Category: Uncategorized

By: Phillip Torres

SANTA CLARA- The San Francisco 49ers (4-4) will visit the New Orleans Saints (4-4) on Sunday afternoon. The game is between two teams that feel as if they should both be better than 4-4 on the season. San Francisco and New Orleans both had high expectations coming into the season and a .500 record is not what both respective teams expected.

The 49ers are coming off of a very disappointing 13-10 loss to the St. Louis Rams on Sunday. Coming out of a Bye Week and playing a sub par team in the Rams, the 49ers were expected to blow the Rams right out of Santa Clara. The offense struggled to move the ball throughout the game and the offensive line had its worst game in years. The O-Line allowed eight sacks of Colin Kaepernick in the game and they could not get the running game going.

Kaepernick was being hit all day long, and this brings the question Why was a quarterback sneak the call to try and win the game in the fourth quarter? With 19 seconds remaining in the game and the ball at the one yard line and a third and one play, Colin Kaepernick fumbles the ball at the goal line, only to be recovered by the Rams in the endzone for a touchback. The safer option would have been to give it to the bell cow in runningback Frank Gore, and then call a timeout if the veteran could not punch it in.

If Gore would have been stopped, the 49ers could have still gone for the field goal attempt, to send the game into Overtime. Although, replays show that Kaepernick broke the plane with the ball, the play was not overruled, and the Rams took a final kneel down to secure their third win of the season.

After the loss, head coach Jim Harbaugh said, “We’re going to take action to improve and to move on to the next ballgame.”

The Saints however are coming off of a 28-0 shutout over the Carolina Panthers on Thursday Night Football. The 49ers are catching the Saints at the wrong time as they coming off of two big wins against two tough opponents. The victory over Carolina and a 44-23 triumph over the Green Bay Packers just two weeks ago. The Saints will also be rested as they will go into Sunday with not having played a game in 10 days.

New Orleans is always a tough feat at home. Three of the Saints four victories this season have been at home. But, the match up seems to be fair on paper as the 49ers third ranked pass defense will be going up against the Saints third ranked passing offense. Only the game will tell how these statistics will fare on Sunday.

One thing that we do know is certain is that All Pro linebacker Aldon Smith will not be back a week early from his suspension. Smith could have been a huge asset to try and pressure quarterback Drew Brees as the 49ers pass rush has not showed up thus far, halfway into the season. Fellow linebacker Patrick Willis will be a game time decision as he tries to return from a toe injury that was sustained in week six at St. Louis. Cornerback Tramaine Brock will also be a game time decision for San Francisco. Brock was limited in practice on Wednesday.

Kickoff will be at 10:00 A.M. Pacific Time at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

By George Devine, Sr.

After a convincing 45-31 win at Oregon State last Saturday, the Golden Bears next play USC at the Los Angeles Coliseum on November 13, with kickoff scheduled for 6 p.m. PST. Southern Cal, having vanquished Washington State 44-17, will be more than a formidable opponent for Sonny Dykes and his charges. However, the Bears are now 5-4, and one win away from bowl eligibility.

What caused the win and offered hope for future contests was the shift of Cal’s offense to a more balanced approach. Against OSU the Bears had 269 yards on the ground as compared to 277 in the “air-raid” attack led by QB Jared Goff. The chief practitioner of the running game was RB Daniel Lasco with 188 yards and 3 TDs. He will likely be a key to the game against the Trojans.

USC, however, is now 6-3 after their win over the Cougs, and their defense will be gunning for both Goff and Lasco. One important factor will be the need for the Cal offensive line to give both players time to launch their respective attacks. Meanwhile, the Bears’ defense will have to contend with QB Cody Kessler who threw for 400 yards and 5 TDs, as well as RB Javorius Allen who racked up 114 yards. The secondary will have to stop JuJu Smith, who caught 3 TD passes.

Cal’s remaining two games are at home, with kickoff times TBD:

November 22: Stanford

November 29: Brigham Young

By Jeremy Kahn

After jumping out to a big lead on the Oakland Raiders, the defending Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks were forced to hang on late.

Former Oakland Tech High and CAL star Marshawn Lynch rushed for two touchdowns, while Bruce Irvin tipped a Derek Carr pass and hauled it for a 35-yard interception return and the Seahawks defeated the Raiders 30-24 at Century Link Field.

Steven Hauschka kicked three field goals for the Seahawks, who have won two in a row after demoralizing losses to the Dallas Cowboys and the St. Louis Rams.

Going into the half with a 21-point lead, all things were pointing towards another win by the Seahawks and yet another loss by the Raiders.

The Raiders failed to be a pushover, as they recovered a blocked punt for a touchdown by Brice Butler.

Carr found Mychal Rivera for a six-yard touchdown pass with under three minutes remaining in the third quarter to cut the Seahawks down to 24-17.

Hauschka hit his final two field goals to push the Seahawks lead up to 30-17 with just under 10 minutes remaining in the fame.

Despite their 0-7 record, the Raiders did not give up, as Carr found Rivera for the second time on the afternoon with just under two minutes remaining in the game; however Jermaine Kerase was able to fall on Sebastian Janikowski’s onside kick after Cooper Helfet muffed and then Russell Wilson kneeled three times to secure a hard fought victory for the Seahawks.

