Very stats driven. He gives Texas a 52% win probability against Cal, so this game is basically a toss-up...

Link: Can Texas' Charlie Strong pull off a long-term rebuild in a short-term world?

My take aways from the preview:
Texas has hired a new offensive coordinator in Sterlin Gilbert who hails from the Art Briles coaching tree. He coached three years under Dino Babers at Eastern Illinois and Bowling Green and one year under Phil Montgomery at Tulsa. Babers was a wide receivers coach under Briles from 2008 - 2011 and Montgomery was Baylor's offensive coordinator until 2014. Considering Gilbert's coaching roots Texas is probably going to run a version of the "veer and shoot".

Texas might be starting a true freshman at quarterback in Shane Buechele.

They have a bunch of explosive running backs and return three starters on the offensive line. The offensive line did a good job in run blocking, but struggled to protect the quarterback.

Their run defense was pretty bad last year, but they were able to put decent pressure on the opposing quarterback. The defense loses three linemen from last year's rotation and they will have to rely on a bunch of freshmen for depth at defensive tackle. They only lost two guys from their back seven tough. Their roster is filled with former 4* and 5* linebackers...

The kicker who missed the final PAT against Cal has graduated. He made 38 of 39 PATs last year by the way. :p

Beat TexAss!

It was one of the sweetest Cal road trips for me to see the Golden Bears beat the TexAss (revenge is sweet) in front of their crazy fans!

Let's do it again Bears!

Go Bears!

I'd say that's a pretty fair and accurate summary. Every team will go into every season with concerns/questions, and I would agree that ours are:

QB: appears we will be starting a true freshman who outplayed Swoopes in the spring; Heard (who had a record day against Cal last season, but was underwhelming in most every other game) is likely 3rd on the totem pole; so while I like Beuchele for the long run (and while he may be our best bet even this year), he's still going to be making his first college throws this year

DL: 1 solid starter at DT, and then average guys after that; some big time DT recruits coming in this year, many of whom will have to play; I think the DL will be a weak spot all season long

OL: will be relying on a true freshman at center and there may even need to be a true freshman at RT; that said, the OL should be better than last year

The areas I feel pretty good about:

- I really like our back seven - will probably be the best back seven in our conference; and there's solid depth for competition throughout the season, and much of it is very young

- I like our RBs - power guys with speed - need an OL to block of course

- I like our WRs (at least I think I do) - but we will likely need true freshman Collin Johnson to perform like he did in the spring - if he does then our WR corps should be a strength

Davis Webb will shred em

The only thing I'm worried about is our run defense. If they can run the ball on us and break off some big ones, then it will be a very good game. If we can keep it contained, then I'm confident we can win by two scores.

Pretty fair summary - I think the frosh qb will start and surprise. DL aside, this team has some depth and/or experience. ( In Strong's first year at the West Va. home game I counted 56 guys suited out.) I want to say at the end of the Baylor win last year, in part due to injuries, there were 8 freshman playing defense. I expect Texas to surprise and contend for but not win Big 12. And the one DL you can count on , Poona Ford, is a load - he is fun to watch - spend a few plays just watching him. Cal is catching them just before the corner is turned - Texas will be very good in 2017.

BayAreaHorn;842691190 said:

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QB: appears we will be starting a true freshman who outplayed Swoopes in the spring; Heard (who had a record day against Cal last season, but was underwhelming in most every other game) is likely 3rd on the totem pole; so while I like Beuchele for the long run (and while he may be our best bet even this year), he's still going to be making his first college throws this year

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Do you think Texas would alternate quarterbacks on offense? Swoopes is a pretty big guy who scored 12 rushing touchdowns on just 72 carries. I guess he was used quite a bit as a runner in the redzone.

Meister Petz;842691206 said:

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Do you think Texas would alternate quarterbacks on offense? Swoopes is a pretty big guy who scored 12 rushing touchdowns on just 72 carries. I guess he was used quite a bit as a runner in the redzone.

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I don't think so (but obviously don't know that for a fact). The Swoopes power running package (and, frankly, the insertion of Heard as starter) was really the coaches grasping for anything that could generate some offense after the absolute travesty that was our offensive showing at ND. That game triggered the end of Shawn Watson's time as OC and Swoopes got benched for Heard. Basically the offense that they worked on all offseason was thrown out after 1 game, and the "emergency" OC (no longer w/ the team) did his best to quickly change up the offense.

I think Sterlin Gilbert will stick with his offensive philosophy - so even if Swoopes ends up playing it will be in the context of the Gilbert offense; there may be some designed runs for him, but they likely won't have a situation where we are rotating QBs throughout the game.

What happened to Heard? He only looked Heisman like against Cal? Figures.

If Texas were to secede, would they legally still be able to stay in the Big 12? And would a win or loss against them affect our ranking?

burritos;842691246 said:

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What happened to Heard? He only looked Heisman like against Cal? Figures.

