[Mick]

Love just rushed for 152 yards on 20 carries facing the ninth toughest run defense in the NCAA, and the toughest run defense in the Pac-12.

In four games prior to last night, rushers facing Utah had just 348 yards on 131 carries for a 2.66 average.  Bryce Love absolutely shredded them.

Stanford has some difficult rushing defense challenges in front of them, including Oregon (#14) and Washington (#19).  Washington State (#41) and Noter Dame (#48) are at least a cut below.  Finally, C.alifornia (#83) and Oregon State ( #104) shoudln't be as challenging for Love.

[Mick]

Love just rushed for 152 yards on 20 carries facing the ninth toughest run defense in the NCAA, and the toughest run defense in the Pac-12.

In four games prior to last night, rushers facing Utah had just 348 yards on 131 carries for a 2.66 average.  Bryce Love absolutely shredded them.

Stanford has some difficult rushing defense challenges in front of them, including Oregon (#14) and Washington (#19).  Washington State (#41) and Noter Dame (#48) are at least a cut below.  Finally, C.alifornia (#83) and Oregon State ( #104) shoudln't be as challenging for Love.

[winflop]

Whadya wanna bet nobody on TV brings this up when talking about H-word?

[winflop]

Whadya wanna bet nobody on TV brings this up when talking about H-word?

[OutsiderFan]

Oregon's defense sucks. Face a real OL and they are in trouble.  They can't tackle for sh*t.  Love will go for over 200 next week. 

WSU is a different story, but Oregon gashed them several times for runs that Love would take to the house. 

And I have no doubt Washington is good, but they haven't played a good offensive team yet this season. 

If Love can go for 150 on Utah, he will lead the nation in rushing provided he stays healthy.

[OutsiderFan]

Oregon's defense sucks. Face a real OL and they are in trouble.  They can't tackle for sh*t.  Love will go for over 200 next week. 

WSU is a different story, but Oregon gashed them several times for runs that Love would take to the house. 

And I have no doubt Washington is good, but they haven't played a good offensive team yet this season. 

If Love can go for 150 on Utah, he will lead the nation in rushing provided he stays healthy.

[Hulk01]

Oregon's defense this year looks much better.  Jelks is playing very well at DL as is Dye, again, at LB and Springs at DB. 

[Hulk01]

Oregon's defense this year looks much better.  Jelks is playing very well at DL as is Dye, again, at LB and Springs at DB. 

[JohnR34231]

Oregon's defense this year looks much better.  Jelks is playing very well at DL as is Dye, again, at LB and Springs at DB.

Considering their defense last year, it would be hard to conceive of them being much worse.

BTW, Hulk, your prognostication on Love was spot on. I remember you saying from the day we signed him he was a future superstar.

[JohnR34231]

Oregon's defense this year looks much better.  Jelks is playing very well at DL as is Dye, again, at LB and Springs at DB.

Considering their defense last year, it would be hard to conceive of them being much worse.

BTW, Hulk, your prognostication on Love was spot on. I remember you saying from the day we signed him he was a future superstar.

[winflop]

Oregon's defense sucks.

Currently ranked #10 in the country against the run...including last night's game

[winflop]

Oregon's defense sucks.

Currently ranked #10 in the country against the run...including last night's game

[OutsiderFan]

Yeah, and ןɐɔ went for -40 yards rushing against UW after rolling up 8 on Oregon the week before.  WSU doesn't bother running much.  Oregon isn't stopping Love any better than Utah, probably more like UCLA.

Oregon has stopped such vaunted rushing attacks as:

FCS Southern Utah
#126 WSU (3.16 YPC)
#123 ןɐɔ (2.95 YPC)
#119 Wyoming (3.26 YPC)
#99 ASU (3.05 YPC)
#80 Nebraska (4.16 YPC)

Stanford's rushing avg. is 2x YPC (8.1 YPC) of the highest avg. YPC team Oregon has faced, which is Nebraska at 4.16.  IOW, Oregon has faced one rushing attack from a team in the top 50% of FBS, and four in the bottom 25% of the FBS.  That's why they are #10 as of this week.

