cubzwin said:

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I was at the game. The auburn fans thought the refs were very pro-Cal and the refs hurt their chances. They thought both instances reviewed for spearing were legit spearing. i disagreed on both.

They did not understand why spiking the ball, picking it and throwing it down is IG but the refs were right.

The PI in the EZ that took away a PI was a BS call but many Auburn fans thought the refs stole this game from them.

subjectivity is weird

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The calls were definitely favorable to Cal for the first three quarters, but it was completely evened out by the fourth. Auburn fans need to own up to the fact that the pinko commie *******s just came into their house and kicked their ass! No doubt about it!

Strykur said:

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cubzwin said:

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I was at the game. The auburn fans thought the refs were very pro-Cal and the refs hurt their chances. They thought both instances reviewed for spearing were legit spearing. i disagreed on both.

They did not understand why spiking the ball, picking it and throwing it down is IG but the refs were right.

The PI in the EZ that took away a PI was a BS call but many Auburn fans thought the refs stole this game from them.

subjectivity is weird

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Auburn got a bunch of calls on their last TD but we got a ton of favors from the refs up until that point

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That (^) sums it up pretty well. Watching on TV, on the first targeting call (Uluave), it looked like targeting by definition (though not intentional), but it wasn't called. On the second one (Harris), it looked like it wasn't targeting in any way, shape or form, but the refs ruled that it was (make up call?).

UrsineMaximus said:

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Looked to me like an ACL. I reacted the exact same way on my next step when I blew mine out. Very awkward step and shear fear screams through your body. It appeared to be a knee, perhaps he hyper extended it.

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ugh----JUST SLIDE NANDO!

Big C said:

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Strykur said:

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Auburn got a bunch of calls on their last TD but we got a ton of favors from the refs up until that point

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That (^) sums it up pretty well. Watching on TV, on the first targeting call (Uluave), it looked like targeting by definition (though not intentional), but it wasn't called. On the second one (Harris), it looked like it wasn't targeting in any way, shape or form, but the refs ruled that it was (make up call?).

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There should be a lesser penalty when everyone can see the defender is doing everything he can to avoid targeting short of just being ineffective at football.

My game ball goes to the defensive backfield. From the telecast, all you could see was their QB scanning the field, not finding anyone open, then running for his life or throwing an interception. Over and over again. Not to mention the three picks (shoulda been four). Did Nohl's so-called PI in the end zone remind anyone of Dante Hughes's infamously consequential 2006 play in Tucson?

Second game ball to Buchanan. His first career FBS vs FBS game in a hostile Jordan-Hare, and he came to play ball.

Third game ball to Fernando, for a heady and gutsy overall performance. At one point on the telecast, they mentioned that his 90% completion percentage in the first half was the best by a Cal QB in 20 years. Most of us know who the Cal QB was AND the 2004 game in which he had an amazing half, completion-wise. I wish they had mentioned it on the broadcast - it is great for recruiting to have alums Rodgers and Goff name-dropped, at every possible opportunity. On the telecast, they also mentioned his nickname on the team is "the Mayor" and that his teammates think he'll be POTUS someday. Anyone have the inside scoop on that? Is he just universally loved and respected by his teammates?

Fourth game ball to Brady and Hunter, the WRs. One is a jr transfer from a mid-major and the other a frosh. Those guys played like veterans! Both came up with some tough catches, with no drops that I can recall. Brady might be the team leader in receptions and tbh he wasn't on my radar at all when the season started. For Hunter's part, I think he has 3 TD catches this season already! That's gotta be among the early leaders nationally.

Fifth game ball to Lachlan Wilson. What a weapon. His performance reminded me of a pro golfer who just has his wedge game dialed in with perfect distance and spin control.

Coe obviously did not have a great game. But I am pretty optimistic about him. Every single KO was a touchback, I think. His PATs looked routine, something we couldn't say at the beginning of last year (the 2023 Auburn game, e.g.). And his FGs were well struck, just pushed a bit right. That is correctable. The shorter miss was nice and high (harder to block). And the longer miss had distance to spare despite being from 55 yards. And what was interesting and encouraging to me is that his kicks do not have a natural "draw" or "hook" like so many kickers have. It is a pretty straight ball flight. That has got to be more manageable in the long run than a pronounced hook. Let's not lose faith in this guy. I think he has NFL leg talent, even if his accuracy on this day didn't bear that out.

