Cal outplayed UW on both sides of the ball, dominated in most every facet, yet this game was still a sweat. What can Cal do to keep the O going late in games? Is it as simple as continuing to attack? Short passes that are effectively runs? What can Cal do to fix this problem?

Getting Lasco back should help

vanity;842555658 said:

---

Cal outplayed UW on both sides of the ball, dominated in most every facet, yet this game was still a sweat. What can Cal do to keep the O going late in games? Is it as simple as continuing to attack? Short passes that are effectively runs? What can Cal do to fix this problem?

---

UW is not an inferior team

Playing another game at home will help too.

They did close it out. You didn't see the pick and then the first down? Team was 1-11 two years ago. Now everyone wants style points. Sonny Dykes has done a good job.

MiZery;842555670 said:

---

UW is not an inferior team

---

They are to Cal seeing as we beat them on their home turf

It seemed to me that Washington's D did a good job messing with Goff late in the game.

The UW D is good and really stymied our offense in the red zone. It should be no surprise we had trouble down the stretch.

The real surprise was our D, which really came into their own this game.

SigOtherIsATrojan;842555678 said:

---

They did close it out. You didn't see the pick and then the first down? Team was 1-11 two years ago. Now everyone wants style points. Sonny Dykes has done a good job.

---

I don't think that is fair really. The team is clearly struggling to figure out how to finish games, and it seems to be a very real problem. I don't expect the team to win by 30 each game, but allowing teams the opportunity to take the lead late in games when Cal was up double digits in the second half... eh.

And I'm not complaining, I am happy to see the team competitive. That was a very impressive two game road swing for a team that has not experienced much winning. Should grow a fair bit from that, though let's be honest, Cal could easily lose 6 of its last 7 with their schedule. Four road games against ranked teams, plus SC and ASU at home, only likely win appear to be WSU and OSU...

Just curious what needs to happen here. Something is not working properly.

In the Pac 12 every road win is a big win. Period. Yes we outplayed UW and the better team won, but Pac 12 games are going to be dogfights every week. We gutted out a big win on the road and I'm proud of this team. But let's not kid ourselves - they're pretty much all going to look like that. Pac 12 is still a very good conference, pretty much top to bottom. Forget the style points and enjoy the win!

Go Bears!!

MiZery;842555670 said:

---

UW is not an inferior team

---

Eh, Cal is really a fair bit better from what I saw. Stats say the same. Maybe they had a bad game though, IDK. Other than that Enwere fumble (that looked like the ground caused, where was the replay?), this isn't a sweat.

BerlinerBaer;842555695 said:

---

The UW D is good and really stymied our offense in the red zone. It should be no surprise we had trouble down the stretch.

The real surprise was our D, which really came into their own this game.

---

UW's D is good, so the win and superior stats are big.

I think it starts with play-calling..and execution. When we get a two score lead...we immediately go into a shell to protect. This team just is not meant to do that with personnel. Also...our WRs should stop dropping perfectly thrown passes..that helps. Huskies have a good defense though so its a good road win...just want to see us play better. Overall I hope we didn't come out of this game with too many long injuries..and excited to be 4 and 0.

SigOtherIsATrojan;842555678 said:

---

They did close it out. You didn't see the pick and then the first down? Team was 1-11 two years ago. Now everyone wants style points. Sonny Dykes has done a good job.

---

Agreed! Let's be happy! We are 4-0 !

BeachyBear;842555718 said:

---

In the Pac 12 every road win is a big win. Period. Yes we outplayed UW and the better team won, but Pac 12 games are going to be dogfights every week. We gutted out a big win on the road and I'm proud of this team. But let's not kid ourselves - they're pretty much all going to look like that. Pac 12 is still a very good conference, pretty much top to bottom. Forget the style points and enjoy the win!

Go Bears!!

---

Oh, I am def happy with this win. :-)

MinotStateBeav;842555725 said:

---

I think it starts with play-calling..and execution. When we get a two score lead...we immediately go into a shell to protect. This team just is not meant to do that with personnel. Also...our WRs should stop dropping perfectly thrown passes..that helps. Huskies have a good defense though so its a good road win...just want to see us play better. Overall I hope we didn't come out of this game with too many long injuries..and excited to be 4 and 0.

---

Really? I don't think Cal's offensive play calling changed at all throughout the game. Just because you run the ball when you have the lead, doesn't mean you are trying to kill the clock, running should be half your offense.

