California Golden Bears Football Blog - Bears with Fangs

Keys to the Game: Oregon State 2009

2009-11-05T21:33:00.000-08:00

Dah. I had a far more extensive writeup previewing the huge upcoming game (conference repercussions are big on this one folks) planned for this one, but life got in the way.So I'll have to make this shorter than usual. Here's the skinny: The Bears are coming off a 3 game winning streak after face planting earlier in the season against the conference's elite in Oregon and USC in back to back

Jahvid Best on Jim Rome is Burning

2009-11-04T19:24:00.000-08:00

Thanks to CalBearsGoBig!Say what you want about Jim Rome but the guy usually can get some pretty good interviews out of most people. Fortunately, Jahvid makes it easy for Rome as he comes across as being his articulate, intelligent self.Don't believe me about the decent interview? Just watch what happened when Best was paired up with Bay Area's own Gary Radnich a few years back. Jahvid Lynch?

ASU Game Winning Drive and Highlights

2009-11-03T15:41:00.000-08:00

Sorry, I'm still excited by the final game winning drive against ASU on Saturday. Jittery even. Fortunately TouchedtheAxein82 already has a HQ version up on YouTube. Thanks!

Arizona State 2009 Recap

2009-10-31T21:29:00.000-07:00

(AP Photo/Paul Connors)“Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable.”These words nearly became a chant as I watched the entire Arizona State game on Saturday, and they reached nearly religious levels in the last five minutes of the game.Cal escaped from Tempe in a heart-stopping 23-21 win. The more jaded fans and more cynical media pundits are going to look at the game and gripe about all the things

Keys to the Game: Arizona State 2009

2009-10-29T21:56:00.000-07:00

(Do NOT want to have to deal with this again)Even with more than half the season finished, most Cal fans don’t really seem to know what to make of the Bears. The overlying theme appears to be that we don’t do very well against elite opponents, but do a decent job of kicking inferior opponents’ asses. Kind of like an amateur MMA fighter duking it out with high school skateboarders. Can dish out

ESPN Chats with Jahvid Best

2009-10-28T20:01:00.001-07:00

Your favorite Jet sat down with ESPN this week to answer some questions online.You can check out the transcript here.Nothing to stop the presses, but it was still fun to hear from Jahvid and the media exposure is always good. Unfortunately, the most interesting responses regarded his favorite places to eat in Berkeley (kudos on the La Burrita shoutout Jahvid) and this bit:Jinsoo (Seoul, Korea)So

Washington State 2009 Recap

2009-10-25T22:17:00.000-07:00

(Riley has a 11-2 TD to INT ratio this season. Ben Margot.AP)It’s been some time, three years in fact, since I’ve missed out on a chance to watch an entire Cal game on t.v. or in person. Yet, there I was on Saturday evening listening to Joe Starkey call the game on KGO Radio, while following ESPN’s game tracker on my girlfriend’s iTouch, and trying desperately to picture the romping that was

Washington State at Cal 2009 Highlights

2009-10-25T14:24:00.000-07:00

Found this over at CGB, but thought everyone would appreciate it since the game wasn't televised. Will try and have my recap up later tonight.Thanks to TouchedtheAxe!

Rankings Update: Week 9

2009-10-25T13:28:00.000-07:00

As expected, the Bears are still not ranked this week but appear to be knocking on the door, coming in at 28th and 29th in AP and Coaches Polls respectively.The most interesting aspect of the polls is trying to evaluate the worthiness of the teams ranked ahead of Cal at this point. I could really try and break down each ranked team's strength of schedule, but none of that really matters unless

Washington State 2009 Keys to the Game

2009-10-22T22:45:00.001-07:00

In a game that in which the outcome attempts jumps out as a foregone conclusion as a “W” for the Bears, I think it’s only fair to really stop and think about the 2009 version of the Washington State Cougars.Let’s not kid ourselves. The Cougs were embarrassingly bad in 2008. In fact, I’d go so far to say that I thought they were more pitiful than Washington, and the Huskies didn’t even win a

Cal Seals Game with 10 Man Defense

2009-10-19T21:26:00.000-07:00

I saw this brought up in the message boards, and reader Oliver pointed this out in the comments section of my UCLA recap, but I thought this was worth its own post.In a revolutionary new defensive scheme, the coaching staff decided to test its new 3-2-3 defense, jogging on just 10 defensive players in the waning moments of their game against UCLA. You can clearly see just 10 Bears on the field

UCLA 2009 Recap

2009-10-18T22:17:00.000-07:00

(AP Photo/Reed Saxon)Let’s not fully kid ourselves. Saturday’s win over UCLA has confirmed that this team still has a number of issues preventing it from being an elite team. And it’s clear we still have overestimated talent to a certain extent and have underestimated a number of key deficiencies. And it most certainly doesn’t cover up the fact that this team really for the lack of a better

UCLA Game Live Thoughts

2009-10-17T12:37:00.000-07:00

Just to try this out: you can follow my thoughts throughout the game on twitter: www.twitter.com/bearswithfangs.com.Go Bears!

