Some great takes here... Lots of respect for Cal. "Cal was the better team... but if you're a Southerner... your mind cannot go there with Cal... I know, I grew up here" LOL

I still can't get to "We have no business losing to Cal!" Or even, "We 'shouldn't' be losing to Cal." Why? Cal is a P4 team that is [more than likely] as good as, if not better than, 'most' of the teams in their P4 Conference. Is Auburn? Honestly, that is precisely how teams need to prepare for Cal, or THEY will get beat, too. And 'might', anyway.

Pittstop said:

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I still can't get to "We have no business losing to Cal!" Cal is a P4 team that is [more than likely] as good as, if not better than, 'most' of the teams in their P4 Conference. Is Auburn? Honestly, that is precisely how teams need to prepare for Cal, or THEY will get beat, too. And 'might', anyway.

---

Which is why even a down-and-out Florida State squad could still sleepwalk into our matchup in 2 weeks, nobody might take us seriously until we "stumble" into the top 20

We beat Texas in Texas and Ole Miss in Jackson. Not bad for a bunch of smelly Liberal hippies.

For whatever reason (probably for the schadenfreude) I listened to about 4-5 different auburn podcasts. And they all said the same thing. Auburn is horrible but so is cal. Cal is a 6 win team. And there is no way they have more talent than auburn.

First off, how would they know how good this cal team is. I suspect I know more about cal football and I have no idea how good this team is.

Second, we had injuries everywhere. They didn't even see us full strength.

Lastly, are we really less talented?

QB - cal
RB - at worse a tie (that's being generous)
WR - at worse a tie (considering we had two starters out and our backups outplayed their starters)
TE - cal
OL - auburn
DE - auburn
LB - Cal
DB - Cal

Where exactly are they clearly more talented?

ducky23 said:

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For whatever reason (probably for the schadenfreude) I listened to about 4-5 different auburn podcasts. And they all said the same thing. Auburn is horrible but so is cal. Cal is a 6 win team. And there is no way they have more talent than auburn.

First off, how would they know how good this cal team is. I suspect I know more about cal football and I have no idea how good this team is.

Second, we had injuries everywhere. They didn't even see us full strength.

Lastly, are we really less talented?

QB - cal
RB - at worse a tie (that's being generous)
WR - at worse a tie (considering we had two starters out and our backups outplayed their starters)
TE - cal
OL - auburn
DE - auburn
LB - Cal
DB - Cal

Where exactly are they clearly more talented?

---

Talent aside, Cal's dline clocked the vaunted Auburn oline. Gotta give DL to Cal. Might be the difference in the game. Auburn had limited rushing years and the Auburn QB threw wild when he had to move off his spot.

Son-of-California said:

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We beat Texas in Texas and Ole Miss in Jackson. Not bad for a bunch of smelly Liberal hippies.

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Well, Cal beat Ole Miss in Oxford. Oxford was a charming southern college town. Honestly, it was exactly the way I pictured an SEC town to be. Pretty campus, nice walk down to the old square, all the tents in the Grove, and they've done a good job acknowledging James Meredith and "the past."

The folks of the SEC are more arrogant than those of SC, so that's why they feel that a team from the south lost to a hippie team from California.. The folks from LSU felt the same way about playing The Beach Boys from SC.

wifeisafurd said:

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ducky23 said:

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For whatever reason (probably for the schadenfreude) I listened to about 4-5 different auburn podcasts. And they all said the same thing. Auburn is horrible but so is cal. Cal is a 6 win team. And there is no way they have more talent than auburn.

First off, how would they know how good this cal team is. I suspect I know more about cal football and I have no idea how good this team is.

Second, we had injuries everywhere. They didn't even see us full strength.

Lastly, are we really less talented?

QB - cal
RB - at worse a tie (that's being generous)
WR - at worse a tie (considering we had two starters out and our backups outplayed their starters)
TE - cal
OL - auburn
DE - auburn
LB - Cal
DB - Cal

Where exactly are they clearly more talented?

