Category: Cal Bears

by Morris Phillips

photo of Cal receiver Kenny Lawler courtesy of Bing photos

BERKELEY–Kenny Lawler is the Cal Bears returning receiver whose been incredible with the highlights and the goal line catches last season. He was not completely in line with his coaches who felt he needed to do more homework to practice harder, needed to be more consistent and you got to see this what you saw last Saturday against Grambling with quarterback Jered Goff in the first half of the game he caught three touchdowns.

You can see the talent that was there last season is now being married with the effort and the consistency with the coaches that they were so much craving for Lawler to provide. It’s another good sign for Cal, in terms of the ball being thrown and caught you may not have a better team in the country in terms of their quarterback and the crew of receivers.

Head coach Sonny Dykes who was know for his offensive success at Louisiana Tech and now he’s here in the Pac 12 and he has had some success with Tech and he’s needing and had some success recruiting better players and better players to play in the Pac 12. He’s had NFL caliber type players at some point and he’s starting to see that happen on both sides of the ball and with some depth which is also crucial at this level of college football.

You got to have depth and you got to have talent and Cal is hoping that some of the other schools that are in their same boats will drop back a step. We saw that in week one. Stanford and Arizona State both ranked and they both lost. This might be a good sign for Cal going forward and they could sneak into a bowl game to an upper division finish in the Pac 12. Right now Cal is really focused on trying to understand what San Diego State does in preparation for this Saturday’s game at Memorial Stadium.

Defensively San Diego St plays five defensive backs on most snaps and try to confuse the offense in terms of whose coming and whose dropping into coverage and you would expect with a team much better than Grambling that they would have some success getting to Goff. How often they get to him and if they’re able to put him on his back that remains to be seen.

That’s really the issue for Cal that their prepared for this unusual San Diego St run. So from San Diego State’s prospective they need to get off the field. They know that Cal can explode offensively and they’re going to try and run the ball and run the ball successfully to minimize Cal’s opportunities.

Morris Phillips is a beat writer for the Cal Bears at http://www.sportsradioservice.com catch the podcast below

by Michelle Richardson

Cal 73 Grambling 14: Grambling hasn’t been exactly on the top of the WAC for awhile and Grambling doesn’t dominate the SWAC like they used to for those of you that don’t know what the SWAC is it’s the Southwestern Athletic Conference which comprises of all those colleges and universities in the South.

Grambling hasn’t been on the top for awhile after last season it was the league going on strike they have some rebuilding to do. It’s a fact that Grambling did score 14 points They did score two touchdowns. Cal quarterback Jerod Goff threw three touchdowns in the first half.

Let’s be honest Goff was playing Grambling he was not playing UCLA, he was not playing Oregon so let’s not make this like “oh my God Goff is the second coming of the Heisman quarterback” he’s not Aaron Rogers no, he’s a kid whose in a good place to have an upset. He’s in a good place and in a good position and can do a whole lot of things.

He can do a whole lot of good things at Cal and that can only help, this was the first game of the season and the Bears played a team that they could totally dominate on opening day at home at Memorial Stadium. Let’s see some more games, I’m like former Cardinals head coach Denny Green who used to say “were not going to crown them right now.”

Goff has got to get past teams like Oregon, Oregon State, Washington State, and Washington, he’s got some teams to go through this season.

Michelle Richardson covers more NCAA action from week one turn up the podcast below at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

by Michael Duca

(photo credit SF Gate of Jered Goff)

BERKELEY–This will probably the last year in college for Cal Bears quarterback Jered Goff when he puts a couple of years of experience together plus a couple of years of learning head coach Sonny Dykes System and everything should click this year Goff in his junior year should be in the NFL by this time next season. Cal should be either number three or number two in the Pac 12 north.

The Bears going to be pretty competitive with Stanford but behind Oregon. The footwork of Goff has improved dramatically over the last couple of years. His ability to do multiple reads and even trying to check off receivers and these are things your expected to do when you move up a level in the game. When the game gets faster the natural tendency of everyone is to try and play faster.

The player would try and do things faster to try and catch up with the game. Of course no matter how many times your told that’s the wrong way to do it you still have to prove that’s the wrong way to do it. Eventually you have to realize you have to let the game come to you. So it’s something that’s happened to him and he has let the game come to him.

I like Goff’s toughness he comes from a tough sports lineage as his father Jerry Goff, Jered’s dad was a major league catcher with the Montreal Expos and the Pittsburgh Pirates and is 51. You just can’t grow up a catcher’s kid and be soft. It’s possible and maybe Giants catcher Buster Posey’s little girl will.

