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OT: NCAA College Football Games Thread 11/22-11/26 Tues-Sat

3rd and 4th string QBs not only winning but beating a Top 25 team??

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They have every opportunity to become what TCU and Utah have over time and they actually have made a 4 team playoff.
I think Utah is getting more love from the pollsters while being less successful in the PAC-12 than they were before joining the conference.

Reminds me a little of VT before/after the ‘04 season when their noteworthy aspect was losing to unbeatens USC and Auburn.
 
Just finished watching UCLA v. Cal. UCLA has Raquan O'Neal at LT and he played a good team. Cal was not a good team this year, but they are further ahead than Rutgers. Cal was competitive in most games this year. This was true even after Cal fired their OC mid way through the season. Their coaches also seem to have done a better job of developing kids through the season even with the OC and OL coach being fired. Cal's roster is full of many next tier California players, which seems to be a better talent pool than the next tier NJ kids Rutgers relies upon. May need to look beyond NJ for talent. Cal does have a lot of work to do this offseason, but so does Rutgers. But right now, Cal has a head start. Even if they get left behind in expansion, they will be ok and should be able to show respectability.
 
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I think Utah is getting more love from the pollsters while being less successful in the PAC-12 than they were before joining the conference.

Reminds me a little of VT before/after the ‘04 season when their noteworthy aspect was losing to unbeatens USC and Auburn.
VT has fallen off the face of the earth, Utah had been ranked in the CFP final rankings all but two years I think. They would have made a 12 team playoffs in a couple of those years too. That’s about as much as you can expect from a Utah type program.

Looking at VT, they were fine the intial 7 years after the move but have since taken a downturn.
 
Just finished watching UCLA v. Cal. UCLA has Raquan O'Neal at LT and he played a good team. Cal was not a good team this year, but they are further ahead than Rutgers. Cal was competitive in most games this year. This was true even after Cal fired their OC mid way through the season. Their coaches also seem to have done a better job of developing kids through the season even with the OC and OL coach being fired. Cal's roster is full of many next tier California players, which seems to be a better talent pool than the next tier NJ kids Rutgers relies upon. May need to look beyond NJ for talent. Cal does have a lot of work to do this offseason, but so does Rutgers. But right now, Cal has a he.ad start. Even if they get left behind in expansion, they will be ok and should be able to show respectability.
Dear sir- I know you are in Cal, but FFS, Justin Wilcox is in his sixth season in the pillow-soft PAC 12. Give us a break with further ahead. after going 8-5/4-5 in year 3, he went 1-3/1-3 in 2020 and now 4-8/2-7 this year. If this is "further ahead," I'll take a bullet to the head right now. I would model NOTHING after what Cal and Wilcox are doing. NOTHING. ZERO. NADA. ZIP. They are losers. During our Cal tour several years ago, the tour guys roundly mocked Cal athletics. Not a good look or feel. Loser mentality out there.
 
Just finished watching UCLA v. Cal. UCLA has Raquan O'Neal at LT and he played a good team. Cal was not a good team this year, but they are further ahead than Rutgers. Cal was competitive in most games this year. This was true even after Cal fired their OC mid way through the season. Their coaches also seem to have done a better job of developing kids through the season even with the OC and OL coach being fired. Cal's roster is full of many next tier California players, which seems to be a better talent pool than the next tier NJ kids Rutgers relies upon. May need to look beyond NJ for talent. Cal does have a lot of work to do this offseason, but so does Rutgers. But right now, Cal has a he.ad start. Even if they get left behind in expansion, they will be ok and should be able to show respectability.
You should go to the bearinsider.com board and tell Cal fans that. They are on the ledge.
 
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Just finished watching UCLA v. Cal. UCLA has Raquan O'Neal at LT and he played a good team. Cal was not a good team this year, but they are further ahead than Rutgers. Cal was competitive in most games this year. This was true even after Cal fired their OC mid way through the season. Their coaches also seem to have done a better job of developing kids through the season even with the OC and OL coach being fired. Cal's roster is full of many next tier California players, which seems to be a better talent pool than the next tier NJ kids Rutgers relies upon. May need to look beyond NJ for talent. Cal does have a lot of work to do this offseason, but so does Rutgers. But right now, Cal has a he.ad start. Even if they get left behind in expansion, they will be ok and should be able to show respectability.

Cali has about 4X the population of NJ so they should have a deeper pool of talent. And Terry Shea tried heavy Cali recruiting and it did not work well. Not to say recruiting should be all NJ. But Pa., NYC, Md. and Fl. are more promising.
 
VT has fallen off the face of the earth,
Did not mean the current VT era, meant the timeframe around the season I mentioned.
Utah had been ranked in the CFP final rankings all but two years I think.
Which is what I am getting at. Unbeaten ‘04 and ‘08 (who beat a couple ranked teams) Utah editions didn’t get much love by the pollsters.

But the ‘18, ‘19, ‘21, and ‘22 editions are getting noticeable benefit of the doubt from the pollsters, and there are a good number of losses in each of those seasons.
 
