Football: Oregon State reflections
By Jonathan Okanes
Sunday, November 16th, 2008 at 9:40 pm in Last game tidbits.
This may sound like an oversimplification, but it’s hard not to think that Cal’s season may be going in a different direction if it weren’t for the injuries along the offensive line.
Obviously, the defense has done its part. They’re having an excellent season, a championship-level season, really. And yes, although special teams let the Bears down yesterday, let’s not forget about all the positive plays they’ve created with the blocked kicks and returns.
The past two weeks the Bears simply have not been able to protect the quarterback. Teams are gearing up to stop the run against Cal, forcing the Bears into passing situations. The quarterbacks haven’t been able to feel comfortable in the pocket in those situations, and it’s resulted in an anemic passing attack.
This is not an indictment of the players. Obviously, they are doing the best they can. But clearly the Bears have been forced to use a few players who probably aren’t ready yet. Right tackle Donovan Edwards really struggled yesterday. Cal didn’t even want Edwards this year. They wanted him to stay in junior college for another year. But when a scholarship became open at the last minute, they were able to convince him to decommit from UCLA and come to Berkeley.
Mark Boskovich is a walk-on. By all accounts, he’s done a serviceable job. But still, he’s not the starter. Chris Guarnero is more talented and was playing well before a toe injury ended his season.
It also appears Mitchell Schwartz is finding the tougher going on the left side than on the right. He started off the season strongly but has come back down to earth a bit since switching sides of the line.
Here’s the dilemma Cal finds itself in: how do they improve the situation? Guarnero and Chet Teofilo are not coming back, and frankly, Teofilo had some struggles as well. It looks as though Mike Tepper, the projected starting left tackle before the season, is going to sit out the entire year and petition to come back next season.
That means Cal’s offensive line is…well…what it is. The Bears could do some things differently schematically — keep a back in to block or use more quick passes — but there is only so much they can do.
Obviously, quarterback play is partly to blame. Even when Kevin Riley had some time to throw yesterday — and those times were few and far between — he was off the mark a lot. But it’s tough to get into a rhythm when you’re running for your life most of the time. It’s not an excuse. Riley should expect to have time on every pass play and only deal with pressure when it actually comes. But that’s easier said than done sometimes.
You could see the potential when Riley has some time to throw. You may have noticed that after the long pass to Verran Tucker that was dropped, the running game opened up. Oregon State’s safeties may have been a little more hesitant to cheat against the run after that play.
Obviously, Stanford will know all about Cal’s offensive line Saturday and likely will try to bring the heat like USC and Oregon St. have. The Cardinal have a pretty good defensive front. The Bears are going to have to figure out some way to better protect Riley or it could be more of the same.
You know the defense will once again keep them in the game. If the Bears can get any consistency in their passing game, they should be in pretty good shape.
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November 16th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
This is exactly spot on, JO. This entire season comes down to the struggles of the OL. It has, unsurprisingly, affected our entire offense.
November 17th, 2008 at 3:30 am
JO - well said. We are all in need of some tempering of expectataions. For those that would prefer to ignore analysis and rationale and instead focus on scapegoating Tedford or anyone else, this hits the nail on the head. O line injuries and lack of experience (not talent) at the receiver positions have hurt this team (not coaching). And with the exception of the loss at Arizona, to borrow one from PC our defense has played “lights-out” and while we certainly have the talent at skill positions, B Gregory has done a fine job. I was mistakenly too harsh and somewhat short-sighted last year when I gave him flak on this message board, and I think those that criticize Tedford this year take an analogous — and incorrect — position. Special teams coverage on kick/punt returns has been abysmal and that is something to fault the staff for — but the bulk of our problems this season is due to unfortunate circumstances and lack of experience. I am optimistic about the remainder of the season, and I truly think next year we will grow into a very good team.
GO BEARS!!!
November 17th, 2008 at 5:55 am
Knowing that our O-line is (to quote Okanes) “not able to protect the quarterback,” why don’t our coaches call for rollouts that would buy Riley more time while taking advantage of his mobility?
It’s not as if we don’t have those plays in the playbook, as Nate (significantly less mobile than Riley) was rolling out in his time at the position.
