Cal Football: Nine Thoughts from the Bye Weekend
It was a bye week. A lot of college football happened over the weekend. None of it involved Cal.
The Bears got an extended break this past weekend, with power outages cancelling classes from Wednesday to Friday, and no practices on Friday and Saturday. For a team that needed some time to heal before a homecoming bout against Oregon State, this might have been the right medicine.
Right now, here's nine assorted thoughts from the bye week.
Jake Curhan and Matt Cindric
Cal's had two players who have played every rep on their respective side of the ball. Those would be Curhan and Cindric, who have remained healthy at a position group that hasn't had much luck in the health department. Had all offseason projections gone to plan, Cindric would've been the sixth man of the offensive line.
That's not the case, and Cindric is beginning to deliver on the promise Steve Greatwood and Justin Wilcox expressed in him on the recruiting trail. On early signing day 2017, Wilcox gushed about Cindric's motor, recalling him chasing down a fumble return. That's why he's entrenched himself as a potential four year starter. The numbers still aren't there for Cindric, who grades out 35th among Pac-12 offensive linemen (13th among Pac-12 guards) on Pro Football Focus, 42nd in pass blocking (16th among guards), and 29th in run blocking(10th among guards), but he has time to improve.
Curhan might be one of the more unappreciated players in the conference, as he has started 31 consecutive for the Bears.The Pro Football Focus graders like him, as he's graded 6th highest in the conference among linemen, 13th in pass blocking, 5th in run blocking. The Cal offensive line hasn't been stable all year, but Curhan has been the most stable piece on the right side. With an offense that starts all of one senior, Curhan continues to emerge as a leader for the group.
Damien Moore
Cal was the first school to offer Bishop Amat running back Damien Moore after a knee injury ended his 2018 season before it started.
Now, Moore's making up for lost time and has propelled a decent Bishop Amat team to new heights with his play. He had 214 yards on the ground and 3 touchdowns in a win over Chaminade, and has his squad in the driver's seat in the Mission League.
Multiple people have made the point that Moore reminds them of CJ Anderson, and I agree. The lower body strength, lateral quickness, and general running style is reminiscent of Anderson. Moore's cutbacks off zone blocks are much improved, and his physicality, a trait Nick Edwards values among his running backs, is certainly there.
Early Oregon State Thoughts
Oregon State had a win down in Pasadena over UCLA prior to coming home against Utah. There might have been some momentum, but it was squashed by Zach Moss and a Utah defense that made Jake Luton uncomfortable all night in a 52-7 loss. The Beavers were missing a few key guys in OL Nathan Eldridge, OLB Matthew Tago, ILB Avery Roberts and RB Jermar Jefferson, but they got worked by the Utes.
That said, the Beavers have talent:
- Isaiah Hodgins might be the best receiver in the Pac-12 this season, it's between him and Brandon Aiyuk (with Laviska Shenault being injured).
- Jefferson is one of the best in the conference when healthy, Artavis Pierce has some speed behind him, but Jefferson is a difference maker when in the game.
- Blake Brandel grades out among the highest in the conference on Pro Football Focus. The Beavers don't have a ton of line depth, but like Curhan, he's a bright spot for the group
- Jake Luton threw his first interception of the year against Utah, and it wasn't a missed read, it was just a tipped pass on a screen that went for a pick-six. The sixth year senior doesn't make many mistakes.
- Hamilcar Rashed, Jalen Moore, and Jordan Whitley are the three highest graded Oregon State defenders on Pro Football Focus. Moore and Rashed were two of the defensive bright spots for the Beavers against Utah, but they can't do it alone.
Cal matches up well with Oregon State, as the past two years have seen the Bears running all over the Beavers. Cal has more offensive line turmoil this year than in either of the past two years, and they'll need to see if playing the Beavers can be the cure.
Cal Rivals Midseason Awards
Everyone else is doing it, as ESPN's Bill Connelly had Evan Weaver as his midseason winner of the Dick Butkus Award. Jon Wilner of the Mercury News/Pac-12 Hotline had Weaver as his defensive conference player of the year so far. So I'm going to do it as well.
MVP - Evan Weaver. I don't think you could make an argument for anyone else. Weaver is the heartbeat of the team.