Dear sir- I know you are in Cal, but FFS, Justin Wilcox is in his sixth season in the pillow-soft PAC 12. Give us a break with further ahead. after going 8-5/4-5 in year 3, he went 1-3/1-3 in 2020 and now 4-8/2-7 this year. If this is "further ahead," I'll take a bullet to the head right now. I would model NOTHING after what Cal and Wilcox are doing. NOTHING. ZERO. NADA. ZIP. They are losers. During our Cal tour several years ago, the tour guys roundly mocked Cal athletics. Not a good look or feel. Loser mentality out there.
You're right, but keep in mind that Cal played six teams this year that were in the top 25. (So much for "pillow-soft." ) Yes, Cal lost all -- but four games (USC, UCLA, Notre Dame, and Washington) were lost by a touchdown or less. I'll leave it to you to compare that with a certain school we both root for.

In one way, the schools are alike; the present coaches have contracts that make them un-fireable.
 
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Did not mean the current VT era, meant the timeframe around the season I mentioned.

Which is what I am getting at. Unbeaten ‘04 and ‘08 (who beat a couple ranked teams) Utah editions didn’t get much love by the pollsters.

But the ‘18, ‘19, ‘21, and ‘22 editions are getting noticeable benefit of the doubt from the pollsters, and there are a good number of losses in each of those seasons.
There’s often a bit of “snobbery” in voting with regards to the P5 vs G5. Even within the P5 that’s the case with the SEC vs the others.
 
You're right, but keep in mind that Cal played six teams this year that were in the top 25. (So much for "pillow-soft." ) Yes, Cal lost all -- but four games (USC, UCLA, Notre Dame, and Washington) were lost by a touchdown or less. I'll leave it to you to compare that with a certain school we both root for.

In one way, the schools are alike; the present coaches have contracts that make them un-fireable.
We agree on unfirable. Two smart schools signing dumb contracts. Some credit to to being competitive against ranked teams. Cal also lost by 19 to a mediocre Washington State and by 18 to Oregon State.

Last year (Wilcox's fifth year), Cal lost badly to horrific Colorado, Arizona and Stanford, and lost to a bad Washington. They also lost to Mountain West Nevada and to a bad TCU.

This is Wilcox's SIXTH year as Cal's coach (Schiano is in year 3-to be clear- Greg needs to show progress with at least 3 conference wins in 2023 with Northwestern, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State and Maryland on the schedule). I'll leave it to you whether you consider the last 3 years under Wilcox are progress or regress:

2017California5–72–75th (North)
2018California7–64–55th (North)L Cheez-It
2019California8–54–5T–2nd (North)W Redbox
2020California1–31–3T–5th (North)
2021California5–74–54th (North)
2022California4–82–7
California:30–3617–32
 
Dear sir- I know you are in Cal, but FFS, Justin Wilcox is in his sixth season in the pillow-soft PAC 12. Give us a break with further ahead. after going 8-5/4-5 in year 3, he went 1-3/1-3 in 2020 and now 4-8/2-7 this year. If this is "further ahead," I'll take a bullet to the head right now. I would model NOTHING after what Cal and Wilcox are doing. NOTHING. ZERO. NADA. ZIP. They are losers. During our Cal tour several years ago, the tour guys roundly mocked Cal athletics. Not a good look or feel. Loser mentality out there.
PAC 12 has 6 ranked teams. Cal is a relative bottom feeder but they are competitive. Rutgers is struggling to be competitive.

Current Cal AD is the equivalent of Fred Gruninger. Men’s Basketball is a wreck and Football hasn’t made traction since Tedford was shown the door. Wilcox needs a good OC. His defenses can be quite good Olympic sports are strong.
 
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We agree on unfirable. Two smart schools signing dumb contracts. Some credit to to being competitive against ranked teams. Cal also lost by 19 to a mediocre Washington State and by 18 to Oregon State.

Last year (Wilcox's fifth year), Cal lost badly to horrific Colorado, Arizona and Stanford, and lost to a bad Washington. They also lost to Mountain West Nevada and to a bad TCU.

This is Wilcox's SIXTH year as Cal's coach (Schiano is in year 3-to be clear- Greg needs to show progress with at least 3 conference wins in 2023 with Northwestern, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State and Maryland on the schedule). I'll leave it to you whether you consider the last 3 years under Wilcox are progress or regress:

2017California5–72–75th (North)
2018California7–64–55th (North)L Cheez-It
2019California8–54–5T–2nd (North)W Redbox
2020California1–31–3T–5th (North)
2021California5–74–54th (North)
2022California4–82–7
California:30–3617–32
711 summed it up well. No question Wilcox racks up WTF losses as Schiano use to do. Maybe the schools are too similar! 🤣
 
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We agree on unfirable. Two smart schools signing dumb contracts. Some credit to to being competitive against ranked teams. Cal also lost by 19 to a mediocre Washington State and by 18 to Oregon State.

Last year (Wilcox's fifth year), Cal lost badly to horrific Colorado, Arizona and Stanford, and lost to a bad Washington. They also lost to Mountain West Nevada and to a bad TCU.

