"I’m in your backfield. Stealing your snaps."

If you were like me, you noticed that two of the TDs cal scored on Saturday were direct snaps to Forsett. And if you were like me, you were impressed, but without much knowledge on the subject. And if you were like me, you went and asked your friend who used to work for the team. And if you were like me, you learned he was busy with 1L midterm(s) (ah, the good ole days) and couldn’t really write up a post about it right now. You lazy bastard, HydroTech.

But if you are a nice guy like me, then you offered to just make a quick post with his thoughts regarding the Wildcat play.

“Wildcat” formation is from Arkansas putting McFadden at QB. It’s not new, we used it last year against aTm. Money ran for a goalline touchdown out of that formation. Spreads out the defense thus making it easier to run up the gut. Defense has to spread out to cover the other 5 “receivers” (which includes the QB). As for throwing out of that formation, I’m sure Forsett can throw. He doesn’t need to throw far so much as accurate (we have used it only in goalline situations that’s why he doesn’t need to throw far).

There very well might be some variations on that play where the “QB” (Forsett) does something else other than run. Actually, probably not. If he’s going to throw, you might as well have NL do the throwing since he’s a better passer. And it probably isn’t a lateral/east-west run since we spread out the defense and you usually don’t want to run side-to-side after spreading out the defense. You’d rather run east-west when you make the defense compact, drop into the box and not be so wide.

In a Bearinsider interview, NL joked that Forsett knows the “fade” hand signal. It’s without a doubt that he does if even I know it too. If the defense’s CBs sneak in prior to snap and don’t cover the QB thinking that it’s just going to be a run, maybe Forsett will pass to NL. Who knows?

For now, all that Cal fans are left with is speculation since Tedford hasn’t publicly shown variations of that play."

Here’s hoping that this Saturday, you see in the box score "Forsett to Longshore. Touchdown." Also, "Cal wins!"

So, in a fit of spontaneity, I’ve decided to head up to Eugene this weekend to see the Cal-Oregon tilt in person. Yes, I’m massively in debt from my recent wedding, so I wasn’t planning on going, but free tickets + and offer to crash on the floor of a friend’s hotel room (they say that college is all about making connections, and they’re right!) have made this trip a lot more affordable. Add in my wife, my dog, a couple friends and an eight-hour drive, and we’ve got ourselves a road trip! Yeah, baby!

Now, what I don’t have is a good idea for a large sign to wave behind the GameDay crew during their morning broadcast. Large ‘Script Cal’ flags are always appropriate, and who can resist a classic ‘Duck Hunt’ reference? Still, it’s the creative, original signs that really get noticed. So, anyone got any good ideas? If someone comes up with a good one, I’ll do my darndest to get it on television. I wish I could hand out prizes (see above paragraph, where I mention that I’m massively in debt), but recognizing your handiwork on national television will have to do.

Oh man, this is going to be one heck of a weekend!

Quack.

• Well, those guys over at Ducksportsnews.com have us as their headline link on their main page, so we’ll return the favor here.  They linked to our post about how Bears fans are more nervous than Ducks fans - and while I do see a large amount of angst amongst our fans, it never occurred to me to be afraid of Oregon.  I mean, it’s still Dennis Dixon.  Anyone else remember all the times that Michael Vick would go on his two week tears passing and declare himself a complete quarterback, then go out and complete 35% of his passes for 80 yards?
• For what it’s worth, Oregon fans profess to have no fear.
• Mike Bellotti is a simple man.  I’d say more, but this article pretty much says it all already.
• Mike Bellotti also has no problem trying to take out his former assistant with everything he has.  I’d imagine the feeling is mutual.
• Some writer for an Oregon newspaper posits that Bellotti is jealous of Tedford.  While I wouldn’t go quite that far, it’s worth remembering that Oregon has had success without Tedford, and it’s probably more a feeling that Bellotti has been overlooked while Tedford gets all the credit for all of the quarterbacks that he’s put in the NFL.  There’s also this fun tidbit.

  "Also, consider that while Tedford has won loads of games, Oregon has struggled with inconsistency and had an embarrassing recruiting scandal in which it was penalized by the NCAA for breaking the rules while trying to steal a Cal recruit.

  (Ducks insiders insist that Tedford turned in Oregon on that infraction, by the way.)"
• And here’s a reminder that Oregon’s mascot, in contrast to those that we’ve seen the past few weeks…well, he’s kind of vicious.