I also want to say something positive about our center's snaps. For a guy who normally plays guard, he did a creditable job. Yes, we seemed to have a bunch of cadence/snap count issues in the first quarter, but it looked like they switched to the system where the guard taps the center on the leg when the QB is ready for the snap, and they got it cleaned up. Yes, some of his snaps floated or were off target but we had zero fumbles off the snap, which is more than the other team can say. Center is one of the toughest positions on the field, calling out blocking assignments for the OL on the fly, and then trying to remember the snap count as well as his own blocking assignment. Not as easy as it sounds, especially under physical duress. It wasn't an all-pro performance but he didn't lose the game for us - can we really demand more from a third-string center playing out of position?

FuzzyWuzzy said:

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My game ball goes to the defensive backfield. From the telecast, all you could see was their QB scanning the field, not finding anyone open, then running for his life or throwing an interception. Over and over again. Not to mention the three picks (shoulda been four). Did Nohl's so-called PI in the end zone remind anyone of Dante Hughes's infamously consequential 2006 play in Tucson?

Second game ball to Buchanan. His first career FBS vs FBS game in a hostile Jordan-Hare, and he came to play ball.

Third game ball to Fernando, for a heady and gutsy overall performance. At one point on the telecast, they mentioned that his 90% completion percentage in the first half was the best by a Cal QB in 20 years. Most of us know who the Cal QB was AND the 2004 game in which he had an amazing half, completion-wise. I wish they had mentioned it on the broadcast - it is great for recruiting to have alums Rodgers and Goff name-dropped, at every possible opportunity. On the telecast, they also mentioned his nickname on the team is "the Mayor" and that his teammates think he'll be POTUS someday. Anyone have the inside scoop on that? Is he just universally loved and respected by his teammates?

Fourth game ball to Brady and Hunter, the WRs. One is a jr transfer from a mid-major and the other a frosh. Those guys played like veterans! Both came up with some tough catches, with no drops that I can recall. Brady might be the team leader in receptions and tbh he wasn't on my radar at all when the season started. For Hunter's part, I think he has 3 TD catches this season already! That's gotta be among the early leaders nationally.

Fifth game ball to Lachlan Wilson. What a weapon. His performance reminded me of a pro golfer who just has his wedge game dialed in with perfect distance and spin control.

Coe obviously did not have a great game. But I am pretty optimistic about him. Every single KO was a touchback, I think. His PATs looked routine, something we couldn't say at the beginning of last year (the 2023 Auburn game, e.g.). And his FGs were well struck, just pushed a bit right. That is correctable. The shorter miss was nice and high (harder to block). And the longer miss had distance to spare despite being from 55 yards. And what was interesting and encouraging to me is that his kicks do not have a natural "draw" or "hook" like so many kickers have. It is a pretty straight ball flight. That has got to be more manageable in the long run than a pronounced hook. Let's not lose faith in this guy. I think he has NFL leg talent, even if his accuracy on this day didn't bear that out.

I also want to say something positive about our center's snaps. For a guy who normally plays guard, he did a creditable job. Yes, we seemed to have a bunch of cadence/snap count issues in the first quarter, but it looked like they switched to the system where the guard taps the center on the leg when the QB is ready for the snap, and they got it cleaned up. Yes, some of his snaps floated or were off target but we had zero fumbles off the snap, which is more than the other team can say. Center is one of the toughest positions on the field, calling out blocking assignments for the OL on the fly, and then trying to remember the snap count as well as his own blocking assignment. Not as easy as it sounds, especially under physical duress. It wasn't an all-pro performance but he didn't lose the game for us - can we really demand more from a third-string center playing out of position?

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I agree on all those game balls. f you happen to have one more and aren't sure exactly who to give it to, I'd recommend it go to Payton Thorne, the Auburn quarterback, who really helped us win today.

Big C said:

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FuzzyWuzzy said:

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My game ball goes to the defensive backfield. From the telecast, all you could see was their QB scanning the field, not finding anyone open, then running for his life or throwing an interception. Over and over again. Not to mention the three picks (shoulda been four). Did Nohl's so-called PI in the end zone remind anyone of Dante Hughes's infamously consequential 2006 play in Tucson?

Second game ball to Buchanan. His first career FBS vs FBS game in a hostile Jordan-Hare, and he came to play ball.

