I am tired and wanting to talk about something differnet, anybody have any intel on Cal? Anybody have any insight on how they travel to bowl games, are they a passing or running team? What kind of defense do they run, should we be afraid of any of their Defensive players?
Haven't seen them. They have 7 wins if you include their win over the Presby Blue Hose. Of those 7 wins, only one team had a winning record (Utah at 7-5).
I live in NorCal (thus the moniker) and teach junior high in Sacramento. Have a couple of former students playing for Cal; DT Vei Moala and DE Faigame Lopa (Lopa redshirting). Not really worried about their offense. Their quarterback - A transfer from U of Buffalo - Ranked by Bleacher Report 13th of the 14 Pac-12 quarterbacks who attempted enough passes to qualify. Their "feature back" is 5'8 190, and doesn't have breakaway speed. Defensive captain ILB Mychal Kendricks (5'11 240) was Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. Cal may have the best defensive line coach in the Pac 12 in Josh Lupoi; He had two first-round players (Cameron Jordan, Saints and Tyson Alulalu, Jaguars) and has a long history of turning out NFL D-linemen...And the Horns have had pass protection issues all year... Cal's special teams are solid (Punter won CFA Elite Punter Trophy). Despite being in the same conference as Oregon - Their kicker led the Pac12 in extra points made. And they have dangerous return men.... In short - Texas has better athletes, and on the whole, played tougher competition.
Cal is pretty terrible. We might even be able to beat them. We should be able to run on them all day.
I watched them play USC, who had their way with them passing and rushing, and I saw them play Stanford pretty tough in the Big Game, in the rain. QB is a lefty, they have one NFL ready WR, and the RB is a squatty guy with a little speed that is hard to bring down and doesn't mind contact. I did catch a little of the Oregon game and it was men against boys. I think it will be a tough match since UT isn't a world beater either. We better come ready to play or embarrassment will follow.
If we can line up and run the ball consistently then we should win comfortably. If they stuff us with 8 in the box, then it might be a 13-10 type game. That's assuming turnovers and the kicking game don't create instant points...
I live in the Bay Area and went with a friend to the Cal / Utah game. It was pretty bad, but our offense seemed similar. Their defense is very good against the run and they have some good corners when playing man to man. When the quarterback runs, if the QB can make the first guy miss, there is a lot of yardage to be made. If Ash or McCoy run some, we should gain some decent yards. Cal's offense is best when the QB rolls out of the pocket. If he stays in the pocket, he over throws or under throws and makes poor decisions. Something about him rolling out, gives him confidence. Our DEs and LBs will need to stay in check. I think our defense should do well, but, as always, our offense needs to do something. I'm going to the game with my friend from Cal. He is certain Texas wins big. Lots of tickets left. Hook 'em!
Let me tell you at Cal. They only played two ranked opponents: Stanford and Oregon, both of which were loses. They were blown out by Oregon. They played UCLA on Oct 29th and UCLA beat them by 17. Yes, this is the same UCLA team we beat by 29 pts. They also get beat by USC by 29, a team we have beaten in the past. There best win was against the Presbyterian Blue Hose, a I-AA team. They rank 40th or worse in passing, rushing and scoring. They needed over time to win by 3 against a 3-9 colorado team. Conclusion: they are awful.
