Cal Bears Fans Not As Confident As I Thought They Would Be.......(LINK)

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thailleagle

thailleagle

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Just got done reading some Cal Bear forums and this one in particular........

http://bearinsider.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=7

I find it funny that Syracuse & Air Force fans were *VERY* confident if not in most situations *COCKY* about a victory against Minnesota on their forums.

And even though there are some Cal fans that are the same way a lot of their board has them as victorious but are not completely completely of their team because of who they've played so far. That makes me feel really good about our chances for a win or at least a close game, they still are ranked #8 in the country so they're GOOD.......

We might be the toughest opponent they've faced so far. Maryland is still up in the air because from what I hear James Madison is not a joke.......

We haven't seen an Offense as good as there's and we'll be the best Defense they've seen yet. They'll also be the best Defense we've seen and we *MIGHT* be the best Offense (shivers) they've seen.

This could be an *EPIC* game that Brewster can showcase who we are on a Nationally Televised Game between 2 BCS schools.

We win, just...freaking awesome...we lose small and we still come out with some positivity, we lose big and we're "overrated" once again.......

I hope this is a really good game :clap:
 

they probably have people posting threads from our Board saying "I can't believe 98% of MN fans think we'll beat them by 3 TDs" :)
 

For all his faults, Mason had quite a few "nice" wins to put on the old resume. I'd assume the only other Top 10 team Brewster's faced would be OSU, this might be his best chance to make a name for himself.
 

Cal's Rose Bowl drought is three years longer than Minnesota's so perhaps you can feel our pain. Our beloved Golden Bears have broken our hearts too many times to count. The concensus is that Cal has a good team this year, but we're not sure if they have a very good or great team yet. The Minnesota game will help us get a better read on this team.
 

Oski Wow Wow said:
Cal's Rose Bowl drought is three years longer than Minnesota's so perhaps you can feel our pain. Our beloved Golden Bears have broken our hearts too many times to count. The concensus is that Cal has a good team this year, but we're not sure if they have a very good or great team yet. The Minnesota game will help us get a better read on this team.
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My best friends are Cal fans and they live by the creed "Hope for the best, expect the worst." Following Cal football, as I have, and recalling how they blew their chance several years ago to be ranked No. 1 after losing to Oregon State at home, many Cal fans feel the same pain as us Minn. fans. That is why it is hard to root against Cal, except for this Saturday.
 


Cal has done exactly what they're supposed to have done thus far, which is win big at home over two mediocre opponents. Maryland is an extremely young and inexperienced team that had to travel 3000 miles to play a pumped team looking to redeem itself for last year's egglaying in College Park, and Eastern Washington is a non-FBS school that, while a decent team in its own league, really has no business playing an upper-echelon FBS team. Cal fans can't be sure just how good the Bears are this year, because the quality of opposition hasn't been there yet. That'll change after this week, partly because Minnesota is a better team, and partly because the Bears have to go on the road to play.

In past years the Bears have tended to play poorly away from home and especially out of the Pacific Time Zone, the most recent fiasco being the Maryland game last year (in 2006 the #9 Bears got clobbered at Tennessee, and even the Colorado State win in 2007 was distressing). This upcoming game has a few of the earmarks of the Maryland game last year: long trip, early start time, jacked-up crowd (last year the Terps were rolling out some sweet new end zones), possibly aggressive home team. So many Cal fans aren't counting this as anything close to an automatic win, even though the line favors the Bears by nearly two TDs. We've seen this before.

On the other hand, the Bears are older and wiser this year, and hopefully the Maryland fiasco was a learning experience. Cal is flying out a day earlier, and I doubt the team is overlooking what seems to be a worthy opponent with a great passing game. We'll see how they respond to the challenge come Saturday morning.
 

thailleagle said:
We win, just...freaking awesome...we lose small and we still come out with some positivity, we lose big and we're "overrated" once again.....
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I had no idea we had the standing to be overrated in the first place. The regional/national media's preseason expectations for this team were a massive bitchslap, IMO. Even some of the expectations from a lot of posters on this board are eye gouge inducing.

If we lose big, it's really, "Ho hum, another typical Minnesota team ekeing out wins against moderate level competition and collapsing when it counts." If we win, or lose by very little, and do so by maintaining a similar time possession and yards gained ratio to Cal, we should be considered a legitimate dark horse (pending Cal isn't a flukie top 10 team). If we get outgained big and win through the turnover game (like a lot of last year's wins), we won't get as much love.

If we lose big I'll be completely disgusted because we have too many intangibles (see posts about time of game, home field, new stadium, massive Dorito on the shoulder considering the over/under) going into this game. We have a deep team that is jelling on defense and HAS to come out firing at some point on offense.
 

Nice post Bears, even-handed, which is always nice from an opposing fan.

To either of our friends cheering for Berkley, we all know Jahvid Best is an animal. What's the Cal o-line like? We've got some solid guys at DT, and LBs that can make plays, but are the Bears front five a force as a unit or does Best make them look good by being a freakish runner?
 

parkinglotgopher said:
Nice post Bears, even-handed, which is always nice from an opposing fan.

To either of our friends cheering for Berkley, we all know Jahvid Best is an animal. What's the Cal o-line like? We've got some solid guys at DT, and LBs that can make plays, but are the Bears front five a force as a unit or does Best make them look good by being a freakish runner?
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I could probably write more than you're willing to read about the offensive line and how it pertains to Best's performance. I'll try and keep it short.

