was a microcosm highlighting the overemphasis Tedford puts on the mental part of the game for these kids IMO.

Before the snap, Bigelow had no idea where he was supposed to line up. Out of the huddle he started towards the right side of the formation, but his teammates quickly redirected him to the left side. When he got over to the left sideline, he had no idea whether he was supposed to be on the line or off. Treggs then instructed him several times exactly where he was supposed to be. And this was on a play obviously designed for him so it's not only vital that he be where he's supposed to be, you'd think he'd have a high level of interest in getting it right. So Tedford is right that Bigelow doesn't completely understand the playbook.

But after the snap, once the ball was in his hands, Bigelow simply played football and let his instincts and athleticism carry him to the endzone virtually untouched (maybe literally untouched, I couldn't tell from where I was). And this was despite Maynard delivering the pass high, forcing him to extend up to make the catch and lose momentum in the process.

So on a play that his go-to player didn't know where to line up, and that was initially executed poorly, Cal scored a 30+ yard touchdown. Get your playmakers the ball Jeff! Good things will happen. Don't overthink everything.

:gobears:

On the other hand, Bigelows fumble (at handoff) is an example of what happens when you put someone on the field who doesn't know the plays.

Love the guy, but he's gotta learn the offense.

I'm not sure you can put that fumble on Bigelow. I'm not saying it wasn't his fault, just that it wasn't clear to me what happened. Also we fumbled on 2 consecutive QB/RB exchanges, and the only constant was Maynard. If the second fumble was just Bigelow thinking it was a fake handoff then I agree with you, it shows a major downside to playing guys who have such a low understanding that they kill the drive. But if it was another zone read where Maynard didn't get a good "mesh" then it's not on Bigelow IMO.

OldBlue1999;841971786 said:

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I'm not sure you can put that fumble on Bigelow. I'm not saying it wasn't his fault, just that it wasn't clear to me what happened. Also we fumbled on 2 consecutive QB/RB exchanges, and the only constant was Maynard. If the second fumble was just Bigelow thinking it was a fake handoff then I agree with you, it shows a major downside to playing guys who have such a low understanding that they kill the drive. But if it was another zone read where Maynard didn't get a good "mesh" then it's not on Bigelow IMO.

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On the replay, Biggies hands were too tight for a real hand off. Plus he kept running and didn't look back for a fumble. It looked like he thought it was fake. In all likelihood he got it wrong as Maynard usually knows the plays (even if his execution isn't great).

freshfunk;841971790 said:

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On the replay, Biggies hands were too tight for a real hand off. Plus he kept running and didn't look back for a fumble. It looked like he thought it was fake. In all likelihood he got it wrong as Maynard usually knows the plays (even if his execution isn't great).

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You're wrong. The announcers went through this play after commercial. It was supposed to be a fake handoff and Maynard was to roll out to pass. They showed this by detailing that the rest of the offense was playing a roll out pass.

Unless JT says something different it appears that Maynard made a mistake, not Bigelow.

freshfunk;841971779 said:

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On the other hand, Bigelows fumble (at handoff) is an example of what happens when you put someone on the field who doesn't know the plays.

Love the guy, but he's gotta learn the offense.

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Yeah, people were pretty quick to blame Maynard for that where Occam's Razor would assign the likely cause to Bigelow. Maynard pretty clearly knows the offense--his limitations are physical.

Again, the complex playbook becomes self-defeating when it does not allow you to get a talent like Bigelow on the field. The pass and TD to Bigelow was fantastic, but fooled no one--it was just getting the ball in the hands of a playmaker and letting him make a play. THAT is the lesson, not a "play" that worked. Thus, I would just as soon see us go with a TE and FB and have nearly every play that Bigelow is on the field start with a toss to Bigelow or a fake toss to Bigelow.

I was hoping all the confusion on the play was part of a grand decoy plan, where Bigelow pretended he had no idea what was going on, making the Bruin defense relax toward him, all the while Bigs knew exactly what the play was.

Somehow, I don't think the above was the case, which makes it an even more impressive TD in many ways.

Agree it's way more likely Bigelow got the playcall wrong than Maynard. It'd be interesting to hear what Tedford thought, assuming he'd be candid. Monty would tell us...

We won. Who gives a ****. Kid is a stud Nuff Said.

89Bear;841971794 said:

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You're wrong. The announcers went through this play after commercial. It was supposed to be a fake handoff and Maynard was to roll out to pass. They showed this by detailing that the rest of the offense was playing a roll out pass.