This is Wilcox's SIXTH year as Cal's coach (Schiano is in year 3-to be clear- Greg needs to show progress with at least 3 conference wins in 2023 with Northwestern, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State and Maryland on the schedule). I'll leave it to you whether you consider the last 3 years under Wilcox are progress or regress:

2017California5–72–75th (North)
2018California7–64–55th (North)L Cheez-It
2019California8–54–5T–2nd (North)W Redbox
2020California1–31–3T–5th (North)
2021California5–74–54th (North)
2022California4–82–7
California:30–3617–32
You forget that Oregon State is a ranked team. Yes, losing by 18 to them isn't good -- but it's not terrible either. Note that Cal was on the upswing under Wilcox until the pandemic year, and made it to two bowl games, winning one. That's why Cal extended Wilcox. At least Cal had something to regress from.
 
PAC 12 has 6 ranked teams. Cal is a relative bottom feeder but they are competitive. Rutgers is struggling to be competitive.

Current Cal AD is the equivalent of Fred Gruninger. Men’s Basketball is a wreck and Football hasn’t made traction since Tedford was shown the door. Wilcox needs a good OC. His defenses can be quite good Olympic sports are strong.
I'm close friends with a Cal alum. He does not acknowledge Cal basketball exists!
711 summed it up well. No question Wilcox racks up WTF losses as Schiano use to do. Maybe the schools are too similar! 🤣
Well, I will not be celebrating in years 5 and 6 if RU goes 5-7//4-5, and then 4-8//2-7 and celebrating the close losses to ranked teams.
I'm a bigger fan of what Mike Leach did with Washington State or what Jonathan Smith did at Oregon State. Cal did have glory years under Tedford in 2006 and 2004.
You forget that Oregon State is a ranked team. Yes, losing by 18 to them isn't good -- but it's not terrible either. Note that Cal was on the upswing under Wilcox until the pandemic year, and made it to two bowl games, winning one. That's why Cal extended Wilcox. At least Cal had something to regress from.
I did not forget- they are no Penn State, Ohio State or Michigan.
See what I said above about prospective years 5 an 6 under Schiano being like Wilcox's years 5-6. Progress, regress or treading water, if a coach goes 5-7//4-5, and then 4-8//2-7 in years 5 and 6, they should be fired, and I hope we do the same should we be in that scenario.
 
Missed the face mask on FSU there which could have kept the drive alive…FSU wins 45-38
 
Cali has about 4X the population of NJ so they should have a deeper pool of talent. And Terry Shea tried heavy Cali recruiting and it did not work well. Not to say recruiting should be all NJ. But Pa., NYC, Md. and Fl. are more promising.
I think Schiano is dipping deeper out of state, which is good. NJ just is not deep enough. Good to see more traction in NYC, MD and OH. Really high on Asamoah out of Ohio.
 
I'm close friends with a Cal alum. He does not acknowledge Cal basketball exists!

Well, I will not be celebrating in years 5 and 6 if RU goes 5-7//4-5, and then 4-8//2-7 and celebrating the close losses to ranked teams.
I'm a bigger fan of what Mike Leach did with Washington State or what Jonathan Smith did at Oregon State. Cal did have glory years under Tedford in 2006 and 2004.

I did not forget- they are no Penn State, Ohio State or Michigan.
See what I said above about prospective years 5 an 6 under Schiano being like Wilcox's years 5-6. Progress, regress or treading water, if a coach goes 5-7//4-5, and then 4-8//2-7 in years 5 and 6, they should be fired, and I hope we do the same should we be in that scenario.
Yeah, Cal Basketball is pathetic. Lafayette type losses loom on a regular basis. Mark Fox hasn’t recruited well and he isn’t showing to be a good “coach them up” guy.
 
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Yeah, Cal Basketball is pathetic. Lafayette type losses loom on a regular basis. Mark Fox hasn’t recruited well and he isn’t showing to be a good “coach them up” guy.
One last thing on Wilcox. He inherited a program that Sonny Dykes had revived from 1-11/0-9 in 2013 (and 3-9/2-7 in the prior season). While on paper 2016 (Dykes' last year) looked bad, he had losses of 4 , 10, and 3 points, but some bad blowouts too--they happen to all middling/bottom feeders!).

Cal recruiting was not terrible, the 2014 class having three 4 star recruits, the 2015 class #29 in the nation and five 4 stars, and the 2016 class #27 in the nation with a 5 star and four 4 stars (#4 in the PAC 12). Unlike when Schiano took over, the cupboard was far from bare- Wilcox had talent on the roster.

2013California1–110–96th (North)
2014California5–73–64th (North)
2015California8–54–5T–4th (North)W Armed Forces
2016California5–73–6T–4th (North)
 
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I think Schiano is dipping deeper out of state, which is good. NJ just is not deep enough. Good to see more traction in NYC, MD and OH. Really high on Asamoah out of Ohio.
I remember from Schiano 1.0 that he did a *lot* of recruiting in Florida because of his MIami connection. It's not new for him to look out of state.
 
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