I'm a realist bear friends. I've endured the ups and downs. I've lived the #2 national ranking and subsequent downfall. I've seen our rosebowl snatched away by the evil mack brown.

Now I've endured 5 years of terrible Cal football. Our Penderghast Defenses were the only thing exciting.
Everything I'm reading and seeing leads me to think this team may be competitive for the first time in a long time. Our offense can likely move the ball and score a lot of points. Our defense will wear down but if it can be opportunistic enough we may be able to pull away from some teams.

Am i Crazy?? Buh was clearly a terrible coach and many felt that way before the season started. Kaufman appears a much better hire and could make our defense competitive. Dykes made a lot of improvement on offense last season but injuries and youth held us back in the red zone.

IF we can score TDs instead FGs, that would be HUGE in being competitive. If our Defense can at least stop teams half the time, and not give up easy first quarter TDs, we will be in more games.

Am I crazy? Could we see an exciting team this year even if we lose a bunch of high scoring affairs?

Without hating, tell me why we will be as bad as last year?

Youth? We got a lot of PT and lost very few players.
Talent? I think we are on par with most of the Pac-12
Depth? Light at some positions but strong at many of the most important (remember 2010 when we had no good healthy receivers by the end of the year?)
Coaching? Kaufman and Dykes have had a lot of success different places. Last year could have been a fluke.
Culture? Winning is a mindset. This is probably the biggest reason in my mind why we may fold and this all comes from the coaches/leadership
Toughness? Everything I've red and seen suggests we are stronger and in better shape then last year.

What do you got? Clear, concise, thoughtful reasons why we can't compete?

CalBear04;842345204 said:

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I'm a realist bear friends. I've endured the ups and downs. I've lived the #2 national ranking and subsequent downfall. I've seen our rosebowl snatched away by the evil mack brown.

Now I've endured 5 years of terrible Cal football. Our Penderghast Defenses were the only thing exciting.
Everything I'm reading and seeing leads me to think this team may be competitive for the first time in a long time. Our offense can likely move the ball and score a lot of points. Our defense will wear down but if it can be opportunistic enough we may be able to pull away from some teams.

Am i Crazy?? Buh was clearly a terrible coach and many felt that way before the season started. Kaufman appears a much better hire and could make our defense competitive. Dykes made a lot of improvement on offense last season but injuries and youth held us back in the red zone.

IF we can score TDs instead FGs, that would be HUGE in being competitive. If our Defense can at least stop teams half the time, and not give up easy first quarter TDs, we will be in more games.

Am I crazy? Could we see an exciting team this year even if we lose a bunch of high scoring affairs?

Without hating, tell me why we will be as bad as last year?

Youth? We got a lot of PT and lost very few players.
Talent? I think we are on par with most of the Pac-12
Depth? Light at some positions but strong at many of the most important (remember 2010 when we had no good healthy receivers by the end of the year?)
Coaching? Kaufman and Dykes have had a lot of success different places. Last year could have been a fluke.
Culture? Winning is a mindset. This is probably the biggest reason in my mind why we may fold and this all comes from the coaches/leadership
Toughness? Everything I've red and seen suggests we are stronger and in better shape then last year.

What do you got? Clear, concise, thoughtful reasons why we can't compete?

---

OK- you're crazy, but the so am I. Of course we will be underdogs this year. Last year was horrible beyond words. This year cannot be as bad and have football - but I am really not sure about game one, even though I agree with your analysis. I will do cartwheels if we win, but I will be truly afraid if we lose. And every oddsmaker and pundit says we lose easily. And I talked to an ESPN analyst who told me something I had to really think about- that no one knows how Dykes coaches in close games or if the team knows how to "win" and properly close out a game, because they never had any close games last year.

Respectfully, at this point, just a week before the season opener, there is no point to rehashing points whether we will do well, or won't. Everyone is feeling the optimism of fall camp, and that we may exceed expectations. Let's just stick to that mindset until we are proven otherwise!

