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Football: Before we say goodbye, Columbus
By Jeff Faraudo
Saturday, September 15th, 2012 at 10:08 pm in Football, Gameday.
A few notes and conclusions following Cal’s 35-28 loss to Ohio State
– Should Jeff Tedford gone for it on 4th-and-1 from the Buckeyes’ 25-yard line in a tie game with less than 4 1/2 minutes left? Well, you don’t want to send your placekicker the message that you’ve lost faith. But Vincenzo D’Amato already had missed twice from the exact same distance — 42 yards — and you’ve got an entire playbook of choices to get 1 yard. I’d go for it. You want to beat a good on the road, sometimes you’ve got to be bold.
– The guess here is D’Amato gets another shot this week, but if another kicker rises up in practice Tedford will have a tough call to make.
– Who has the motivational edge next Saturday at the L.A. Coliseum? Cal and USC are both coming off tough losses, and the Trojans could be mad as hell. On the other hand, as disappointed as the Bears, they must return home with some confidence. The Trojans’ big-picture dream (a national title) is essentially dead.
– Plus, Stanford showed two ways USC may be vulnerable: They pressured Matt Barkley right out of the top spot in the weekly Heisman ratings — hitting and sacking him – and they ran the ball effectively. Not convinced the Bears can accomplish the former, but seems they can do the latter.
– What to do with a suddenly full backfield? Brendan Bigelow has to get more opportunity, but at the expense of Isi Sofele and C.J. Anderson? It seemed clear Saturday that Bigelow’s ability to get to the edge against the Buckeyes was something the other two didn’t get done. Bigelow is much more of a home run threat. You wonder if the Bears will try to throw him the ball, get him some space in which to operate. One way or the other, got to believe he gets more touches.
– Zach Maynard’s best game? Not sure about that, but it it’s on the short list. Took six sacks without fumbling the ball or showing panic with bad decisions. Threw one INT, but had 37 attempts and was generally very sharp. And if he had managed six more yards on the throw-back pass from Keenan Allen, he’d have logged a TD pass, TD run and TD reception.
– Pretty soon we’re all going to start wondering not when we’ll see TE Richard Rodgers, but if we will. He was supposedly “probable” for this game, and he was in pads and warmed up. But did not play. No explanation given.
– Tedford talked about how the Buckeyes survived by delivering big plays, and he was right. OSU had 223 yards on its five biggest plays of the day (44.6 yards per snap), but managed just 189 yards on its remaining 58 plays (3.3 yards per). Cal’s defense was pretty good much of the day, but suffered a brain freeze on OSU’s decisive touchdown.
– The Bears squandered some nice field position — netting just seven points out of four separate possessions with an average starting spot of the Cal 47-yard line. Not good enough.
– Allen caught nine passes for 80 yards, moving him past DeSean Jackson into fifth on Cal’s career list with 164. Next up are Nai’il Benjamin (165) and Brian Treggs (167).
– Freshman Cole Leininger had three punts for an average length of 47 yards. But sophomore Steffan Mos actually handled the Bears’ first two punts, hitting a 57-yarder but also an 18-yarder. Not sure why two punters. With all the other angles to explore during postgame, no one thought to ask Tedford about it. Including me.
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September 16th, 2012 at 3:24 am
Two plays to get two yards. You gotta get it done. Three questionable calls. Full back up A gap on 3rd… they’ll never see that coming. Then a time out!? Complete waste, the decision for 4th down should have been made before the previous play. Winning teams have confidence. We have neither going for us. Tedford is playing not to lose (see draw on late in game on 3rd v Nevada!)… problem is, someone forgot to tell him we aren’t even leading in these games. Grow some, and take the friggin victory!
September 16th, 2012 at 5:18 am
I thought the bears played really well, it’s really a shame to not come away with the ‘W’. Maynard looked really good, especially considering the environment. The defense just gave up to many big plays, which is sad because they played so well too.
To all the people who want Tedford to go away please remember the Tom Holmoe era. Tedford is a very good coach. Take solace in the fact that the Buckeyes are coming here next year and the Bears will beat the snot out of them in our yard. Ohio St DID get the majority of the ref calls, CJ Anderson’s TD should have held as that wasn’t a freaking hold…in fact, that series had a couple of bad, really bad, calls.