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Same thing I was thinking.

burritos;842691246 said:

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What happened to Heard? He only looked Heisman like against Cal? Figures.

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he had the big game against you guys, and that was kind of it; really struggled throughout much of rest of the season, to the point that Swoopes unseated him as the season progressed

burritos;842691246 said:

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What happened to Heard? He only looked Heisman like against Cal? Figures.

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Agree with Bay Area and would add some very good defenders were assigned to spy on him and he could not make the opponent pay for it with his arm. Also, the QB draw loses its effectiveness when you call it 20 times a game - mostly on third down.

Meister Petz;842691171 said:

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The kicker who missed the final PAT against Cal has graduated. He made 38 of 39 PATs last year by the way. :p

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I think White got his hands on it enough to send it wide. He didn't deserve to be the goat. Glad he graduated - he's a good kicker. If Anderson catches the pass, the game is over. Goff may have taken a little off of the pass since he was so wide open and it threw off the timing.

I am glad Cal will not have to face a running qb like Heard.

Meister Petz;842691171 said:

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The kicker who missed the final PAT against Cal has graduated. He made 38 of 39 PATs last year by the way. :p

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GATC;842691273 said:

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I think White got his hands on it enough to send it wide. He didn't deserve to be the goat. Glad he graduated - he's a good kicker.

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Looking at how wide off the mark that ball is before reaching DW, DW's contact might have actually driven the ball a tiny bit closer to the goalpost.

Nasal Mucus Goldenbear;842693791 said:

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Looking at how wide off the mark that ball is before reaching DW, DW's contact might have actually driven the ball a tiny bit closer to the goalpost.

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That kick was going to miss no matter what.

That's what I thought

Nasal Mucus Goldenbear;842693791 said:

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Looking at how wide off the mark that ball is before reaching DW, DW's contact might have actually driven the ball a tiny bit closer to the goalpost.

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I think it's more that the kicker caught a glimpse of white out of the corner of his eye and his timing was slightly off (began leg swing a split second late)?

If so, White still "caused" the miss. Just how it looked to me.

Either way, I was relieved, though Goff may easily have gotten the Bears in FG range had the PAT gone in.

OneKeg;842694162 said:

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I think it's more that the kicker caught a glimpse of white out of the corner of his eye and his timing was slightly off (began leg swing a split second late)?

If so, White still "caused" the miss. Just how it looked to me.

Either way, I was relieved, though Goff may easily have gotten the Bears in FG range had the PAT gone in.

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Agree entirely. The prior Texas TD the rusher almost blocked the kick. And the same thing happens again on the final kick. IMO the kicker saw the rusher coming in and took his eye off the ball. To me it looks like the kicker is kicking toward the rusher.

GivemTheAxe;842694166 said:

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Agree entirely. The prior Texas TD the rusher almost blocked the kick. And the same thing happens again on the final kick. IMO the kicker saw the rusher coming in and took his eye off the ball. To me it looks like the kicker is kicking toward the rusher.

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Target fixation

Still think the best part of the missed PAT is that by that point the announcers had gone full Texas homer and dropped even the pretense of impartiality. Remember the line was something like "well bless [the kicker's] heart... what a terrible way for this game to end... I'm sure even the Cal fans feel bad about it..."

Yeah right. Because that's exactly how the Texas fans would have felt if we had self destructed in some spectacular fashion. I'm pretty sure they would have still been laughing at us.

Those longhorn tears tasted like sweet, sweet wine to me.

Sebastabear;842694187 said:

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Still think the best part of the missed PAT is that by that point the announcers had gone full Texas homer and dropped even the pretense of impartiality. Remember the line was something like "well bless [the kicker's] heart... what a terrible way for this game to end... I'm sure even the Cal fans feel bad about it..."

Yeah right. Because that's exactly how the Texas fans would have felt if we had self destructed in some spectacular fashion. I'm pretty sure they would have still been laughing at us.

Those longhorn tears tasted like sweet, sweet wine to me.

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Surprisingly some so called cal followers said " it was a weak tx team"
I'll say it again no win comes easy

Sebastabear;842694187 said:

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Still think the best part of the missed PAT is that by that point the announcers had gone full Texas homer and dropped even the pretense of impartiality. Remember the line was something like "well bless [the kicker's] heart... what a terrible way for this game to end... I'm sure even the Cal fans feel bad about it..."

Yeah right. Because that's exactly how the Texas fans would have felt if we had self destructed in some spectacular fashion. I'm pretty sure they would have still been laughing at us.

Those longhorn tears tasted like sweet, sweet wine to me.

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Admit it. We'll feel just as "bad" twisting horns off steers this year, especially if it's another "weak" Texass team
Bless their fans broken hearts

well, it was a weak "texass" team; only the 2nd non-bowl team in 20 years maybe?

BayAreaHorn;842694221 said:

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well, it was a weak "texass" team; only the 2nd non-bowl team in 20 years maybe?