Besides, no need to apologize for being/sounding crazy--that's just an intrinsic part of being a fan.

beeasyed;842345209 said:

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Respectfully, at this point, just a week before the season opener, there is no point to rehashing points whether we will do well, or won't. Everyone is feeling the optimism of fall camp, and that we may exceed expectations. Let's just stick to that mindset until we are proven otherwise!

Besides, no need to apologize for being/sounding crazy--that's just an intrinsic part of being a fan.

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Well and a I ask for the reasons why we will fail, with the secret hope that there are none :-).

Let's go bears! I want to feel what I felt when we smashed Michigan State and noone thought we would.

What was the chant? 76k disappointed fans!! I doubt NW has that many but let's do it.

get sum !!!!!!!!!!!!!! aug 30 NW

Well, I was just starting my second year of grad school near SEC country, and I bragged to all the SEC lovers about how Cal was going to make a run and the Pac 12 was awesome, etc...

That didn't end well. Cal started its downfall. I was a laughingstock. I blame Buh.

Edited to add that this was 2010.

I'm crazy, i think we go to a bowl game

oski003;842345212 said:

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Well, I was just starting my second year of grad school near SEC country, and I bragged to all the SEC lovers about how Cal was going to make a run and the Pac 12 was awesome, etc...

That didn't end well. Cal started its downfall. I was a laughingstock. I blame Buh.

Edited to add that this was 2010.

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LOLLL.

i didnt even brag in 2007--except to UCLA.

I believe.

Remember this time last year we were debating goff vs kline?

Well, ****, we are light years ahead of that and goff is the real deal holyfield and you see the jump year 2. Time to shine.

beeasyed;842345209 said:

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Respectfully, at this point, just a week before the season opener, there is no point to rehashing points whether we will do well, or won't. Everyone is feeling the optimism of fall camp, and that we may exceed expectations. Let's just stick to that mindset until we are proven otherwise!

Besides, no need to apologize for being/sounding crazy--that's just an intrinsic part of being a fan.

---

Yes! Let's go Bears!! I am fired up! Heading to Chicago on Friday!! Pumped!!! let's go!! let's go!!

Time for us to start causing other fan bases disappointment. Let's do this, Bears!

:gobears:

Kick those Mildcat punks in their purple colored junk! Bear Raid! Grrraaahhhhh.....

Just watched the first half of the Oregon State game. Twice we were threatening and Rigsbee and Farley are called for holding. The gas went out of the tank. The Oline wasn't doing its job. No holes for the Running backs, very little time for Goff to throw. Muhammad was our running game and he had trouble getting past the first level. The Beavers had two remarkable players that would be difficult for anyone to guard: a6'6" TE and Brandon cooks. Just a sad gameto watch.

The only reason I go to the games is to watch Goff. The only reason I will watch When the Game Stands Tall when it is On Demand is to watch Vic Mackey. I prefer Jesuit administered sports programs.

Am I the only one who sees National Championship Game? And......
Opps, Dam the Bar is about to close. I will finish this post when I get home.
One last thing, Cal 63 NW 15 or I'm buying every body one drink. You have to share it so bring a straw.

Some tidbits to consider from the less-than-positive side:

- The only evidence that we have so far is 1 win against an FCS school and 11 losses against FBS schools. If history is the best predictor of future football performance, egads.
- Our team psyche still has to be fragile, so an early smackdown against NW could undermine confidence early.
- Our QB last year was thrown into the fire early. But Goff had a tendency to lock onto the primary receiver and, when confused by the defensive alignment, would automatically check it down to the safety valve receiver, usually resulting in a 3-yard gain rather than much of a vertical passing game.
- Goff has bulked up to 205 lbs, meaning he's one cheapshot (yea I'm looking at you, Shayne Skov) away from clipboard and headphones duty.
- Our speed back is a burner, but elusiveness was not great last year.
- The schedule is insanely rough, and the rest of the Pac-12 seems to have a better coach than Cal does. I think it's down to MacIntyre, Dykes, and Whittingham for the honor of worst Pac-12 coach, and Mac has beaten Dykes head to head twice (SJSU vs. LaTech, and then Colo vs. Cal), and Whittingham was well regarded until the last 2 seasons.
- Tony Franklin's offense seemed to regress as the 2013 season wore on. Was that Cal's injuries, or is it a gimmick 'O' that good DC's can shut down fairly easily?
- Are we unfairly giving Kaufman too much credit, celebrating him as the 2nd coming of Buddy Ryan for no better reason than he's not named Andy Buh?

