Today, Minnesota at home

Cal’s home opener is today at 4pm against Minnesota Gophers. Minnesota is coming off a 44-0 blowout win over Kent State (a 1-10 team last season). The Gophers are not a bad team, and they’re known for a smashmouth running attack. However, their defense is vulnerable and Cal should have a good chance to run up points.

Notable statistics: Minnesota has won its last 17 games against nonconference opponents in the regular season (since 2001). Despite this, it’s good to know that Minnesota has avoided playing ranked opponents outside their conference since 1991.

Here are some articles to read before the game:

• AP: Cal plays for redemption against Minnesota
• Scout.com: Preview: Cal vs Minnesota
• Rivals: Cal ready to begin fighting overrated label
• Minneapolis Star Tribune: Gophers, Bears have plenty to prove
• SF Chronicle: Cal seeks to avoid falling into Gopher hole

Cal Football Fan prediction: 41-28, Cal.

Feldman: Cal #10 in Most Offensive Firepower

ESPN’s Bruce Feldman, despite his scathing article ripping Cal after the loss in Tennessee, has named Cal #10 in his list of Teams with the Most Offensive Firepower. His list is ranked “strictly on skill talent/weaponry”, and he writes:

10. Cal, 22: Marshawn Lynch and Justin Forsett merit a 10 at running back. DeSean Jackson leads a dynamic bunch of receivers, although the group struggled big-time in Knoxville. Problem is, the QB picture here is so cloudy.

His formula gives points to the QB, RB, and WR positions only.

DE Mbakogu may be lost for the season

Defensive end Philip Mbakogu, considered to be Cal’s best pass rusher, may be lost for the season. He underwent surgery  on his left knee to address some cartilage problems after his last season finished with great success. Unfortunately, Coach Jeff Tedford said, “His knee’s not responding.” This is a huge loss to the pash rush, which was shown last Saturday to need some help.

Also, tight end Craig Stevens may play against Minnesota after suffering a concussion during the opening kickoff against Tennessee.

Longshore starting again against Minnesota

Coach Jeff Tedford has announced that Nate Longshore will start against Minnesota this Saturday with Joe Ayoob also getting some playing time, despite the “nightmare” opener at Tennessee.Tedford called the opener “about as bad as I could imagine it going” and also stated he “won’t abandon the elements of the spread offense that were incorporated into this season’s game plan by new offensive coordinator Mike Dunbar”, as “there was very little spread stuff that was used”. Let’s hope for some improvement in execution and a win next week.

Cal now ranked #22/23 in AP/Coaches polls

Despite Saturday’s disappointing loss, Cal is now ranked #22 in the Associated Press poll, and #23 in the USA Today Coaches poll from #9 and #12, respectively. This drop is drastic, but remaining in the top 25 gives Cal hope to improve in ranking with each win.

As an aside, Tennessee improved from #23 in both polls to #11 in AP and #17 in the Coaches poll. The two teams more or less switched spots in the polls.

Here’s a fairly interesting article about Cal’s rank in the polls expressing some skepticism about the big drop.

Personnel notes

At Tennessee, starting tight end Craig Stevens was lost in the opening kickoff for the rest of the game. He suffered a concussion and his status for the Minnesota game on Saturday is not known.

Marshawn Lynch was slightly banged up in a kickoff return as well and he seemed bothered by it on the sidelines during the game despite playing on it. He now has a “sore ankle” but Coach Jeff Tedford says he “will be OK”.

The quarterback competition for starter re-opens during practice this week between Nate Longshore and Joe Ayoob. Tedford says that backup quarterback Steve Levy, who was suspended for the season opener, is not in the competition and is “definitely” number 3 on the depth chart.

Media bandwagon jumps ship

In spite of all the preseason hype, the media has immediately jumped off the Cal bandwagon after this one poor showing in Tennessee. Here’s ESPN’s Bruce Feldman:

I feel so foolish. I bought into this whole Cal-is-a-powerhouse business. Fell for the Jeff Tedford could make any QB into a star, too. Got sold that the Bears could lose all those supposedly great O-linemen and not miss anything. That David Cutcliffe couldn’t even hold a clipboard next to Tedford. And now after seeing the Bears fall behind 35-0 in their 35-18 loss to Tennessee and sifting through the Deleted Items bin of my e-mail to find the missive from that Cal diehard that came in late Friday night talking about how all of us media folks still aren’t giving the Bears defense their due, I have seen the light.

