Comments on: Football: Monday night update

By: covinared

covinared — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:20:42 +0000

Riley is one of our best blockers.

By: cal85

cal85 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:54:58 +0000

How about bringing Riley in motion on the Wildcat? That would freeze the lbs in case Vareen hands off to Riley for a pass. Plus, it takes Riley out of a blocking position on the edge.

By: rollonubears

rollonubears — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:46:44 +0000

Play action, baby! And no more 40-yd bombs in first down. Ok, maybe one or two. Go Bears!

By: covinared

covinared — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:36:03 +0000

I think Cal needs the wildcat and shotgun mixed in because our line cannot control defenses like years past.

By: BearItAll

BearItAll — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:17:19 +0000

Eric – I agree with much of what you said and disagree with some…

Certainly Cal has a faster and technically speaking more talented team than Stanfurd and if they execute properly they can definitely win this game, with the way Stanfurd is playing as of late, it will be a challenge to slow them down, but if they play similar to the way they did against UA’s offense they have a shot…

I don’t think they should take the Wildcat out of the book though, Cal has been very successful using this formation throughout the 2nd half of this year, even in the UA game where they ran the same wildcat play 4 times in one drive, they still gained like 30 yds off of it… They need to mix it up more and get the ball to the other speed threats, put J. Ross in with Isi and Vereen and run some sweeps, PA screens, etc, in addition to the fake sweep run up the middle play they’ve grown so fond of…

It seems roll out passes are the way to go with Riley this year, and having Miller and Lageman as middle passing threats will do wonders against Stanfurd…

But I agree, Cal needs to sustain longs arduous drives to wear down the Stanfurd D, and keep our D rested throughout the game, so they can have a strong 4th quarter like last weekend…

Should be a great one! Go Bears!!!

By: Eric

Eric — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:29:25 +0000

Putting aside all of my ranting about the coaching staff this year, I think we have a good shot at beating Stanford. Our run defense has been decent all year, including against Oregon (until they finally ran out of gas) and U$C. The big problem has been stopping the passing game, which we finally did against Arizona.

So stopping Gerhardt early and forcing Luck to make plays will be the difference maker. Luck has been flat out fantastic, so we need to take him out of his comfort zone, just as we did against Foles. Luck tends to make the best throws out of play-action, so I would strongly suggest creative blitz packages to immediately pressure him (CB and overloaded LB blitzes).

On the offensive side, we still have way more speed that Stanford’s defense. In the Oregon game, oregon lost because it did not run hard and often in the first quarter, instead relying on Masoli to throw. Had Oregon done in the first quarter what it did the rest of the game, it would have won going away. We need to ground Stanford’s defense into dust, which will also alleviate our defense from tiring out. Vereen and company need to pound out 4-5 yards a run. No more Wildcat, no more running out of shotguns, and plenty of TE/FB blocking, with occasional roll-outs and play-action to slot receivers, the TEs and the FBs.

By: Bears

Bears — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:08:07 +0000

It would be a surprise for the Bears to upset our rival the way they are playing and with that big RB. But stranger things have happend. All the Bears have to do is play better for four hours Saturday afternoon/evening. Easier said than done but that’s why they play the game. Excited to see what Cal can do in a Big Game where both teams have winning records and we are still the clear underdog?
Go Bears!

By: covinared

covinared — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:04:58 +0000

there is alot more at stake than ruining stanford’s season. we can still make ours. we can beat them.

I was disappointed not to see Deboskie more, but Vereen was doing well enough to stay in. I was very impressed with the extra yards he got in key situations after being hit. With improvment in blocking, he’d be a complete back.

By: abe

abe — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:24:46 +0000

its is years like this that make rivalries well rivalries. the cardinal is on a roll and they are eyeing the roses. granted they don’t control their own destiny but they know they take care of Cal and they give themselves a shot. now it is up to Cal to derail that and give the cardinal fans something to cry about for a while. now i am not saying we should try to win this game merely for the purpose of ruining their season b/c that would be pathetic. nonetheless this is a big Big Game and it will make this rivalry more emotionally charged for the coming years if Cal were to take of business. GO BEARS!

By: Bear IV

Bear IV — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:58:20 +0000

Then I say to Tepper and the BEARS, “Keep the AXE in Berkeley!”