Unless JT says something different it appears that Maynard made a mistake, not Bigelow.

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It was Maynard's mistake and he admitted it. The announcers even noted this. Watch the game much?

89Bear;841971794 said:

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You're wrong. The announcers went through this play after commercial. It was supposed to be a fake handoff and Maynard was to roll out to pass. They showed this by detailing that the rest of the offense was playing a roll out pass.

Unless JT says something different it appears that Maynard made a mistake, not Bigelow.

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Oh ok. I had a lot going on in the background (babies) so I probably just missed it.

Have to admit in surprised as I would give the benefit of the doubt to ZM to know the plays.

Other running backs/wrs don't seem to have problem learning the offense. Hell treggs is a true freshman. Lynch, who was no scholar mastered the play book by his second year. No excuse for bigelow.

Love how certain posters can't even enjoy a complete ass kicking of ucla. I personally think cj should start. He was a beast. Give bigelow 5-10 touches to mix things up.

RealDrew2;841971819 said:

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Lynch, who was no scholar mastered the play book by his second year. No excuse for bigelow.

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My suspicion is that in Lynch's day the playbook was less complicated.

matteye;841971812 said:

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It was Maynard's mistake and he admitted it. The announcers even noted this. Watch the game much?

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Some of us were at the game and did not have the benefit of replays and announcers.

What I saw was that after the fumble Gould talked with Bigelow and CJ Anderson had every carry the rest of the game.

sycasey;841971827 said:

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My suspicion is that in Lynch's day the playbook was less complicated.

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Lynch was split wide, Lynch even threw multiple TD passes, seems like he was used in a lot of different ways. He has mastered NFL offenses, and has done well immediately after a trade. I would not judge his football smarts or his B average at Cal just because of the way he talks and texts.

calumnus;841971836 said:

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Lynch was split wide, Lynch even threw multiple TD passes, seems like he was used in a lot of different ways. He has mastered NFL offenses, and has done well immediately after a trade. I would not judge his football smarts or his B average at Cal just because of the way he talks and texts.

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I'm not judging Lynch, just saying that comparing one guy who played at a different time to someone who is playing now is not a fair comparison. The playbook might be different.

sycasey;841971840 said:

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I'm not judging Lynch, just saying that comparing one guy who played at a different time to someone who is playing now is not a fair comparison. The playbook might be different.

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Jahvid Best and Shane Vereen also had the playbook down by their second years. As do Richard Rodgers, Bryce Treggs, Chris Harper, and Darius Powe. And Zach Maynard, for that matter.

matteye;841971812 said:

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It was Maynard's mistake and he admitted it. The announcers even noted this. Watch the game much?

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Maybe he was at game.

Anyway yeah it was clearly a play action play and on Maynard. Tedford said as much after too.

Anyway to op. agreed. Get these guys ball things will happen

OldBlue1999;841971771 said:

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was a microcosm highlighting the overemphasis Tedford puts on the mental part of the game for these kids IMO.

Before the snap, Bigelow had no idea where he was supposed to line up. Out of the huddle he started towards the right side of the formation, but his teammates quickly redirected him to the left side. When he got over to the left sideline, he had no idea whether he was supposed to be on the line or off. Treggs then instructed him several times exactly where he was supposed to be. And this was on a play obviously designed for him so it's not only vital that he be where he's supposed to be, you'd think he'd have a high level of interest in getting it right. So Tedford is right that Bigelow doesn't completely understand the playbook.

But after the snap, once the ball was in his hands, Bigelow simply played football and let his instincts and athleticism carry him to the endzone virtually untouched (maybe literally untouched, I couldn't tell from where I was). And this was despite Maynard delivering the pass high, forcing him to extend up to make the catch and lose momentum in the process.

So on a play that his go-to player didn't know where to line up, and that was initially executed poorly, Cal scored a 30+ yard touchdown. Get your playmakers the ball Jeff! Good things will happen. Don't overthink everything.

:gobears:

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A similar thing happened on CJs slant TD reception. He did not know where he was supposed to be. Yet CJ sees a lot of snaps, way more than Bigs. The offense is complicated and it takes the teamwork that is described to help players get into position. I'm glad to see the teamwork on the field. Agree that this should not keep Bigs off the field.

OldBlue1999;841971771 said:

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was a microcosm highlighting the overemphasis Tedford puts on the mental part of the game for these kids IMO.