September 16th, 2012 at 5:25 am
One more thing: Anybody but D’Amato. Please! That was BRUTAL!
Did that guy get recruited to kick field goals? Really?
September 16th, 2012 at 7:25 am
@Rotfogel – so at what can you stop trotting out the Holmoe argument? We are now in Tedford’s 11th season? I take if he goes 2-10, since that isn’t 1-11, that’s ok? Is there a dollar per victory way to analyze this?
September 16th, 2012 at 7:41 am
Eric, you have no idea how bad Holmoe was. Anyone that tries to compare Tedford with Holmoe has zero credibility.
September 16th, 2012 at 8:08 am
Why are we so ready to hang Tedford? At what point do we hold the players on the field responsible? The TD called back for Anderson?? If hagan extends his arm on the block you don’t give the ref a chance to even make that horrible call. D’mato sucks but HE IS their kicker. Tedford has to believe he can make field goals. That’s his ROLE. Logan what are you doing? 3rd and 7 you don’t need to come up withe d line is stringing the play out. These are all execution plays that the players are responsible for. Division 1 football players have to be held to a high standard and coaches have to trust they can execute. Make a play yesterday and they have a W. They were put in a position to win by their coaches and yes that includes Tedford. Roll on you Bears!
September 16th, 2012 at 8:32 am
Well said Kyle.
Here’s to hoping that Cal doesn’t hang its head low as we have a real shot of beating SC this coming week.
September 16th, 2012 at 8:51 am
Joey – since I went to the Nebraska game in 1999 when we lost 49-3, and watched multiple games in the 2001 season, yes I do. When did you graduate?
September 16th, 2012 at 8:51 am
I disagree, Kyle, in that errors went all around. The players are young men, trying their best. Tedford is not giving it his best anymore, and his mental decisions are lacking for a man being so significantly compensated.
I expect a man getting millions to see the clear choice to go for the 1st down (blame the kicker that already missed twice? with four minutes to go on the road you want the slim chance of D’Amato converting to just go up 3 points?). I expect a coach that can identify their best option at RB (Jeff asks about playing Bigelow at the expense of Isi and CJ – YES!). I expect a QB guru to see just how much better a QB he has when Maynard is on the move and call at least a few more roll outs, especially in crucial situations when his pocket pass skills have consistently resulted in off target throws.
Back to Isi. I love him, and he stepped up in a huge way last year, while Tedford insisted Bigelow did not know the pass protections to be the starting RB. The problem is that Isi is not better than Brandon anymore. Tedford will stick with him because he was higher on the depth chart out of loyalty, not competition. That’s wrong.
I defended Tedford for the past four years, but no longer. I am tired of the same mistakes based on uber conservative play calling and hyper-loyalty. For a long time, I commended him for his off the field values, but that doesn’t mean he can keep failing on the field.
Last, he is ultimately responsible for how the players perform on the field, for FGs being missed consistently (and still trying) and for TEs not extending their arms while blocking down field.
September 16th, 2012 at 8:52 am
If you get rid of Tedford, your only choice is not Holmoe. That’s just a false dichotomy. Tedford isn’t the same coach he used to be. He’s gone totally conservative and lost his flair for the different. He’s totally overpaid for what he’s delivering. And it’s a shame, because he rescued this program and got this new stadium built, but it’s still a fact. His last five years have been trending downward and that kind of call is why.
September 16th, 2012 at 8:54 am
And at what point will you finally acknowledge that the Holmoe argument does not work. What if Tedford goes 2-10 this year. It is better than 1-11, so by definition it is better than Holmoe in his worst year. Where is the line?
September 16th, 2012 at 9:06 am
I graduated in ’91. Getting rid of Tedford doesn’t mean we’ll get a coach as bad as Holmoe. But it likely means we won’t get one better. Look at big time programs Michigan and Notte Dame.
September 16th, 2012 at 9:32 am
Wrong! Cal now has state of the art facilities to go with a top institution. It is not the desolation destination it used to be. Top coaches would love to come here.
September 16th, 2012 at 9:50 am
Fire tedford and hire the tedford we originally had. The one who had guts and was creative.
Players do get some blame. But when its the same problems over and over its a systematic issue called coaching.
