California...?

#26
#26
(VolinArizona @ Jun 19 said:
We should definitely look out for Cal. They are also a tad overrated, but could easily win 10 games.

Their total defense was ranked 46th last season, which isn't awful, but not great. HOWEVER, there scoring defense ranked 26th, which is pretty darn good. The scary part is that their defense is only going to get better. They return 7 starters from last season. They only start ONE player younger than a junior, but even HE started last season as a freshman.

Their CBs are both seniors, so they'll be tough to beat. Their defensive question marks are their two safety spots, but both guys are juniors.

About their offense ... Lynch isn't their only back. Forsett is great as well, and those 2 combined for 2200 on the 9th best running attack in the nation. Their Oline is their biggest concern, as it only returns 1 starter. 2 Sophomores start on the OLine, one is 6'5" 295 and the other is 6'6" 334. A concern for the Bears, but it seems there is some size there.

If Cal continues the trend of losing 1 game a year due to special teams, it could be the Tennessee game.

At a neutral site, I think this is a 50/50 game. With a home team, they have the advantage 60/40, which isn't overwhelming.
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and one other thing about that defensive ranking is you have to consider the types of offenses they played...last year, i would think that the Pac 10 as a whole was better than the SEC on offense. So a D ranked in the top 50 and top 30 scoring agains one of the better offensive leagues, is probably pretty good. And i'm sure that someone would point out the Defense in the SEC was ranked really high as well....so the offenses shouldn't be that highly ranked. and i'll give that some merit, but i don't think anyone could deny that, at least offensively, the league as a whole was down.

the thing about this game is it's the first game. who knows how either team will react. I do think it's a big disadvantage for Cal though. 1st games are tricky enough, throw in a cross country trip, losing 3 hours etc...gets even trickier. interesting game indeed.
 
#27
#27
(jakez4ut @ Jun 19 said:
and one other thing about that defensive ranking is you have to consider the types of offenses they played...last year, i would think that the Pac 10 as a whole was better than the SEC on offense. So a D ranked in the top 50 and top 30 scoring agains one of the better offensive leagues, is probably pretty good. And i'm sure that someone would point out the Defense in the SEC was ranked really high as well....so the offenses shouldn't be that highly ranked. and i'll give that some merit, but i don't think anyone could deny that, at least offensively, the league as a whole was down.

the thing about this game is it's the first game. who knows how either team will react. I do think it's a big disadvantage for Cal though. 1st games are tricky enough, throw in a cross country trip, losing 3 hours etc...gets even trickier. interesting game indeed.
Click to expand...

Yes, very interesting. This current Cal team has never played this kind of program this far away. Sure, they go to USC, Oregon, and UCLA, but coming to UT, UGA, UF, etc is a tad different.
 
#28
#28
(jakez4ut @ Jun 19 said:
and one other thing about that defensive ranking is you have to consider the types of offenses they played...last year, i would think that the Pac 10 as a whole was better than the SEC on offense. So a D ranked in the top 50 and top 30 scoring agains one of the better offensive leagues, is probably pretty good. And i'm sure that someone would point out the Defense in the SEC was ranked really high as well....so the offenses shouldn't be that highly ranked. and i'll give that some merit, but i don't think anyone could deny that, at least offensively, the league as a whole was down.

the thing about this game is it's the first game. who knows how either team will react. I do think it's a big disadvantage for Cal though. 1st games are tricky enough, throw in a cross country trip, losing 3 hours etc...gets even trickier. interesting game indeed.
Click to expand...
and one other thing about their offensive ranking is you have to consider the the defenses they played......
 
#29
#29
(vols kick balls @ Jun 19 said:
and one other thing about their offensive ranking is you have to consider the the defenses they played......
Click to expand...
true, true...but the D's in the Pac 10 last season really weren't as bad as we'd all like to think. Now, they weren't as good as the Big 10 or SEC, but if i remember correclty the defenses last year by conf. ranked SEC, Big 10, ACC, Pac 10, Big 12, Big East, Conf. USA, WAC and on down the line....so i think they were farily average, but not terrible.
 
