Continuing on with the final few roundtable discussions, here is our discussion of Cal.

YellowFever: You know, I never thought about this much until now, but what is Cal’s offense going to look like after this year?  Craig Stevens is a senior, Forsett is a senior, THA1 has one foot out the door, Hawkins is a senior, and Jordan is a senior.  Jahvid Best will be back and sharing the rock with some combination of James Montgomery and Tracy Slocum, Alex Mack will probably still be playing center, and Longshore may or may not return.  But I can’t name a single receiver who will be around next year.  Will Nyan Boateng even be available?

TwistNHook: I am not too concerned with 2008, really for two reasons.

1.  Let’s focus on 07, first.
2.  Team turn-over is a very common problem in college football.  Years ago, I didn’t know how we’d recover from losing Boller.  And McArthur. And Riddle.  And Rodgers.  Hopefully, someday, I’ll wonder how Cal will recover from losing Best or Syd Quan.

In that vein, I am a bit concerned about losing Marshawn.  This is not a very popular sentiment, but I feel that Forsett is not as good a RB as Marshawn.  Perhaps it is because of my unreasonable man-love for Marshawn, but I have a bad feeling there.  I mean, I’m sure it’ll be fine.  We have the WR talent to take pressure off of the RBs.  Forsett has a LOT of experience and Best and Co. to take further pressure off of him.

Plus, I think we are stacked at O-Line.  I don’t know if Forsett is the type of back who can create where there is no hole, a la Marshawn.  But he has the speed where if there is a hole, he’s gone.  With an improved O-Line this year, I think it’ll create those holes.  Also, protect for Longshore The Hobo better.

YellowFever: It was more just a thought I was having.  I trust that we’ll be fine in 2008 under the watchful eye of our savior, but if you asked me right now who Cal’s fourth receiver is, I honestly do not have a clue.  Of course, it’s not like the team goes four wide terribly often anyway.

I don’t think anyone is worried about Cal’s offense this year.  What is concerning is the fact that even with Daymeion Hughes, Brandon Mebane, and the Archbishop of the Big Hit on defense, the team’s defense ranked eighth in the Pac-10 at roughly 367 yards allowed per game.  Some of that is to be expected, since a team that scores a lot of points like our Bears will get out to big leads and force other teams to pass, which can lead to inflated yardage totals.  But it still isn’t a good sign, with those three headliners leaving and only five total starters on defense returning from that defense.  I expect our defense couldn’t get much worse, but then again, I expected last year’s defense to be a lot better to begin with.

HydroTech: The question of who is our 4th receiver is a good one.  There’s a lot of possibilities but I don’t think anyone has truly squared away the 4th spot.  Upon saying this, I looked up Cal’s latest depth chart (which can be seen here).  It shows that Sean Young is our 4th WR.  And what a coincidence.  Sean Young is also a senior!  We’re going to lose our top 4 WRs, starting TE, and starting running back next year!  And if Longshore decides to go pro and not come back for his 5th year, then we’ll lose our entire starting offense! 

Speaking of WRs, Nyan Boateng should be our premiere go-to-guy next year as long as he stays out of the dog house. 

Also, word from my connections on the inside is that freshman WR Michael Calvin is really standing out from the rest of the young receivers.   Unfortunately, he recently broke his wrist or something so I’m not sure how much we’ll see of him this year.  If he doesn’t blue-shirt, then he might just make a few cameos in mop-up duty.

Another freshman that continues to impress is Shane Vereen.  Once again, my connections on the inside have said that he’s a little under the radar and in the shadows of Jahvid Best, but he’s been putting on a good show in fall camp.  It would not be surprising if Vereen did not blue-shirt this year and saw a few snaps at runningback even if it is in mop-up duty.

My biggest concern going into 2007 is our defensive line.  My concern is not because it’s bad, but because it’s young and doesn’t have much experience.  In case you didn’t know, the starters for the defensive line have been named.  They are: Matt Malele, Mika Kane, Tyson Alualu, and Rulon Davis. 

While the starters might not have a lot of starting experience - aside from Malele - they have a lot of potential. 

Mika Kane was troubled last year with a big cast on one of his fore arms.  The cast was like having a huge stump of an arm that covered his wrist all the way down to the hand itself.  I think it’s safe to say that the cast didn’t help him make tackles and be as big of an impact as he normally could be.  With Kane fully healed this year, I think we’ll see him make big leaps and become a very respectable player in the trenches. 