Third game ball to Fernando, for a heady and gutsy overall performance. At one point on the telecast, they mentioned that his 90% completion percentage in the first half was the best by a Cal QB in 20 years. Most of us know who the Cal QB was AND the 2004 game in which he had an amazing half, completion-wise. I wish they had mentioned it on the broadcast - it is great for recruiting to have alums Rodgers and Goff name-dropped, at every possible opportunity. On the telecast, they also mentioned his nickname on the team is "the Mayor" and that his teammates think he'll be POTUS someday. Anyone have the inside scoop on that? Is he just universally loved and respected by his teammates?

Fourth game ball to Brady and Hunter, the WRs. One is a jr transfer from a mid-major and the other a frosh. Those guys played like veterans! Both came up with some tough catches, with no drops that I can recall. Brady might be the team leader in receptions and tbh he wasn't on my radar at all when the season started. For Hunter's part, I think he has 3 TD catches this season already! That's gotta be among the early leaders nationally.

Fifth game ball to Lachlan Wilson. What a weapon. His performance reminded me of a pro golfer who just has his wedge game dialed in with perfect distance and spin control.

Coe obviously did not have a great game. But I am pretty optimistic about him. Every single KO was a touchback, I think. His PATs looked routine, something we couldn't say at the beginning of last year (the 2023 Auburn game, e.g.). And his FGs were well struck, just pushed a bit right. That is correctable. The shorter miss was nice and high (harder to block). And the longer miss had distance to spare despite being from 55 yards. And what was interesting and encouraging to me is that his kicks do not have a natural "draw" or "hook" like so many kickers have. It is a pretty straight ball flight. That has got to be more manageable in the long run than a pronounced hook. Let's not lose faith in this guy. I think he has NFL leg talent, even if his accuracy on this day didn't bear that out.

I also want to say something positive about our center's snaps. For a guy who normally plays guard, he did a creditable job. Yes, we seemed to have a bunch of cadence/snap count issues in the first quarter, but it looked like they switched to the system where the guard taps the center on the leg when the QB is ready for the snap, and they got it cleaned up. Yes, some of his snaps floated or were off target but we had zero fumbles off the snap, which is more than the other team can say. Center is one of the toughest positions on the field, calling out blocking assignments for the OL on the fly, and then trying to remember the snap count as well as his own blocking assignment. Not as easy as it sounds, especially under physical duress. It wasn't an all-pro performance but he didn't lose the game for us - can we really demand more from a third-string center playing out of position?

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I agree on all those game balls. f you happen to have one more and aren't sure exactly who to give it to, I'd recommend it go to Payton Thorne, the Auburn quarterback, who really helped us win today.

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The Cal D made Thorne look bad, and perhaps his coaches didn't help him.

^Nice post Fuzzy, pretty comprehensive review,

Big C said:

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FuzzyWuzzy said:

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My game ball goes to the defensive backfield. From the telecast, all you could see was their QB scanning the field, not finding anyone open, then running for his life or throwing an interception. Over and over again. Not to mention the three picks (shoulda been four). Did Nohl's so-called PI in the end zone remind anyone of Dante Hughes's infamously consequential 2006 play in Tucson?

Second game ball to Buchanan. His first career FBS vs FBS game in a hostile Jordan-Hare, and he came to play ball.

Third game ball to Fernando, for a heady and gutsy overall performance. At one point on the telecast, they mentioned that his 90% completion percentage in the first half was the best by a Cal QB in 20 years. Most of us know who the Cal QB was AND the 2004 game in which he had an amazing half, completion-wise. I wish they had mentioned it on the broadcast - it is great for recruiting to have alums Rodgers and Goff name-dropped, at every possible opportunity. On the telecast, they also mentioned his nickname on the team is "the Mayor" and that his teammates think he'll be POTUS someday. Anyone have the inside scoop on that? Is he just universally loved and respected by his teammates?

Fourth game ball to Brady and Hunter, the WRs. One is a jr transfer from a mid-major and the other a frosh. Those guys played like veterans! Both came up with some tough catches, with no drops that I can recall. Brady might be the team leader in receptions and tbh he wasn't on my radar at all when the season started. For Hunter's part, I think he has 3 TD catches this season already! That's gotta be among the early leaders nationally.

Fifth game ball to Lachlan Wilson. What a weapon. His performance reminded me of a pro golfer who just has his wedge game dialed in with perfect distance and spin control.