UCLA 2009 Keys to the Game

2009-10-16T07:05:00.000-07:00

"We have to win every game from now on. We can't lose again. We lost two games already. We can't lose again, and I don't think we [will]." – Linebacker Mychal KendricksThe two long weeks since Cal’s last game are nearly over and the Cal Bears hope to turn around their season in their contest against the UCLA Bruins this Saturday.After two of some of the worst losses (combined loss of 72-6) under

USC Recap: (Part 2) Effects

2009-10-06T14:00:00.000-07:00

I continue my USC recap by looking at the potential effects of Cal's second conference loss, and some thoughts to consider as we enter into the first bye week of the season.What does it mean?The effects of Cal’s loss to USC are potentially long lasting. It’s not anything any player, coach, or fan wants to hear, but this loss really hurts on a number of levels.First of all, for all intents and

USC Recap: (Part 1) Assumptions

2009-10-05T21:20:00.000-07:00

(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)I apologize for the delay in getting this out, but I’ve actually committed my last few days to non-college football related tasks for my own health and mental acuity, which has actually served me pretty well. I woke up Sunday morning and despite a few dreams that things went well for the Bears (including a fantasy Syd’Quan endzone interception), had a pleasant

Rankings Update: Week 6

2009-10-04T18:09:00.000-07:00

Nothing really newsworthy here, but for consistency sake, the Bears have fallen out of the Top 25 poll after Saturday's 30-3 loss to USC.The Trojans stayed put at #7, while the Ducks moved up to #13 after the drubbing of Washington State.Stanford is at 29th with 50 votes, while Arizona also received 2 votes.

Cal vs. USC 2009 - It's kind of a big deal

2009-10-01T21:44:00.000-07:00

-Cal USC 2009Editor’s Note:[I am forgoing my usual keys to the game, and replacing it with more or less my thought process this week regarding the absolute significance of this week’s game against USC. Feel free to leave your thoughts. My usual prediction is still included in the conclusion.]A blowout loss like the Autzen Atrocity (copyright BearswithFangs) can do funny things to a Cal fan.

Rankings Update: Week 5

2009-09-27T10:56:00.000-07:00

Not that it matters too much any more, but the Bears stumbled 18 spots to number 24 in the latest rankings following their 42-3 loss to the Oregon Ducks on Saturday. The Ducks who have beaten back to back ranked teams in the past few weeks have reentered the rankings at #16.The Bears face #7 ranked USC in a critical home game this Saturday. A loss would drop the Bears from the rankings and

Oregon 2009 Recap

2009-09-27T10:27:00.001-07:00

Clearly we did not guess right.What the hell was that?Okay. Okay. I’m being a bit to rash. Let me start again.…What the hell was that?Yesterday’s loss is beyond any simple description. There are a plethora of reasons why the Bears and their shiny number six ranking were devastated by the Oregon Ducks yesterday 42-3. At the same time, the game can also be simply described as the worst loss in

Keys to the Game: Oregon 2009

2009-09-24T19:26:00.000-07:00

(Blount's next step after Oregon: "LaGarrette Blount's Punchout")I know I’ve stated this multiple times on this site, but I’ll say it again: very few games during the course of the season get me as excited as Cal’s annual one with the Oregon Ducks. They are most typically some of the most thrilling contests I get the pleasure of watching in the conference year in and year out. All of our

A Minnesota Conversation

2009-09-21T20:10:00.000-07:00

This is neither insightful or newsworthy, but I thought it was a bit funny to track the absolute highs and lows during a conversation with a friend while watching the Minnesota on two different sides of the country. Enjoy.2:25 PM Jessica: BearwithFangs, i cannot handle this are you watching this is ridic i'm so pisssssed off right now2:29 PM me: I'm pretty pissed too Jessica: RILEY SUCKS

Rankings Update: Week 4

2009-09-20T13:17:00.000-07:00

After an eventful Saturday, the latest shakeup in the rankings has the California Golden Bears as the top ranked team in the Pac-10. The Bears used their first road win in five tries to catapult themselves to #6 while USC's surprising loss to the vastly improved Huskies has sent them tumbling to #12.The Huskies have also gained attention with their turnaround win, entering the Top 25 rankings at

Minnesota 2009 Recap

2009-09-19T14:56:00.000-07:00

"Here...you do something with it." (AP Photo/Paul Battaglia)It was looking like a magical Saturday. I settled down in an Irish pub to watch my Golden Bears hopefully roll the Minnesota Golden Gophers. One giant plate of nachos and two easy touchdowns later, it was looking like many concerns about another road letdown game would have been for naught. Nachos were good. Game was good. Life was

Keys to the Game: Minnesota 2009

2009-09-18T14:44:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the lack of updates this week. Those who know me personally know that I've just recently moved to NYC and am pursuing an incredibly draining and time consuming (but rewarding) career. Hence, I haven't had much of an opportunity to sit behind my computer for very long. In fact, I still don't. I'm actually typing this from my blackberry (amazing!) on my way to New Haven for the