It was bad
Bring back It’s It’s to Haas Pavillion!
Garbers 0-25 loss in UFL championship
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Last: 11 mo ago by calumnus
oskidunker said:
It was bad
Garbers must still have Musgrave as an OC.
oskidunker said:
It was bad
At first when I saw the 0 - 25 in the title, I thought Garbers failed to complete a pass in 25 attempts.
But I did check on the stats and he went 18 of 26 for 116 yards, the leading running back went for 32 yards on 9 carries, but he also had 6 catches for 38 yards.
He ran on third down and slid two yards before the first down line. Had a blocker in front of him. Oh the memories…
ursa carolina said:
He ran on third down and slid two yards before the first down line. Had a blocker in front of him. Oh the memories…
Still he is the best QB in the 7 years of the Wilcox era so far despite two really bad OCs.
He did that in LA against USC at LA when he was here. 2018 I believeursa carolina said:
He ran on third down and slid two yards before the first down line. Had a blocker in front of him. Oh the memories…
calumnus said:ursa carolina said:
He ran on third down and slid two yards before the first down line. Had a blocker in front of him. Oh the memories…
Still he is the best QB in the 7 years of the Wilcox era so far despite two really bad OCs.
Agreed. He was a good college QB. We just needed an OC that would emphasize his strengths with his mobility and limit his weaknesses of the deep sideline pass.
At the tail end of 2019, we had a series of good offensive games with him at the helm.
He was not a "good" college quarterback - he was our quarterback - but he was nowhere near good. He was always at the bottom of the pac-10 pecking order for quarterbacks; he was mediocre on his best days. I know someone with throw up some stats that will try and put him in a better light, but he always showed up small in games against real competition - and our team never had a winning conference record in his 7 years here (ok, it wasn't 7, but it seemed like forever). I hate to talk down a loyal Golden Bear, but it really annoys me when fans romanticize his tenure here and somehow blame the O.C. for his terrible play (they didn't help, but also didn't throw all those embarrassing passes, and miss all those open receivers). He was bad - but, he was the best we had at the time - ugh.
MathTeacherMike said:
He was not a "good" college quarterback - he was our quarterback - but he was nowhere near good. He was always at the bottom of the pac-10 pecking order for quarterbacks; he was mediocre on his best days. I know someone with throw up some stats that will try and put him in a better light, but he always showed up small in games against real competition - and our team never had a winning conference record in his 7 years here (ok, it wasn't 7, but it seemed like forever). I hate to talk down a loyal Golden Bear, but it really annoys me when fans romanticize his tenure here and somehow blame the O.C. for his terrible play (they didn't help, but also didn't throw all those embarrassing passes, and miss all those open receivers). He was bad - but, he was the best we had at the time - ugh.
I disagree.
You're right. I've watched Cal QBs since Craig Morton (granted, I was 9-10 years old, then) and I recognize mediocre when I see it because there have been long stretches of QB mediocrity at Cal. In fact, you could add up the Great (e.g. Roth, Rodgers, etc) and the Good (e.g. Barr, Campbell, Goff, etc) and it wouldn't equal the Mediocre (way too many). Categorizing Cal QBs is an obvious thread topic for the dog days of summer - so obvious that I'm sure it's been done before, so I won't start it.MathTeacherMike said:
He was not a "good" college quarterback - he was our quarterback - but he was nowhere near good. He was always at the bottom of the pac-10 pecking order for quarterbacks; he was mediocre on his best days. I know someone with throw up some stats that will try and put him in a better light, but he always showed up small in games against real competition - and our team never had a winning conference record in his 7 years here (ok, it wasn't 7, but it seemed like forever). I hate to talk down a loyal Golden Bear, but it really annoys me when fans romanticize his tenure here and somehow blame the O.C. for his terrible play (they didn't help, but also didn't throw all those embarrassing passes, and miss all those open receivers). He was bad - but, he was the best we had at the time - ugh.
I dunno. I still think Ross Bowers was a bit better than him - before transferring, which set him Ross back quite a bit.