Best gained nearly 1600 yards last year behind a line that had Alex Mack at center (#21 pick to the Browns) but otherwise had to deal with a lot of injuries and a lot of substitutions over the course of the year. What he did last year, behind a makeshift line, is nothing short of amazing. This year Chris Guarnero takes over for Mack at center, and nobody expects him to be as good as Mack was. I hear it's his natural position, though, and he's done well so far. Mike Tepper is a 6th year senior who sat out last year with a torn pectoral muscle; he started every game in 2007. On the other end of the line is sophomore Mitchell Schwartz, who had a fantastic frosh season (started every game, I think) and has a definite nasty streak to him. Matt Summers-Gavin and Justin Cheadle are relative newcomers on either side of Guarnero; they're both young guys who dealt with injuries last year and are healthy now. So the tackles Tepper and Schwartz are the only two with decent experience as starters, even though the others did get some PT in previous years.

Coach Tedford's running game relies heavily on blocking contributions from both the TE and FB positions, and the Bears are breaking in new guys at both positions. Cal lost Cam Morrah to the NFL after last year, and his expected replacement Tad Smith tore his ACL in camp. Another TE, Spencer Ladner, was injured against Maryland, so we're going to be seeing a lot of Anthony Miller and Skyler Curran. Miller had a few great catches against EWU, but I can't speak to how well either he or Curran did in their blocking assignments (other than 342 yards rushing and 7.6 ypc overall). The Bears also had to replace Will Ta'ufo'ou at FB, and it looks like senior Brian Holley is doing a remarkable job so far. Will Kapp, son of Joe Kapp, is his backup.

Best is electric. He hasn't gotten the ball that much yet this year, because games haven't been close. In his place, Shane Vereen and Covaughn DeBoskie-Johnson are getting a lot of touches (and Vereen is also an excellent receiver). There's not much dropoff from Best to Vereen, but Best brings an amazing ability to change speed and direction that Vereen doesn't quite have. Both did very well last year with a questionable offensive line, poor passing game and predictable playcalling. This year the line looks improved, Cal has a new OC (Andy Ludwig from Utah's 13-0 team last year and an old friend of Coach Tedford), and the QB Riley has better trust in his WRs running correct routes due largely to Ludwig's offseason work with them. So all these factors should mean that the running game will open up more this year than last (there were a lot of TFLs and runs for no gain mixed in with the spectacular 70-yd runs).

Not a short answer, sorry. I got a head of steam up and ran with it.

Wanna hear about Cal's defense? lol
 



I don't see how we can be seen as "overrated" if we lose this game, even if we lose big. It would be a big upset if we get this win.
 

Schwartz is a future NFL player. Tepper may get a look. Guarnero is undersized, but solid at center. Cal has played 11 OLmen in each of the first two games. Cal's former OL coach is now with the Raiders and he liked to stick with an eight man rotation. The new OL coach was formerly with the Browns and Texans, and he likes to go with hockey line shifts (like we would know?) when the game gets out of hand.

Best and Vereen are amazingly fast. I was watching the Wisconsin game on Saturday and Clay ran for a 70 yard TD. Couldn't believe how slow he was and why he didn't get caught. We've truly become spoiled by watching Best and Vereen. Deboskie has the speed of a typical Big Ten back. He had 90 yards on Saturday and there were two runs where he turned the corner and got brought down, whereas Best and Vereen would have gone the distance. Best barely stepped out of bounds on Saturday and had to settle for a 40 yard run rather than another 70 yard TD.

Watched most of the Syracuse game. Decker's really good and will be a handful. Syd Thompson is an excellent cover guy, but he's small. Cal may go with Chris Conte or Darian Hagan on Decker. Weber makes good reads, but I don't think Minnesota has a grind it out tailback to keep the Cal offense off the field. Cal can score quickly so time of possession doesn't mean much.

Cal can be beaten by a fast and disciplined defense. The Gophs shut down AFA, so they are obviously disciplined, but I'm not sure the LBs are fast enough. UM can stack the box to stop the run, but Cal would shift Vereen or Best (an emerging receiving threat) into the slot and I'm not sure Minnesota can cover them. Keeping Best and Vereen out of space is the key thing.

Cal plays a lot of substitution-specific defense, so both Maryland and EWU created some favorable matchups by going no huddle. UM could do the same with an experienced QB. Bob Gregory's defenses often give up opening drive TDs until they figure out something they haven't seen before. Would not be surprised to see the Gophs score on their opening drive.

I'd make Riley beat Minnesota with the pass. Best and Vereen will make some big plays, but Minnesota matches up OK with Cal's other offensive threats. WR Jeremy Ross, however, is extremely fast so it wouldn't surprise me to see a reverse to him or attempts to isolate him against slower players. Same thing with true freshman Isi Sofele.

Games usually come down to 3 or 4 key plays. Cal has game breaking speed at several positions and I think that will be the difference.
 


The loser of the U of M /Cal game will be labled a 'fraud' . tough spot
 



I doubt Minnesota would be labelled a fraud unless Cal came in and won by 50.

On the other hand if Cal loses fraudelence would be the case because that's what you get when you lose to a 14 pt underdog on the road as the #7 team in the country.

Seems to be little pressure on the Gophers having gotten the stadium opener out of the way with a win over a good team.
 

I don't see how it would be "same old Minnesota" if we lose to Cal, it's simply would be a very highly ranked team beating a team they are expected to beat. Certain unnamed writers will of course mail in their Gopher trashing piece, but that is merely expected.

This is a game where the pressure is off. They can just get out there and play.
 

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