With nine minutes remaining in Saturday’s game against Oregon State and Cal down 41 points, the Beavers were lining up to punt on fourth down.
But as Oregon State lined up to snap the ball, flags littered the field. Unsportsmanlike conduct on Cal. Taunting on the defense. 15-yard penalty. Automatic first down.
Yep, that sounds about right.
After the 62-14 shellacking in the season finale on Saturday night, coach Jeff Tedford is probably going to get fired.
And this loss highlighted exactly the reasons why.
Were there penalties? You betcha. Cal ranked third in the country in penalty yards heading into Saturday’s game.
Anxious to climb to the top of the national rankings, the Bears added 172 more penalty yards, extending drives with boneheaded personal fouls.
“Early on in the season, we had problems there. We had them curtailed over the last few weeks though,” Tedford said. “Today was absolutely a situation of too many penalties.”
Turnovers also continued to haunt Cal, which ranks among the top 10 in the country in that enviable category.
Bridgford threw a pass right to an Oregon State linebacker. Daniel Lasco dropped a handoff. Wide receiver Darius Powe caught a pass over the middle and then put it on the ground.
Red zone defense also continued to be an issue. The Beavers had nine possessions inside the Bears’ 20 yard line. Every single time, they found the endzone. The kicker didn’t attempt a single field goal.
And most embarrassingly, crucial mental mistakes burned Cal repeatedly.
On the Beavers’ first offensive play, wideout Markus Wheaton ran behind the entire Cal secondary. Quarterback Sean Mannion found the wide-open Wheaton for a 48-yard gain.
This type of play simply shouldn’t happen. The safety’s role is to ensure nobody runs past the last line of defense. Blown coverages are inexcusable in general, but blown coverages on the first play of the game are a sign that a team lacks heavily in concentration.
The Bears aren’t lacking in talent. Tedford’s recruiting classes always include a multitude of four-star recruits and future NFLers.
No, talent’s never been the issue. This team’s issues derive from a completely different place: a complete lack of discipline.
A disciplined team doesn’t rack up hundreds of penalty yards a game.
A disciplined team doesn’t turn the ball over endlessly.
And a disciplined team definitely doesn’t hand out first downs like candy canes on Christmas.
Tedford said it himself in the press conference. This team has a lot of work to do.
That work has to start with a focus on the little things.
And that work must begin starting Monday, with those returning to play in the 2013 season focused intently on not repeating the same mistakes that doomed their predecessors.
Once again, next season will bring a Cal team with plenty of talent. The talented young wide receiver troika of Bryce Treggs, Chris Harper, and Darius Powe will rank among the best in the conference. Tight end Richard Rodgers has the potential to be a major factor in the passing game as well.
Avery Sebastian and Chris McCain will lead a defense with another year of experience and eight returning starters.
And heralded recruit Zach Kline is expected to take over the quarterback position. There are rumors that the redshirt freshman may be the best Cal prospect since Aaron Rodgers.
But, as this season taught these young Bears, talent alone doesn’t win games.
Limiting turnovers, avoiding costly penalties, and a bend-but-don’t-break defense philosophy are just as important as a long completion or an interception.
Whoever coaches this team next year is sure to pound that lesson into this team’s minds all offseason.
Michael Rosen covers football. Contact him at [email protected]
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Tedford should be kicked upstairs, not out. There is plenty of desk work he can do, e.g. as “operations officer for revenue sports”. We owe him >$5M for the balance of his contract, so we may as well get our money’s worth.
On the discipline point, you’re absolutely right. A few weeks of “spit and polish” would do the Bears a lot of good. So would 3x/wk StrongLifts 5×5 workouts and Paleolithic diets.
The problem is not with the players, it’s with the coaching staff and nothing short of a complete turnover of coaching, head coach included, will fix it. Tedford’s salary is a sunk cost but that doesn’t mean he should be allowed to sink the program any further than he has already.
We don’t want an national championship or a Rose Bowl appearance or even a major bowl anymore, we just want to watch a game where we don’t trail by 5 touchdowns mid-way through the 3rd quarter andTHAT’S how far the program has slid under Coach Tedford.
Tedford is not evil but his influence has been evil for the program and it is time that he began his retirement. Find the money to fire him and be done with it; just make sure that whomever takes the reigns has done it before and has done it well. AND has a name that will attract butts to the stadium and money for the stadium. Please.
Most of all, remove that gawd-awful defensive coordinator who has allowed 112 points in 2 games; preferably taking him away in handcuffs. What he did, and charging us for it? It should be a crime
Let’s see 11 season and 8 Bowl Games…….are you kidding you want to get rid of the Guy. Give him 1 more year.
I wonder why colleges think they have to let in people with “special needs.” This reporter is clearly handicapped in one form or another. Please I just want to read something that wasn’t put together in 10 minutes by a short man with down syndrome…
lol, what do you think is wrong with shortie’s article?
A better headline would have been “Addition By Subtraction”. Goodbye Maynard. Goodbye Tedford.