(Written by kencraw)

Spring Practice starts on Saturday. I’ll be going down to cover it on 5 different occasions over the course of the practice, the first being next Tuesday, March 17th… hey that’s St. Patricks Day. Luck ‘O the Irish to you from an Irish Catholic!… In any case, I’ll be doing podcasts on each of those 5 visits, so check back here over the next 6 weeks for approximately weekly podcasts from Spring Practice.

(Written by kencraw)

Here’s my next article for BearTerritory.net:

http://cal.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=922520

It is a subscription article. I’ll do the same thing as last time and post the content of it here after it falls of the front page of BearTerritory.net (which takes up to a week).

In the meantime, you can vote on which of the 10 areas you think needs the most work on the sidebar.

(Written by kencraw)

I went to the Tiny Bates banquet in Sac on February 24th and did a write-up about it for BearTerritory.net:

http://cal.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=921328

It is a FREE article, so all can go view it.

(Written by kencraw)

(Note that I’ve reworded a few things to be more “blog friendly” from the version that was on BearTerritory.net just over a week ago)

As I said in my Signing Day Wrap-Up post, Cal secured another solid recruiting class. It wasn’t incredible, but solid. Tedford has been quoted as saying he’s really happy because it meets the teams needs.

So the question is, what are the team needs?

There’s really two parts of that. The most obvious is to look at where the team fell short in 2008. For a pro-team, that would suffice. In college however there is the complication that the team loses about a fifth of the team each year. In this post I’ll look at those losses so that in future posts I have that background for what the team needs to improve next year.

The Bears are losing 18 players this off-season in 17 seniors and Cameron Morrah who opted to head to the NFL early. 9 of these players were starters on the post-season depth chart, 4 on offense, 4 on defense and Nick Sundberg as the long-snapper on special teams.

What follows is an ordered list of each player and how difficult it will be to replace them:

#18 Alex Stroud – Wide Receiver
A 2-star recruit who transferred from Illinois to come back home, Stroud never saw much of the field. His first catch was in his 2nd to last game versus Washington this year.

#17 Drew Glover – Wide Receiver
A walk-on in 2004, Glover finally saw significant playing time in 2008 on special teams. Nevertheless, as a receiver he only played in 2 games and had just one catch.

#16 Jordan Kay – Kicker
If it were not for Tavecchio’s rise to prominence in 2008, Kay may have been Cal’s starting field-goal kicker in 2008. However, with both Tavecchio and Seawright ahead of him on the depth chart, Kay’s impact was limited to 1 field goal and two extra points.

#15 Sean Young – Wide Receiver
There were big hopes for 6th year senior Sean Young this year. In many ways he delivered in his first couple games, providing the experienced hand as the younger receivers came up to speed. However, as time went on Young saw less and less playing time, catching only a handful of balls after the mid-season Arizona game.

#14 Zack Smith – Fullback
Zack’s spot on this list is secured not so much because of his own contributions in 2008 but because he backed up #3 on this list, Will Ta’ufo’ou. The experience of Ta’ufo’ou will be sorely missed in 2009 and the fact that his most experienced backup will be missing as well will make the Fullback position a challenging one for 2009.

#13 Bernard Hicks – Safety
Hicks was another player who saw less playing time toward the end of his Cal career as the younger Marcus Ezeff and Brett Johnson came into their own. However, unlike Young and Kay, there are aspects of Hicks skills that Ezeff and Johnson have been yet to duplicate, making him a situational player who will be missed.

#12 Mika Kane – Nose Tackle
Kane struggled with the injury bug throughout his days at Cal but was generally the starter over Derrick Hill when he was at 100%. Hill’s progress over the year would likely have had him as the starter in 2009 even if Kane had another year of eligibility, however when Hill needs a rest, Kane’s presence will be missed

#11 Nick Sundberg – Long Snapper
It’s difficult to quantify the value of a long snapper and his highly specialized skill. However, one need only try to think of the last time a bad snap was the cause of Cal’s occasional woes on special team to know just how important Sundberg’s consistent play was to the Bears.

#10 LaReylle Cunningham – Wide Receiver
Cunningham was the Wide Receiver with the most on the field experience when 2008 started and yet he found himself in a similar role to Young, seeing less time as the season wore on. However, he still had more time as a backup than Young and his leadership off the field seemed to be more instrumental than Young’s.

#9 Nate Longshore – Quarterback
Probably the most difficult player to place on this list and a controversial one as always, there is no doubt that Longshore will be missed. This much is for sure: whatever criticisms there were of Longshore, he kept at it all season long and was a competent backup and starter when his number was called. Said another way, had Mansion been pressed into action when Riley was injured, Cal would have likely lost the Oregon game and likely not has been as competitive against USC.

#8 Noris Melele – Offensive Guard
In the long tradition of strong offensive line play, Melele is yet another who will be remembered fondly by Bear fans. With a mostly injury free season he was 2nd in command on the offensive line and one of two needed voices of experience on a line that was otherwise a patchwork of relatively inexperienced young players. The young guys will have to step up in 2009 if they hope to replace Melele.

#7 Anthony Felder – Linebacker
The most under-appreciated of the “big-3” linebackers, most forget that he was involved in more tackles than any other player on the team. He also played in all 13 games. Nevertheless, while his presence will be sorely missed, his more quiet role on the defense will make him less missed than the other two.

#6 Cameron Morrah – Tight End
Most did not expect that Morrah would have to be replaced when the season ended. However, being the leading TD receiver on the Bears and tied for 2nd in receptions, it too was hard for him to pass up the opportunity to declare for the NFL draft. With Tad Smith the likely replacement for Morrah there is hope that the Tight End position may not be a weak spot in 2009, however, Smith will have big shoes to fill in the passing game.

#5 Worrell Williams – Linebacker
Third on the team in solo tackles, Williams was a terrifying force for offensive lines to contend with. Plugging running lanes and sniffing out middle screens was his strength. It will be difficult to find someone to replace his physical over-sized presence in the middle of the field.

#4 Rulon Davis – Defensive Line
For a player who missed 4 games, Rulon takes the cake as player who made the most of his playing time. While his overall statistics were not stellar, there was something different about the Cal defense when he was on the field. It was more powerful, more disruptive, more tenacious. While his play will be missed, just as much his no nonsense, take no prisoners attitude will be just as missed.

