calumnus said:

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We had Top 10 offenses under Dykes. They gave our QBs plenty of time

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Patently not true, Goff had to fire the ball off very quickly and was under constant pressure as the line collapsed.

BearSD said:

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01Bear said:

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john.olsonjr said:

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It's not his per se, as he's not the OC. And, he's not calling plays. To be sure, he has veto or overruling power I would imagine, so I put it on the OC. Under SPAV we put up yards and points… twice We did that to a certain extent under Tedford's regime as well, though it fell off with his later OCs, and if memory serves, at least at the beginning he played a much more integral role on O.

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That's fair. But I don't think Spav really ran the types of offense Wilcox wanted. If anything, Spav seems to be the exception to the rule under Wilcox. Wilcox seems wedded to a running game including with a running QB. Or so his choice of OCs (based on the plays they ran/run at Cal) suggests.

I think Nando would definitely improve under Spav and an Air Raid offense, but Wilcox (and Bloesch) doesn't seem to want to play that way.

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A lot of folks here are overrating Spavital based on the one year he was here with Davis Webb at QB.

Webb was a better QB than any QB Cal has had in a long time other than Rodgers or Goff.

Spav couldn't turn Mendoza into Webb. No one can.

If you want a QB to produce as well as Webb, what do you need? Recruiting, recruiting, recruiting.

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Good thing recruiting is Wilcox's strong suit

golden sloth said:

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GBMARIN said:

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At least one showing off her ink.

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I hate tattoos. They look ugly on everyone.

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Do people not know what happens to tattoos when you age? That butterfly becomes a mutant moth.

Except this was the game for Ott to shine and establish his Heisman qualifications. But, running him into non-existent holes? Not the way to show him off best. Maybe Wilcox/Bloesch thought the holes would be there for Ott to slip through and run wild. This was a game where Ott - to live up to hopes - should have had 150 yards on the ground - or at least averaged 5 ypc.

It is very bizarre that literally all of our running plays are called to go between the tackles (Ott's second TD was him improvising and bouncing it outside).

We never did that with Jahvid Best, though he COULD run up the middle effectively and we had a better OL back then. It was always a mix of outside stuff and wheel routes to throw him the ball, along with inside handoffs. Keep the defense guessing. Maybe (hopefully) more creativity will come against tougher opponents?

Tbf if you got a butterfly tattoo in the first place you deserve the consequences

bipolarbear said:

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golden sloth said:

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GBMARIN said:

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At least one showing off her ink.

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I hate tattoos. They look ugly on everyone.

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Do people not know what happens to tattoos when you age? That butterfly becomes a mutant moth.

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I never understood people getting tattoos. Well, sober people. It would be a different story if they were completely and easily removable after a month... or even a year or two. But something you like when you're 20, what are the chances you're still going to like it when you're 40? Even 30.

sycasey said:

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It is very bizarre that literally all of our running plays are called to go between the tackles (Ott's second TD was him improvising and bouncing it outside).

We never did that with Jahvid Best, though he COULD run up the middle effectively and we had a better OL back then. It was always a mix of outside stuff and wheel routes to throw him the ball, along with inside handoffs. Keep the defense guessing. Maybe (hopefully) more creativity will come against tougher opponents?

---

Feom what I've seen in the past two games he's called, Bloesch is not the answer at OC. He's wasting our fast running backs by having them running into the middle of the defense. At some point, he needs to put Jet in motion or have him in the slot. Having him and Jaydn run into the teeth of the front seven just makes no sense. It will also keep other fast and talented RBs from wanting to play at Cal.

01Bear said:

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sycasey said:

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It is very bizarre that literally all of our running plays are called to go between the tackles (Ott's second TD was him improvising and bouncing it outside).

We never did that with Jahvid Best, though he COULD run up the middle effectively and we had a better OL back then. It was always a mix of outside stuff and wheel routes to throw him the ball, along with inside handoffs. Keep the defense guessing. Maybe (hopefully) more creativity will come against tougher opponents?

---

Feom what I've seen in the past two games he's called, Bloesch is not the answer at OC. He's wasting our fast running backs by having them running into the middle of the defense. At some point, he needs to put Jet in motion or have him in the slot. Having him and Jaydn run into the teeth of the front seven just makes no sense. It will also keep other fast and talented RBs from wanting to play at Cal.

---

Im guessing the Bloesch expects there to be holes that a RB can slip through and run free. But Bloesch overestimates what the OLine can do unless he is trying to prove what an awesome OL coach he is that can spring runners - so keep running to the nonexistent holes because he is convinced they will be there due to his coaching. He needs to get real with what he has for an oline and gameplan accordingly

ncbears said:

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01Bear said:

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sycasey said:

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It is very bizarre that literally all of our running plays are called to go between the tackles (Ott's second TD was him improvising and bouncing it outside).

