Back From Bay Area Thoughts

[lawgator1]

We have a lot in common with Fla.

Both teams have very powerful offenses with ineffective defenses, I'll agree. But Florida's I believe has the chance to get better as the season wears on. UT's, it seems to me, is about where its going to be.

 

[WA_Vol]

I don't know that I'd call UGA an elite rushing attack either. They aren't bad, but I don't think they are necessarily any better than Cal.

I thought GA offense looked good against OSU. They put up a lot of points.

 

[vol4eva]

Both teams have very powerful offenses with ineffective defenses, I'll agree. But Florida's I believe has the chance to get better as the season wears on. UT's, it seems to me, is about where its going to be.

Our tackling should get better, and I think our lbs and secondary will get better. I think our Dline will have a rough year.

 

[lawgator1]

Our tackling should get better, and I think our lbs and secondary will get better. I think our Dline will have a rough year.

I've seen many Florida defensive teams with weak tackling. The problems always seemed a combination of lack of speed, strength, and bad technique. I cannot recall one that ever got significantly better as the season wore on. You might be right and perhaps UT will. Just my observation that bad tackling is not something you cure with some practices and watching film of better technique.

 

[WA_Vol]

From what I've read of the spread option that Meyer uses, he spreads the field with the intent to make it easier to run the ball. I think with Tebow, Florida will have a more run oriented offense.

 

[VolinArizona]

6. Name 5 other teams on your schedule that has a better offense than Cal? I'm not saying it doesn't exist, I'm just really curious.

There won't be, but there will be around 8 other teams with better defenses, thus, why I think we could lose 6 games.

Florida
Arkansas
Georgia
South Carolina
Alabama
Kentucky

Could all beat us if we play like we did Saturday. I truly am not taking anything away from you all, but if you all had even a decent defense, you beat us by 30+.

Hell, Southern Miss this Saturday could be really bad for us.

 

[bigtime]

1. David Cutcliffe should be ashamed of himself. I know our offense scored 31 points, and that's amazing considering it was one of the absolutely worst called games by an OC I've ever seen.

2. John Chavis should be ashamed of himself.

3. Cal should be ashamed of themselves. Pumping in sound effects and music while Tennessee is at the LOS is bush league, and I thought it was illegal. Guess not.

4. Cal fans should stop butchering the national anthem. IMO, you should never mess around with that song, no matter how clever you think it is.

5. Cal fans should take prozac. In the stadium, they ranked close to LSU-level bile. Outside the stadium, best I've dealt with. They showed their class in the 3rd quarter by chanting "overrated" right before we came back. They also chanted "Pac 10 Football!" the entire time Xavier Mitchell was down.

6. If the defense is not fixed, we'll lose upwards of 6 games.

7. I give Jackson credit for being electric on the PR, but there were 2 blocks in the back.

8. The PI call on Marsalous Johnson against Jackson was one of the worst PI calls ever

9. David Cutcliffe's call on 4th and goal was one of the worst I've seen

10. How many times did receivers run more than 2 yards short of the 1st down marker/GL? A crapton.

11. 47 passes? Are you kidding me?

12. San Francisco is an amazing city. I barely experienced the tip of the iceberg, and I loved the city. Pier 39 is amazing on your first visit.

13. David Cutcliffe's gameplan showed he had no confidence in our WRs. Somehow we had 31 points, which is unbelieveable.

14. The fumble recovery for a TD seemed like a clear cut forward throwing motion from where I was. I haven't watched my TIVO yet, so maybe they explain it.

15. Jarod Parrish shouldn't see the field again.

16. Lefty O'Doul's on Friday night was a blur for me. I know some of you were there.

Arm was going forward, ball went backwards... nothing we could do but sit and watch ball was fair game

 

[jakez4ut]

1. David Cutcliffe should be ashamed of himself. I know our offense scored 31 points, and that's amazing considering it was one of the absolutely worst called games by an OC I've ever seen.