Last year Cal’s offense averaged 31 points a game and the defense averaged something silly like 39 allowed. There was that memorable shootout with Washington State in Pullman that wound up with both teams over 60 points. It sounds like an arena game but it was a real outdoor football game.

One of the most important contributions that Dykes is making towards the program this year is towards Cal’s image under the final year of former coach Jeff Tedford and the previous athletic director Sandy Barbour there was a little too much emphasis on winning and too little emphasis on education for student athletes to the point that the best public university in the nation found it’s worse graduation rate for it’s sports teams.

The students couldn’t even make themselves feel better as an alumni but were at least winning championships, they were either winning championships or not getting anybody to class to graduate. It’s just a few short years Sonny Dykes has reversed the trend and has got Cal into the upper half of the Pac 12 and around the norm national for graduation rates. That’s not the goal that’s the weigh station. Dykes strongly supports classroom success as being as integral as on the field success.

Michael Duca does Cal Bears podcasts for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

by Morris Phillips

BERKELEY–The Cal Bears have a really deep group in camp this year that they’ve assembled in terms of receivers. When you throw the football 60 tines a game it’s not difficult to realize to keep all these guys happy catching passes. When you talk about Cal’s receivers you got to start with Kenny Lawler and Bryce Treggs who has the experience of the group.

Lawler is the highlight factor he has big hands and his ability to make those big one handed catches at the goal line. Lawler is Cal’s key guy in the red zone, then there’s Tregg’s father who played at Cal and now Treggs is in his third year now and he’s coming along just as well he’s a guy that Cal’s looking to run those intermediate routes and have some success there.

In terms of guys the Bears haven’t seen yet Carlos Strickland jumps off the map from Dallas a freshman and one of Cal’s big recruiting gigs this year and as a freshman is likely to see some time and have some success on the field. We just named three of nine guys that we will see in some form or fashion.

Wide receiver Trevor Davis, Jack Austin, Austin is a freshman as well with that group you can see how Cal can make the leap because they are trying to run this offense with Jered Goff at the helm. It’s an offense of repetition and their wanting to run their 100 plays per game with the opposition out. The depth is critical in terms of how they implement that attack and their ability to stay healthy as well.

The Cal coaching staff have looked a little ahead to Cal’s first road game in Texas against the Longhorns on Sat Sep 19th and when you talk about Texas you have to start with the offensive line. Cal has to be able to protect and this year what they’ve done is move Jordan Rigsbee towards center from his more natural offensive line tackle position.

A good offensive line starts at it’s point in the middle and that’s the center and protecting those A gaps and with Rigsbee the most experienced guy moving into the middle. The whole thing is they can build around him and protect Goff because even if he’s in the shotgun formation and he’s getting rid of the ball fast they still have to have a connection.

Morris Phillips covers Cal Bears football click below to hear the podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

by Morris Phillips

BERKELEY–The Cal Bears have the talent to compete for this upcoming 2015 season the talent is there to finish better than .500 the variable is that the Pac 12 couldn’t see anymore balance and with more parallel than this year. There are a lot of teams that are expected to be good to better, then you have teams like USC and Oregon that could be top ten teams. Cal is just better this year like for sure their going to get better but will they get better in terms of in terms of their win- loss record there that would have to be the question there.

The defense was really bad last season and remember were talking about college athletes were not going to pick out individuals with this that and the other they need to get better at corner and they need to get better at safety. They have a nice returning group at linebacker that need to improve. They might not be as good as they like it to be, it is an experienced group and they have shown the ability to tackle and run and do the they have enough speed to deal with Pac 12 offenses which was a real issue for them last year.

In terms of the defensive line their adding this young player defensive end Kyle Kragen the son of an NFL player Greg Kragen played for the Broncos and those guys with James Looney who transferred from Lake Forrest who was supposed to give them a nice push up front and some depth along the defensive line. It was a real issue in terms of their depth at that position last year.

This team has as much success as any program in the country in terms of drafting and forging careers in the NFL with Aaron Rogers and Marshawn Lynch right at the top of the list, DeSean Jackson and there is no doubt that players from Cal that are on the radar of NFL scouts but there is obviously no first round pick at this point.