#3 Will Ta’ufo’ou – Fullback
Probably the most underappreciated player in recent Cal memory, he was a big part of the success of the Cal running game in 2007 and even more so in 2008. Even back in the 2006 Holiday Bowl he made his mark, starting for the first time and paving the way for a dominating rushing performance by the Bears. Even more troubling is that the candidates to replace him, Brian Holley and Peter Geurts, are sorely lacking for experience and will need to come up to speed quickly for the Bear running game to keep on track.

#2 Alex Mack – Center
Alex Mack may just go down as the Bear’s best center if not in its history at least in the Tedford era. Just as important was his leadership that helped hold together a rag-tag offensive line that sorely needed his guidance. Probably the only two things keeping Mack from the top of the list was his leadership was mostly confined to the offensive line and there look to be one or two candidates to replace him who, while clearly will fall short of Mack’s dominance, look to be capable replacements.

#1 Zack Follett – Linebacker
The pain-train himself tops the list of losses for the Bears going into 2009. For Follett, it was not just his speed off the edge nor his ability to force the big defensive play at the most important time, as witnessed by the forced fumble that won the Bears the Emerald Bowl. Follett was just as important as a leader. Coming on to the field during the Oregon game to pump up the offense and encouraging them to seal the deal on an important redzone possession may just be his defining leadership moment. However, it was just one of many moments where the pain-train ensured that every Cal player on the field was bringing the pain.

Overall, it is clear that Cal will be losing a surprisingly large group of impact players for 2009. The top 11 players all made a significant impact in most games. On defense, while the defensive secondary and defensive line remain mostly intact, it is clear that the Bears will be missing the spark of a number of key leaders from 2008 that will be critical to replace in 2009. On offense, it is mostly the blockers who will be most difficult to replace, with 3 of the top 8 losses being Cal’s key blockers in 2008.

The question that remains is who is going to step in to replace them. Look for that in an upcoming post.

(Written by kencraw)

I got around to writing my thoughts on who the biggest losses were to graduation but it was long enough and good enough to submit as an article to BearTerritory.net. I finished it over a week ago but the guys over there were waiting for a headline break to put it in. It’s finally published:

http://cal.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=913512

The article is a subscription article. In about a week, after it’s been published for a while, I’ll put the content here on the blog.

(Written by kencraw)

We’ve been over how the Bay Area doesn’t get Comcast SportsNet California (sometimes called “West” or sometimes “Sacramento” and not to be confused with Comcast SportsNet Bay Area) but that’s where the bottom end Cal football games end up. To get the came you’ve got to buy a sports package through your cable provider.

I don’t have this problem up in Sacramento as I get both Comcast SportsNet California and Bay Area on DirecTV as part of my base package in the Sacramento region.

In any case, according to Jonathan Okanes, Comcast cable viewers in the Bay Area are getting a reprieve and will now get both Comcast SportsNet Bay Area AND California in their base package.

One can hope that it’ll free up DirecTV to follow suit in the Bay Area.

(Written by kencraw)

I’m not a big recruiting guy, but I recognize its importance. All year long when I get questions about recruiting I repeat the same answer: Nothing matters until signing day. Well, seeing how yesterday was signing day, I guess I’d better live up to my word and talk about the one day that matters.

First some fundamentals on recruiting:

Remember that a school gets 85 scholarships. Assuming everyone redshirts and nobody leaves the school, that means you only get 17 scholarships a year. In practice between the handful who don’t redshirt and who leave the University, that means you get around 20 each year on average. Recruiting junior college kids increases that number as well and at times the number can be as high as 25.

In any case, that means you get around 20 scholarship for about 22 positions on offense and defense plus a few special positions (punter, kicker and long-snaper) that you don’t have to recruit every year. What this means is that, special needs aside, you only get one recruit for each position each year and even then, you’ve got to exclude a couple positions. So, the “ideal” 20 looks something like for a 3-4 defense and a pro-set offense:

1 QB, 1-2 RB/FBs, 1 TE, 2-3 WRs, 4-5 OLs, 2-3 DLs, 3-4 LBs, 3-4 DBs

Sure, you can move the numbers by one or even two for the groups and still be OK, but if you get massively out of whack, particularly over multiple years, it’s a near certainty that at some point sports commentators are going to be wondering why the team is so weak in one area or another. Even if over the long haul the numbers are balanced, not being balanced year to year means there will be years down the road after a big group graduates that there may be a big experience/talent dirth behind them, even if there’s a lot of young guys waiting in the wings.

So let’s look at the Bears distribution:

QB: 1 (1 ideal)
RB/FB: 2 (1-2)
TE: 0 (1)
WR: 1 (2-3)
OL: 4 (4-5)
DL: 3 (2-3)
LB: 3 (3-4)
DB: 3 (3-4)

That’s a reasonably good distribution, particularly when one takes into account the current set of players on the roster. The Bears had 8 TE’s on the roster, most of who were young so they really didn’t need any. The one weak spot would be at WR’s where the Bears have 12 overall and 6 underclassmen, I think they could have used the full compliment of 2-3. Nevertheless, it’s a pretty balanced set. Compare this to a school like Stanford, who has been praised for their class with lots of talented/high star players but also has 4 TE’s, only 2 OL’s, 5 DE’s (6 DL’s overall) and only 3 other defenders. I’ve never seen such an out of whack roster, with my limited experience.

The next big factor is immediate needs. While the above balance is very important, and a good mature program will make sure they’ve got balanced classes every year (these are the programs that seem to “reload” not “rebuild”), there are times when things get out of whack for whatever reason and recruiting someone who can come in and play next year is part of the equation. While ocassionally, particularly at some positions, teams can find a polished high school recruit who can come in and play right away, that’s not the norm. Usually what you’re looking for in a high school recruit is talent and potential, even if it is a bit raw.

So generally speaking, it’s hard to find high school recruits who can come in and contribute right away. The alternative is junior college recruits, some of whom are both physically and technically developed enough to contribute right away. At the same time, there is a downside as they’ve only got a couple years to contribute, so it’s pretty important they be ready to contribute now. Cal has had both success and failure with this. Everyone from Ayoob to Bishop.

