USC preview
(Written by kencraw)
I’m really not looking forward to writing this review. I’m not the type of guy that likes dancing on anyone’s grave and that’s what it would take to be excited about what we’re going to see tomorrow.
Simply put, the Bears are going to get crushed.
USC is and will continue to be the sleeping giant in the conference. They are still hands down the most talented team in the conference, even with the scholarship sanctions. The way the season had been going for the spoiled children, I had hoped I wouldn’t have to focus on the raw talent of USC, because talent is meaningless in football unless it is focused and refined in a team. Kiffin seemed to be doing everything in his power to make sure there was no refining and oddly, despite being very focused personally and seeming to want it for the team, it just seemed they were “focused” like a hyper-active kid on sedatives… can you really call it focus?
Orgeron seems to have been the perfect pick for interim head coach. He’s not going to work miracles, but what he has seemed to do is take the sedative shackles off a very talented bunch and let them go out there and push people around. They seem excited to play and and have a nasty combination of feeling like they have nothing to lose and a take no prisoners attitude.
So here’s how it’s going to go…
The Bears are going to lose BIG in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Expect to see the Bears just looking silly a lot. Big run plays for the Trojans. Tons of time for Kessler to find receivers and big passing plays as coverage breaks down. On the other side, offensive plays for the Bears that are just blown up will be all too frequent and quite cringe worthy. Don’t ever expect the Bears to get in a rhythm.
However, the upside is you’re also going to see a messy game with lots of mistakes. “Duh” would be the response for expecting that of Cal, but USC will make their share of mistakes too. As a result, Cal might get a few big plays to give us hope, perhaps one or two special teams too.. USC might even cough up the ball now and again (I’d call for some easy picks if it weren’t for the fact this Cal secondary is pathetically bad at having a nose for the ball). Cal might get a big sack on a busted assignment or good blitz package. These flashes of hope might even be frequent enough that if the talent differences weren’t so vastly different that it could sway the outcome of the game.
But it won’t be… not even close. It’s just be a couple blips of joy amongst a really tough game to watch. In fact, I’m going to go out on a limb: Tomorrow will be the lowest point of the first half of the Dykes era. If you’re a positive person, it means it only gets better from here. If not… well… sorry.
Bears lose big: Cal 13, USC 52
November 8th, 2013 at 5:40 pm
“first half” — am I to take from that that you expect him to be fired at the end of next year?
November 8th, 2013 at 5:52 pm
No, I meant it in a more general/philosophical, less chronographic (Yes, I know that’s not a word) way… as in the half of his time where the team is on the rise as opposed to the tail end where things start to go the wrong way. As with most fired coaches, there are some pretty low moments in that 2nd “half” of their careers. My prediction is this will be the low point during the rising half of his career at Cal, however long that may be.
November 9th, 2013 at 8:21 am
If there’s one thing this year has taught me, it’s that it can ALWAYS get worse. I thought there was no way this season could be worse than last year: Cal falling apart, the end of the Telford era, ‘furd winning the Rose Bowl….
But alas, the football gods had other ideas. This season is immeasurably worse than last year. I doubt we’ll beat a D1 team this year, the program looks more lost than ever, and the ‘furd has an outside chance at the national championship game. Ugh. Plus, this year we don’t have the benefit of thinking a new regime will come in and right the ship. We have said new regime and they are in way over the heads. We’re looking at a decade or more in the abyss.
So as Cal fan, I cannot honestly say it’s only up from here. There are always new and exiting lows to plunge to. The PAC 12 is dark and full of terrors. Cal’s is not story with a happy ending. But I’ll still be following the team (I’m even heading out to Boulder with some friends next week) because that’s what old blues do.
Go bears!
November 9th, 2013 at 9:25 am
You’re all wrong.
Today is the day. Today is the day it will all come together on both sides of the ball for one whole game. This offense and this defense have been competent, good even, at various times in between all the face plants. Today will be the day that it will come together for the offense and the defense at the same time and it will last a whole game.
This will be the win the team takes into the offseason to build on for next year when we aren’t one of the youngest teams in the nation with one of the toughest schedules and with everybody hurt. Next year we’ll go to a bowl game and the year after next we’ll go to a better bowl game. Within 5 years we will reach the promised land in Pasadena. The Sonny Dykes experiment is going to work. The disaster we’ve seen so far this season is just growing pains.
USC 27, Cal 45.
November 9th, 2013 at 3:03 pm
Halftime update: Or not.
November 9th, 2013 at 3:49 pm
Ken,
Once again your prediction is way closer than anyone else’s, both in numbers and the essentially description of how the game goes. In this case, sad but true.
Got any stock market tips?
November 9th, 2013 at 5:33 pm
Like I said, when you’re dealing with Cal football there is always a new low to find. Todays’ was a total meltdown by the punt team.
Nice work, Bears!
November 10th, 2013 at 6:47 am
Wifeisatroj, yeah, it does seem I have good sense of how Cal fits in this conference this year. Wasn’t that way the last few years of the Tedford era. And I thought Oregon was going to wipe the floor with Stanford on Thursday. So it seems the power of my gut instincts are limited… I wouldn’t assume it extends to stock tips. 🙂
Joshiemac, boy, you really do have a bad case of the grumps, don’t you? Don’t get me wrong, I sympathize. There have been a few things over the last few years that have been really hard for me to swallow that have for a period of time turned me really pessimistic. The worst part is, there’s lots of solid reasons for it. All I can suggest is to take a deep breath, try hard to look for the positives (there were some yesterday), and enjoy the ride. There will be a time when it is important to be part of the grumpy crowd to force the school’s hand to do the right thing, but it’s not for a couple more years.
November 10th, 2013 at 8:21 pm
Yes, I’ve been too much of a negatron of late. I guess I just never expected the Bears to be this bad again.
Oh well. It’s just football and these kids are working hard to improve.
November 11th, 2013 at 10:36 am
Yes, crushed and painful, but some of the youngest of the young got it going. They were fun for me to watch. The future is brighter.
Also, the highs of the last ten years were so much better because of the previous lows.
The idea of entitlement is a sickening thing. I live in the south (Florida) and it is hilarious to me that the Florida coach is apologizing all over himself for a loss to Vanderbilt IN THE SWAMP! Horrific by any measure. Gator fans are entitled to wins at home. Losses are not tolerable. And what is really funny to me is the aura of abject despair that surrounds the fan base.
College football is a GAME. It is not life or death (unless you are an SEC alum). There is life after football season. There is also life after college for true student athletes. (viz. Joe Igber)
Thanks for the forum.