Post Northwestern Sunday Morning thoughts
(Written by kencraw)
Nice for the Bears to have a win under their belt. It was all the way back in 2011 the last time the Bears were 1-0. Here is a lists of pros and cons to take from the game:
Pros:
- A win! Let’s start with the basics. No matter what transpired, what matters at the end of the day is who won.
- Goff looked good. He had a few misthrows, but overall he made good decisions, and was fairly accurate with the ball.
- Running backs were significantly improved. I liked the toughness and resiliency of both Mohammed and Lasco. They both did a good job of getting the few yards they could even when the play didn’t go as planned. They also were pretty good at sneaking through small holes.
- The OL was significantly improved in pass-protection. Goff left the game with his jersey the same color as when it started. He was sacked just twice (and if I remember right, one was not totally the OL’s fault).
- Rubenzer! Boy was that a surprise. Sure doesn’t look like they’re too concerned with his redshirt. However, for this schtick to be compelling moving forward, Rubenzer is going to have to prove he can throw the ball consistently without mind-numbing interceptions. Otherwise the defense won’t respect the pass and his running lanes will be far and few between.
- Interceptions. Nice to see the Bears looking for the ball and actually intercepting it twice.
- Special teams. I’m very comforted by the fact that there’s very little to talk about on this front. That’s a big improvement from the past.
- Run defense. There’s room for improvement, but overall I was happy with the run defense.
Cons:
- I don’t think Northwestern is very good. They seemed to find their groove for about 10 minutes in the 2nd half, but overall this was a distracted, poorly conditioned, poorly focused team. They had a TON of dropped passes and other stupid miscues that we shouldn’t expect from future opponents.
- The run blocking left something to be desired. It’s improved from last year but not by a ton. This was particularly true in plays where they OL had to run. They were horrible at blocking in stretch plays and screens. But 114 yards on 45 runs is not very inspiring and I put most of the blame for that on the OL.
- Pass defense was also a spot that needed to improve and I was less than impressed. They were SIGNIFICANTLY helped by the dropped passes. They’re going to have to improve before we get into the Pac-12 schedule.
- Play-calling. I wasn’t that impressed. I liked that we were gutsy at times but I feel some bad calls were made. Cal was twice at the 34 yard line and didn’t try the field goal (that’s only a 51 yarder). Supposedly Langford has a big leg. And there were other moments I was scratching my head at the choice of calls. As the game wore on there was a lack of balance and the ball was too much put in the air.
- Penalties. The refs called a loose game so there weren’t a ton, but Cal was hit with a few that reflect poorly on the players. I suspect with a tighter called game we’d have been more frustrated here.
- Refs. This doesn’t fall on the Bears, but Northwestern was holding ALL OVER THE PLACE and it was never called. There were some really blatant ones too. Dykes had every right to be besides himself that play were Cal got called for defensive holding when there was such a blatant OL hold that wasn’t called on the same play.
- Pass rush. Perhaps the holding disguised some good pass rush, but over all I was hoping for more improvement here. For the most part our rush was neutralized all day.
What do you think went well and/or poorly?
August 31st, 2014 at 9:21 am
Ken,
I agree with your analysis, so I don’t want to repeat what you said. Let me add some refinements.
N’western is a weak Big 10 team. But being a Big 10 team means that your defense is keyed against the run. So while weak, N’western could be one of the better run defenses Cal faces all year.
Cal has tremendous talent depth at receiver and running back. This will have more meaning in Pac 12 play.
Goff, as a sophomore, is good enough to QB in the Pac 12. That’s a meaningful statement.
The O-line and the defense has improved meaningfully. That doesn’t mean they don’t need more improvement. It means they moving in the right direction.
You failed to mention the coaching staff did their job in preparing the team for the season. They addressed the weak areas and took advantage of the players’ strengths. You may quibble with the play calling, but the strategic efforts of the coaching staff were on target.
Cal is a fast team on offense and defense. It’s not at the Oregon/Alabama level. It’s a notch lower…and that’s pretty good. They were way faster than N’western and will be faster than at least half of the Pac 12. This has great import. No coach can overcome a speed deficit.
About our competition:
Wash St can’t run and thus they break down in the red zone. And they’re slow on defense. Colorado lost to Colorado St…that seems like a talent problem. Washington looked bad against Hawaii…they will not stay ranked. I’m more afraid of Oregon St…they didn’t lay an egg in the opener like they normally do. Arizona could be a problem, too. UCLA had a poor showing, but Oregon, Furd and USC are strooong. They are several winnable games based on the first week’s results.
August 31st, 2014 at 9:43 am
The pass rush might not be good yet, but they did actually sack the QB. This just shows how bad the defense used to be. I don’t recall seeing a sack at all last year.
August 31st, 2014 at 9:50 am
Don’t forget that Northwestern returned 18 starters, has lots of seniors and experienced players on their team. This was a ROAD WIN, and you take it how you can get it.
Goff looks better, the WR’s (minus the drops at the end) gave us the momentum we needed with tough catches early in the game. They will create mismatches throughout the Pac-12
The defense and offensive line improved marginally (neither unit is very good)
The players finally got this off their back and there’s lots of negatives to take away and learn from. We still had our #1 CB playing his first game, Sebastian should be coming back by week 3, which should be an improvement at safety.
I like the direction they’re heading and I wouldn’t be surprised to see us beat one ranked opponent this year – either UCLA or Stanford. I don’t think we match up well with USC or Oregon, and Oregon St always seems to beat us
August 31st, 2014 at 10:14 am
Ecstatic to get win against an FBS team on the road, however weak the opponent and uneven our performance was. First positive momentum in what seems like forever. The lack of a pass rush is the biggest concern for me, but I was also most impressed with how composed and organized the defense was after last year’s train wreck. We did a good job of containing their guys, and not giving up much in the way of a big plays which plagued us all of last year.
August 31st, 2014 at 11:09 am
Good point guys about the overall composure of the team and that the emphasis in the off-season was on the right things. Even if the progress didn’t make it all the way to “great”, it’s a a sign the coaching staff has the team headed in the right way.
I’m sticking with my prediction of our upset being Washington. We know from experience how hard it is to go cross country for a 9 AM non-conference game, so I think it’s premature to think UCLA isn’t as good as the pre-season hype.
And yes, Arizona looks a lot tougher than previously thought. I really, really, really want that win though. With WSU looking vulnerable, winning on the road vs Arizona could the be the hardest win of the 1st 5 games and might just be the key game for getting to bowl eligibility, particularly when one considers momentum.
August 31st, 2014 at 4:17 pm
I’m not sold on the UCLA bandwagon, and I can’t believe all of the media pundits who are putting them in the playoffs and have Brett Hundley as a Heisman contender, all that tells me is that those people didn’t watch UCLA last year.
Outside of beating USC the last two years, have they beaten any teams they’ve been underdogs against? Stanford? Oregon?
Hundley is Jake Locker 2.0, and while they have a good defense (not elite by any means) they won’t be carried by that unit.
Oregon State looks better than we thought, Oregon is still going to be good, but I don’t think their coach is anywhere near Chip Kelly, and USC looks like their freshman talent is the best they’ve had since Reggie Bush and Mike Williams.
If you stayed up late enough to watch the Huskies, their defense is porous and offense is a work in progress
August 31st, 2014 at 4:56 pm
Chris, I agree with you that it seems a little aggressive to be putting UCLA in the final 4 and Huntley in the Heisman race. They haven’t proved they’re there yet nor that they can beat the elite teams in the conference.
But there’s a big gap between at the above level and where the Bears are and UCLA is closer to the above level than they are to the Bears.