What Went Wrong at Rocky Top
I just finished watching the California Golden Bears get embarassed on the road against Tennessee. Here are my impressions:
- First off, Cal is not nearly that bad, and Tennessee is not nearly that good. Three Tennessee touchdowns were the direct result of absurdly poor tackling. Two of those were the direct result of Tim Mixon's injury. (Syd'Quan Thompson missed two easy tackles and let the guy he was covering take it to the house...mistakes by a freshman who was hopelessly outmatched and trying to make a big play). It had nothing to do with Eric Ainge being particularly effective (he wasn't) or the Cal defense getting outplayed (aside from those three ridiculous plays, they weren't). Cal needs to start Randy Bundy at corner...he doesn't have Syd'Quan's talent, but he has more experience and won't give up touchdowns going for picks that he can't get. The entire Cal defense needs to get back to focusing on fundamentals, like making tackles and staying between the ball carrier and the end zone. All this preseason hype must have gotten to their heads, because they were completely lacking in basic fundamentals against Tennessee. Hopefully, getting their asses handed to them will humble them a bit.
- This quasi-spread offense is garbage, and it could ruin the remainder of Marshawn Lynch's college career, and possibly Nate Longshore's as well. Nate Longshore is a pocket passer. Marshawn Lynch is most effective out of a pro style offense. Jeff Tedford had a great thing going before with his offensive philosophy, and I can't understand why they are tinkering in this way, especially given the personnel. This spread thing is not going to work.
- If Cal insists on scrapping its enormously successful offensive philosophy for the flavor of the month spread offense, they need to start (and I am cringing as I type this) Joe Ayoob. Ayoob ran the offense much more effectively against Tennessee. Ayoob's mobility and athleticism make him a better fit for what appears to be the new Cal offense. Longshore can't run a spread offense. He is a pocket passer. It isn't going to work.
- Marshawn Lynch had 12 carries against Tennessee. I will go on record as saying that Cal will not win a single game this year where Marshan Lynch does not get a minimum of 20 carries. Having a back like Lynch and not using him is stupid. It's Holmoe level stupid. It's Tedford's sanity is coming into question stupid. I don't know how much control this Dunbar guy has been given over the offense, but whoever decided that Marshawn Lynch should only carry the ball 12 times in this game doesn't understand his personnel. Really, really dumb.
- Tennessee is not "back," and we will see that throughout this season. They may post a winning record, but they are not a contender by any stretch of the imagination. Their defense did a decent job stopping the run, but Cal didn't try to run enough. Cal stopped their own passing attack with dropped balls and bad passes. They had open receivers, but they couldn't make the passing attack work. Tennessee's offense is not very good...they had a few big plays where they capitalized on Cal's lack of defensive discipline and inexperience, and that's about it. When Cal played as they are capable of playing, the Tennessee offense didn't do much.
- Basically, it comes down to this: If Cal's receivers caught the catchable balls thrown to them, if Cal's DB's (especially Thompson) tackled ball carriers when they were supposed to, and if the coaching staff gave Marshawn Lynch the damn ball more than 12 times, Cal wins this game, notwithstanding the fact that they don't have a good option at QB at this point.
It's still a wide open Pac 10 this year. Hopefully Cal can pull it together in time for conference play. If they don't play better than they did against Tennessee, they won't beat anyone in the Pac 10.
- First off, Cal is not nearly that bad, and Tennessee is not nearly that good. Three Tennessee touchdowns were the direct result of absurdly poor tackling. Two of those were the direct result of Tim Mixon's injury. (Syd'Quan Thompson missed two easy tackles and let the guy he was covering take it to the house...mistakes by a freshman who was hopelessly outmatched and trying to make a big play). It had nothing to do with Eric Ainge being particularly effective (he wasn't) or the Cal defense getting outplayed (aside from those three ridiculous plays, they weren't). Cal needs to start Randy Bundy at corner...he doesn't have Syd'Quan's talent, but he has more experience and won't give up touchdowns going for picks that he can't get. The entire Cal defense needs to get back to focusing on fundamentals, like making tackles and staying between the ball carrier and the end zone. All this preseason hype must have gotten to their heads, because they were completely lacking in basic fundamentals against Tennessee. Hopefully, getting their asses handed to them will humble them a bit.
- This quasi-spread offense is garbage, and it could ruin the remainder of Marshawn Lynch's college career, and possibly Nate Longshore's as well. Nate Longshore is a pocket passer. Marshawn Lynch is most effective out of a pro style offense. Jeff Tedford had a great thing going before with his offensive philosophy, and I can't understand why they are tinkering in this way, especially given the personnel. This spread thing is not going to work.
- If Cal insists on scrapping its enormously successful offensive philosophy for the flavor of the month spread offense, they need to start (and I am cringing as I type this) Joe Ayoob. Ayoob ran the offense much more effectively against Tennessee. Ayoob's mobility and athleticism make him a better fit for what appears to be the new Cal offense. Longshore can't run a spread offense. He is a pocket passer. It isn't going to work.
- Marshawn Lynch had 12 carries against Tennessee. I will go on record as saying that Cal will not win a single game this year where Marshan Lynch does not get a minimum of 20 carries. Having a back like Lynch and not using him is stupid. It's Holmoe level stupid. It's Tedford's sanity is coming into question stupid. I don't know how much control this Dunbar guy has been given over the offense, but whoever decided that Marshawn Lynch should only carry the ball 12 times in this game doesn't understand his personnel. Really, really dumb.
- Tennessee is not "back," and we will see that throughout this season. They may post a winning record, but they are not a contender by any stretch of the imagination. Their defense did a decent job stopping the run, but Cal didn't try to run enough. Cal stopped their own passing attack with dropped balls and bad passes. They had open receivers, but they couldn't make the passing attack work. Tennessee's offense is not very good...they had a few big plays where they capitalized on Cal's lack of defensive discipline and inexperience, and that's about it. When Cal played as they are capable of playing, the Tennessee offense didn't do much.
- Basically, it comes down to this: If Cal's receivers caught the catchable balls thrown to them, if Cal's DB's (especially Thompson) tackled ball carriers when they were supposed to, and if the coaching staff gave Marshawn Lynch the damn ball more than 12 times, Cal wins this game, notwithstanding the fact that they don't have a good option at QB at this point.
It's still a wide open Pac 10 this year. Hopefully Cal can pull it together in time for conference play. If they don't play better than they did against Tennessee, they won't beat anyone in the Pac 10.
posted by AdmiralLando at 7:13 PM
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