Let's hope you're right -- it would be nice to have an upside surprise from Cal football for the first time since early Tedford.

It is less important what we (fans on a message board) think compared to what the players believe. If they truly believe they will win every game, then we have a shot at having a good season. If the players feel like many of us on BI, we are in for another dreadful season.

I sure hope the players don't read these forums.

You went to SI didn't you?

bearister;842345237 said:

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The only reason I go to the games is to watch Goff. The only reason I will watch When the Game Stands Tall when it is On Demand is to watch Vic Mackey. I prefer Jesuit administered sports programs.

---

CalBear04;842345204 said:

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I'm a realist bear friends. I've endured the ups and downs. I've lived the #2 national ranking and subsequent downfall. I've seen our rosebowl snatched away by the evil mack brown.

Now I've endured 5 years of terrible Cal football. Our Penderghast Defenses were the only thing exciting.
Everything I'm reading and seeing leads me to think this team may be competitive for the first time in a long time. Our offense can likely move the ball and score a lot of points. Our defense will wear down but if it can be opportunistic enough we may be able to pull away from some teams.

Am i Crazy?? Buh was clearly a terrible coach and many felt that way before the season started. Kaufman appears a much better hire and could make our defense competitive. Dykes made a lot of improvement on offense last season but injuries and youth held us back in the red zone.

IF we can score TDs instead FGs, that would be HUGE in being competitive. If our Defense can at least stop teams half the time, and not give up easy first quarter TDs, we will be in more games.

Am I crazy? Could we see an exciting team this year even if we lose a bunch of high scoring affairs?

Without hating, tell me why we will be as bad as last year?

Youth? We got a lot of PT and lost very few players.
Talent? I think we are on par with most of the Pac-12
Depth? Light at some positions but strong at many of the most important (remember 2010 when we had no good healthy receivers by the end of the year?)
Coaching? Kaufman and Dykes have had a lot of success different places. Last year could have been a fluke.
Culture? Winning is a mindset. This is probably the biggest reason in my mind why we may fold and this all comes from the coaches/leadership
Toughness? Everything I've red and seen suggests we are stronger and in better shape then last year.

What do you got? Clear, concise, thoughtful reasons why we can't compete?

---

I don't recall even the most negative NegaBear saying that we would be as bad as last year. We could be a lot better... but still suck to the tune of a 3-9 season.

That said, I am, too, starting to get fired up to see this team. A competitive 4-8 could go a long way towards getting us back on track for the future. And we might even be entertaining! Seriously, I think we're just 1-2 solid DTs and maybe a solid LB away from getting to a bowl game.

I give up: You capitalize Michigan State, but not "bears"? You're for real, right?

Go Bears!

I ....

I believe ...

I believe that ...

I believe that we ...

I believe that we will ...



I believe that we will DRINK! I believe that we will DRINK! I believe that we will DRINK!!

Have to say that I have not sampled the kool aid - am hoping to see some significant improvement, but am preparing for a 3 win season.
Let's hope I'm well off the mark on this prediction - and I don't mean on the high side.

First, nice going. Being optimistic in tough situations is a great trait - wish I had it as much as you. Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, or whatever that one guy said in Shawshank Redemption.

CalBear04;842345204 said:

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Dykes made a lot of improvement on offense last season but injuries and youth held us back in the red zone.

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In being optimistic, though, I don't think we go into denial about last year. We had a terrible offense in 2013. Last in passing efficiency in the conference. Last in scoring.