We never did that with Jahvid Best, though he COULD run up the middle effectively and we had a better OL back then. It was always a mix of outside stuff and wheel routes to throw him the ball, along with inside handoffs. Keep the defense guessing. Maybe (hopefully) more creativity will come against tougher opponents?

---

Feom what I've seen in the past two games he's called, Bloesch is not the answer at OC. He's wasting our fast running backs by having them running into the middle of the defense. At some point, he needs to put Jet in motion or have him in the slot. Having him and Jaydn run into the teeth of the front seven just makes no sense. It will also keep other fast and talented RBs from wanting to play at Cal.

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Im guessing the Bloesch expects there to be holes that a RB can slip through and run free. But Bloesch overestimates what the OLine can do unless he is trying to prove what an awesome OL coach he is that can spring runners - so keep running to the nonexistent holes because he is convinced they will be there due to his coaching. He needs to get real with what he has for an oline and gameplan accordingly

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Agreed.

Our video highlight of Cal Berkeley's 31-13 win over UC Davis in Week 1. Make sure you check it out😎@CalFootball | #GoBears🐻 pic.twitter.com/Ro4S2lEqQw

— The League Winners (@LeagueWinnersFB) September 2, 2024

I remember, back in the day, of mainly seeing tattoos at the state fair carnival and Greyhound Bus stations.

01Bear said:

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ncbears said:

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01Bear said:

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sycasey said:

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It is very bizarre that literally all of our running plays are called to go between the tackles (Ott's second TD was him improvising and bouncing it outside).

We never did that with Jahvid Best, though he COULD run up the middle effectively and we had a better OL back then. It was always a mix of outside stuff and wheel routes to throw him the ball, along with inside handoffs. Keep the defense guessing. Maybe (hopefully) more creativity will come against tougher opponents?

---

Feom what I've seen in the past two games he's called, Bloesch is not the answer at OC. He's wasting our fast running backs by having them running into the middle of the defense. At some point, he needs to put Jet in motion or have him in the slot. Having him and Jaydn run into the teeth of the front seven just makes no sense. It will also keep other fast and talented RBs from wanting to play at Cal.

---

Im guessing the Bloesch expects there to be holes that a RB can slip through and run free. But Bloesch overestimates what the OLine can do unless he is trying to prove what an awesome OL coach he is that can spring runners - so keep running to the nonexistent holes because he is convinced they will be there due to his coaching. He needs to get real with what he has for an oline and gameplan accordingly

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Agreed.

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There is also the possibility that our offense did better against our DL in practice than they did against UC Davis. After all, Lan Larison rushed for more yards against us than Ott rushed against them.

It looked like Ott was making plays in spite of the playcalling, waiting patiently for an opening rather than relying on the coaching staff to scheme properly

01Bear said:

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calumnus said:

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01Bear said:

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ncbears said:

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01Bear said:

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sycasey said:

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It is very bizarre that literally all of our running plays are called to go between the tackles (Ott's second TD was him improvising and bouncing it outside).

We never did that with Jahvid Best, though he COULD run up the middle effectively and we had a better OL back then. It was always a mix of outside stuff and wheel routes to throw him the ball, along with inside handoffs. Keep the defense guessing. Maybe (hopefully) more creativity will come against tougher opponents?

---

Feom what I've seen in the past two games he's called, Bloesch is not the answer at OC. He's wasting our fast running backs by having them running into the middle of the defense. At some point, he needs to put Jet in motion or have him in the slot. Having him and Jaydn run into the teeth of the front seven just makes no sense. It will also keep other fast and talented RBs from wanting to play at Cal.

---

Im guessing the Bloesch expects there to be holes that a RB can slip through and run free. But Bloesch overestimates what the OLine can do unless he is trying to prove what an awesome OL coach he is that can spring runners - so keep running to the nonexistent holes because he is convinced they will be there due to his coaching. He needs to get real with what he has for an oline and gameplan accordingly

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Agreed.

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There is also the possibility that our offense did better against our DL in practice than they did against UC Davis. After all, Lan Larison rushed for more yards against us than Ott rushed against them.

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That's not comforting in the least. If Cal's DL is worse than a FCS school's, Cal will get obliterated in conference games, never mind what Auburn will do next Saturday.

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No,, but Bloesch can look like a genius if he goes into Auburn and uses quick pitches, quick passing
and lots of misdirection.

