elpbear;561474 said:

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Personally, only one thing seriously concerns me about Isi's performance: the fumbles. He can't put the ball on the ground like that.
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Putting the ball on the ground is a good way to end up in JT's doghouse. If that continues this week, we will see a lot more of the other backs. I'll forgive him for the end zone fumble, that was a nightmare play before he ever got the ball, but a running back can't fumble. Period.

Oaktown is exactly right. Isi did very well in the first half when Fresno was playing us more straight up. Second half they began run blitzing and gap filling and our OL and RBs couldn't make them pay.

Give Isi some space and he will be very good for us. Don't give him holes and he will be mediocre because he is not strong enough to break a ton of tackles from DL in the backfield.

Aside from his running, Isi did a great job in pass protection. He's a lot tougher than his size would suggest as he was always able to hold his blocks. It doesn't look like CDJ or CJA are so much better (if at all) as runners to overlook Isi's advantage in pass protection.

He's a good back, but better as a backup to a more physical RB to give defense a different look. The dude is waaaay too easy to bring down. One tackle and he was down right at the spot. He shouldn't get too many touches at 3rd downs and at the goaline.

<blockquote><div class="name-said">82gradDLSdad;561633 said:</div><hr>I looked at every play on the PRD Youtube videos (I know they were editted to only include the 'good' plays) and the OL looked great. I watched every single guy (rewatching plays multiple times) and they were really doing a good job. I'm wondering if FSU just sent more guys to stop the run in the second half or did our OL get beat?<hr></blockquote><br /><br />They sent a lot of guys to stop the run in both halves. FSU lined up 8 in the box regularly, with their free safety lined up at about 7-8 yards, and even he was playing like a linebacker - not in a backpedal until it was clearly a pass, then turning and running to get back. It was almost like having 9 in the box. Too many guys to account for. Pat Hill is a gambler, and he knew he had to roll the dice to stop the run and hope that Maynard couldn't beat him over the top.<br /><br />I know I'm in the minority but I thought our OL was pretty darn good. Yes, they missed a few blocks, which will happen. In particular, we like to cut block on the back side and we were missing those blocks with regularity. Missing that block can be the difference between a 6 yard run and a 36 yard run. But that is something I think they can fix once they see it on film. It''s not like they were getting blown up at the point of attack. That's why I'm pretty optimistic about this offense. Once they fix some of those easy mistakes, look out.

Why do people say he tried to lateral the ball to Jones? Replays show a clear fumble.

drunkoski;561456 said:

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i completely disagree. he lacks acceleration to hit the hole, but has good top end speed.

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This is interesting. I was thinking of comparing him to Joe Igber but Igber used his shiftiness to find holes and then escape, even though he couldn't hit the home run. Sofele doesn't seem to be able to "find" the holes, at least not yet, he seems to only be able to go through them if they created for him. I think we're fine with Sofele but I agree we need more of a complement with CDJ and CJA as I'm not sure Sofele is the guy you want to run up the middle all game.

6956bear;561438 said:

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My problem is not with Isi, it is with the staff. Isi is what he is. He is a smaller back that gives you some quickness and experience. He is ok, but not special by any means. Cal may not have a special back this year (that they plan on playing anyway)but does look like they have a bigger guy (CJA) that may provide some different looks for the defense.

I would guess that CJA gets more touches on Saturday and for sure (barring injury) against Presbyterian. JT really wanted to win that opener and made few changes on offense. I look for a little more from CJA on Saturday. The team needs to get him some game reps to see if he can help this team.

Isi is a decent player, but I question giving 24 touches a game to a player of his ability, unless we know the others are a big fallback. We don't know that yet, so the staff needs to find out.

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Personally I felt Isi is better than what he displayed last game. I am probably as skeptical of our RB situation as the next person. But my expectations aren't as great this year. I think if Isi can perform slightly better than average, we're going to be ok, especially with our passing game picking up a huge amount of slack.

I was actually impressed with Isi's burst, vision and lateral movement. I think the biggest issue we were having is our offensive line was allowing defenders into the backfield without ever really opening up a hole for Isi to run through. Switching RB's isn't going to change the outcome if our OL performs as poorly as they did last game.

