So, I'm going to mosey back over to our own board, but I just wanted to say a few things before I leave, because we're not going to be playing each other for a few years, (who knows what I'll be doing by then) so obviously I'm not going to post much here if at all.

Anyway, if was a very exciting, competitive game on Saturday. Sucks that there had to be a winner and a loser, and since I'd resigned myself to defeat already, it probably hurt you guys more to be so close to the first conference win in a while. Well, I'm done arguing in different threads about who missed what, and when, and I'm here to offer my take on the future, which might be interesting since I've got no dog in this fight, it should be pretty unbiased. So without further ado...

Colorado: Okay, that's a win. It's at home, it's a less-talented team (the only good player left on that team is Spruce), and it's a team that's one of the worse FBS teams in CFB. They played ASU tough, but ASU's defense is terrible and this was in Colorado. If you jump out to a lead, there's no home crowd to bring Colorado back. That should be a certain W.

@ Washington State: So we're assuming you're 3-1 going into Pullman. Not too bad, match-up wise. WSU can score, that's for sure, but they're incredibly unbalanced (as everyone knows). You won't even have to worry about the run on this one, which I think will make the job easier not just because there's less blitzing gaps required (to stop the run), but also because there's less misdirection. Who bites on play-action if there's never been a run called? It'll be simpler for your secondary to defend, and when they get tired, simpler is better for you. It'll be close, but I'll pick Cal to take this one. Another W.

Washington: I think this jumps out as a loss to most people, but this is a UW team that I think is a very slow-starter. Going down early to GSU, coming off a bruising game against Stanford, traveling to California, and playing a fast-paced Cal offense, are all factors that I think will really hurt the Huskies in the first half. Couple that with how well Cal does in the first half of games, and I think you open up a big lead early. The question is, what happens afterward? I don't see too much big-play potential on UW's offense, and Cyler Miles doesn't impress me. I don't think UW can catch up like teams like UA,UO, WSU, and ASSU can. I think this is likely another win due to that confluence of factors. W.

UCLA: Man, I don't like UCLA. Great campus, really nice students, Westwood's very nice, but my older brother, who's a complete a$$hole, went there (graduated in June), and we keep losing to these guys in basketball. In football, I think if Hundley is healthy, there's a better than even chance of a loss for Cal. If he's not, I'd pick Cal. It's a rivalry game, so anything can happen, but if UCLA is healthy, I think they're just too much to handle. Hundley is like Anu Solomon, except the times when Anu got 10 yds, Hundley takes those reads to the house. He's an annoyingly strong QB and a great scrambler, but I think he gets rattled sometimes, and Mora's a very conservative coach imo. I'm just going to assume he's healthy, which means a loss, even at home. L.

Oregon: Well, that's 2 losses in a row then. It's at home, but it's Oregon, and unless they start getting worse as the year goes on, it's not happening. WSU was able to keep them close, but I think we'll see that as an aberration rather than a trend as the year goes on. Oregon makes great halftime adjustments, and Cal tends to struggle in that half, while Oregon has athletic depth that any other PAC team would kill for. Cal keeps it close for a while, but Oregon keeps coming and eventually wins. L.

@ OSU: I don't really rate Oregon State. If my brother can sack Sean Mannion at Foothill, I doubt he can do much at the collegiate level...:p I think Mannion's good, but OSU's defense is untested, and their offense isn't as explosive as most in the conference, so even if it comes down to a shootout, Cal wins. The only problems I see are that Cal will be coming off of 2 straight losses, and they're going in to Corvallis. That'll suck, but if they come out like they did on Saturday, I don't think OSU can catch up. I don't like OSU's lack of a running game, and I think you need the run game if you want to control the game and slow it down. I'll pick Cal, especially since you'll just need 1 more win for a bowl, and this is their most winnable 6th game. W.

@ USC: I don't think USC will be sitting particularly pretty by this time. I don't know exactly how many losses, but it's a wide-open South, and USC's just as vulnerable as the rest of us in that division. If you guys thought lack of depth was hurtful, just wait till USC. Yeah, they're talented, but they've got zero depth, and they should struggle if Goff can limit his mistakes. I also don't really rate Sark. Takes over UW, then doesn't do much? Yeah, not impressed. The extra time also helps you prep. W.

Stanford: Rivalry game. At home. Anything can happen, but Stanford wins. They control the clock, the LOS, and their defense doesn't break. Their team has a style that's really unaffected by home/away. Everyone knows that they're going to run up the middle, but no team has enough giant defensive linemen to deal with 9 OL! I see a Stanford win in this one. L.

