Let’s hear what everyone is specifically looking for, in terms of team growth and preparation, tomorrow night.
The line has the Beavs favored, but I don’t see why that should be so.
Cal 37, Beavs 21
Let’s hear what everyone is specifically looking for, in terms of team growth and preparation, tomorrow night.
The line has the Beavs favored, but I don’t see why that should be so.
Cal 37, Beavs 21
First.
Ha! You all thought I wasn’t paying attention all off season!
Cal seems to have the edge on defense. Their offense is a complete unknown with a true frosh QB and basically no returning production. I will say their coaching staff is stacked with experienced guys.
Beavs OL will be tested here early. This game and the whole season will come down to how Cav’s unit plays.
This feels like a close game either way, though. Lots of questions on both sides.
Apparently Cal’s true frosh QB has decided to redshirt the season and will transfer when the season ends.
Not sure what their backup options are but they can’t be great, but seems like good news for the Beavs defense.
https://x.com/bennett85098/status/1961276752854233128?t=kB-GSIkT04OOAp0lHKYGxQ&s=19
Ignore that, I fell for some Beaver fan’s joke post
Beavs have already lost several contributors(Tongue, Clemons, WVU DB, anybody else?).
Cal has a new true frosh QB and Nick Rolovich (Both Beaver Kryptonite)
I want to say the home field will be the advantage but I’m also skeptical that the new Pac12 has the resources to keep up with the Power4 conference teams financially. If the Beavs win vs P4 team , it really should be viewed as an upset. The playing field just isn’t level.
Yeah, they’ve talked about the crown at Reser for a long time.
Damn. I didn’t know Nick Rolovich was at Cal. Regardless of the QB, Cal now has a major advantage on the offensive side of the ball. Rolovich just knows how to call up plays to kill the Beavs. That type of coach can take advantage of weaknesses as they develop during the game. He is the opposite of the Riley/Gunderson “find our identity” pre-determined, non-adjusting type of play calling. I went from thinking the Beavs will win to now hoping they will win.
Roll isn’t a game day coach. Harsin is the OC.
Wow, Beavs are actually favored -1.5
PFF position comparison:
QB- adv OSU (Cal starting a true frosh on the road in a hostile environment vs a legit All-Conference QB)
RB- even (Cal starter played well in relief of Orr last year, looks to be even with Hankerson)
WR- even (Cal has two starters Idaho and UNLV and a guy who was unimpressive at Cal last year; Beavs have Walker and guys who were previously spot starters)
TE- adv OSU (Cal has an underachiever named Mason Mini; Beavs have decent experience and relatively proven production)
OL- even (Cal really only has one solid returning starter, just like us; lots of guys who were unimpressive in limited or expanded duty; they have the experience edge, but no talent edge; health may be a wild card?)
DL- adv Cal (lots of returning experience and quality for Cal; we have some potential, but not a lot of proven production beyond Collins and maybe Taylor)
LB- adv OSU (they have an inexperienced freshman and an experienced below average starter here; Davis and Foster have the edge in experience and quality)
CB- adv Cal (they return two solid starters; Ayers is developing, but not proven and Tucker is green without much depth behind him)
S- adv OSU (they are starting a true frosh and a guy who was bad in limited time last year; Thomas is solid and Ivy filled in okay at safety last year so we get the edge here)
It looks pretty even on paper. Biggest matchup here is a solid Cal DL against our relatively green OL. As is always the case in college football, how the inexperienced guys rise to the occasion will be the deciding factor.
I do like the matchup of MM and our speed versus Cal’s safeties on the deep ball. Hopefully MM is given time by the OL for those plays to develop.
Beavs OL gonna be the big factor but how Gunderson calls plays to avoid OL weaknesses and utilize any advantages there will be the difference.
First game always makes one wonder how the SpTms will play and how penalties will factor.
Beavs by 9 so long as Gunderson calls less than 1/3 pass plays.
Black uniforms………not a factor in mid 70’s temps
If Hankerson and a TE or two have to help out the OLine a bunch, seems like receivers will have to win their battles and get open. They don’t have a demonstrable history of that do they?
That’s where MM’s arm and the (reported) close connection with receivers can make a big difference. Gunderson’s willingness to go 2TE sets on called pass plays is yet to be proven but a likely good move.