November 17th, 2008 at 6:59 am
southseabear, you nailed it. quit forcing Riley to be a pocket quarterback. he’s not, and with the o-line as it is, it’s even more of a case to let this guy move around. waste of talent. waste of a season, again. tedford is an average coach at the pac10 level, and a huge step up from what we used to have. he can do better, or we can do better to find someone else.
November 17th, 2008 at 6:59 am
JO - Good analysis by you.
“Obviously, Stanford will know all about Cal’s offensive line Saturday and likely will try to bring the heat like USC and Oregon St. have. The Cardinal have a pretty good defensive front. The Bears are going to have to figure out some way to better protect Riley or it could be more of the same.”
I have been saying this same thing the entire year. The team is one quarter dimensional. Stack the box and take away the run. Force them to pass to beat you. If Stanford establishes its running game early it could get ugly. Will there be any special protection for the Stanford fans who are coming?
November 17th, 2008 at 8:18 am
Cal is unable to win in November quite simply because they are much more susceptible to injuries that decimate their lines . . . This has been going on for several years now, and it is getting pretty hard to watch. If Cal open up running lanes for their backs, the opposing team’s D simply puts 8 in the box and begs Nate or Kevin to pass on them.
Not much you can ask a walk-on, a redshirt freshman, and a DVC transfer to do against the lines the likes of USC and OSU. But it is the single most important reason as to why Cal has fallen “flat” again . . .
November 17th, 2008 at 8:25 am
I’m with SouthSeas. JO, why aren’t we seeing Riley ever roll out? He seemed to do fine in motion, while Longshore has always had foot work problems. Is there something going on in practice?
November 17th, 2008 at 8:36 am
Have those linemen who arn’t quite doing it run the connector this week, then simplify their blocking. I suggest straight forward instead of sideways. Go Bears. Beat Stanford. The Axe is the Grail. -
November 17th, 2008 at 8:37 am
Jan K Oski Says:
November 17th, 2008 at 8:25 am
I’m with SouthSeas. JO, why aren’t we seeing Riley ever roll out? >>>>> Because when you roll out half of the field is cut down. It usually only allows for a few reads because more defenders have flooded the lanes and the zones.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:12 am
when you roll out, half of the field is not cut down, NCS. it gives you an opportunity to throw in stride, it gives you the option of scrambling for yardage, and while I agree, it does limit your ability to throw to all portions of the field, when you roll out, there’s often time to plant and throw back across the line. not always, but often. all of this takes practice, but standing in the box for four seconds and waiting to get pummeled is not helping anything.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:30 am
Spot on analysis about the O-line. They have been Cal’s strength and saving grace on the offense the last couple of seasons, but it has been difficult to watch this year. Especially with the receivers starting to come on, the offense should have improved over the season. Would have loved to have seen what this team could have done with a healthy OL.
I do hope the team is building something for the future. The improved defense is a big bright spot. It is amazing that so many of us were calling for Gregory’s firing last year. He looks like such a freakin’ genius right now that I’m afraid he will get offered a HC spot somewhere. The 3-4 scheme fits our defense so well. Overall, these players have been getting better with each game. The depth is amazing when you consider what backups like Jordan have done. And I have to think this will be good for our defensive recruiting in the future. If you were a high school linebacker, why wouldn’t you want to play for Cal right now?
November 17th, 2008 at 9:31 am
For a right hander to throw across his body is not an easy pass to make on a consistent basis.
In addition if you roll out and throwback you are throwing into coverage that is filling your lanes.
Throwing in stride is one thing and some QBs can do it well but it isn’t as effective as dropping back and delivering.
Finally when you roll out to the short side (depending upon the ball placement) there isn’t much room and the options are limited to usually a couple of WRs/TE at the most.
Look at Texas Tech. They seldom roll out. They drop back and read quickly and get the ball out. Their OL have these huge gaps. YOu guys should know afte the hOliday Bowl in 2004 when you got zero pressure on the QB.
November 17th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Isn’t it a little late to implement something totally different like rolling out the QB or an option scheme? If the O-line can improve just a little, we should be able to win the next two games with the same game plan. It doesn’ appear that Stanford/U-Wub have anywhere near the secondary that USC and OSU have, although it seems like our receivers have a tough time getting open, unlike last year. No matter what the QB does, the receivers need to be able to get open, and quickly.
