Arizona Recap

Dear Coach Gregory,

I still haunt your dreams,
but you can sleep soundly for a while.

Fondly,
Mike Leach

DEFENSE

Bob Gregory. Bob Gregory endured the coaching equivalent of passing a kidney stone last week, culminating in that final searing but cathartic release when his defense stopped Sonny Dykes' (read: Mike Leach's) offense on its last chance fourth down play. And they did it with a sack, something that offense is specifically designed to, and did all season, avoid like the plague (little known fact: for 10 years, until this season, Mike Leach had never had a starting QB miss a game due to injury, credited to his offensive system that virtually eliminates a QB being sacked).

That offense has been a Rubik's cube for Gregory for years (ignoring 2007 when Dykes was running it with an ill-suited QB and Stoops' fingerprints were still all over the offense). It is safe to say for at least one night, he solved it. Good for you coach. Good for you.

Particularly noteworthy were the defensive players' quotes after the game. Mohamed said they felt "unstoppable" against that offense. Cattouse said the offense had tendencies they thought they could take advantage of, and that they felt like they had a game plan that could take things away from Arizona. That is the talk of a well-prepared defense. Dare I say Bob Gregory outcoached Sonny Dykes last week?

Attitude. The defense finally came out and played like they expected to be in control. They didn't play scared. They didn't sit back and let Foles pick them apart. They didn't concede the short stuff. It almost burned them more than a few times, but in the end, the pressure and aggressiveness, combined with the well-executed run defense, paid off. I hope the players remember how that felt the next two weeks as they practice, because they'll need to bring that intense preparation all week if they want to play with that kind of confidence against the next two opponents.

I still think this group has some holes talent- and experience-wise, and those holes have held them back some. But this game was Exhibit A for the principle that even on defense, where talent is so critical, a solid game plan combined with a motivated, focused group of players can overcome some talent deficiencies.

Mohamed. I am very impressed at how he has grown from more of a speed guy to an ILB who can peel off defensive linemen, read run, and come up and fill gaps. A lot of guys with Mohamed's physical makeup end up running right past inside plays or guessing (and guessing wrong) because they are used to playing on the edge where they can see better. But the kid obviously has some instincts, which are more important for inside linebacker than just about any other position on the defense.

Combined with his coverage skills and lateral range, he is growing into the total package. The rest of the LBs still have big holes in their games, which is a concern the rest of the season and next season. But Mohamed is finally starting to look like the steady presence people hoped he'd be.

Thompson and Alualu. Expect a dropoff next year when these two are gone, because without their playmaking, I question whether Cal wins this game. They were everywhere, and they make critical plays (as they have all season).

Still having trouble covering the TE. Even without Gronkowski, Arizona managed to burn Cal with passes to the TE, joining Oregon, USC, UCLA, and OSU, all of whom made a living off of that concept against this defense. Had Mohamed not made an athletic recovery to break up an early deep ball to the TE (on what was probably a blown assignment by him to begin with), that would have made two TD catches by TEs for easily over 100 yards. And had Gronkowski been in this game, I think Cal might have been in trouble.

Given Cal's vulnerabilities in LB pass coverage, I will be surprised if Stanford doesn't try to hammer Cal with TE and FB passes out of play action all day long Saturday. Stanford has athletic TEs and FBs, they execute the play action very well. The Cal defense needs to prepare for this.

OFFENSE

Offensive line. This group looked a lot more active. In run blocking, guys were getting off the ball more quickly and hitting people until the whistle blew. You could just see a difference from the week before in terms of their composure and attitude. In pass protection, they had some lapses, but they also picked up the stunts and blitzes decently well much of the game.

I am not ready to anoint Summers-Gavin as the savior of this unit and the difference between the run game production vs. OSU and vs. UofA, because the whole unit just seemed more lively and played better. But one thing I really like about this guy's game is how quickly he gets out of his stance when he pulls. It means Vereen can slow down just that much less as he waits for the hole to open, which keeps the run from developing too slowly, something that has been a problem from time to time with this offense.