Anything but predictable vanilla runs up the middle on first down, telegraphed WR screens and speed backs like Ott or The Jet having to wait for a slow footed pulling guard to get out in front of them before they can run outside the tackles.

I want to see Mendoza throwing deep over the middle off play action to Ott on first down. I want to see quick pitches to Ott and The Jet outside, with cut back options, followed by fake tosses and Mendoza hitting the TE up the seam or the slot receiver on the other side.

calumnus said:

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01Bear said:

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calumnus said:

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01Bear said:

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ncbears said:

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01Bear said:

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sycasey said:

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It is very bizarre that literally all of our running plays are called to go between the tackles (Ott's second TD was him improvising and bouncing it outside).

We never did that with Jahvid Best, though he COULD run up the middle effectively and we had a better OL back then. It was always a mix of outside stuff and wheel routes to throw him the ball, along with inside handoffs. Keep the defense guessing. Maybe (hopefully) more creativity will come against tougher opponents?

---

Feom what I've seen in the past two games he's called, Bloesch is not the answer at OC. He's wasting our fast running backs by having them running into the middle of the defense. At some point, he needs to put Jet in motion or have him in the slot. Having him and Jaydn run into the teeth of the front seven just makes no sense. It will also keep other fast and talented RBs from wanting to play at Cal.

---

Im guessing the Bloesch expects there to be holes that a RB can slip through and run free. But Bloesch overestimates what the OLine can do unless he is trying to prove what an awesome OL coach he is that can spring runners - so keep running to the nonexistent holes because he is convinced they will be there due to his coaching. He needs to get real with what he has for an oline and gameplan accordingly

---

Agreed.

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There is also the possibility that our offense did better against our DL in practice than they did against UC Davis. After all, Lan Larison rushed for more yards against us than Ott rushed against them.

---

That's not comforting in the least. If Cal's DL is worse than a FCS school's, Cal will get obliterated in conference games, never mind what Auburn will do next Saturday.

---

No,, but Bloesch can look like a genius if he goes into Auburn and uses quick pitches, quick passing
and lots of misdirection.

Anything but predictable vanilla runs up the middle on first down, telegraphed WR screens and speed backs like Ott or The Jet having to wait for a slow footed pulling guard to get out in front of them before they can run outside the tackles.

I want to see Mendoza throwing deep over the middle off play action to Ott on first down. I want to see quick pitches to Ott and The Jet outside, with cut back options, followed by fake tosses and Mendoza hitting the TE up the seam or the slot receiver on the other side.

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I think the odds are slim that keeping things close to the vest was the actual plan and that Saturday will be a shocker of amazing offensive play calling, but certainly hoping to be wrong. Assuming that IS the plan, there's a chance we build a nice lead by half. So what's the plan after that? Auburn will adjust. Will we? Are they thinking about this already? They should.

When has a Wilcox offense ever used misdirection? Seems to be run down the middle with poor OL play every time

Grigsby said:

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BearSD said:

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sycasey said:

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It is very bizarre that literally all of our running plays are called to go between the tackles (Ott's second TD was him improvising and bouncing it outside).

We never did that with Jahvid Best, though he COULD run up the middle effectively and we had a better OL back then. It was always a mix of outside stuff and wheel routes to throw him the ball, along with inside handoffs. Keep the defense guessing. Maybe (hopefully) more creativity will come against tougher opponents?

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The bolded part is the key. When the O-line has the talent of peak Tedford years, it's probably going to be effective no matter what.

Recruiting, recruiting, recruiting.

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Ironically Alex Mack was a 2* out of Hs, but he's a soon to be HOF Center.

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He had a good OL coach, who then went on to turn the beavers into manhandling beavers.

calumnus said:

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01Bear said:

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calumnus said:

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01Bear said:

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ncbears said:

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01Bear said:

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sycasey said:

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It is very bizarre that literally all of our running plays are called to go between the tackles (Ott's second TD was him improvising and bouncing it outside).

We never did that with Jahvid Best, though he COULD run up the middle effectively and we had a better OL back then. It was always a mix of outside stuff and wheel routes to throw him the ball, along with inside handoffs. Keep the defense guessing. Maybe (hopefully) more creativity will come against tougher opponents?

---

Feom what I've seen in the past two games he's called, Bloesch is not the answer at OC. He's wasting our fast running backs by having them running into the middle of the defense. At some point, he needs to put Jet in motion or have him in the slot. Having him and Jaydn run into the teeth of the front seven just makes no sense. It will also keep other fast and talented RBs from wanting to play at Cal.