[OutsiderFan]

Yeah, and ןɐɔ went for -40 yards rushing against UW after rolling up 8 on Oregon the week before.  WSU doesn't bother running much.  Oregon isn't stopping Love any better than Utah, probably more like UCLA.

Oregon has stopped such vaunted rushing attacks as:

FCS Southern Utah
#126 WSU (3.16 YPC)
#123 ןɐɔ (2.95 YPC)
#119 Wyoming (3.26 YPC)
#99 ASU (3.05 YPC)
#80 Nebraska (4.16 YPC)

Stanford's rushing avg. is 2x YPC (8.1 YPC) of the highest avg. YPC team Oregon has faced, which is Nebraska at 4.16.  IOW, Oregon has faced one rushing attack from a team in the top 50% of FBS, and four in the bottom 25% of the FBS.  That's why they are #10 as of this week.

[OutsiderFan]

This is the stat of the day:

Bryce Love has 7 TD rushes of 50+ yds in 2017. That's more than any of last 4 Voldemort RBs (Dayne, Bush, Ingram, Henry) had in their CAREERS.

[OutsiderFan]

This is the stat of the day:

Bryce Love has 7 TD rushes of 50+ yds in 2017. That's more than any of last 4 Voldemort RBs (Dayne, Bush, Ingram, Henry) had in their CAREERS.

[Goose]

Yeah, and ןɐɔ went for -40 yards rushing against UW after rolling up 8 on Oregon the week before.

How much of the -40 was sacks? Cal was behind most of the game, and needed to pass. Cal doesn't run much or well, but that number is distorted, don't you think?

WSU doesn't bother running much.

True, but they are better at it than they have been. We will see more runs because our run defense is not what it might be and it will slow down the blitz.

Oregon isn't stopping Love any better than Utah, probably more like UCLA.

That better be the case, or we are in serious trouble. We urgently need to control the tempo until our defense gets back to full strength. Oregon's run defense isn't as horrible as last year's, but we should still be able to move them, unlike Utah, where we basically couldn't. The good news is that with Love, as stalemate is sometimes OK. He just needs a crease.

[Goose]

Yeah, and ןɐɔ went for -40 yards rushing against UW after rolling up 8 on Oregon the week before.

How much of the -40 was sacks? Cal was behind most of the game, and needed to pass. Cal doesn't run much or well, but that number is distorted, don't you think?

WSU doesn't bother running much.

True, but they are better at it than they have been. We will see more runs because our run defense is not what it might be and it will slow down the blitz.

Oregon isn't stopping Love any better than Utah, probably more like UCLA.

That better be the case, or we are in serious trouble. We urgently need to control the tempo until our defense gets back to full strength. Oregon's run defense isn't as horrible as last year's, but we should still be able to move them, unlike Utah, where we basically couldn't. The good news is that with Love, as stalemate is sometimes OK. He just needs a crease.

[OutsiderFan]

Distorted by what?  Cal's OL is a disaster.  They can't run or pass protect. 

WSU is not better running that they have been.  They have the #120 YPC in FBS.

Oregon couldn't tackle WSU RBs.  Think they are going to tackle Love?

[OutsiderFan]

Distorted by what?  Cal's OL is a disaster.  They can't run or pass protect. 

WSU is not better running that they have been.  They have the #120 YPC in FBS.

Oregon couldn't tackle WSU RBs.  Think they are going to tackle Love?

[Goose]

Distorted by what?  ןɐɔ's OL is a disaster.  They can't run or pass protect.

True, but the -40 includes sacks, which makes it look worse than it actually was.
 

WSU is not better running that they have been.  They have the #120 YPC in FBS.

Well, they had enough to get the first down against U$C when they needed it. Granted, their running game is not much, but I would argue that it is better than the #120. That also includes sacks, does it not?

Oregon couldn't tackle WSU RBs.  Think they are going to tackle Love?