Coe obviously did not have a great game. But I am pretty optimistic about him. Every single KO was a touchback, I think. His PATs looked routine, something we couldn't say at the beginning of last year (the 2023 Auburn game, e.g.). And his FGs were well struck, just pushed a bit right. That is correctable. The shorter miss was nice and high (harder to block). And the longer miss had distance to spare despite being from 55 yards. And what was interesting and encouraging to me is that his kicks do not have a natural "draw" or "hook" like so many kickers have. It is a pretty straight ball flight. That has got to be more manageable in the long run than a pronounced hook. Let's not lose faith in this guy. I think he has NFL leg talent, even if his accuracy on this day didn't bear that out.

I also want to say something positive about our center's snaps. For a guy who normally plays guard, he did a creditable job. Yes, we seemed to have a bunch of cadence/snap count issues in the first quarter, but it looked like they switched to the system where the guard taps the center on the leg when the QB is ready for the snap, and they got it cleaned up. Yes, some of his snaps floated or were off target but we had zero fumbles off the snap, which is more than the other team can say. Center is one of the toughest positions on the field, calling out blocking assignments for the OL on the fly, and then trying to remember the snap count as well as his own blocking assignment. Not as easy as it sounds, especially under physical duress. It wasn't an all-pro performance but he didn't lose the game for us - can we really demand more from a third-string center playing out of position?

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I agree on all those game balls. f you happen to have one more and aren't sure exactly who to give it to, I'd recommend it go to Payton Thorne, the Auburn quarterback, who really helped us win today.

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Indeed. We won't be so lucky every week. We have a lot to improve on if we want to keep winning, starting with line play on both sides of the ball. Hopefully improving health of some key guys will help.

golden sloth said:

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LunchTime said:

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Cal88 said:

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UrsineMaximus said:

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Bearly Clad said:

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I wrote this in the game thread but I thought I'd start a postgame thread where we're all decompressed after the excitement of the game.

Postgame quick hitters:

- I feel bad for Marcus Harris but if there's a game to miss the first half it's SDSU. It's early but he and Nohl are looking like All-ACC CBs

- Thank God Fernando is OK. The way he went down with no contact and his reaction made it look like an Achilles. Instead he'll probably just be sore and maybe not practice this week. If we have to start Chandler I'm OK with it

- WR room looks so good. Remember, we're still missing Tobias and Kyion (two presumed starters)

- Defense is finally back! The pass rush still worries me but Reese back healthy should alleviate a good chunk of that

- OL was solid at run blocking last year and terrible at pass blocking. This year it's the opposite. The run blocking should get sorted because it's easier to progress at that through the season and Sioape (our best OL) and McDonald are coming back at some point

- Fernando looks like he's taken a big leap forward. If he keeps this up we could be a sneaky ACC contender

- 2-0 is 2-0! Room for growth but not many predicted that preseason or after week 1. Enjoy it Bear fans!

YOU ALREADY KNOW #GoBears | #ALLIN pic.twitter.com/Vg1deMsBLf

— Cal Football (@CalFootball) September 7, 2024

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Looked to me like an ACL. I reacted the exact same way on my next step when I blew mine out. Very awkward step and shear fear screams through your body. It appeared to be a knee, perhaps he hyper extended it.

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If it's an ACL injury, it's probably a partial tear otherwise he wouldn't be walking around afterwards.

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It can take hours to go from instability to pain from swelling. Not a lot of nerves around ligaments.

That said, I don't know why that looks like an ACL. ACL without contact with no lever is really hard to do.

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You are clearly not a fan of the Chicago Bulls and remember the trauma of Derrick Rose in Game 1 of the 2012 playoffs.

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No. I don't watch basketball ever.

I also don't over index freak injuries. He could have easily had a season ending injury with no pain, or a very painful minor injury. There is no way of knowing, until they tell us.

Big C said:

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I agree on all those game balls. f you happen to have one more and aren't sure exactly who to give it to, I'd recommend it go to Payton Thorne, the Auburn quarterback, who really helped us win today.

