dbush518 said:

---

kelly09 said:

---

mbBear said:

---

HearstMining said:

---

I'd like to open the time-window just a little wider and bring the 1975 team into the conversation. It's natural to be biased towards a team that played during your Cal years and I clearly am. I was a kid during the Willsey years. Fans of the 1991 team had to endure the bleak mid-late 80's teams. Fans of the 2004 and 2006 still bore the scars of Holmoecaust. The 1975 team ultimately shared a conference championship with UCLA, who went on to beat #1 Ohio St in the Rose Bowl. That Cal team took a while to find their mojo and the defense was only (at best) good, but by the end of the season, they clearly could have beaten anybody in the country.

---

The mojo was a change at the QB position. Remember, Roth only lost one game, a very sloppy affair vs. UCLA-like 7 turnovers, including a key fumble on a punt.
I think some of the other teams in the conversation had better D than the '75 team, but I am partial to them as well.

---

When 75' season ended, I don't believe there was a team in the country that could have contained that offense. Pitt had Matt Cavanaugh and TonyDorsett. What an offensive extravaganza that would have been, had they played each other.

---

Two notes on '75. That was the first year Pac-8) then teams could go to bowl games other than the Rose, and the conference did not know how to get bowl slots for its teams. USC and UCLA played Thanksgiving weekend and by then most bowls were filled. Cal still had a shot at the Rose if USC won so nobody else offered them a bid. Today, that team would have gone somewhere, possibly even New Years Day.
The Bears led the nation in total offense with 5044 total yards. 2522 rushing and 2522 passing. You can't get mor balanced than that.

---

Thanks David. '75 was my favorite team of the modern (for me) era. Howcum we can't give a staff member some stars?

I graduated in '76. When I saw that my time at Cal was not part of the "modern era" one of my parts retracted into my body cavity.

bearister said:

---

I graduated in '76. When I saw that my time at Cal was not part of the "modern era" one of my parts retracted into my body cavity.

---

I knew a guy getting his PhD at Cal, who was from Winnipeg, Manitoba. His father used to be an engineer or conductor on Canadian trains. His father told him what you described usually happened to him riding the train in the severe Canadian winters. He told his son to tie a string to it, so he could find it again.

The '20 team.

dbush518 said:

---

kelly09 said:

---

mbBear said:

---

HearstMining said:

---

I'd like to open the time-window just a little wider and bring the 1975 team into the conversation. It's natural to be biased towards a team that played during your Cal years and I clearly am. I was a kid during the Willsey years. Fans of the 1991 team had to endure the bleak mid-late 80's teams. Fans of the 2004 and 2006 still bore the scars of Holmoecaust. The 1975 team ultimately shared a conference championship with UCLA, who went on to beat #1 Ohio St in the Rose Bowl. That Cal team took a while to find their mojo and the defense was only (at best) good, but by the end of the season, they clearly could have beaten anybody in the country.

---

The mojo was a change at the QB position. Remember, Roth only lost one game, a very sloppy affair vs. UCLA-like 7 turnovers, including a key fumble on a punt.
I think some of the other teams in the conversation had better D than the '75 team, but I am partial to them as well.

---

When 75' season ended, I don't believe there was a team in the country that could have contained that offense. Pitt had Matt Cavanaugh and TonyDorsett. What an offensive extravaganza that would have been, had they played each other.

---

Two notes on '75. That was the first year Pac-8) then teams could go to bowl games other than the Rose, and the conference did not know how to get bowl slots for its teams. USC and UCLA played Thanksgiving weekend and by then most bowls were filled. Cal still had a shot at the Rose if USC won so nobody else offered them a bid. Today, that team would have gone somewhere, possibly even New Years Day.
The Bears led the nation in total offense with 5044 total yards. 2522 rushing and 2522 passing. You can't get mor balanced than that.
Yes, I went to the SC/UCLA game wearing a Cal Rose Bowl shirt...and had to root for SC. Cal would have gone to the Rose Bowl with a tie as well....and John McKay would not try a FG at the end...