IF the line can just open a small seam for Isi to run into the second level, he's going to make it happen. You will not see to many 40-50 yards, but we could see more 15-20 yards than we've seen in past years.

ayetee11;562007 said:

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Why do people say he tried to lateral the ball to Jones? Replays show a clear fumble.

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I know I for one, said that. But I did not have any advantage of watching replay, as it was on internet streaming. But it sure looked to me like he ran right, saw trouble, turned, saw Jones (I think), and tried to bail out by flipping it to him. But if wrong, he still was totally befuddled and did not play "smart" like a well coached Cal athlete should. He had a momentary brain fart, whether he tried to lateral, or just plain fumbled. Confusion, fear, frustration, and an error.

the only one who got blown up that I noticed was Cheadle.

Praise the lord! BeachyBear has forgiven Isi.....now if he'd only forgive me!

SanJuanBear;562271 said:

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the only one who got blown up that I noticed was Cheadle.

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He did OK. Nice block on the last play of the first half.

KoreAmBear;562011 said:

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This is interesting. I was thinking of comparing him to Joe Igber but Igber used his shiftiness to find holes and then escape, even though he couldn't hit the home run. Sofele doesn't seem to be able to "find" the holes, at least not yet, he seems to only be able to go through them if they created for him. I think we're fine with Sofele but I agree we need more of a complement with CDJ and CJA as I'm not sure Sofele is the guy you want to run up the middle all game.

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I think Isi is only going to get better once he gets his feet underneath him. The speed of the game for a new starter can be a painful thing to watch sometimes . I noticed he went from crazy legs (trying to do to much in the first half), to legs that couldn't get his body out of the way from defenders in the second half. This definitely happens in the first game due to the amount of energy adrenaline takes out of you just in the first few plays.

With a couple more starts the game should slow down for him. You just gotta ride this one out and hope it pays off sooner than later. In the mean time it wouldn't hurt to give some of the guys on the bench a few more handoffs.

MisterNoodle;561649 said:

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Well, since you asked, here are a couple of observations:

1. The fumbles are huge. That alone should earn him a spot on the bench. No, he was not trying to pitch the ball in the end zone, he just got drilled. The one Maynard recovered might have been a bad mesh but if you look at the way Isi takes that handoff, he's clearly at least part to blame. The one where the refs ruled him down by contact is just poor ball security, regardless of the ultimate result.

2. He is not elusive. In 24 carries I saw him make maybe 2 guys miss. He got absolutely drilled a half dozen times which tells me he's like a stationary target. If you made a highlight reel of FSU's biggest hits, most of them would be Isi getting pounded. For a small back, this is a problem. Successful small backs are elusive, hard to hit squarely. Some guys have a knack for ducking at the last instant and just getting a glancing blow. Live to fight another day. One reason Quizz fumbled so infrequently is that he rarely took the big hit. It's also a reason he broke so many tackles - defenders missing and only getting their hands and arms on him, not helmets and shoulder pads.

3. For a short guy, he runs so upright. He takes a lot of hits to the chest, which happens to be right about where he is holding the ball.

4. He dropped the one pass thrown to him (first play of the game) and though it's impossible to tell, if he catches it and makes one guy miss, he's off to the races. Oh yeah, assuming our guys get lined up correctly.

5. I like his quickness.

I wish I had some better things to say about Isi's performance because I started the day in his camp. But now I think CDJ deserves a shot at the lead back role, although frankly he was looking a little linebackeresque (big and slow for a runner). He used to look fast to me. I don't like his weight gain, whether or not it is muscle. Maybe it's optics, I don't know.

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you make a good point with #2. i remember coach gould talking about teaching rbs how to take a hit properly so that they don't get injured. i guess he's still working on sofele.

as you mentioned, jacquizz was really good at keeping his body low and drove hard with his should pad when running in traffic, making it very difficult for guys to tackle hard because of his strength but more importantly his lower center of gravity being a 5'6" guy.

shane was also very good at not getting hit squarely most of the time and actually was able to break off a lot of initial tackles/hits (better than jahvid and heck of a lot better than sofele).

sofele will not last the season if he continues to get destroyed like that half dozen to ten times every game.

