categories in the country and has pitched a shutout in 6/12 quarters this season.
They are good and imho will prove it again next week

BearSD said:

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Boot said:

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He takes off early and his throws are hold your breath throws.

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This is why the coaches are not calling pass plays over the middle.

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On the contrary, it seems like a slant would be a great call. Or a TE deep over the middle off of play-action.

calumnus said:

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BearSD said:

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Boot said:

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He takes off early and his throws are hold your breath throws.

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This is why the coaches are not calling pass plays over the middle.

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On the contrary, it seems like a slant would be a great call. Or a TE deep over the middle off of play-action.

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We did try this a couple of times and the receivers dropped the ball.

Just ask them not to drop it next time. That's called big time coaching. $5,000,000.00!

eastcoastcal said:

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Glad we got a win, definitely really disappointed with how we started off but appreciate the team showing up for the latter 3/4 of the game.

Thoughts:

- Ifanse is great! I think he's a beyond capable backup and honestly would be a solid if not good starter on many teams
- I think the OL is markedly improved from last year, and feel confident saying that 3 games in with enough sample size
- I have had issues with our pressure generation in the past but genuinely the defense did get a lot of pressure today. It just didn't manifest itself in a huge sack line but generally disruptive in the pocket
- Sam had some great moments including strikes to hunter, trond, but his statline leaves a lot to be desired
- Hope Ott was kept out mostly as a precaution so he can be ready for the rest of the season
- Feel back for Luckhurst because his last kick might've been actually good but still- not ideal
- I really don't get why we start off so slow under Wilcox in many games. It's a common theme across coordinators. Its like we wake up in the second half (or in the second quarter today). Whats up??
- I am somewhat disappointed to say this but I am a little let down by our WRs. I really thought we'd more than make up for JMS being gone because there's a lot of talent in the room but I feel like our separation isn't really that great... maybe just me?

My overall thoughts are that this team honestly isn't going to win that many more games given our tough schedule. I've seen this story before and we probably beat Furd, ASU, and maybe WSU (though they look a lot better than people thought). Maybe one upset against UCLA or something. But this team just probably isn't good enough to win 6 games, just being honest. Sucks to say but it's the truth. Overall happy we came out with a win, saw some good things, but also a classic Wilcox game where we look really bad for a few moments vs a clearly worse team.

Thoughts?

---

I didn't see the game, but listened on the radio driving home from SoCal. And I feel those are good observations across the board. What is concerning is that our passing offense in general is subpar. I have not seen the team live yet, so I'm sure the reasons for this. But I think it will be an uphill battle all season as long as SJV is under center. I think he is at least 1 season away from the minimum passing QB competence level for starters in P5 conferences. Frankly I am surprised and disappointed that we have not seen Mendoza for at least a few series. However it makes sense that Jackson is playing as much as he is. Given his history with transferring and/or decommitting from schools, he's likely to transfer out should he feel that he's not THE guy.

Anyway, the point is that, eventually, if not already, teams will realize we can't pass and will key against the run. Auburn already figured that out and we saw what happened. If we had even an average passing attack, we would have beaten Auburn easily. And as much as we love Ifanse, his numbers and effectiveness will dissipate under those circumstances, just as Ott's did a week ago.

75bear said:

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I think you nailed most everything.

My one thought you didn't touch on is Sam Jackson's effectiveness will always have to include his legs and running ability, but his small stature won't survive a season of hits and tackles. He missed time today after a hard hit on a QB run. As we play bigger and stronger defenses the rest of the way, I worry we'll have a banged up Sam many weeks.

If we can't run up the middle, this puts even more pressure on Sam to make plays with his legs. That isn't sustainable.

---

There are very few true dual threat QBs. Most QBs tabbed as dual threat are not good passers. Jackson is a running QB, not a dual threat. Maybe Spav. can develop him into one. But he's not that right now.

MrGPAC said:

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Sam Jackson throws a good tight spiral on time and before the receivers break.

The problem is communication still isn't there with receivers, he can only throw it on a rope, and he never gets air under the ball to let his receivers run under it. This is why we dont have many long passes....oline can't hold up more than 2-3 seconds and receivers can't get down field fast enough to catch the ropes.

There are great ways to make this work....but we aren't doing them. Add into that that spavitals bread and butter is bubble screens and our wrs don't seem capable of blocking and our passing game is in real trouble.

Lastly... Give me some damned deception. The only deception play I recall us running was a fake to the left (that the defense bit on), a fake to the right (defense was still going left), followed by a run to the left....where the defense was waiting because they had bitten so hard on the first fake.

Gimme some play action to a tight end up the middle. Pump fakes to the bubble screen with a pass deep down the line. Make the defense commit one way and go the other. That's how you get big separation for wrs...and it's how you get a short QB a better view of a more spread out field.

Our running game is way better this year....but we need to find a passing game from somewhere....

---

It's funny to hear this. Folks were blaming all of those issues on Musgrave, claiming his offense was out of date. it seems that, no matter how many surface changes Cal makes, nothing really changes.

calumnus said:

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Boot said:

---

He takes off early and his throws are hold your breath throws.
Finley s throws had zip and were on target. (somewhat).

---

Finley was 1 of 2 for 6 yards.

---

How did Finley only throw 2 passes when he played most of the N. Texas game?

Sorry, but I don't see how Finley's passes have zip, by FBS standards. Jackson's ball has more zip, if less accuracy.

heartofthebear said:

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MrGPAC said:

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Sam Jackson throws a good tight spiral on time and before the receivers break.

The problem is communication still isn't there with receivers, he can only throw it on a rope, and he never gets air under the ball to let his receivers run under it. This is why we dont have many long passes....oline can't hold up more than 2-3 seconds and receivers can't get down field fast enough to catch the ropes.

There are great ways to make this work....but we aren't doing them. Add into that that spavitals bread and butter is bubble screens and our wrs don't seem capable of blocking and our passing game is in real trouble.

Lastly... Give me some damned deception. The only deception play I recall us running was a fake to the left (that the defense bit on), a fake to the right (defense was still going left), followed by a run to the left....where the defense was waiting because they had bitten so hard on the first fake.

Gimme some play action to a tight end up the middle. Pump fakes to the bubble screen with a pass deep down the line. Make the defense commit one way and go the other. That's how you get big separation for wrs...and it's how you get a short QB a better view of a more spread out field.

Our running game is way better this year....but we need to find a passing game from somewhere....

---

It's funny to hear this. Folks were blaming all of those issues on Musgrave, claiming his offense was out of date. it seems that, no matter how many surface changes Cal makes, nothing really changes.

---

Which begs the question…
Is it Wilcox?