Cal is like that girl you convinced yourself was so perfect, but then something happened, and suddenly it all became clear. You broke up. It stung, but you realized all her faults, all the ones that you can’t believe you didn’t notice before. Fact is, Cal hasn’t beaten anyone in the last three years. The Bears’ big statement game was its close loss to USC in 2004. They griped about being left out of the BCS mix that season and then were lit up by Texas Tech in the Holiday Bowl. Last season, they weren’t much better than a middle-of-the-road Mountain West squad.

After seeing a Tennessee offense, which ranked 101st in the nation in scoring last season, post 35 points in a little more than two quarters, I doubt anyone will take Cal very seriously again for a very long time. Overreaction? Maybe. But I think if the Bears could knock off USC, they probably still would not get back into the top 15. And of course, this blowout has big-picture meaning. Whenever folks talk about the Pac-10 being soft, this Cal-Tennessee game will always come up first. It will live in infamy out here on the West Coast.

Sure, USC crushed Arkansas again, but truth is, no one, not even Pac-10 haters, have the gall to question the Trojans’ legitimacy. But it’s that next batch of the Pac-10’s supposed heavyweights that never seems to hold up their end.

I just hope the team steps up to the disrespect and plays with a huge chip on its shoulder the next eleven games. Cal fans need to have a short memory about this game as well, and be there to support the team at home against Minnesota.

Tennessee intercepted defensive signals

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach reports that Tennessee was able to steal Cal’s defensive signals, enabling their offense to dismantle defensive plays with greater ease.

Tennessee receivers coach Trooper Taylor said the Bears also made the Volunteers’ jobs easier. Taylor said the Volunteers were able to pick up California’s defensive signals from the coaches’ box and relay the signals to the sideline. So sometimes, Ainge knew what defense he was going to face before he even stepped to the line of scrimmage.

This doesn’t explain the missed tackles, but Tennessee’s use of this tactic helps to shine some light on their ability to exploit our defensive schemes. I hope the coaches address this espionage and learn to conceal the signals in future games.

Bears unprepared for Tennessee in rout

Today, the Bears were humbled 35-18 by a very underrated Tennessee team. Cal looked uncharacteristically inexperienced and unprepared in a deafening and hostile environment, and the team fell hard.

Coach Jeff Tedford quote: “We just weren’t very sharp. We didn’t execute. We didn’t catch it very well. We didn’t tackle well.”

Some things stilll looked improved from last season:

• Special teams: Punter Andrew Larson and coverage appeared quite good, especially compared to last season.
• Joe Ayoob: Despite only facing Tennessee’s second-string defense, Ayoob looked better than last year after taking over for Longshore in the third quarter. He did make some mistakes and wild throws, but he looked improved overall. I’m not sure whether I’d take him starting at quarterback over Longshore, though.

Several areas seemed to need improvement:

• Defensive secondary: The Vols picked on redshirt freshman cornerback Syd’Quan Thompson time after time, showing how much Tim Mixon‘s knee injury affected the team. Thompson needs more experience to be at the potential of his talent, but I hope this experience has not shattered his confidence.
• Wide receivers: The number of catchable balls dropped was alarming.
• Offensive line: The line didn’t seem to be jelling too well, letting Tennessee’s powerful defenders through and failing to open up holes for the running backs.
• Playcalling: I’m no coach, but I think the selection of plays could better utilize Cal’s personnel.

I hope that the loss gives the Bears a renewed focus. They must play better on both sides of the ball. With some adjustments and this experience under the belt, Cal should still be a contender for the Pac-10 title and a BCS bowl.

Final walkthrough at Knoxville, and a prediction

The Golden Bears have arrived. (Photo: udaman1)

Today (Friday), the Bears completed their final walkthrough at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. There’s a video of the team at that link.

The game is now about 15 hours away. GO BEARS!

Cal Football Fan prediction: 31 – 23, Cal.