---

Talent aside, Cal's dline clocked the vaunted Auburn oline. Gotta give DL to Cal. Might be the difference in the game. Auburn had limited rushing years and the Auburn QB threw wild when he had to move off his spot.

---

Honestly, I don't know why Hugh Freeze didn't run the ball more, especially in the first half. The Auburn offense had much better success running on Cal's defense than passing. But for some reason, Auburn kept passing (when the game was still close enough dir them to win). IMHO, Cal's run defense is a big question mark. Davis essentially ran at will on Cal. Auburn managed to get good yardage on the ground before focusing on an aerial attack. This's year's opponents should absolutely make Cal prove it can stop the run before going to the air.

01Bear said:

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wifeisafurd said:

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ducky23 said:

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For whatever reason (probably for the schadenfreude) I listened to about 4-5 different auburn podcasts. And they all said the same thing. Auburn is horrible but so is cal. Cal is a 6 win team. And there is no way they have more talent than auburn.

First off, how would they know how good this cal team is. I suspect I know more about cal football and I have no idea how good this team is.

Second, we had injuries everywhere. They didn't even see us full strength.

Lastly, are we really less talented?

QB - cal
RB - at worse a tie (that's being generous)
WR - at worse a tie (considering we had two starters out and our backups outplayed their starters)
TE - cal
OL - auburn
DE - auburn
LB - Cal
DB - Cal

Where exactly are they clearly more talented?

---

Talent aside, Cal's dline clocked the vaunted Auburn oline. Gotta give DL to Cal. Might be the difference in the game. Auburn had limited rushing years and the Auburn QB threw wild when he had to move off his spot.

---

Honestly, I don't know why Hugh Freeze didn't run the ball more, especially in the first half. The Auburn offense had much better success running on Cal's defense than passing. But for some reason, Auburn kept passing (when the game was still close enough dir them to win). IMHO, Cal's run defense is a big question mark. Davis essentially ran at will on Cal. Auburn managed to get good yardage on the ground before focusing on an aerial attack. This's year's opponents should absolutely make Cal prove it can stop the run before going to the air.

---

Agreed, Auburn's starting RB averaged 5.7 YPC against us. We had a horrible pass defense last year. This year, we look very good. If I am scouting Cal, I definitely go run heavy, maybe with two TE sets…. Oregon State in particular looks like a tough match up for us.

calumnus said:

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01Bear said:

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wifeisafurd said:

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ducky23 said:

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For whatever reason (probably for the schadenfreude) I listened to about 4-5 different auburn podcasts. And they all said the same thing. Auburn is horrible but so is cal. Cal is a 6 win team. And there is no way they have more talent than auburn.

First off, how would they know how good this cal team is. I suspect I know more about cal football and I have no idea how good this team is.

Second, we had injuries everywhere. They didn't even see us full strength.

Lastly, are we really less talented?

QB - cal
RB - at worse a tie (that's being generous)
WR - at worse a tie (considering we had two starters out and our backups outplayed their starters)
TE - cal
OL - auburn
DE - auburn
LB - Cal
DB - Cal

Where exactly are they clearly more talented?

---

Talent aside, Cal's dline clocked the vaunted Auburn oline. Gotta give DL to Cal. Might be the difference in the game. Auburn had limited rushing years and the Auburn QB threw wild when he had to move off his spot.

---

Honestly, I don't know why Hugh Freeze didn't run the ball more, especially in the first half. The Auburn offense had much better success running on Cal's defense than passing. But for some reason, Auburn kept passing (when the game was still close enough dir them to win). IMHO, Cal's run defense is a big question mark. Davis essentially ran at will on Cal. Auburn managed to get good yardage on the ground before focusing on an aerial attack. This's year's opponents should absolutely make Cal prove it can stop the run before going to the air.

---

Agreed, Auburn's starting RB averaged 5.7 YPC against us. We had a horrible pass defense last year. This year, we look very good. If I am scouting Cal, I definitely go run heavy, maybe with two TE sets…. Oregon State in particular looks like a tough match up for us.

