Today, Portland State at home

The Bears are taking on Division I-AA Portland State this afternoon. However, the Vikings are not your usual I-AA creampuff. They’re 2-0 and already coming off a win over I-A New Mexico. They also have a powerful defensive line, and Mike Tepper may be starting in place of injured Andrew Cameron (ankle). This will not be a gimme at first, but in the end Cal should prevail handily.

Some articles to read before the game:

• ESPN: California ends non-conference slate vs. I-AA Portland St
• Contra Costa Times: Bears want no surprises
• Daily Cal: Bears putting on blinders for Portland State
• Daily Cal: Vikings aren’t your average I-AA pushover

I also hear that Vikings fans have painted the big C green and white (Portland State colors). Pretty gutsy.

Cal Football Fan prediction: 52-10, Cal.

Bears redeemed in decisive victory over Minnesota

I predicted 41-28, but Cal exceeded expectations and soundly defeated the Gophers 42-17 last night.

The defense was notably improved. Redshirt freshman Syd’Quan Thompson found redemption with great coverage and several tackles, including one for a loss. Daymeion Hughes made two interceptions. Brandon Mebane and the defensive line did well facing Minnesota’s powerful offensive line and running attack. Mebane and Mickey Pimentel each had sacks, an impressive feat considering that Minnesota only allowed 3 sacks total last season and has gone 8 consecutive games without giving one up. Most of all, the defense made sound tackles.

On the offensive side of the ball, Nate Longshore lived up to his potential and emerged as the definite starting quarterback of the team. Completing 22 of 31 passes with 4 touchdowns and 300 yards, Longshore was able to lead the offense and execute sharply. The offense included both pro-set and spread plays, a hybrid that seemed effective to confuse Minnesota’s defense. The running game was powerful and effective as well, and the Marshawn Lynch / Justin Forsett duo pounded the Gophers into submission. The receivers also looked very good. Lavelle Hawkins gained serious yards (125) while DeSean Jackson was Longshore’s favorite for the endzone with 3 TD catches and 100+ yards also.

Special teams coverage needs some work, as they gave up a 99 yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Both Andrew Larson on punts and Tom Schneider on kickoffs looked good.

There were a few stupid personal foul penalties that should have been avoided. Hopefully this is addressed by Coach Jeff Tedford.

The stadium was especially loud on Minnesota’s third down plays, causing at least two false starts.

Overall, the game was a great bounce back to winning form from last week. The Bears looked like what they should’ve one week earlier. They were confident, poised, and they executed brilliantly.

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.

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.

Excited team “can’t wait” for Tennessee

Saturday can’t come soon enough

The Oakland Tribune published an article today about the team’s preparation for the season opener at Tennessee on Saturday. Coach Jeff Tedford has been playing Tennessee’s fight song “Rocky Top” on loop in the locker room to get them fired up, and also piping deafening croud noise to simulate the 106,000+ fans the team will face in Knoxville, TN. The players are energetic, excited, and a little nervous, but definitely looking forward to the game.

Many are considering this game to be very close, as the teams appear to be quite evenly matched. In Vegas, the game’s spread has been fluctuating between just 1 or 2 points. Recently, Tennessee has been favored (probably due to home field advantage) but the there’s been some movement over the past day or two to make Cal the 2-point favorite, perhaps with the quarterback situation sorted out. Regardless, it’s very close. And, ESPN‘s Mike & Mike show just called this the “most even game on the board” when describing the big games this weekend. Is it Saturday yet?

ESPN: Cal/Tennessee #1 intriguing matchup

ESPN writer Bruce Feldman has named the Cal/Tennessee game the #1 intriguing matchup for September. He writes:

1. Cal at Tennessee, Sept. 2: I know this one pits a team that played in the Vegas Bowl against one that didn’t even go bowling, but I’m fascinated by how the Vols come out. Will there be any hangover from that wreck last season? And what will the Cal Bears get from their QB spot? Are they back to being a top 10 program or have they peaked? I have a feeling the loser of this one, especially if it’s the guys in orange, will be sent reeling. I guess this one is kinda like the Kirstie Alley of games — two programs that had been riding high a few years ago before sliding into some sort of embarrassing downturn. Both are reportedly on their way back into the spotlight again, but we’re not sure just how far back they truly are, and we’re not quite ready to take them too seriously just yet.

I was a little surprised to see that Feldman considered Cal’s last season “embarassing” like Tennessee’s and his statement that he was not ready to take either team seriously. While Feldman has consistently been skeptical of Cal’s legitimacy this season (especially in light of the quarterback situation), these words are a bit stronger than usual. However, I’m glad that he recognizes the stakes of this game for both programs and the article still adds to the building hype to September for Cal.

EDIT 7/28: I’m happy to see that Feldman more or less retracted his “embarassing” statement in response to feedback from a Cal fan:

Jerris in San Carlos, Calif.: I love your blog and think you are spot on with most of your observations, but I do take issue with you characterizing Cal’s last season as “sliding into some sort of embarrassing downturn.” It was an obvious rebuilding year with unproven QBs, WRs and most of the defense. I think you would be hard-pressed to find many Cal fans who thought last year was embarrassing. I think the parallel with Tennessee is strained on that point. But I am psyched you are looking forward to the game as much as I!

Feldman: Yeah, Jerris. You caught me. I kinda cheated a little to make the Kirstie Alley line fit. That really wasn’t that embarrassing of a downturn for Cal especially in light of the nightmarish lengths the Vols sunk to.

Cal games mentioned on CFB

College Football News has named the two Cal games in “three games no one is thinking about much, but will end up being a really big deal” for different writers. They write:

California at Tennessee, Sept. 2
This is the opening week game I really want to see. Is California really going to be good enough to challenge for the Pac 10 title and a shot at the BCS championship? It should be explosive enough on offense and decent enough on D, but it needs the first really, really big non-conference win in the Jeff Tedford era to make believers out of the Right Coast types. Imagine the fire alarms that will go off in Knoxville if the Vols, coming off last year’s disaster, blow the home opener. These are two top ten-caliber teams that should play a heck of a game.

And also,

Cal at USC � this should be for the Pac-10 championship and if Nate Longshore is even half the man that Aaron Rodgers was, this one could really be exciting.

Take a look at the article here.

Season opener against Tennessee on ESPN

ESPN has picked up our season opener at the Tennessee Volunteers. This game is going to be big. The kickoff’s at 2:30 on September 2, and will now be getting national coverage.

In addition to this game, ABC has picked up 3 games (Oregon, UCLA, @USC), TBS 1 (Minnesota), and FSN 1 also (Stanford). More televised games are likely to be scheduled as the season approaches.