This year the Bears have 4 junior college recruits:

Ryan Davis, DE
Marksih Jones, WR
Jerome Meadows, LB
Jarred Price, LB

If you think about where the Bears are going to need help in 2009, this is the right group. There is no doubt that LB is where Cal needs the most replacements right away having lost the “big 3” of Follett, Williams and Felder. It’s going to be just as important, if not more important as replacing the “big 3” WR’s from 2007, a position that despite the best efforts of Tedford and Co., was a siginificant weakness in 2008. So 2 LB’s from junior college has the potential to help fill a difficult shortage. Add in that the Bears could use another good WR and that a developed DE wouldn’t hurt either, and it’s hard to argue with these 4 junior college recruits, even if the number is a bit high (I’d put the target at 2 a year).

All of that is said while recognizing the fact that it is a stop-gap mechanism and not the “ideal” way to recruit. But as we all know, football is one by teams that recognize the balance between the theoretical ideals and actual implementation.

While all of this is good, it’s not all great. The Bears lost a recruit at the last minute, that hurt the class (4-star OL Stanley Hasiak from Hawaii who went to UCLA). More importantly (because the Bears also picked up a last minute recruit) the Bears were unable to secure a handful of recruits that would have made the class stellar. Of particular note was Randal Carroll, a 4-star wide receiver who was lost to UCLA, and Devon Kennard, a 5-star DE (would be used as OLB at Cal) who was lost to USC. There were others too, but these were the biggies that were considering Cal late in the game that Cal couldn’t secure.

Of course it is always going to be the case that recruits will chose other schools. Even USC doesn’t get everyone they want. At the same time, it is clear that there are a couple of reasons, facilities being the most glaring and inability to get to BCS bowl games probably being 2nd, that are preventing Cal from getting as many of the recruits as they would like. In the end, this is what is most troubling about this class to me. There’s seems to be a limitation to who Cal can get, at least until the Performance Center is built and the Bears finally get that Rose Bowl.

Overall what this means is that the Cal staff is doing a pretty good job of ensuring that it gets the best, most balanced, solid classes year after year, within the limitations of what the program can get. It’s also worth noting that Cal’s recruits are generally considered under appreciated as opposed to over appreciated, again unlike Stanford who seems to be more in the “star grabbing” mode. There’s no doubt that of 18 recruits there is every reason to believe that all 18 of them have the potential to contribute to the program.

And so “solid” is the word of the day. It’s a solid class, not a great one. It’s more solid that 2007, which was more solid than 2006 or 2005. But it also lacks the “star power” of those earlier classes that gave us a 5-star player in DeSean Jackson in 2005 and 9 4-stars in 2006.

But it is still solid.

(Written by kencraw)

Well, I’ll be in my cubicle watching things develop on BearTerritory.net while pretending to do my normal work, designing computer servers.

So, if you want the moment by moment breakdown on what’s happening with the recruits and who’s signed their letter of intent, you should be over at BearTerritory.net too. It’s really the best site for recruiting news for the Bears, bar none.

(Written by kencraw)

(Sorry for the lateness of these end of season posts. I was sick as the season ended and then I need a couple weeks just to get into my off-season routines)

Well, the Bears finished the season 9-4, one loss more than my pre-season prediction. Other than getting which of the Oregon schools the Bears would lose to wrong, I nailed the Pac-10 schedule perfectly including the loss to Arizona. So the way I see it, the only disappointment this season was the loss to Maryland. And having made the trek back east myself, I much better understand how it can be hard to play a good game so far away from home.

At the same time, it wasn’t exactly the best season ever, particularly on the offensive side of the ball. Here’s my analysis on what went right and wrong:

What went right:

1. The 3-4: There’s no way anyone could have anticipated just how awesomely the 3-4 was going to work out. The defense looked like a completely different team this year. Somehow the positive characteristics of the ‘Bend But Don’t Break’ defense remained intact, with the Bears giving up very few big plays, but they mananged to do it while being an attacking/game changing defense. Opposing offenses were stymied, confused, frustrated and overwhelmed by this defense. The only game where the defense can even be remotely argued to be in part the cause of the loss was the Arizona game, particularly the 3rd quarter. But even then they were playing in a game with the deck stacked against them having to come on the field time and time again after ineffective offensive series. Add in the fact that the Bears had a wonderful turnover margin due to the heads up play of the defense, a lot of which can be attributed to the 3-4 zone schemes that both had the defense watching for the ball and confusing the quarterback, and there’s no other way around the block than to praise the 3-4.
2. Syd’Quan Thompson: The only problem with Syd was that he was so good you never got to see it. There were often accusations that defenses picked on Hagan and Conte because they were weak, particularly Conte, but the reality was that it was more because Syd was SO good. He may not be the ball hawk that Hughes was, but I think Syd is the Bear’s best cover corner at Cal as long as I’ve been a season ticket holder. He’s NEVER out of position and always has a chance to make a play on the ball. Some of our most beloved corners played the role in a bit more risky fashion and at times found themselves burned, not Syd. Add in that his tackling on the perimeter almost made him the 5th linebacker at times (particulary when Cal went into a nickle package) and there’s very little not to like, check that, there’s nothing not to love, about this guy’s play in 2008.
3. Jahvid Best: Jahvid came a LONG way in 2008. He was really fast in 2007, but didn’t have the right sense of timing. Early in 2008 he looked “slow” sometimes because he was on the other side of trying to find the right timing. By mid-season he had found the right rythym. He saved the offense when the passing game struggled even when defenses were doing everything in their power to limit the Cal running game.
4. Creative play-calling: There was a lot more creative play-calling this year with Cignetti in the box. It felt like 2003 and 2004 again. While the offense didn’t rely on the trick play, they used them just enough to keep the defense honest and on their toes, and just as importantly most of the trick plays worked, many going for scores. But it wasn’t even just the trick play, there was a lot of diversity in the play calling and trying new and creative ways to make the most of the personnel on the field. You get the feeling that Tedford and Cignetti are on the same page. Cignetti gets what Tedford is trying to accomplish and agrees and Tedford trusts Cignetti to deliver on thier shared goals.
5. Alex Mack: I wish I could say the offensive line as a whole was a plus, but injuries hurt this unit a lot this year. But through it all, you could count on one defensive player being on his back just about every play due to Alex Mack being on the field. His leadership for the rest of the line was key too in keeping this unit effective in the running game and just better than mediocre in the pass rush. With all the young players getting playing time, particularly when Melele was out, that leadership was critical.
6. The rest of the Cal running game: Whether it be Will To’ufo’ou’s consistently strong play or Shane Vereen’s ability to excel in the backup roll, the Cal running game was the part of the Cal offense that kept the Bears on the field and was directly responsible for Cal’s good redzone effectiveness. Don’t forget the importance of the offensive line in the running game.
7. Zack Follett: I hate to single out one linebacker from a unit that was so strong, but Follett was something special this year. He had a knack for making the big play at the right time evidenced by his sack/forced fumble that won the Emerald Bowl for the Bears. While there was aspects of his play that was not perfect, his ability to rush the passer and create chaos at all times were remarkable. Add in that he was an important team leader, particularly in those moments when the team needed someone to pump them up, and Zack needs a specific mention amongst this very good unit.
8. Brian Anger/Punting Unit: Rounding out the list is Brian Anger and his supporting cast. Anger had a few inconsistency problems that ensured he ended up on the bottom of the “what went well” list instead of mid to high on the list, but his booming punts, particularly in the Big Game, were incredible to watch. This unit never gave up a big punt return and ensured the Bears were winning the field-position game pretty much all the time. Never underestimate the importance of this and thus that’s why it belongs on the list.