---

Im guessing the Bloesch expects there to be holes that a RB can slip through and run free. But Bloesch overestimates what the OLine can do unless he is trying to prove what an awesome OL coach he is that can spring runners - so keep running to the nonexistent holes because he is convinced they will be there due to his coaching. He needs to get real with what he has for an oline and gameplan accordingly

---

Agreed.

---

There is also the possibility that our offense did better against our DL in practice than they did against UC Davis. After all, Lan Larison rushed for more yards against us than Ott rushed against them.

---

That's not comforting in the least. If Cal's DL is worse than a FCS school's, Cal will get obliterated in conference games, never mind what Auburn will do next Saturday.

---

No,, but Bloesch can look like a genius if he goes into Auburn and uses quick pitches, quick passing
and lots of misdirection.

Anything but predictable vanilla runs up the middle on first down, telegraphed WR screens and speed backs like Ott or The Jet having to wait for a slow footed pulling guard to get out in front of them before they can run outside the tackles.

I want to see Mendoza throwing deep over the middle off play action to Ott on first down. I want to see quick pitches to Ott and The Jet outside, with cut back options, followed by fake tosses and Mendoza hitting the TE up the seam or the slot receiver on the other side.

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I'd love that, but I'm not holding my breath. The bowl game last year was pretty bad, offensively. The Davis game also looked bad, especially in the first half. I really doubt Bloesch was holding anything back (especially in the bowl game). If anything, I suspect Bloes h is just the latest in Wilcox's failed OC picks.

01Bear said:

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calumnus said:

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01Bear said:

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calumnus said:

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01Bear said:

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ncbears said:

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01Bear said:

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sycasey said:

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It is very bizarre that literally all of our running plays are called to go between the tackles (Ott's second TD was him improvising and bouncing it outside).

We never did that with Jahvid Best, though he COULD run up the middle effectively and we had a better OL back then. It was always a mix of outside stuff and wheel routes to throw him the ball, along with inside handoffs. Keep the defense guessing. Maybe (hopefully) more creativity will come against tougher opponents?

---

Feom what I've seen in the past two games he's called, Bloesch is not the answer at OC. He's wasting our fast running backs by having them running into the middle of the defense. At some point, he needs to put Jet in motion or have him in the slot. Having him and Jaydn run into the teeth of the front seven just makes no sense. It will also keep other fast and talented RBs from wanting to play at Cal.

---

Im guessing the Bloesch expects there to be holes that a RB can slip through and run free. But Bloesch overestimates what the OLine can do unless he is trying to prove what an awesome OL coach he is that can spring runners - so keep running to the nonexistent holes because he is convinced they will be there due to his coaching. He needs to get real with what he has for an oline and gameplan accordingly

---

Agreed.

---

There is also the possibility that our offense did better against our DL in practice than they did against UC Davis. After all, Lan Larison rushed for more yards against us than Ott rushed against them.

---

That's not comforting in the least. If Cal's DL is worse than a FCS school's, Cal will get obliterated in conference games, never mind what Auburn will do next Saturday.

---

No,, but Bloesch can look like a genius if he goes into Auburn and uses quick pitches, quick passing
and lots of misdirection.

Anything but predictable vanilla runs up the middle on first down, telegraphed WR screens and speed backs like Ott or The Jet having to wait for a slow footed pulling guard to get out in front of them before they can run outside the tackles.

I want to see Mendoza throwing deep over the middle off play action to Ott on first down. I want to see quick pitches to Ott and The Jet outside, with cut back options, followed by fake tosses and Mendoza hitting the TE up the seam or the slot receiver on the other side.

---

I'd love that, but I'm not holding my breath. The bowl game last year was pretty bad, offensively. The Davis game also looked bad, especially in the first half. I really doubt Bloesch was holding anything back (especially in the bowl game). If anything, I suspect Bloes h is just the latest in Wilcox's failed OC picks.

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The odds that by promoting the OL coach, Wilcox would find his best OC in 4 attempts seems very very slim, and so far nothing indicates he has. It was really a lazy way to handle the single most important thing a defensive oriented HC needs to do, something he is paid $5 million a year to do, and could be disastrous for the very existence of our football program.

I've been listening to some extended Spavital interviews. He noted how happy he and his wife were to return to California and how tough it was to have to pull his kids out of school after only a year to move to Waco, and how this was the only time in his career he made a lateral move. He praised every single coach he ever worked for in detail, but never even mentions Wilcox's name. However, he says one of the main reasons he left Cal to work for Aranda was the respect he had for him and that Aranda told him he would focus on the defense and let Spavital "be the head coach of the offense." The implication is that was not the case at Cal.

