It's hard to imagine a less impressive 35-7 win than the Beavers' "thrashing" of California yesterday afternoon. There was one clear improvement–the defensive intensity. How much that intensity had to do with the outcome is debatable. I think the Beavers still win the game even if Kevin Riley played, but a lot of the positive defensive stats were the byproduct of Brock Mansion playing quarterback.

The glaring issue yesterday was once again team attitude or swagger. After taking an early lead, the Beavs let off the throttle, managing just one score in the second half. To say this team "lacks killer instinct" would be putting it kindly. Under Riley, they have never finished teams off, but that doesn't mean fans should learn to accept it or make excuses. What makes Riley's approach doubly frustrating is watching the team in Eugene run over their road kill until it ceases to exist.

Run blocking is another area that showed no improvement. Sure, on the surface Quizz's rushing statistics looked good, but the reality of the situation is that his blocking was horrendous. Cameron Jordan, defensive end for Cal, essentially made fun of the offensive line after the game, calling them soft and not up to par with prior vintages. He is dead on. Rodgers' better runs came when he looked at the point of attack, disliked what he saw, and cut outside. He improvised his way to big gains. If he followed his blocks, many of those better efforts would have instead been 1 to 3 yard dives. What happens when teams realize this, contain the outside, and he actually has to follow those blocks?

Finally, what is Riley thinking putting his starters in with 6 minutes left and a 4 touchdown lead? Not only does this kill team moral and curb future development, it puts the entire season at risk–if Rodgers, Katz, or Wheaton went down early in the 4th there would be outrage. I don't understand it, and think it warrants an explanation. As of this evening, I haven't heard anyone in the media ask the question, though. In fact, they're all writing that the team is now fixed and poised for a Rose Bowl run. It's amazing what those orange glasses can do…

Yawn.

It's too early. Too early for football. And too early to be counting marine mammals at the beach, which is what I'll be doing come kickoff.

Ugh.

Working on a Saturday should be a felony. Since it isn't, I'm going to miss the first half hour of this game, which is always a scary proposition. You know what I mean. You rush home, throw your gear on the floor, hit the "on" button not knowing what to expect. You see a "14-0" score but it doesn't register; your eyes dart back and forth in a panic trying to figure out if it's the good guys. It all happens within nanoseconds. You look for cues. Why is the crowd so quite? Why is Riley shaking his head? Is that…Katz…in a sling? Finally, you settle down; you compute.

"*^U&G^&H#!@! Fire Banker!"

Nah, things are going to be alright (*insert HOUSE OF HORRORS cliche*)

Speaking of Halloween, what are you all dressing up as tonight? Around 5pm tonight I'll be Mark Mothersbaugh, energy dome and all.

Off to work.

Cheers, Beavlettes.

No analysis this week–I've been vegging out and enjoying the bye too much to start thinking now. I rediscovered some old hobbies (such as photography), and fell completely out of touch with football. It felt good to decompress. Anyway, I guess what I am saying is it's game week, but I still don't feel like thinking about football. At least not critically or with much care. I'll have to have something ignite that emotion, such as a bad loss or good win versus Cal.

Being completely honest, I'm more curious to see if USC can knock off Oregon.

Speaking of Oregon, I'm not sure how or why Auburn jumped them, but they're going to have another ESPN Gameday love fest going for them–I'm surprised their recruiting class isn't better than it is.

As for the Beavs, the best I've got is this: versus Washington, I saw Quizz run with fire for the first time this season. He says we'll see a new Quizz in the second half. Begs the question, why didn't we see that guy in the first half? Anyway, coupled with a bye and the home field advantage, I like the Beav's chances.  However, I've been wrong on my last two picks and lost all my confidence in that department, so who knows. People make a lot about Cal being Jekyll & Hyde. Well, so are our men. I don't know who is showing up for either squad, so why not go with the home team?

Give me your opinions. On anything. The game, the new basketball uniforms, the Pac-12 alignment, etc. I'm sleepy, and I want to be the passenger.

That's all I've got.

Back to abusing drugs, having orgies, and shredding on my Gretsch Duo Jet in Cadillac Green.

(translation: watching German war documentaries on Netflix whilst wrapped in a Snuggie™…and loving every second of it).