Category: Uncategorized

By George Devine, Sr.

The 117th Big Game will kick off at 1 p.m. PST on Saturday, November 22 at California Memorial Stadium on the Berkeley campus. The Bears are coming off a loss to USC and the Cardinal a 20-17 overtime defeat at the hands of Utah. Stanford is now third in the Pac-12 North, with a conference record of 5-4 and an overall tally of 5-5. Right behind in the standings are the Bears, at 5-5 in both categories. Each team is a win away from bowl eligibility, so whoever wins this game can look forward to a chance for a postseason invitation, as well as possession of the coveted Axe.

On paper, and based on previous performances of both teams this season, the odds seem to favor Stanford. But as everyone from Joe Starkey to the peanut vendors can tell you, anything can happen in a Big Game.

Cal’s scores have not translated into as many wins as the Old Blues would like to see, but show great improvement over Sonny Dykes’ first season last year. Particular strengths are not limited to the golden arm of QB Jared Goff. Another key element of the Berkeley attack, developed later in the present season, is a more balanced distribution between passing and running plays, to the point where they now approach equilibrium.

Stanford, on the other hand, has yet to really develop a ground game. Fans of the Cardinal will be hoping to see more creativity in this regard, especially from freshman RB Christian McCaffrey, and with the kind of versatile play-calling that QB Kevin Hogan began to show against Utah. The Bears will have to defend against both facets of the Stanford offense, and also to prevent the visitors from gaining good field position, since kicker Jordan Williamson has shown his ability to score from as far as 51 yards out against Utah.

Cal’s next and final regular season game will be on November 29 against Brigham Young, at Strawberry Canyon, with kickoff TBD. Stanford closes the season at UCLA on November 28 at 12:30 p.m.

By Jeremy Kahn

Sooner or later, the Oakland Raiders will put an end to their long losing streak, but as of now it stands at 16 games.

Philip Rivers found Malcom Floyd on the third play from scrimmage, as the San Diego Chargers defeated the Raiders 13-6 at Qualcomm Stadium.

Rivers touchdown pass to Floyd came just two plays after the Raiders fumbled on their initial play from scrimmage to begin the game.

On the afternoon, Rivers went 22-for-34 for 193 yards and that one touchdown to Floyd that proved to be the winning margin.

Rookie Derek Carr went 16-for-34 for 172 yards, as the Raiders fall to 0-10 on the season and have lost their last 16 games in a row, with their last win coming on November 17, 2013 against the Houston Texans at Reliant Stadium.

Sebastian Janikowski got the Raiders within seven points with four minutes to play, but after the Raiders held the Chargers to a punt, they got the ball back with no timeouts.

Unfortunately, Carr’s last second desperation pass to James Jones fell short of the end zone and the Silver and Black limped to the locker with yet another loss under their belts.

The Raiders were only able to cross into Chargers twice, as they also got into Chargers territory on their third series and settled for a Janikowski 42-yard field goal.

Rookie Khalil Mack picked up his first sack of his NFL career.

By Morris Phillips

(EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.)–49ers’ rookie Aaron Lynch had two goals, which seemed light for a guy engulfed in a Sunday afternoon maelstrom, the likes of which you solely find in the NFL.

“Play football and have fun,” Lynch said.

Lynch, the team’s first of two fifth-round picks in 2014 NFL Draft was actually the 8^th of 12 guys the 49ers selected.  All 12 remain with the team, a healthy portion on the practice squad or injured reserve.  In part due to the size of the draft haul, the 49ers were universally lauded as having the best draft this off-season.  More and more, it appears the immediate assessment has wings, due to the play of two of the 12: Lynch and linebacker Chris Borland.

The pair were a big factor in the 49ers’ superior defensive effort that masked another subpar offensive performance in the 49ers’ cardiac 16-10 win over the Giants in New Jersey.