What went wrong:

1. Quarterback position: In Berkeley we have overly lofty expectations for our QB and this year was a big disappointment. I really thought the QB competition would be good for the team. In the end, I think it was bad. Some of it was it was uncontrollable with the concussion to Riley, but going back and forth prevented either QB from finding a rythym. What was most distressing to me was the lack of passing accuracy. The decision making skills of both Riley and Longshore were better than I expected, particularly Riley as a young guy (others would instead pick Longshore who didn’t throw many of his characteristic interceptions this year), but neither of them shined as far as getting the ball consistently to the intended receiver on target. I’m still pretty optimistic that Riley can turn the corner in 2009, but we’ll need better QB play moving forward if the Bears are going to make the step up to the next level.
2. Kickoffs: A lot of this has to do with still not having a kicker who can get the ball into the endzone. It’s just so frustrating that it has been two years where we don’t have a kicker who can get the ball inside the 5 yardline. To make matters worse, Tavecchio often tried a bit too hard to extend his distance and the result was too many shanks that gave the opposition the ball at the 40. The short kicks seemed to give the opponent 5-10 yards of field position they didn’t deserve and with the defense playing as well as it did, it didn’t hurt too much, but there was that important return for a TD against Oregon State that really hurt, and probably cost the Bears the game, when the momentum swing is included.
3. Pass protection: Even though I put quarterback play as the number one problem, let’s not forget that the deck was all too often stacked against them by weak pass protection. There were far too many times where a play would colapse before it could develop. Similarly it was clear from the coverage downfield that had the protection held, there would have been opportunities downfield. This is the 2nd year in a row that pass protection has been far weaker than run blocking. Hopefully this turns around soon.
4. Losing on the road: Yeah, Cal played 4 of its 6 toughest games (Michigan St. (home), Maryland, Arizona, Oregon (home), USC and Oregon St.) on the road. However, it beat the two it had at home and lost all four on the road. Even if the Bears had only won one of those tough road games to finish 2-3 on the road (remember that the 5th road game was lowly WSU), I think I could have left it off the “what went wrong” list, but 1-4 on the road when you go 7-0 at home including wins over Oregon and Michigan State?… just can’t make excuses for that. Personally, I think the Bears are a better team than Maryland, OSU and Arizona and should beat those teams on a neutral field and should have beat at least one, if not two, traveling to their turf. Tedford and company need to figure out why the team is just a little bit out of sync on the road. It’s probably not my natural grass pet theory, but it’s got to be something.

Overall, it was a successful season. Overwhelming? No. But they met their expectations and excelled in enough new areas to give one hope for the future.

Next post up: What we lost to graduation
Two posts out: What we need for a successful 2009

(although there will probably be a signing-day post before those two)

(Written by kencraw)

(Somehow, the below post never got published back in December, even though I wrote it on 12/29. I wanted to make sure I published it for historical record purposes, so I can keep track of all my published articles at BearTerritory.net here.)

Here are links to the two articles I wrote for BearTerritory.net for the bowl game:

Simply the Best
Cal’s Defense Comes Through Once More

They are both subscription articles.

(Written by kencraw)

I do this post every year, comparing the conferences and their performance iin the bowl games. See here for last year’s post and note that I don’t always rate the Pac-10 that highly.

1. Pac-10: 5-0
   (in order of impressiveness)
   • USC dismantled Penn St. in a game not as close as the score
   • Oregon eventually outpaced Oklahoma state
   • Cal out-ran Miami in defensive affair
   • Arizona out-muscled Utah runner up BYU
   • Oregon State shutdown Pittsburg despite lack of offense

   Anytime a conference goes undefeated it is pretty impressive. If there is a flaw here it is that the Pac-10’s schedule was pretty weak. If Oregon could have beaten someone like Penn St. and USC had beat either Oklahoma or Florida, it would have been more impressive.

2. SEC: 6-2
   (in order of impressiveness)
   • Florida handled Oklahoma
   • Geogia controlled Michigan St.
   • Mississippi beat Texas Tech in a shootout
   • LSU destroyed Georgia Tech
   • Vanderbuilt held off Boston College
   • Kentucky survived East Carolina
   • South Carolina got blown out by Iowa
   • Alabama got thrashed by non-BCS Utah

   Some wouldn’t put the Alabama loss to Utah at the bottom of the list arguing that Utah finished #2, but I scoff at #2 Utah. They struggled with Oregon State and BYU. At the same time Alabama went UNDEFEATED in season play in the mighty SEC. Sorry, that’s a big hit no matter which way you slice it to the SEC. Luckily for the SEC, they’ve got some big wins over good teams, particularly the BCS championship game and solid victories over Texas Tech and Michigan St. to balance things out.

3. Big-12: 4-3
   (in order of impressiveness)
   • Texas won “last possesion wins” battle over Ohio State
   • Nebraska beat Clemsen with 2nd half comeback
   • Kansas out hustled Minnesota
   • Missouri needed comeback to beat Northwestern in overtime
   • OK St. couldn’t keep pace with Oregon
   • Oklahoma was slightly overmatched against Florida
   • Texas Tech lost a shootout to Mississippi

   I felt all season that the Big 12 was the most over-rated conference in the country and the bowl season proved this out. This isn’t to say they’re horrible, just that they weren’t the jaugernaut everyone claimed they were with the most potent offenses in the country. Really, it was the conference with the weak defenses where the only team that was able to have a notable win was Texas who barely beat a fairly impotant Ohio State. Nevertheless, going 4-3, I can’t put them in the bottom half particularly with the tough schedule.