---

okaydo said:

---

Larno said:

---

The 2004 team may not have been the best, but consider this: What if they had not whiffed at the end of the USC game and scored and won the game, and then won the rest of their games as they did? There would have been a solid chance that they would have ended up in the National Championship game. They clearly outplayed USC in that game but shot themselves in the foot. A victory over USC would have meant a great deal as USC was considered the top team in that era, and even Mack Brown wouldn't have been able to sabotage them. Yes, in 1991 they came very close to beating the eventual number one team, Washington, but they also face-planted against Stanford in the worst way. Now, would Cal have done better in the championship game in 2004 than they did in their dismal bowl game? We'll never know.

---

Yeah, but beating USC would've set up a very different dynamic.

Remember all the times Cal went 5-0 the past 2 decades?

Cal's last 6-0 start to the season was 1950 because going undefeated is hard. Very hard. The team might've believed its own hype. Or it might've been distracted by the even more media attention. And the 7-0 Cal might've faltered against the Ducks, which it barely beat. And if Cal did go 11-0, the shameless guy currently running for U.S. senator in Alabama might've pulled a Mack Brown and succeeded in getting his team into the championship game.

---

People forget Chase Lyman and one of the most significant injuries ever for Cal.
He was absolutely dynamite for that 2004 team with something like 5 TDs in his first
3 games. He was unstoppable, so good in fact, that he had supplanted Geoff MacArthur
as Cal's leading receiver after MacArthur had made some AA teams the season before.
But Chase was hurt early in the USC game, which ended his college career. Oh, what
might have been. Our receiving corp continued to fall and became somewhat depleted by the
end of the season. In the USC game (our fourth game of the year), on that final drive,
one of Rodgers' passes in the end zone was to Noah Smith, I believe, a redshirt freshman
who ended up with only 6 catches in his Cal career. The ball zoomed by Smith as he
turned the wrong way. The drop off from Lyman was huge. Injuries are a part of the game,
to be sure, but I've always wondered what might have happened that season if Chase
(a player with tremendous talent but often injured) could have stayed healthy. It's very
possible that Cal could have had a real shot at the National Championship.

SFCityBear said:

---

dbush518 said:

---

kelly09 said:

---

mbBear said:

---

HearstMining said:

---

I'd like to open the time-window just a little wider and bring the 1975 team into the conversation. It's natural to be biased towards a team that played during your Cal years and I clearly am. I was a kid during the Willsey years. Fans of the 1991 team had to endure the bleak mid-late 80's teams. Fans of the 2004 and 2006 still bore the scars of Holmoecaust. The 1975 team ultimately shared a conference championship with UCLA, who went on to beat #1 Ohio St in the Rose Bowl. That Cal team took a while to find their mojo and the defense was only (at best) good, but by the end of the season, they clearly could have beaten anybody in the country.

---

The mojo was a change at the QB position. Remember, Roth only lost one game, a very sloppy affair vs. UCLA-like 7 turnovers, including a key fumble on a punt.
I think some of the other teams in the conversation had better D than the '75 team, but I am partial to them as well.

---

When 75' season ended, I don't believe there was a team in the country that could have contained that offense. Pitt had Matt Cavanaugh and TonyDorsett. What an offensive extravaganza that would have been, had they played each other.

---

Two notes on '75. That was the first year Pac-8) then teams could go to bowl games other than the Rose, and the conference did not know how to get bowl slots for its teams. USC and UCLA played Thanksgiving weekend and by then most bowls were filled. Cal still had a shot at the Rose if USC won so nobody else offered them a bid. Today, that team would have gone somewhere, possibly even New Years Day.
The Bears led the nation in total offense with 5044 total yards. 2522 rushing and 2522 passing. You can't get mor balanced than that.

---

Thanks David. '75 was my favorite team of the modern (for me) era. Howcum we can't give a staff member some stars?

---

Sadly, after we had whipped USC that year, USC was invited to a bowl game that year and we
stayed home.

