Cal Bounces Back - Bears Bury The Gophers, 42-17
Marshawn Lynch ran for 139 yards and Nate Longshore threw for over 300 as the Golden Bears went on to trounce perennial Big-10 powerhouse Minnesota on Saturday.
Despite the score, Cal showed glimses that this game could have been even more uneven, and that there is a potential for these Golden Bears to transcend to a true top-10 caliber team this season. However, that improvement must come first at the offensive line, which continued to have problems with consistency and pass protection. Additionally, Cal’s secondary showed weakness again, giving up a number of easy first downs and big plays that led to Minnesota’s two touchdowns.
Cal gets a game against Portland State next week to iron out the kinks, but after that, it enters the Pac-10 league schedule - where every game counts in potentially the second-best league top to bottom (behind the SEC). With tough games on the road at USC and at Oregon State, the Golden Bears have an intense learning curve.
“perennial Big 10 powerhouse”???
Minnesota’s record in conference games in the last six seasons (from most recent to least recent) is:
4-4, 3-5, 5-3, 3-5, 2-6, 4-4.
Also, Minnesota hasn’t been in the Rose Bowl since 1962. You might need to check your definition of ‘powerhouse’.
Comment by commodore anonymous — September 10, 2006 @ 9:46 am
Ben, seriously, put down the crack pipe. The Pac 10 is the second best league? More like the second worst BCS conference (next to the big east). There’s definitely no way that the Pac10 is anywehre near as good as the Big 10 or ACC, and it’s doubtful the Pac 10 is even on par with the Big 12.
Comment by chet (CEO and virgin) — September 10, 2006 @ 11:11 am
I said up-and-down.
Right now, the Big 12 has three teams that compete: Texas, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma - all in the South. The Pac-10 has seven teams, at least, that have a legitimate shot at winning this year.
Is anyone really arguing that there’s another league out there with the same parity and average quality as the Pac-10?
Comment by Anonymous — September 10, 2006 @ 12:28 pm
hmmm, I agree with the Pac 10 having superior parity, but that isn’t good if all the teams are equally mediocre. also, I would say that the Big XII has 4 competitivie teams, I think Nebraska will be good. here’s my analysis of a head to head battle royale:
USC ~ Texas
Oregon TexasA&M
Arizona > Iowa State
WSU > Oklahoma State
Oregon State > Kansas
Washington ~ Missouri
Sanford
Comment by chet (CEO) — September 10, 2006 @ 1:26 pm
never mind, i forgot that html would eat the less than sign, and now my glorious analysis is ruined
Comment by chet (CEO) — September 10, 2006 @ 1:30 pm
Stanford losing to SJSU…wow.
Still not as great as losing to UC Davis.
Comment by Anonymous — September 10, 2006 @ 1:37 pm
Your analysis is way off. Did you even watch the game? How did the secondary give up two touchdowns? Minnesota only had one offensive touchdown in the game. Secondly, Daymeion Hughes was unbelievable, he had 2 ints, and 1 pass defended. Syd quan played much better and the only big play of the game faked the whole team. Also, Minnesota is projected to be in the bottom half of the Big Ten. And the Pac 10, second best conference? Stanford loses to SJSU, and LSU beats Arizona 45-3. Not to mention Tennessee whooping us. Leave the football talk to someone who at least was paying attention in the game.
Comment by hey dude — September 10, 2006 @ 7:53 pm
The ACC is crap. Did anyone watch Florida State, Miami, Clemson, or BC in the last couple games?
The Big XII is bad. Texas is good. Oklahoma is pure crap (playing UAB and Washington close — what kind of powerhouse defense gives up 20 points to Washington?). Texas Tech is far worse than the last couple years.
The Big 10 is mediocre. Ohio State is worthy of competing for the national title. Michigan is just setting itself up to fall. Iowa played a terrible game against Syracuse. Penn State is ok — but Anthony Morelli is not. Minnesota is bad.
The SEC is mostly very good.
The Pac is mediocre. USC is good. Cal and Oregon have potential to be good. UCLA is ok. Oregon State, Washington State, and Arizona have potential for some upsets.
The Big East is bad. WVU and Louisville (even without Bush) are good. Pitt is ok. Rutgers is ok.
That’s my take.
Comment by Glicky — September 10, 2006 @ 8:31 pm
Judging by the performance of penn state, it’s fair to say Big 10 isn’t what it’s all cracked up to be. Iowa is also useless without Drew Tate.
OSU might pretty much have the best team, but it doesn’t mean their conference is actually up to par. The ACC and BIG 12 have always been overrated.
Comment by lex — September 10, 2006 @ 11:21 pm