Racking up a bunch of passing yards between the 20s by throwing the ball a bazillion times in a high tempo offense does not indicate improvement. And despite lengthening the game with our tempo, and making our hapless defense defend just that many more times, again, we were last in scoring. And of course, if the Bear Raid does get rolling this year, I'd be surprised if the fake injury defense didn't become a staple for our opponents. I'm not sure if there's a counter (hopefully Dykes can think of one).

As for injuries, as I'm sure you know, it was the defense that got hit with the the true injury tsunami. On offense, we lost two OL guys. Key key injuries, but still only two. I believe there were only a couple others across the whole offense, but that was pretty much it. Goff was mostly healthy, receivers mostly healthy, running backs dinged occasionally but not too bad. Many many other teams have had worse injuries to a unit, including many Cal teams of past years. Many Cal teams in the past have also suffered from inexperience or lack of talent or bad luck in addition to their injuries. Yet in 2013, we had the worst season in 100 years of mostly bad Cal seasons. I hope any injuries we suffer in 2014 won't again need to be used as excuses for a tailspin.

Ok back to hope being a good thing for a moment. I think we will be much better this year, for most of the reasons stated - experience, defensive coaching, possible strength and conditioning improvements. Much better on O and much better on D. Not sure about ST - sounds like they are giving it some focus, which is good, though camp reports tend to always sound encouraging, even prior to seasons like 2001 and 2012. And our schedule is slightly easier with no Ohio State more than counteracting the other home/away switches.

Now attempting to be objective: frankly we could improve quite a bit and still be 3-9. I'm going to go with 4 wins and at least 4 other competitive losses (my criteria: within 2 scores/16 points some time during final 5 minutes). So only 4 blowouts.

And of course, if this result happens, it will divide this board utterly (again). It will be a Rorschach test with some seeing Sonny as coach of the year and others calling for his immediate dismissal.

bearister;842345237 said:

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The only reason I go to the games is to watch Goff. The only reason I will watch When the Game Stands Tall when it is On Demand is to watch Vic Mackey. I prefer Jesuit administered sports programs.

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That's a little weird.

Last year at this time, I thought we'd win at least 4 or 5. I didn't realize how overmatched we were at OL, and no one could have predicted that the defense would be decimated with injuries & DQs last year. Still, when I watch the replays of last year's games, the offense was usually able to move the ball; but they couldn't sustain drives (mistakes, penalties, fumbles), and they didn't have the ability to consistently move the ball on the ground.

This year, the OL is much stronger and deeper, we have lots of capable RBs, excellent QB & WRs, and everyone returning has a year of experience in the system. We're going to move the ball. With a much more balanced attack, I think that the passing game will open up, and the Dykes/spread offense will do what it's supposed to do.

On defense, we start the season with more capable DBs, and I think they'll struggle & learn, but I don't see them giving up 3 TDs in the 1st quarter like last year.

IF the offense gels, and IF the 1st-year mistakes are pretty much gone, then a mediocre, occasionally brilliant defense can slow down the other teams enough for us to WIN.

If I were a betting person, I'd be getting my bets in before the NW game. I think that Cal is going to surprise a lot of people this year. In a good way.

OneKeg;842345253 said:

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And of course, if this result happens, it will divide this board utterly (again). It will be a Rorschach test with some seeing Sonny as coach of the year and others calling for his immediate dismissal.

---

if someone said that after a 4-8 season (or wanted an extension), i would find that just as entertaining as the posts during JT's last season demanding he return/donate all of his salary back to Cal for "defrauding and stealing from us". 2 different sides of the spectrum, equally hilarious and extreme.

:rollinglaugh:

I'm along the lines of OneKeg. I think we'll see improvement but still land somewhere around 3-9. Some may call that pessimistic but I see it as optimistic within reason. I see a lot of optimism outside the realm of reason.

I'm bullish on Kaufman and Burns. I think our defense will be more prepared. I think there will be solid development in the secondary. However, despite improvement, I think we have a young and inexperienced defense with little depth. We'll have solid contributors in Sebastian, McClure, Jalil, Scarlett but they need to stay healthy. I think we have too many holes in defense that will get exploited. The difference may be that we're outmatched but at least not shooting ourselves in the foot.