Call to Action Award (Player who has handled increased reps the best) - Jake Tonges. I based this one off the fact that other guys who have handled increased reps (like a Matt Cindric or Christopher Brown) knew that they were going to be in their roles before the season. Tonges went through the whirlwind of earning a scholarship, seeing one of the guys in front of him transfer after two games, and making a massive play on the road against Ole Miss while being pressed into a new starting role. He's also second in special teams reps (89).
Chicken Salad Award (Player who has made the most out of the least) - Trey Turner. Cal's backup safety/nickel/special teams ace is tied for the team lead in passes broken up (4) in about 20% of the reps of the guy he's tied with (Cam Bynum). Turner also leads the team in special teams tackles (4) and reps (103).
13 Colonies Award (For the player most affected by the Weaver Tax) - Luc Bequette. The Weaver tax is a bit of a joke conceived by the defense, as with Weaver's obscene amount of tackles, the rest of the defense hasn't had as many. Bequette may be the most affected, though he did his best to make up for it against Oregon. Honorable mention to Tevin Paul/Cameron Goode.
The Potential Award (For the player on the cusp of showing their potential) - Christopher Brown Jr, Brown's starting to scratch the surface on his potential, though his production has been halted by the issues on the offensive line along with some nagging injuries affecting him. Brown has avoided 33 tackles on the year in the run game, hasn't fumbled, and hasn't dropped a pass on the year.
Pac-12 After Dark/During Brunch
Cal had their game time for Utah announced at 7 PM (Pacific). That's a week after the Bears play at 11:30 AM for their Homecoming game. I couldn't find the last time Cal played a game before noon at home, as the Bears have played at nearly every conceivable time of day in 2019. Justin Wilcox cited that they practiced during fall camp around 10:30 every day, so the 11:30 start shouldn't be an issue.
The Utah game is another night road game, something that the Bears had plenty of during the Sonny Dykes era, and their second of the year so far (5 PM start at Oregon doesn't really count). These are always among the roughest for the student athletes, who get home around 3 AM from these trips, which isn't exactly conducive for the academic process or recovering from playing a football game.
Health Issues Moving Forward
There are a handful of players up in the air after injury issues:
C Mike Saffell: Hurt before the first touchdown against Oregon, Devon Modster noted last week that he expects Saffell to be back
G/T Valentino Daltoso: Has been up and down with injuries this year, Wilcox said he's hopeful for the return of the junior swiss army knife lineman
RB Marcel Dancy: Could have seen time in an emergency against Oregon, expected back this week
OLB Tevin Paul: Didn't play the last half of the Oregon game, as Ben Hawk Schrider came in in relief
WR Kekoa Crawford: Expected back this week
TE Gavin Reinwald: Also expected back this week
Cal Volleyball
A special shoutout has to go to Cal Volleyball, which is seeing a rebirth under first-year coach Sam Crosson. They're sitting at 15-1, with a 5-1 record in conference, as the only loss came to a top ranked Stanford squad. They played a game at Maples Pavilion (due to the power outages) on Friday, beating Arizona State, then came home Sunday to beat Arizona, both in 3-0 wins.
Cal's ranked 16th now, as they look to have their strongest run since the 2010 season, one that saw them make the NCAA Finals against Penn State. They are led by the likes of Savannah Rennie (who had to undergo a liver transplant and fight post-transplant Non-Hodgkins lymphoma to get back to playing), Mima Mirkovic (the team leader in kills), Maddie Haynes (team leader in service aces and blocks), Bailee Huizenga (another strong outside hitter), and Isabel Potter (team leader in assists). They take on number 18 Utah Friday night at Haas Pavilion, another part of homecoming weekend that's worth your time.
The Rest of the Schedule
The remainder of Cal's schedule sets the Bears up for a solid finish, granted the Bears can figure out the offensive line, quarterback accuracy, and run defense issues that have plagued them in 2019. There's two games against Oregon State and UCLA, which are very winnable for this Cal team. Washington State hasn't been particularly great on defense over the previous three games, Stanford has had a fair amount of injury issues on the offensive line and at quarterback, and USC has been hit or miss. Utah's the most difficult game left, which means Cal has a puncher's chance at nine wins.
Assorted Final Thoughts
It was strange not having a game in particular to watch or go to this past weekend. Instead, I ended up learning how to operate a forklift, which I am proud to say I didn't run into anything. And we'll get to do this all over again in three weeks (not necessarily the forklift part).
The two byes being in the back half of the schedule certainly helps the Bears, who have nagging injuries as opposed to season ending ones. It's another thing that could break well for the group. It just depends on how they come out of the bye.