I haven't had much of a chance to comment about the Udub game. To be clear, the defense won that game and they will have to keep winning games. But for the first time in a while, I see an actual path to success with an offense that is developing an identity. It isn't good, but it might be good enough.
I think the key might be that Baldwin might be getting his feet under him with the personnel he has and specifically, his QB. I think last year was a definite detour through the wilderness for Baldwin. I think we would have seen a lot of benefit in Bowers staying just in the consistency and the familiarity Baldwin had with him. The coaches then compounded the problem by going with 2 QB's, then going with McIlwain, then settling on Garbers. I don't actually blame them for what they attempted to do last year, but it definitely didn't work and set back the offense. I think largely because Baldwin did not know how to give Garbers his best chance to succeed. I started to see it this last weekend. Hopefully Baldwin sees it too.
Starting with what I see in Garbers. Garbers right now is an upper middle class man's Steve Levy. Not saying that is his ceiling, but that is what he is right now. There's positives and negatives. Garbers, like Levy, is not going to make a lot of plays with his arm. His highest passing yards game was the 238 against Davis. He had 61 yards going into the last drive. He doesn't have great velocity or accuracy. The biggest thing I've seen both last year and this year is he just doesn't pull the trigger. He holds the ball too long, or pulls it down and runs, or both. The biggest positive is that like Levy, he is good at making plays with his feet. That includes improvising on pass plays and turning potential negative plays into positive ones. Especially important given his hesitancy pulling the trigger on his passes. If I were to compare the offensive performance last weekend to another game, it would be the Big Game where Levy was the QB. In that game we passed for 121 yards, a large chunk of it being when Levy chucked the ball up toward Desean and he ripped it out of the hands of the defender and ran in for the touchdown. For the most part, we ran the ball and Levy got key first downs with his feet.
In both games this season, Baldwin has come out throwing the ball. It hasn't worked. Then he has relied on the running game and that has turned the offense around. What we saw in the second half last weekend has to be our offensive identity going forward. Run first. I think our OL is better at run blocking than pass blocking. Brown and Dancey are our best weapons. I was hopeful of this after Davis, but if they can run on UW, they can run on anyone. Our passing game is not very good.
But I saw some hope even with the passing game with that last drive. The key sequence was the three pass plays in a row. Fade to Duncan for 19. Fade to Duncan for 15 yard PI. Screen to Crawford for 27. All three of those passes were basically timing routes that took the decision out of Garbers' hands. His hesitancy was made immaterial.
For the first time since Baldwin got here, for a half of play I felt I saw an OC that understood his personnel and was playing to their strengths. There will be challenges. Is the offense good? No. I expect that defenses will stack the box, maybe put a spy on Garbers and force him to beat them with his arm. And, much like Tedford found ways for Levy to succeed through the air against BYU, Baldwin will have to do the same for Garbers.
But I see an identity now for Cal if the staff wants to take it. Run the ball. Let Garbers make plays with his feet. Give him simple throws when he needs it. Move the chains. Minimize turnovers. Keep the defense fresh. Score just enough to let the defense win the game. Will we win a conference championship doing this? Probably not. But we can win a lot of games and take the next step.
I think the key might be that Baldwin might be getting his feet under him with the personnel he has and specifically, his QB. I think last year was a definite detour through the wilderness for Baldwin. I think we would have seen a lot of benefit in Bowers staying just in the consistency and the familiarity Baldwin had with him. The coaches then compounded the problem by going with 2 QB's, then going with McIlwain, then settling on Garbers. I don't actually blame them for what they attempted to do last year, but it definitely didn't work and set back the offense. I think largely because Baldwin did not know how to give Garbers his best chance to succeed. I started to see it this last weekend. Hopefully Baldwin sees it too.
Starting with what I see in Garbers. Garbers right now is an upper middle class man's Steve Levy. Not saying that is his ceiling, but that is what he is right now. There's positives and negatives. Garbers, like Levy, is not going to make a lot of plays with his arm. His highest passing yards game was the 238 against Davis. He had 61 yards going into the last drive. He doesn't have great velocity or accuracy. The biggest thing I've seen both last year and this year is he just doesn't pull the trigger. He holds the ball too long, or pulls it down and runs, or both. The biggest positive is that like Levy, he is good at making plays with his feet. That includes improvising on pass plays and turning potential negative plays into positive ones. Especially important given his hesitancy pulling the trigger on his passes. If I were to compare the offensive performance last weekend to another game, it would be the Big Game where Levy was the QB. In that game we passed for 121 yards, a large chunk of it being when Levy chucked the ball up toward Desean and he ripped it out of the hands of the defender and ran in for the touchdown. For the most part, we ran the ball and Levy got key first downs with his feet.
In both games this season, Baldwin has come out throwing the ball. It hasn't worked. Then he has relied on the running game and that has turned the offense around. What we saw in the second half last weekend has to be our offensive identity going forward. Run first. I think our OL is better at run blocking than pass blocking. Brown and Dancey are our best weapons. I was hopeful of this after Davis, but if they can run on UW, they can run on anyone. Our passing game is not very good.
But I saw some hope even with the passing game with that last drive. The key sequence was the three pass plays in a row. Fade to Duncan for 19. Fade to Duncan for 15 yard PI. Screen to Crawford for 27. All three of those passes were basically timing routes that took the decision out of Garbers' hands. His hesitancy was made immaterial.
For the first time since Baldwin got here, for a half of play I felt I saw an OC that understood his personnel and was playing to their strengths. There will be challenges. Is the offense good? No. I expect that defenses will stack the box, maybe put a spy on Garbers and force him to beat them with his arm. And, much like Tedford found ways for Levy to succeed through the air against BYU, Baldwin will have to do the same for Garbers.
But I see an identity now for Cal if the staff wants to take it. Run the ball. Let Garbers make plays with his feet. Give him simple throws when he needs it. Move the chains. Minimize turnovers. Keep the defense fresh. Score just enough to let the defense win the game. Will we win a conference championship doing this? Probably not. But we can win a lot of games and take the next step.