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We could give Thorne a game ball but he'd just end up throwing it to one of our DBs anyway

A couple more postgame thoughts from the morning after:

- This assuages a lot of my concerns about Bloesch. When he talked about wanting to control clock and pound the ball a lot of us thought it would be a very vanilla offense running into a brick wall 40 times a game (obviously the bowl game and gameplan against Davis didn't help) but he showed that he can control the time of possession through the air and is adaptable to the available talent. 21 points is nothing to go wild about but there were also the missed FGs, Ott/Vatikani/McDonald out injured hampering our run game and making us one-dimensional, down Merriweather and Grayes as well, etc. I thought it was a better offensive showing than the score would indicate

- What a great defensive gameplan. The strength of the AU team is their WRs so I thought, in classic Wilcox/Sirmon fashion, we'd give them a light box and force them to sustain drives running the ball while selling out to combat their strength. Instead they decided to play into their strength and said "our DBs can match up". Instead of over investing to stop their strength we dared them to try it on us and the gameplan and our secondary shined with 4 (5 really) INTs

- Not many people would cite 0-2 on FGs as a bright spot but the first one was a miss in a tough road environment. It happens, it's a small sample-size, you wash it off and forget about it. But the second one that he just pushed from 55 was actually great. We can hit kicks like that this year and it could very well be the difference between 2 extra wins or not. Once Coe hits a big one (hopefully at home next week) I think he'll be a stud from then on out. There was nothing about that 0-2 that makes me lack confidence in Coe

- Hopefully we can start to get healthy and really see where this team can go. Just a couple of the out/injured important pieces would be huge. Ott, Vatikani, Reese, Merriweather, Grayes, McDonald, etc. there's a lot of untapped potential in this team if those guys start to make it back

- For all his faults thus far in his tenure Wilcox teams travel incredibly well, especially out East. He has them prepped for those games and they've delivered. Maybe the travel begins to wear on them later in the season but I don't think it will. There's 4 more long trips (3 EST and 1 CST) and none of them are back-to-back. I think our guys will handle it like they always have

cubzwin said:

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I was at the game. The auburn fans thought the refs were very pro-Cal and the refs hurt their chances. They thought both instances reviewed for spearing were legit spearing. i disagreed on both.

They did not understand why spiking the ball, picking it and throwing it down is IG but the refs were right.

The PI in the EZ that took away a PI was a BS call but many Auburn fans thought the refs stole this game from them.

subjectivity is weird

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There was also the play where the Auburn receiver went out of bounds and came back in for the catch. I suppose those types of plays are easy to overlook as a fan on the team that benefits from the call, but there were calls going both ways that were judgement determinations.

I did fear for Uluave's spearing review. While both players went low, there appeared to be helmet to helmet contact, the thing I was sure would get him was what looked like him leaving his feet for a short instant during the tackle.

The second spearing review didn't seem as concerning.

Bearly Clad said:

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A couple more postgame thoughts from the morning after:

- This assuages a lot of my concerns about Bloesch. When he talked about wanting to control clock and pound the ball a lot of us thought it would be a very vanilla offense running into a brick wall 40 times a game (obviously the bowl game and gameplan against Davis didn't help) but he showed that he can control the time of possession through the air and is adaptable to the available talent. 21 points is nothing to go wild about but there were also the missed FGs, Ott/Vatikani/McDonald out injured hampering our run game and making us one-dimensional, down Merriweather and Grayes as well, etc. I thought it was a better offensive showing than the score would indicate

- What a great defensive gameplan. The strength of the AU team is their WRs so I thought, in classic Wilcox/Sirmon fashion, we'd give them a light box and force them to sustain drives running the ball while selling out to combat their strength. Instead they decided to play into their strength and said "our DBs can match up". Instead of over investing to stop their strength we dared them to try it on us and the gameplan and our secondary shined with 4 (5 really) INTs

- Not many people would cite 0-2 on FGs as a bright spot but the first one was a miss in a tough road environment. It happens, it's a small sample-size, you wash it off and forget about it. But the second one that he just pushed from 55 was actually great. We can hit kicks like that this year and it could very well be the difference between 2 extra wins or not. Once Coe hits a big one (hopefully at home next week) I think he'll be a stud from then on out. There was nothing about that 0-2 that makes me lack confidence in Coe

- Hopefully we can start to get healthy and really see where this team can go. Just a couple of the out/injured important pieces would be huge. Ott, Vatikani, Reese, Merriweather, Grayes, McDonald, etc. there's a lot of untapped potential in this team if those guys start to make it back

- For all his faults thus far in his tenure Wilcox teams travel incredibly well, especially out East. He has them prepped for those games and they've delivered. Maybe the travel begins to wear on them later in the season but I don't think it will. There's 4 more long trips (3 EST and 1 CST) and none of them are back-to-back. I think our guys will handle it like they always have

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the scouting of the db portal candidates was spot on. we got good db's now.