The rationale for switching to Garbers never made sense to me. The logic was that he was a better runner. But Ross was LITERALLY front flipping over fools into the end zone. That seems like a pretty good runner to me.
If Garbers didn't defeat USC and stanfurd so many times it would be an easy call - just another Wilcox screwup. But the fact that he did defeat our rivals makes it a tough call. I still think Ross was probably a shade better. But would I trade a shade better for two wins against SC and a few notches on the axe? Nope.
The rationale for switching to Garbers never made sense to me. The logic was that he was a better runner. But Ross was LITERALLY front flipping over fools into the end zone. That seems like a pretty good runner to me.
If Garbers didn't defeat USC and stanfurd so many times it would be an easy call - just another Wilcox screwup. But the fact that he did defeat our rivals makes it a tough call. I still think Ross was probably a shade better. But would I trade a shade better for two wins against SC and a few notches on the axe? Nope.
Garbers was definitely a good college QB. Keep in mind that, while playing for Cal, he often had a poor offensive coordinator directing him.
chazzed said:
Garbers was definitely a good college QB. Keep in mind that, while playing for Cal, he often had a poor offensive coordinator directing him.
It wasn't just the OC, that 2018 squad wasn't the most talented. The leading receiver was Vic Wharton, who is a nice player, but not someone defenses stress over.
His biggest highlight was talking trash to the USC player for three or four players then burning him for his only touchdown of the season.
But Malik McMorris, Patrick Laird, Moe Ways, they are some great golden bears, but they are on a different level from players like Jayden Ott, J Michael Sturdivant, Demetrius Robinson, Chad Hansen.
I liked Bowers, but IIRC he got into some kind of tiff with the staff. Or maybe it was just that they liked Garbers more.
Citation needed, otherwise this is just unsubstantiated and disingenuous drivel. Goff had a losing conference record, never beat any of our rivals, and imploded in our biggest games (5 pick Utah game). Is he not a good college QB?MathTeacherMike said:
He was not a "good" college quarterback - he was our quarterback - but he was nowhere near good. He was always at the bottom of the pac-10 pecking order for quarterbacks; he was mediocre on his best days. I know someone with throw up some stats that will try and put him in a better light, but he always showed up small in games against real competition - and our team never had a winning conference record in his 7 years here (ok, it wasn't 7, but it seemed like forever). I hate to talk down a loyal Golden Bear, but it really annoys me when fans romanticize his tenure here and somehow blame the O.C. for his terrible play (they didn't help, but also didn't throw all those embarrassing passes, and miss all those open receivers). He was bad - but, he was the best we had at the time - ugh.
golden sloth said:chazzed said:
Garbers was definitely a good college QB. Keep in mind that, while playing for Cal, he often had a poor offensive coordinator directing him.
It wasn't just the OC, that 2018 squad wasn't the most talented. The leading receiver was Vic Wharton, who is a nice player, but not someone defenses stress over.
His biggest highlight was talking trash to the USC player for three or four players then burning him for his only touchdown of the season.
But Malik McMorris, Patrick Laird, Moe Ways, they are some great golden bears, but they are on a different level from players like Jayden Ott, J Michael Sturdivant, Demetrius Robinson, Chad Hansen.
We lead the Pac-12 in total offense in 2016 and had great offensive talent going into 2017, including Chase Garbers an Elite 11 Finalist (ranked behind Mills, Tagovailoa, Fromm, Martel… but ahead of Mac Jones, Jake Haener….