Nope, I don't think they will, at least most of the time.  ;D However, I really don't want to see a 35-28 score at the end of the first half. We need to control tempo, so that our defense isn't totally gassed in the second half. As I see it, we are, on paper, the better team. We don't want a situation where one failed drive beats us. We want to keep this game clearly out of the "Anything can happen" camp. The fact we had to field an onside kick in order to ensure the victory against Utah was just what we don't want against Oregon. In the Utah game, that was directly traceable to two defensive mistakes that resulted in penalties. One of those was a mistake, but at least somewhat understandable. The second was just plain idiotic. We don't want it to be that close against Oregon, because sometimes the ball bounces funny.

[Goose]

Distorted by what?  ןɐɔ's OL is a disaster.  They can't run or pass protect.

True, but the -40 includes sacks, which makes it look worse than it actually was.
 

WSU is not better running that they have been.  They have the #120 YPC in FBS.

Well, they had enough to get the first down against U$C when they needed it. Granted, their running game is not much, but I would argue that it is better than the #120. That also includes sacks, does it not?

Oregon couldn't tackle WSU RBs.  Think they are going to tackle Love?

Nope, I don't think they will, at least most of the time.  ;D However, I really don't want to see a 35-28 score at the end of the first half. We need to control tempo, so that our defense isn't totally gassed in the second half. As I see it, we are, on paper, the better team. We don't want a situation where one failed drive beats us. We want to keep this game clearly out of the "Anything can happen" camp. The fact we had to field an onside kick in order to ensure the victory against Utah was just what we don't want against Oregon. In the Utah game, that was directly traceable to two defensive mistakes that resulted in penalties. One of those was a mistake, but at least somewhat understandable. The second was just plain idiotic. We don't want it to be that close against Oregon, because sometimes the ball bounces funny.

[OutsiderFan]

[quote author=OutsiderFan link=topic=17616.msg205152#msg205152 date=1507479371]
Distorted by what?  ןɐɔ's OL is a disaster.  They can't run or pass protect.

True, but the -40 includes sacks, which makes it look worse than it actually was.
[/quote]

Cal gained less than 100 yards of total offense.  It was worse than it actually was. 

[OutsiderFan]

[quote author=OutsiderFan link=topic=17616.msg205152#msg205152 date=1507479371]
Distorted by what?  ןɐɔ's OL is a disaster.  They can't run or pass protect.

True, but the -40 includes sacks, which makes it look worse than it actually was.
[/quote]

Cal gained less than 100 yards of total offense.  It was worse than it actually was. 

[Goose]

ןɐɔ gained less than 100 yards of total offense.  It was worse than it actually was.

So I guess what you are saying is that cal played so poorly that no set of numbers, however arranged or interpreted, could express it.  ;D Perhaps we can now say that Wilcox isn't a miracle worker, but could still be a good coach that is a few years away from being competitive (or not).

[Goose]

ןɐɔ gained less than 100 yards of total offense.  It was worse than it actually was.

So I guess what you are saying is that cal played so poorly that no set of numbers, however arranged or interpreted, could express it.  ;D Perhaps we can now say that Wilcox isn't a miracle worker, but could still be a good coach that is a few years away from being competitive (or not).

[OutsiderFan]

I read this week that Cal has lost 9/22 expected starters for the season, most of them on offense. A good roster could possibly absorb that, but years of awful recruiting in the trenches will eventually come due.

Wilcox knows what he has to do. 

[OutsiderFan]

I read this week that Cal has lost 9/22 expected starters for the season, most of them on offense. A good roster could possibly absorb that, but years of awful recruiting in the trenches will eventually come due.

Wilcox knows what he has to do. 

[martyup]

Wilcox knows what he has to do.

Yes, lose to Stanford.  ;D

[martyup]

Wilcox knows what he has to do.

Yes, lose to Stanford.  ;D

[CornFed]

To my way of thinking it was going "full turtle" mode on offense for the last 8 minutes of the game.

[CornFed]

To my way of thinking it was going "full turtle" mode on offense for the last 8 minutes of the game.

[CowboyIndian]

To my way of thinking it was going "full turtle" mode on offense for the last 8 minutes of the game.

