HydroTech’s Post-Tennessee Thoughts
A few thoughts of mine after the game:
Props to Ainge for playing through the game with his broken pinky. Also, props to Ainge for going 32/47, and a 68.1% completion percentage. Prior to this game I wasn’t sold on Ainge. Last year he got easy touchdowns on us from a few missed tackles, but this year he proved his abilities to me. He stood in the pocket, had good pocket awareness, and made excellent throws - with a broken pinky. Props to Ainge.
But then again, Tennessee really nickeled and dimed us. Screen. Screen. Screen. Slant. Screen. Drag. Screen. Slant. Drag. Lots of short passes underneath our zones. Sort of reminds of me of how we nickel and dimed USC in 2004.
We had a lot of poor tackling early in the game. Lots of wiffed hits and bad angles.
The atmosphere of today’s game was average. The crowd was loud on critical 3rd downs and 4th downs but other than that, the stadium felt sort of flat. Having a packed stadium against a big time opponent, I was expecting much more. Maybe my expectations were too high. I was expecting the crowd to be just as energetic and loud ALL THE TIME, such as against Oregon last year. In my opinion, and from where I was seated, it seemed like we only reached 2006 Oregon levels when it was 3rd and 4th down. Against Oregon last year, I felt like the crowd managed to stay loud the entire time Oregon was on offense. I had never seen and/or heard a Cal crowd that loud and energetic before. I thought for sure that I’d see the same thing yesterday. I didn’t, and thus I was rather disappointed. Please don’t read this the wrong way. I know a lot of our hardcore readers were out there giving 110%. I’m not talking about you guys. I’m talking about all the other casual fans - such as these two little freshman in front of me (picture below). Apparently their poor little legs got tired. They also were too busy conversing with themselves to even watch half of the game or make any noise. Oh, they also left in the 3rd quarter too. LAME.
And excuse me while I go off on a tangent. Football is not a spectator sport. Real football fans don’t go to games to sit there quietly and watch the game. Football is a participatory sport. Real football fans go to games knowing they are going to lose their voice from screaming and yelling. I hope your throat, like mine, is raw and sore from all the yelling you did during the game. In fact, that’s the official rule. If your voice isn’t hoarse or gone, then you didn’t yell enough. Plain and simple. No excuses.
How bout Forsett? A nice 6 yard average and tons of Tennessee players with broken ankles. I was pleasantly surprised. Not that I don’t think that Forsett is good, it’s just well… I don’t think I’ve seen him put on such a sick show before. He hit the holes hard and fast. He had great vision. He cut the ball back across the grain when he needed to. I think this might have been Forsett’s game EVER.
Speaking of runningbacks, we didn’t see much of James Montgomery. Has Jahvid Best already surpassed him on the depth chart? Either that or JT just wanted Best in there to add another dimension to our offense. This little story is definitely worth keeping on eye on in the future.
Hawk had a fantastic game. Good kickoff returns, great route running and hole-in-the-zone finding.
And Robert Jordan (or as some of our readers like to call him: RoJo), had a cool little touchdown dive.
And DeSean "THA1" Jackson was well… the one. He had that clutch catch on the east sideline despite getting hammered by the safety and the Sportscenter highlight punt return. Wow. So talented.
Did you notice that Hawk, RoJo, and THA1 all came out of the north tunnel together at the start of the game? I’m really glad those guys are good friends and getting along. There was definitely some friction for the first two years, but it seems like these guys have all gotten past that. I think that shows their maturity and team-first mentality.
Dude, how about Rulon Davis making that 4th and Goal stop?! Even if he didn’t swat the ball out of the receiver’s hands, he would have made the tackle anyways and saved the touchdown - proof being that Rulon tackled the receiver anyways! And Rulon took out the sideline ref too! Comedy!
I was really surprised to NOT see THA1 back returning kickoffs. But it was nice to see Jahvid "Little Bush" Best back returning kickoffs. He did well. Oh, except for Best’s first play as a collegiate football player. He was nervous - if it wasn’t evident from him splitting himself out wide right prior to lining up in the backfield. And I swear I saw his legs shaking too. It’s all good though. I suppose I’d be a little nervous too being in front of 72,000 fans on national TV against an SEC powerhouse.