I'm beginning to think the issues with Cal's offense are mostly due to Wilcox, not the OC.

calumnus said:

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01Bear said:

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calumnus said:

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01Bear said:

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calumnus said:

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01Bear said:

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ncbears said:

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01Bear said:

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sycasey said:

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It is very bizarre that literally all of our running plays are called to go between the tackles (Ott's second TD was him improvising and bouncing it outside).

We never did that with Jahvid Best, though he COULD run up the middle effectively and we had a better OL back then. It was always a mix of outside stuff and wheel routes to throw him the ball, along with inside handoffs. Keep the defense guessing. Maybe (hopefully) more creativity will come against tougher opponents?

---

Feom what I've seen in the past two games he's called, Bloesch is not the answer at OC. He's wasting our fast running backs by having them running into the middle of the defense. At some point, he needs to put Jet in motion or have him in the slot. Having him and Jaydn run into the teeth of the front seven just makes no sense. It will also keep other fast and talented RBs from wanting to play at Cal.

---

Im guessing the Bloesch expects there to be holes that a RB can slip through and run free. But Bloesch overestimates what the OLine can do unless he is trying to prove what an awesome OL coach he is that can spring runners - so keep running to the nonexistent holes because he is convinced they will be there due to his coaching. He needs to get real with what he has for an oline and gameplan accordingly

---

Agreed.

---

There is also the possibility that our offense did better against our DL in practice than they did against UC Davis. After all, Lan Larison rushed for more yards against us than Ott rushed against them.

---

That's not comforting in the least. If Cal's DL is worse than a FCS school's, Cal will get obliterated in conference games, never mind what Auburn will do next Saturday.

---

No,, but Bloesch can look like a genius if he goes into Auburn and uses quick pitches, quick passing
and lots of misdirection.

Anything but predictable vanilla runs up the middle on first down, telegraphed WR screens and speed backs like Ott or The Jet having to wait for a slow footed pulling guard to get out in front of them before they can run outside the tackles.

I want to see Mendoza throwing deep over the middle off play action to Ott on first down. I want to see quick pitches to Ott and The Jet outside, with cut back options, followed by fake tosses and Mendoza hitting the TE up the seam or the slot receiver on the other side.

---

I'd love that, but I'm not holding my breath. The bowl game last year was pretty bad, offensively. The Davis game also looked bad, especially in the first half. I really doubt Bloesch was holding anything back (especially in the bowl game). If anything, I suspect Bloes h is just the latest in Wilcox's failed OC picks.

---

The odds that by promoting the OL coach, Wilcox would find his best OC in 4 attempts seems very very slim, and so far nothing indicates he has. It was really a lazy way to handle the single most important thing a defensive oriented HC needs to do, something he is paid $5 million a year to do, and could be disastrous for the very existence of our football program.

I've been listening to some extended Spavital interviews. He noted how happy he and his wife were to return to California and how tough it was to have to pull his kids out of school after only a year to move to Waco, and how this was the only time in his career he made a lateral move. He praised every single coach he ever worked for in detail, but never even mentions Wilcox's name. However, he says one of the main reasons he left Cal to work for Aranda was the respect he had for him and that Aranda told him he would focus on the defense and let Spavital "be the head coach of the offense." The implication is that was not the case at Cal.

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I hadn't heard Spav's comments about leaving Cal. But it definitely sounds like Wilcox wanted an OC to install a 2010s Wisky type of offense to let his defense take over games. Spav's offense was too "fast" and tired out Wilcox's defense, which Wilcox didn't like. So he went with his OL coach to create a slower paced run-oriented offense.

On a related note, this is actually in keeping with my previous thinking that Wilcox really wants a running QB; he wants someone to slow down the offense and buy his defense time to rest. No wonder he wanted SJV and Rogers. They're running QBs who use their legs first. It also explains why Nando was buried on the depth chart even though he was clearly the best QB for Spav's offense last year.

The armchair offensive coordinating here from a bunch of alums who have never played a down of tackle football, let alone coached, is laughable. Any play call is a brilliant play call if it works. That includes runs between the tackles and runs outside the tackles. Quick passes and long ones. Etc.

And any play call is a terrible call if it doesn't work. Except sometimes you need to be persistent because they don't always work the first time. And because all other things being equal you want to be balanced. A team that cannot run the ball will have a harder time winning, just like a team that is not a threat to throw downfield.

The smartest thing said in this thread is that the HC needs to hire a good OC. But for a layperson to chart specific plays from behind his keyboard is, again, laughable. Coaches who are really good at it are scarce. That is why they are paid millions.