I’m with Angry, need to Beavs to show me something before I predict a win. Cal boat raced the Beavs last year.
Gunderson needs to show what his offense can do, that side of the ball was pretty anemic last year. With a solid QB on board, offense needs to produce.
As for the D, I like that Bray is coaching it and hope they get back to their old form from 2023 but I’m concerned tomorrow may look like year 1 of a defense trying to learn a new system.
If the Beavs go long in the first series and they don’t make it, I predict a loss. I’m hoping to see a run-heavy first series, and if Cal’s defense needs to be opened up, it’s fine to show long but instead pepper them underneath with short pass plays, for the first score. You’ve got the whole rest of the game for razzle-dazzle.
It’s more of a question if they’re able to do that with this line against a tough cal front. If the oline plays well I like their chances
What if OSU runs a play action fake on the first play, the WR is WIDE OPEN and scores on a 75 YD TD pass? You still going to bitch about them not running the ball on the first drive?
I did say if they try deep right away . . . and don’t make it. Of course you take what’s given. But Beav fans are very familiar in the past with coaches’ tendency to be married ot the deep ball. And our current QB is known for that, so you know on some level the coaches are salivating. But so many times in the past, that has just led to 3-and-out. Don’t try to showboat right at the start.
Take what’s given, which is far and away more likely to be run yardage or short passes. Just make some dang progress down the field.
I have no clue as to why the beavs are favored and expect a close game. Besides the o-line worries I would like to see some good use of the TE’s in the offense. They are supposed to be a deep group-lets use them.
Bray makes the D better than last year.
28-24 Beavs stay in control the whole game, but give up a late one to make it close.
Everyone parties at the Top of the Cock to celebrate!
Way TMI: Went to a rugby party at the Peacock many, many years ago. Threw up at the bar…bartender gets a towel and says “God bless you”. Held the rugby Christmas party at our house same year. Gets to whatever o’clock and they all exchange presents (I was not on the team)…all booze and you can imagine what our back porch looked like the next day.
Beavs 23-17
As a Beaver rugby alumni… I can only imagine the horrors experienced at our Christmas party..
Speaking of rugby, the Beavs open the season against Wazzu on September 27th. My son had his first practice as a college athlete this week. If it’s not too annoying, I will post their scores this season.
Nice
You guys seen any surprises in the few games that have been played? The biggest one I’ve seen was how bad Boise looked. Watched part of it on a flight home. Not a surprise but Mizzou’s offense looked pretty good. Second string QB had to come in as their starter got hurt first play. Yes, it was against Central Arkansas but they did put up more than 60 points. Some other power4 teams squeaked by similar opponents.
Not sure about tonights game. I think their offense should be much better with a talented QB. It’s like a lot of us have been saying; depends on o- line play. Defense should also be way better with greater depth and Bray back in charge.
Didn’t see him play, but I noticed Melvin Jordan left for greener pastures to be the backup LB at Gtech, had two tackles.
Closer to home in Florida, too. It’s not always just about the money.
Line has flipped at some books, Bet MGM has Bears a 1 pt favorite.
https://www.vegasinsider.com/college-football/matchups/california-vs-oregon-state/
ESPN is $30 a month? Looks like I’ll be skipping this game. Ridiculous.
Go Beavs!
Just stream it from our friends across seas.
Or head to ur local bar.
Yeah, I don’t do bars past happy hour at my age, make no mistake I’ll be at a local bar today. Hahahaha.
,I read that hSling has Day Passes. I don’t how the work.
I found a friend with a Fubo they shared.
But in all seriousness does ESPN expect its streaming service to be a success at that price point?
You can usually find a stream or two on YouTube.
Real time or at least near real time?
Real time or close to it, in my experience.
I’ll be looking to see if the team is well prepared and disciplined. It’s hard to know what to expect in a game one especially with all the turnover on rosters these days but I’m hoping to see few unforced errors. Things like presnap penalties, turnovers blown assignments. I think if they don’t beat themselves and are able to run the ball they can pull this one out.
21-24 Beavs!
I’ll go ahead and get this out of the way for some of you. The beavers are going to suck again this year and all the coaches should be fired after the game today if not before the game. How’s that for being angry?
Beavers win 21-17.