2. John Chavis should be ashamed of himself.

3. Cal should be ashamed of themselves. Pumping in sound effects and music while Tennessee is at the LOS is bush league, and I thought it was illegal. Guess not.

4. Cal fans should stop butchering the national anthem. IMO, you should never mess around with that song, no matter how clever you think it is.

5. Cal fans should take prozac. In the stadium, they ranked close to LSU-level bile. Outside the stadium, best I've dealt with. They showed their class in the 3rd quarter by chanting "overrated" right before we came back. They also chanted "Pac 10 Football!" the entire time Xavier Mitchell was down.

6. If the defense is not fixed, we'll lose upwards of 6 games.

7. I give Jackson credit for being electric on the PR, but there were 2 blocks in the back.

8. The PI call on Marsalous Johnson against Jackson was one of the worst PI calls ever

9. David Cutcliffe's call on 4th and goal was one of the worst I've seen

10. How many times did receivers run more than 2 yards short of the 1st down marker/GL? A crapton.

11. 47 passes? Are you kidding me?

12. San Francisco is an amazing city. I barely experienced the tip of the iceberg, and I loved the city. Pier 39 is amazing on your first visit.

13. David Cutcliffe's gameplan showed he had no confidence in our WRs. Somehow we had 31 points, which is unbelieveable.

14. The fumble recovery for a TD seemed like a clear cut forward throwing motion from where I was. I haven't watched my TIVO yet, so maybe they explain it.

15. Jarod Parrish shouldn't see the field again.

16. Lefty O'Doul's on Friday night was a blur for me. I know some of you were there.

1. i agree with you, but specifically on the 1st possession of the 3rd qtr, the possesion after we cut it to 38-31, and the 4 plays inside the 5. other than those three possessions, i thought the play calling was OK.
2. agreed, but it is apparent that we simply aren't all that talented up front on D.
3. eh, i know what you're saying, but it simply didn't have anything to do with the outcome.
4. I'll take your word for that one......didn't hear it.
5. i was wondering about that as well. glad to hear Mitchell's injury wasn't serious.
6. to be fair, Cal's offense is every bit as good as advertised. i dont' know that we'll see one THAT much better the rest of the season. though we will see some more good offenses, i still can't see 6 losses on the schedule.
7. I read the thread, and saw all the debating about this. from what i saw live and thru replays, there were two that were borderline, but both looked to me to be from the side or in to the shoulder......
8. i thought so to, but when they showed the replay, he did grab him.
9. agreed.
10. no speed at wide out. all possession receivers.
11. unfortunately no. i thought we got away from the run a little too often myself, refer to the three possessions i mentioned earlier as prime examples.
12.agreed.
13. disagree, somewhat. the fact we thew it 47 times is contrary to that. they caught the ball fine. the problem was some of the routes that were run weren't run correctly and/or the downfeild options were covered, and it resulted in a lot of check downs which resulted in the short yard gains already referred to.
14. ball came out when his arm was still back. arm came forward, ball was already gone. the bigger problem for me was that the LB that made the hit was lined up on a WR and blitzed from the slot. and NO ONE caught it. all i could envision was Vince Vaugn in Wedding Crashers screaming "HOT ROUTE!!".
15. nor should Josh Briscoe.
16. Glad you had some fun on the trip.......glad to have you back VIA.:thumbsup:

 

[VolinArizona]

I'm glad it was clear during the broadcast because live, just from my viewpoint, it was hard to tell. Moreso than the fumble, we didn't understand how he teed off on our senior QB.

 

[thunder5]

And I only got to see the second half. But the more I read about the game the sicker to my stomach I feel. Think about this...

Ainge fumble returned for a TD, Ainge fumble on what should have been a 28-28 tying drive leads to a Cal field goal and lead of 31-21, punt to Jackson...despite the blocks in the back...is just flat out ridiculous...it's like asking a blind man to drive your car and getting angry when he wrecks it...