MinotStateBeav;842555725 said:

---

I think it starts with play-calling..and execution. When we get a two score lead...we immediately go into a shell to protect. This team just is not meant to do that with personnel. Also...our WRs should stop dropping perfectly thrown passes..that helps. Huskies have a good defense though so its a good road win...just want to see us play better. Overall I hope we didn't come out of this game with too many long injuries..and excited to be 4 and 0.

---

I'm not sure that's what happened in this game. We scored a TD on the first drive of the second half and Cal was driving on it's second half before the fumble. Than a 10 play 38 yd drive that took a nice 3 minutes (which was a good mix of run and pass), a FG drive that took a nice 5 minutes, to finally falling to a stiff defense on it's second to last drive (where we had to run out clock.) The only drive you could criticize is that 2nd 38 yd drive which wasn't bad at all.

You have to give credit to UW's defense in the 2nd half.

vanity;842555712 said:

---

I don't think that is fair really. The team is clearly struggling to figure out how to finish games, and it seems to be a very real problem. I don't expect the team to win by 30 each game, but allowing teams the opportunity to take the lead late in games when Cal was up double digits in the second half... eh.

And I'm not complaining, I am happy to see the team competitive. That was a very impressive two game road swing for a team that has not experienced much winning. Should grow a fair bit from that, though let's be honest, Cal could easily lose 6 of its last 7 with their schedule. Four road games against ranked teams, plus SC and ASU at home, only likely win appear to be WSU and OSU...

Just curious what needs to happen here. Something is not working properly.

---

Hmm. We beat UT in Austin. For those who saw the Okie St. game, this is not a bad team. We beat UW on the road. UW isn't great, but they're no worse than last year and are going to be a headache for every Pac 12 team. Yes we should have beaten these teams by a lot more, but we got the W. Teams like this play better with more confidence - especially confidence on D. They'll put together complete games before the season is over.

4-0!!

Go Bears!!

Would have a lot more style points if we didn't have 4 or 5 drops today.

vanity;842555658 said:

---

Cal outplayed UW on both sides of the ball, dominated in most every facet, yet this game was still a sweat. What can Cal do to keep the O going late in games? Is it as simple as continuing to attack? Short passes that are effectively runs? What can Cal do to fix this problem?

---

Scoring in the first quarter when we're in the red zone would help, like 1st and goal, at the one, then turnover on downs.

golden sloth;842555746 said:

---

Really? I don't think Cal's offensive play calling changed at all throughout the game. Just because you run the ball when you have the lead, doesn't mean you are trying to kill the clock, running should be half your offense.

---

If your a pro-set team..yes...if your a spread team...I don't agree at all.

Big reason for the game being close is execution in the 2nd half. Dropped passes, but the biggest being ball security by our RB's. If Enewere doesn't fumble we probably win more comfortably...

In fact TF really need's to get on Khalfani and Enewere to hold onto that damn ball!

LegoBear;842555786 said:

---

Big reason for the game being close is execution in the 2nd half. Dropped passes, but the biggest being ball security by our RB's. If Enewere doesn't fumble we probably win more comfortably...

In fact TF really need's to get on Khalfani and Enewere to hold onto that damn ball!

---

It seems the way to play Cal is let the Bears roll early, try and get some stops...then adjust in the 2nd half, where you try and clamp down. That's how I saw UW play Cal.

We almost doubled Washington in total yards, had the turnover advantage 5 to 2 - this should have been a cakewalk.

I'll give Washington some credit - their a scrappy team and playing at home but Cal needs to be able to put these types of games away. I think they'll be focusing on red=zone offense a lot this week.

The defense was first rate today. Not the Bear Minimum, but who is these days? Tremendous improvement under Kaufman - I thought he was a good hire based on his past record, and he has the defense looking good this year.

OP is right. We have our foot on their neck. No need to ease off and give them life again. Last week, we unnecessarily let Texas come back and got really lucky on a blocked PAT. However, the D had a nice bounce back game from Texas and are showing improvement. That's all we can ask.

vanity;842555658 said:

---

Cal outplayed UW on both sides of the ball, dominated in most every facet, yet this game was still a sweat. What can Cal do to keep the O going late in games? Is it as simple as continuing to attack? Short passes that are effectively runs? What can Cal do to fix this problem?