Another player that I think will quickly develop into a force is Tyson Alualu.  He’s pretty quick for a guy his size, and has good strength and technique.  Alualu has been moving around between DT and DE throughout the spring and early fall and he could easily play anywhere along the line if needed.  Back in my HydroTech-ing days, a lot of the old linemen (who now have graduated) felt that Alualu had potential to be the next great Cal DT. 

Finally, I think the guy we are all intrigued to see on the field is Rulon Davis.  He was highly touted coming out of JUCO but got bit by the injury bug.  Now that he’s all healed and improved on his technique, he should truly be able to live up to his potential.  Remember, this guy is huge.  On the Cal roster he’s listed as 6′5" 275.  I can verify this since I talked to him most recently at Fan Appreciation Day.  While he may not be our heaviest player, he certainly might be one of the strongest.  He’s a beast in the trenches.  Seriously, an absolute beast.  I’ll give you another back-in-my-hydro-teching-days story.  Back in my HydroTech-ing days, there would never be a day that went by where an offensive lineman who had just faced off against Rulon Davis would come off the field and say something along the lines of "he’s too strong" or "you just can’t stop him".  Rulon Davis became somewhat of a spectacle in practices.  He’d draw a crowd during 1 on 1s.  When the younger OL guys faced off against Rulon Davis the older OL guys would cheer on the youngin’.  The younger guys would be shaking in their cleats.  Okay, they wouldn’t be really shaking in their cleats but you could just feel that the mental battle was over.  Mentally, the OL player knew he was beat and didn’t stand much of a chance.  And after Rulon Davis would literally just get an arm under the offensive lineman and just chuck him out of his way, the older OL guys would give encouraging "good try" remarks but with the tone which seemed to reflect the overwhelming mentality of "what can you do?"

Alright guys, feel free to jump in any time now.

TwistNHook: (making cricket sounds)

YellowFever: (snoring)

HydroTech: Okay, I guess I’ll keep going.  I know a lot of our loyal readers have been asking us if the team will be getting and/or wearing new jerseys this season and specifically for the Tennessee game.  Usually all these inquiries just start out as typical annual off-season speculation to fill the void between seasons, but there might be a little validity to these rumors and speculation this year.  A few months back on Ebay, a #7 Cal Football jersey showed up on a listing.  It was not of any design that we have seen before and claimed to be Cal’s new jersey.  It was never determined if it was really an authentic jersey or just some one of a kind prototype.  Since then I’ve done a little asking around to my athlete friends and the word on the inside is nobody knows.  There has been plenty of speculation and rumors about getting new jerseys among the players but no solid information has turned up… yet.  In seems reasonable to assume that if there are new jerseys for the upcoming season, it’s on the down low.  So much on the down low that even the players don’t know about it.  I’m sure a lot of you are probably wondering how players could not even know if they are getting new jerseys for the upcoming season, but it’s very plausible.  The equipment staff handles all that stuff and they are higher up on the hierarchical pyramid than the players.  Only a few minds would probably know about new jerseys, if there are any, and the jerseys are probably hidden away in the depths of the equipment/storage room which is off limits to the players.  I guess we’ll have to wait until Saturday. 

Now, I have to bring up the whole Cal/Ohio St. series thing again.  I really can’t let it go because I sort of hate Ohio State and their arrogant fans.  Anyways, I was thinking about how most Ohio St. fans balk at the idea that Ohio State would actually cancel the series against Cal.  We Cal fans like to poke fun at them and say that Ohio State is afraid of Cal.  Top of the head logic would say "no" considering Ohio State plays a lot of other powerhouse teams, but after doing some serious thinking I am now inclined to say that Ohio State really is afraid of Cal.  Here me out.

Buckeye fans will be quick to point out the fact that Ohio State has other national powerhouses such as USC, and Oklahoma on the future OOC schedule and while just playing Texas most recently.  The Buckeye fans will say, surely the Buckeyes aren’t afraid of Cal if they are going to play USC and Oklahoma!  But then, if Ohio State is not afraid to play Cal then why did they try and cancel the series with Cal?  Because they’re NOT afraid?  If they’re NOT afraid to play Cal then why not keep Cal on the schedule?  But as we all know, Ohio State did in fact try to take Cal off the schedule and cancel the series.  Hmm… it’s looking more and more like Ohio State really is afraid of Cal. 

