Cal Analysis

Win: the chances of a decent bowl for OSU is still a possibility.

Loss: bowl chances are out the window. The season is now reclassified as a rebuilding year.

Cal is unpredictable. The Nevada loss was unrecoverable for them, yet they rally. OSU has more to lose in this game.

Cal Fans

I live in the SF bay area, and I have a lot of friends who went to Cal. I like all of them, they are great friends.

But there is something different about Cal fans/alums. They have been through so many ups and downs over the years, and in general they are all real smart intellectually.

But they are f**ked up in that they expect the worst, and hope for the best. I am talking about people who have been around more than one decade. I have no idea about the newbies.

I went to the OSU vs Cal game at Berkeley in 2005, with a friend who was a Cal grad. At first he was quiet. As the game went on he was more engaged. Sorta of rooting for his team. Then Cal started getting it's ass kicked.

He was cheering for OSU midway through the 3rd quarter.

I gave him a lot of sh*t. I told him he was not allowed to support the opposing team. We didn't want his support.

Cal Bears

OSU has to win this game. If they do, it will be a confidence builder for the final two games. If not, the season has a different meaning.

Cal is a good team, and will give the Beavers all they can handle.

OSU has lots of areas they can improve on, both offensively and defensively. I hope they stay focused. Rivals.com has a great article on the Beavers.

There is way too much Rose Bowl talk going on.

Here is Cal's record for the year. They are a good team.

Aug. 30	Michigan State	W 38-31
Sep. 6	at Wash. St.	W 66-3
Sep. 13	at Maryland	L 27-35
Sep. 27	Colorado State	W 42-7
Oct. 4	Arizona State	W 24-14
Oct. 18	at Arizona	L 27-42
Oct. 25	UCLA	W 41-20
Nov. 1	Oregon	W 26-16
Nov. 8	at USC	L 3-17

Phil's Candid Feedback about OSU vs. Cal

(Editor-This may be the best recap on the 'net. This pic is the grade Cal fans got for chanting "We're #1, We're #1" before the game was over...donkeys)


(photo source: uncov)

Beaver Nation-

With the Bye I took a little time to review the film a bit. Here are my thoughts.

Tedford - Great work. Throwing your clipboard like a bitch with your Frosh QB right there surely will do wonders for his confidence. Pull you pants up and realize you were out coached and out matched. Face it, your team was over rated. Like Meat points out, nice creativity on the goal line. OUR DEFENSE IS NOT OVER RATED. Try something new after the 2nd or 3rd down. Looking tough does not make you tough. I have CAL friends that are crying "Longshore, Longshore". It would not have mattered, WE WERE BETTER.

Bernard - Way to stand up when you were needed. You earned the Pac Ten Player of the week. Thank you for using two hands to catch the ball. You would not have held on to some of the throws, because you got blasted. You played unbelievable.

Canfield - great job. I am not sure if you have turned the corner yet, but if you haven't you are close. You took control of the game and did not make mistakes and took what they gave you. I think Stanford's D might be a bit better, but only a bit. Look for the TE's.

Receivers - Did a great job. I am sure that Catching is being hounded about his ball carrying skills as he should. Great key grabs late by "Where's the Wheat" Brown. Do we still have TE's? I know that Bernard stole your short throws, but get it Sean's ear and tell him you want the rock.

Serna - Redemption. 3-3 FG's and an above average Punting night was one of the keys of the game. If not for you unbelievable punt at the end of the game we would have lost. GREAT WORK.

O-LINE - 1 Sack. Huge holes. Awesome.

Defense - "And the Heisman goes to"…Not to DeSean Jackson. This kid is a good player. He was covered hit and exposed on Saturday. Speed is tough to contain but hammering him on the line and covering him like a blanket will do it. #1 Punt returner? Might be, but not if you don't give him the ball. Serna is out of the dog house after Saturday. The last Punt to pin the ball on the 5 yard line was nothing but impressive. I was embarrassed for him. Hawkins had the game of his life. We were not going to let Jackson beat us and Hawkins was the beneficiary.

They had given up a total of 4 sacks going into the game. We had 3.