I really wish we had gotten that QB sneak touchdown with just over 2 minutes left in the 4th quarter. While beating Tennessee by 14 is pretty good, a 21 point win with a final score of 52 points would have been killer. Oh, and the fact that JT went for the touchdown with a two touchdown lead is worth talking about. Up by 14 at the time, a field goal would have given us a 17 point lead. That’s a three possession game at minimum for Tennessee… with only 2 minutes left in the game. A field goal would have been the nail in the coffin. Yet, Tedford went for the touchdown. Either Tedford was breaking out of his conservative playcalling self and being more aggressive or he wanted to break 50 points and really make even MORE of a statement. I think it’s both, but mainly the second reason.
And while I’m glad that God is doing the playcalling again, did it seem like he really didn’t want to throw downfield in the 3rd quarter? It seemed like God went into hardcore "ball control"/conservative mode for the 3rd quarter. And then in the 4th quarter, when most teams with a lead will get conservative and run, we aired it out down the field.
I was really surprised that for the most part, Tennessee went 1 on 1 with Desean Jackson. I thought that for sure they were going to tag a safety on him all the time.
Oh, and correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think Longshore got sacked at all! Yay for awesome pass protection!
Oh, and how ’bout Gregory putting Follett wide on WRs, then blitzing him? Pretty nifty. Gregory said that he’d be putting Follett all over the field and Follett was sure all over the field this game. Also, Gregory did a great job of disguising his defense. Our defense would show one formation, then would often shift after Tennessee had made their play changes. I have to give props to Gregory. He had a great gameplan. I know Ainge had a good completion percentage and Tennessee did score 31 points, but Gregory’s conservative, drop-back-into-zones, and keep-everything-in-front-of-us defensive strategy worked well. It forced Tennessee to take what we gave them (the short, underneath passes), and to sustain long drives.
Normally I would break down the game and provide some analysis but my stupid Tivo had some technical difficulties. So until I can download the torrent of the game I will not be able to break down our offense. Maybe in a week or two I’ll have the analysis ready.
Go Bears!
“The atmosphere of today’s game was average. The crowd was loud on critical 3rd downs and 4th downs but other than that, the stadium felt sort of flat.”
Were you at the same game I was? That was the loudest I have ever, ever heard the alumni section. We were actually standing for most of the game. That has NEVER happened in the 30 years (seriously, I’ve been coming since I was 6) I’ve been sitting in section FF.
“Real football fans don’t go to games to sit there quietly and watch the game. Real football fans go to games knowing they are going to lose their voice from screaming and yelling.”
Forgive me if I’m a little tired of being told who real football fans are, presumably from people who think that they’re real fans and lots of other people aren’t. We’re all different, have different expectations, and bring our own priorities to what we do. I have no problem exhorting Cal fans to be louder at the stadium, but to suggest that some Old Blue who sat through decades of inept teams out of love for Cal Football is not a “real football fan” because they don’t stand and scream and do everything the Mic Man tells them to do is ridiculous.
Go Bears!
Comment by Jason — September 2, 2007 @ 11:01 pm
Gotta agree with Jason on this one, from the student section, we usually see that a 3rd down brings a hearty little golf clap from the alumni section. But we noticed this game, they stood up…and yelled…loud…on their own! It was awesome. Good job alums (for real).
My friends and I figured this much: the noise at the Oregon game was more sustained, but the loudest points in this game was a lot louder than at any point in the Oregon game. After Desean’s runback and Worrell Williams’ fumble recovery, man, I was in row 54 of the student section and my ears and brain seriously hurt. It was beyond the threshold of sound and tone; more just like a TV on static at volume 40,000 invading my brain. Fantastic.
Comment by Nathan — September 3, 2007 @ 1:05 am
Jason, regarding crowd noise, a friend of mine brought up a good point. I usually place myself at the top of the stadium where I have few people behind me (I find it much easier to see the field, the plays, and the players from a bird’s eye view). Thus things don’t sound very loud because I don’t have 50 rows of people behind me. This is something that I never really considered. So I will have to retract my comment that things weren’t loud. If anything, I wasn’t in the correct position to judge. My apologies to the fans. Let’s just say that the casual student fans near and behind me weren’t very loud at all.
And from the near-top of the rim on the east side of the stadium, a quick glance at the alumni really doesn’t distinguish if the alumni are standing or sitting (usually I am counting our players on defense and keeping an eye on substitutions). I did not know that the alumni were standing more than they had ever stood in the past 30 years. In fact, I bet most of us younger fans didn’t know that either. I appreciate you sharing that information because any reports from the west side of the stadium will better complete my mental picture of the game day atmosphere.