---

Udub in not a grossly inferior. This is big problem with this Cal team is they get on a roll and then stop executing when better teams go for the juggler. Some of this may be the scheme that makes it hard to run against good defensive teams when the defense knows your running.

It is curious whenever Cal decided to slow down the game they couldn't move the ball. I don't think it's the play calling but the pace. Maybe part of the effectiveness is the fast pace to catch opponents off guard. IDK.

MiZery;842555670 said:

---

UW is not an inferior team

---

Forget Cal fans with blue colored glasses. Even the announcers implied that Cal should have put the Huskies away in the first half. UW showed me a defensive team that I wish we had...Couple it with our offense and you would have an unbeatable team. As it is their team, we must wait as our defense improves game by game.

I still do not forgive the poor clock management in the last 6 minutes. This is getting ridiculous, and notice I say this after a win. These last two games, I am sorry, should NEVER have been this close. Never. You have the best passer in America, use his talent. First downs eat more clock than running three plays for less than a first down. March down the field as if you were behind, but each play let all but 3 seconds run off the play clock. I cannot believe with us using the run as an excuse to work the play clock that we did not run the full 35 seconds off the play clock in all plays in the 4th Q when we could. I love Sonny, but wake up call. Not good.

Our team seemed to have a lot of confidence when playing in the 2nd half, we were careless with playcalling, special teams and clock management and yet we never allowed Washington to seriously threaten us with a possession in the red zone. I think our team saw this game as put away by halftime, even if Washington was within a score at the end. They like playing with fire and will continue to do so until they get burned.

MinotStateBeav;842555782 said:

---

If your a pro-set team..yes...if your a spread team...I don't agree at all.

---

But it is the team's goal to a run/pass ratio of 50/50. Plus, just because you are a spread team, doesn't mean you need to be an Mike Leach Air Raid team. Plenty of teams spread the field to open up running lanes.

OdontoBear66;842556144 said:

---

Forget Cal fans with blue colored glasses. Even the announcers implied that Cal should have put the Huskies away in the first half. UW showed me a defensive team that I wish we had...Couple it with our offense and you would have an unbeatable team. As it is their team, we must wait as our defense improves game by game.

I still do not forgive the poor clock management in the last 6 minutes. This is getting ridiculous, and notice I say this after a win. These last two games, I am sorry, should NEVER have been this close. Never. You have the best passer in America, use his talent. First downs eat more clock than running three plays for less than a first down. March down the field as if you were behind, but each play let all but 3 seconds run off the play clock. I cannot believe with us using the run as an excuse to work the play clock that we did not run the full 35 seconds off the play clock in all plays in the 4th Q when we could. I love Sonny, but wake up call. Not good.

---

I think you are misremembering what actually happened in the game. Go back and read the game log, the run pass split in the 4th quarter was 9 passes and 10 runs. This includes the last possession, which featured 3 runs and 1 pass that turned into a run and successfully ended the game. The second to last possession featured 2 passes and 1 run. The third to last possession featured 5 runs and 5 passes. So basically, I am not seeing how the team became more conservative. Also remember, that Cal's pass protection was not very good. Goff was sacked 5 times, and the receivers were dropping passes, so its not like the passing game was automatic today.

golden sloth;842556193 said:

---

But it is the team's goal to a run/pass ratio of 50/50. Plus, just because you are a spread team, doesn't mean you need to be an Mike Leach Air Raid team. Plenty of teams spread the field to open up running lanes.

---

The goal is to win ..not have a 50/50 ratio. Look...and I'm not slamming the team or coaches because I think mostly they are doing great and i'm a huge proponent of running football..but we don't have a tight end..and when our fullback comes into the game..it just invites another guy into the run box. This makes it hard to run successfully. Nobody is saying be Mike Leach..but I always thought this offense was all about setting up the run with the pass. It makes us rather predictable when we get up on teams right now because we aren't spreading them out. We're condensing the field with tbh less than optimal circumstances. I get trying to burn time, I'm just not sure this team is really set up to do that unless we're up by quite a few points. Our defense played lights out today with 5 turnovers..this game should not have been close, but it was because we never pushed Washington..we let them pack the box and we got tight.

To answer the OPs question:
Not having key injuries during the course of the game would help.
During the Texas and Washington games, we were rather depleted at key spots by the time the 4th Q rolled around.
If we are healthy, we can close out games.