Part of the Cal program is the defense will always play up to 100 plays a game and put pressure on the opposing defense.
The other issue is they have to put pressure on the opposition on the scoreboard, that means scoring early and taking the lead and making it tough for the opposition to get back into the game. That means having the pass rush and the ability to have some playmakers in the secondary come into play when you get a team on their heels. They got throw the football and they got to do anything based on what their facing in terms of the adversity their facing on the scoreboard.

You got to have a defense who can take advantage of that and physically what we’ve seen with Cal they’ve traded points with their opposition into the 50s as we saw they visited Washington State last year. So they’re going to need to have some kind of shutdown on their defense it’s a part of their offense to be able to score quite easily and quite productively throughout the season.

Morris Phillips does the Cal Bears podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

by Morris Phillips

BERKELEY–Former Cal safety Bernard Hicks has filed a lawsuit against Cal for concussion medical malpractice. Hicks played from 2004-2008. Hicks claims he sustained several concussions during that time and was allowed on the field after suffering in game injuries. Hicks claim is that after being allowed to come back in the games he suffered neurological injuries and has continued to suffer from pain and injuries from his playing days.

Hicks attorney Matthew Whibley says that Hicks was not informed by the university of the long term effects from the injury of neurological disorders related to concussions and subconcussive to the head. Whibley said that the university is the caretaker, “we think it would be fair for them to at least inform the players what they’re getting themselves into.” said Whibley.

The university countered saying that it does care about it’s former athletes and supplies it’s athletes with the “best and up to date guidelines, the medical care we provide our student athletes meets or exceeds the standard collegiate and national sports medicine.” said a Cal statement.

Since leaving Cal Hicks has suffered “permanent and debilitating” neurological injuries that has caused depression, suicidal shots, dizziness, memory loss, and blurred and double vision the lawsuit read.

In the Pac 12 it is expected that there will be a number of teams that will be in the mix for a shot at the bowl. Then there’s the possibility of having a USC who would be a top ten mainstay this year and there’s Oregon that’s floating in there as well. With Grambling and S San Diego State coming into Cal to open the season the Bears will be good early.

This is a more experienced Cal group one thing we know about Cal they can throw it and catch it. They got Jared Goff a great receiving crew with wide receiver Bryce Treggs. Cal is expected to do better against the lesser competition and after that it will be a real test for them. This year your evaluating Cal on two different levels.

Cal will be evaluated on how many games they win or lose but also on their ability to improve because their schedule is tough and they may not win the way that a team that really is improving would go 6-6 but it will be an improvement none the less. Were not evaluating them given the high level of difficulty of the schedule it’s a week after week process in the Pac 12.

It couldn’t have been a harder introduction for the Bear Raid offense since head coach Sonny Dykes took over and the Bears just didn’t have enough good players on defense. It didn’t matter because of what they were doing and what they were doing offensively it involved too many turnovers with deflected balls, fumbles, and spurts of great offense mixed in with a lot of mistakes.

Morris Phillips is a beat writer for the Cal Bears and does weekly podcasts on Cal at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

by Morris Phillips

BERKELEY–With the recent hiring and taking off the interim title for Cal Athletic Director Mike Williams it now adds some stability for the Cal athletic department and their looking for someone who is going to be leading the program and after being an interim for the last 11 months the university has decided to stay with Williams.

The main responsibility for the director is to hire a football or the basketball coach and the stability comes in terms of how much money is spent. The university spent big on upgrades on Memorial Stadium. That part of the budget put the university in a real bind in terms on how to finance the whole thing and hopefully with some of the positive changes happening in the athletic program and with Williams experience in financing that will improve.

Williams is an enigma in terms of who he is he had worked in the finance sector prior to coming to Cal and he was really involved in the day to day operations in running the athletic department and working at the university. He seems to have the respect from his head coaches and it’s student athletes. It’s too early to tell which direction Williams plans to take the athletic department but remember the biggest issue again is that there is some balance and semblance that they don’t over extend themselves on spending.

Williams will watch the finances in terms of not losing a sport or a program like they had with the crisis in the baseball program three years ago. It’s kind of hard to say what direction he would take the program but the basketball program is jelling with the recent signing of Ivan Rabb and Tyson Jolly. Williams knows that he’s still learning new things everyday but as the interim director he had good on the job training.

It’s important for Williams to keep his finger on the pulse of what happens with the athletic department and how it’s ran. Williams realizes he has to know what is going on, for example in the football program. Williams earned the respect of the coaches and players by attending their practices and standing in with the coaches and players to listen, observe and learn about each program. That might have very well been the key reason why he got the permanent job.

Morris Phillips is the Cal Bears beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to Morris’podcast below