And we're off...

Apparently, last night two great teams were supposed to play as the kickoff of the season. But both Oregon and Boise looked like crap. Boise now has a straight shot to an undefeated season. Here's hoping Fresno State and / or San Jose State can do something about that. Oregon, as I suspected, looked like terrible. They have no offensive line. Garrett Blount (AKA Slugger) was stopped in his backfield 8 TIMES. Boise's defense was having a tea party back there. That was a terrible performance by the line of Oregon.

And why is that? Losing three of their top players on the offensive line seems to have hurt them. And, though Oregon kept thier offensive line coach from the Bellotti Era, many of the old coaches have been replaced in the Chip Kelly Era. There is probably quite a bit of disconnect on the Oregon team at this point.

You could compare that to the Bears, who lost a quality offensive line coach, as well as probably the best lineman in the country last year. The difference is in the Head Coach, who is experienced at this point, as opposed to Chip Kelly, who is riding in his first Rodeo. This could be a nightmare for the Ducks. I envision a five - seven win season, and an opportunity for the Bears to take another from the Ducks in Eugene. And maybe some calls for Bellotti to come back and coach.

As far as it goes, last nights game from a Cal players perspective is that you are now sitting in a room, thinking about the game, but you can hardly be expected to not be excited about having your top two major competitors in the conference looking a bit shabby, while you are having what is probably the best looking team in five years. And maybe that is why Slugger Blount went off on the Boise player. He was having those thoughts as well, and it all ended badly for him.

At this point, before the first game of the season for the Bears, but watching Oregon, and projecting based on pure speculation and instinct, I think the toughest game that we are going to face this year will be Oregon State. They are the working class team of the conference, always getting more from their players than anyone else. I would say that the pressure is a bit off the Bears at this point. They have a pretty good schedule now, considering that the Oregon trip looks a bit less daunting than before. UCLA, ASU and Oregon on the road is a pretty good trade for Oregon State and SC at home.

GO BEARS!!