RBs
Tre Watson
Patrick Laird
Vic Enwere
Malik McMorris
WR
Robertson
Stovall
Wharton
Duncan
Noa
Veasy
Singleton
TE
McMorris
Hudson
concernedparent said:Citation needed, otherwise this is just unsubstantiated and disingenuous drivel. Goff had a losing conference record, never beat any of our rivals, and imploded in our biggest games (5 pick Utah game). Is he not a good college QB?MathTeacherMike said:
He was not a "good" college quarterback - he was our quarterback - but he was nowhere near good. He was always at the bottom of the pac-10 pecking order for quarterbacks; he was mediocre on his best days. I know someone with throw up some stats that will try and put him in a better light, but he always showed up small in games against real competition - and our team never had a winning conference record in his 7 years here (ok, it wasn't 7, but it seemed like forever). I hate to talk down a loyal Golden Bear, but it really annoys me when fans romanticize his tenure here and somehow blame the O.C. for his terrible play (they didn't help, but also didn't throw all those embarrassing passes, and miss all those open receivers). He was bad - but, he was the best we had at the time - ugh.
Garbers is #7 on the all time Cal list with 6,682 yards, just behind Longshore and ahead of Gilbert.
Garbers on his career completed 62.4% of his passes, better than Goff, Taylor, Boller, Barnes, Longshore, Riley, Pawlawski, Morton Webb, Roth…
His passing rating is better than Longshore and Riley.
His 148.9 passing rating in 2019 was better than Rodgers in 2003 and any season of any Cal QB since Rodgers other than Goff in 2015.
However, it is his 1,174 net rushing yards and 11 rushing TDs that really stand out, both are Cal QB records. The vast majority of QBs have negative numbers. Gale Gilbert was -808 yards rushing on his career. When you combine his passing and rushing yards he is #4 in Cal history (7,756) and in TDs he is #3 (61).
In his senior year Garbers complete 64.1% for 2,533 yards, 16 TDs 8 Int for a 135.8 passing rating and rushed for a net 454 yards and 4 TDs. With Musgrave completely misusing him the first half of the season, having him stand in the pocket and take sacks instead of taking off running for big gains and first downs.
calumnus said:golden sloth said:chazzed said:
Garbers was definitely a good college QB. Keep in mind that, while playing for Cal, he often had a poor offensive coordinator directing him.
It wasn't just the OC, that 2018 squad wasn't the most talented. The leading receiver was Vic Wharton, who is a nice player, but not someone defenses stress over.
His biggest highlight was talking trash to the USC player for three or four players then burning him for his only touchdown of the season.
But Malik McMorris, Patrick Laird, Moe Ways, they are some great golden bears, but they are on a different level from players like Jayden Ott, J Michael Sturdivant, Demetrius Robinson, Chad Hansen.
We lead the Pac-12 in total offense in 2016 and had great offensive talent going into 2017, including Chase Garbers an Elite 11 Finalist (ranked behind Mills, Tagovailoa, Fromm, Martel… but ahead of Mac Jones, Jake Haener….
RBs
Tre Watson
Patrick Laird
Vic Enwere
Malik McMorris
WR
Robertson
Stovall
Wharton
Duncan
Noa
Veasy
Singleton
TE
McMorris
Hudson
In 2017 Garbers was a true freshman, and I'm not going to penalize a quarterback for not starting his freshman year. 2018, which is the year i cited, he actually started to play. Unfortunately between 2016 and 2018 we lost a lot of offensive talent and didn't bring in replacement talent.
Of the players you mentioned, by 2018:
RBs
Tre Watson transferred
Patrick Laird walk on starter
Vic Enwere graduated
Malik McMorris Walk on niche player (though I love him)
WR
Robertson transferred
Stovall transferred
Wharton lead the team with 50 catches for 502 yards
Duncan injured
Noa injured
Veasy graduated
Singleton graduated
TE
McMorris see above
Hudson 4 catches for 53 yards
Cal did add a freshman Remiggio who ended up being pretty good, but that is still not a lot of talent.
I remember after the USC upset, everyone got hyped because it was a series of walkons beating the 5 star primadonnas from USC. Laird, Daltosa and McMorris took them to the promised land.
golden sloth said:calumnus said:golden sloth said:chazzed said:
Garbers was definitely a good college QB. Keep in mind that, while playing for Cal, he often had a poor offensive coordinator directing him.
