“Our goal right now is the Rose Bowl. That’s what we’re shooting for. That’s what we’re working for every day. That’s what we’re trying to do, and that’s all we can expect right now.” — Cal quarterback Jared Goff to ESPN on Aug. 22.
True to Goff’s word, Cal played in the Rose Bowl. Unfortunately for the Bears, the game was just played at the Rose Bowl stadium and not in the actual bowl game. And true to form, Cal took a beating from UCLA. The loss dropped Cal to 1-5 on the season. Since Oct. 13 of last year, the Bears have gone 0-10 in games against FBS opponents.
Here’s what we know so far: Goff, Bryce Treggs and Chris Harper are good. The running game and the defense are not.
Combine Cal’s recent struggles with the surge of optimism that followed its narrow loss to Northwestern back on Aug. 31, and what you get is a rapidly heating hot seat for Sonny Dykes and Andy Buh. After the season opener, Cal fans believed their Bears were ready to compete in the Pac-12. Now, a winless Pac-12 season appears to be a more likely outcome in Berkeley.
Whether Cal squeaks out a win this season is irrelevant. The Bears are bad, and everyone knows it — a Pac-12 win or two won’t change that fact. What is important is that Cal stays patient.
I understand the frustration that comes with patience — I’m a Seattle Mariners fan, after all. Fans and players might want to win in the present, but for Dykes, the goal is sustained success. It’s why his decision to dismiss Chris McCain from the team was a wise one. There’s no doubt McCain’s absence hurts a struggling Bears defense in the short term. But Dykes understands that crafting his own culture at Cal, one separate from Jeff Tedford’s, is vital to his long-term success.
Like Frodo and Sam on the road to Mordor, the path to sustained success for Dykes won’t be without its bumps and bruises. It’ll also take time. And Dykes deserves time to rebuild a Cal program that Tedford dragged into the dumps, just as Buh deserves an opportunity to coach a defense that isn’t composed of second-stringers. Cal isn’t going to the Rose Bowl anytime soon, and firing Dykes or Buh won’t speed up the process.
I don’t suspect Dykes’ job to be in any danger. Firing a head coach after one season isn’t just unusual; it’s plain stupid. But as is the norm for 1-5 teams, a scapegoat is typically sought out. It’s why I anticipate Buh’s job could be in jeopardy, even if axing him isn’t a solution for the defense.
There was already a talent deficiency on that side of the ball prior to the season. Combine that with an injury bug spreading as quickly as pink-eye in a residence hall, and what you get is a defense surrendering north of 500 yards per game. I don’t know how good or bad a defensive coordinator Buh is, because he isn’t coaching a defense worthy of competing against Pac-12 offenses.
I’m not saying Dykes and Buh should be absolved of any blame. A coach’s primary goal is to win football games, and that clearly isn’t happening in 2013. But a fan’s job is to remain patient and keep some perspective, no matter how difficult that can be in a year like this.
Sean Wagner-McGough covers football. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @seanjwagner.