Arizona at Cal Post-Game Thoughts

Well, I have not been able to watch the game over again, but I have to say that I think Cal did a pretty good job on an Arizona team that looked pretty good. Not to say that they should have been in the game, but I think that team should be putting some points on the board, and they should be able to have a decent defense. I do not know why they are sucking so badly. I guess it is just Stoopid. after the game, I felt pretty good, I think.

In any event, Cal did hold them to 320 yards, which is pretty decent. We also only gained 420 yards. I think that this team should average 500 per game with all of the talent that we have.

We also had some scares on the return teams - kickoff, not punt. That is something that we need to focus on because Oregon will have something up their sleeves.

It is interesting so far this year. The fans are all over the team. My guess is that this is due to the outcome never being in doubt. All season so far. We have never been behind as far as I can recall - as I type I am thinking if we were behind at CO State when DeSean ripped up field on his 73 yard run, or if we were already ahead. But I think that there is a lot of times at games where we have too much time to pick apart the team. If we were in a real fist fight in any of our games, I would think that maybe we would have the real exuberant experience that we have when, for example, we beat USC. I think that while each game has been comfortable, we are sitting back and watching for flaws. But we need to enjoy this. I don't think people understand how good this is - we are acting like a top 10 program, and it is getting noticed. We had 56,000 fans there, on a rainy day (although it did not rain during the game). We had a very comfortable game lead the entire time. The fans actually stood and yelled even in the third and forth quarters. This is 180 degrees from even the good Snyder years. We have been ranked in the top ten in each of the last 4 years, Ray Ratto notwithstanding. People understand that this is a great football program now.

Yes, there are the tree issues and the worries about Tedford going pro and all the crap that people worry about. Stupid issues. There is nothing that the university will not do to keep this going. There is way too much money involved and happiness involved to screw with this. If you don't think some bid bucks booster will match the 5 million that JT can get from elsewhere, you are crazy. Watch for the salary re-negotiation after this year, no matter what.

Even if we go 9 and 3 this year, and trounce our bowl victim, that would be a great season. Look at Stanford, or UCLA even. They are hurting. They are dying out there. That used to be us.

Anyway, back to the game. While my pre-game predictions did not come true, and Gregory stuck to his guns, I think the defense held pretty good. They won the game for the Bears. They passed 61 times, and averaged 5 yards per attempt. We averaged our 4.9 on the ground per rushing attempt. Every time that happens, we are going to win the game.

I am also interested in the injury report.  I think I saw Hampton leave the game, and Conte played almost exclusively after that.  Actually, Arizona came right at Conte when Hampton left the game.  He did a great job defending.

Also, I sounds like Davis and Follett are still pretty banged up.  That is too bad.  We need both of those guys to contain Dennis Dixon.

Finally, I think we put Dixon on the ground a few times and get him to cough it up, and we get the victory.  This is one game where I do not think that Cal will take it's foot off the gas.  I think everyone knows this is the season championship game for the first half of the season.