Borland continued to look like the guy he’s replacing, Patrick Willis in his All-Pro rookie season.  The Wisconsin product has only done it for three games, unlike Willis, who was a Day 1 starter, but what a three games.  Borland had 13 tackles and two interceptions on Sunday, the second which came with a 1:09 remaining on a deflection at the 49ers’ two-yard line and the team trying to defend a potential game-winning drive by Eli Manning and the Giants.  Impressively, Borland has 48 tackles in his three-game run.

Lynch figured to play less Sunday with Aldon Smith set to return from a nine-game suspension.  Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio promoted Lynch to a situational role in Week 4 against the Eagles because he wanted someone to give the defense the quickness and big-play potential that was missing without Smith. But with Ahmad Brooks failing to meet the standard he set as a long-time starter at outside linebacker, Lynch played in Brooks’ place with Smith in his familiar spot outside opposite the rookie.

That the move happened during the game, in the second quarter, and the game ended with Brooks sitting away from his teammates without his helmet nearby, makes it a story.  Also, Brooks is one the team’s longest tenured players, and favorite of his teammates, and a first time Pro-Bowler last season.  After the game, Coach Jim Harbaugh was tight-lipped about the whole thing, which at least for the moment increased the tension.

“We have something we are working through,” Harbaugh said when asked about Brooks’ absence.  The coach then refused to elaborate.

Afterwards Brooks didn’t seem like talking either.  When told that Harbaugh said ‘Working through,” Brooks said “Yeah, working through something” too.

What couldn’t be denied was the end result worked, with Smith having a quiet debut, Lynch giving the defense pressure from both ends, and Borland playing out of his mind.  Forgotten in the mix, is Michael Wilhoite, who in his second year, is merely replacing almost NFL defensive player of the last year, NaVorro Bowman.

“The standard that Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman have set for inside linebacker play is at the highest level,” Harbaugh said.  “Chris Borland, Michael Wilhoite, they are playing great, with a capital G, and rising to that level.”

Complicit in the mix on Sunday was Giants’ quarterback Eli Manning who is suffering through another, turnover-riddled season that has two-time Super Bowl champion and his coach, Tom Coughlin, on the verge of being run out of town.  Manning was picked five times against the 49ers and each of the recipients, Chris Culliver, Eric Reid, Wilhoite and Borland (twice) surely got a healthy dose of reassurance that they belong in the lineup with their interceptions.

The Giants scored a touchdown on their first possession of the game, then went the rest of the way with just a third-quarter field goal to show for their frustration.  Manning admitted afterwards that the 49ers made his offense one-dimensional, a tough concession for such a decorated player.

“They weren’t giving us great looks to run the ball,” Manning said.  “We needed to throw it.  We had some good looks, they hit some plays and we just didn’t do it.”

It’s not every day two-time championship quarterbacks get thrown off their game by rookies and first-time starters like Wilhoite, Borland and Lynch.

Offensively, the 49ers struggled again.  Sunday was the sixth time the 49ers have scored once or not at all in a game this season in the second half.  This time, Michael Crabtree came to life on 48-yard catch, run and impressive broken tackle to put the team up 16-7 minutes into the second half.  That was after Colin Kaepernick and crew could only muster three field goals in the first half.  Over the final 26 minutes, the team had to hold on, a tough way to survive over any stretch of games.

After the game, the medical staffs of the 49ers as well as the Seahawks in Kansas City and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Atlanta were investigated in regards to alleged improprieties in the dispensing of controlled substances, primarily prescription pain killers from the medical staffs to the players.  The allegations arose in a lawsuit against the league by former players who said their team’s medical staffs routinely distributed pain killers to injured players.

Team spokesman Bob Lange said of the surprise DEA inspections that “what we were told was they are random checks of team physicians as they travel to see if anyone is transporting controlled substances across state lines.  The 49ers’ medical staff complied and the team departed the stadium as scheduled.”

Seattle lose to the Chiefs on Sunday, putting both the 49ers and Seahawks at 6-4 with two of their final six games against each other.  This season, the best two NFC teams from 2013 appear to be fighting for the No. 6 slot as things stand after 11 weeks of the season.

The 49ers host the downtrodden Redskins at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday at 1:25pm.

By Jeremy Harness

It continues to get worse for Stanford.