The scary thing is that the more I read on Isi, it seems he has won the spot on his blocking abilities. Some how that makes me scratch my head a bit. A major D1 RB is being kept in there because he is a good blocker, not necessarily a good runner. How long has DJ been in the program? I know Anderson came in late, and I expect his learning curve to improve on blocking.

OdontoBear66;562473 said:

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The scary thing is that the more I read on Isi, it seems he has won the spot on his blocking abilities. Some how that makes me scratch my head a bit. A major D1 RB is being kept in there because he is a good blocker, not necessarily a good runner. How long has DJ been in the program? I know Anderson came in late, and I expect his learning curve to improve on blocking.

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LOL, I bet you'd be the first person screaming if Debo or CJA misses a block and Maynard gets blown up and injured. Protecting the QB is extremely important.

Also, all of this "not a good runner" BS really ought to stop. Isi was at least as good a runner as Maynard was a QB. I know we're desperate for the next great QB but that seems like an unfair double standard for a first-time starter who saw only limited carries as a backup last year.

All of that said, I hope CDJ and CJA get some more opportunities to show what they can do, and also to prevent Isi from getting 25 carries a game, which is a heavy load.

GoldenBlogs has an analysis of Isi's performance vs FSU: http://www.californiagoldenblogs.com/2011/9/8/2412013/analyzing-sofeles-running-game-vs-fresno-state. Interesting read - with pics!

[EDIT] Also, some good info from Kodiak:

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That 5 yard loss where you called out Kapp (Carry 18 or 19) was actually Nico Dumont’s fault. As you said, Kapp had a monster 1st quarter. Unfortunately, he went out with a concussion and that left Tyndall/Dumont to play the rest of the way. Tyndall didn’t do a bad job, but the run game definitely suffered when Dumont was in.

Besides the # of guys in the box, FSU’s defenders were really playing the run aggressively in the 2nd half. Whether this was because they knew that Tedford loves to run the ball with a lead, they were gambling to try to force turnovers, or this is just part of their aggressive defensive philosophy – I don’t know.

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Hopefully Tyndall and Dumont can step up their game this week with Kapp out. We should get him back by the Washington game, at least...

poor.

elpbear;562536 said:

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GoldenBlogs has an analysis of Isi's performance vs FSU: http://www.californiagoldenblogs.com/2011/9/8/2412013/analyzing-sofeles-running-game-vs-fresno-state. Interesting read - with pics!

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Breaking News! Extra Extra! Isi does fine when the OL blocks everyone and he goes untouched, but when they miss guys he gets tackled for no gain or worse. Any RB can get yardage when the line does its job, there's no surprise there. The best RBs (and we've had a bunch in a row now) can also generate positive yardage when guys miss their blocks. They don't always do it, but the better they are, the more they can make up for missed blocks. Right now, Isi hasn't shown us he can do it with any frequency. His long TD shows what happens when the blocking is perfect - any any RB in the country would have scored on that play. Hopefully he'll begin to show us against CO that he can surprise a defense once in a while and not rely 100% on perfect blocking up front.

Unit2Sucks;562585 said:

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Breaking News! Extra Extra! Isi does fine when the OL blocks everyone and he goes untouched, but when they miss guys he gets tackled for no gain or worse.

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You didn't read the report, or you think it's full of lies? Because that's not what it said -- at all.

elpbear;562609 said:

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You didn't read the report, or you think it's full of lies? Because that's not what it said -- at all.

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I read the report in full - did you? This quote pretty much says it all:

Quote:

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He is perhaps a little bit more dependent on the O-Line and good blocks than his predecessor was, but you can't expect everyone to be like them. Most of his short runs or losses were really a product of bad run blocking.

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I don't think this is groundbreaking research.

Or hey, this quote says it all:

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My view of how Isi Sofele performed in his first start as a Bear was completely wrong on first impression. As my post-game comments and my report card attests to, I was very negative about him. I especially was under the belief that Isi was easily taken down on first hit.