It wasn't just the OC, that 2018 squad wasn't the most talented. The leading receiver was Vic Wharton, who is a nice player, but not someone defenses stress over.
His biggest highlight was talking trash to the USC player for three or four players then burning him for his only touchdown of the season.
But Malik McMorris, Patrick Laird, Moe Ways, they are some great golden bears, but they are on a different level from players like Jayden Ott, J Michael Sturdivant, Demetrius Robinson, Chad Hansen.
We lead the Pac-12 in total offense in 2016 and had great offensive talent going into 2017, including Chase Garbers an Elite 11 Finalist (ranked behind Mills, Tagovailoa, Fromm, Martel… but ahead of Mac Jones, Jake Haener….
RBs
Tre Watson
Patrick Laird
Vic Enwere
Malik McMorris
WR
Robertson
Stovall
Wharton
Duncan
Noa
Veasy
Singleton
TE
McMorris
Hudson
In 2017 Garbers was a true freshman, and I'm not going to penalize a quarterback for not starting his freshman year. 2018, which is the year i cited, he actually started to play. Unfortunately between 2016 and 2018 we lost a lot of offensive talent and didn't bring in replacement talent.
Of the players you mentioned, by 2018:
RBs
Tre Watson transferred
Patrick Laird walk on starter
Vic Enwere graduated
Malik McMorris Walk on niche player (though I love him)
WR
Robertson transferred
Stovall transferred
Wharton lead the team with 50 catches for 502 yards
Duncan injured
Noa injured
Veasy graduated
Singleton graduated
TE
McMorris see above
Hudson 4 catches for 53 yards
Cal did add a freshman Remiggio who ended up being pretty good, but that is still not a lot of talent.
I remember after the USC upset, everyone got hyped because it was a series of walkons beating the 5 star primadonnas from USC. Laird, Daltosa and McMorris took them to the promised land.
Yes, it was an incomplete thought. I didn't mean it as a criticism of Garbers, but as a criticism of Baldwin and Wilcox. We had a lot of offensive talent coming into 2017 that transferred out or stayed and was squandered.
Without Garbers' ability to turn nothing into something with his legs, Wilcox's record would be worse than it already is.
I get why some have the response. Garbers doesn't look good on the initial eye test. Weak arm, bad deep ball accuracy, and early on in his career he locked on and missed open guys a lot. But then you really study what's going on, you see him turning sacks into short gains, picking up 3rd and long with his feet when other teams are dropping 7 or 8, and throwing very catchable short-intermediate balls for high-percentage modest gains.calumnus said:concernedparent said:Citation needed, otherwise this is just unsubstantiated and disingenuous drivel. Goff had a losing conference record, never beat any of our rivals, and imploded in our biggest games (5 pick Utah game). Is he not a good college QB?MathTeacherMike said:
He was not a "good" college quarterback - he was our quarterback - but he was nowhere near good. He was always at the bottom of the pac-10 pecking order for quarterbacks; he was mediocre on his best days. I know someone with throw up some stats that will try and put him in a better light, but he always showed up small in games against real competition - and our team never had a winning conference record in his 7 years here (ok, it wasn't 7, but it seemed like forever). I hate to talk down a loyal Golden Bear, but it really annoys me when fans romanticize his tenure here and somehow blame the O.C. for his terrible play (they didn't help, but also didn't throw all those embarrassing passes, and miss all those open receivers). He was bad - but, he was the best we had at the time - ugh.
Garbers is #7 on the all time Cal list with 6,682 yards, just behind Longshore and ahead of Gilbert.
Garbers on his career completed 62.4% of his passes, better than Goff, Taylor, Boller, Barnes, Longshore, Riley, Pawlawski, Morton Webb, Roth…
His passing rating is better than Longshore and Riley.
His 148.9 passing rating in 2019 was better than Rodgers in 2003 and any season of any Cal QB since Rodgers other than Goff in 2015.
