I'm sorry that this post is weeks behind the actual game.  Culinary school has been pretty busy lately.  The semester ends in a few weeks and finals are coming up in early December.  I've been fairly busy lately practicing my mincing technique and ingredient sniff tests.  But better late then never, right?  

One thing which I noticed while watching the Arizona game was how disturbingly similar Arizona and Arizona State scored on our defense.

If you remember my last post, I showed how Arizona State scored against our man free coverage. 

Arizona scored in a very similar manner on a passing play.  Let's take a look at how it happened.

Above is the pre-snap picture.  Arizona has "12 personnel" on the field - meaning they have 2 WRs, 2 TEs, and 1 RB.  Both TEs are on the right side of the offense's OL.  One TE is on the line of scrimmage (LOS), and a second one is off the LOS. 

Cal is in its typical 3-4 defense.  Cal appears to be playing man-coverage since both of Cal's CBs are lined up across from both of Arizona's WRs who are lined up as twins to the same side of the Arizona offense.

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Well, here are some more extensive thoughts.  They are still short and I apologize, but finals are closing in on me and time is becoming less abundant. 

(1) Defense.  Let's get the non-bad out of the way.  Defense played alright but seemed to be getting a bit gassed towards the end of the game because they were on the field so long.  Oregon State had the ball for 34 minutes and change. 

There were a few problems locating Rodgers in the backfield because the dude is so small.  Even though Rodgers broke 100 yards and had a 5.3 yard average, the defense kept the game winnable. I don't think this was the defense's best performance, but nor was it the worst. 

I think Gregory wanted to shut down the run and force Moevao to beat us, but that gameplan wasn't exactly completed since Cal couldn't entirely shut down Rodgers.  That's too bad, because Moevao looked horrible today.  He threw about 3 INTs today, 2 of which were dropped by our defenders.  If we had only shut down Rodgers and forced Moevao to win the game then we might have won.

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Put your immediate post-game thoughts here! 

This year's offense is the worst in the Tedford era.  Yes, even worse than 2005. We've got a decimated OL and have inexperienced players starting at 3/5ths of the OL.  We have our youngest and worst WR group in the Tedford era. 

Aside from Mack, Best, and Vereen and an emerging Tucker... our team just doesn't have the talent right now - or the experience. 

Defense kept us in the game today... just like against U$C.  And just like against U$C, it was up to the offense to win the game.  Just like U$C, they couldn't. 

Defenses don't win championships.  A great defense won't do it by themselves.  It takes some offense too.  Right now, we have too little offense.  We have too many injuries, and too many young guys playing.

Here's the 4th Quarter thread.  Go Bears!

Here's the 3rd quarter thread.  Go Bears!

Here's the 2nd Quarter thread.... Go Bears!

I see fellow Cal blogger SDGldnBear has beaten me to the punch, nevertheless, here's my take...

We all know what this post is going to talk about.  So let's just jump right in.

The play was first called an "ineligible receiver down field."  Later after the game, ABC news said the refs clarified it as an "illegal formation."  I tended to agree with the call upon first thought.  But now that I look at the play more and more, I think Pete Carroll might have convinced the refs that it was an illegal formation when the refs weren't going to call it.

So here's the play (above).  Cal needs at least seven men on the line of scrimmage (LOS).  I'm pretty sure you can have more than seven men on the LOS.  This is probably a question for Ragnarok to answer since he's the rules guru around here.  Are there at least seven men on the LOS? 

Well, we'll assume all the five offensive linemen are on the LOS.  Technically they can be flagged for not lining up on the LOS.  I've seen it happen like once in the 8 years or so that I've been watching football.  But we'll just assume all the OL guys are on the LOS. 

So that means we need two other players on the LOS.  Specifically, one of those players needs to be Tucker on the bottom of the screen, and either Ross or Boateng at the top of the screen.  Ross and Boateng both can't be on the LOS otherwise Ross would be covered up and when Ross heads downfield he'd be an ineligible receiver down field.  So it must be either Ross or Boateng but not both.

Is Tucker on the LOS?  It appears so.  He could probably be up a few more inches, but for the most part he seems to be on the LOS.  If you notice, Tucker's front foot is on the same yardline (the 28 yardline) as Cal's right tackle's front foot and body.  Thus, it truly does seem like Tucker is on the LOS. 

Is Boateng or Ross on the LOS?  First off, Ross is in the slot, and Boateng is on the outside.  Ross, relative to Boateng, looks to be off the LOS, and Boateng looks to be on the LOS.  But if you look at Ross' front foot, it's on the same yardline as Tucker's front foot (the 28 yardline).  So Ross certainly seems to be on  the LOS.  That makes Boateng like really on the LOS.

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In honor of Beaver Week, post pictures of your favorite Beavers! 

Here's my favorite Beaver:

Miss Sara Jean Underwood
Playboy Playmate of the Year 2007
Oregon State Undergrad

via access.nscpcdn.com

If you want to see more of Sara (as in pictures and skin) feel free to Google her name, but I warn you, some of the results will be NSFW.

The pictures below are all SFW so don't be afraid to scroll down.

Some Southern Cal tool put together a youtube video of all the bad calls in the Cal/U$C game:

via christopherj.us

She's looking at you!

Here's a funny story about Oklahoma State using big ass signs to get defensive plays into the game (click the link to the left to get redirected to the pictures):

Oklahoma State defensive coaches used a series of signs to get in signals during Saturday night's game at Texas Tech. After the Red Raiders' 56-20 victory, Texas Tech fans came up with an idea on what one of the signs should have indicated.

via access.nscpcdn.com

via img.photobucket.com

Thank you, Patron!!!