Tedford developed two good qbs at cal and thats it.
The predictable and passive offense is brutal. How many draws or counters up the cut did we run? Why did bigelow not takeover at running back after he exploded? Why was every pass call until the end for under 10 yards.
Without lupois recruiting this will not get better quick.
We were cooking with farmers market produce. Now we may go back to being a recruiting also ran where well be cookin with canned goods again.
September 16th, 2012 at 9:53 am
Id rather have coach mcintyre from san jose state. After next year hell get gobbled up. The dream is still gruden who still a house out here.
How about one of the niner assistants. Hell how about justin wilcox.
September 16th, 2012 at 10:04 am
I’m sick of Tedford as the rest of you are, but who’s to say that Kline won’t bolt if we can Teddy?
September 16th, 2012 at 10:28 am
Whoever people want to blame bottom line is we lost. Lost a game we could have won, that’s on the entire program.
Lot of season left, but just because there are games and we show promise in some areas does not mean things will turn around.
Only way Bears have a good year is if everyone involved tightens mistakes up and comes toghether to say enough and start winning games. It takes buy in, practice improvement and hard work.
Huge game Saturday on the road, we have a talented opponent that has torn every current player to shreds in each match up. Hope the guys go in with resolve to win and will accept nothing less.
JF please let us know about the punter situation, very strange.
September 16th, 2012 at 10:39 am
My guess on the punter situation- Tedford & staff decided they want to rugby style punt instead of standard punting. Leineger hadn’t show proficiency at that style in practice, the other kid had. When the first rugby rolled to almost 60 yards with no return, they did it on the 2nd punt. When said 2nd punt shanked to less than 20 yards, pregame plan to Rugby punt was aborted. Enter Leineger for normal punt and cover for 3rd and rest of punts.
JF, would love to hear Tedford explain, just for grins, but to see if my guess is good, or WIDE LEFT.
September 16th, 2012 at 10:51 am
By the way, agree with everyone that the 3rd FG try was HUGE Tedford mistake, 3rd down FB dive was another huge mistake, wuss decision. Even if the 3rd FG was good , we still lose. What game was Tedford watching? With Braxton Miller waiting on the other sideline, you are playing to lose IMO by both 3rd & 4th down decisions. These are the kind of weak, soft, conservative, play not to lose (yeah right), wussy decisions we have seen Tedford do for like 6 years now. Pete Carroll, Chip Kelly, Jim Harbaugh, Nick Saban, Chris Peterson, Les Miles- heck Jeff Tedford of 8 years ago- all are more aggressive there on 3rd down and go for it on 4th down. Even with a good kicker there it is the WRONG decision. Given the 2 earlier WIDE misses, he doesn’t deserve his job and near $3 mil/per right there. He has made scores upon scores of these weak, pathetic decisions over the past 6 seasons or so. He lost his heart and soul somewhere way back and he ain’t getting it back- EVER.
September 16th, 2012 at 11:01 am
At the end of the day, you gotta execute on the field and we just did not get it done. Tedford and staff had the right game plan. Again, how many balls did CJ Anderson and the receivers drop to keep drives alive? How many penalties turned into 2nd & 3rd & long? The terrible kicker that had nice snaps and good linemen blocking on the field goal attempts. I’m sorry, but to blame people who get zero yardage on offense and make zero tackles on defense is a bit of a stretch. Our team lost and the young men flying back from Columbus have no one to blame but themselves.
For all of the list of missed opportunities listed above, the initial article’s point on field position is the one that haunts me the most. We should have won the damn thing by 15 points! We were at midfield or on their side of the field damn near the entire game.
On to LA. Beat the Trojans with EXTREME PREJUDICE!
September 16th, 2012 at 11:02 am
Dan, I’ll disagree with one point. The 3rd down dive play is fine, as long as you already know you are going to go for it on 4th down if you don’t get the first. In fact, if you are already set to go for it on 4th, the dive aids setting up a play action pass later in the drive.
That said, Tedford failed miserably. He is nothing like the man Cal originally hired.
September 16th, 2012 at 11:12 am
I agree that mcintyre will be hot property,if he is not already.
