“Alright. So what? Now what?”
Those were the first words Tosh Lupoi said to the media after his Golden Bears failed to score a touchdown against Clemson in a 24-10 home loss on Friday night.
And, well, the “now what” is fairly obvious. Cal must make changes to its abysmal offense and special teams.
The Golden Bears are letting down their Blue-and-Gold faithful — and sturdy defense — in two of three phases of the game. Four weeks in, after an offseason for the books, Cal is lucky to be 2-2, with a defensive-oriented win in Syracuse and a home stroll past Wagner.
Addressing special teams is the somewhat easier part.
Whether Zach Tinker continues to lead the unit or not, the Golden Bears must stay disciplined on the line of scrimmage and in their coverage lanes, field balls cleanly and order Angus Davies not to give opposing returners alley-oops with line-drive punts. Those are addressable items that any special teams coach would underscore. (Kicking is another story, but you already knew that.)
Now, repairing the offense? That’s where things get tricky.
First-time offensive coordinator Jordan Somerville, who has admittedly only previously called plays at the 12-and-under level, is the elephant in the room.
The Golden Bears haven’t had many consistent positives, if any, with their pro-style scheme beyond their season-opening 10-play touchdown drive against the UCLA Bruins.
Your eyes don’t deceive you — Cal’s offense is alarmingly bad.
The Golden Bears consistently find themselves in third-and-long situations. They rarely attack downfield. Running back Adam Mohammed frequently has to make magic happen through contact. And where has tight end Dorian Thomas been?
Overall, Cal’s offense is just disjointed and uncomfortable more often than not.
Now, it must be said: the unit’s issues aren’t solely on Somerville.
The Golden Bears’ offensive line hasn’t progressed as much as anticipated or hoped. Cal’s new wideouts, particularly Ian Strong, haven’t been as game-changing as expected. Plus, running back Carter Vargas being banged up early surely changed some formulas.
Then, probably the least foreseeable element is quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele’s sophomore struggles. After an unreal freshman campaign, the southpaw has been a shell of himself thus far, with less confidence in the pocket and questionable decision-making.
Everything appears intertwined — in a concerning way.
It starts with Somerville seeming to throw a lot at the offense and mismanaging personnel and sequencing, which leaves the players themselves to struggle with in-game execution while showing no signs of improvement.
Cal’s 2-2 record speaks for itself.
“We have high execution in practice,” wideout Chase Hendricks said after the loss to Clemson. “Now, it's just about translating to the game.”
What Lupoi and the Golden Bears cannot do is keep chipping away, hoping the lightbulb will go off for the offense, as Somerville has previously articulated.
“You have to allow for failure when teaching a complex system like this,” Somerville said on Aug. 17
To quote TARS from Interstellar, “There is no time for caution.”
Cal is four weeks in. Eight games remain. Realignment is around the corner. And it’s going to get harder to sell fans and audiences on spending Saturdays at Memorial Stadium, despite how hard the program has tried to position itself in the national spotlight.
What Lupoi and the Golden Bears can do now, though, is give the offense a fresh start. They can do that by shrinking the playbook and also by giving quarterback coach Nick Rolovich a shot at calling plays.
Somerville’s pro-style system, like it or not, is installed; there’s realistically no going back this season.
However, having another mind operate Cal’s offense couldn’t hurt the team at this point. Rolovich knows Sagapolutele — and presumably his strengths — very well and led Cal to a 38-point outing in a win over No. 25 SMU as the team’s interim head coach last year … after the Golden Bears lost 31-10 in the 128th Big Game with eerily similar offensive woes as today.
Does that mean Lupoi has to part ways with Somerville? No. Instead, Lupoi can have the first-time play caller hand the reins to an offensive-minded veteran in Rolovich, while keeping Somerville involved in the background.
“I have full faith that he's gonna be right there with me as far as dissecting every play that occurred, once again, that we didn't win,” Lupoi said of Somerville after the loss to Clemson. “We’ve got the players to do it, and we've got a great staff …”
Indeed, as Lupoi alluded to, Cal still has a very talented team and a staff with enough brainpower to give Berkeley students a run for their money.
And, maybe most importantly moving forward, there is no doubt that effort is a problem. The Golden Bears want to — and truly believe — they can win; the fight, particularly from defensive coordinator Michael Hutchings’ unit in Syracuse, proved it.
But the clock is ticking.
Long ago, Joe Kapp told us the Bear does not quit, nor does it die; Cal better make changes on offense and special teams before the Bear goes extinct.