RB pass blocking continues to be suspect. The lapses continue in this regard. Vereen got smoked on a blitz pickup right up the middle at least once that I recall, and generally, this group (including the FB) is not great in this area.

Vereen. As I have said many times, Vereen is a much more prototypical Gould tailback, in the Arrington and Forsett mold. With players like Lynch and Best, a coach has to be careful not to take away what makes them great, so you live with them doing things a bit differently than you might want as a coach, which both Best and Lynch do/did.

But with Vereen Saturday, you could see more of Gould's handiwork: the almost invisible extra 2 yards of crab walking and crawling after contact, the patience waiting for holes to open and then darting into them, and the avoidance of punishing direct hits. Even without the 60-yard run, Vereen was having a quiet, methodical 100-yard game.

I felt before the season that Vereen is the kind of tailback who could put up big rushing yards over a full season if he could stay healthy, simply because his abilities and coachability mesh so well with Gould's system.

The quick downfield pass. I had hoped before this game that Ludwig would use more quick, non-lateral passes to keep the defense honest, and I was glad to see more of this Saturday. These passes have turned into a good weapon for this offense, by taking the pressure off the running game and slowing the safeties and linebackers. While Riley struggles with lateral balls where he can't step into the throw, he seems to excel when he throws downfield. And it is now clear that Cal has the WRs who can catch these balls and take a hit.

Riley. Riley continued his enigmatic play. On the one hand, he again found a way to lead the team down the field for the go ahead score, as he has managed to do multiple times this season. You cannot ignore that he keeps finding a way to do that. As I've said, Cal really hasn't had that kind of player at QB since Rodgers. When you combine that with a defense that can find a way to get stops, it gives a team a lot of confidence in close games.

On the other hand, he still makes contrastingly remarkable mistakes. His two INTs were back breakers, and he was close to having a third. If he just avoids those two INTs, Cal probably gets at least one, maybe 2 FGs out of those drives.

SPECIAL TEAMS

1. Starting field position for Arizona after kickoffs: 35, 30, 33, 23, 38, 35 (45-10 penalty yards). Sad.
2. But for the kicker's leg whip tackle, Arizona likely scores on that kick return and we are talking about a totally different game. Notably, Tavecchio was actually credited with the tackle on the last two kickoffs. With a game that close, that is a stunning indicator of the ineptitude of the kickoff team.
3. Botched substitutions on at least one FG that almost ran down the play clock.
4. Missed extra point that would have sealed the game.

Bottom line, special teams almost gave this game away. Again.

EXPECTATIONS

A closing thought, to store away for next fall. Now is a good time for fans to take stock of how good they think this team really is, register that thought, file it away, and then revisit it when setting expectations for next season. Don't wait until after the bowl game, or after reading glowing reports about spring ball, or reading about fall camp, or reading the preseason rankings and prognostications, or watching the highlight vids during the slow summer months.

All that can be factored in as well, but now is a good time to take stock because some of the more unsavory things are still fresh in the mind as well: the 3 and outs, the poor run blocking and pass protection, the pliable pass defense (flanker screen, anyone?), and maddening special teams play. And think about the impact of losing guys like Alualu and Thompson and ask yourself how the team will play without them on the field. All of that, the good and bad, should go into the analysis.

Right about now, most fans now have about as honest and unaffected a sense of this team as they are going to have. Last week, a lot of folks were down, and for good reason. The week prior to that, folks were way up, but the sample size probably wasn't big enough. Now, the team won over a pretty good team, but it was ugly and left no one with delusions of grandeur.

Yes, there are still two more games, so the analysis can continue over that time period. But once the season ends, many fans lose perspective almost immediately. So start now. In fact, look at next season's schedule now and try to pick the games (link here). Then review your picks on Monday before the first game of the year, and see if you feel differently.

All in all, another gutty win. Now let's wipe that smile off Harbaugh's face and pee in Stanford's cheerios this week (a loss could knock them down to as low as 6th place if Cal wins out and AZ goes 2-1).