September 16th, 2012 at 11:24 am
Rob i disagree with one of your points. Cj anderson shouldnt have been in. Bigelow was our best player. The coaches should have recognized that and subbed out isi and cj. Thats game management.
Covina i think it was 3 years ago or so when mcintyre won that award for best assistant coach in the country for his work at duke. Last year he got the top ranked recruiting class in the wac. And he has brought san jose back from the dead.
If tedford gets let go i think cal would be smart to start the replacement search in san jose.
That of course is if we dont give it to gould.
September 16th, 2012 at 11:34 am
You’re not a true Bear Backer, as am I, (Class of ’64)if you didn’t fall off the couch laughing on D’Amato’s 3d attempt (and considering the result, that’s all you could call it – an attempt). That was SO FAR LEFT it was almost out of the wide angle camera’s range.
Hope Tedford is talking to our rugby coach plus the men’s and women’s soccer coaches looking for a replacement. However, doesn’t explain the bad play call on 3d ‘n 2: fullback thru the A gap?
September 16th, 2012 at 11:38 am
Kona, also ohio states best player on defense is tgeir defensive tackle. Why we kept running up the gut when bigelow was killing tgem on the outside…inflexibility and lack of guts to make midgame adjustments on offence.
Clancy made changes to the defensive scheme at the half by switching williams and anthony.
On offense bigelow had 4 carries.
September 16th, 2012 at 11:46 am
FB dive was a good play. How many people have been clamoring for Tedford smash mouth ball? If you want it, then we need to run plays like this to get short yardage. I’d say it’s a better play call than a fourth down fade to KA like at UW last season. Yes, it was a horrible decision to kick on fourth down though and inexplicably running the clock down and burning a TO. Play calling overall was very good. tOSU was off-balanced all day. There were a lot of positives and while I think tOSU is overrated at #12 to outplay them for most of the game in a hostile environment is a good thing.
September 16th, 2012 at 12:11 pm
Who here agrees that isi and cj should start over bigelow next week?
September 16th, 2012 at 12:16 pm
Also yesterday stanford started two freshmen on their offensive line. How about tagaloa gets in tgere. Rigsbee isnt the solution. They dipped him in nacho cheese and ate him up all day.
I have faith that clancy will play the best guys. On offense i dont. On offense i feel their is inflexibility on making adjustments ingame and inseason.
On d im underwhelmed with todd howard and our d line. Theyre fetting no pass rush. Wes chandler i applaud though for tetting these rokies ready to ball.
September 16th, 2012 at 12:23 pm
With our defensive scheme I thought we want pass rush from our LBs, not our linemen. Linemen provide push, run support, and occupy blocks in our scheme. Is that incorrect?
And, yeah, I think you start Isi and CJ over Bigelow next week. Bigelow did a great job and deserves more snaps, but I trust Gould to make the right call as to who are the starters. If he thinks Bigelow isn’t ready to carry a starter’s load yet (15-20 carries) then I trust him.
September 16th, 2012 at 12:40 pm
I thought the plan against Miller was limited pressure, more containment, fearing the big scramble. Second half, Clancy upped the pressure slightly, but in the 4th quarter, Meyer countered with 1st down runs instead of pass plays.
The only reason, ONLY REASON, I regret not seeing the Nevada game is because I really am curious as to why the pistol is beyond Clancy’s schemes. Perhaps it is as simple as the 3-4 can’t handle a good pistol option, but I doubt it.
——————–
I am totally on board with Juancho. A guy proves it in practice and then limited game time, and Clancy will move him up the depth chart, but on offense, you have to wait for an injury or academic ineligibility to move up, performance be damned.
September 16th, 2012 at 1:49 pm
Cal beating USC next week??? LOL!!!
Double LOL!!! USC is planning on playing each down with 11 players right?? And Tedford will still be coaching Cal during the game??
No chance.
September 16th, 2012 at 1:56 pm
Yeah woj but which team is likely to get busted for paying players and which is likely to embarrass the Pac 12?
We suck but we suck honestly.
September 16th, 2012 at 2:01 pm
Stanford wins and wins honestly. It would sure be nice for Cal to mimic them. They had Harbaugh as coach. UCLA has the same academic standard and has turned a corner and done so under a new coach Mora. Good coaches = good-great results.
Cal has the same retread coach who was good .. 5 years ago. Time to let Tedfraud go.
