Now That That's Over ...

the real season can begin.

Four games into the new coaching regime and two things are pretty clear:

1. I completely overrated Cal's ability as a whole.
2. I should've kept in mind that this team went 3-9 for a reason.

It is more obvious than ever that Sonny Dykes has a big task on his hand. Dykes needs to find a way to keep his team motivated and continuing to buy into what he is selling - not an easy task considering how the last two games have gone. If Dykes wondered even the slightest bit how much harder coaching in a BCS conference is from week-to-week, well now I'm sure he knows all too well.

The Bears have been outmatched in much the same fashion that Dykes's coaching comrade Mike Leach was overwhelmed last season up in the Palouse. Count it as a bit of irony that Leach and his somewhat improved squad visits Memorial Stadium on Saturday in a game that both teams really need in the worst of ways.

It's been a rough start for Dykes, but the schedule gets 10 times easier from here on out. (San Francisco Chronicle)

Dykes noted on more than one occasion when he was hired that he was not super happy about Cal's tough schedule to start the season and those fears unfortunately have come to ultimate fruition. There are championship caliber teams (Oregon, Ohio State), there are good teams (Northwestern), and then there are the Bears. But even though everyone seems ready to count out his coaching staff, I'm not throwing in the towel quite yet. Cal is certainly nowhere near the level that it needs to be to compete for a championship but I still don't believe the Bears are back in the Holmoe era.

The question that I can't quite answer yet is where does Cal fall in-between? Are they closer to Portland State? Or are they closer to a program like Northwestern? The Bears have many, many holes both on and off the field that they have to plug up. Some of which can't be fixed until the off-season (better conditioning, continued turnover of bad apples on roster), but some can start to get patched up starting this week and the Cougars are the perfect team to get the ball rolling again.

Washington State was just trounced by the Furd in much the same way that Cal was destroyed by Oregon so both teams are looking at one another with a welcome sigh of relief. At this point in their program projections, Leach and Dykes have their squads at about the same level. But, the Bears (even with injuries) have a much stronger and deeper talent pool to pull from and in my mind, Cal's real season of evaluation begins Saturday.

Oregon and Ohio State are way out of the Bears' league right now and Cal competed against and beat the other two teams on its schedule. The hope now is that the Bears learn from their struggles through the first four and apply it to teams that they should start to beat and Wazzu is certainly one of those teams. While a bowl game is probably out of the question (and so goes by ill-fated prediction of seven wins) there is still plenty to play for if I'm Cal.

The one thing that can't happen anymore are these massive one-sided blowouts. The Bears have seen the best the country has to offer (Oregon, Ohio State), competed against one of the most well-coached (Northwestern), played in the most raucous of crowds (Autzen) and in the worst of weather (Autzen). From now until the Big Game, young team or not, Cal has experienced first-hand the toughest aspects of trying to be a successful college football team. Now it's time to start winning games.

GO BEARS!