BYU: I might be the only one that thinks BYU's actually pretty good. Taysom Hill is a great QB, and BYU's defense is actually pretty good. Once again, playing Stanford hurts, though this time it's not in your favor. BYU's team of 30-year-olds eventually wins a close shootout because their defense makes a key stop. L.

So, total record: 7-5 with a trip to some bowl game wherever. Pretty good after last season.


I think this is a pretty unbiased take on the season. With various teams in various kinds of form, you can probably add a win or a loss, but I think Cal's right around a bowl team.

Anyways, it was fun chatting with you guys, Bear Down, and Go Bears!*

*Except when a Bears loss helps our SOS...

Thanks for the nice post. Your predictions for the rest of the season seem very reasonable. I think with our up and down team, we will get a win or two that we're not supposed to get, and we will have more wth moments as well. Good luck on the rest of your season. I did like the way Rich Rod conducted himself after the Hail Mary. The first thing he did was to give Cal some credit. Pretty classy, in my book.

You're the greatest sunshine pumper of all.

qwertyus;842364333 said:

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So, I'm going to mosey back over to our own board, but I just wanted to say a few things before I leave, because we're not going to be playing each other for a few years, (who knows what I'll be doing by then) so obviously I'm not going to post much here if at all.

Anyway, if was a very exciting, competitive game on Saturday. Sucks that there had to be a winner and a loser, and since I'd resigned myself to defeat already, it probably hurt you guys more to be so close to the first conference win in a while. Well, I'm done arguing in different threads about who missed what, and when, and I'm here to offer my take on the future, which might be interesting since I've got no dog in this fight, it should be pretty unbiased. So without further ado...

Colorado: Okay, that's a win. It's at home, it's a less-talented team (the only good player left on that team is Spruce), and it's a team that's one of the worse FBS teams in CFB. They played ASU tough, but ASU's defense is terrible and this was in Colorado. If you jump out to a lead, there's no home crowd to bring Colorado back. That should be a certain W.

@ Washington State: So we're assuming you're 3-1 going into Pullman. Not too bad, match-up wise. WSU can score, that's for sure, but they're incredibly unbalanced (as everyone knows). You won't even have to worry about the run on this one, which I think will make the job easier not just because there's less blitzing gaps required (to stop the run), but also because there's less misdirection. Who bites on play-action if there's never been a run called? It'll be simpler for your secondary to defend, and when they get tired, simpler is better for you. It'll be close, but I'll pick Cal to take this one. Another W.

Washington: I think this jumps out as a loss to most people, but this is a UW team that I think is a very slow-starter. Going down early to GSU, coming off a bruising game against Stanford, traveling to California, and playing a fast-paced Cal offense, are all factors that I think will really hurt the Huskies in the first half. Couple that with how well Cal does in the first half of games, and I think you open up a big lead early. The question is, what happens afterward? I don't see too much big-play potential on UW's offense, and Cyler Miles doesn't impress me. I don't think UW can catch up like teams like UA,UO, WSU, and ASSU can. I think this is likely another win due to that confluence of factors. W.

UCLA: Man, I don't like UCLA. Great campus, really nice students, Westwood's very nice, but my older brother, who's a complete a$$hole, went there (graduated in June), and we keep losing to these guys in basketball. In football, I think if Hundley is healthy, there's a better than even chance of a loss for Cal. If he's not, I'd pick Cal. It's a rivalry game, so anything can happen, but if UCLA is healthy, I think they're just too much to handle. Hundley is like Anu Solomon, except the times when Anu got 10 yds, Hundley takes those reads to the house. He's an annoyingly strong QB and a great scrambler, but I think he gets rattled sometimes, and Mora's a very conservative coach imo. I'm just going to assume he's healthy, which means a loss, even at home. L.

Oregon: Well, that's 2 losses in a row then. It's at home, but it's Oregon, and unless they start getting worse as the year goes on, it's not happening. WSU was able to keep them close, but I think we'll see that as an aberration rather than a trend as the year goes on. Oregon makes great halftime adjustments, and Cal tends to struggle in that half, while Oregon has athletic depth that any other PAC team would kill for. Cal keeps it close for a while, but Oregon keeps coming and eventually wins. L.

@ OSU: I don't really rate Oregon State. If my brother can sack Sean Mannion at Foothill, I doubt he can do much at the collegiate level...:p I think Mannion's good, but OSU's defense is untested, and their offense isn't as explosive as most in the conference, so even if it comes down to a shootout, Cal wins. The only problems I see are that Cal will be coming off of 2 straight losses, and they're going in to Corvallis. That'll suck, but if they come out like they did on Saturday, I don't think OSU can catch up. I don't like OSU's lack of a running game, and I think you need the run game if you want to control the game and slow it down. I'll pick Cal, especially since you'll just need 1 more win for a bowl, and this is their most winnable 6th game. W.