A very observant Cal fan over on the BearInsider noted that Ohio State usually only plays one really good OOC opponent each year.  In 2002 they played Texas Tech, Kent State, Washington State, and Cincinnati.  In 2003 they played Washington, San Diego State, North Carolina State, and Bowling Green.  In 2004 they played Cincinnati, Marshall, and North Carolina State.  In 2005 they played Miami (Ohio), Texas, and San Diego State.  In 2006 they played Northern Illinois, Texas, Cincinnati, and Bowling Green.  This year it’s Youngstown St., Akron and Washington. 

As you can see, they do only schedule one really great team each year at the most.  If there isn’t a premiere OOC opponent then they usually have a bunch of mediocre teams or a sweet tooth with a weakness for cupcakes.  In 2002 the biggie was WSU.  In 2003 it was NCST.  In 2004 it was NCST.  In 2005 it was Texas.  In 2006 it was Texas.  This year it’s Washington (the schedules are set many years in advance and they probably scheduled UW back when UW was pretty good). 

So if Ohio State wants to take Cal off the schedule then either (a) Ohio State thinks Cal is too strong of an opponent and wants a weaker premiere OOC opponent, or (b) Ohio State wants to schedule a different premiere OOC opponent in 2012 or 2013 (such as Florida or some other powerhouse SEC school for example) and thinks playing Cal in that same year would be too tough since Cal is on the rise and pretty good too.  Or (c) that Ohio State is not afraid of Cal yet wants to cancel anyways. 

While I don’t know what the real reason is, I think we have to eliminate answer (c) above.  Afterall, if Ohio St. wasn’t afraid to play Cal and thinks that Cal sucks then why not just keep us on the schedule with all the other cupcakes like Youngstown State or Akron?  Buckeye fans, try explaining that one please. 

Any way you look at it, it sure seems like Ohio State’s desire to cancel the series with Cal is an admission of fear of Cal.  If any Buckeye fans are reading this, I’m not arguing Ohio State isn’t afraid to play top teams - because they aren’t since they played Texas and will play USC as well as Oklahoma - but that Ohio State is specifically afraid of Cal.

YellowFever:  I’m sure we do sound more than a bit full of ourselves for saying so, but Ohio State’s attempt to cancel the game against Cal does seem to be an admission of fear.  Exactly why that is, I’m not sure we’ll find out, but that definitely is how it looks.  Like HydroTech, I’m not questioning the fact that they are willing to play top teams, as evidenced by their home/home series with Texas.  It just seems a bit odd that they would attempt to cancel the series with our Bears is all.

But going back to the team, I feel really good about our offense this year.  I don’t think the running game will drop off much at all, provided that Tedford remembers that Forsett isn’t the same kind of back that Marshawn is, where he pounds the interior of the defensive line and expects Forsett to pop out on the other end and speed his way to another twenty yards.  I’ve always thought that maybe our running game could use a few more off-tackle and toss sweeps to get around the edges, but maybe Tedford thought Marshawn didn’t have the speed necessary to make something out of those plays consistently.  I think Forsett does, but if he doesn’t, I’m sure Jahvid Best does.

HydroTech: Ya know, Tedford keeps saying it’s possible that DeSean Jackson will return kickoffs but he hasn’t committed to that statement yet.  If you’ve been closely following the media reports, Tedford never explicitly said that THA1 will return kickoffs.  He just said that it’s possible and we might do it.  There must be a reason for this careful wording.  Maybe Tedford doesn’t want to let Tennessee know if THA1 is returning kicks for sure or not.  Or what about this: put Hawk and Best back to return the kickoffs, but put THA1 in the wings.  After the kickoff is received, bring it up field to one side, then have THA1 streak around in a reverse type play and Best/Hawk tosses/hands-off to THA1 towards the open field? 

The Ballots

In the order of: HydroTech, Ragnarok, TwistNHook, Yellow Fever
1.  USC, USC, CAL, CAL
2.  CAL, CAL, USC, USC
3.  OSU,  UCLA, OSU, UO
4.  UCLA, OSU, WSU, UCLA
5.  OU,  ASU, UCLA, ASU
6.  WSU, OU,  OU, UW
7.  ASU, UA,  UA, OSU
8.  AU,  WSU, ASU, AU
9.  UW,  UW, UW, WSU
10.  SU, SU,  SU, SU