calumnus said:

---

01Bear said:

---

calumnus said:

---

01Bear said:

---

calumnus said:

---

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.

---

calumnus said:

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01Bear said:

---

calumnus said:

---

01Bear said:

---

calumnus said:

---

01Bear said:

---

ncbears said:

---

01Bear said:

---

sycasey said:

---

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.

---

calumnus said:

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Big C said:

---

calumnus said:

---

01Bear said:

---

calumnus said:

---

01Bear said:

---

calumnus said:

---

01Bear said:

---

ncbears said:

---

01Bear said:

---

sycasey said:

---

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.

---

When Spavital left (and there was some sort of "mystery reason" for his departure), I think we were afraid Bloesch would leave if we didn't promote him. Maybe he was even promised to be heir apparent when he came here in the first place. The general opinion was that he had done a great job as OL coach and when he was an OC, his offenses were at least competent.

Totally fair to question the hire, but...

Personally, before I write him off as an OC:
- I want to see how the rest of the season plays out
- gotta note that, even 100% healthy, the O-line is only "pretty good" at best... and we are down two starters

---

Spavital at Baylor is praising his offensive staff as "all on the same page" and "each knows their role and there are no egos in the room" so reading between the lines last year we had three guys: Spavital, Bloesch and Plough, who have all been OCs, playcallers and QB coaches in the past, clearly have ambitions to be OCs and/or HCs, and I believe were working together for the first time. We had a QB controversy, probably some differing opinions on offensive philosophy, which happens when a team is losing, Wilcox likes grind it out and may have sided with Bloesch, who seems a bit stubborn, so Spavital starts looking for other jobs….

I agree it is too soon to write Bloesch off as OC. The results so far are not good, but a great performance against Auburn would convince me he is good and I could easily write off the past two games he has called.

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calumnus said:

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01Bear said:

---

calumnus said:

---

01Bear said:

---

calumnus said:

---

01Bear said:

---

calumnus said:

---

01Bear said:

---

ncbears said:

---

01Bear said:

---

sycasey said:

---

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.

---

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.

---

I think it is probably the opposite. At Baylor, Spavital has brought in and is starting former Toledo QB Dequan Finn who has rushed for over 500 yards each of the last three seasons. He is super fast. Spav talks about the extra dimension that brings to his offense.

I think it was Spav who brought in Jackson last year, stealing him from his old Cal HC Sonny Dykes, and saw him as his future QB with Finley as his more experienced insurance for Jackson's RS freshmen development. All you had to do is listen to Wilcox and Spavital talking about the QBs last year. Wilcox had zero praise for Jackson, even after wins and games like UW where he was nearly perfect, albeit after the game was already out of hand, but lights up when he talks about Nando who was brought in by Spavital's predecessor, Musgrave.

Not saying Nando wasn't the better player last year, I just think Spavital wants to be the one making that decision.

---

Pittstop said:

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calumnus said:

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01Bear said:

---

calumnus said:

---

01Bear said:

---

calumnus said:

---

01Bear said:

---

ncbears said:

---

01Bear said:

---

sycasey said:

---

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.

---

So it would seem that Spav was not, in fact "walked to his car" at Cal, but rather, just "walked to his car."

---

Pittstop said:

---

calumnus said:

---

01Bear said:

---

calumnus said:

---

01Bear said:

---

calumnus said:

---

01Bear said:

---

ncbears said:

---

01Bear said:

---

sycasey said:

---

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.

---

So it would seem that Spav was not, in fact "walked to his car" at Cal, but rather, just "walked to his car."

---

Big C said:

---

Pittstop said:

---

calumnus said:

---

01Bear said:

---

calumnus said:

---

01Bear said:

---

calumnus said:

---

01Bear said:

---

ncbears said:

---

01Bear said:

---

sycasey said:

---

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.

---

So it would seem that Spav was not, in fact "walked to his car" at Cal, but rather, just "walked to his car."

---

When someone leaves a job, there are often two different narratives as to why.

---

movielover said:

---

Maybe Sterlin Gilbert is handling the QBs.

---

calumnus said:

---

01Bear said:

---

calumnus said:

---

01Bear said:

---

calumnus said:

---

01Bear said:

---

calumnus said:

---

01Bear said:

---

ncbears said:

---

01Bear said:

---

sycasey said:

---

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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I think it is probably the opposite. At Baylor, Spavital has brought in and is starting former Toledo QB Dequan Finn who has rushed for over 500 yards each of the last three seasons. He is super fast. Spav talks about the extra dimension that brings to his offense.

I think it was Spav who brought in Jackson last year, stealing him from his old Cal HC Sonny Dykes, and saw him as his future QB with Finley as his more experienced insurance for Jackson's RS freshmen development. All you had to do is listen to Wilcox and Spavital talking about the QBs last year. Wilcox had zero praise for Jackson, even after wins and games like UW where he was nearly perfect, albeit after the game was already out of hand, but lights up when he talks about Nando who was brought in by Spavital's predecessor, Musgrave.

Not saying Nando wasn't the better player last year, I just think Spavital wants to be the one making that decision.

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GivemTheAxe said:

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Jackson came in with a lot of hype (from Spav) about being a great mobile QB who could pass as well as he could run. The hype was illusory
Finley was hyped as the perfect backup
Again the hype was wrong
Nando was the only QB who outperformed expectations. Maybe because he was under rated.

I am not saying that Spav is not a good OC
But his is not great at spotting talent. Some hits. Some big misses

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Big C said:

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There was an outside chance that SJV could have developed as a quarterback. He has a strong arm and halfway decent accuracy. However, he lacks quarterback instincts.

He needed to get in a friendly system at a smaller school, with a good QB coach... and get a lot of practice and game reps. Probably for a couple of years. Still doubtful that he could ever make the NFL. Murray is a total outlier.

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