---

What I question about Oregon state is their depth. They lost a lot of players, and I think once the injuries start piling up in early October, their team will start looking quite different. That said, they aren't playing a power conference opponent every week so maybe they dont take the injuries.

golden sloth said:

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calumnus said:

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01Bear said:

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wifeisafurd said:

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ducky23 said:

---

For whatever reason (probably for the schadenfreude) I listened to about 4-5 different auburn podcasts. And they all said the same thing. Auburn is horrible but so is cal. Cal is a 6 win team. And there is no way they have more talent than auburn.

First off, how would they know how good this cal team is. I suspect I know more about cal football and I have no idea how good this team is.

Second, we had injuries everywhere. They didn't even see us full strength.

Lastly, are we really less talented?

QB - cal
RB - at worse a tie (that's being generous)
WR - at worse a tie (considering we had two starters out and our backups outplayed their starters)
TE - cal
OL - auburn
DE - auburn
LB - Cal
DB - Cal

Where exactly are they clearly more talented?

---

Talent aside, Cal's dline clocked the vaunted Auburn oline. Gotta give DL to Cal. Might be the difference in the game. Auburn had limited rushing years and the Auburn QB threw wild when he had to move off his spot.

---

Honestly, I don't know why Hugh Freeze didn't run the ball more, especially in the first half. The Auburn offense had much better success running on Cal's defense than passing. But for some reason, Auburn kept passing (when the game was still close enough dir them to win). IMHO, Cal's run defense is a big question mark. Davis essentially ran at will on Cal. Auburn managed to get good yardage on the ground before focusing on an aerial attack. This's year's opponents should absolutely make Cal prove it can stop the run before going to the air.

---

Agreed, Auburn's starting RB averaged 5.7 YPC against us. We had a horrible pass defense last year. This year, we look very good. If I am scouting Cal, I definitely go run heavy, maybe with two TE sets…. Oregon State in particular looks like a tough match up for us.

---

What I question about Oregon state is their depth. They lost a lot of players, and I think once the injuries start piling up in early October, their team will start looking quite different. That said, they aren't playing a power conference opponent every week so maybe they dont take the injuries.

---

They seem stout on the OL, still use 2 TE sets and have 3 similar short stocky fast RBs. At QB they have grad transfer 6'0 180 Gevani McCoy from Baldwin Hills in LA who transferred from Idaho and looked good against us last year when he was the QB of the Vandals.

Here's a former DC for Auburn with some intelligent, even-handed observations on Auburn's painful loss to us.

That was a very refreshingly reflective Y-Tube commentary by that ol ball coach.

sefton said:

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That was a very refreshingly reflective Y-Tube commentary by that ol ball coach.

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Yes, a pleasure to listen to a wise, old Southern gentlemen. And to his credit, Freeze, too, did not affirm the trash talk when asked during the week before the game.

funny we will end up playing 5 QBs we faced last year even though only Auburn and Stanford are common opponents

the idaho QB to OSU
Payton Thorne Auburn
Ashton Daniels Stanford
DJU OSU to FSU
Cam Ward WSU to Miami
Bonus Sam Jackson Cal to Auburn

Does anyone else notice how we have to go to Auburn's coverage on Youtube to initiate discussion about last week's game? How many dedicated Youtube channels does Auburn have covering their football team? Quite frankly I am envious of all the coverage they receive. I would love to see a single weekly recap show on Youtube with anybody discussing Cal football. I understand BI has a podcast, but it would be nice to see something on YT with some talking heads similar to what Auburn has.