Great DBs. Nohl Williams has taken a huge leap forward. What a playmaker.

Marcus Harris' targeting could be reviewed and overturned right?

I don't remember seeing many bad snaps the first game with Wykoff

Bearly Clad said:

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Big C said:

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I agree on all those game balls. f you happen to have one more and aren't sure exactly who to give it to, I'd recommend it go to Payton Thorne, the Auburn quarterback, who really helped us win today.

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We could give Thorne a game ball but he'd just end up throwing it to one of our DBs anyway

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I nominate this for the Posting Hall of Fame!

Eastern Oregon Bear said:

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Auburn Coach Hugh Freeze said some nice things about Cal in his short post game press conference. Tfans in the comment section focused entirely on their coaching and QB being bad. Not much recognition of their place in the pecking order these days.

Here's another 4 minute video of Peyton Thorne after the game. He was not saying much about Cal and mostly explained plays as not being on the same page with the receivers. He didn't show much passion.

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Its the SEC mate. They don't acknowledge pecking order. They think they are all good and better than any other conference. As far as Freeze's comments, he's right. Thorne was bad. A combination of our defensive scheming and our pass rush. But some of those throws he made were outright bad. What Freeze is probably thinking is that he's in year 3 of a total of 5 in college football. If Auburn fans were finally going to see what Peyton Thorne had to offer - they were disappointed. I would expect Hank Brown to see the field against New Mexico because it just gets tougher from here for Auburn.

philly1121 said:

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Eastern Oregon Bear said:

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Auburn Coach Hugh Freeze said some nice things about Cal in his short post game press conference. Tfans in the comment section focused entirely on their coaching and QB being bad. Not much recognition of their place in the pecking order these days.

Here's another 4 minute video of Peyton Thorne after the game. He was not saying much about Cal and mostly explained plays as not being on the same page with the receivers. He didn't show much passion.

---

Its the SEC mate. They don't acknowledge pecking order. They think they are all good and better than any other conference. As far as Freeze's comments, he's right. Thorne was bad. A combination of our defensive scheming and our pass rush. But some of those throws he made were outright bad. What Freeze is probably thinking is that he's in year 3 of a total of 5 in college football. If Auburn fans were finally going to see what Peyton Thorne had to offer - they were disappointed. I would expect Hank Brown to see the field against New Mexico because it just gets tougher from here for Auburn.

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Good points. I took Freeze leaving Thorne in the game to the bitter end despite it being clear that Thorne was done in mentally as a sign of not having much confidence in Hank Brown, at least not yet.

Eastern Oregon Bear said:

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philly1121 said:

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Eastern Oregon Bear said:

---

Auburn Coach Hugh Freeze said some nice things about Cal in his short post game press conference. Tfans in the comment section focused entirely on their coaching and QB being bad. Not much recognition of their place in the pecking order these days.

Here's another 4 minute video of Peyton Thorne after the game. He was not saying much about Cal and mostly explained plays as not being on the same page with the receivers. He didn't show much passion.

---

Its the SEC mate. They don't acknowledge pecking order. They think they are all good and better than any other conference. As far as Freeze's comments, he's right. Thorne was bad. A combination of our defensive scheming and our pass rush. But some of those throws he made were outright bad. What Freeze is probably thinking is that he's in year 3 of a total of 5 in college football. If Auburn fans were finally going to see what Peyton Thorne had to offer - they were disappointed. I would expect Hank Brown to see the field against New Mexico because it just gets tougher from here for Auburn.

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Good points. I took Freeze leaving Thorne in the game to the bitter end despite it being clear that Thorne was done in mentally as a sign of not having much confidence in Hank Brown, at least not yet.

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2005. USC at California. Joe Ayoob just completely melted down, and Tedford kept him in the game. I was kind of pissed that Tedford wouldn't pull him when he was clearly mentally finished.

Only in retrospect did we see that Steve Levy wasn't so bad and Tedford should have played him way earlier in the season than he did.

TouchedTheAxeIn82 said:

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Eastern Oregon Bear said:

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philly1121 said:

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Eastern Oregon Bear said:

---

Auburn Coach Hugh Freeze said some nice things about Cal in his short post game press conference. Tfans in the comment section focused entirely on their coaching and QB being bad. Not much recognition of their place in the pecking order these days.