Before the snap, Bigelow had no idea where he was supposed to line up. Out of the huddle he started towards the right side of the formation, but his teammates quickly redirected him to the left side. When he got over to the left sideline, he had no idea whether he was supposed to be on the line or off. Treggs then instructed him several times exactly where he was supposed to be. And this was on a play obviously designed for him so it's not only vital that he be where he's supposed to be, you'd think he'd have a high level of interest in getting it right. So Tedford is right that Bigelow doesn't completely understand the playbook.

But after the snap, once the ball was in his hands, Bigelow simply played football and let his instincts and athleticism carry him to the endzone virtually untouched (maybe literally untouched, I couldn't tell from where I was). And this was despite Maynard delivering the pass high, forcing him to extend up to make the catch and lose momentum in the process.

So on a play that his go-to player didn't know where to line up, and that was initially executed poorly, Cal scored a 30+ yard touchdown. Get your playmakers the ball Jeff! Good things will happen. Don't overthink everything.

:gobears:

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Why is knowing the play and where to line up too much to ask from any player? It wasn't just on that play that Bigelow had to be directed where to line up. What has made things worse is going to this no-huddle offense where you have to read the signals and quickly get into alignment. If anyone doesn't get the same interpretation of the signals, it takes others to get them into position. I think this change has accounted for the majority of Cal's struggles beyond the o-line and injuries at TE.

You say just go out and play football, but formations and advantageous match-ups come from schemes and alignment. Bigelow can't just line up anywhere and expect every play to go for a TD just on his ability alone. Everybody needs to be on the same page to make it work.

C6Bear;841972227 said:

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Why is knowing the play and where to line up too much to ask from any player? It wasn't just on that play that Bigelow had to be directed where to line up. What has made things worse is going to these no-huddle offense where you have to read the signals and quickly get into alignment. If anyone doesn't get the same interpretation of the signals, it takes others to get them into position. I think this change has accounted for the majority of Cal's struggles beyond the o-line and injuries at TE.

You say just go out and play football, but formations and advantageous match-ups come from schemes and alignment. Bigelow can't just line up anywhere and expect every play to go for a TD just on his ability alone. Everybody needs to be on the same page to make it work.

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Amen. It was a pretty simple play actually. He needs to figure out where to line up.

I have no idea what the problem is -- but whatever it is we need him to get over it. I would love to see him get 20 carries a game, but you can't do that when he doesn't know where to line up.

The only alternative to is to have only one play and one formation. He gets the handoff and runs straight up the middle every time. But that doesn't seem like it would work, so Bigelow needs to master a playbook with different plays and formations.

The Duke!;841972416 said:

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Amen. It was a pretty simple play actually. He needs to figure out where to line up.

I have no idea what the problem is -- but whatever it is we need him to get over it. I would love to see him get 20 carries a game, but you can't do that when he doesn't know where to line up.

The only alternative to is to have only one play and one formation. He gets the handoff and runs straight up the middle every time. But that doesn't seem like it would work, so Bigelow needs to master a playbook with different plays and formations.

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I'd second that too. The reason that TD reception worked was the position where BB lining up, allowing KA to throw a crucial block clearing the way for him. The kid needs to learn the system. Too bad because he's so talented physically.

It's hilarious people are blaming the thick play book when A FRESHMAN, treggs, is directing A SOPHOMORE where to line up.

Dont want to bash Bigelow, but clearly, he isn't the smartest guy on the team. He is a playmaker, so the coaches need to simplify plays to get him the ball. But even then, if he still can't learn it, it's not the coaches fault for not putting him in.

Another issue is that we don't seem to be able to use him in the no-huddle. I noticed that, in that situation, every player reads the play coming in . It seems that BB can't interpret the signs and isnt much use to use in those situations.

SkyBear;841972481 said:

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So one of your biggest playmakers is also pretty dumb compared to the starters on your team... either you use that as an excuse to keep him off the field, or you simplify the playbook so there are less plays for him to memorize.

The fact that that particular play was simple isn't the issue here. The issue is how many plays are in the playbook? The process of trying to memorize all of them might be why Bigelow didn't have this particular one down. Eliminate the sheer # of plays. Better to simplify playbook so your best players can play, instead of keeping it complicated and then using it to keep your best player off the field.

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Sorry, but blaming the coach because a player can't learn the playbook is a non-starter for me. I also want to see Bigelow playing more, but after seeing the difficulties he had Saturday figuring out where he was supposed to be, I can understand why he's not playing more. So far, he's been lucky that his lack of knowledge hasn't, as far as we know, caused a turnover, or a penalty. If Treggs and Harper, who are freshmen, can learn the assignments, Bigelow should be able to do so as well.