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Yes, funny how acknowledging reality makes us so called fans. Don't know why it can't be true that it was a weak Texas team AND that no win comes easy. Thing is that many of us said in the off season and leading up to the game that it was a weak Texas team that Cal had a great chance to beat, while the "real" fans quaked and set expectations for a loss/moral victory.

OaktownBear;842694231 said:

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Yes, funny how acknowledging reality makes us so called fans. Don't know why it can't be true that it was a weak Texas team AND that no win comes easy. Thing is that many of us said in the off season and leading up to the game that it was a weak Texas team that Cal had a great chance to beat, while the "real" fans quaked and set expectations for a loss/moral victory.

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exactly - any win over Oklahoma is satisfying - though when we are the underdog and can spoil their season (like last year) it tastes that much better!

It was a crazy, inconsistent Texas team. They were jobbed by refs in Okie State game and I really felt the season swung on that loss. I will be first to admit Texas has been the beneficiary of some very questionable officiating over the years. The Kansas game about 8 years ago comes immediately to mind. Blown out by TCU, then the very next week upset OU - a national semifinalist. Self destructed against WVU - 5 turnovers I think, lost a tough one to Tech then upset Baylor. My point being they were probably better than the record reflects and winning in Austin is rarely easy. It was a solid win for Cal - period.

BayAreaHorn;842694243 said:

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exactly - any win over Oklahoma is satisfying - though when we are the underdog and can spoil their season (like last year) it tastes that much better!

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ha ... know the feeling, know the feeling ... as does Johnny almost-Heisman Elway ... The Play ... :woohoo

Tx has a lot of highly ranked players

Was it at ten win team nope

I said some not all lol

Meister Petz;842691171 said:

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Very stats driven. He gives Texas a 52% win probability against Cal, so this game is basically a toss-up...

Link: Can Texas' Charlie Strong pull off a long-term rebuild in a short-term world?

My take aways from the preview:
Texas has hired a new offensive coordinator in Sterlin Gilbert who hails from the Art Briles coaching tree. He coached three years under Dino Babers at Eastern Illinois and Bowling Green and one year under Phil Montgomery at Tulsa. Babers was a wide receivers coach under Briles from 2008 - 2011 and Montgomery was Baylor's offensive coordinator until 2014. Considering Gilbert's coaching roots Texas is probably going to run a version of the "veer and shoot".

Texas might be starting a true freshman at quarterback in Shane Buechele.

They have a bunch of explosive running backs and return three starters on the offensive line. The offensive line did a good job in run blocking, but struggled to protect the quarterback.

Their run defense was pretty bad last year, but they were able to put decent pressure on the opposing quarterback. The defense loses three linemen from last year's rotation and they will have to rely on a bunch of freshmen for depth at defensive tackle. They only lost two guys from their back seven tough. Their roster is filled with former 4* and 5* linebackers...

The kicker who missed the final PAT against Cal has graduated. He made 38 of 39 PATs last year by the way. :p

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No mention of WRs. Maybe Gilbert can turn any prospect into a reliable WR. "Count to yourself, four steps then turn left." "Oh, and turn your head to the left to see the ball (or not)." "Oh, and make sure you start your steps with your left foot." That oughta do it.

slotright20;842694246 said:

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It was a crazy, inconsistent Texas team. They were jobbed by refs in Okie State game and I really felt the season swung on that loss. I will be first to admit Texas has been the beneficiary of some very questionable officiating over the years. The Kansas game about 8 years ago comes immediately to mind. Blown out by TCU, then the very next week upset OU - a national semifinalist. Self destructed against WVU - 5 turnovers I think, lost a tough one to Tech then upset Baylor. My point being they were probably better than the record reflects and winning in Austin is rarely easy. It was a solid win for Cal - period.

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The Kansas game was 12 years ago. In 2004. Guess how I remember.

OaktownBear;842694364 said:

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The Kansas game was 12 years ago. In 2004. Guess how I remember.

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Yes The Rose Bowl hosing. I actually think Kansas was hosed twice up in Lawrence but too lazy to look up. apologies - not my intention to pull a scab off of an old wound.

Sebastabear;842694187 said:

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Still think the best part of the missed PAT is that by that point the announcers had gone full Texas homer and dropped even the pretense of impartiality. Remember the line was something like "well bless [the kicker's] heart... what a terrible way for this game to end... I'm sure even the Cal fans feel bad about it..."

Yeah right. Because that's exactly how the Texas fans would have felt if we had self destructed in some spectacular fashion. I'm pretty sure they would have still been laughing at us.

Those longhorn tears tasted like sweet, sweet wine to me.

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We almost did self-destruct in spectacular fashion. We had a 3 touchdown lead heading into the fourth and inexplicably was a missed PAT away from having it tied. We also lost a touchdown at the half yard line when KM lost a fumble that would have made it even more lopsided ...

So no, Texas shouldn't feel like they almost won. They should feel lucky that they were even that close at the end.

http://texas.thefootballbrainiacs.com/2016/05/gilbert-mattox-quick-study-zone-run-game-part-i/