In reading about the Maynard and Tedford induced death spiral that Cal is in, I've noticed a handful of comments that got to the real issue for Cal football - the D and the OL aren't up to the task.

I know, there's coaching questions and the QB gets the glory and the hate, depending on the outcome. That said, it's very difficult to ignore the obvious and that is the D and OL need to improve, or the level of Cal's play is directly linked to these two.

Against Southern Utah, the OL should have shoved their D around like chumps, like a BCS conference FBS team against a FCS team. While Southern Utah had size, there's no excuse, Cal should have opened bus-sized holes for Sofele to run through.

Isi did get a couple of good holes to run through and he ripped off decent yards when that happened. However the first couple of series were telling. It looked like the same old, same old because the OL wasn't opening up holes. Thus Isi and Anderson gained the usual 1-2 yards before getting shut down.

On the other side of the ball, Cal's D should have taken down SU like the FCS team that it is. Simply put, a FCS team should not be gaining yards like that against a FBS team. Specifically the LBs are young and inexperienced without a "leader" and DBs need sorting. The talent gap however was apparent later on with Anthony's pick-six but over all the level of defensive play was weak.

I'm sure analysis will follow and I'm not suggesting the OL and Defense are Cal's only problems but I think the expectations going into the season were that the D would be better and the OL might gel sooner.

beelzebear;841947244 said:

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In reading about the Maynard and Tedford induced death spiral that Cal is in, I've noticed a handful of comments that got to the real issue for Cal football - the D and the OL aren't up to the task.

I know, there's coaching questions and the QB gets the glory and the hate, depending on the outcome. That said, it's very difficult to ignore the obvious and that is the D and OL need to improve, or the level of Cal's play is directly linked to these two.

Against Southern Utah, the OL should have shoved their D around like chumps, like a BCS conference FBS team against a FCS team. While Southern Utah had size, there's no excuse, Cal should have opened bus-sized holes for Sofele to run through.

Isi did get a couple of good holes to run through and he ripped off decent yards when that happened. However the first couple of series were telling. It looked like the same old, same old because the OL wasn't opening up holes. Thus Isi and Anderson gained the usual 1-2 yards before getting shut down.

On the other side of the ball, Cal's D should have taken down SU like the FCS team that it is. Simply put, a FCS team should not be gaining yards like that against a FBS team. Specifically the LBs are young and inexperienced without a "leader" and DBs need sorting. The talent gap however was apparent later on with Anthony's pick-six but over all the level of defensive play was weak.

I'm sure analysis will follow and I'm not suggesting the OL and Defense are Cal's only problems but I think the expectations going into the season were that the D would be better and the OL might gel sooner.

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Watch the you tubes of Bridgford's and Maynard's plays. The OL provided excellent protection. Only breakdowns were when the QB (especially ZM) waited too long.

As to the OL on running plays, both Nev and SUU used the standard game plan against us (laid out so elegantly by Texas) - crowd the box to shut down the run and dare ZM to pass over the top. Five/six guys can't block 8.

The DL is another story. We have always had at least one and usually two wild dogs there. This year maybe Barr and Kaufusi approach that level, but the rest look more like mild dogs. No pass rush? No tight coverage.

I'm no Maynard booster but I do think he played well enough against Nevada to win IF the defense (the whole unit, not just the line) had held up their end. As for the OL, pass blocking hasn't been bad but the run game against Nevada was awful. Then there are the killer penalties, mostly committed by the OL. I could only get the condensed version of the Southern Utah game and, as it should have been given the level of competition, run blocking was much better. The hole Lasco got to run through was humongous. The OL is definitely a work in progress. Hopefully, Coach M will get it working and anything we can do to lighten the dependence on Maynard's arm is a plus.

Ronnie Lott was on the network talking about the USC-Stanford series and how Harbaugh won games in the trenches. You never really hear Tedford talk about dominating the trenches, smashing them in the mouth, controlling the line of scrimmage.

For some reason I'm feeling pretty good about Tyndall. I hope he keeps it up against tougher competition. And on D, I think Coleman has made his presence known and Jalil returns. I wonder if Jalil's presence will help spring Tipoti loose into the backfield like last year. Definitely starting to appreciate how good Guyton and Owusu were last year. Guyton may turn out to be one of the more under-rated NFL draft picks this year.

oskirules;841947344 said:

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Ronnie Lott was on the network talking about the USC-Stanford series and how Harbaugh won games in the trenches. You never really hear Tedford talk about dominating the trenches, smashing them in the mouth, controlling the line of scrimmage.

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Tedford talks about "executing."

oskirules;841947344 said:

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Ronnie Lott was on the network talking about the USC-Stanford series and how Harbaugh won games in the trenches. You never really hear Tedford talk about dominating the trenches, smashing them in the mouth, controlling the line of scrimmage.

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Tedford talked this way when he had the talent/production on the O line. Remember the 2nd half at Michigan State?

beelzebear;841947244 said:

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It looked like the same old, same old because .......

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Cal does not show up to play in the first quarter.

Going back to that road game against Maryland, it's been a broken record.
The Nevada game was emblematic.

My prediction for the Ohio State and USC games in the first quarter:

Three drive killing penalties, two of them senseless mental mistakes. Two or three dropped or misfired short passes in the flat. One dropped or misfired long pass. A few predictable running plays that gain little yardage.

The result: both Ohio State and USC up by 21 points at the end of the first quarter, with the Cal defense too tired in the fourth quarter to stop anything.

Cal does not show up to play in the first quarter.

It's mental.