(Written by kencraw)

(Today we pick back up the looking back series. We’re going to continue the trend we started a couple years ago of doing these in “matching order” instead of chronological order, with doing games from 2008, 2009 and 2010 as needed to bring the series up to date. Today we look at the 2010 Nevada game, which in theory matches with Fresno State from last week, but is also a good match for Colorado both because the game will be at a similar altitude and it’s the challenging road non-conference game of the previous year. Go here for past looking back posts.)

Pre-Game notes and thoughts:
The Bears had just come off of two dominating wins over Colorado and UC Davis. While everyone knew that UC Davis was nothing to brag about, Colorado was a bit of an unknown quantity and there was reason for great optimism in Berkeley. That said, everyone knew there was reason to fear the trip to Reno. Nevada was peaking and thought to be a serious challenge to Boise State in the WAC. With a senior quarterback who was a legitimate dual-threat QB and an innovative scheme that was growing in popularity (the pistol), there was reason to be nervous, particularly considering the struggles the Bears have on the road during the non-conference (see 2008 Maryland, 2006 Tennesee). Nevertheless, this was definitely a winnable game for the Bears.

Scoring and momentum changing plays:

• Nevada got the ball to start the game and made relatively quick work of the Bears. Kaepernick delivers a strike on a come-back route off the play-action, to a wide open receiver who powers through the tackle of Darian Hagan to the endzone. Cal in a hole early: 0-7
• Riley throws a nice pass to an open Keenan Allen, although a tad behind him, but it goes right through his hands and is tipped into the safety’s hands for an interception to end Cal’s first drive that was otherwise promising.
• After the defense forces the punt, Vereen explodes through a large hole on the first play of the drive and runs for a 59-yard touchdown run. The Bears tie it up: 7-7
• Kaepernick caps another read-option heavy drive (although just enough diversity to keep Cal on its toes) with a 2-yard touchdown run. Bears back in a one touchdown hole: 7-14
• Riley is sacked on back to back plays as the offensive line folds all to quickly. The Bears are forced to punt on a 3-and-out.
• The defense is every bit as inept on the ensuing Nevada drive, completely letting Kaepernick free on the outside. This time it’s capped by an 8 yard touchdown run by the nimble QB. Bears down by two scores: 7-21
• After stringing together a couple 1st downs, Riley overthrows an easy target on 3rd and 3, forcing the Bears to punt from around midfield.
• Cal recovers a fumble from a botched handoff, getting the ball at the Nevada 21.
• Vereen punches in a 2 yard touchdown run on the end of the short-field drive. Cal back within a touchdown: 14-21
• Kaepernick throws a nice deep ball on loose coverage by Conte, for 30 yards, giving Nevada a shorter field for their end of half drive.
• Nevada runs out of time (not very good clock management, actually) and has to kick a 30 yard field-goal. Bears down by 10 at halftime: 14-24
• Vereen busts his 2nd big run, this one is a 49 yard touchdown run, on the opening drive of the 2nd half. Bears back within 3… yes, all you “Cal got blown out by Nevada” people, Cal was down by only 3 in the 3rd quarter: 21-24
• Cal forces a 3-and-out on Nevada’s first possession of the 2nd half.
• After marching the ball down to the Nevada 35, Riley makes a crucial judgment error and is intercepted. A pick-6 at that! Bears back down by 10: 21-31
• Vereen nearly breaks his longest run of the day. As it was, it was a 35 yard run. But it was a couple of steps from being an 80 yard touchdown run.
• On the following play, Anthony Miller takes it most of the rest of the way to the endzone, setting up 1st and goal from the 7.
• However, 2 run plays only get the ball to the 5 and the jump ball to Jones in the corner of the endzone falls incomplete. The Bears have to settle for 3 to get it back to a touchdown deficit: 24-31
• Kaepernick throws another great ball on a seam route down to the 5 yard line. The ball is knocked out by Marc Anthony, but the receiver is able to recover the fumble just over the goal line for a touchdown. Bears down by two touchdowns again: 24-38
• Cal marches down the field and has unable to convert on 3rd and 4th down from the Nevada 8 yard line (could get a 1st down at the 2 yard line). Instead of taking 3, they went for 7 and ended up getting nothing.
• The tired Cal defense was so concerned about Kaepernick on the read-option that they eventually gave up a big run up the middle, a 54 yard touchdown run. Now with less than 8 minutes left in the game, the score was officially embarrassing: 24-45
• Riley throws a nice rainbow to Jones down to the 4 yard line, giving Cal one last shot to close up the score.
• Riley throws a rare fullback rollout for a touchdown. The Bears are back within 14: 31-45
• After a failed onside kick attempt, Nevada makes easy work of the short field and Kaepernick scores on another read-option. Back to down by 3 TD’s: 31-52
• With Riley throwing up desperation balls to trying and get another touchdown or two (or perhaps the miracle comeback), he throws up an interception, sealing the final drive for the Bears and the victory formation for Nevada.