#30
#30
(VolinArizona @ Jun 19 said:
Yes, very interesting. This current Cal team has never played this kind of program this far away. Sure, they go to USC, Oregon, and UCLA, but coming to UT, UGA, UF, etc is a tad different.
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yep, and i think that makes the difference for us this year...if they were coming in on the 4th or 5th game of the year, i might think differently, but first game....3000 miles away from home....yeah, a tad different.
 
#31
#31
(vols kick balls @ Jun 19 said:
and one other thing about their offensive ranking is you have to consider the the defenses they played......
Click to expand...
Trust me, I see a fair amount of Pac-10 games. It's equal parts offenses making defenses look bad, and defenses making offenses look good. I believe the same is true of the SEC, just in reverse. The defenses make the offenses look bad, but the offenses can make the defenses look good.
 
#32
#32
(VolinArizona @ Jun 19 said:
We should definitely look out for Cal. They are also a tad overrated, but could easily win 10 games.

Their total defense was ranked 46th last season, which isn't awful, but not great. HOWEVER, there scoring defense ranked 26th, which is pretty darn good. The scary part is that their defense is only going to get better. They return 7 starters from last season. They only start ONE player younger than a junior, but even HE started last season as a freshman.

Their CBs are both seniors, so they'll be tough to beat. Their defensive question marks are their two safety spots, but both guys are juniors.

About their offense ... Lynch isn't their only back. Forsett is great as well, and those 2 combined for 2200 on the 9th best running attack in the nation. Their Oline is their biggest concern, as it only returns 1 starter. 2 Sophomores start on the OLine, one is 6'5" 295 and the other is 6'6" 334. A concern for the Bears, but it seems there is some size there.

If Cal continues the trend of losing 1 game a year due to special teams, it could be the Tennessee game.

At a neutral site, I think this is a 50/50 game. With a home team, they have the advantage 60/40, which isn't overwhelming.
Click to expand...

Everybody seems to leave out that Cal was rated 90th in passing offense in NCAA. As poor as Tennessee's passing offense was, it was only rated 85th.... and UT was playing against some of the top defenses in the country last season too.

Forget lost players... Chavis always has the defense geared to stop the run. That is Cal's strength on offense.

And NCAA stats are skewed by who a team plays. Remember, MTSU had the 28th rated overall defense in NCAA last season.
 
#33
#33
One area of concern for me is SPEED. How fast is Cal? Will they be faster on the field than what they look on film? With Coach Cut wanting to play faster on offense will that cause enough problems for Cal? :dunno:
 
#34
#34
(milohimself @ Jun 19 said:
Trust me, I see a fair amount of Pac-10 games. It's equal parts offenses making defenses look bad, and defenses making offenses look good. I believe the same is true of the SEC, just in reverse. The defenses make the offenses look bad, but the offenses can make the defenses look good.
Click to expand...

Total Defense (in top 30)
SEC (8)
2 Alabama 10-2
3 LSU 11-2
7 Tennessee 5-6
9 Florida 9-3
18 Georgia 10-3
19 Auburn 9-3
27 Ole Miss 3-8
29 Miss State 3-8


PAC10 (0)
* The Pac-10 had 4 teams rated worse than 100

Total Offense (in top 30)
PAC10 (5)
1 USC 12-1
2 Arizona State 7-5
8 Washington State 4-7
18 Oregon 10-1
26 California 7-4

SEC (0)
*The SEC had 4 teams rated 100 or worse.... including Spurrier's high flying Gamecocks with a total offense rating of 100.
 
#35
#35
After last yr I'm weary of every team on the schedule, not scared just concerned.
 
#43
#43
If Cut can get Ainge playing well, and that's a big IF,.....all I can say to Cal, would be...Look the HELL out!
 
#45
#45
Looks like UT is not the only team with players getting into late night trouble. Cal QB Levy arrested and suspended indefinatley after assualting someone with a beer bottle early on sunday morning in an Irish bar. It doen't look like he was going to be a starter after the spring practice, but once again, nothing good happens to college athletes at 2-3 am. Maybe him and Cooter could hang out? This story is on ESPN.com.
 
#46
#46
(bigdaddy @ Jun 27 said:
Cal QB Levy arrested and suspended indefinatley after assualting someone with a beer bottle early on sunday morning in an Irish bar.
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Sounds like a nice guy.
 
#50
#50
What's up with back up QB's acting like they are Billy bad a@#?
 
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