@ USC: I don't think USC will be sitting particularly pretty by this time. I don't know exactly how many losses, but it's a wide-open South, and USC's just as vulnerable as the rest of us in that division. If you guys thought lack of depth was hurtful, just wait till USC. Yeah, they're talented, but they've got zero depth, and they should struggle if Goff can limit his mistakes. I also don't really rate Sark. Takes over UW, then doesn't do much? Yeah, not impressed. The extra time also helps you prep. W.

Stanford: Rivalry game. At home. Anything can happen, but Stanford wins. They control the clock, the LOS, and their defense doesn't break. Their team has a style that's really unaffected by home/away. Everyone knows that they're going to run up the middle, but no team has enough giant defensive linemen to deal with 9 OL! I see a Stanford win in this one. L.

BYU: I might be the only one that thinks BYU's actually pretty good. Taysom Hill is a great QB, and BYU's defense is actually pretty good. Once again, playing Stanford hurts, though this time it's not in your favor. BYU's team of 30-year-olds eventually wins a close shootout because their defense makes a key stop. L.

So, total record: 7-5 with a trip to some bowl game wherever. Pretty good after last season.


I think this is a pretty unbiased take on the season. With various teams in various kinds of form, you can probably add a win or a loss, but I think Cal's right around a bowl team.

Anyways, it was fun chatting with you guys, Bear Down, and Go Bears!*

*Except when a Bears loss helps our SOS...

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I'm going on record saying we start 5-1. After that, it could go either way. I can possibly see us getting to 7, I could also see us losing the rest. But our easiest games are going to be the next 3 coming up.

I think we'll most likely end up with a 6-6 record, with a good chance at 7-5 if we upset UCLA.

My prediction:

Wins: Colorado, WSU, Washington, BYU
Losses: UCLA, Oregon, Oregon State, USC, Stanford

ducky23;842364359 said:

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I'm going on record saying we start 5-1. After that, it could go either way. I can possibly see us getting to 7, I could also see us losing the rest. But our easiest games are going to be the next 3 coming up.

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Yup we need to really go hard after these next 3 games. Heck UCLA is not exactly a juggernaut either. Chin up, Bears!

Thanks for taking the time to stop by this week and sharing your perspective, qwertyus. Compared to other fan forums, we don't get a lot of contributors from other fan bases, so it's a welcome sight, especially when the visiting fan is reasonable and not just talking trash. We have very little beef with your program so our loss -- as epic as it felt -- probably didn't hurt as much as it would have against a team and/or fan base we despised. Best of luck to you guys this season!

Hey Qwertz: Apprectiate the feedback and sorry about the earlier spat.

I pretty much agree with your assessment with the following nitpicks.

• Washington has a good defense. We will not jump out to a big lead against the likes of Shelton, Thompson and Timu. It will be the first decent defense Cal will face so...but I agree that it could be a W because I really think Petersen is an over-rated coach. Maybe my feelings change on that this Saturday when they play fraud.
  
• Oregon St. has a better rushing attack this year and worse passing attack and so they are more balanced. They also are better in the back 7. But there lines are really questionable, particularly at DT and OT. Those weeknesses create a match-up advantage for Cal and so Cal wins, particularly since Cal seems capable of handling the road pretty well. Otherwise OSU in general and Corvallis in particular are usually Ls for us.
  
• Do you really think we beat USC or do you emotionally need us to beat USC because it helps Arizona's chances in the south? Just a question. Know this: we usually play our worst football of the year against USC. Also, not buying the popular narrative that USC lacks depth. They recruit nothing but top talent. If there are at least 2 guys on the roster for each position then they have depth. I have followed Cal football for 40 years and I don't remember a single time when Cal beat a USC team in the Colesium that was any good. USC may not be great but they are at least better than average. The thing that may make this game competitive is that USC is transitioning to a new system on both sides of the ball. But this is an L in my book, any way you cut it.
  

The rest I agree with.
6-6, which is a hell of a lot better than the 4-8 I predicted prior to the season.

heartofthebear;842364581 said:

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Hey Qwertz: Apprectiate the feedback and sorry about the earlier spat.

I pretty much agree with your assessment with the following nitpicks.