4. Big East: 4-2
   (in order of impressiveness)
   • Rutgers asserted themselves over N.C. St.
   • West Virginia came back to beat North Carolina
   • South Florida destroyed Memphis
   • Connecticut handily beat Buffalo
   • Cincinnati was no match for Virginia Tech
   • Pittsburg could find any offense against Oregon State

   4-2 is not bad if it was not for the opponents. 2 of their 4 wins were over non-BCS schools and not particularly good ones at that. The other two wins were over middle of the conference BCS teams. Finally the two losses were to two teams that really should have been beat. Oregon State was in shambles offensively and Virginia Tech is one of the weakest ACC champs in a long time.

5. Big-10: 1-6
   (in order of impressiveness)
   • Iowa dominated South Carolina
   • Ohio State couldn’t get last possession against Texas
   • Northwestern fell short in overtime against strong Missouri
   • Penn St. dismantled but resiliant against awesome USC
   • Michigan St. couldn’t handle a strong Georgia
   • Minnesota had no answer for Kansas spread
   • Wisconson destroyed by mediocre Florida St.

   Luckily for the Big-10, nobody thought much of them this season so their abysmal post-season record isn’t as troublesome. If the Big-10 has something going for it, it’s that it played all most all of the country’s best teams. With some lighter matchups they might have reached .500.

6. ACC: 4-6
   (in order of impressiveness)
   • Florida St. ripped Wisconson
   • Virginia Tech. shutdown Cincinnati
   • Wake Forest rallied past Navy
   • Maryland outscored Nevada
   • UNC couldn’t hold off West Virginia
   • Miami’s 4th quarter turnover gave game to Cal
   • Boston College lost on llate Vanderbilt FG
   • Clemson couldn’t stay with Nebraska
   • Georgia Tech got destroyed by clicking LSU
   • North Carolina St. lost to lowly Rutgers

   On the one hand, that’s a lot of losses to a lot of mediocre teams. On the other hand, they did have to play 10 games. Imagine if the Pac-10 had to play 8 or 9 bowl games… there would be some losses on the bottom. Add in that there were a lot of close losses and it’s hard not to feel a little sympathy for the ACC. A few better bounces of the ‘old oblong and they might have been 7-3. Nevertheless I think what sinks the ACC is the lack of impressive wins to offset the many losses. Really, the ACC probably had the weakest bowl schedule, well, except for the Big East’s amazingly weak schedule, and they still couldn’t get to .500.

Overall, there’s not a single conference who’s performance struck me as dominating and deserving of bragging rights. The bottom 3 continue to lose ground on the top 3 conferences. While the Big-12’s performace was nothing impressive, it was a far cry from the performance of the bottom 3. As for the Pac-10, even one loss with it’s weak schedule would have dropped it from the top of my rankings for the bowl games. It’s not like it was the most impressive undefeated run through the bowls. Nevertheless, undefeated is undefeated and without a strong challeng from the SEC who’s record is not exactly spotless even when ignoring the two losses, the Pac-10 gets the nod.

(Written by kencraw)

(This post is a bit of a “brain dump” because I don’t know exactly what I want to say, but I feel oddly compelled to write it)

What’s the goal of Cal Football? Or perhaps more precisely what is each of our desire for Cal football?

Of course one could easily just resort to an answer like ‘to win the Rose Bowl’. Of course you can substitute or add your favorite level of on-the-field success whether that be as lofty as a national championship or meek as bowl appearances most years.

But why? What’s the point of all of this? What do we accomplish by seeing the team win? I mean, I don’t personally achieve anything, with the possible exception of perserverence, by watching Cal football games every year until they accomplish the above determined goal. So is it just a desire for the emotional high of witnessing something you’ve been desiring for years? And if it is, what are we willing to sacrifice to get that emotional high?

In thinking about this I started thinking about the sacrifices I’m making for this goal. For starters, every year I give a couple thousand dollars to the program so that I can sit in the stands and witness the specticle. For my family, it’s a HUGE percentage of our entertainment budget, so much so that it creates a minor strain come budget time. (Have I mentioned how much I love my wife and how supportive she is of my desires?)

But it’s not just money. There’s time, the 100’s of hours that have been poored into this blog over the last few years and in the side-job of writing for Rivals to get press passes and access to the players. Not to mention the time of actually going to the games or making time to watch them on TV when I don’t go to the games. Plus the wear and tear on my cars, which I put over 9000 miles on this year chasing the Bears around. Then there’s the emotional investment, that my heart genuinely hurts when I witness a heart-breaking game. There’s the hours I spending thinking about the games and the team.

So what is it that I desire for these sacrifices?

One thing my mind continually drifts to is the joy of taking my family to the games. It’s something that my boys and I cherish as a common activity. Some people go hiking or take the boat out on the lake. My family goes to Bears games. I must admit that this portion of it is huge for me. It’s a family activity, one we can cherish for years.

But the reality is that it was just as much a family activity when the Bears were 3-8 or even the dreaded 1-10. As such, it’s clearly not sufficient that the team just show up on Saturday and play. I enjoy myself a great deal more these days despite the fact that I’m not as close to the 50 yard line as I was 10 years ago and I have far less room than I ever did before.

So winning is important, there is no doubt about that.

But what else is important? Just that the games are fun to watch? How about the players and the coaches? What matters about them? Just that they win? Or perhaps just that the games are fun? What about integrity? What about promoting the school? What about giving 85 kids scholarships (really it’s more than that as the football program funds a bunch of other sports programs too), many of whom would have trouble affording college otherwise? What about the academic exemption that allow kids with less than perfect grades to attend Cal, is that important?

The more I think about it, the more I think it is a huge ball of intertwined spaghetti that can not be pulled apart. It’s ALL of it. It’s about family and about the team. It’s about winning and having a good time. It’s about the school and the fans. It’s about helping the players/students and about asking for something from them. It’s about all of us being part of something that is bigger than ourselves, something collective for us to put our hopes and desires into.