CalBarn said:

---

SFCityBear said:

---

dbush518 said:

---

kelly09 said:

---

mbBear said:

---

HearstMining said:

---

I'd like to open the time-window just a little wider and bring the 1975 team into the conversation. It's natural to be biased towards a team that played during your Cal years and I clearly am. I was a kid during the Willsey years. Fans of the 1991 team had to endure the bleak mid-late 80's teams. Fans of the 2004 and 2006 still bore the scars of Holmoecaust. The 1975 team ultimately shared a conference championship with UCLA, who went on to beat #1 Ohio St in the Rose Bowl. That Cal team took a while to find their mojo and the defense was only (at best) good, but by the end of the season, they clearly could have beaten anybody in the country.

---

The mojo was a change at the QB position. Remember, Roth only lost one game, a very sloppy affair vs. UCLA-like 7 turnovers, including a key fumble on a punt.
I think some of the other teams in the conversation had better D than the '75 team, but I am partial to them as well.

---

When 75' season ended, I don't believe there was a team in the country that could have contained that offense. Pitt had Matt Cavanaugh and TonyDorsett. What an offensive extravaganza that would have been, had they played each other.

---

Two notes on '75. That was the first year Pac-8) then teams could go to bowl games other than the Rose, and the conference did not know how to get bowl slots for its teams. USC and UCLA played Thanksgiving weekend and by then most bowls were filled. Cal still had a shot at the Rose if USC won so nobody else offered them a bid. Today, that team would have gone somewhere, possibly even New Years Day.
The Bears led the nation in total offense with 5044 total yards. 2522 rushing and 2522 passing. You can't get mor balanced than that.

---

Thanks David. '75 was my favorite team of the modern (for me) era. Howcum we can't give a staff member some stars?

---

Sadly, after we had whipped USC that year, USC was invited to a bowl game that year and we
stayed home.

---

Maybe my memory is faulty, but I seem to remember the usually sure handed Muncie dropping a 4th down pass over the middle late in the game against UCLA, which killed a drive and may have cost us a trip to the Rose Bowl.

SFCityBear said:

---

CalBarn said:

---

SFCityBear said:

---

dbush518 said:

---

kelly09 said:

---

mbBear said:

---

HearstMining said:

---

I'd like to open the time-window just a little wider and bring the 1975 team into the conversation. It's natural to be biased towards a team that played during your Cal years and I clearly am. I was a kid during the Willsey years. Fans of the 1991 team had to endure the bleak mid-late 80's teams. Fans of the 2004 and 2006 still bore the scars of Holmoecaust. The 1975 team ultimately shared a conference championship with UCLA, who went on to beat #1 Ohio St in the Rose Bowl. That Cal team took a while to find their mojo and the defense was only (at best) good, but by the end of the season, they clearly could have beaten anybody in the country.

---

The mojo was a change at the QB position. Remember, Roth only lost one game, a very sloppy affair vs. UCLA-like 7 turnovers, including a key fumble on a punt.
I think some of the other teams in the conversation had better D than the '75 team, but I am partial to them as well.

---

When 75' season ended, I don't believe there was a team in the country that could have contained that offense. Pitt had Matt Cavanaugh and TonyDorsett. What an offensive extravaganza that would have been, had they played each other.

---

Two notes on '75. That was the first year Pac-8) then teams could go to bowl games other than the Rose, and the conference did not know how to get bowl slots for its teams. USC and UCLA played Thanksgiving weekend and by then most bowls were filled. Cal still had a shot at the Rose if USC won so nobody else offered them a bid. Today, that team would have gone somewhere, possibly even New Years Day.
The Bears led the nation in total offense with 5044 total yards. 2522 rushing and 2522 passing. You can't get mor balanced than that.

---

Thanks David. '75 was my favorite team of the modern (for me) era. Howcum we can't give a staff member some stars?

---

Sadly, after we had whipped USC that year, USC was invited to a bowl game that year and we
stayed home.

---

Maybe my memory is faulty, but I seem to remember the usually sure handed Muncie dropping a 4th down pass over the middle late in the game against UCLA, which killed a drive and may have cost us a trip to the Rose Bowl.

