calbear80 said:
I am hoping Cal would be in at least some of the top 25 lists for next year considering that we were 8-5 this season and return almost our the entire O (with an upgraded OC) and our defensive coaches who have made average talent look very good for three years in a row.
OTOH, if one looks closely, our 8-5 could have easily been 10-3 (if Garber had not been injured we would have beaten both ASU and OSU) or 4-9 (if the close games we won by 8 points or less had gone the other way).
Go Bears!
While I'd agree a healthy Garbers probably beats Oregon State, Cal was losing to ASU when Garbers went down. The D was getting shredded and that part wouldn't change if he'd been healthy the whole game.
More likely than not, Cal loses to ASU even with a healthy Garbers.
All this talk about "if Garbers" and there's really only one game he makes a major potential difference. (I heard announcers saying BS about how Cal with a healthy Garbers could have won 10 or more games in the regular season, that's pure idiocy. Cal almost LOST to NTU and Ole Miss, with a healthy Garbers, this was NOT a 10-win team.)
So "healthy Garbers" likely means 8 regular season wins. And who knows about the bowl - maybe Cal goes to a different bowl and loses, so the record stays the same.
Bottom line, if Cal is going to improve on that record it's going to take real improvement, not just the QB not getting hurt. Much more consistent run game, much more efficient offense, better ST, more reliable secondary and improved depth. I believe Cal will improve in those areas (well, not sure about ST).