September 16th, 2012 at 2:24 pm
Want to keep the classy aspect of our program but give it a shot in the arm… Give it to coach gould.
Great respect for this man. Especially his approach. I like how he takes guys up to visit prisoners at san quentin. Fiery guy whos gotten results.
Im pursuing some liquid courage before i do some research. Im going to loom up yards per carry by babk by year to see how isi compares. Let me know if anyone has any research requests. Im also going to look at next years projected lineup.
September 16th, 2012 at 2:29 pm
Isi’s 1300+ yards last year which was more than Marshawn’s 1200+ yards makes Isi a lock for about one half of the run carries. You can split the remaining carries between CJ, lasco, and Bigelow. While Bigelow scored twice yesterday on four carries, he still has not convinced me that he can repeat that high level of success as an every down back. Remember, Bigelow has had quite a few kickoff returns with only one touchdown and that was against Presbyterean College. With all that said, I would like to see if Bigelow and Lasco can repeat their respective touchdown runs with frequency.
September 16th, 2012 at 2:35 pm
Boalt how many carries did isi get versus marshawn?
Bigelow only has two years left after this season. Were wasting a talent.
Past results shouldnt be as important as results today.
September 16th, 2012 at 2:47 pm
In his last season marshawn ran for 1,356 and averaged 6.1 a carry.
Isi got 1,322 with with 5.2 per.
Isi 252 carries. Marshawn 223.
September 16th, 2012 at 3:18 pm
Point is not that Isi > Lynch, just that Isi is a quality back that has shown that he can handle the starters duties. I think Boaltblue was just pointing out Lynch’s stats to show how remarkable a job Isi did last year.
And, no, Clancy doesn’t shoot people up the depth chart based on one game. I remember a couple of years ago, some backup D-lineman played a few downs late in a game and got like two sacks and a TFL, but dude was not starting next week.
I think we’re all agreed that Bigelow deserves more carries, but let’s not go crazy and name him the starter just yet. I want to see him on the field providing pass protection, catching balls out of the backfield, taking hard hits and proving he can protect the ball, etc – running more than just plays designed to go to him. Being a starting RB is more than just running the ball. Gould will promote him when he thinks he’s ready.
September 16th, 2012 at 3:27 pm
Druid so why did noalt mention marshawn ? To make a point assuming nobody woyld look it up.
Clancy sat kam jackson. And at haltime he gave marc anthony the #1 cb job
Whose the “some backup dl” guy you mention ? And im referencing now not years ago.
Hurrell sat. Mullins sat. Kam jackson sat. Bc there were better guys.
September 16th, 2012 at 3:46 pm
Re: Bigelow starting, I don’t care. In fact, I’d rather he didn’t. Isi is a stud, he’s solid and a leader by example by his toughness, heart and max effort.
What I do care about is that Bigelow is in the game so rarely, and Tedford, with the exception of the quick pitch that got only a few yards but a key first down, does nothing to feature him, to put him in a position to be successful, to develop plays or packages to get him the ball in space. Man, I would licking my chops to come up with ways to optimize him. I’d be up late obsessed with getting him more involved.
Even yesterday, I felt like Bigelow having all that success was a happy accident. I don’t think Tedford had any idea BB would do that. And if BB didn’t have those 2 runs the game would have one sided to OSU despite the fact OSU isn’t very good.
Let me ask you all one thing- what do you think Chip Kelly would do with Bigelow? For the answer, look how he got DeAnthony Thomas involved from game 1 last season, as a true freshman. He didnt know the whole offense, but Kelly knew he had a game breaking weapon he had to use. There was no discussion of Thomas or Barner or James. They all starred. The whole nation knew about DT right away last season. Kelly trusts and empowers his players, Tedford has most of them tense and unprepared until their careers are half over. When you compare the greatness, creativity and genius of Kelly to Tedford, well there is no comparison.
September 16th, 2012 at 3:55 pm
… And Cal deserves a Chip Kelly caliber coach, or needs to aspire to that. Tedford looked like he was going to be that, got close for a very small window, and has been falling and failing – IMO – ever since.