TedfordTheGreat said:

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funny we will end up playing 5 QBs we faced last year even though only Auburn and Stanford are common opponents

the idaho QB to OSU
Payton Thorne Auburn
Ashton Daniels Stanford
DJU OSU to FSU
Cam Ward WSU to Miami
Bonus Sam Jackson Cal to Auburn

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1 down 5 to go

TedfordTheGreat said:

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funny we will end up playing 5 QBs we faced last year even though only Auburn and Stanford are common opponents

the idaho QB to OSU
Payton Thorne Auburn
Ashton Daniels Stanford
DJU OSU to FSU
Cam Ward WSU to Miami
Bonus Sam Jackson Cal to Auburn

---

Well….We'll see about DJU

HongKong_Bear said:

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Does anyone else notice how we have to go to Auburn's coverage on Youtube to initiate discussion about last week's game? How many dedicated Youtube channels does Auburn have covering their football team? Quite frankly I am envious of all the coverage they receive. I would love to see a single weekly recap show on Youtube with anybody discussing Cal football. I understand BI has a podcast, but it would be nice to see something on YT with some talking heads similar to what Auburn has.

---

The W4C guys have two different podcasts (one free, one premium). You can find the free one on Spotify (Bearcast). Two "prominent" burners also just started a twitter space and you can listen to the recording anytime (it's actually quite good, one guy knows his Xs and Os pretty well).

ducky23 said:

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HongKong_Bear said:

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Does anyone else notice how we have to go to Auburn's coverage on Youtube to initiate discussion about last week's game? How many dedicated Youtube channels does Auburn have covering their football team? Quite frankly I am envious of all the coverage they receive. I would love to see a single weekly recap show on Youtube with anybody discussing Cal football. I understand BI has a podcast, but it would be nice to see something on YT with some talking heads similar to what Auburn has.

---

The W4C guys have two different podcasts (one free, one premium). You can find the free one on Spotify (Bearcast). Two "prominent" burners also just started a twitter space and you can listen to the recording anytime (it's actually quite good, one guy knows his Xs and Os pretty well).

---

Can you share the X username of the Cal burner that hosts the Spaces? I follow quite a few but haven't seen any Spaces yet.

https://t.co/AaiLG1QCzz

— Tony Kransinski (@wetbeefs) September 12, 2024

https://t.co/AaiLG1QCzz

— Tony Kransinski (@wetbeefs) September 12, 2024

Pretty much every burner listens to this live. It's honestly a bit cult-ish, but vibes are higher than they've ever been, so let them have their fun

ducky23 said:

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For whatever reason (probably for the schadenfreude) I listened to about 4-5 different auburn podcasts. And they all said the same thing. Auburn is horrible but so is cal. Cal is a 6 win team. And there is no way they have more talent than auburn.

First off, how would they know how good this cal team is. I suspect I know more about cal football and I have no idea how good this team is.

Second, we had injuries everywhere. They didn't even see us full strength.

Lastly, are we really less talented?

QB - cal
RB - at worse a tie (that's being generous)
WR - at worse a tie (considering we had two starters out and our backups outplayed their starters)
TE - cal
OL - auburn
DE - auburn
LB - Cal
DB - Cal

Where exactly are they clearly more talented?

---

I think you listed exactly Cal's weakness...the lines. Those are almost always the reason we are an average team even with good players everywhere else. Lines elevate or deflate all the other players. I often only watch the line play especially on offense most especially on reruns/replays. I think Cal has a bunch of talent everywhere else. I'm hoping the injured lineman add some zip to our lines. I'm hopeful we have a great season in front of us but they have to get these guys healthy and they have to be a pretty big upgrade.

82gradDLSdad said:

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ducky23 said:

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For whatever reason (probably for the schadenfreude) I listened to about 4-5 different auburn podcasts. And they all said the same thing. Auburn is horrible but so is cal. Cal is a 6 win team. And there is no way they have more talent than auburn.

First off, how would they know how good this cal team is. I suspect I know more about cal football and I have no idea how good this team is.

Second, we had injuries everywhere. They didn't even see us full strength.

Lastly, are we really less talented?

QB - cal
RB - at worse a tie (that's being generous)
WR - at worse a tie (considering we had two starters out and our backups outplayed their starters)
TE - cal
OL - auburn
DE - auburn
LB - Cal
DB - Cal

Where exactly are they clearly more talented?