I think Goff improves. I'm still very worried about our OL and whether this offense will succeed in the P12. Juries still out.

I also think our psyche is fragile and if we go down early (against NU or for the season), we could see some players mailing it in. We really need some early wins to build some kind of momentum.

Lastly, every game after the 5th week is going to be a battle. We will be underdogs in nearly every game.

MaximusArelliusDaBearius;842345238 said:

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Am I the only one who sees National Championship Game? And......
Opps, Dam the Bar is about to close. I will finish this post when I get home.
One last thing, Cal 63 NW 15 or I'm buying every body one drink. You have to share it so bring a straw.

---

I will surely take you up on this! Make sure to get the big one.

I'm optimistic about the offense - Goff was good for a freshman last year, will be much better this year; WRs are the best in the P12; OL still weak but more serviceable than last year; RBs have a new powerful option with Vic. Should score more in the red zone. The real question I have on offense is the TFS - is it for real? There's really no excuse for the offense not performing except for the coaching.

Defense should improve based on the coaching staff and improved players, but dept is an issue. If the offense scores a lot of points (they should) then there's less pressure on the defense to perform.

Another big question I have is Special Team, specifically at field goal kicker position. Will probably miss several field goals this year. Hopefully not too many close games that this can make a difference.

Every reporter says Strength and Conditioning are much better this year, but result on the field will tell us more.

oskirules;842345263 said:

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I will surely take you up on this! Make sure to get the big one.

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Long Island Iced Tea's are nasty.

XXXBEAR;842345207 said:

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OK- you're crazy, but the so am I. Of course we will be underdogs this year. Last year was horrible beyond words. This year cannot be as bad and have football - but I am really not sure about game one, even though I agree with your analysis. I will do cartwheels if we win, but I will be truly afraid if we lose. And every oddsmaker and pundit says we lose easily. And I talked to an ESPN analyst who told me something I had to really think about- that no one knows how Dykes coaches in close games or if the team knows how to "win" and properly close out a game, because they never had any close games last year.

---

We had to come back in the second half against NU last year and the game was close most of the rest of the way. The AU game was close also. And so was the Portland St. game. From those 3 games I would say that Dykes can coach in close games. It was other things that determined those outcomes.

When you have a high powered offense with a quick scoring passing attack, you are always in close games.

UCBerkGrad;842345254 said:

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That's a little weird.

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It's my job to throw you an occasional stream of consciousness curve ball to make sure you are still alert.

The year after WSU won only one game (against winless UW in the Crapple Cup), they only won two. They were far better but they still sucked.

Look at it this way...how many teams are going to double their win total this year? Not many. How many are going to triple their win total? Maybe a couple. We could do that and still win 3 games. You're welcome.

I think people are underestimated the impact of spotting the opponent 21 points a game and having the youngest team in america, neither of which will repeat this year

Not so fast, Billy Ray. I seem to remember we were still running a hurry up offense (ok, not exactly hurry up but not using the entire play clock...not even close to using the entire play clock) while trying to close out PSU. I realize it was PSU but we were hanging on and the clock management in that game was horrible. I'm still not sure Sonny and Tony can downshift in the 4th quarter and milk clock.

heartofthebear;842345274 said:

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We had to come back in the second half against NU last year and the game was close most of the rest of the way. The AU game was close also. And so was the Portland St. game. From those 3 games I would say that Dykes can coach in close games. It was other things that determined those outcomes.

When you have a high powered offense with a quick scoring passing attack, you are always in close games.

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Reality: we are currently the underdog in every game against a FBS opponent.

I hope this changes as teams prove to be either worse then expected and Cal shows to be better than expected.

I see an early test of Sonny's coaching acumen being getting the team motivated and prepared to execute their game against Sac St. and dominate them. If we look sloppy and the game at any point is in question, then I doubt we win any other game afterwards. Seriously.