Lasco looks like a beast. I love Isi and CJ, but I would really like to see what this guy can do in the first two games before heading to Columbus.

Totally agree. Heard great things about Lasco all last year - would really like to see what he can do. Ted Miller had a write-up this morning on our running back situation. Nothing shocking, but always interesting to get this type of run down.

http://espn.go.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id/36068/cal-update-tedford-looking-for-rb-depth#comment

I also agree, but, I gotta say, it was pretty cool the way Isi had improved by the second half of the year. Fairly rare to see a back improve like that DURING his third year of playing.

Big C_Cal;727836 said:

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I also agree, but, I gotta say, it was pretty cool the way Isi had improved by the second half of the year. Fairly rare to see a back improve like that DURING his third year of playing.

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Yes, funny to remember how disillusioned most people were w/ Isi at the beginning of 2011 and how much he had turned opinions in the 2nd half of the season. Kudos to Gould and Michalczik and their players for the improvements.

Big C_Cal;727836 said:

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I also agree, but, I gotta say, it was pretty cool the way Isi had improved by the second half of the year. Fairly rare to see a back improve like that DURING his third year of playing.

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Agree. Isi was outstanding towards the end of the season. This position could be the strongest on the team!!

rathokan;727845 said:

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Yes, funny to remember how disillusioned most people were w/ Isi at the beginning of 2011 and how much he had turned opinions in the 2nd half of the season. Kudos to Gould and Michalczik and their players for the improvements.

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Not to take anything away from Isi (because he is all heart),
a lot of his improved performance was attributable to the improved performance of the Cal OLine and the quality (or lack thereof) of the Cal opponents.

68great;727875 said:

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Not to take anything away from Isi (because he is all heart),
a lot of his improved performance was attributable to the improved performance of the Cal OLine and the quality (or lack thereof) of the Cal opponents.

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Still, Isi was a way more confident runner by the end of the season versus early on. Isi would go down with arm tackles and get tripped up very easily. By the end of the season, you really had to wrap him up for him to go down. If everyone improved like he did during the season, we may have won the Holiday Bowl.

KoreAmBear;727913 said:

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Still, Isi was a way more confident runner by the end of the season versus early on. Isi would go down with arm tackles and get tripped up very easily. By the end of the season, you really had to wrap him up for him to go down. If everyone improved like he did during the season, we may have won the Holiday Bowl.

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Especially the OL!

Hearing he really looks great thus far, hitting the holes more quickly, more explosive etc.

Last year was Isi's first season as the featured running back. Before that he was lined up behind other guys. So maybe it is not quite as unusual for him to have shown noticeable improvement last season.

68great;727875 said:

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Not to take anything away from Isi (because he is all heart),
a lot of his improved performance was attributable to the improved performance of the Cal OLine and the quality (or lack thereof) of the Cal opponents.

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Very true that the level of competition was different. I also agree that the O-Line seemed to be playing much better as the year progressed.

how is Bigelow's knee? maybe they should blueshirt him this year if Lasco and CJ pass him on the depth chart. Especially since we didn't get Foster this class..Imho, he should have blueshirted last year..

He ran much harder the second half of the season with great anticipation when hitting the holes. I especially loved his punishment of the would be taclers, especially in the ASU game (ouch!!).

nothing on the heralded dasarte yarnway?

68great;727875 said:

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Not to take anything away from Isi (because he is all heart),
a lot of his improved performance was attributable to the improved performance of the Cal OLine and the quality (or lack thereof) of the Cal opponents.

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Improved o-line, perhaps, but that is true of any running back. As for quality of opponents, two of his four worst games came in the first two games of the season, when we played Colorado and Fresno State (the other two were against USC and Utah), he picked up more yards on fewer carries vs Oregon than he did in game 3 vs. Presbyterian. Not much of a patter there, IMO.

TorBear;728329 said:

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Improved o-line, perhaps, but that is true of any running back. As for quality of opponents, two of his four worst games came in the first two games of the season, when we played Colorado and Fresno State (the other two were against USC and Utah), he picked up more yards on fewer carries vs Oregon than he did in game 3 vs. Presbyterian. Not much of a patter there, IMO.

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I really thought the biggest difference in Isi's game came when we started using him differently--more pitches outside, fewer first down runs up the middle.

Not coincidentally, that paralleled the improvement in Maynard's game as well--with fewer third and long situations.