Jeff82;841972592 said:

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Sorry, but blaming the coach because a player can't learn the playbook is a non-starter for me. I also want to see Bigelow playing more, but after seeing the difficulties he had Saturday figuring out where he was supposed to be, I can understand why he's not playing more. So far, he's been lucky that his lack of knowledge hasn't, as far as we know, caused a turnover, or a penalty. If Treggs and Harper, who are freshmen, can learn the assignments, Bigelow should be able to do so as well.

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Perhaps the play where Bigelow was supposed to be lined up split wide is normally a play where we would use a WR in that situation? Maybe that is why the WRs had to show him where to line up? It was essentially a WR screen?

If given a massive playbook to memorize, it would not be a bad strategy for a RB to focus only on the RB plays.

Also, I am a smart person by almost any standard, but my rote memory skills are terrible. Thank God for spell check and smart phones.

SkyBear;841972605 said:

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I don't think a play or two of confusion negates the overall performance he has had this year in the few touches he's gotten. His overall impact on the game is way more positive than negative. Tedford's complicated playbook has been cited several times. You don't think it's possible Tedford's playbook is just more complicated than it should be? Sure, Treggs understood it, but that doesn't mean pointing fingers at Bigelow is a better option than simplifying the playbook to make Bigelow more effective.

You need to stop looking at things in terms of blame. It doesn't matter whose fault it is. Find a way to win consistently instead of relying on the opponent to play as badly as UCLA did. Even though Bigelow is at fault for being dumb, you still need to use him.

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You think the coaches didn't dummy down the play book for him? Coaches are not stupid, they know how explosive he is and they want to get him in the game. They probably already scripted a set amount of plays just for him so that it's easier for him to learn. If he still can't figure it out, then it's on him.

The Duke!;841972416 said:

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Amen. It was a pretty simple play actually. He needs to figure out where to line up.

I have no idea what the problem is -- but whatever it is we need him to get over it. I would love to see him get 20 carries a game, but you can't do that when he doesn't know where to line up.

The only alternative to is to have only one play and one formation. He gets the handoff and runs straight up the middle every time. But that doesn't seem like it would work, so Bigelow needs to master a playbook with different plays and formations.

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As I said in another post, the simplicity of the play is not the issue, it may not have been one he was familiar with-- maybe we usually use a WR there?

I don't think we should have one play, but I do think we should have a base play so that everything starts out looking like one play. That is what Stanford did under Harbaugh. The base play was a pitch to the RB behind an unbalanced line. But Harbaugh/Roman/Shaw kept coming up with more and more creative play variations from that base formation--so that the formation alone did not tip off the play. They beat teams with a combination of power and deception.

We could do something similar. The base formation could be Rogers at TE and Stevens as an H-Back. The base play could be a pitch to Bigelow. Every other play could start out looking like it is going to be a pitch to Bigelow, with Maynard even faking the pitch (even after a quick hitter to Stevens). If Bigelow does not receive the pitch, he still runs out the play as if he did, then heads up field as a receiver.

OldBlue1999;841971786 said:

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I'm not sure you can put that fumble on Bigelow. I'm not saying it wasn't his fault, just that it wasn't clear to me what happened. Also we fumbled on 2 consecutive QB/RB exchanges, and the only constant was Maynard. If the second fumble was just Bigelow thinking it was a fake handoff then I agree with you, it shows a major downside to playing guys who have such a low understanding that they kill the drive. But if it was another zone read where Maynard didn't get a good "mesh" then it's not on Bigelow IMO.

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Agree. I always have heard that the QB must put the ball into the RB's stomach and that most of the fumbles on a handoff are the fault of the QB not getting the ball right to where it is supposed to go.

SkyBear;841972605 said:

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I don't think a play or two of confusion negates the overall performance he has had this year in the few touches he's gotten. His overall impact on the game is way more positive than negative. Tedford's complicated playbook has been cited several times. You don't think it's possible Tedford's playbook is just more complicated than it should be? Sure, Treggs understood it, but that doesn't mean pointing fingers at Bigelow is a better option than simplifying the playbook to make Bigelow more effective.

You need to stop looking at things in terms of blame. It doesn't matter whose fault it is. Find a way to win consistently instead of relying on the opponent to play as badly as UCLA did. Even though Bigelow is at fault for being dumb, you still need to use him.

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Thanks SkyBear.
Put BB into the game so he has more time to learn.
His TD run was a thing of beauty.
Two UCLA defenders had the angle on him and would have tackled any other Cal RB at the 15 or the 8 but BB just put on the jets.