Hi VN,
I'm a Cal alum and I've been following the Cal-Tenn threads for about 3 months now and I must say, you guys have a good thing going here, definitely some intelligent CFB fans who know what they are talking about.
I picked Cal to blow out Tenn a year ago simply because I felt that our offense would be too good to contain. I won't make the same mistake this year. Yes, Longshore will be more experienced and we will have home field. But having watched all the Cal games last year, Cal's offense could very well be even MORE overhyped than last year. Our OL will be pretty good this year, but they were also pretty good last year. Get pressure on Longshore and he will make mistakes. He has ZERO speed so he will have to either throw the ball away or force the ball. Let him drop back 4 steps and give him time to look at his second option and he will pick your D apart. That was the main reason for his success last year after the Tenn game. Give him time to throw and it would be hard to find a more accurate and consistent passer in CFB. Cal also had a very balanced offense last year. All our losses last year came from an ineffective run game and we became one-dimensional. So I think most of VN hit the nail when they say stopping the run is key. If you put all the pressure on Longshore to make plays, AND THEN pressure him when he drop back to pass, then we are in big trouble.
So I guess the big Q is can your DL put enough pressure on Longshore without the blitz? I think blitzing would be too much of a gamble considering your DB's are inexperienced and out WR's are pretty good. I don't follow your team so can someone tell me about your DL and the depth chart etc?