Observations:

• On Nevada’s first drive, it was feast or famine for Nevada. In a lot of ways, there was promise in the Cal defensive effort, with a number of plays for no gain or even a few short losses. But then on other plays, things would break down quickly and it would go for a lot of yards.
• On Nevada’s third drive, Cal’s outside pursuit was diving on the running back EVERY TIME they ran the read-option. Kaepernick was able to explode for big yards on the outside. It was a disappointing thing to see and seemed to reflect that Cal wasn’t well prepared for the pistol (it’s OK to dive on the runner, but you’d better have someone on outside contain if the QB runs with it.)
• After Vereen picked up 14 on 2nd and 20 in the 3rd quarter, he had to come out of the game to catch his breath. You could definitely tell the altitude was getting to him in a big way, the way he was gasping for air. He was back in 2 plays later to score the touchdown, so it’s not long term, but it just shows how players need to be spelled at altitude.
• Cal’s defensive adjustments looked really good to start the 2nd half. Kaepernick was contained when he kept the ball and the inside run game wasn’t going any better. Things definitely looked up for the Bears.
• It can’t be overstated how much of a turning point Riley’s interception was. Cal had clawed within 3 and was driving. They were only a few yards from being in field goal range to tie the game, but it felt more like the Bears were headed to the endzone. The defense was also containing the Nevada offense for the first time all game. Instead, the Bears find themselves back in a 10 point hole with just over 20 minutes to play.
• Kevin Riley’s accuracy in the 4th quarter was a real problem. While he wasn’t perfect earlier in the game, most of his passes were enough on target to be complete. Not so in the 4th quarter. Their drive down into the redzone was on the back of Vereen and Sofele and also on pass interference penalties (on not very well thrown balls).
• The failed conversion on 4th down was the turning point where the game officially fell apart. You could tell the defense lost their heart after that failed conversion deep in Nevada territory and Nevada’s runs returned to a level of success they mostly hadn’t seen in the 2nd half, including the 54 yard touchdown run.

Implications for 2011:
There’s no doubt that Cal has struggled with their bigger non-conference road games. Just about every year but 2009: 2006 Tennessee, there was no tough road game in 2007, 2008 Maryland, the exception that proves the rule 2009 Minnesota and then this game, 2010 Nevada. Will Colorado have the same result in 2011? It does have a similar aspect to it with the altitude. But in many ways, that’s where the comparisons end. Really, of all the teams Cal lost to, with the exception of perhaps 2008 Maryland, each of those teams would clearly be better than Colorado this year. Also, Nevada ran a very unconventional offense, one the Bears had never seen before and there’s no doubt that had an impact on the defensive performance. So it’s a little hard to judge things based on this game. But the altitude is an interesting component. There’s no doubt players will have to be spelled. But the good news is that Cal has lots of depth to do that, particularly on defense. So the comparisons here may be pretty weak.

Conclusion:
Overall, this was obviously a very difficult game for the Bears, but re-watching it confirmed what I thought after watching it the first time. The Bears could have legitimately won this game if a few of the breaks had gone their way, starting with Mike Mohammed not being available for the game. It also confirmed for me just how good of a team the 2010 Nevada team was. They most definitely peaked in 2010, and their victory over Boise State later in the season was more evidence of that. Is it just me, or does it feel like we often get non-conference foes while they’re peaking?