I couldn't have been more mistaken.

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See, I can selectively take a quote that paints an unrealistic portrait of the article just like you can. Gee, isn't that useful?

The reality is, Isi did show some strengths as well as weaknesses. Feel free to sneer and say that he relies 100% on perfect blocking (a ludicrous statement).

elpbear;562661 said:

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Or hey, this quote says it all:

See, I can selectively take a quote that paints an unrealistic portrait of the article just like you can. Gee, isn't that useful?

The reality is, Isi did show some strengths as well as weaknesses. Feel free to sneer and say that he relies 100% on perfect blocking (a ludicrous statement).

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I don't think my quote painted an unrealistic portrait of the article, nor did yours. The quote you raise shows that the author revised his opinion on Isi's performance after some indepth analysis which revealed VOILA that blocking had a huge impact. Nonetheless, I feel that the language I quoted was the substantive conclusion made by the author regarding Isi's performance.

Do you disagree with the author (and me) that Isi did fine when he had the blocking up front but mostly got blown up when he didn't? I am not trashing Isi (nor, in my estimation, did the author of the article), but I do think it's fair to say that Isi failed to make plays when he the OL failed to do its job.

Did Isi show some strengths in the game? As far as I can tell he did a good job pass blocking, and for the most part he ran the ball effectively when given the opportunity to do so. I don't really worry about the fumbles because it was his first start and because two of them were in strange circumstances (he wasn't expecting the ball in the end zone, and he never really got the handoff in the read option play, so that's partially on Maynard). I've never said his play was disastrous.

Looks like Isi's on a short leash, per John Breech:

Quote:

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Starting RB Isi Sofele fumbled the ball two times against Fresno State, one of which resulted in a Bulldog TD. Sofele's still starting, but a fumble against Colorado Saturday could change that. "If it were to continue then we would put him down," coach Jeff Tedford said.

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http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/rapid-reports/team/CA

I guess it all depends on expectations. When an LB comes in to fill what is supposed to be an open gap and hits an RB square on in the backfield, I expect that back to get dropped. It happened with Best, it happened with Vereen, and it happens with Isi. Marshawn and Forsett both showed some ability to deal with that but that's not a common ability to say the least.

The author points out several runs where Isi runs through arm tackles, or bulls ahead and gets an extra yard or two, or one case where he carried a defender three extra yards. I don't see any acknowledgement of those extra yards after contact in any of your posts (apologies if I missed some). In cases where the OL completely fails I expect almost any back to get dropped.

Quote:

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I am not trashing Isi (nor, in my estimation, did the author of the article), but I do think it's fair to say that Isi failed to make plays when he the OL failed to do its job.

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Probably true, and again, this is true of almost any back. When the OL and/or FB/TE fail to do their job and someone comes completely unblocked the result is usually that the back is dropped, right there.

I do worry about the fumbles, as I have said repeatedly... but that's a different matter. My other big worry is that with Kapp out we have a small drop-off to Tyndell and a possibly big drop-off to the 4th stringer.

It seems to me that Isi would better be used in follow up after a heavier back pound the D-line a few times.....by late third quarter or the fourth quarter he could run wild......

elpbear;562691 said:

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I guess it all depends on expectations. When an LB comes in to fill what is supposed to be an open gap and hits an RB square on in the backfield, I expect that back to get dropped. It happened with Best, it happened with Vereen, and it happens with Isi. Marshawn and Forsett both showed some ability to deal with that but that's not a common ability to say the least.

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I guess we can chalk it up to expectations. With Jahvid we knew he would break some big plays, but that he was prone to being dropped at first contact or tripping himself up in the open field which robbed him of more than a few long TDs. That was counterbalanced by his ability to win one on one situations (including in the backfield against unblocked defenders) and his penchant for explosive plays.

I don't know what we can expect from Isi yet. I'm hoping this was just one game and that we'll see more of the falling forward after contact Isi and less of the types of plays highlighted in bold above. I can't recall the last time I've seen a Cal RB get blown up as frequently as Isi did in one-on-one situations against Fresno State and whether that's purely because our OL blew it or because our OL blew it and Isi isn't as elusive / crafty as his predecessors. Only time will tell.