Oh yeah…the “Beaver Believers” were quite hospitable; very cool fans, unlike at some other Pac-10 schools…total strangers we met walking to the stadium invited us to tailgate with them as well.
USC wins a game by seven points and the fans there act like they won by sixty. Oregon fans aren’t quite that bad, they just hound you with those damned duck whistles after they win.
November 17th, 2008 at 11:54 am
The first thing they teach you when you are forced to roll out is never throw back across the field. Anyone who’s played ball knows that is a sure fire way to get picked off. You can have him roll out a few times a game but it limits your options and makes it difficult to get the same kind of accuracy that you have when planting in the pocket.
November 17th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Texas Tech’s offense is geared to make quick throws early. Once that it is established, then they start looking deep because the safeties and linebackers cheat.
Unless one disrupts the timing, the TT offense is effectively unstoppable. Because of the wide blocking schemes, it is virtually impossible to pressure the QB unless one does all-out blitzes (or lucks into a blindside corner/safety blitz). The QB does tend to move around in the pocket - watch the Texas game in the second half- but rarely gets any pressure. So how does on disrupt the TT timing? One, jam the receivers at the line (which, when facing a Crabtree, is very difficult). Two, KEEP THE TT OFFENSE OFF THE FIELD. Texas lost because it scored too quickly at the end. We lost in the 2004 Holiday Bowl because we passed way too much early on when we should have been punding away. We had JJ Arrington, and rarely used him. Instead, we passed early and often even though our receivers were decimated by injuries. Tedford admitted he should have run more. That failure has been a harbinger - it has damned us every season since then. We did it yesterday - we quit on the inside running, and it cost us.
By the way, Mike Leach is a visionary offensive coach, and easily deserves to be coach of the year. When he finally got a defense (this year), he was able to get over the hump. Absent weird turnovers or poor officiating, TT will beat Oklahoma because OU’s defense - already weakened by injuries - will not stop TT’s offense.
November 17th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
“The Bears could do some things differently schematically — keep a back in to block or use more quick passes…”
They’ve been keeping a back-in to block for 3-seasons…his name is Will Ta’ofu’ou! He barely see’s 10-touches a season because Tedford has eliminated the FB from the playbook, ergo, only 5-eligible players can touch the ball rather, than the normal 6. USE THE FULLBACK.
Quick passes…imagine that. The coaches know their o-line is decimated, short on experience and have given more sacks this season than, the past 3 combined, YET the OSU-game plan had Riley taking 5 & 7-step drops against the best pass defense in the Pac-10. The OSU game was 1/3-players, 2/3-coaches. Coaches know better, that’s what they’re paid for.
November 17th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Amen Corsair, Amen!!!
November 17th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
You’ll recall they did some roll-outs against SC and they provided enough time. The other things opposing defenses are doing is putting a spy on Jahvid Best. They stack the box, implement a spy and blitz on third and long. Which suggests that they need someone else to get some production. Quick passes will help if the receivers will stop dropping the ball. OSU was able to get into second and short situations much better than Cal. A 5 yard slant or out will help set up 2nd and third down much more effectively.
November 17th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
it’s worth more of a mention that our special teams weren’t too special…the big kickoff return and punt return (for td) were just bad…Anger had his worst punting effort that I can recall…Georgio couldn’t get the ball past the 15 yard line—ok, maybe the 10 but it doesn’t help…and lastly, the tackling wasn’t there…combine that with bad o-line play and it equals a loss…can’t afford any more of those! what’s up with recruiting this year? we only have 4 or 5 recruits so far and are ranked 66th in the country…
November 17th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Allowing Riley to scramble, and calling an occasional quarterback draw, might create an extra threat that could neutralize some of the pass rush. Unfortunately, Kevin took that head shot against Oregon and my hunch is the coaches aren’t too keen on letting him go. Too bad, though,because at times he’s really looked like a good open-field runner.
November 17th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
I still don’t understand why they don’t try the no huddle. Riley seems to thrive on it. Not sure why the coaches are not leveraging Riley’s strengths more. Let’s face it; they are not the same QB so why have a similar game plan?
Frustrated……….
November 17th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
How about mixing in some option plays every so often. 6-8 per game. Keep the defense off kilter. Maybe even a few with Longshore in. Who would ever see that coming?