I guess my overall point is that while I like a winning Cal football team, it’s just as important to me that Tedford is a class act and that the kids playing on the field are getting a real education. It’s important that it build up the University. And to repeat, it is important that the team strive to win and take the steps to evolve and improve itself so that it does win in the long term. We all want a Rose Bowl before we die…

…but let’s not forget that’s not all we want.

GO BEARS!

(Written by kencraw)

Well, the football season is over. Here’s my off-season blogging plans:

• Handful of season wrap-up articles in next few weeks
• Pickup 2007 “looking back” posts on 2007 games, starting in February
• coverage of signing day and the 2009 recruiting class
• Cover spring ball/practice
• Do a complete 2008 “looking back” series probably starting in April/May
• When I feel like it, cover some basketball

So, you should see a post about once a week or so, but it won’t be nearly that consistent with some heavy sections and some light sections.

Just an FYI.

(Written by kencraw)

Well, with USC’s win over Penn St., the Pac-10 completed their sweep of the bowl games. True, not every game was a thing of beauty and not every opponent was each conference’s best, but the reality is that every conference will have that caveat to their performances.

All of those things aside, the Pac-10 is the only conference that went undefeated this bowl season (although many conferences still have games left, every conference besides the Pac-10 has already lost one).

I’m never going to be the guy who says the Pac-10 is the undeniable best and nobody can compete with us, because the reality is that it is never as simple as that. But what I will always say is that with the possible exception of the SEC, the Pac-10 is the most difficult conference to get through one’s conference schedule unfazed. From top to bottom, every team minus one or two is a team that it is going to take a reasonable effort to beat, even for the best in the conference and the top few are going to take the best’s best effort to beat. Add in that in the Pac-10 we play a full round-robin and as such 2 more conference games than many and 1 more than everyone else, and the Pac-10 is a tough and grueling place to win.

Plus, no where besides the Pac-10 do you see the diversity of offensive and defensive schemes that one sess in the Pac-10. You have to be balanced and flexible on both sides of the ball to win consistently.

All of this is a long way of saying that this bowl season proves once again that the Pac-10 is a very strong conference and our best deserve more recognition than they do for their accomplishments and final rankings.

(Written by jsnell)

Jeff Tedford has signed a two-year contract extension to keep him at Cal through 2015… or at least through next year and the next contract extension.

“Jeff Tedford’s leadership of our football program has placed us among the nation’s finest in combining on-field success with academic and community excellence,” Sandy Barbour said. “He truly represents ‘Athletics Done Right.’ The Cal football program has become an integral part of the comprehensive excellence of the Berkeley campus. I’m pleased that we’ve agreed to this mutual long-term commitment.”

Well, all right.

(Written by kencraw)

of the season anyway.

Bowl Supremacy

It’s a subscription article about the Bears winning 4 bowls in 4 years, the first time outgoing seniors can make that claim in Cal football history. I walk through the history of Cal bowl game streaks and what makes this streak amazing as well as pointing out why it should also be graded on a curve against a time when going to bowls was more rare.

For what it is worth, this is the time of the year that a BearTerritory.net subscription is most valuable if you don’t already have one. During the season, you’ll get almost all the info you’re interested in from free news sources. During the season, the subscription message board (by far the best subscription board of the Cal sites) and the occasional insight you don’t get elsewhere is what you’d be paying for.

But during the off-season, where else are you going to get all the latest about recruiting and spring practice? It’s not going to be covered in the newspapers or television news with any depth. With less than 2 months until signing-day and a lot of recruits still up in the air, a BearTerritory.net subscription is where you’re going to get the best coverage of the end of the recruiting battle as well as the best Spring Ball coverage.

For $10 a month or $100 a year, I think it is well worth it. You can even just pay for a few months and then cancel after spring ball to keep the cost down and do that every year if that’s what you need to do.

Am I biased? Sure. But for those who know me, integrity is very important to me and I wouldn’t make a pitch that I didn’t believe in. Not being a person who covers recruiting for BearTerritory.net, I’m not lining my pockets by those who only subscribe in the off-season. I’ve been a subscriber to all 3 sites at one time or another and I can say with confidence that BearTerritory.net is your best deal for getting news you can’t get anywhere else particularly because its closest competitor gives away so much of its stuff for free. So you’re best bang for your buck is to subscribe to BearTerritory.net, get the other site’s free stuff and then read blogs like mine (see my blog-roll for what I consider the best of Cal blogs).

(Written by kencraw)

My final podcast of the season is up. Have a listen below.

Consider the comment section of this post the best place to put feedback for next year’s podcasts. Now is a good time to get those in because some of them might require I go about things differently. The one piece of feedback I got that I liked and somehow forgot to do most of this season was to do a quick game recap at the beginning of the podcast. I’ll make sure I get back in the habit of that next season. In any case, let me know what you like and don’t like and want added.

Here are the player and coach quotes at the end:

Tedford’s openning comments
Tedford on mixing passing and running
Tedford on Miami’s adjustments
Tedford on winning TD play
Tedford on 4th down conversions
Tedford on Jahvid Best’s performance
Follett on forced fumble
Follett on bowl environment
Longshore on Anthony Miller
Longshore on winning final game
Best on his great game
Mack on his last game
Gregory on defensive performance
Gregory on Miami offense
Gregory on big defensive plays
Gregory on Follett’s play
Gregory on Follett’s leadership
Gregory on Follett rallying troops
Gregory on 3-4 transition

Standard Podcast [ 28:10 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

(Written by kencraw)

Maybe because that’s the score I predicted on national TV! If you fast-forward to the 3:57 mark in this youtube video you can hear it for yourself.

I seem to be able to pull the exact score about once a season. I did it last year for the Cal vs. Oregon game with a 31-24 pick, a pick that many derided me for as well under what should be the actual score. Some would call it luck, and there is no doubt that the exact score is all about luck, but to get that lucky you’ve got to be picking scores that are in the right ballpark pretty often for the odds of getting lucky to be high enough for it to happen even occasionally, much less once a season.

Beyond that, I seem to have a knack for picking the exact score for the big ones that aren’t the Big Game. Last year’s Oregon game was the only game I covered in person for BearTerritory.net and was of course a huge game at the time including GameDay showing up in Eugene. I’ve come pretty close with the USC game once or twice too. Not sure why that is other than to say I bring my ‘A’ game for the big ones.

