http://www.yardbarker.com/content/school/444 Recent Yardbarker Articles: California Golden Bears en-us Breaking down the California contenders (USC, UCLA and Cal) and seeing how there will be anyway for the Trojans to be stopped this year. Fri, 25 Jul 2008 17:51:05 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295732 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295732 Just picked up NCAA Football 09 with Darren "I can pump out illegitimate kids faster than I can run my 40 yard dash time" McFadden. After a few days of putting my time into the game, I've walked away with some observations and thoughts as to what we might be able to expect for this upcoming season. Keep in mind, to take this all with a grain of salt, as the EA developers are as authoritative of a college football source as Mark May is. Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:49:41 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295163 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295163 PAC-10 media day. USC picked to win the PAC-10. Coach Pete Carroll sparks debate about helmet-to-helmet hits. Carroll says Joe McKnight may be better than Reggie Bush. And, Brian Cushing talks about his senior year. Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:52:59 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295141 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295141 UC Berkeley wins court battle with tree sitters, and may begin construction on a new $140-million sports-training center. Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:15:17 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294541 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294541 Let all the angry comments come in now Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:44:35 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294324 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294324 What are the preliminary Vegas lines and bookies telling us about the Left Coast of college football? Wed, 23 Jul 2008 07:21:33 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294227 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294227 We identify better with our college athletes than we do with our professionals, so what makes it different following a college team rather than a pro one? Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:11:36 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/293959 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/293959 The Pac-10 gets a bad wrap for being an offensive conference only. Well, in the world of fantasy football, offense is what counts. From Seattle to Los Angeles in 2008, the west coast certainly has plenty of fantasy options. Sat, 19 Jul 2008 11:41:51 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/292536 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/292536 So the day has finally arrived for those die-hard NCAA Football gamers, because 2009 comes out today. The question is, as always, how different is it from 2008 aside from the roster changes? Are there enough changes to motivated consumers in this economy to purchase the $60 game (PS3/XBOX)? Personally, I'm always interested in playing the most recent sports game, so I'll probably get it. But then I realized that the Bears have their first cover boy of all time on a video game so I have to buy it! Our former punt returner specialist and sometimes flashy WR DeSean Jackson graces the cover of the PS2 game. So, will you be purchasing the new game for your system? Darren McFadden graces the XBOX cover, Matt Ryan is on the PS3 cover, Michigan State's Sparty is on the Wii, and some West Virginia fullback is on the PSP cover. Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:17:16 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/290758 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/290758 After our implosion last season after the Oregon win, the Cal Bears need a serious hangover fixer to make sure that last year's botched chances don't carry over into the new season. As ESPN stated: "The collapse was almost without precedent in college football, a team going from national championship contender, hours away from being ranked No. 1 in the nation, to almost not being bowl eligible." There are questions all throughout this squad, but the most important one will be the key problem of last season: Quarterback. Will Jeff Tedford start senior Nate Longshore, the once NFL ready QB who was leading the Bears to the #1 position in the nation until the injury at Oregon, or will he go with sophomore Kevin Riley, who replaced Longshore in the Armed Forces Bowl and led a comeback? The key will be re-inspiring the players, as it was noticeable that some quit last year as the season tanked. Other question marks are the running back position (can Best be an every-down back?), wide receivers (they're all new!), and the defensive line (always an issue). I hope Tedford has us fixed up for the upcoming season, because I wouldn't survive another collapse like last year. GO BEARS! Fri, 11 Jul 2008 19:47:57 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/289330 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/289330 These are my rankings for the PAC-10 defenses for fantasy college football. In no way does this reflect how I predict teams to finish in the conference standings. Thanks for viewing! Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:29:10 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/288268 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/288268 These are my rankings for the PAC-10 offenses for fantasy college football. In no way does this reflect how I predict teams to finish in the conference standings. Thanks for viewing! Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:23:29 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/288266 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/288266 Last year the Cal Golden Bears came to Fort Collins, and believe or not the Rams actually were giving Cal all they could handle. The loss to tight end Kory Sperry in the first half really hurt the Rams chances in this game. This year the game is at Berkley and should provide the . Cal did lose return specialist and receiver star to the NFL and Cal needs to fill that hole, as well as their top rushing, and reciever as well, plus toss in that a starging quarterback has been named and will be between Nate Longshore and Kevin Riley. Offense: With the lose of their top running back, wideout, kick returner, and in decision at the QB one could see that Cal would not be that good this year. Being in the Pac-10 conference Cal should just plug in new players and be competitive, and should be fin against a Colorado State team trying to get back up into the national scene as they were only a few years ago. The big question is who wil be QB Nate Longshore and Kevin Riley. Last year Longshore played the majority of the snaps and had 2,580 yards, 16 touchdowns, 13 interceptions, and only completed 59 percent of his passes. Two reason why Longshore is not going to start is that his production dropped sharply after his Sophomore year where he had 500 more yards, and eight more touchdowns, and that he tore his pectoral muscle during sprin and was limited. The decision is not expected until a fall camp begins in about one month, and if it is decided then there are a few games from once the season starts to this game, so the starter could even change by then. As for running back Cal's top returning rushers are Jahvid Best and James Montgomery who each had 3 scores and combined for 400 yards. Those two should be the primary backs and will most likely split time until one breaks away, Jahivd Best did average 7.6 per carry that is not a likely average to look forward to but a stat to watch. The most glaring position to replace is DeShaun Jackson who was a huge playmaker at receiver and also as a return man. The wideout position will be very green with the top returning receiver is not even a wide out, but rather is Tight End Cameron Morrah who had only thirteen receptions last year. This position will need someone to step up to lead this team at the wide out position. Defense: We all know that in the Pac-10 defense is optional, and that seems to be the way that the Golden Bears did last year and there is no reason for that to change. The Rams on the other hand could put a hurt on Cal with their running back duo of Gatrell Johnson III and Kyle Bell, then toss in Tight End Kory Sperry and this group should be able to put up some points. Last year in this matchup Cal created turnovers that lead to the victory last season. They do return seven starters on defense and to take advantage of their depth at linebackers it seems that Cal looks to be switching a variation of the 3-4. That information was kept under wraps from the local media, but look for some type of defense that will take advantage of their linebaking corps. Early Prediction: Even though Cal lost nearly all of its offense from last year, but by the time this game comes aound they should have an identity. Colorado State should be improved over last year, but traveling to Cal will be too much and Cal should win by 14 points or more. Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:27:08 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/287692 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/287692 After 18 tumultuous months the Berkeley tree sitters are finally coming down. The University has attacked the situation with more force than they have in the past, and the efforts are paying off as the legal front is coming in favor of the University. Although the judge held off the start of construction for the new Student Athlete High Performance Center, the University has a few small things to do to ensure that construction begins soon. Also, they have been granted an expedited hearing to rule on when that construction may commence. All in all, we're closer to finally starting construction on something that was scheduled to begin 2 years ago. We need this to happen, or our football program will fall behind the rest of the Pac-10 and the nation. Mon, 07 Jul 2008 01:33:56 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/286389 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/286389 Yo Yard, it's good to be back, I've been away in Europe for the past month doing the tourist thing. I come back and realized my Bears have come up with new uniforms, so I'm very excited. Well, my excitement has dissipated as I viewed the new Nike design. They're pretty ugly and plain, with no numbers on the sleeves or shoulders, not to mention just straight dumb looking. They remind me of a soccer uniform, with the lines at the collar just looking ugly. Lemme know what you guys think. There's also talk that the classic blue helmet with the Cal script may be accompanied by a yellow stripe, but that's not confirmed yet. Thu, 03 Jul 2008 14:55:30 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/285590 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/285590