Here's another 4 minute video of Peyton Thorne after the game. He was not saying much about Cal and mostly explained plays as not being on the same page with the receivers. He didn't show much passion.

---

Its the SEC mate. They don't acknowledge pecking order. They think they are all good and better than any other conference. As far as Freeze's comments, he's right. Thorne was bad. A combination of our defensive scheming and our pass rush. But some of those throws he made were outright bad. What Freeze is probably thinking is that he's in year 3 of a total of 5 in college football. If Auburn fans were finally going to see what Peyton Thorne had to offer - they were disappointed. I would expect Hank Brown to see the field against New Mexico because it just gets tougher from here for Auburn.

---

Good points. I took Freeze leaving Thorne in the game to the bitter end despite it being clear that Thorne was done in mentally as a sign of not having much confidence in Hank Brown, at least not yet.

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2005. USC at California. Joe Ayoob just completely melted down, and Tedford kept him in the game. I was kind of pissed that Tedford wouldn't pull him when he was clearly mentally finished.

Only in retrospect did we see that Steve Levy wasn't so bad and Tedford should have played him way earlier in the season than he did.

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Really, I wanted Tedford to burn the redshirt of our big local recruit, 4 star Elite 11 true freshman Kyle Reed (Sporting News #5 QB in the country) who looked great in Fall camp. Smart, cannon of an arm on bombs to Desean and a great runner on counters to Marshawn….

I was curious what the mindset was of the Auburn fans coming in to the Cal game, and why Nick Saban was so complimentary of them. So I watched a highlight video of their Alabama A&M game. Auburn slaughtered them 73-3. But when I watched the video, AAM was not as physically outmatched as I expected. They had enough size. The offense had some skill, they just couldn't finish drives. I think the main problem was that AAM's defense was 2013 Cal "Buh" levels of bad. Thorne and the Auburn offense looked amazing. I think they brought in some offensive talent from the portal and clearly were thinking that they addressed last year's problems and were going to be more competitive this year. So it was easy to see why the fans and most pundits didn't think Cal had a chance to keep up with this amazing new offense.

TouchedTheAxeIn82 said:

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I was curious what the mindset was of the Auburn fans coming in to the Cal game, and why Nick Saban was so complimentary of them. So I watched a highlight video of their Alabama A&M game. Auburn slaughtered them 73-3. But when I watched the video, AAM was not as physically outmatched as I expected. They had enough size. The offense had some skill, they just couldn't finish drives. I think the main problem was that AAM's defense was 2013 Cal "Buh" levels of bad. Thorne and the Auburn offense looked amazing. I think they brought in some offensive talent from the portal and clearly were thinking that they addressed last year's problems and were going to be more competitive this year. So it was easy to see why the fans and most pundits didn't think Cal had a chance to keep up with this amazing new offense.

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This matches the narrative of the talking heads before and during the first half of the game. Like so many things in the south, if you say it enough in a vacuum it must be true. Reality settles in sooner or later.

Here's a great fan-perspective video of going to the game. Shows the atmosphere around the game, and a lot of gameplay from the opposite perspective of the TV camera. It's a cool watch.

Auburn QB Payton Thorne says he has people 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗼𝗻 𝗩𝗲𝗻𝗺𝗼 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 🤣

Thorne says at the end of the day, “You have to go back to where your foundation is in your life and for me thats my Faith and my Family…” pic.twitter.com/Uh162e4qM6

— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) September 10, 2024

MilleniaBear said:

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Can someone explain the hikes? Is the C such a great blocker that we accept the hikes?

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i mentioned during the game that its a good thing *every* single one of the hikes is bad, so Fernando knows he's going to have to move to get it. so... uh.. keep it up?

Wait, even Lane Kiffin is trolling Finebaum...

🤔 @finebaum What are you good at again?? 🤷‍♂️ https://t.co/nWxms4zK1n

— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) September 10, 2024

Post-mortem: Payton Thorne loses job.

Auburn is expected to start Hank Brown at quarterback tomorrow against New Mexico, sources confirm to @Auburn247. @_JHokanson first reported the news, which comes after Payton Thorne threw four picks in the loss to Cal last weekend https://t.co/lqvwfcVSqL pic.twitter.com/bV1H61xdKi

— Nathan King (@NathanKing247) September 13, 2024