At least the new scoreboard looked good

Unfortunately the Cal Golden Bears decided that they didn't exactly like the idea of keeping things close today. To try and single out the worst part of this game would be foolish because quite frankly there were just way too many miscues in just about every facet of this game for the Cougs. So just like the last couple weeks I guess I'll look at the offense, defense, and special teams and try to find what small silver linings there may have been that probably went unnoticed either because you left early or changed the channel.

The offense was atrocious. There was no real silver lining in this one folks, there was no running game and the passing game was still just terrible. The few small glimmers of hope that popped up were largely negated by a penalty of some sort. It was nice to see Jeshua Anderson back out on the field, but it became obvious quickly that he is rusty, and while this can be largely attributed to his injury and lack of reps, you have to wonder just how good he'd have been at this point anyway after training for the Olympics over the summer. That's not to lay blame on Anderson, the fact is that this offense has no rhythm whatsoever at this point, and it was probably unrealistic for anyone, myself included, to expect him to just come back and be the monster deep threat that he showed he could be at the end of last season. Still I gotta say I'm glad to see him out there and it does give me some hope against Baylor next week that this offense will be able to finally open up a bit and take flight. Aside from the return of Anderson there isn't much positive stuff to cover. Rogers most of the first half looked downright scared getting happy feet in the pocket which led to some costly mistakes that put the game out of reach very early. While I realize that Rogers is not the most mobile guy on the field, it was definitely disheartening to see him try to make things happen with his feet just to throw a pick or get sacked after trying so hard. Fortunately for Rogers his time in the fire would come to an end after the first half. The first couple of drives of the second half saw the Cougar debut of Kevin Lopina and I've gotta say, he definitely looked more comfortable running this offense than Rogers. When the pocket broke down Lopina was more comfortable breaking into a run with the ball and didn't look like he got the kind of happy feet that Rogers seems to get as he tries to make up his mind. Lopina also ran the QB keeper with much more confidence than Rogers has the few times they've called the play. Overall Lopina, who did make some mistakes trying to force the ball, looked like he might just be the way to go in lieu of Rogers if the Cougs want to try to make this offense a threat. "The Lobster" Marshal Lobbestael also saw some playing time, but his debut was about as rough as they come, throwing a pick on his first pass attempt and fumbling a snap on the first play of his second drive. Right now the offense needs something to provide a spark and it sounds like after the game Paul Wulff may just be thinking about making a move at QB.

On defense things looked marginally better than on offense. This group showed a tremendous amount of heart in forcing three straight 3 and outs after Cal went up 21 to nothing, but it was already too little too late. This time out the defense didn't quite seem to have the same fire in their belly as last week, but they did settle down after getting blown up by Cal in the first plays of the game. It was pretty awesome to see Cory Evans start making some noise as he was all over the place disrupting the pass and the run generally making it just a little more difficult for Tedford's boys to get into the endzone. What was very nice to see this week was some pretty darn solid passing defense. This is of course somewhat subjective, but for the second week in a row there was no great big throws that really hurt the Cougs, just a few shorter routes that were largely kept underneath the defense. It may just be the first time in recent memory where the Cougars have not had a game in which an opponent has just been able to go up and over the secondary. What was also nice to see was the lack of Pass interference calls, because as anyone who has watched the Cougs the last few years knows, if the corners had been beaten they either got torched or blatantly interfered and prayed they could get away with it. Thus far on defense, both in the front seven and the secondary, there has been an unheard of amount of discipline that has kept the Cougs from getting themselves into trouble. This unit is still the best looking group on the team even if they are still trying to find their legs a bit and given some more time I still think this could be a special group by the end of the year.

All I can say about the special teams is Wow! What a difference a week and a key injury make. This week saw the return of Punter Reid Forrest and man oh man did he perform. Two punts for 58 yards each and two punts downed within the 5 yard line. While I don't think this kid can be compared to Kyle Basler yet, he's definitely the best looking punter we've had since Basler graduated. Although I gotta ask just what the hell the coaches were thinking last year having him do those rugby style punts, because he has a pretty darn good leg. The field goal kicking unit was a pleasant surprise as Nico Grasu was able to hit one and do so with confidence. While he had his second attempt blocked because of a low kick it was still nice to see a kicker going out there with some confidence and to be quite frank, from where I was sitting it looked like the line collapsed back pretty far to allow those hands to go up and block that kick. So, the punting was good, the field goal unit looked a little better than last week, but how did the coverage look? Firstly, the kicks that had to be covered looked a lot more solid than last week and there was a couple of touchbacks that brought a smile to my face. When Cal did go ahead and return the ball there was none of the dischord that led to some of the problems last week. Guys were staying in their lanes and when they made contact they made it count. There werent any huge hits that led to a fumble or anything, but the coverage unit went out there and actually covered this week which as we all know is a drastic improvement. The best part of the kicking and coverage this week was that they didn't set the defense up in bad situations like last week, and had they been able to come out as capably as they did today, last week may have looked very different. This week the Special Teams has to be a lock for most improved unit on the team no questions asked.

Like last week this game was a disappointment, but once again like last week there was a bit of a silver lining to the drubbing the Cougs took. It may not seem like it now, but this is a team that is actually starting, if only somewhat, to find itself. The offense definitely didn't come out and tear it up like I both predicted and hoped they would, but next week they'll finally get a tune-up game to get moving and in a rhythm. The big question will be who will start the game under center as Lopina, despite some issues, actually made a fairly solid case for why he should start instead of Rogers. That said, there's no real quarterback controversy, but one could be brewing if Lopina starts, or has to come in against Baylor to try and spark the Cougars on offense. The defense took some steps and had to play against a tougher opponent in Cal than they did against the Pokes. The pass coverage, while the stat-line may not show it, was pretty solid and didn't get beat deep. The pass rush this week looked better than it did against the Pokes and if they keep progressing, especially with the return of Ahmu for the entire game next week to help anchor the D-line, they should start making some noise in the Baylor Bears backfield. The next couple of weeks will be very interesting for the Cougs as they will be getting some defensive help back in Xavier Hicks, and the guys who have battled back like Jeshua Anderson should progress and get back to full speed. Keep an eye on these guys Coug fans this season is still very much alive and in the next couple of weeks should start coming together, there's no such thing as an easy game with a team as young and inexperienced as this, but that doesn't mean they can't win and get tuned up for the brunt of the Pac-10 schedule. It's going to be a tough year, but that doesn't mean that it can't still be something special.

Laters... GO COUGS!