---

I remember the incredibly sure handed Steve Rivera fumbled a punt that hurt us badly.
Don't think Muncie was the main culprit. I think it was a collective effort. Sadly, we got better and better throughout the year and by season's end, I think we could have handled UCLA pretty easily.
It just was not our best day.

Strykur said:

---

LunchTime said:

---

I would also say that 2005 is the "should have been best" team in Modern Cal History. If Rodgers doesnt get told he is the #1 pick and stays, that is easily the best team in the country, IMO.

I cant even wrap my head around the potential of that team. Hell, even with Longshore not breaking his leg, that might have been a top 3 team.

---

With a healthy Longshore we go at least 10-1 in 2005 and probably a BCS bowl, leading into a big 2006 which with a year under his belt nets a few more wins, which sets the stage for a mammoth 2007. If anything that affected us much more going forward than Rodgers leaving.

---

But Longshore was healthy in 2006. Why were we not 10-1 and in a BCS Bowl?

SFCityBear said:

---

CalBarn said:

---

SFCityBear said:

---

dbush518 said:

---

kelly09 said:

---

mbBear said:

---

HearstMining said:

---

I'd like to open the time-window just a little wider and bring the 1975 team into the conversation. It's natural to be biased towards a team that played during your Cal years and I clearly am. I was a kid during the Willsey years. Fans of the 1991 team had to endure the bleak mid-late 80's teams. Fans of the 2004 and 2006 still bore the scars of Holmoecaust. The 1975 team ultimately shared a conference championship with UCLA, who went on to beat #1 Ohio St in the Rose Bowl. That Cal team took a while to find their mojo and the defense was only (at best) good, but by the end of the season, they clearly could have beaten anybody in the country.

---

The mojo was a change at the QB position. Remember, Roth only lost one game, a very sloppy affair vs. UCLA-like 7 turnovers, including a key fumble on a punt.
I think some of the other teams in the conversation had better D than the '75 team, but I am partial to them as well.

---

When 75' season ended, I don't believe there was a team in the country that could have contained that offense. Pitt had Matt Cavanaugh and TonyDorsett. What an offensive extravaganza that would have been, had they played each other.

---

Two notes on '75. That was the first year Pac-8) then teams could go to bowl games other than the Rose, and the conference did not know how to get bowl slots for its teams. USC and UCLA played Thanksgiving weekend and by then most bowls were filled. Cal still had a shot at the Rose if USC won so nobody else offered them a bid. Today, that team would have gone somewhere, possibly even New Years Day.
The Bears led the nation in total offense with 5044 total yards. 2522 rushing and 2522 passing. You can't get mor balanced than that.

---

Thanks David. '75 was my favorite team of the modern (for me) era. Howcum we can't give a staff member some stars?

---

Sadly, after we had whipped USC that year, USC was invited to a bowl game that year and we
stayed home.

---

Maybe my memory is faulty, but I seem to remember the usually sure handed Muncie dropping a 4th down pass over the middle late in the game against UCLA, which killed a drive and may have cost us a trip to the Rose Bowl.

---

I don't remember that. I do remember the sure handed Rivera fumbling a key punt.

I also consider the 1975 team the best Cal team in the modern era.

calumnus said:

---

Strykur said:

---

LunchTime said:

---

I would also say that 2005 is the "should have been best" team in Modern Cal History. If Rodgers doesnt get told he is the #1 pick and stays, that is easily the best team in the country, IMO.

I cant even wrap my head around the potential of that team. Hell, even with Longshore not breaking his leg, that might have been a top 3 team.

---

With a healthy Longshore we go at least 10-1 in 2005 and probably a BCS bowl, leading into a big 2006 which with a year under his belt nets a few more wins, which sets the stage for a mammoth 2007. If anything that affected us much more going forward than Rodgers leaving.

---

But Longshore was healthy in 2006. Why were we not 10-1 and in a BCS Bowl?