Now regarding the topic of a true football fan, I never said that true football fans should do everything the Mic Men say, nor that all fans should stand (perhaps somebody else’s comments are being confused with mine?). Additionally, my statement did leave an exception for any fan that sits and makes noise while watching the game. Anyways, I do not wish to quarrel with you over minute details since I have high regards for you as a fellow Cal blogger and a “same-team” friend so I’ll move on to the main point I did not make very clear. In my opinion, I think real football fans should be loud (with the very obvious exception to those who may not have the physical ability or health to do so). You do bring up a good point that everyone brings their own expectations to the game, and I will concede that point in agreement. And actually, that thought did cross my mind as I wrote that sentence. Nevertheless, my thought process was something along the lines of: if you want to support your team, wouldn’t you be willing to do anything within your legal power to help your team? The most basic assistance a football fan can give his or her team, besides buying tickets, monetary gifts and mere presence during games, is crowd noise. How the noise is made, and in what bodily position that noise is made does not matter to me as long as the fan makes noise.
Nathan, my perceptions of the game’s crowd noise was best stated by your comment that “the noise at the Oregon game was more sustained.” I felt the same way. As for the actual loudness of the crowd, as I stated earlier, I was not in the position to judge since I like being up high in the bowl.
Comment by HydroTech — September 3, 2007 @ 1:19 am
For what its worth, i think Best’s first play of his collegiate career was the first play of the whole game, where he tackled the guy on the kickoff to start the game. I’m pretty sure it was him.
Comment by Sean — September 3, 2007 @ 6:57 am
Sean, you’re probably right. I wasn’t looking for Best on kickoff coverage at first. The particular play that I am referring to was his first offensive play when Cal was in its own territory and driving north.
Comment by HydroTech — September 3, 2007 @ 12:35 pm
Anyone have a copy of the game in any format? I’m willing to pay a reasonable price for it and for shipping. I live in SoCal, but attended the game in person. Obviously one of Cal’s biggest games in recent history. The power went out in my home while I was gone so my DVR didn’t record. I can exchange e-mail with you if anyone has it. Thanks in advance.
Comment by oaktownmario — September 3, 2007 @ 2:38 pm
The Bears Are Roaring (Leftovers from Cal-Tennessee)
So I said I’d write up some analytical thoughts…but the Cal football blogosphere seems to already be a thousand steps ahead of me. It makes my job easier to focus on the mundane and the sublime, and turn over the analysis to them. Here are…
Trackback by Bears Necessity — September 3, 2007 @ 4:02 pm
In regards to “real fandom” I kinda look at it like this:
Real fans root for Cal.
Period.
Comment by TwistNHook — September 3, 2007 @ 4:46 pm
HydroTech: I appreciate your reply. I really react badly to people who accuse other people of not being “real fans,” which set me off. You’re right, I’m bringing some other baggage to the table here: there was a guy on The Band Is On The Field last winter who insisted that all the Old Blues who don’t stand and cheer should just watch the game on TV. It really set me off, because those guys have been coming through the darkest days of Cal football and the big money they pay (don’t look at me, I’m in FF, so I’m in the mid-priced area) essentially funds the entire football program. But you were not being nearly that expansive with your statement.
Change happens slowly, but let me tell you, the alumni section is the loudest and most engaged I have ever seen it. Will they ever do everything the students and recent grads do? Not a chance. It’s just never going to be the same intensity as a section full of standing (and, um, drunk) students. But the culture is definitely changing and the Alumni section is stunningly more active than it ever was before. Which is good news!
And TwistNHook, you couldn’t be more right. Cal fans are real fans. If they weren’t, they’d be rooting for USC or something. You’ve got to be special to root for Cal. (Cal haters, feel free to interpret that last sentence Ralph Wiggum style if you like.)
Comment by Jason — September 4, 2007 @ 12:20 pm
Remember, our stadium doesn’t help us at all as far as noise goes. Some stadiums keep noise in, others let it out; Memorial lets it out.
But one espn announcer noted that this was the loudest Cal crowd he had ever heard, if that counts for anything.
Comment by kmart — September 4, 2007 @ 2:32 pm