Alright, that’s all the last of the bragging you’ll hear about this (well, the yet to be published podcast has some too 🙂 ) until I nail another one. Just couldn’t help myself.

(Written by kencraw)

Well, I’m here in the pressbox. As I suspected, we’re using the baseball pressbox, which is in a great spot for a baseball game but a horrible spot for a football game. I’m in the corner of the endzone and pretty low too. The good news is that there is a good TV right in front of me to get that view of things.

3:35 PM: We’re still nearly 1 1/2 hours from kickoff, but I’ll give a few updates between now and then. I’m going to take some pictures now…

3:40 PM: Oh, before I go and just to drive everyone crazy, Riley is listed as the starting QB on the official press depth chart. Sometimes these things are printed days before the game and they make corrections over the air just before game time. In any case, I think Longshore is starting, but it was interesting to see that.

4:21 PM: I’m back from my tour of the stadium taking pictures. Quite the cozy little stadium. It was a weird feeling to see all the high end concessions and particularly all the alcohol which they don’t server in college stadiums. It’s pretty clear to me that the point of new stadiums is to increase concession revenue dramatically.

4:23 PM: The Bears are in yellow tops and blue pants. Miami is in white tops and orange pants. Cal gets the bench on the east side of the 50 (so towards the home-run wall) and Miami the west side (towards the 1st base line).

4:36 PM: Reason number 4354934 why you should attend the game in person: I’m pretty sure the Emerald Nut mascots are never going to be on TV. One is a nut and the other is a nut container.

4:37 PM: Cal is starting their pre-game band show and the stands are a little more than 1/2 full.

4:45 PM: Now it’s Miami’s band’s turn. It’s not exactly clear where the Miami section is. Although from the sounds of things it might be right above me in the 2nd deck. The band is not as good as the Bears.

4:47 PM: In entirely different news, I saw Kirk Herbstreet’s picks this morning. He was using confidence points for the games 1-34 for each of the bowls. He not only picked the Bears to win but picked them with 33 points, so it’s the bowl he has the 2nd most confidence in his pick.

4:54 PM: With the end of the anthem, they then had 3 parachuters come down. A Cal flag one, a UM flag one and an American flag one. See what you’re missing?

4:58 PM: Word came down that Miami will be without their starting TE (#18 Dedrick Epps) who has a leg contusion.

5:04 PM: Cal won the toss and will receive. Miami will defend the west endzone to start. There is very little breeze and completely overcast to the degree it “feels” almost misty but there doesn’t seem to be any rain falling.

5:07 PM (14:57 1st) Not the most graceful kickoff by Miami. He slipped as he kicked the ball giving the Bears the ball on the 37. The Bears return the favor when Longshore mis-threw the ball to Ross who was open behind the defense on a deep crossing route. Longshore’s 2nd throw didn’t look any better. Not sure what the story is but that’s not the start Tedford was hoping for out of Longshore. Nor the punt they wanted out of Anger… only 35 yards.

5:10 PM (13:30) Welcome to the 3-4 Miami. That type of play on 1st down plays right into the hands of Follett playing on the edge when he releases the receiver into the zone.

5:14 (12:22) Both teams went 3 and out on their first possession. Looks like my prediction that this would be a lower scoring affair than people think may be about right.

5:17 (11:06) It’s the Bears who commit the first turnover. That was one heck of a strip by Miami. Vereen held on pretty well but just couldn’t muscle it away. Now it’s time for the Bear defense to step it up and force another punt.

5:19 (9:25) Miami is sorely mistaken if they think they can get 1st downs running between the tackles on 3rd and 5. Bears forced the punt they needed to nullify the fumble.

5:23 (8:30) Longshore is playing with fire on both of those two passes, particularly the 1st one where it looked like he was throwing it away but it was not out of bounds. And then he COMPLETELY redeems himself with that perfect throw to Tucker who ran like his life depended on it in route to the endzone. This is going to be reviewed.

5:27 (8:17) Yeah, his knee was definitely down. Ball should be placed around the 1 yard-line. Review is taking a long time. Are these Pac-10 refs? Indeed, ball at the 2. Shouldn’t matter. The Bears have no excuse if they can’t punch this in.

5:31 (7:15) Well, it took two tries but sure enough the Bears punch it in. Bears up 7-0.

5:32 (7:15) It definitely seems that Miami is doing a lot of press defense and there will be lots of opportunities for the Bears to pass over the top for big gains.

5:34 (7:15) The Miami band is USC-esque in their decisions to play songs even when they just got schooled. As an example, their 5 yard run gain that got them from 2nd and 23 to 3rd and 18, got a “good play” song.

5:37 (5:05) Horrible punt by Miami. Bears will get the ball on the Miami 42. And Best doesn’t waste anytime making the best of that short field. Best’s ability to accelerate away from the last set of defenders really shows his speed. Bears up, and fast at that, 14-0.

5:43 (4:09) Another 3 and out for Miami. This Bear defense really has Miami confused. They can’t run. They can’t figure out the coverages. They can’t block the rushers. It just looks ugly for Miami.

5:45 (3:19) That was a very poorly sold trick play by the Bears. You could just tell that something was amiss by the way Longshore tossed the ball to Best. Longshore did the right thing by throwing it away.

5:46 (2:29) Longshore is throwing too tall when he mis-throws. Missed a pretty open Tucker to end the drive.

5:50 (0:16) Miami gets their first big play. Minus that play they had less than 10 total yards in the 1st quarter, which ended just after the play. Looked like a blown coverage of some sort. Didn’t catch how.

5:57 (13:46 2nd quarter) Miami dropped an easy TD in the endzone. The Bear defense lost a little something on this drive. Most of the plays are good, but there are just a few breakdowns here and there. The long pass, the QB run, the missed pass, and now a TD pass where Hagan just looked dazed. He was in position but didn’t make the right moves. The Bears need to get out of this funk. Bears still up 14-7.

6:08 (11:07) Boy, the Bears funk continues. Anger has lost his punting magic (the one good punt sailing way into the endzone) and the offense just isn’t operating on all cylinders. If the defense can return to their dominating ways though, it won’t matter.

6:16 PM (8:11) Well, it wasn’t as efficient or pretty as the first quarter’s stops but the Bear force a punt after only one 1st down. The Bears get the ball back at the 20 after the punt went into the endzone. Let’s see if the Bears can get out of their offensive funk.