---

If Longshore plays in 2005 he comes into 2006 with the experience to avoid crapping the bed in Knoxville, doesn't suck at Arizona and maybe gets us past USC, get the picture?

RichyBear said:

---

I also consider the 1975 team the best Cal team in the modern era.

---

Everything about the '75 team made me the Cal fan I am today, but not sure the defense matches up with the other teams in discussion. Maybe the offense makes all the difference though.
Fairly sure that is Larry Baer at the :45 mark into the video...if anyone cares..ha

mbBear said:

---

RichyBear said:

---

I also consider the 1975 team the best Cal team in the modern era.

---

Everything about the '75 team made me the Cal fan I am today, but not sure the defense matches up with the other teams in discussion. Maybe the offense makes all the difference though.
Fairly sure that is Larry Baer at the :45 mark into the video...if anyone cares..ha

---

If I recall correctly, 8 or 9 players from the 1975 offense played in the NFL or USFL. Some had lengthy careers. Obviously Joe Roth didn't get to the NFL (though that seems likely had he lived) but the backup QB Fred Besana played for Buffalo (I think) and later started for the Oakland Invaders in the USFL. Despite the talent on offense, the fairly average defense keeps the 1975 team from being the best Cal team in my opinion.

Eastern Oregon Bear said:

---

mbBear said:

---

RichyBear said:

---

I also consider the 1975 team the best Cal team in the modern era.

---

Everything about the '75 team made me the Cal fan I am today, but not sure the defense matches up with the other teams in discussion. Maybe the offense makes all the difference though.
Fairly sure that is Larry Baer at the :45 mark into the video...if anyone cares..ha

---

If I recall correctly, 8 or 9 players from the 1975 offense played in the NFL or USFL. Some had lengthy careers. Obviously Joe Roth didn't get to the NFL (though that seems likely had he lived) but the backup QB Fred Besana played for Buffalo (I think) and later started for the Oakland Invaders in the USFL. Despite the talent on offense, the fairly average defense keeps the 1975 team from being the best Cal team in my opinion.

---

Roth would have been the 1st QB taken, and a decent chance of being the 1st pick overall. He remains the greatest college player never to have played in the NFL.

Funny, everything about the 1991 team made me the Bear fan I am today. I remembered watching the Play on tv in the sports news recap and that stick with me, but I had no idea it was Cal until I attended. The 1991 team had it all - offense, defense, special teams, nail biters... they introduced the forward pass to Clemson, then spent the second half showing them how to run the football.

mbBear said:

---

Eastern Oregon Bear said:

---

mbBear said:

---

RichyBear said:

---

I also consider the 1975 team the best Cal team in the modern era.

---

Everything about the '75 team made me the Cal fan I am today, but not sure the defense matches up with the other teams in discussion. Maybe the offense makes all the difference though.
Fairly sure that is Larry Baer at the :45 mark into the video...if anyone cares..ha

---

If I recall correctly, 8 or 9 players from the 1975 offense played in the NFL or USFL. Some had lengthy careers. Obviously Joe Roth didn't get to the NFL (though that seems likely had he lived) but the backup QB Fred Besana played for Buffalo (I think) and later started for the Oakland Invaders in the USFL. Despite the talent on offense, the fairly average defense keeps the 1975 team from being the best Cal team in my opinion.

---

Roth would have been the 1st QB taken, and a decent chance of being the 1st pick overall. He remains the greatest college player never to have played in the NFL.

---

Maybe Roth was the best modern college player never to have played in the NFL. Jackie Jensen comes to mind, who played in the Major Leagues instead of the NFL. Others like Vic Bottari, who was drafted by Brooklyn and decided to retire from football, and Sam Chapman, who was drafted by the Washington Redskins, but also opted for the Major Leagues, to play baseball.

calumnus said:

---

Strykur said:

---

LunchTime said:

---

I would also say that 2005 is the "should have been best" team in Modern Cal History. If Rodgers doesnt get told he is the #1 pick and stays, that is easily the best team in the country, IMO.

