Comments on: Football: Pac-10 ballot — No. 2

By: Pete Carroll

Pete Carroll — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 16:29:37 +0000

Jethro is right, Mikey Mo is a beast. He played exceptionally well last year and had more snaps than the starters. I am not worried about linebackers. I do worry about DL depth, QB and WR play, but that’s not news to anyone. It will take exceptional play to beat USC, Oregon, OSU and the rest of the PAC-10. But we’ve seen it from these players. Kevin Riley has had flashes of excellence in games. They have the talent, they need sustained effort and decent health and they can beat anyone in the PAC-10.

By: Jethro

Jethro — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 18:47:39 +0000

I don’t think Cal loses much at LB this year. They effectively have 2 of 4 returning LBs in Eddie Young and Mike Mohamed. I think Mohamed had the best football instincts of any of last years LBs and will be better this year. Young should also be better.

I think we lose experience with Felder and Williams, but I think they can be replaced with equivalent or better talent (Mychal Kendricks and Mohamed).

I think we lose talent, experience, and leadership at Follets OLB position. If Bishop can make a few plays at OLB, then I think the overall group is as good or at least close to last year’s group.

I’m anxious to see if Kendricks and Mohamed can play “downhill” at the ILB positions and make a few tackles at or behind the line of scrimmage. That rarely happended on running plays last year.

By: BluenGold

BluenGold — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:58:46 +0000

Pete Carroll, you pretty much summed up my earlier point. I think that the U of South Central can be beaten and, given the right circumstances, Cal has as good a chance as anyone to do it. But it requires a quality effort and smart play for all 4 quarters of the game. That is what has been missing from Cal’s matchups against the troy boys and other good opponents over the last few years. Hopefully, this will be the year when all that changes. As I remember yelling from the student section at Memorial, “Trojans pop under pressure!”

By: uh oh.

uh oh. — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:13:40 +0000

Everyone is saying that the D this year will be better than last year. But I recall a sick feeling at the end of the season last year, knowing that we were losing THREE big time linebackers. Those guys are the key to the 3-4 defense, no? Everyone praises the new 3-4 formation, but I think more to the success might have been that we put great players on the field. Yes, we have a more experienced secondary, with talent. But the backers, man, they are your core of the defense.

By: Pete Carroll

Pete Carroll — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 23:38:49 +0000

Yes, to be the best you have to beat the best. USC is good for the PAC-10 because it forces the other teams to raise their games to match USC’s. Yes they outrecruit, outpay, and have awesome cheerleaders (though I think the Arizona schools have them beat there). I for one think that SC will be beat. No one picked Tampa Bay Rays to beat the Yankees last year, and yet they did. No one expected the Arizona Cardinals to get past Carolina and Philadelphia and yet they did. The one thing that’s true, streaks don’t last forever. Someone will beat SC. Remember there was a time when Washington dominated the PAC-10, look at them now.

By: BluenGold

BluenGold — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 21:35:19 +0000

It may be easier said than done, but the only way Cal is going to progress to higher levels than where it is now will be to be if it is able to put together good games against quality opponents. Until that happens, we might as well all be resigned to being an also-ran in the Pac 10 and playing in 3rd tier bowl games. If that is the reality, then there’s not much use in endlessly blogging about it, is there?

By: Davidson

Davidson — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 21:29:39 +0000

CAL beats Oregon. USC beats CAL. Oregon beats USC.

All 3 teams win out other games. DUN DUN DUN!

By: Jethro

Jethro — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:05:34 +0000

Any year Cal plays USC at home increases the odds that Cal can beat USC, which in turn increases the odds that Cal can win the Pac-10.

This year the odds improve because Cal will likely be better than last year on both offense and defense.

What cuts against the Pac-10 title optimism are the unproven/undemonstrated passing game and the 5 Pac-10 away games.

I think Cal has to beat USC to win the Pac-10 because USC will not lose 2 other games if they beat Cal. I also think it is unlikely that Cal wins both the Oregon and USC games, but a loss to Oregon won’t cost the Pac-10 title if Cal can win out and Oregon loses to USC at home and somebody else.

I’m also not worried about DL depth – the coaches are pretty high on Kendrick Payne, Owusu, Guyton, and Tipoti as backups to Alualu, Jordan, and Hill. Alualu and Jordan are regarded as two of the best DEs in the Pac-10.

By: McLOVIN

McLOVIN — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:18:46 +0000

Easier said than done.

By: BluenGold

BluenGold — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 18:46:59 +0000

Over the past several years it has been shown that the U of Sports Corruption is vulnerable. I think Cal can beat them; they just have to play a smart game for 4 full quarters.