I read the QB that replaced Murphy and Duke is getting an estimated $4M year. Wow, some of these guys have it great, annual free agency and NFL money…
Better than NFL money. Think that guy will ever have a $4 mil/per year contract in the NFL? Not a chance. The “market” is so broken.
Arch Manning is a loser. Albeit a rich one….
He has an odd throwing motion for all of the hype.
Reading the game summary, sounds like a pretty boring game propped up by names and hype.
Was there bad news? The line flipped in Cal’s favor.
Maybe realizing that Cal destroyed OSU last year has something to do with it. Not even bookies/oddsmakers are paying attention to OSU 2 weeks before this game.
I’ll take the Beavs by 10, maybe 27-17 with some Reser magic by the defense.
Well it is easy to tell that the Beavs have lost their luster. This blog is pretty quiet for week one. I get it though. Beavs are a complete mystery to me, I didn’t even keep up with camo info. Here is to hoping we trounce one of the traitorous 10. Fuck Cal.
I meant camp info.
what an absolute fuck up to start the game. from 3 and out to a probable cal score because of 12 guys on the field during a punt
We deserve what we got. 12 men on field and then rush 3 and give qb all day to throw. Coaching mistakes already!
we’re so fucked. fumble the first offensive snap, then two no call PIs 3 and out
I wish our players would react more to getting mugged.. Dude was draped all over our receivers back on Murphy’s first throw and no reaction from our guy.
I feeling that mid season disappointment already.
Good thing im on blood pressure medication.
Even better that ESPN makes it so tough to find without paying them a subscription. I can listen along to Mike and Jim, and let them take all of the frustrations for me.
Revise the season record to about 6-6…Oh well.
Well, that’s about a shitty of a start as one could imagine. No matter the season, team, or coaches, the true freshmen QB curse continues.
season is over before it even began. every single thing has gone wrong, they look terrible in all aspects, and this one is already over.
Hi StudentBeaver. We had a deal.
I was sitting here camping, pissed off that i couldnt get good enough service to stream the game on ESPN.
But sounds like I should feel blessed.
Is this a body bag game?
No speed. No pass rush.
Hey coach Bray, rushing 3 isn’t working.
We look like absolute ass yet again. Jesus christ. Our defense is awful. Can’t pressure the qb. Get torched with 8 guys in pass defense. Just stupid
OL sucks, too. It’s pretty much the worst case scenario so far.
OLine can’t block. No speed.
They are getting physically manhandled on every play
We’re not much better than a high school team. Angry is right. There is no point in following this team very closely.
On the bright side, half of the Beavs schedule is pretty much high school teams…
Qb is 8/8. 2tds. This is insane
This OLine is getting its ass absolutely kicked
Noticed real quickly that the players on Cal’s O-line and D-line were significantly much larger than our players when we were lined up. I don’t know if this is a result of conditioning, recruitment, or what, but our guys were completley overwhelmed. Not a good sign when the TV announcers spend all game praising the opposing team..
its actually unbelievable how bad they actually look. there isn’t anything positive about the players or coaching. completely overwhelmed and also making numerous errors.
Punting has been good!
Cav’s needs to threaten bear crawls for the oline…worst case scenario beginning. Is every running play negative so far?
Another fall camp of hype and bluster. The red flag for me has been too many old Riley guys setting up shop in Valley Football Center. Of course the season begins like this first half. Of course they look over matched and out of sorts. Of course there isn’t any clear purpose to the offense and of course we are all disappointed once again.
The question was asked earlier why are we angry, now we know why. Every year we are duped to keep thinking this might be a different year, but it never is.
I swear to God. I’m about to drive to Reiser and fight Gunderson in the parking lot after the game.
In fairness I’ve paid no attention till today but I don’t see any kind of plan.
White jerseys in the backfield on every play
Weird time to say this i know but Justin Wilcox is such a mediocre coach. Man i with he had accepted the Duck job.
*wish
Earlier today, I reminded myself Bray is not a HC, never wanted to be one, Gunderson is in his second season as OC (former QB coach) and Cav is a retread.
None of this works apparently.
Pursue a real HC next season, try to keep Bray as DC?
I agree with you completely. I like Bray and he was a hell of a player in his day, but he is a position coach. He wants to be his players best friend when instead, he needs to light a fire under some asses. I understand he needs to be careful there, too, becasue with the portal in play, if a kid feels disrespected, he’ll just jump ship to another team.
