Comments on: Football: Third quarter stats

By: MoreNCsarecoming

MoreNCsarecoming — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:19:48 +0000

So here is some interaction I received from a fan. Tell me if this guy isn’t spot on……

FanOfThaGamez (11/9/2009 at 6:59 AM):

But if Tedford cannot be shown the benefit of seeking employment elsewhere (or if no one else wants him, say if Illinois or Notre Dame won’t hire him) then the AD has to get involved with that program. The athletics director has to tell Tedford to pick an offensive scheme and coordinator and stick with him. He needs to direct Tedford to hire the top defensive coordinator he can find to Cal can start playing at a championship level (either national or Pac-10, as Cal doesn’t play either and never has) on that side of the ball, and hire the top recruiting coordinator that he can find so Cal can stop deluding itself into believing that they are ever going to get anything done with talent that truly is only above average.

However, in order to attract and retain top talent at offensive, defensive and recruiting coordinators, Cal is going to have to significantly increase its budget for assistant coaches, including perhaps even give them the types of guaranteed contracts for $350,000 a year or more that you see top assistants in the Big 12, Big 10, and (yes!) the SEC get. And yes, that is a real problem on the west coast, where not spending much on college football is almost like an ideological thing. The result is Pac-10 programs getting what they pay for, which is only USC and Washington winning national titles in the last 50 years.

By: Eric

Eric — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:28:29 +0000

George, I don’t disagree at all with your overall conclusions – see my posts. I do disagree about Syd. The PI call was simply a terrible call. Watch the replay. Even the fools on FSW were pointing out that it was a bad call. In the second half, he made numerous solo tackles on the Rodgers brothers that stopped big gains. There is a reason that OSU effectively scored 3 points the entire second half except for a garbage time TD when Riley wanted to make sure that Quizz got a score and was often in second and third and long (which, of course, Canfield exploited by throwing away from Syd). The team effort was overall pathetic, the offense entirely quit, and Tedford absolutely needs to go, but Syd did have a good game, and excellent second half.

By: george watson

george watson — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:22:48 +0000

Look, the problem last night was that an undisciplined, unmotivated, poorly prepared and poorly coached team met one that was crisp, well-coached, well prepared and wanted it more. Coaching goes right to the heart of the matter: Riley has got the Ayoob-Longshore demon in him: he chokes. At least, he was inconsistent as he’s ever been and that takes down the team. Lose your inspirational player and you got nothing. Now, Riley is the QB and Tedford’s supposed to be “the guy” when it comes to QBs. Well, I saw Luck play – a true freshman and he looked much better than the “veteran” Riley. If you’ll notice the QB guru, hasn’t been guru-ing very well for a number of years now. The best recruit he had at QB was Rodgers, the rest mediocre. And that’s what Tedford’s coaching has become: mediocre. That team was so sloppy last night. Someone said above how Thompson played well. He got flagged, beat, and scored on. That’s good? When players play up and down, when there is no consistency in November, that’s coaching. Check out Stanford – I hate Stanford, but that team has gotten better and better every week, They ain’t no fluke. Cal is now going to descend to the bottom. Can’t beat AZ next week, can’t beat Stanford, probably won’t beat WA. This is Tedford. Jeff, time to hang them up. Last night was disgraceful from a coaching point of view.

By: abe

abe — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 05:44:42 +0000

No pass defense (rush + coverage) and no offensive line. that is the story of call football this year.

By: Pete Carroll

Pete Carroll — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 05:40:59 +0000

I just got back from the game and I was sorely disappointed with the overall effort. I agree with an earlier poster, I thought Syd was putting out the effort and the defense did do a decent job stopping the run, but they pretty much were terrible to watch.

The O-line was just horrendous. Riley had no time, there are no holes, they don’t get out and block on screen passes.

The offensive play calling was pathetic. They did nothing that wasn’t predictable. I lost count of the 3-and-outs.

Kicking game, wtf! A pop up and a squib kick to give OSU the ball on the 40 something!

Passing was erratic. Riley did better evading the rush than he did against Oregon and USC, but he missed receivers in the flat and receivers ran poor routes and dropped balls.