What I now know is that Cal has HUGE debt to service, Tedford has lost a LOT of the passionate support the program had built, and will continue to do so until he is eventually fired or steps down. There is a lot of apathy and irrelevance locally and nationally, and it continue on. A new coach coming won’t change that drastically unless it is a big time name.
If you want to look for precedent, look at Cal hoops. Tedford ascent and descent is exactly like Brauns. Cal hoops is still not where it was in the early days of Haas. Despite getting a HOF coach, which helped. It is going the same way
September 16th, 2012 at 3:56 pm
Dan i dont agree.
September 16th, 2012 at 4:06 pm
BigDruid, I wrote “A guy proves it in practice and then limited game time, and Clancy will move him up the depth chart,” not based on one game.
Bigelow clearly shows promise and no off field issues (or attitude problems) or Tedford would not have him doing kickoff returns. He should be getting more than 4 carries.
September 16th, 2012 at 4:13 pm
Juabcho – with … ?
September 16th, 2012 at 4:43 pm
Lynch did a fine job today beating the Cowboys -122 yrds a a TD. Dallas rushed for 45 yrds.
September 16th, 2012 at 6:53 pm
@Yoda – yes, we can avoid Holmoe and get a better. You mention Michigan and Notre Dame. Michigan got Brady Hoke, a guy I wanted, and went to a BCS bowl last year. ND made the dumb mistake of hiring Charlie Weis, and then went for a guy from a smaller school who was willing to gamble. I hear Brian Kelly is a real d–khead, but I saw the ND-Navy game in Dublin, and they looked solid. And they beat the crap out of MSU yesterday. Seems to me that they are on the rise.
September 16th, 2012 at 7:11 pm
Juancho, (#23 Above),
“Bigelow was our best player?” The guy comes in, makes a few plays and now he is our best player and you throw out all of last year for Isi and CJ Anderson, not including spring ball and the fact that Bigelow has only carried the ball a few times? Seriously?
As to your second point, are you seriously suggesting that just because CJ is NOT our “best player,” he no longer gets to run the ball or go out for passes?
Come on man. Hindsight is too easy and this is too funny.
CJ was in and he didn’t execute. You can’t blame Tedford for that one, whether it is the new one or old one as you suggest.
September 16th, 2012 at 7:50 pm
#47
Would it have anything to do with his mistaken ability to know the difference bewtween the use of “our” and “are”?
September 16th, 2012 at 7:52 pm
Hey “Fake Fans”
I will be gone for a week but I will go out of my way to make this week a memorable one.
What a pathetic fan base!
September 16th, 2012 at 8:17 pm
Dan i disagreed that bigelow shouldnt start. I think he should.
Rob i said bigelow was iur best player on offense saturday. If you disagree tell me who on offense did better to keep us in the game. Bigelow had two home run td runs.
September 16th, 2012 at 8:20 pm
I agree about hindsight. But the dans and erics and steventexas and wisdoms will tell you ive been begging for bigelow to play since last year.
If he is better than cj then play him. This isnt intermurals brother. To quote the great jeff gundy.
September 16th, 2012 at 8:24 pm
Rob youre right. Playing time should be based on what guys did in the past. In games and in practice. In other words nepotism and not meritocracy.
Not in what they can do today. Who cares how a guy performs now. Its about how they did last year. Get nate longshore on the phone.
September 16th, 2012 at 8:28 pm
Bigelow shouldn’t start, but he should be in the mix and not thought of as “third string” just because he is not a senior. Whoever has the hot hand should play. But experience would have me start with Isi or CJ, especially since Bigelow has already experienced success coming in as a non-starter. I’d mix it up, and give SC a ton of runs until they creep into the box, then roll out ZM and hit Keenan and then waakaw!
September 17th, 2012 at 12:15 pm
Juancho: My earlier post was attempting to compare Isi’s first year as a starter in 2011 with Marshawn’s first year as a starter in 2005. I should have made that comparison clearer. Isi did outgain Marshawn when you compare both runners’ respective first years as starting running backs. I was not attempting to disparage Marshawn who is one of my favorites and who did outgain Isi in yards per carry.
My point is that you do not bench a 1300+ yard runner who has shown such tremendous heart and given his all for the Cal Football program. And those 1300+ yards were gained with a much inferior offensive line when compared to the offensive line that Marshawn had blocking for him