The stuffing wasn't the RB faults......but the OL.....You can't tell me that CJA's didn't look like potential enough to try him again....Isi ain't the every down carrier....if Cal continues to play him so he will get banged up or Cal's run game won't scare anybody....

I would like to see Isi on the near-miss Maynard/Debo pass play (taking the place of Debo, of course). I think he might pull that one in later in the season.

In general, I would like to see Isi more "in space" because he has shown more than once the ability to make the first man miss and that skill would be deadly coming out of the backfield as a pass-catcher.

He runs with heart, that can't be denied, so I wish him the best. Although I still advocate a RB-by-committee, I can't blame the lack of RB production when the other team can predict when and where we're gonna run (predictability), notably on 1st down.

Heck, we might as well start doing Shovel Passes and Delayed Draws to shake up the monotony.

Our Domicile;563273 said:

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Although I still advocate a RB-by-committee, I can't blame the lack of RB production when the other team can predict when and where we're gonna run (predictability), notably on 1st down.

Heck, we might as well start doing Shovel Passes and Delayed Draws to shake up the monotony.

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Agreed that predictability on first down isn't helping things. Isi had 15 of his 23 carries on first down! Of those, 10 went for 1 yard or less (although that includes his 1 yard TD) and his last 6 first down carries went for a total of -5 yards. He had 8 carries on 2nd and 3rd downs - only 2 went for 1 yard or less, although 6 of 8 went for 3 yards or less. I guess the difficult thing about this type of one game analysis is that we're only talking about 23 carries (excluding the poor snap he fielded/fumbled in the end zone which was not intended to be a running play) and other than his 39 yard TD, he averaged 2 ypc so there were lots of short runs to go around.

Unit2Sucks;563283 said:

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Agreed that predictability on first down isn't helping things. Isi had 15 of his 23 carries on first down! Of those, 10 went for 1 yard or less (although that includes his 1 yard TD) and his last 6 first down carries went for a total of -5 yards. He had 8 carries on 2nd and 3rd downs - only 2 went for 1 yard or less, although 6 of 8 went for 3 yards or less. I guess the difficult thing about this type of one game analysis is that we're only talking about 23 carries (excluding the poor snap he fielded/fumbled in the end zone which was not intended to be a running play) and other than his 39 yard TD, he averaged 2 ypc so there were lots of short runs to go around.

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Impressive research and breakdown of an RB's production

You're right -- a one game analysis is difficult to arrive at final conclusions. Let's see what the future holds. I hope everyone is flexible.

Unit2Sucks;563283 said:

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Agreed that predictability on first down isn't helping things. Isi had 15 of his 23 carries on first down! Of those, 10 went for 1 yard or less (although that includes his 1 yard TD) and his last 6 first down carries went for a total of -5 yards. He had 8 carries on 2nd and 3rd downs - only 2 went for 1 yard or less, although 6 of 8 went for 3 yards or less. I guess the difficult thing about this type of one game analysis is that we're only talking about 23 carries (excluding the poor snap he fielded/fumbled in the end zone which was not intended to be a running play) and other than his 39 yard TD, he averaged 2 ypc so there were lots of short runs to go around.

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Yeah, on the photos in the analysis you can see that FSU was really selling out to stop the run on 1st down, especially as the game wears on. Plus, the corners play the WRs tight looking for that side pass which is the other play we do on first down.

We really need to mix in a healthy dose of play action passing on first down, just to keep the defense honest.

calumnus;563429 said:

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Yeah, on the photos in the analysis you can see that FSU was really selling out to stop the run on 1st down, especially as the game wears on. Plus, the corners play the WRs tight looking for that side pass which is the other play we do on first down.

We really need to mix in a healthy dose of play action passing on first down, just to keep the defense honest.

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Actually the corners were playing our WR's very loosely (I can only assume why..lol). What you see in these pictures are the DB bracketing Jones on the weak side. It was something we would do in Gregories offense, however, we used our SS Pimentel underneath, not our CB or FS.