I've sat through a slew of terrible, boring, non-creative and easily defensed offensive coordinators. Yesterday there were passes in the middle and other effective plays....still mostly running up the middle, but not sure of speed of our backs....

Seemed worlds better than last year.

thoughts?

We have kept it pretty vanilla these first 2 games, next Saturday should be interesting

Saturday should be interesting... and hopefully pleasing! C'mon out to this game! GO BEARS!!!

I actually thought the fake punt was a good call. We were playing kind of flat and needed a spark to wake the guys up and get some momentum. I think it was a good calculated gamble that paid off.

If we had punted, all the negabears would have lost their minds.

FuzzyWuzzy said:

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I'm sure you're asking about play-calling from scrimmage but let me throw out there that the 2-point. conversion was a weird call. As was the fake punt. And by weird I mean bad. Why make those calls in those situations?

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There are two sides to showing a trick play in a less consequential game.

Pros:
- Low stakes situation to practice execution
- Forces future defenses to consider the trick play possibilities when they prepare their defensive schemes which could causes them to perform worse in normal situations
- Building on the last point, can open the door for double-bluffs that work because the defense anticipates a trick play we've shown in the past but we do something else

Cons:
- Lose the element of total surprise for that particular play
- Possible negative impact in this particular game

Assuming you have faith in the team to not lose the current game, it's not crazy to feel that losing the element of total surprise for those particular plays is a worthwhile trade-off for the other pros (especially if you still have different trick plays for those scenarios that you can debut at a later time).

Strykur said:

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We have kept it pretty vanilla these first 2 games, next Saturday should be interesting

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Ah, that old chestnut. "Vanilla" is what fans call the offense early in the season until they realize it's just a bad offense.

falseintellect said:

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Strykur said:

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We have kept it pretty vanilla these first 2 games, next Saturday should be interesting

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Ah, that old chestnut. "Vanilla" is what fans call the offense early in the season until they realize it's just a bad offense.

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Right and we'll know on Saturday what it is, or isn't

falseintellect said:

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Strykur said:

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We have kept it pretty vanilla these first 2 games, next Saturday should be interesting

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Ah, that old chestnut. "Vanilla" is what fans call the offense early in the season until they realize it's just a bad offense.

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It has always astounded me how the fans on this site write the same stuff every year, have it blow up in their faces about the same time every year, and then roll the same excuses out the following year.

Every year between the first spring camp until the first game of the year:

"I think this is the year the team finally breaks out. 9 plus wins this season!"

First bodybag game of the year every year:

"Fans are being too negative! A win is a win! The coaches are saving all their deceptive plays for later in the season!"

After a couple of early bodybag wins and an undefeated record;

"Why aren't we getting consideration for the Top 25? This team is going to do great things!"

First soul-crushing loss of the year:

"The refs screwed us! That game was ours to win if we'd just not done the 2-3 stupid things that we do in games year after year!"

First loss to team that isn't any good, but beats us anyway:

"The offensive coordinator is terrible. All we need to do is fire that guy and any other assistant coaches who are deemed to be this year's scapegoats and Wilcox will finally be the coach we know he can be."

Loss that clinches another losing conference season:

"Started drinking heavily again. Why do I keep doing this to myself?"

Fred Bear said:

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falseintellect said:

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Strykur said:

---

We have kept it pretty vanilla these first 2 games, next Saturday should be interesting

---

Ah, that old chestnut. "Vanilla" is what fans call the offense early in the season until they realize it's just a bad offense.

---

It has always astounded me how the fans on this site write the same stuff every year, have it blow up in their faces about the same time every year, and then roll the same excuses out the following year.

Every year between the first spring camp until the first game of the year:

"I think this is the year the team finally breaks out. 9 plus wins this season!"

First bodybag game of the year every year:

"Fans are being too negative! A win is a win! The coaches are saving all their deceptive plays for later in the season!"

After a couple of early bodybag wins and an undefeated record;

"Why aren't we getting consideration for the Top 25? This team is going to do great things!"

First soul-crushing loss of the year:

"The refs screwed us! That game was ours to win if we'd just not done the 2-3 stupid things that we do in games year after year!"

First loss to team that isn't any good, but beats us anyway:

"The offensive coordinator is terrible. All we need to do is fire that guy and any other assistant coaches who are deemed to be this year's scapegoats and Wilcox will finally be the coach we know he can be."

Loss that clinches another losing conference season:

"Started drinking heavily again. Why do I keep doing this to myself?"

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Yep! You pretty well nailed it.

Fred Bear said:

---

falseintellect said:

---

Strykur said:

---

We have kept it pretty vanilla these first 2 games, next Saturday should be interesting

---

Ah, that old chestnut. "Vanilla" is what fans call the offense early in the season until they realize it's just a bad offense.

---

It has always astounded me how the fans on this site write the same stuff every year, have it blow up in their faces about the same time every year, and then roll the same excuses out the following year.

Every year between the first spring camp until the first game of the year:

"I think this is the year the team finally breaks out. 9 plus wins this season!"

First bodybag game of the year every year:

"Fans are being too negative! A win is a win! The coaches are saving all their deceptive plays for later in the season!"