However, it is his 1,174 net rushing yards and 11 rushing TDs that really stand out, both are Cal QB records. The vast majority of QBs have negative numbers. Gale Gilbert was -808 yards rushing on his career. When you combine his passing and rushing yards he is #4 in Cal history (7,756) and in TDs he is #3 (61).
In his senior year Garbers complete 64.1% for 2,533 yards, 16 TDs 8 Int for a 135.8 passing rating and rushed for a net 454 yards and 4 TDs. With Musgrave completely misusing him the first half of the season, having him stand in the pocket and take sacks instead of taking off running for big gains and first downs.
Still baffled how he was a 4-star, he was decent but makes Mendoza look like the second coming of Andrew Luck
He definitely saved Wilcox from a worse record. And from what I recall, reports were that the first thing JW did when hired was go visit Chase and ensure he stayed committed. That should have been a sign of things to come (inability to gauge offensive talent or recruit a better QB in the future).Strykur said:
Still baffled how he was a 4-star, he was decent but makes Mendoza look like the second coming of Andrew Luck
Yeah and what I mention to folks is that Bill Musgrave is the lousiest coordinator of all time but the reason he keeps getting NFL jobs (quarterbacking or otherwise) is because he knows how to spot talent, he saved this program when he decided to take a shot on a guy from Miami who was going to Yale otherwise.95bears said:He definitely saved Wilcox from a worse record. And from what I recall, reports were that the first thing JW did when hired was go visit Chase and ensure he stayed committed. That should have been a sign of things to come (inability to gauge offensive talent or recruit a better QB in the future).Strykur said:
Still baffled how he was a 4-star, he was decent but makes Mendoza look like the second coming of Andrew Luck
Strykur said:
Still baffled how he was a 4-star, he was decent but makes Mendoza look like the second coming of Andrew Luck
Garbers put up big numbers at an OC high school, beat out a lot of top QB recruits in drills at the Elite 11 Finals and was recruited by top schools. Hence the 4 star rating. Was he really better than Mac Jones? Elite 11 camp evaluators thought so.
Mendoza looks great at times, not so great at others (reminds me of Kevin Riley). His first year he committed far too many turnovers. If Mendoza can cut down on those and is as efficient and judicious in his second year as Garbers was in his (only 3 interceptions on the season), I will be VERY happy. I am hoping that calmness and confidence comes with experience.
I also really think Mendoza, with his height and quick release, was well suited to Spavital's quick passing scheme. I am not sure what Bloesch was trying to do in the bowl game, but it wasn't doing Mendoza (or Ott) any favors. We will see what Bloesch/Gilbert run this Fall, but I think that will be the biggest factor in Mendoza's success and not the other way around.
That is a great point. The importance of Wharton's TD against USC can't be overstated, though.golden sloth said:chazzed said:
Garbers was definitely a good college QB. Keep in mind that, while playing for Cal, he often had a poor offensive coordinator directing him.
It wasn't just the OC, that 2018 squad wasn't the most talented. The leading receiver was Vic Wharton, who is a nice player, but not someone defenses stress over.
His biggest highlight was talking trash to the USC player for three or four players then burning him for his only touchdown of the season.
But Malik McMorris, Patrick Laird, Moe Ways, they are some great golden bears, but they are on a different level from players like Jayden Ott, J Michael Sturdivant, Demetrius Robinson, Chad Hansen.
And don't get me started on McMorris. We did not play to his strengths enough. To an extent, you gotta adjust to the players that you have.
I strongly disagree. And I'm a fan of Mendoza.Strykur said:
. . . he was decent but makes Mendoza look like the second coming of Andrew Luck
chazzed said:That is a great point. The importance of Wharton's TD against USC can't be overstated, though.golden sloth said:chazzed said:
Garbers was definitely a good college QB. Keep in mind that, while playing for Cal, he often had a poor offensive coordinator directing him.
It wasn't just the OC, that 2018 squad wasn't the most talented. The leading receiver was Vic Wharton, who is a nice player, but not someone defenses stress over.
His biggest highlight was talking trash to the USC player for three or four players then burning him for his only touchdown of the season.