6:20 (6:30) OK, another blown up trick play for the Bears. Looks like Miami doesn’t bite on that sort of thing. Hopefully that’s the last attempt at that because both times it has put the Bears behind the chains and ended up resulting in a punt.

6:27 (1:47) I had a feeling that if Miami kept up their pass-happy ways they’d eventually make a mistake and sure enough, Mohammed intercepts the ball at a critical time. With less than 2:00 left in the half, it gives the Bears not only a short field but one more opportunity to score before the end of the half. A TD would be huge here. There’s a big difference between 14-7 and 21-7.

6:31 (1:18) Of course when you can’t get a 1st down, it really doesn’t matter does it? The Bear offense has really stalled here in the 2nd quarter. They’ve only gotten one 1st down in the 2nd half. Not good. Luckily it seems Miami doesn’t know how to manage the clock and the half ends without incident.

6:40 (Halftime) Well, the defense has done their job. Minus the one drive where they didn’t quite look right, they’ve been very solid particularly in the 1st quarter. The offense on the other hand has not impressed overall. Really it’s been about one big pass and one big run. Otherwise its been inconsistent. Now the Miami defense seems to have the philosophy of “stop Best at all costs” and is just daring Longshore to throw the ball. So far he’s not proven up to the challenge. Part of that has been poor pass-protection. That’s particularly important because I think the “stop Best at all costs” philosophy leaves some room down the field for big plays. But for those to develop, the QB needs time to throw. The other thing the offense needs to do is give up on the trick play. Miami isn’t biting. I’ll tell you this: Longshore isn’t taking advantage of this unique opportunity to give himself a bump in the NFL draft.

7:02 (13:05) I don’t get Miami’s strategy on 3rd and long. They seem time and time again to go with plays that don’t have a chance. Is it just a lack of confidence in the passing game?

7:03 (12:20) Of course Longshore isn’t inspiring any more confidence with his lack of accuracy on the out routes. Bears are punting again. They’d better hope the defense keeps it up because the offense isn’t going to score a ton of points unless something signficant changes.

7:11 (8:54) The Miami running game is starting to open up and Miami is looking pretty balanced. This is bad news for the Bears. Miami had nearly 19 minutes of possession in the 1st half. That’s got to be wearing down the Bear defense despite how well they’re playing. What the defense really needs is for the offense to get their act in gear.

7:13 (7:34) Miami is able to convert their 3rd and goal from the 6 for a touchdown and this game is tied: 14-14.

7:16 (7:34) So, if you’re Tedford, what do you do? Do you keep Longshore in there at this point? Or is it time for a change?

7:18 (7:20) Or do you just hand it off to Best over and over?

7:19 (6:56) Boy, what is the story with Longshore? I’ve been one to be a bit soft on him because he battled through injury and had gotten too much blame for the teams short-comings. But there is no denying how poorly he’s playing tonight. He’s had guys wide open and just completely missed them. Ross was at a minimum going to get a big gain out of that one and if he could have slipped one tackle would have quickly found himself in the endzone. Instead a wounded duck hits the turf 5 yards behind him.

7:25 (3:48) Well, if there is one good thing it is that Miami has had to use two timeouts for the defense not being ready for the snap. That could matter later in a tight game. For this 47 yard FG, there’s no wind of any sort. The biggest issue may be the turf which has been a bit slippery… what the… they decided to go for it and then call a timeout? And now they’re going for it again?… well it worked out. But I don’t think it was the wise move there. Take the points.

7:29 (3:08) Cal picked a HORRIBLE time for their first penalty of the game. From 1st and goal at the 5 to now at the 10 is a really big difference. Although when Best takes it down to the 1 on 1st down. Now they just need to punch it in… or have Longshore trip coming away from center… you know whatever works. UGH! At least the field-goal is an easy one now. Bears back in the lead 17-14.

7:43 (13:33 4th quarter) The Bears just got the shaft. Not only did the punt go off so quick that the box didn’t have a chance to review Worrell’s INT (which was much closer than I thought) but the running into the kicker gives Miami a 1st down. A bad break.

7:48 (11:44) Bear defense is looking tired again. The intensity is just not there that was there in the 1st half. Add in the balance of the Miami offense and things are not looking nearly as good. This stand from 1st and goal from the 8 is very important. A tie and the Bears just need to get some offense going. Down 17-21 and I think it will be hard to recover.

7:51 (9:13) And the Bears hold to force the field-goal. The game is back to tied: 17-17.

7:58 (8:15) Back to running game and it’s working. Vereen now is busting off some good runs too. The Bears are already down in FG range. Unfortunately a one-dimensional team is eventually one that will get stopped. So the Bears come up a 1/2 yard short at the 16 yard-line. Then Tavecchio pulls the FG attempt and the game remains tied. It did give the defense a good rest though and a reason to believe their efforts are not in vein.

8:05 (4:24) The Bears have to be careful here. A long drive could take 4 minutes and give the Bears no chance to respond if Miami scores. Basically, the defense needs to get a quick stop here.

9:19 (Game over) Sorry for not giving notice on disappearing. Had to make my way down to the field for post-game interviews. In any case, while the defense and Follett deserve a lot of credit for forcing that fumble deep in Miami territory, overall it was a lucky break as I saw it. The reality was that outside of that, the Cal offense was sputtering and the Miami offense was gaining momentum. That one turnover changed everything and let the defense tee-off on Miami to prevent a tying score.

More commentary in the days to come…

(Written by kencraw)

I meant to post a “hey I’ll be on TV tomorrow” type post before this aired, but I’ve been sick and didn’t get to it. In any case, I was back on TV yesterday. Here’s the video:

The biggest complaint I have with it is how scruffy I look. Boy do I need a haircut. Also, the lighting they have in that particular studio makes me look really washed out. Not sure why.

You can also tell that I was sick because some of my bad habits were back. I left my mouth open a lot. I said a lot of “ums” although not so many as to be problematic really. I was pretty happy with my body movements and facial expressions when I was talking and as always I was pretty happy with the content of what I said. It’s really about not looking like my cat died when I’m not talking and looking a bit more professional appearance wise. I liked having the collared shirt and I think I’ll go with that in the future but perhaps one that doesn’t have a tendency to look wrinkled. That and a good haircut will do wonders.

In any case, thoughts everyone?