I cant even wrap my head around the potential of that team. Hell, even with Longshore not breaking his leg, that might have been a top 3 team.

---

With a healthy Longshore we go at least 10-1 in 2005 and probably a BCS bowl, leading into a big 2006 which with a year under his belt nets a few more wins, which sets the stage for a mammoth 2007. If anything that affected us much more going forward than Rodgers leaving.

---

But Longshore was healthy in 2006. Why were we not 10-1 and in a BCS Bowl?

---

We lost the opener in Tenessee against a good team in Longshore's first real game. He was like a deer in headlights in front of 103,000. He was so skittish during the warmups I knew we were done. Then Stephens goes down on the first kickoff and gets knocked out - and the stadium goes berserk.

Fun time in Tenessee but that game was brutal. Nate figured it out generally after that and we did OK. 9-2 in the regular season and beat Texas A&M in the Holiday Bowl.

I think if Nate had started in 2005 and had a year under his belt he may have had a decent game at Tennessee and we may have gone all the way. But he got injured at Sac State - first game in the first half, and we went with the very best paper-airplane pilot in the world after that.

SFCityBear said:

---

mbBear said:

---

Eastern Oregon Bear said:

---

mbBear said:

---

RichyBear said:

---

I also consider the 1975 team the best Cal team in the modern era.

---

Everything about the '75 team made me the Cal fan I am today, but not sure the defense matches up with the other teams in discussion. Maybe the offense makes all the difference though.
Fairly sure that is Larry Baer at the :45 mark into the video...if anyone cares..ha

---

If I recall correctly, 8 or 9 players from the 1975 offense played in the NFL or USFL. Some had lengthy careers. Obviously Joe Roth didn't get to the NFL (though that seems likely had he lived) but the backup QB Fred Besana played for Buffalo (I think) and later started for the Oakland Invaders in the USFL. Despite the talent on offense, the fairly average defense keeps the 1975 team from being the best Cal team in my opinion.

---

Roth would have been the 1st QB taken, and a decent chance of being the 1st pick overall. He remains the greatest college player never to have played in the NFL.

---

Maybe Roth was the best modern college player never to have played in the NFL. Jackie Jensen comes to mind, who played in the Major Leagues instead of the NFL. Others like Vic Bottari, who was drafted by Brooklyn and decided to retire from football, and Sam Chapman, who was drafted by the Washington Redskins, but also opted for the Major Leagues, to play baseball.

I stand by my statement. Roth was playing against major competition in a more modern era of College Football.

---

Quote:

---

+ 1 more quotes (click to expand)

---

Strykur said:
With a healthy Longshore we go at least 10-1 in 2005 and probably a BCS bowl, leading into a big 2006 which with a year under his belt nets a few more wins, which sets the stage for a mammoth 2007. If anything that affected us much more going forward than Rodgers leaving.

Better than a healthy Longshore in 2005, if Rodgers had stayed for his SR year in 2005, we might have gone 12-0. We would have had future NFL stars Rodgers, Jackson, and Lynch.

mbBear said:

---

SFCityBear said:

---

mbBear said:

---

Eastern Oregon Bear said:

---

mbBear said:

---

RichyBear said:

---

I also consider the 1975 team the best Cal team in the modern era.

---

Everything about the '75 team made me the Cal fan I am today, but not sure the defense matches up with the other teams in discussion. Maybe the offense makes all the difference though.
Fairly sure that is Larry Baer at the :45 mark into the video...if anyone cares..ha

---

If I recall correctly, 8 or 9 players from the 1975 offense played in the NFL or USFL. Some had lengthy careers. Obviously Joe Roth didn't get to the NFL (though that seems likely had he lived) but the backup QB Fred Besana played for Buffalo (I think) and later started for the Oakland Invaders in the USFL. Despite the talent on offense, the fairly average defense keeps the 1975 team from being the best Cal team in my opinion.

---

Roth would have been the 1st QB taken, and a decent chance of being the 1st pick overall. He remains the greatest college player never to have played in the NFL.