But Malik McMorris, Patrick Laird, Moe Ways, they are some great golden bears, but they are on a different level from players like Jayden Ott, J Michael Sturdivant, Demetrius Robinson, Chad Hansen.
And don't get me started on McMorris. We did not play to his strengths enough. To an extent, you gotta adjust to the players that you have.
Yes, you have to identify your difference makers, the guys the other team will have trouble defending and then design your offense to maximize that.
People complained about Desean Jackson's run blocking when at best he can block one guy, but if you send him deep, even on a run play, he takes two defenders out of the play.
McMorris was a once in a lifetime H-Back a walking pancake block and a good combo with Laird, who was great at being patient and following his blocking.
calumnus said:chazzed said:That is a great point. The importance of Wharton's TD against USC can't be overstated, though.golden sloth said:chazzed said:
Garbers was definitely a good college QB. Keep in mind that, while playing for Cal, he often had a poor offensive coordinator directing him.
It wasn't just the OC, that 2018 squad wasn't the most talented. The leading receiver was Vic Wharton, who is a nice player, but not someone defenses stress over.
His biggest highlight was talking trash to the USC player for three or four players then burning him for his only touchdown of the season.
But Malik McMorris, Patrick Laird, Moe Ways, they are some great golden bears, but they are on a different level from players like Jayden Ott, J Michael Sturdivant, Demetrius Robinson, Chad Hansen.
And don't get me started on McMorris. We did not play to his strengths enough. To an extent, you gotta adjust to the players that you have.
Yes, you have to identify your difference makers, the guys the other team will have trouble defending and then design your offense to maximize that.
People complained about Desean Jackson's run blocking when at best he can block one guy, but if you send him deep, even on a run play, he takes two defenders out of the play.
McMorris was a once in a lifetime H-Back a walking pancake block and a good combo with Laird, who was great at being patient and following his blocking.
It is great that Wilcox found a once in a lifetime H-Back a walking pancake block from national So Cal powerhouse Mater Dei when nobody besides navy and holy cross would give him a scholly. He was the #1815 ranked recruit.
oski003 said:calumnus said:chazzed said:That is a great point. The importance of Wharton's TD against USC can't be overstated, though.golden sloth said:chazzed said:
Garbers was definitely a good college QB. Keep in mind that, while playing for Cal, he often had a poor offensive coordinator directing him.
It wasn't just the OC, that 2018 squad wasn't the most talented. The leading receiver was Vic Wharton, who is a nice player, but not someone defenses stress over.
His biggest highlight was talking trash to the USC player for three or four players then burning him for his only touchdown of the season.
But Malik McMorris, Patrick Laird, Moe Ways, they are some great golden bears, but they are on a different level from players like Jayden Ott, J Michael Sturdivant, Demetrius Robinson, Chad Hansen.
And don't get me started on McMorris. We did not play to his strengths enough. To an extent, you gotta adjust to the players that you have.
Yes, you have to identify your difference makers, the guys the other team will have trouble defending and then design your offense to maximize that.
People complained about Desean Jackson's run blocking when at best he can block one guy, but if you send him deep, even on a run play, he takes two defenders out of the play.
McMorris was a once in a lifetime H-Back a walking pancake block and a good combo with Laird, who was great at being patient and following his blocking.
It is great that Wilcox found a once in a lifetime H-Back a walking pancake block from national So Cal powerhouse Mater Dei when nobody besides navy and holy cross would give him a scholly. He was the #1815 ranked recruit.
In HS he played both ways and was selected to the Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl, the LA Times All Star and All Southern CaliforniaPreps.com, was Trinity League Defendive Player of the Year and on All-Trinity League Team. Was also a track and field star (shot put and discus) and was even the MVP of the Mater Dei basketball team. He was Sports Illustated Athlete of the Month.