• Washington has a good defense. We will not jump out to a big lead against the likes of Shelton, Thompson and Timu. It will be the first decent defense Cal will face so...but I agree that it could be a W because I really think Petersen is an over-rated coach. Maybe my feelings change on that this Saturday when they play fraud.
  
• Oregon St. has a better rushing attack this year and worse passing attack and so they are more balanced. They also are better in the back 7. But there lines are really questionable, particularly at DT and OT. Those weeknesses create a match-up advantage for Cal and so Cal wins, particularly since Cal seems capable of handling the road pretty well. Otherwise OSU in general and Corvallis in particular are usually Ls for us.
  
• Do you really think we beat USC or do you emotionally need us to beat USC because it helps Arizona's chances in the south? Just a question. Know this: we usually play our worst football of the year against USC. Also, not buying the popular narrative that USC lacks depth. They recruit nothing but top talent. If there are at least 2 guys on the roster for each position then they have depth. I have followed Cal football for 40 years and I don't remember a single time when Cal beat a USC team in the Colesium that was any good. USC may not be great but they are at least better than average. The thing that may make this game competitive is that USC is transitioning to a new system on both sides of the ball. But this is an L in my book, any way you cut it.
  

The rest I agree with.
6-6, which is a hell of a lot better than the 4-8 I predicted prior to the season.

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1. I'm not sold on Petersen either. We saw what happened to Utah when they went from crap conference to a P5. It wasn't pretty. I expect similar things to happen to Petersen, but from a coaching perspective. BSU was great at being the best in a horrible conf. It's not easy to adjust to now being a middle-of-the-road power in a really balanced, really good conference. I know UW has talent, but look at what EWU put up, at home too! And their inconsistency is still a problem. Plus home field advantage. You're right though, this could be one of the games that Cal loses instead.

2. You sure it's better? From where I'm sitting, Mannion still looks good. Outside of that, Storm Woods and whoever their other dude is from De La don't impress me. 102 yards vs. SDSU @ home? Yeah, that's not going to get it done, beating up on crappy Hawaii and worse Portland notwithstanding. Even then, both have combined rushing totals less than Wilson had after 3 games, and you guys stopped him (also he may have a concussion, we'll see, and partly why you stopped him was AS throws being horrible 1st half, and Mannion's too experienced to throw that poorly). Anyway, I don't think OSU is a boatrace type of team, and I think it's going to be a boatrace of sorts.

3. The answer is "yes". They've got 4-5 stars all over. They also got sodomized by BC and they should have lost to 'Furd, both pretty bad, one-dimensional offensive teams IMO. Shaw is conservative as hell and gave away the game, while BC just isn't very good, but they still won. It's admittedly also the same reasoning I'm using to predict the 'Cats beating them in Tucson later this year, so...

qwertyus;842364626 said:

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1. I'm not sold on Petersen either. We saw what happened to Utah when they went from crap conference to a P5. It wasn't pretty. I expect similar things to happen to Petersen, but from a coaching perspective. BSU was great at being the best in a horrible conf. It's not easy to adjust to now being a middle-of-the-road power in a really balanced, really good conference. I know UW has talent, but look at what EWU put up, at home too! And their inconsistency is still a problem. Plus home field advantage. You're right though, this could be one of the games that Cal loses instead.

2. You sure it's better? From where I'm sitting, Mannion still looks good. Outside of that, Storm Woods and whoever their other dude is from De La don't impress me. 102 yards vs. SDSU @ home? Yeah, that's not going to get it done, beating up on crappy Hawaii and worse Portland notwithstanding. Even then, both have combined rushing totals less than Wilson had after 3 games, and you guys stopped him (also he may have a concussion, we'll see, and partly why you stopped him was AS throws being horrible 1st half, and Mannion's too experienced to throw that poorly). Anyway, I don't think OSU is a boatrace type of team, and I think it's going to be a boatrace of sorts.

3. The answer is "yes". They've got 4-5 stars all over. They also got sodomized by BC and they should have lost to 'Furd, both pretty bad, one-dimensional offensive teams IMO. Shaw is conservative as hell and gave away the game, while BC just isn't very good, but they still won. It's admittedly also the same reasoning I'm using to predict the 'Cats beating them in Tucson later this year, so...

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USC may underperform this year and get beaten by UA, but that won't necessarily be because of depth issues. And it's going to take more than that for Cal to beat them in LA. Both fraud and BC had them at home. And both have solid running attacks behind established OLs. We may get there next year, but we aren't there yet.

The season is early. Lessons are being learned well. Experience counts. If we stay healthy, I say we look better and better as we go.