I have to agree with VIA...the game plan and play calling on both sides of the ball was as bad as I can remember and I only saw the better half of the game

I feel like we gave this game away...we had an opportunity to make a statememnt that last year wasn't a fluke and we blew it...now everyone is calling last year a fluke and they can back it up with the results instead of speculation...that makes me want to throw up

And the worst part of it...the complete lack of class shown by all in the Cal program...Follett talking about payback, Longshore talking about how bad he wanted hang 50 on us even though the game was over, the Cal band and fans cheering while Mitchell layed motionless on the ground, Lou Holtz thinking he was right...

I have never felt this bad after a loss...and that's saying alot cause I've been a Vol for over 20 years and we all know some of the heartbreak that we've felt in that time.

 

[milohimself]

I sorta halfway agree with LG on this one... The defensive playcalling was bad, but it also appears that we just aren't that good up front. Our saving grace is that Florida will also be very green on offense when we face them. Jury's still out on Georgia. Arkansas is two good running backs and a highly dysfunctional football team. Bama... We'll see. But Cal had a strong, veteran offensive line with 3 or so future NFL players at the skill positions. Playing defense won't be any tougher than it was on Saturday.

The other thing people have been worried about -- Stretching the field -- I am fully confident that our young WR's will quickly learn a few tricks on how to beat the coverage. Like I've said, it's something that only comes with game experience. The pass blocking this year is good enough for Ainge to work with. We're fully capable of averaging 25ppg in the SEC if that happens.

 

[chidave]

Face it. The problem right now is defense and special teams. It wasn't just a bad scheme, it was lack of speed and talent (with Berry being an exception). You can fix the scheme, you can't manufacture players.

That is what has me worried the most about this season. Either our D-Line can whip another team's O-Line or it can't, and unfortunatley, we can't. Our offense will keep us in alot of games, but realistically, I'm not sure how much our defense can improve.

 

[WA_Vol]

I dont think Cal rushes for more yards in a game this year then they did against UT.

 

[droski]

I dont think Cal rushes for more yards in a game this year then they did against UT.

You forget we have stanford and CSU on the schedule. And after seeing oregon's dline get blown off the ball by houston, i'm thinking we will run for at least 200 yards in that game.

 

[jakez4ut]

That is what has me worried the most about this season. Either our D-Line can whip another team's O-Line or it can't, and unfortunatley, we can't. Our offense will keep us in alot of games, but realistically, I'm not sure how much our defense can improve.

the d isn't good. not much argument on that.

but i don't see us playing any offenses the rest of the year that will be THAT good or better. Granted, we will still see our share of good offenses the rest of the way, but Cal played a near flawless game. they have great WR's, a good O line and a confident qb.

while FL, GA, BAma etc...got their warm ups out of the way, and looked "good" doing so, i still want to see them play someone of consequence before i really start pencling L's across the rest of the schedule.

but that doesn't mean that the D has to be better, MUCH better....in a hurry. if we can't stop the run, it will be a very long year.

 

[lawgator1]

That is what has me worried the most about this season. Either our D-Line can whip another team's O-Line or it can't, and unfortunatley, we can't. Our offense will keep us in alot of games, but realistically, I'm not sure how much our defense can improve.

I'm torn on this. I think for one thing we aren't giving Cal enough credit. They might be better than we think and UT, therefore, not as bad as they looked.

Second, it is the first game. As I posted elsewhere, there is at leats an opportunity to improve here. In fact, I think you will find a lot of coaches out there that say the biggest improvement is between game one and game two.

But that's all talk. Its up to the coaches now to get ahold of these guys and get some major problems corrected. Like I said, I've not seen bad tackling corrected before at Florida. Guess you'll know a lot more this weekend.

Should you lose to USM, I foresee a complete tailspin. Should you eek out a win, it would be like kissing your sister and the recriminations would continue. Dominate them and with UF on the horizon no one will be talking about that Cal game eons ago.

 

[allvol123]

Part of the reason our defenders looked silly is because they have spent so much time tackling Rogers, Taylor, and Briscoe in practice. They probably were not used to seeing quickness.