Oregon State always takes the easy road when it comes to coaching vacancies; just hire whoever is next in line instead of doing a real, diligent search.
Yet, when I asked if anyone thought Bray was actually a good HC in an earlier pre-season thread, I got 0 likes and 10 down votes.
Cal’s offense has a plan and Gunderson does not.
That’s what bothers me….tries to be too diverse…too many “spices in the cupboard.”…
I’ll never understand that mind set, the best offensive play callers make simple concepts look complicated.
How Gunderson didn’t learn this from Chip, that was Chip’s greatest strength at Oregon.
Are Langsdorf’s wisdom and insight not on display?!?
Bray’s going to have to make the same decision that JS did with Tibesar and let Gunderson go.
Posted on Beavers’ X, not making this up:
“.@TaylorNikko with the big FTL “
I’m not very clever, let’s hear some good acronyms befitting the situation at hand.
Power 4 linemen vs Mt West linemen.
Horrendous play calling
Keep it simple. No more cute shit
So all of the praise heaped upon the wr/te group was also nonsense? How can this team be effective if Walker is the only guy who is reliable? Such a load of garbage. Nonstop talk about wr improvement and talented TEs but they are all trash, once again.
The oc is calling a trash game. We can’t put too much blame on the players at this point.
that was about as bad of a first half of football as they could have played. not a lot of hope here. the way they find new ways to shoot themselves in the foot anytime there hope is devastating.
My suggestion is to let Gundy go. Set up a raffle through DAM Nation and let fans call the offensive plays. Then hire a real fucking OC next year. Now that we actually have a conference in front of us, get a legit option. I can’t even describe what Gundy’s scheme is. There’s no rhyme or reason to the play selections. Last year it was the qb’s weren’t good enough to run his system and now that we’ve spent 1.5 mill on a qb for his, the results thus far have been worse. Lol. He’s a nice guy, just not a good OC
Apparently Dave Kragthorpe is still alive….may be fitting option for this squad’s talents…
It comes down to Barnes again. He couldn’t present a good path forward to convince JS to stay, or to search for a bonafide coach. He needed to sell the fanbase on Bray as the good d=guy who stuck with the school in tough times. A nice feel-good story but a tragically bad move to fill the head coach position with a guy who had clearly stated he never desired to be a head coach. On top of that, Bray only had a small circle of coaches to reach out to and OSU again couldn’t support him by presenting a clear vision of OSU’s future. So Bray took the path of least resistance and filled the staff with anyone who used ot be a grad assistant at OSU to fill positions above their pay-grade or experience level. We are left with a combination of guys in positions they either didn’t want, aren’t qualified for yet, or are simply cash grabbing as a favor to the old alma mater/old employer.
OSU is sadly employing the Peter Principle in all phases of the football program. We have way too many involved who are over their skis and unable to actually perform in their roles.
Good on Bray for trying…but I suspect with so much conference instability, it was hard to attract legitimate OC and DC…and they’d have had to work for a rookie HC who never wanted to be a HC…
Who the hell was supposed to cover the receiver? There wasn’t a defender within five yards, and it’s supposed to be red zone defense. WTF?
This season is 0-4 start
Is it baseball season yet?
They are taking so effing long on offense to do anything. If they could even come back, they probably won’t have enough time, and why the hell are they going for two?
I just somehow knew they would go for two and not get it
Going for 2 at that point is for losers and a loser mentality in my mind. Irritating to have such doofuses still pulling JS nonsense as if it is a genius move. Now you still need 2 touchdowns, congrats. And you must convert a 2 pt conversion now, so dumb.
Why?
Beavs secondary has actually played really well. Cal’s QB just puts every deep ball on the money. But the Beavs have knocked several completions loose.
Tucker was good. D line is very small.
Downed at the one, with a foot on the goal line??
Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe in college it’s where the ball is. And in the NFL you can’t have your feet in the end zone.
That’s correct.
Time to see what Murphy is made of. A chance here to make it a game.
Now we know apparently…
I’ve seen enough, fire everyone.
2024- Cal 44 OSU 7
2025- Cal 31 OSU 9 so far.
It just means more for the ACC I guess.
