Not Pretty, Not Pretty At All

Where to even start?

While the Northwestern loss felt like a win, the 37-30 win over Portland State on Saturday most certainly felt like a loss. Strange how that works out sometimes, eh?

Cal struggled. At times, the Bears struggled mightily. I don't think there is a need to rehash how they struggled because I think by now the majority of fans have watched and read enough about the game to get a good grasp of what happened.

The real question is obviously why? 

• Why did the defense look so confused and slow out of the gate?
• Why did it take Andy Buh an entire half to make adjustments? 
• Why were the Cal corners left in multiple one-on-one scenarios in which they clearly aren't 100 percent ready for? 
• Why did both sides of the lines seem to get minimal push against a much smaller opponent?
• Why did it appear as if the offense started to sputter a little bit late in the second half (for the second game in a row)?

Some random thoughts:

• Buh might just not be that good: Unfortunately, this is something that Sandy Barbour and Sonny Dykes are really going to have to figure out between now and the end of the season. I am by no means a Negative Nancy so I am more than willing to give Coach Buh until the end of the year to see improvement. However, there is no sugarcoating how terrible the Bears' defense performed on Saturday. Absolutely no excuse.
• The players aren't that good: Unfortunately, this is also part of the issue. From a pure talent standpoint, how many NFL defensive caliber athletes are playing right now for Cal? Deandre Coleman is a surefire pro (but we'll get to him later) and Jalen Jefferson looks very promising. Besides those two though, who else? At this point, slim pickings (slim pickings in relation to McCain, Scarlett and Sebastian being out - all three of whom I think possess pro potential).

  

  I know everyone in this photo is trying his very best, but Buh and company simply have to find a way to be better. (Cal Athletics)

• Vanilla defense, again: I have to say Buh called a whole heck of a lot more blitzes in Fall Camp than he has in two actual games (or at least it seems that way). For all the criticism Buh has received, and deservedly so, I do think Buh is playing a little coy here. I believe (hope?) that Cal is going to run a much more sophisticated defensive scheme come Saturday and the rest of the season.
• Fundamentals are poor: Regardless of how talented or untalented a player might be, there were several instances against Portland State where a cal defensive player had a ball carrier squared up and there to the taking. Instead of making the play, however, we saw one whiff after another. Very disturbing.
• PSU isn't bad: I definitely underestimated the talent level of PSU. Forget all the preseason prognostications, forget all the returning starters and what the experts thought about the Vikings coming into the season, and forget about the fact that they are a FCS team. Portland State had some players who could truly play ball. That doesn't excuse Cal's own lackluster performance by any means but in this day and age of sports the talent gap between the middle class (Cal) and the poor (PSU) isn't nearly as wide as it once was during the Tom Osborne days at Nebraska.
• Goff is probably the real deal: Even though Cal is just two games into the season I am very close to proclaiming that Jared Goff is the "real deal" - whatever that means. Goff isn't just putting up passing yards by the bunches, it's how he is doing it that's impressive. Completions to 10 different receivers? Not even pros in the NFL do that on a consistent basis. With that said, however, there is still some consistency that I wish Goff would hit on but that will come in time.
• Running game is probably not coming anytime soon: The combination of a young offensive line, young running backs, and first-year offensive line coach put Cal behind the Eight Ball from the opening kickoff and it's probably not going to get that much better this season. I've touched on this before but watching the game from the stands on Saturday it was clear (at least to my amateur eyes) that the Bears' ball-carriers simply do not possess the vision that special running backs do. I hope this skill will come in time but unfortunately vision isn't something a coach can really teach a guy. 

We said at the beginning of the year that this entire season should be judged not on one game but on the entire season. Saturday put a lot of stress on that hope but I think for the most part people are still willing to wait and see what Dykes and company continues to bring to the table. Hopefully the Bears come out and perform better against Ohio State.

GO BEARS!