If you take away the first run of 45 yards by Forsett he would have ended with 105 yards on 27 carries for a 3.8 average, not too impressive. The #1 against the run in the country was a bit misleading due to many bad shotgun snaps and all of the sacks and I think It got to their head a bit.

Victor Butler - OH MY!!! He looked like a RB on that pick. Doggett was standing there initially saying "give up the rock fatty" and then turned and blocked and they almost took it too the house. Would have liked a TD there, but the win was just fine.

Alan Darlin - STUD…nothing else is needed.

Greg Layborn - Even with a target on your chest you keep saying bring it…keep it up!

Gerard Lawson - All in the rear view mirror. Took the returns and ran like the wind…

Mike - Enjoy the week off. We must CRUSH Stanford. Nothing less. Two more wins and you and Canfield are off the hook.

Not to get ahead of ourselves, but SC in three weeks looks good to me. They are battered and have big problems.

-Phil

You fell for the "Jedi Mind Trick" Tedford

I think that Mike Riley got into the head of Jeff Tedford during the game Saturday.

Why do I say that? Because I think Jeff Tedford was sloppy in his goal line strategy against OSU. When Cal had first and goal and they couldn't get it in, it was pathetic coaching the caused it. Yes, OSU's defense made the plays, and I love 'em for it, but Cal could've ran at least one play action counter bootleg. I think Tedford over analyzed the play calls because he was so spooked by Riley.

I think Mike Riley's gambling attitude pressed Tedford into making some high risk decisions. I am sure Tedford remembered the Sun Bowl. It was a flash of true big game glory in the back of his mind. He wished he had the balls Mike Riley had in going for it. During the game Saturday, Riley was gambling and winning again. I am sure Tedford's ego clicked and he got tweaked.

Mike Riley got into Jeff Tedford's head saturday. He used Jedi mind tricks to take him out of his game and it showed.

Ted, if you are reading this blog, here's a clip of true big game glory, keep this vision in the back of your mental rolodex:

End of the Cal Game clip

OSU upsets #2 Cal 31-28

OSU beats the California Bears 31-28 today!


(AP Photo/Ben Margot)

High SAT scores don't seem to correlate with intelligence on the football field as Cal blows an opportunity to tie the Beavers in the final seconds of the game.

Oregon beat the #2 Cal Bears 31-28 in an incredible game. OSU survived a late push from the Bears to pull a huge upset.

OSU basically hit all of my keys to the game, except for stopping the run and minimizing big plays. Sean Canfield played his best game as a Beaver today. He did not throw a single INT. He made no major mistakes and it was the main reason we won. Bernard played hard as always. That kid has heart.

Layborne(sp?) nearly cost us the game with some big mistakes....

OSU played with huge heart and intensity. The offensive line was fierce for 4 qtrs. The defensive front 7 played unreal. Stopping Cal 4 times at the goal line was insane. Our defensive line is probably the best in the NCAA.

The ending of the game was bizarre. I thought this was going to overtime. Cal's QB is a redshirt freshman and it showed at the end. All he had to do was throw the ball out of bounds instead of trying to run it up the middle. This loss will hurt for a long time for the Bears. Worse, LSU lost to Kentucky earlier. If Cal won, they would have been #1 in the nation.

This was a great win for the program.

More Links:

AP news release
Box Score

Pics:


(AP Photo/Ben Margot)



(AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Next Up.... Cal

Keys to the Game:

Cal has to self destruct somehow, someway for the Beavers to have a chance.

No turnovers on offense- in order for them to win on the road, in front of 80k fans, they will need to play near perfect.

OSU's punt team has to avg 35yds net per punt- this will be hard to do considering how bad Serna is.

OSU must convert 100% of their FG attempts- Serna has to have a great game.

OSU's offensive line must control the line of scrimmage for 4 qtrs.

Yvenson Bernard has to rush for 150 yds, and get 80 yds receiving.

OSU's defense needs to shut down Desean Jackson. OSU's punt team has to contain him too. NO BIG PLAYS.

OSU's defense has to hit Nate Longshore hard, early and often. 5 sacks minimum.

Cal can't rush for more than 80 yds as a team.

If the Beaver's are lucky and these keys come together for them, they can win. I think Cal is overrated at #2 in the country. But they are real good, and this could be a major blowout......