Not a good look for OSU. Special teams coach should be fired after the first series mistake. It really seemed like they weren’t ready to play early and have been digging out of the hole ever since. No big plays, turnovers, no running game, rinse repeat. Maybe Cal is better than expected or maybe the Beavs are just not good again.
Maybe we should jump to the MWC.
The local hype appears to be way off base. They look further and further away from being a Power 4 team to my eyes. Murphy has an elite arm, but it looks like it’s going to be a waste of money. Surprisingly, Cal actually looks the part despite all of the departures. Realignment was not the program’s fault. It’s sad to see. Can they become a top Group of Six program over time?
ironic that OSU finally invested in the stadium completion and immediately they are on a course for program dismantling/death spiral. I’m not convinced they can compete in the new PAC12 with this staff. Big Jim thinks the athletes are plentiful, but I’m not convinced the athletic department or the faculty have the stomach to keep trying to compete in the new era.
Did you see the shot of Murphy screaming at Langsdorf after the interception? The cracks are already appearing!
So Beaver of them….
WSU 10-7 over Idaho late in the ,4th.
13-10 WSU final
Bray calls game with the choice to punt
I can’t blame Gunderson for overthrowing a receiver 8 yards down field, and then underthrowing a receiver 5 yards down field.
Way too many smiles on the Beavs sideline.
Everyone is freaking out and there is a lot to clean up. But we lost by 2 TDs. And they had 1 TD off the heels of the punt penalty and 1 TD off a pick to the 2 yard line. 2 mistakes were the difference. We were sloppy starting off. I think if the Beavs play like they did in the second half for two halves they are in a position to win. Murphy made some great throws and some bad ones. I have no reason to believe they can’t clean it up and get to 1-1 next week.
The offensive line is bad, bad, bad. Like DIII bad. Murphy could never set his feet on any throw and there weren’t even tiny holes for Hankerson to find. Gunderson needs to realize this and go with misdirection, moving the pocket, whatever it takes. Murphy won’t make it through six games if we try to stick with the 5-7 step dropback pocket.
The offensive line is bad, bad, bad. Like DIII bad. Murphy could never set his feet on any throw and there weren’t even tiny holes for Hankerson to find. Gunderson needs to realize this and go with misdirection, moving the pocket, whatever it takes. Murphy won’t make it through six games if we try to stick with the 5-7 step dropback, “pro-style” offense.
I saw Langsdorf on the sideline. That 7 step drop ain’t going anywhere!
any real program would fire bray the moment that one ended. that coaching staff has no business being out there and murphy must be wondering what he got himself into playing for these idiots
At least he’s getting compensated for the incompetence lmao. But we will never fire our golden boy! Bray will be riding his bike and chewing juicy fruit in no time! When we beat San Diego State once every four years he’ll take the ol boys to in n out!
I’m not bailing on Bray, but the Langsdorf/Cavanaugh/Gunderson trio needs to go, along with the goofball coaching special teams. Is that still Cookus? Can anyone do basic math for kick returns? Lose 10 yards every kickoff or take it at the 25?
This is the bush league compared to teams that are prepared and understand what they are trying to accomplish with each play. I am ignoring all local media when they talk about this team. All of them were misrepresenting this team’s talent, esp wide recievers.
Hip-Hip Puke…
Riley era V2 is upon us folks.
You’d think as bad as they got whooped by Cal last year they’d come into the game energized and ready to prove something. I’m actually stunned by how bad they looked. So unprepared and slow. Both lines getting dominated 90% of the time. Another season with no pass rush to speak of. Didn’t see anything from the WR corp or TEs that resembled the depth often spoken of by reporters. The offense moving at a snail’s pace, no sense of urgency or putting pressure on the defense with quicker tempo. Dumbfounding decision making by the coaches. Special teams blunders. Maybe it’s my own fault for believing the Fall camp hype. Just hand me the ‘Fell for it again’ award.
Funny that the first play from scrimmage was a fumble. We will never know that it was a designed play action, 7 step drop, 50 yard bomb, aka the “Langsdorf Special”
I’m so disgusted in this program. Big Gay Bray is in way over his head. Anyone objective could see this trajectory from a mile away. We’re in this weird make believe conference nobody cares about so it’s going to take time to find a new level of player willing to play here. Hopefully BGB gets enough time to get HIS guys in place and we can start to dominate nationally again
I trust you are joking.Whatever “national relevance” OSU football has had in this century has been dubious at best. As dubious as Bray collecting his current staff.
