That was a pretty impressive first game. Not sure how good the Bears will be, but to rally and pull away with so many new players being asked to contribute is a nice sign. 50% from the field and behind the arc. 9 turnovers. About even in rebounds. Those stats should get a win most nights.

Didn’t watch broadcast (wasn’t on Pluto that I could find) so can’t comment on how players looked. Insights beside Chima?

I happened to walking back to my seat and was at the same yardline when that hit occurred. As soon as the flags flew i told my wife 'he's gone'. forearms were up high, and the receiver's neck snapped back, so even if the hit was in the chest, I was pretty sure they would eject. I thought there was a SUU hit soon after that should have warranted AT LEAST a flag/review, and there was none. Tough rule to enforce consistently.

As for the students....if you go to a high school game anywhere in the bay area, its MUCH different than in any of our days (well, if you graduated at least 15 years ago). low student turnout, they sit away from the cheerleaders, no organized cheers....just hanging out. So, they come here, and without any leadership, its pretty much the same thing. Cal's student population is as diverse as ours, and they fill up their student section pretty well (even for a 8:00 PM Thursday night kickoff). why? there is a tradition there of a student section and a STRONG leadership group making the game fun. they get the Greeks there, which we certainly don't (and I don't remember a strong Greek support in the past, but I could be wrong). We're kind of depending on freshmen to wander over from the dorms and that's not happening.

Sac had two td’s (of their first three) off turnovers to really open it up. Blocked FG and recovered fumble in end zone. We’ve been in the other side of that in Weber -> changes the complexion of a game in a heartbeat. Sac is good. Ags need to finally put it together vs a good team

agree. SUU would raise some eyeballs. We will really have to play our best game by far to win. Listening to coaches tonight, their defense is legit, especially the interior. Having 97 out tomorrow would help the cause

The cougars are staying on our floor at the Hyatt. Doesn’t look like they keep us up celebrating.

if Sac beats Poly (i think they will, but they did struggle a bit last week vs. UNC for 3 quarters), they will go into the Causeway 5-2 in the Big Sky. SUU is 5-1 now. a victory over either would be a win over a upper tier team. Sac's lost to Weber was non-conference, so we have 3 common losses (EWU and NAU) vs BSC teams.

i think the linemen are still the key. if they can't keep the DL from penetrating 2-3 yards from the edge, it throws off the timing and the path of the runner. seems like our sweep always gets spread to the edge, and inside help plus the sideline kills the play. we have some big guys on the line (the right side are both 6'6" 300-lb guys) who might have been killers in gould's power run game; quickness might not be their forte.

that being said...its all a guess. my eyes follow the ball carrier, not the linemen (like 99.9% of the fans!), and i'm not spending anytime reviewing tape!

isn't he required to sit out a year? i thought it was only graduate transfers (like vernon adams a couple years back) that could play immediately, even FCS -> FBS

how'd they look?

i was checking out anygivensaturday.com and read the big sky wrapup there. cookus from NAU was ejected in the 1st quarter for TARGETING! apparently he had a crackback block on a reverse that drew the flag. his replacement, a true freshman, was sacked 7 times as they struggled on offense. wow.

also, EWU's Gage Gabrud has been suspended for the upcoming UND game turning over the position to a freshman. reports are he and another player, a starting LB, were arrested for obstructing a police officer from making an arrest of another person. we need a EWU loss (they finish with Portland) to keep our slim playoff hopes alive.

good to hear.

shows him as the starter in the participation list for the past 3 games, but i don't see any tackles for him since NAU.

i was looking at the stats, and it shows Parenteau as the listed starter, but he has no defensive stats. I don't think he played again. He's been out a pretty long spell here. Love to see him back on the field.

The main reason our budget is so much higher than ISU is because we offer many more sports than they do. Last time I saw a list our football budget was in the top third of the conference. Way below the Montana’s. I think ISU SUU and UNC were at the low end. If you factor California cost of living and the higher cost of a UC-based scholarship, you’d expect to be on the high side. I’d like to see a list of budgets with scholarship costs omitted to get a good picture on what being spent on the programs

couldn’t agree more! 6-5 with a California sweep would be great, but 7-4 would be a huge first step back.

Honestly at the beginning of the season I didn’t see 5 sure wins on the schedule. I didn’t expect the drop off in Portland, Poly and Dakota, but with all the new pieces and the recent history another 2-9 or 3-8 was my unspoken thought. Glad to be proven wrong!

I think they might take 4 Big Sky teams. With so many teams bunched up toward the top, we’d need some help. SUU, Weber and NAU are 5-1. EWU Montana Sac and MSU are next at 4-2. MSU plays NAU play each other next week, the others (beside SUU!) should cruise. So even if we upset SUU, there would be 6 or 7 teams ahead. The final week has MSU v Montana and Weber v NAU, so not much help there.

So don’t think so. Weber or NAU will be 8-1 and the other 6-2. EWU 6-2. Then a possible logjam at 5-3 . Montana winning out to finish 6-2 would be bad. Win out and get some upset help from someone like Dakota. We’d need EWU to fold so we could leap over them

I couldn’t much of the field on the reverse so I don’t know what we might have gained if their end didn’t make a really good play. We have occasionally used the fly action as play action to open a back side pass but haven’t seen it as decoy much. That makes predictable. Surprised we didn’t see any wildcat. Went to I-formation once in red zone sucessfully

Kay’s was very good. He was unstoppable on that deep cross which opened up the run game. Tough receiver with great hands. Doss is faster and makes unreal athletic catches. I tend to think of the current era as Aggie Stadium so Tony was just prior. Charlie Enos was fun to watch as was Michael Olivia.

Chris Carter was awfully good but Doss does so many things well. And he has size.

I thought we’d win but not with this score. We weren’t that sharp but bengals really helped with bad penalties and that first half turnover. Once it was three scores it seemed safe. When they went to backup QB it was over. Did he walk out in solidarity for kicker? Their announcers didn’t have much insight. A sweep is NOT a fly sweep. We haven’t used a snap count all year. Study. Makes you appreciate marsh and kelly’s preparation for our opponents

Not according to Siri


That -3 in the fourth quarter was impressive