A 6'0 290 LB MVP of the Mater Dei basketball team? Just a freakish athlete. However schools thought he was too short for DL and could not wrap their heads around a 290 LB RB. Many schools (Cal included) generally only offer walk-on positions to FBs. An excellent student (later PAC-12 All Academic), he had walk-on offers everywhere but chose Cal's (great academics, in-state tuition).
He and Patrick Laird, who later played in the NFL, were both walkons under Dykes but IMO were our best players on offense under Wilcox/Baldwin (offenses ranked #90, #115 and #117) and needed to be emphasized a lot more a lot sooner.
We have had many great walk-on players in our history. He was one, but it required out of the box thinking to make use of him. That was not Baldwin, who had great energy but was/is a guy who was definitely not a genius.
On the Mendoza theme... he's putting in a tremendous amount of off-season work and doing things (I am told) other Cal QBs haven't in between seasons. In particular, he's working on his mental game to cut down the picks.
Keep your fingers crossed our under-the-radar grinder guy busts through in the ACC.
Keep your fingers crossed our under-the-radar grinder guy busts through in the ACC.
Malik came to Cal because of the Mater Dei guys who had been already there the year before like my son. No other major reason…Mater Dei guys are tight…calumnus said:oski003 said:calumnus said:chazzed said:That is a great point. The importance of Wharton's TD against USC can't be overstated, though.golden sloth said:chazzed said:
Garbers was definitely a good college QB. Keep in mind that, while playing for Cal, he often had a poor offensive coordinator directing him.
It wasn't just the OC, that 2018 squad wasn't the most talented. The leading receiver was Vic Wharton, who is a nice player, but not someone defenses stress over.
His biggest highlight was talking trash to the USC player for three or four players then burning him for his only touchdown of the season.
But Malik McMorris, Patrick Laird, Moe Ways, they are some great golden bears, but they are on a different level from players like Jayden Ott, J Michael Sturdivant, Demetrius Robinson, Chad Hansen.
And don't get me started on McMorris. We did not play to his strengths enough. To an extent, you gotta adjust to the players that you have.
Yes, you have to identify your difference makers, the guys the other team will have trouble defending and then design your offense to maximize that.
People complained about Desean Jackson's run blocking when at best he can block one guy, but if you send him deep, even on a run play, he takes two defenders out of the play.
McMorris was a once in a lifetime H-Back a walking pancake block and a good combo with Laird, who was great at being patient and following his blocking.
It is great that Wilcox found a once in a lifetime H-Back a walking pancake block from national So Cal powerhouse Mater Dei when nobody besides navy and holy cross would give him a scholly. He was the #1815 ranked recruit.
In HS he played both ways and was selected to the Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl, the LA Times All Star and All Southern CaliforniaPreps.com, was Trinity League Defendive Player of the Year and on All-Trinity League Team. Was also a track and field star (shot put and discus) and was even the MVP of the Mater Dei basketball team. He was Sports Illustated Athlete of the Month.
A 6'0 290 LB MVP of the Mater Dei basketball team? Just a freakish athlete. However schools thought he was too short for DL and could not wrap their heads around a 290 LB RB. Many schools (Cal included) generally only offer walk-on positions to FBs. An excellent student (later PAC-12 All Academic), he had walk-on offers everywhere but chose Cal's (great academics, in-state tuition).
He and Patrick Laird, who later played in the NFL, were both walkons under Dykes but IMO were our best players on offense under Wilcox/Baldwin (offenses ranked #90, #115 and #117) and needed to be emphasized a lot more a lot sooner.
We have had many great walk-on players in our history. He was one, but it required out of the box thinking to make use of him. That was not Baldwin, who had great energy but was/is a guy who was definitely not a genius.
In spring practice videos, I saw that Mendoza (and I assume the other QBs) had Go-Pro cameras on their helmets and I think this is a great idea. They can review exactly what they saw (or should have seen) on any given play. This should improve their decision-making - making the game "slow down" for them. Mendoza, with his lack of experience, should particularly benefit from this.95bears said:
On the Mendoza theme... he's putting in a tremendous amount of off-season work and doing things (I am told) other Cal QBs haven't in between seasons. In particular, he's working on his mental game to cut down the picks.