And absent Phillips' and Kalambayi's (but mostly Phillips') dumbassedness, it was the perfect strategy for winning a tough game in a tough venue.

[CowboyIndian]

To my way of thinking it was going "full turtle" mode on offense for the last 8 minutes of the game.

And absent Phillips' and Kalambayi's (but mostly Phillips') dumbassedness, it was the perfect strategy for winning a tough game in a tough venue.

[Goose]

[quote author=CornFed link=topic=17616.msg205261#msg205261 date=1507507024]
To my way of thinking it was going "full turtle" mode on offense for the last 8 minutes of the game.

And absent Phillips' and Kalambayi's (but mostly Phillips') dumbassedness, it was the perfect strategy for winning a tough game in a tough venue.
[/quote]
+1

[Goose]

[quote author=CornFed link=topic=17616.msg205261#msg205261 date=1507507024]
To my way of thinking it was going "full turtle" mode on offense for the last 8 minutes of the game.

And absent Phillips' and Kalambayi's (but mostly Phillips') dumbassedness, it was the perfect strategy for winning a tough game in a tough venue.
[/quote]
+1

[washingtonismoney]

[quote author=CornFed link=topic=17616.msg205261#msg205261 date=1507507024]
To my way of thinking it was going "full turtle" mode on offense for the last 8 minutes of the game.

And absent Phillips' and Kalambayi's (but mostly Phillips') dumbassedness, it was the perfect strategy for winning a tough game in a tough venue.
[/quote]

FANS: "Keller Chryst is inconsistent and the guy we'd like to replace him was at best only slightly better against Utah."

ALSO FANS: "Running the ball is turtling!"

[washingtonismoney]

[quote author=CornFed link=topic=17616.msg205261#msg205261 date=1507507024]
To my way of thinking it was going "full turtle" mode on offense for the last 8 minutes of the game.

And absent Phillips' and Kalambayi's (but mostly Phillips') dumbassedness, it was the perfect strategy for winning a tough game in a tough venue.
[/quote]

FANS: "Keller Chryst is inconsistent and the guy we'd like to replace him was at best only slightly better against Utah."

ALSO FANS: "Running the ball is turtling!"

[CornFed]

[quote author=CowboyIndian link=topic=17616.msg205277#msg205277 date=1507511487]
[quote author=CornFed link=topic=17616.msg205261#msg205261 date=1507507024]
To my way of thinking it was going "full turtle" mode on offense for the last 8 minutes of the game.

And absent Phillips' and Kalambayi's (but mostly Phillips') dumbassedness, it was the perfect strategy for winning a tough game in a tough venue.
[/quote]

FANS: "Keller Chryst is inconsistent and the guy we'd like to replace him was at best only slightly better against Utah."

ALSO FANS: "Running the ball is turtling!"
[/quote]
You are absolutely right.  That was a brilliant ploy to run time off the clock.  Running six plays into the middle of the stacked defense to go 3 and out twice MIGHT have generated a first down and deprived the Utes of one of their final possessions.  The fact that it didn't come close to gaining first down yardage doesn't prove definitively that a quick slant or a fake and QB keeper or any other approach was any better.

[CornFed]

[quote author=CowboyIndian link=topic=17616.msg205277#msg205277 date=1507511487]
[quote author=CornFed link=topic=17616.msg205261#msg205261 date=1507507024]
To my way of thinking it was going "full turtle" mode on offense for the last 8 minutes of the game.

And absent Phillips' and Kalambayi's (but mostly Phillips') dumbassedness, it was the perfect strategy for winning a tough game in a tough venue.
[/quote]

FANS: "Keller Chryst is inconsistent and the guy we'd like to replace him was at best only slightly better against Utah."

ALSO FANS: "Running the ball is turtling!"
[/quote]
You are absolutely right.  That was a brilliant ploy to run time off the clock.  Running six plays into the middle of the stacked defense to go 3 and out twice MIGHT have generated a first down and deprived the Utes of one of their final possessions.  The fact that it didn't come close to gaining first down yardage doesn't prove definitively that a quick slant or a fake and QB keeper or any other approach was any better.