Golden Bears look to make Rams into mutton

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September 27, 12:50 AM

by Rob Calonge, Cal Bears Examiner

 

 

It all starts up front for Cal on offense and defense

mutton - (noun) : the flesh of sheep, esp. full-grown or more mature sheep, used as food.

Now, I'm not promoting that the Bears should turn to cannibalism in order to maintain their muscular physiques or anything as preposterous as that.  I am suggesting that they may plan on eating the Colorado State Rams' lunch on Saturday though.

The Bears, coming off of their lackluster performance against Maryland two weeks ago, have been participating in some of their best practices of the year.

We were in pads and we went live. It wasn't just a bye week. I don't think we had ever really gone live before in a bye week. - LaReylle Cunningham about practice over the past two weeks

Hopefully, for Bears Backers, they have gotten better in the trenches.  Against the Terps the Bears allowed four sacks which is three more than they had allowed in the two previous games.  The line also wasn't able to open too many holes for Cal's star running backs.  Jahvid Best and Shane Vereen combined for 53 yards on 15 carries for a meager average of 3.5 yards-per-carry.

On the defensive side, they were finally able to break-through against the pass by sacking the quarterback four times, but their rush defense was questionable.  Maryland's Da'Rel Scott and Davin Meggett ran all over the Bears for 171 yards on 32 carries for a respectable 5.3 yards-per-carry.  In order for the Bears to win any game, they will have to prevent teams from gaining yards on the ground, as evidenced by the USC upset on Thursday night.

The Mountain West Conference is 5-0 against the Pac-10 this season, but none of those games have involved either of these two teams, so comparisons shouldn't be made to this game.

California Golden Bears (2-0, 1-0) ; Last Week : BYE - Last Game: Lost at Maryland 27-35

 Keys on Offense: Before every game we tell you that the Bears have to be careful not to make the big mistake.  The big mistake we are usually refferring to is the mistake of an ill-advised pass or an inopportune fumble.  While that still holds true, and will for pretty much every game.  Some of the bigger mistakes that the Bears made two weeks ago were the kind that aren't necessarily noticed by the average viewer.

It's pretty difficult to forget the play above.  Some videos are a little more graphic, but this one makes the best point.  To many fans, this is a great play by a defensive back who was aware enough to read the play and talented enough to make a big hit.  What the play actually shows is missed assignments by the receivers causing their tailback to lose his breakfast.  These are the types of mistakes that Cal must avoid in order to prevent another loss.

Execution was clearly not a strong suit in the last game.  How do you determine execution?  On offense, you look at running average, sacks allowed, and third-downs converted.  We've already mentioned that Cal's top backs averaged only 3.5 yards-per-carry and let up four sacks.  On third-down, they converted only two of eleven attempts.  All three of these statistics must improve if they are to win.

The Rams come into the game with a defense ranked 80th in total defense among all Div I teams.  Their passing defense is ranked 101st and their rush defense is ranked 47th, but the Rams do have one defender that could wreac havoc in the backfield.  Senior Tommie Hill has three sacks on the year and the Bears will have to slow him down in order to keep Kevin Riley's jersey clean and the passing offense moving.

Starting left guard Chris Guarnero will probably sit the game out.  Guarnero, along with starting left tackle Mike Tepper will stretch Cal's depth on the line.  Lucky for the Bears, they have one of the best offensive lines in all of college football.

Keys on Defense: The Bears need to find a way to stop the run this week.  After showing how well they could do it in their first two games, disaster struck against Maryland.  They were unable to slow the second back on the depth chart and if you don't stop the run, you can't expect to win the game.  As long as teams are able to keep the Cal offense off of the field by running, the outook isn't very good for the Bears.

The most glaring weakness for the Bears last week was coverage in the secondary.  They allowed only 156 yards passing, but Maryland's quarterback completed 15 of 19 passes and was able to get big plays when it was necessary averaging 8.2 yards-per-pass.  Part of that was due to pressure, but a good portion of those completed passes were from poor coverage.  The Bears will have to be able to stop the pass on third down so that they can get off of the field.

True freshman, Kendrick Payne, has made a difference on the defensive line, but he will be out for the season after a minor knee surgery revealed a major MCL tear.  Payne will redshirt, but the Bears will miss his presence on the line. 

Colorado State Rams (2-1, 0-0) ; Last Week : Win vs Houston 28-25

 Keys on Offense: While the Rams offense is ranked 64th in Div I, it is misleading when you see that their passing game gets high marks for being ranked 27th.  Senior quarterback, Billy Farris, has been impressive this season.  Coming into this game he holds a 140.83 QB rating throwing for 784 yards with 72 completions on 103 attempts for a fantastic 70% completion percentage.  After throwing three interceptions in his first two games, he settled in last week and didn't throw any.

Cal has had a week off, and it’s going to take everything we have, almost flawless execution, to be in this game. - Colorado State Rams Coach Steve Fairchild on the game with Cal

Farris will be counting on having his leading receiver, junior Rashaun Greer, who leads the Rams with 22 receptions for 264 yards.  While Greer is considered the go-to-guy, junior Dion Morton had a breakout game last week against Houston and showed he has deep-threat skills.  Last week, he caught five balls for 126 yards and one touchdown.

The major question for the Rams will be their running game.  The Rams have had injuries along their offensive line and it's made an impact on their ability to run the ball.  They are ranked 102nd out of all Div I programs in rushing with senior Gartrell Johnson getting most of the playing time.  Johnson has 237 yards on 51 carries with two touchdowns and a 4.64 yards-per-carry average.  He has the ability to make life difficult for the Bears, and is probably going to be a big part of the gameplan this Saturday.

Keys on Defense: The Rams come into the game with the 80th-ranked defense - 47th against the run and 92nd against the pass.  Colorado State will need to bring the rushing defense to Memorial Stadium on Saturday.  Facing Best and Vereen is no easy task so they'll have to do what Maryland was able to do and get penetration up the middle.

In order to defense the pass, you have to have a good pass rush.  The Rams' pass rush isn't much worse than the Bears, only they have just one defensive lineman with a sack.  Senior Tommie Hill has three sacks on the season, getting one against Houston and two against Sacramento State.  If the Rams want to pressure Riley, they'll need Hill's expertise and some help from the other lineman in the game.

We already know how good Cal can be on special teams.  Since Cal wasn't as good in that area agains the Terps, look for them to be better.  That only means that the Rams will have to get at least one big play on special teams.  If they can block a punt or a field goal and have average returns at the very least, they'll be holding their own.

Cal Bears Examiner Prediction: Cal 38 - Colorado State 31

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