They were outcoached on both sides of the ball. They can never seem to figure out how to cover a tight end. Thankfully one player figured out how to stop the flanker screen, Syd at least recognized it and fought through the blocks to get to the receiver. On offense they couldn’t get the ball to a running back with any open space around him.

Finally, I never heard Memorial so quiet as it was tonight. You knew Best’s injury was serious when the OSU players immediately called for attention at the end of the play. My heart goes out to the kid and I wish him a full recovery.

By: MoreNCsarecoming

MoreNCsarecoming — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 05:29:15 +0000

I have been saying that Harbaugh was a better coach than Tedford and I have been trashed and made fun of for saying it. Laugh at some of his antics but he has done a remarkable job of using his players who are smart and think the game but do so by playing hard hitting blue collar football. I think he will stick around for one more year after this one. What a great job he has done.

By: Eric

Eric — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 05:21:07 +0000

Right now, there is a very good chance that either Mike Stoops, Chip Kelly, or Jim Harbaugh will be coaching in the Rose Bowl, with it likely being Kelly. All three were hired since Tedford was hired and during U$C’s run. Why? Arizona and Stanfurd do not have nearly the talent we do. Oregon’s talent has, at best, matched ours, and Oregon should have gone to the Rose Bowl (if not the NC game) in 2007 had Dixon not been injured. Is it the repeated changes in the offensive coordinator, which gives rise to the inference that our head coach can’t get along with anyone? Is it the insistance of trying to live up to the moniker of “quarterback guru,” when it has not been remotely true for years? Did anyone actually believe we would win once OSU went up 14-0, even before Best was injured?

I don’t care whether Cal beats Arizona next week (I can’t believe I bought tickets back in July and made hotel reservations for this), whether Cal beats UW on the road, or wins the Big Game. Even at 9-3, which I view as very unlikely, this season has been a total disappointment. To blame the players on execution only works for so long – if there is poor execution on both sides of the ball, in nearly every way, that’s a coaching problem. Tedford is grossly overpaid, and he is nothing more than a bad version of Terry Donahue who will NEVER get us to the Rose Bowl. Tedford may not be Holmoe, but that argument is ridiculous since at some point Tedford has to be judged on his own merit, and not in comparison to what previously existed. He should go, and Cal should give a young coach with interesting ideas a shot.

Even the moron got this game right – there is something seriously wrong with Cal. U$C looked just as awful against ASU as Cal did last week, and U$C remains entirely overrated, but at the end of the day, U$C starts a true freshman whose three top receivers were out for today’s game (or for most of it). Their future is hell of lot more rosy than ours.

By: Steve W

Steve W — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 05:03:52 +0000

Morens, You couldn’t be more off base. Stanford is not going to win the big game 38-10. They are going to win it 55-7. Andrew Luck is going to have the greatest day passing in the history of the great Stanford quarterbacks. He won’t get pressured once. What’s even more scary is that Stanford has a better offensive line than OSU’s. Throw in 200 yards rushing for Toby Gerhart. Did you notice how utterly ineffective the infrequent Cal blitzes were in this game? OSU picked up every blitz and easily pushed the attacking linebackers and safeties to the outside of the pocket.

I’m with House. I wish I could get zapped into a Stanford, Arizona or Oregon State fan. They are playing progressive football and getting better each week. I think we all got lolled into thinking the Bears had regrouped, but they were simply beating the dregs of the conference. In retrospect, not that much as changed since the Oregon and USC debacles.

By: Robert

Robert — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 04:58:12 +0000

Who has a tougher team: Harbaugh or Tedford?

Not even close. I’m worried too many Bear players will get seriously hurt that game. Can JT forfeit?

By: Robert

Robert — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 04:56:08 +0000

Tepper, Guarnero, Cheadle, Schwartz….

The Group that ends the 1,000 yard back streak!!!!!!!!

They are terrible!!!! Can’t pass block and can’t even get an opening for the best back in college football. A talented high school line could get Jahvid yards. What a joke guys!!!!! Worst group I have seen in a long, long time.