Comments on: Football: Wednesday night update

By: BluenGold

BluenGold — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 23:01:21 +0000

We asked JO about the Syd fair catch issue during today’s live chat. He(JO) does not think it is due to any coaching decisions, but rather Syd’s own calls. He sees no reason why the coaches would want to take Syd’s punt return abilities out of the game. JO did agree that there were some punts during the Minn. game that Syd might have run back but chose not to.

By: Rollonubears

Rollonubears — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:46:14 +0000

If syd’s hands are that great then why isn’t he a receiver?

By: Pasadena Dave

Pasadena Dave — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:51:53 +0000

I think the thing with Squid’s fair catches is that Tedford, along with most coaches, value ball security before a return – the ability to catch the ball. I recall Tedford mentioning this in maybe 2006 when people were wondering why Tim Mixon was returning punts, not DeSean. I could be wrong, but I do recall Tedford mentioning the priority in a punt returner.

By: noduck

noduck — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:38:55 +0000

hey cal- good job with the flu precautions, but remember seasonal flu vaccine only protects against seasonal flu. get h1n1 when that comes out too.

By: covinared

covinared — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:34:48 +0000

I agree w/Jan K. Oski. There have been occasions when he had plenty of room to run, but didn’t. When I was at Vanderbilt one year, one guy was assigned to catch punts all year and he returned one, but he was slow with good hands. I am convinced Ssyd is doing this on coaches orders.

By: BluenGold

BluenGold — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:36:59 +0000

The issue of Syd’s frequent fair catches has been a topic of discussion here on other threads as well. Hopefully JO will have some insight on it during his live chat this afternoon.

By: Jan K Oski

Jan K Oski — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:05:23 +0000

On this topic on BearInsider’s forum, a member claimed that the punts have been short. I’m not so certain of this, and I’ve seen on a few occasions where Syd had 10 yards of open field in front of him with the opposing gunners as the only threat…

By: BearItAll

BearItAll — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:45:17 +0000

Regarding Syd’s fair catching, if you’ve noticed, we haven’t been getting great PR blocking for Syd to have a clear lane to return the ball. Now of course this is a little frustrating to watch as a fan, but I’d rather have him secure the ball then get plowed by an unseen opponent and potentially lose the ball (or worse get injured).

Special teams in general (aside from punting) needs a swift kick in the rear before Cal can legitimately start thinking about running the table this year… If not the lack of punt/kick coverage (on both sides) will cost Cal at least one game (maybe more).

Sad but true…

Regardless we look very good going into UO and hopefully we can pull out a big win!!!

Go Bears!!!!

By: eephus

eephus — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:41:07 +0000

I’ve certainly noticed all of Syd’s fair catches. I’m just hoping Tedford insisted on them based on the lesser opponents…thinking that turnovers were the only way they’d get beat. They’ll need him for UO and U$C, though.

By: Rollonubears

Rollonubears — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:33:30 +0000

Yes! I totally agree. The only balls syd has are the ones he fair catches. In his defense though, we don’t do a great job blocking. Knock on wood… At least he doesn’t fumble. But it would be nice to see him sack up and try to run.