---

I think you listed exactly Cal's weakness...the lines. Those are almost always the reason we are an average team even with good players everywhere else. Lines elevate or deflate all the other players. I often only watch the line play especially on offense most especially on reruns/replays. I think Cal has a bunch of talent everywhere else. I'm hoping the injured lineman add some zip to our lines. I'm hopeful we have a great season in front of us but they have to get these guys healthy and they have to be a pretty big upgrade.

---

What was your opinion of Cal's OL play last year?

calumnus said:

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82gradDLSdad said:

---

ducky23 said:

---

For whatever reason (probably for the schadenfreude) I listened to about 4-5 different auburn podcasts. And they all said the same thing. Auburn is horrible but so is cal. Cal is a 6 win team. And there is no way they have more talent than auburn.

First off, how would they know how good this cal team is. I suspect I know more about cal football and I have no idea how good this team is.

Second, we had injuries everywhere. They didn't even see us full strength.

Lastly, are we really less talented?

QB - cal
RB - at worse a tie (that's being generous)
WR - at worse a tie (considering we had two starters out and our backups outplayed their starters)
TE - cal
OL - auburn
DE - auburn
LB - Cal
DB - Cal

Where exactly are they clearly more talented?

---

I think you listed exactly Cal's weakness...the lines. Those are almost always the reason we are an average team even with good players everywhere else. Lines elevate or deflate all the other players. I often only watch the line play especially on offense most especially on reruns/replays. I think Cal has a bunch of talent everywhere else. I'm hoping the injured lineman add some zip to our lines. I'm hopeful we have a great season in front of us but they have to get these guys healthy and they have to be a pretty big upgrade.

---

What was your opinion of Cal's OL play last year?

---

I thought it didn't look good and I kept seeing the Jet's td run and the description that called the blocking great. Watch that one and tell me what you see. Hint: the Auburn DL couldn't have done worse stunting and their LBs worse hole filling if they tried. Our line didn't do much of anything. But it showed how Jet can expose a defensive lapse in a second. Ott can too. I imagine our receivers can but I'm not familiar with them.

God, I can't believe how Cal football is sucking me back into sports. My brain has changed (for bad reasons) and I no longer follow any sports. There is a reason I watch OL play. I loved watching the Packers play and Lombardi videos when I was a kid. I loved the Rams when 'ground Chuck' Knox was their coach. I loved watching DLS games when Ladaceur was their coach because their OL play was incredible (admired by Raiders' coach Madden). Hell, my first college choice was USC because of student body left/right. Well, that and the cheerleaders.
Sorry for the brain dump based on your simple question. I found out the reason why from watching a neurologist explain early morning waking before all your brain sleep chemicals are flushed out with adequate sleep.

BTW, I'm no expert. Their is a lot I don't know and much of what I say is based on my own anecdotal evidence so buyer beware.

HongKong_Bear said:

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Does anyone else notice how we have to go to Auburn's coverage on Youtube to initiate discussion about last week's game? How many dedicated Youtube channels does Auburn have covering their football team? Quite frankly I am envious of all the coverage they receive. I would love to see a single weekly recap show on Youtube with anybody discussing Cal football. I understand BI has a podcast, but it would be nice to see something on YT with some talking heads similar to what Auburn has.

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It's no great feat to start a YouTube channel. I nominate you.

Go Bears!

I did look at the star rankings at 247sports (formerly scout.com) for the high school commits for the last 2 classes which are now the freshman and sophomore players of Auburn that we just beat. They had 17 4* and 2 5*. That compares to Cal's 1 4*. Note that I didn't look at their or our transfers.

Bowlesman80 said:

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HongKong_Bear said:

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Does anyone else notice how we have to go to Auburn's coverage on Youtube to initiate discussion about last week's game? How many dedicated Youtube channels does Auburn have covering their football team? Quite frankly I am envious of all the coverage they receive. I would love to see a single weekly recap show on Youtube with anybody discussing Cal football. I understand BI has a podcast, but it would be nice to see something on YT with some talking heads similar to what Auburn has.

