Oct 19, 2013; Berkeley, CA, USA; California Golden Bears defensive back Kameron Jackson (3) breaks up the pass intended for Oregon State Beavers wide receiver Richard Mullaney (8) during the first quarter at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Week seven is gone and the Cal Bears lost yet another game (sixth of the season) against the Oregon State Beavers, 49-17. Here are my final reactions to yesterday’s loss:
The Good: I may not like the direction of the quarterback battle, but Zach Kline undeniably added an extra something to the team when he went out there. This is the second game where Sonny Dykes decided to throw the redshirt freshman out there, and both times have been against very good opponents who are bowl bound. Kline wouldn’t be the quarterback if it was up to me. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t recognize his talent or that he could be a starter on many other teams in the nation. I think what Kline has, right now, is a little more direction. He’s had tow seasons to take in the college football experience, Goff just got here a few months ago. By no means am I saying Kline’s play was sub-par, nor am I trying to dampen his play. I am just saying that, if the best thing about a game was the play of a second stringer, that can’t be good for your seasonal outlooks. Next week, Kline may be starting. We know Dykes has mentioned that Kline has done enough to put himself in the conversation (as per Hunter Hewitt), and while I think that may be a mistake, I have to give Kline his due.
The Bad: The defense was horrible. I know that Brandin Cooks is one of the best receivers in the conference, and for my money, Sean Mannion is going to be a very good NFL quarterback. I think so highly of the tandem that I’d be hard pressed to say that I thought a healthy Cal would have stopped them. But giving up 230 plus yards to them as a pair is ridiculous. Watching this, even if it is due to the horrible injuries, never gets easy.
The Ugly: The staff really did a terrible job. According to Kameron Jackson the staff did not put in a special defense played on Brandin Cooks, and he destroyed Cal’s secondary. They decided to take Goff out at the half in favor of Zach Kline. They also committed eight penalties, something that says that this staff really doesn’t run the most disciplined of ships. I already mentioned that I was going to let this staff get at least one more season under their belt before starting to write them off. I guess that’s mostly due to my high opinion of Mike Leach and what he was able to do over in Lubbock. But, that doesn’t mean that the staff will be able to get away with going about their business in a subpar manner. This game left me (and most of the Cal fan base) with a sour taste. The staff, through seven games has gone 1-6, and now ranks dead last in the nation in passing yards allowed per game (346.7) and second-to-last in points (44.4) and total yards (525.4) allowed per game. These things have a lot to do with how the staff is going about building this team. Things must get better.