Keep your fingers crossed our under-the-radar grinder guy busts through in the ACC.
McMorris really was. He was a productive Golden Bear who kept his head down and ground. We surprised the opposition a few times with him, but what could have been . . .calumnus said:chazzed said:That is a great point. The importance of Wharton's TD against USC can't be overstated, though.golden sloth said:chazzed said:
Garbers was definitely a good college QB. Keep in mind that, while playing for Cal, he often had a poor offensive coordinator directing him.
It wasn't just the OC, that 2018 squad wasn't the most talented. The leading receiver was Vic Wharton, who is a nice player, but not someone defenses stress over.
His biggest highlight was talking trash to the USC player for three or four players then burning him for his only touchdown of the season.
But Malik McMorris, Patrick Laird, Moe Ways, they are some great golden bears, but they are on a different level from players like Jayden Ott, J Michael Sturdivant, Demetrius Robinson, Chad Hansen.
And don't get me started on McMorris. We did not play to his strengths enough. To an extent, you gotta adjust to the players that you have.
McMorris was a once in a lifetime H-Back a walking pancake block and a good combo with Laird, who was great at being patient and following his blocking.
oski003 said:calumnus said:chazzed said:That is a great point. The importance of Wharton's TD against USC can't be overstated, though.golden sloth said:chazzed said:
Garbers was definitely a good college QB. Keep in mind that, while playing for Cal, he often had a poor offensive coordinator directing him.
It wasn't just the OC, that 2018 squad wasn't the most talented. The leading receiver was Vic Wharton, who is a nice player, but not someone defenses stress over.
His biggest highlight was talking trash to the USC player for three or four players then burning him for his only touchdown of the season.
But Malik McMorris, Patrick Laird, Moe Ways, they are some great golden bears, but they are on a different level from players like Jayden Ott, J Michael Sturdivant, Demetrius Robinson, Chad Hansen.
And don't get me started on McMorris. We did not play to his strengths enough. To an extent, you gotta adjust to the players that you have.
Yes, you have to identify your difference makers, the guys the other team will have trouble defending and then design your offense to maximize that.
People complained about Desean Jackson's run blocking when at best he can block one guy, but if you send him deep, even on a run play, he takes two defenders out of the play.
McMorris was a once in a lifetime H-Back a walking pancake block and a good combo with Laird, who was great at being patient and following his blocking.
It is great that Wilcox found a once in a lifetime H-Back a walking pancake block from national So Cal powerhouse Mater Dei when nobody besides navy and holy cross would give him a scholly. He was the #1815 ranked recruit.
He was a dykes recruit.
golden sloth said:calumnus said:ursa carolina said:
He ran on third down and slid two yards before the first down line. Had a blocker in front of him. Oh the memories…
Still he is the best QB in the 7 years of the Wilcox era so far despite two really bad OCs.
Agreed. He was a good college QB. We just needed an OC that would emphasize his strengths with his mobility and limit his weaknesses of the deep sideline pass.
At the tail end of 2019, we had a series of good offensive games with him at the helm.
It was most dramatic in 2020 and the first 6 games of 2021 with Musgrave trying to force Garbers to be a pocket passer behind a porous line. We went 2-8 over the first 10 games with Musgrave. Once Musgrave started letting Garbers run we went 5-1. Of course, the next year Musgrave went out and brought in his ideal pocket passer (Plummer, a good QB in the right system) and we went 4-8 (wins over UC Davis, UNLV, Arizona, Stanford).
Over Garbers' Cal career, we were 14-6 in games where he rushed for a net 25 yards or more and 6-10 in games where he did not.
Old school guys like Musgrave and many on this board love a big arm like Plummer but really underestimate how much having a QB like Garbers that can avoid interceptions and sacks, complete a high percentage and move the chains with his feet contributes to winning football games. Especially if you do not have a great OL. However, you have to let them do that for you.
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