Advertisement
football Edit

Five Things: Oregon

Well, Cal won a majority of the five things against Idaho State to improve to 3-0 on the year, but as I type this, Oregon is busy administering a shellacking to the School Just South of Us -- later edit: lol, they lost -- so no one really cares about the recap. Let's just see what it'll take for Cal to try to upset the Ducks.

Five Things Record: 10-3-2

Season Record: 3-0

1) Physicality

Under Cristobal, Oregon has emphasized a newfound physicality, and they brought it last Saturday by beating the conference bully to within an inch of their lives. I originally was hoping that Cal could take advantage of a weakened Duck group, but instead, this item becomes a point of emphasis -- if the Bears don't come out ready to handle the line of scrimmage on both sides, this one will be over early.

The good news is that the offensive line showed some signs of improvement against Idaho State, allowing the backs to get going in a way they didn't against BYU or UNC, but that was to be expected against that level of competition. At minimum, that level of improvement will be expected again if they want to pull an upset. Defensively, well...we'll get to that in a moment.

2) T A C K L E

There may be no Royce Freeman, or DeAnthony Thomas, or any one of the myriad of more famed Duck playmakers, but the overall team speed here continues to be ridiculous between the likes of CJ Verdell, Tony Brooks-James, Jaylon Redd, Johnny Johnson, and Stanford terrorizer Dillon Mitchell. Despite Cal boasting one of the best tackling groups in the back seven of the last decade, this is the first game they'll really test their mettle in -- whether or not they limit YAC on these guys. Strap in, Beck, Davis, Bynum and company. (I suppose Washington, WSU, and USC will be the others.)

3) Jordan Kunaszyk

If you or I can already tell this might be an issue, you can be damn sure Oregon knows about Kunaszyk as a possible liability in the pass game. This may be one of the reasons why Evan Rambo has started to practice at MIKE the last few weeks (well, that and depth), and that looks to be one of the best adjustments we have with this roster, alongside playing base nickel. Whichever one plays will loom large in deciding Cal's efficacy on defense. This also doesn't look like a great matchup for Tevin Paul either, but that may still depend on how confident they are that the more athletic Ogunbanjo will be able to keep pace mentally.

4) Play cleanly early

Cal has struggled early in downs when running Patrick Laird, which has set them behind the chains early on the first three games. When it's not gaining only 1-2 yards behind Laird, it's self-inflicted penalties, and whether or not they play Marcel Dancy more this week, this point remains the same -- move the ball on early downs. I'm not sure how effective an Army-versus-Oklahoma ball control strategy actually would be against the Ducks, but in order to score whatsoever -- especially when the offense is so devoid of big play potential -- they cannot afford to fall behind early. Convert, convert, convert!

5) Pressure Herbert

I'm largely disregarding the pass rush data from Herbert's first three games, since they were against two G5 teams and one FCS team. But against Stanford, it was evident that giving Herbert free space as a passer or a rusher is a death wish -- when unpressured, he's averaging nearly 70% completion and 12 YPA, with nearly 70% of his throws going for a first down, cupcake weighted marks that held up against the Cardinal too. Pressuring him whether with four men, five men, or more, turns him into a much more average passer, where he completes less than 53% of his passes, for 6.5 YPA.

Even that might not be enough -- Stanford sacked Herbert four times, hurried him four others, hit him once, and he still did all that.

However it is Cal decides to bother him, whether it's by more exotic looks that only end up with four rushers, or the standard five to six man package stuff, it's important to remember Herbert is athletic enough to make plays in the run game too. This is where the loss of Goode is most felt, because no one else is as likely to make an impact, although Alex Funches works hard every damn play anyway.

It won't be easy, but this is the first time we'll see if Cal's really any good or not.

Advertisement