---

It's no great feat to start a YouTube channel. I nominate you.

Go Bears!

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I mean…if you take a look at the auburn YouTube channels, clearly any yahoo can start one

ducky23 said:

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Bowlesman80 said:

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HongKong_Bear said:

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Does anyone else notice how we have to go to Auburn's coverage on Youtube to initiate discussion about last week's game? How many dedicated Youtube channels does Auburn have covering their football team? Quite frankly I am envious of all the coverage they receive. I would love to see a single weekly recap show on Youtube with anybody discussing Cal football. I understand BI has a podcast, but it would be nice to see something on YT with some talking heads similar to what Auburn has.

---

It's no great feat to start a YouTube channel. I nominate you.

Go Bears!

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I mean…if you take a look at the auburn YouTube channels, clearly any yahoo can start one

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LOL. Yep. Careful, though. Sometimes those drawling country accents can conceal a cunning mind.

SantaTeresaHills said:

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I did look at the star rankings at 247sports (formerly scout.com) for the high school commits for the last 2 classes which are now the freshman and sophomore players of Auburn that we just beat. They had 17 4* and 2 5*. That compares to Cal's 1 4*. Note that I didn't look at their or our transfers.

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Yep. That's why the pundits just looked at the numbers and concluded, prematurely, that Cal had "no chance" to win. Sometimes the cupcake strikes back.

That being said, it would be super great to have better recruiting, even if most recruits don't play until their Sophomore or Junior year, while a vetted transfer can plug ion to play. IMHO, transfers solve a number of problems for us:
1. Cal is tough for academic eligibility. A transfer can skate through one or two years or, even, already have a degree and be doing post-baccalaureate study.

2. Transfers are vetted to college level play. McCord transferring from tOSU to Syracuse has already elevated their program. Teddy B. transferring from Davis to Cal has already made a huge difference- and he already has his BA.

Aaron Rodgers was a found gem, but probably not even a 3 star at the time. A good program finds the diamonds in the rough, admittedly, often by chance, and elevates them. Auburn's performance is a good example that simply have the stars makes no guarantees.

OL could be a tie if we didn't have two players injured, including our best O Lineman.

That this win felt like so much of an upset was more due to media hype than reality. If you look at the specifics between the teams between 2023 and 2024, it was basically even. The lopsided win this year is a combination of bad coaching decisions by Auburn, much better play at QB by Cal and much worse QB play by Auburn.

But Cal fans shouldn't read too much into the win. If the Auburn coaches were smarter about it and had run the ball more, managed the QB passing game better, Auburn could've come out with the W. Instead, they tried to have Thorne outplay our pass defense which gave us the best shot to win.

I'm glad we got the win and it was great to celebrate it but let's not buy into our own hype too much. Our run offense and defense are still somewhat questionable IMO. Teams are less likely to look past us after this. They'll respect our back 7 much more than Auburn did and exploit weakness in our pass protection.

freshfunk said:

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That this win felt like so much of an upset was more due to media hype than reality. If you look at the specifics between the teams between 2023 and 2024, it was basically even. The lopsided win this year is a combination of bad coaching decisions by Auburn, much better play at QB by Cal and much worse QB play by Auburn.

But Cal fans shouldn't read too much into the win. If the Auburn coaches were smarter about it and had run the ball more, managed the QB passing game better, Auburn could've come out with the W. Instead, they tried to have Thorne outplay our pass defense which gave us the best shot to win.

I'm glad we got the win and it was great to celebrate it but let's not buy into our own hype too much. Our run offense and defense are still somewhat questionable IMO. Teams are less likely to look past us after this. They'll respect our back 7 much more than Auburn did and exploit weakness in our pass protection.

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Yeah, pretty much. I think opposing coaches can look at this game and have some takeaways: run on offense and take away Mendoza's ability to roll right, keep him in the pocket. Thus our future success will depend on some combination of 1) getting starters back healthy and 2) our coaches coming up with better strategies to overcome those adjustments.