 

[thunder5]

Part of the reason our defenders looked silly is because they have spent so much time tackling Rogers, Taylor, and Briscoe in practice. They probably were not used to seeing quickness.

Well they had better get used to it. I have a new found respect for DJ, whoever #4 was, Forsett, and Best....but we will face several teams this year with very similar talent.

 

[Napamike]

For the most part- what I saw the Cal fans were excited about finally winning one against a team as well regarded at UT. I saw one or two that were obnoxious but I also saw a few UT people the same way.
I heard more than one comment about how nice Cal fans were treated last year, that they were trying to reciprocate-
Now if Cal can beat USC, that will make the pain a little easier to handle-

Looked to me like Cal line was smaller but in better physical shape than UT's - and I think our line got tire in the 4th.... my humble opinion...
UCLA -next year.

 

[Cartervol]

Well they had better get used to it. I have a new found respect for DJ, whoever #4 was, Forsett, and Best....but we will face several teams this year with very similar talent.

Thats a good point.When you have a linebacker running down your first string receiver you have problems.(Follett running rogers down from behind)

 

[justingroves]

the d isn't good. not much argument on that.

but i don't see us playing any offenses the rest of the year that will be THAT good or better. Granted, we will still see our share of good offenses the rest of the way, but Cal played a near flawless game. they have great WR's, a good O line and a confident qb.

while FL, GA, BAma etc...got their warm ups out of the way, and looked "good" doing so, i still want to see them play someone of consequence before i really start pencling L's across the rest of the schedule.

but that doesn't mean that the D has to be better, MUCH better....in a hurry. if we can't stop the run, it will be a very long year.

Agree with all of this.

 

[GVF]

I don't know that I'd call UGA an elite rushing attack either. They aren't bad, but I don't think they are necessarily any better than Cal.

Cal could be the princess ball this year. Jackson, Forcett, that state sprint chamion (No 5?). They've got a good package in those 3 that will be hard to keep radar locked in on.

 

[tennfanatic]

Over the last couple of years our coaches have simply gotten us beat. Chavis the other night made no changes to the Vol defense, as the game went on. Our coaches are also non emotional and dont seem to care if we do get beaten. Look at Fulmer or Chavis during the game they looked like they needed to take a nap. They are non emotional and it seems as if the game has passed them by. I see other coaches and they are highly emotional. They make changes if their team is struggling but not our coaches, they just clap when were getting beat. I just dont see us motivated in big games any more, I mean with the media disrespecting us you would think that we would be flying down on special teams and knocking their brains out. Our special teams players though hit like a bunch of girls, I mean all they do is arm tackle. Take for instance on the DeSean Jackson return one guy had a kill shot on him but he pulled up. Im really wondering if our current players are men because they play like a bunch of girls. I remember when we didnt have as much talent as the current day but one thing was certain we would hit you. We also would never quit but the other night we didnt do either.

 

[Vols4ever]

Over the last couple of years our coaches have simply gotten us beat. Chavis the other night made no changes to the Vol defense, as the game went on. Our coaches are also non emotional and dont seem to care if we do get beaten. Look at Fulmer or Chavis during the game they looked like they needed to take a nap. They are non emotional and it seems as if the game has passed them by. I see other coaches and they are highly emotional. They make changes if their team is struggling but not our coaches, they just clap when were getting beat. I just dont see us motivated in big games any more, I mean with the media disrespecting us you would think that we would be flying down on special teams and knocking their brains out. Our special teams players though hit like a bunch of girls, I mean all they do is arm tackle. Take for instance on the DeSean Jackson return one guy had a kill shot on him but he pulled up. Im really wondering if our current players are men because they play like a bunch of girls. I remember when we didnt have as much talent as the current day but one thing was certain we would hit you. We also would never quit but the other night we didnt do either.

thats some pretty bad punch :crazy::aggressive:

 

[CalTL]

I dont think Cal rushes for more yards in a game this year then they did against UT.

I disagree.