Carr went 24-for-41 with 194 yards passing, and he also threw two touchdowns, but he also threw two interceptions.

Wilson went 17-for-35 with 179 yards passing, and did throw a touchdown nor an interception on the afternoon.

Irvin, who intercepted a Carr pass and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown, was joined in the interception column by Richard Sherman.

Lynch carried the ball 21 times for 67 yards with those two touchdowns, while Darren McFadden led the Raiders, as he carried the ball 13 times for 20 yards.

McFadden also led the Raiders in yardage with 47 yards on four receptions, while Rivera led the Raiders in receptions with eight for 38 yards receiving and two touchdowns.

By Daniel Dullum

Sports Radio Service

Saturday, November 1, 2014

Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota threw for two touchdowns, ran for two more, and led the No. 5 Ducks to a lopsided 45-16 win over visiting Stanford Saturday at Autzen Stadium in Eugene.

Ducks’ running back Thomas Tyner ran for a pair of touchdowns, helping Oregon (8-1 overall, 5-1 Pac-12, No. 5 CFP) snap a two-game losing streak to Stanford. The 45 points allowed by the Cardinal defense marked the first time Stanford allowed an opponent 30 points or more in 31 games — the longest such streak in the nation.

Mariota, who also rushed nine times for 86 yards, finished with 257 passing yards. Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan completed 21 of 29 passes for 237 yards. Hogan was sacked twice and picked off once.

Hogan was also the Cardinal’s top ground gainer, picking up 44 yards on 11 carries.

Stanford (5-4 overall, 3-3 Pac-12) had allowed four rushing touchdowns all season before allowing four by the Ducks. In addition, the Cardinal defense, which had allowed an average of 250.6 total yards per game, surrendered 525 to Oregon.

Stanford shocked the Ducks in 2012 when the Cardinal won 17-14 on a 37-yard field goal by Jordan Williamson in overtime. Last season at Stanford, the Cardinal built a 26-0 lead, then held on for a 26-20 win.

Oregon opened the scoring on Mariota’s 6-yard TD pass to Charles Nelson. The Cardinal responded with a 47-yard field goal by Williamson. The Ducks extended their lead to 14-3 when Mariota faked a handoff and ran untouched for a 22-yard touchdown. Again, the Cardinal countered with a Williamson field goal, this time from 43 yards out.

Tyner, who sat out the Ducks’ win over California last weekend with an undisclosed injury, tallied Oregon’s third touchdown with a 1-yard plunge, giving the Ducks a 21-6 lead.

Aidan Schneider booted a 40-yard field goal to extend the Ducks’ lead. Stanford fullback Patrick Skov scored on a 1-yard run, cutting the Oregon lead to 24-13 at halftime.

Oregon’s Erick Dargan picked off a Kevin Hogan pass at the Duck 1, surfing out the Cardinal’s opening drive of the second half. But Alex Carter of Stanford intercepted a Mariota pass on the Ducks’ ensuing drive, leading to a Williamson 25-yard field goal, cutting the Oregon lead to 24-16.

The Ducks’ offense took over from there. Tyler scored his second touchdown, this time from 21 yards out as the third quarter wound down. Tyner finished with a game-high 63 rushing yards on 10 carries.

Early in the fourth quarter, Mariota scored on a 7-yard quarterback draw, set up by a Hogan fumble recovered by the Ducks.

Mariota’s 25-yard touchdown pass to Darren Carrington closed out the scoring.

Next week, the Cardinal return home to host No. 17 Utah. Kickoff time has yet to be determined.

By: Phillip Torres

SANTA CLARA- The San Francisco 49ers (4-3) will host the St. Louis Rams (2-5) on Sunday in Santa Clara at Levi’s Stadium. The 49ers are coming off of a well needed Bye week as they look to rebound from the embarrassing 42-17 loss to the Denver Broncos in week seven.

The Bye Week for the 49ers came at a perfect time as they were in need of a break so that they can get healthy again. Patrick Wills sat out of the game in Denver with an injury to his toe, and starting center Daniel Kilgore was lost for the season to a broken leg. This opens up an opportunity for rookie Marcus Martin to get his first starting experience in the NFL.

Quarterback Collin Kaepernick will look to have another great outing against the Rams. In week six the dual threat quarterback torched St. Louis for 343 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Kaepernick would have had three if it were not for a miss communication between tight ends Vernon Davis and Vance McDonald. The 49ers need a strong dominating performance for a confidence boost.

Sitting at 4-3 in second place in the NFC West is not where the 49ers thought they would be this time of the year. The Arizona Cardinals sit atop the division at 6-1 and the 49ers have a lot of work to do to catch them. The Seattle Seahawks are coming off of an ugly win over the Carolina Panthers to improve to 4-3 as well as they are tied with the 49ers for second in the division. These two teams will meet for the first time this season on Thanksgiving.

The 49ers need to play consistent football if they plan on overcoming Arizona and winning the division. Aid is on the way as linebacker Aldon Smith could be back as early as next week. If his suspension is reduced from nine games, then he would be back next week against the Saints in New Orleans. Linebacker NaVarro Bowmen is also expected back a little sooner rather than later. Bowmen is on the fast track to recovering from the broken leg that he suffered in the NFC Championship Game is Seattle in January.