Good First Test

IT'S GAME WEEK! WOOHOO!

CFN has named the Cal-Nevada game the Pac-12 game of the week (for whatever that's worth). I think the writer puts together a pretty good summary of what to expect.

I'm sure my fellow SCF bloggers will have much more to say about Saturday's contest but for now the biggest thing I'll be looking for are:

1). how quickly the offensive line asserts itself

and

2). how quickly the young linebackers read, recognize, and react to the Wolfpack's unique offense

We all know what happened the last two times the Cal defense defended the Pistol and I don't feel a real need to recap.

Personally, I think it's great that two of Cal's more "unproven" units get tested right from the opening kickoff. If things go as planned, the Bears should have no trouble controlling the line of scrimmage offensively against Nevada's revamped defensive front-7 and after a series or two the guys on defense should get the hang of defending the Pistol.

BUT, things don't always go as planned. While he's not Colin Kaepernick, Cody Fajardo is a damn good quarterback for that system that Coach Ault runs up there. Fajardo can sling the ball around a little bit and he can run as well so the Cal linebackers are really going to have to mentally focus for this one.

If you remember what happened the last time the Bears tried to slow down the Wolfpack offense, a couple of mental lapses can make the difference between a five yard gain and a 30 yard gain:




And forget about who is starting and who is not ... the Bears are going to need their entire linebacking corps for this one and it'll be a great learning experience for guys like Brennan Scarlett, Nick Forbes and the others to compete against an offense that will require so much from them for Cal to be successful.

GO BEARS!