You don’t need to be a bigot to make your point.
Well, there goes the undefeated season…
That was a pretty good prediction, huh? And as I said in the prior thread, does anyone actually think Bray is a good HC?
Sunday thoughts!
This wasn’t even a good product to watch. I hate losing but at a minimum there’s got to be a viable product to watch. We had maybe 2 exciting plays on offense? Defense was nothing to get excited about. Pressured their qb a couple of times but he slipped away easily. We had 4 TFL. Safeties were our top 2 leading tacklers and 3 of the top 5. Appears we might only be able to generate any pass rush when we play the FCS schools.
Offensively this team is a mess. We could have the best combination of offensive players in the country and they wouldn’t be successful in a Gundy “offense”. No identity. No cohesive play calling. Awful situational playcalling. One of our best drives that was in rhythm and moving the ball he derailed with the double reverse or whether that bullshit play was that resulted in a big loss.
All in all this team is ass. I think some of the miscues on the snaps and tosses can be cleaned up, but the Gunfy offense and the headscrathing coaching decisions are things that apparently haven’t changed at all since last season and that alone will limit any potential this squad has.
The reason this prediction was easy is there’s a big difference between PAC/ACC talent and glorified HS talent under the misleading umbrella of “PAC-12.” Fresno State is more on our level, but they are probably better since they had more years to mine this type of talent. We have four winnable games. All the terrible schools like Lafayette, Sam Houston, etc. Money destroyed NCAA football back in 2012. I noted it at the time. It’s here now.
I think we lose to App State. We can’t play on the road and this squad is not good. Lafayette, sam Houston and possibly the WSU games are winnable. Tulsa and App State are L”s just for playing on the road alone. We’re supposed to be better than last year and yet I think we struggle to match the 5 wins we had last season. This program is cooked. Mens basketball ball is ass. Think women’s basketball has peaked and the realignment definitely hurt Ruek’s chances at keeping them relevant. It really is just baseball at this point.
NCAA sports are over, across the board, except for the upper 25 programs.
New thread up.
RUN THE GOD DAMNED FUCKING BALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What the fuck kind of offense was that shit show last night?
I’m sorry Jack but in todays game you have to have a downfield passing game which will open up the running. You look at almost all successful highly ranked teams and they have great qb play where they throw the ball. Many of them have more pass attempts then running plays. I realize also that you have to have a competent offensive coordinator which we do not have.
The running game sets up the passing game and puts us on the offensive, rather than put our oline on their heels in pass pro and letting the D dictate the line play. Other teams can do what they want. It doesn’t change that reality.
I believe its the other way around. A passing game opens up the running game. College ball has been morphing in to more of a pro style game which is a passing league supplimented with a running game. It is very difficult to come back in a game if you rely on your running game with a modest passing game. I think the Beavs have good qb who could light it up and then add Hankerson and others to mix it up.
The point is to not need to come back, once you put yourself in a hole, due to reliance on passing and the influx of three and outs.
We didn’t come back on Nikegon in 2023 by passing on 16 straight plays.
Grinding the other team’s dline also has the benefit of tiring them over the course of the game. Getting even three yards on first down opens up much more of the playbook than an incompletion or a first down on one play. The d gets to be the aggressor when passing is the focus.
I’m not saying we need to be run heavy, but establishing a system. of balance and surprise is done by running on first down and making the d think that’s what’s going to happen. Even the NFL still does this. They get ahead of the chains and set the d up for play action, as well as just letting the oline establish an aggressor position. Then 2nd down can be a whole slew of different plays. 3rd down is a much more pass heavy down, and that’s to be expected. But as long as we’re still ahead of the chains, that can mean a variety of passes, from short to long.
lol… 2022
Geez, the local and even some of the national media must not know shit about D-1 college football. I fell for the pre-season hype that they were drastically improved. I’m trying to think where I saw even a glimpse of progress, maybe the new kicker making the long field goal?
If Barnes had any brains he needs to put some feelers out for a new HC. I wish he could locate another Matt Campbell (HC at Iowa State) who has done wonders with that program. Our coaching staff is awful!!! I think last nights game would have been competitive if had good coaching staff.