Stanford’s hopes for a Rose Bowl went by the wayside weeks ago, and the Cardinal’s chances for a significant bowl game took a bigger hit Saturday night, as they fell to Utah at Stanford Stadium, 23-20.

Despite the fact that the Cardinal entered Saturday’s game unranked while facing the No. 23 Utes, this was a very winnable game, particularly after Stanford punctuated its first drive of the game with a touchdown to give itself a 7-0 lead.

In the second quarter, however, Utah rolled right back and tied the game late in the quarter when quarterback Travis Wilson, who had been in and out of the starting lineup for much of this season, punched it in himself from two yards out.

The game eventually went into overtime, and the two teams traded touchdowns in the first extra session. However, Stanford was forced to settle for a 51-yard field goal by Jordan Williamson.

Utah responded by driving down the field on the stout Cardinal defense before Wilson hit Kenneth Scott for a 3-yard walk-off touchdown.

Statistically speaking, the game was a Stanford-like contest. The Cardinal out-gained Utah on the ground, 190-70, while gaining 294 total yards to Utah’s 247. However, Stanford, as was the case in the loss to USC, was unable to capitalize on key opportunities that were afforded to it during the game and instead watched as Utah walked out of Stanford with the victory.

“Offensively, (it was) just as sloppy a game as we’ve had this year,” Stanford coach David Shaw said. “(I am) very disappointed in our overall performance (Saturday).

“You can see the defense played really hard and kept us in the game. But gosh, we still gave them way too much and too many opportunities. And we’ve missed some throws. We dropped passes. We missed protections.”

Meanwhile, Utah continued its quest to get itself in a quality bowl game, perhaps the Holiday Bowl, with its win.

“Another gutty performance by our guys,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. “It’s a tough group that we have in our locker room, and (I am) very proud of them.

“There’s no quit in these guys. “They’re physically tough, they’re mentally tough, and I’m proud to be associated with them.”

By Morris Phillips

The presence of a heavier than usual contingent of NFL scouts?  A mid-week national television audience?  A hated opponent that hadn’t been beaten since 2003?  Precious extra days for recuperation and preparation at the tail end of a lengthy, grueling season?

For some reason, none of the above inspired the Cal Bears to play their best football game of the season.  USC, on the other hand, did, if only until halftime, building a brief 31-2 lead at one point in route to a 38-30 win.  Inexplicably, the Bears were cocky and combative in the Coliseum tunnel leading to the field, but flat once the game began.

“You can’t get involved in all the extra-curricular stuff,” Coach Sonny Dykes said when reminded of the pre-game skirmishes and two embarrassing, taunting penalties once the game started.  “We have to focus on doing our job.”

The Bears ran 17 plays in the first quarter, punting four times and earning just one penalty-assisted first down.  There best play clearly was a Jared Goff punt that traveled 50 yards to Cal’s one-yard line.  From the start, Cal was harassed up front and prone to miscues.

Meanwhile, the Trojans came out clicking with receiver screens that exploited Cal’s porous tackling and pursuit and featured USC’s big, nimble receivers.  The most nimble and experienced of the bunch, Nelson Agholor would go on to have his biggest game as a collegian with 16 catches, 216 yards and two first-half touchdowns.  It took USC just 29 plays to score 28 points as every quick screen seem to leave at least two Bears in the dust.

‘If you’re going to beat USC or any good team in this conference, you can’t shoot yourself in the foot,” Goff said.

The sheer size of USC’s halftime lead along with some really, questionable refereeing robbed the game of anything resembling momentum.   But the Bears did rally, capping a 21-point second half with a Stephen Anderson touchdown catch with less than two minutes remaining.  But even as the Bears rallied, the mistakes and penalties still burned, especially one against Stefan McClure when he was on the sideline and out of the game holding his helmet and jawing with a Trojan cheapened the rally.

Knowing that we had so many mistakes there early on that could have allowed us to have a chance to beat them there at the end, it’s just kind of frustrating. We’ll learn from it, move on, and try to be more disciplined next time.”