After a couple of early bodybag wins and an undefeated record;

"Why aren't we getting consideration for the Top 25? This team is going to do great things!"

First soul-crushing loss of the year:

"The refs screwed us! That game was ours to win if we'd just not done the 2-3 stupid things that we do in games year after year!"

First loss to team that isn't any good, but beats us anyway:

"The offensive coordinator is terrible. All we need to do is fire that guy and any other assistant coaches who are deemed to be this year's scapegoats and Wilcox will finally be the coach we know he can be."

Loss that clinches another losing conference season:

"Started drinking heavily again. Why do I keep doing this to myself?"

---

Update:

This year is interesting in that usually we'd have have that close "found a way to lose" game by now, but instead our two losses (including the SDSU "isn't any good" game) have been blowouts.

I'm already looking forward to the first post that tries to be genuinely okay with a 7-5 record once 9-3 becomes an impossibility.

KoreAmBear said:

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Fred Bear said:

---

Fred Bear said:

---

falseintellect said:

---

Strykur said:

---

We have kept it pretty vanilla these first 2 games, next Saturday should be interesting

---

Ah, that old chestnut. "Vanilla" is what fans call the offense early in the season until they realize it's just a bad offense.

---

It has always astounded me how the fans on this site write the same stuff every year, have it blow up in their faces about the same time every year, and then roll the same excuses out the following year.

Every year between the first spring camp until the first game of the year:

"I think this is the year the team finally breaks out. 9 plus wins this season!"

First bodybag game of the year every year:

"Fans are being too negative! A win is a win! The coaches are saving all their deceptive plays for later in the season!"

After a couple of early bodybag wins and an undefeated record;

"Why aren't we getting consideration for the Top 25? This team is going to do great things!"

First soul-crushing loss of the year:

"The refs screwed us! That game was ours to win if we'd just not done the 2-3 stupid things that we do in games year after year!"

First loss to team that isn't any good, but beats us anyway:

"The offensive coordinator is terrible. All we need to do is fire that guy and any other assistant coaches who are deemed to be this year's scapegoats and Wilcox will finally be the coach we know he can be."

Loss that clinches another losing conference season:

"Started drinking heavily again. Why do I keep doing this to myself?"

---

Update:

This year is interesting in that usually we'd have have that close "found a way to lose" game by now, but instead our two losses (including the SDSU "isn't any good" game) have been blowouts.

I'm already looking forward to the first post that tries to be genuinely okay with a 7-5 record once 9-3 becomes an impossibility.

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I think the only way JW stays if he goes 8-4. That means 5-3 in conference. That was always the metric for me -- get to over .500 in conference. Will that happen? The way we're going there's very little chance. But might as well wait and see there is a clear metric for me.

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Given how soft the schedule was, Cal really should have been undefeated in non-conference play (though a loss to Minnesota would've been tolerable) and should lose no more than two conference games. However, at the rate Wilsux is going, Cal will be lucky to go 4-4 in conference and 7-5 overall. None of that is "good" by any stretch of the imagination. A competent coaching staff likely would've had Cal in the playoffs (or at least in that conversation). As it is, with Wilsux and crew, Cal will be lucky to be invited to another Cheez-It Bowl slugfest.

KoreAmBear said:

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Fred Bear said:

---

Fred Bear said:

---

falseintellect said:

---

Strykur said:

---

We have kept it pretty vanilla these first 2 games, next Saturday should be interesting

---

Ah, that old chestnut. "Vanilla" is what fans call the offense early in the season until they realize it's just a bad offense.

---

It has always astounded me how the fans on this site write the same stuff every year, have it blow up in their faces about the same time every year, and then roll the same excuses out the following year.

Every year between the first spring camp until the first game of the year:

"I think this is the year the team finally breaks out. 9 plus wins this season!"

First bodybag game of the year every year:

"Fans are being too negative! A win is a win! The coaches are saving all their deceptive plays for later in the season!"

After a couple of early bodybag wins and an undefeated record;

"Why aren't we getting consideration for the Top 25? This team is going to do great things!"

First soul-crushing loss of the year:

"The refs screwed us! That game was ours to win if we'd just not done the 2-3 stupid things that we do in games year after year!"

First loss to team that isn't any good, but beats us anyway:

"The offensive coordinator is terrible. All we need to do is fire that guy and any other assistant coaches who are deemed to be this year's scapegoats and Wilcox will finally be the coach we know he can be."

Loss that clinches another losing conference season:

"Started drinking heavily again. Why do I keep doing this to myself?"

---

Update:

This year is interesting in that usually we'd have have that close "found a way to lose" game by now, but instead our two losses (including the SDSU "isn't any good" game) have been blowouts.

I'm already looking forward to the first post that tries to be genuinely okay with a 7-5 record once 9-3 becomes an impossibility.

---

I think the only way JW stays if he goes 8-4. That means 5-3 in conference. That was always the metric for me -- get to over .500 in conference. Will that happen? The way we're going there's very little chance. But might as well wait and see there is a clear metric for me.

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He could lose every game from here on out and come back next year. Let's not kid ourselves about how serious Cal is about football. They have shown repeatedly that they won't eat their own stupid mistakes and I don't expect that to change.