---

Maybe Roth was the best modern college player never to have played in the NFL. Jackie Jensen comes to mind, who played in the Major Leagues instead of the NFL. Others like Vic Bottari, who was drafted by Brooklyn and decided to retire from football, and Sam Chapman, who was drafted by the Washington Redskins, but also opted for the Major Leagues, to play baseball.

I stand by my statement. Roth was playing against major competition in a more modern era of College Football.

---

---

Brace yourself. You may get some incoming. There are many fans right here on the Bear Insider who don't think 1975 is the modern era of college football.

SFCityBear said:

---

mbBear said:

---

SFCityBear said:

---

mbBear said:

---

Eastern Oregon Bear said:

---

mbBear said:

---

RichyBear said:

---

I also consider the 1975 team the best Cal team in the modern era.

---

Everything about the '75 team made me the Cal fan I am today, but not sure the defense matches up with the other teams in discussion. Maybe the offense makes all the difference though.
Fairly sure that is Larry Baer at the :45 mark into the video...if anyone cares..ha

---

If I recall correctly, 8 or 9 players from the 1975 offense played in the NFL or USFL. Some had lengthy careers. Obviously Joe Roth didn't get to the NFL (though that seems likely had he lived) but the backup QB Fred Besana played for Buffalo (I think) and later started for the Oakland Invaders in the USFL. Despite the talent on offense, the fairly average defense keeps the 1975 team from being the best Cal team in my opinion.

---

Roth would have been the 1st QB taken, and a decent chance of being the 1st pick overall. He remains the greatest college player never to have played in the NFL.

---

Maybe Roth was the best modern college player never to have played in the NFL. Jackie Jensen comes to mind, who played in the Major Leagues instead of the NFL. Others like Vic Bottari, who was drafted by Brooklyn and decided to retire from football, and Sam Chapman, who was drafted by the Washington Redskins, but also opted for the Major Leagues, to play baseball.

I stand by my statement. Roth was playing against major competition in a more modern era of College Football.

---

---

Brace yourself. You may get some incoming. There are many fans right here on the Bear Insider who don't think 1975 is the modern era of college football.

---

Well, the Cal coaching staff in the 70s had young assistants who coached in the "undisputed" modern era, so I feel that's a good first step.

mbBear said:

---

SFCityBear said:

---

mbBear said:

---

SFCityBear said:

---

mbBear said:

---

Eastern Oregon Bear said:

---

mbBear said:

---

RichyBear said:

---

I also consider the 1975 team the best Cal team in the modern era.

---

Everything about the '75 team made me the Cal fan I am today, but not sure the defense matches up with the other teams in discussion. Maybe the offense makes all the difference though.
Fairly sure that is Larry Baer at the :45 mark into the video...if anyone cares..ha

---

If I recall correctly, 8 or 9 players from the 1975 offense played in the NFL or USFL. Some had lengthy careers. Obviously Joe Roth didn't get to the NFL (though that seems likely had he lived) but the backup QB Fred Besana played for Buffalo (I think) and later started for the Oakland Invaders in the USFL. Despite the talent on offense, the fairly average defense keeps the 1975 team from being the best Cal team in my opinion.

---

Roth would have been the 1st QB taken, and a decent chance of being the 1st pick overall. He remains the greatest college player never to have played in the NFL.

---

Maybe Roth was the best modern college player never to have played in the NFL. Jackie Jensen comes to mind, who played in the Major Leagues instead of the NFL. Others like Vic Bottari, who was drafted by Brooklyn and decided to retire from football, and Sam Chapman, who was drafted by the Washington Redskins, but also opted for the Major Leagues, to play baseball.

I stand by my statement. Roth was playing against major competition in a more modern era of College Football.

---

---

Brace yourself. You may get some incoming. There are many fans right here on the Bear Insider who don't think 1975 is the modern era of college football.

---

Well, the Cal coaching staff in the 70s had young assistants who coached in the "undisputed" modern era, so I feel that's a good first step.

---

I'm with you, mbBear. '75 was a wonderful team with some of Cal's greatest all-time players.