Greetings Crimson Nation. And welcome to the FIRST football Friday of November. Speaking of which, does it seem that long ago that when the “N” word rolled around we all thought of this:
And then thought of this:
I mean, weren’t we like 2-20 in November over a period of five or so years???? Brutal.
It still is really shocking to think how good we eventually got given how BAD we were in November for all those pre 1997 years……
Anyhow, we now are facing what amounts to one of two final pivot games of the year (The Beavs game is #2 assuming we can beat Stanford). Win this weekend, and I think one would have to surmise that 6-6 is squarely in the cards. Lose this week, and it becomes increasingly difficult to imagine how we could run the table and save .500
As I told Sedihawk this week, its pretty hard to get a feel about this game. On one hand, we have a CAL team that is just REELING. I mean, if we were to jump on them early, it seems highly probable that they could flat-out lay down. Moreover, given Longshore’s health and inability to move outside of the pocket, I think we’re actually poised to have a pretty good game defensively. That said, given the lightening speed at WR and RB on the Bear side of the ball, Brinkhater is conceding that the Final Tally for the Golden Bears will be between 21 and 24 points assuming that we can move the ball without tragic (see Oregon game this year) turnovers. In the end, whenever we face fast teams like this, we always give up a few big plays.
So, for us, the key question is whether or not we can score. Personally, I am pretty darn confident that 28 points is going to win this thing. But, I am nearly 100% confident that 31 points will do the trick (again, IF we play well and take care of the ball offensively).
Are we up to it?
Certainly, the loss of Tardy is really going to hurt us. But, I am with Sedihawk that McCall can and will be an adequate replacement. But, our BIGGEST need in this game is to bust out one DEEP play to soften the middle of the field and to FINISH when we get in the red zone. Oh yeah, Alex MUST NOT turn the ball over either inside the 20’s.
Can it be done?
Looking back at last year, we had that two game stretch where everything came together before injuries wrecked what would have been a Sun Bowl year for the Crimson Army. Was last week last year’s win over Oregon? Is this week last year’s smacking of UCLA?
We’ll see.
Ultimately, this game REALLY does come down to Alex Brink–which as we’ve said at the beginning of the year–most games would. That said, there is no doubt in my mind that this is a winnable game for the Cougs if Alex plays like a senior and if the O-Line is able to provide suitable protection. We really don’t have to be lights out to win this thing: just efficient and opportunistic.
Of course, I don’t see Alex coming through. We’re gonna continue to struggle to score in spite of piling up the total yards..
CAL 27 WSU 17
Other games:
Oregon State 24 USC 23 Serna gets carried off the field after drilling a 54 yarder as time expires. Why the Heck don’t we have a stinkin kicker???
Oregon 41 ASU 21 Too good are the quack…Its gonna be fun watching them get left out of the National Championship..
Stanford 28 UW 27….Dub don’t play D and Stanford executes too well…
Arizona 31 UCLA 14….Arizona wakes up after its too darn late……
ENJOY THIS GAME COUGAR NATION, IT ACTUALLY HAS BECOMING INTERESTING AGAIN!!!!!!!!
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