(Written by kencraw)

Watching the TV footage to round out my commentary. Here are my thoughts:

• Wasn’t that opening kickoff return a thing of beauty? I like how Cal has been returning to their “Tedford roots” of running some trick plays early to get the opposition off-balance early. Hawkins definitely showed his speed on that one too. I thought for sure that last tackler had the angle on him until ‘The Hawk’ turned on the jets.
• There were some complaints about how the defense seems to all too often come out of the starting blocks slowly and have to make adjustments to finally shutdown the opposition. While that doesn’t bother me as much as it bothers some, the defense didn’t leave room for that criticism yesterday. That first series was one of the most painful 3-and-outs I’ve seen in a long time.
• That Longshore fumble on their first offensive possession was eerily remniscent of the Tennessee fumble on their first possession. Luckily for us it didn’t turn out the same way.
• It seems this year that every time we have a penalty this year it is on 3rd down. Add in that yesterday they always seemed to stall the drive and we need to clean-up those penalties.
• That fumble… er… incomplete… that was just HORRIBLE. Ridiculously HORRIBLE. Worse call than last year’s Oregon vs. Oklahoma… particularly bad in the replay booth. I can’t imaging ANYTHING that justifies them calling that incomplete. What a joke. It looked even worse on TV than it did in person with the JumboTron replay. BTW, way to go Pawlawski on sticking to his guns in the TV commentary and calling a spade a spade. Too many announcers backtrack after the officials make their call as to not sound too critical of the referees.
• OK, maybe Pawlawski is just a Cal homer (who can blame a former Cal QB for that?). That 2nd booth review was not as clear cut as he made it seem. It was marginal but it is at least reasonable to say that the ball hit the ground in between Jordan’s arms. Not nearly as clear cut as the fumble… er… incomplete.
• Longshore lost his touch earlier than I remembered, early 2nd quarter. He had two really bad throws and two more that if he had put it on the numbers would have either kept the drive alive or scored a TD.
• Poor Jordan Kay. He’s done great for us in relief of Schneider, so good that one wondered if he might have a shot at challenging for the starting job. That slight pull on the 39 yarder, probably put him on the sideline for the remainder of the season once Schneider is back. Hold your head high Kay! We’re looking forward to seein you with the starting job next season.
• Forsett had a great run inside to take the ball to the LT 2. He’s getting better and better at not going down on first contact and there’s no better play to show it this year than that one. To be able to stay on his feet as 3+ guys tried to wrap him up and be able to wait for your line to come in an push you for another 4 or 5 yards, that takes skill.
• Forsett again… his 2nd TD. For some reason I didn’t mention him much in my podcast, which is just my thoughts as they come to me, but Forsett really caried the team. He not only ran well himself, he also provided a spark for the rest of the team. His consistency covered for Longshore’s inconsistency and gave the defense plenty of rest between their possessions.
• One really has to give LT credit for their 1st half TD drive. They mixed things up, executed well and played up-tempo. Not a drive to be concerned about the defense.
• The one thing I really worried about with the loss of Damien Hughes was that none of the secondard seemed to have the ability to sniff out those interception opportunities. As such it was really nice to see Hampton pick off that ball. That was an opportunity that easily could have been missed. Hopefully it is a sign of things to come. Never underestimate the importance of the ability to create turnovers.
• I was really surprised that Cal continued to put on the heat with a minute left in the 1st half. That’s usually “take a knee” time for Tedford. I’m not sure whether I really like it or not, but it’s not really a big deal.
• Tedford’s pre-halftime interview was awesome. After being asked about the number of penalties, “that’s EXACTLY what we’re going talk about… it’s not going to be pleasant at halftime.” Awesome.
• How cool was it that in the background of the interview with DeSean’s father that Hail to California was being performed? One could even hear the crowd singing the final verse. It was better than the interview itself.
• The 2nd LT touchdown drive is a little more disappointing for the Bear’s defense. They were getting pushed around by the LT offensive line for no good reason. Add in the horrible over-pursuit by the corner on the TD pass that not only missed the tackle, but took out the other Cal defender with a shot at the receiver.
• I have a hard time saying this, but I really think that Jahvid Best has the potential to be the best Cal running back ever. Better than Marshawn. Better than Muncie. Better than Russel White. That guy has the wheels of DeSean but the tackle breaking ability of Marshawn and seems to have the potential to have Marshawn-esque balance. He’s also got the good hands needed to catch the ball out of the backfield. With this much talent on the Bear’s offense, how is it that this guy is getting playing time and scoring touchdowns? It’s because he’s THAT good.
• You know, it wasn’t Jackson’s punt return attempts that most soured me to his play, it was the catches. He was doing WAY too much juking and not enough just getting what yardage he can. Run DeSean Run! You’re the fastest guy out there… just run!
• A big reason the LT score was so low was because of the turnovers. At least two of the turnovers came on LT possessions when they seemed to be having success moving the ball.
• It was good to see so many 2nd stringers get time in the 4th quarter… particularly Riley at QB. He played like someone who was receiving his first snaps, but that’s the point, let’s not see those first snaps when it is important. I think the kid has potential… with some more time to develop and get some scratch time snaps.

After going through the game a second time, I find myself more impressed than the first time. Just like Jason, I think it is an indication of just how expectations are in Berkeley that we can leave a game with a score 42-12 and leave feeling flat. Now it’s time to get ready to Arizona. Tennessee may have been about redemption… Arizona is about REVENGE.