Daily Cal: Bears Need to Improve on First Down

BY Brian Bainum

One game at a time, one practice at a time, one play at a time. That has been the consistent theme this week coming from Cal football coach Jeff Tedford. Not from me, though.

I'm looking ahead ... to Sept. 23.  That is when Rudy Carpenter and Arizona State will visit Memorial Stadium in what will be the Pac-10 opener for both teams.  It's not that I think the Bears should underestimate Minnesota tomorrow. To be honest, I am unsure if they will be able to beat the Gophers. It's just that after last week's opening Knockout in Knoxville, the nonconference schedule now matters for one thing and one thing only-preparing for conference games.  By the way, Cal will take down Portland State (there you have it, a bold, Rasheed Wallace-like prediction).  The loss to the Vols was lopsided and embarrassing, but if the Bears had not put themselves in first-and-two city blocks every offensive possession, I say the final margin would have been less than seven points. In other words, don't beat yourself on first down. Here are some first down low-lights from good ol' Rocky Top.  

First offensive series: Justin Forsett loses five yards on 1st-and-10 from the Tennessee 40-yard line.  

Second offensive series: Eric Beegun is called for illegal procedure on 1st-and-10 from Cal's 20-yard line.

Third offensive series: The Bears fail to snap the ball and are called for delay of game on 1st-and-10 from their own 20-yard line.

Fourth offensive series: Nate Longshore is sacked for a nine-yard loss on 1st-and-10 from Cal's 45-yard line.

Fifth offensive series: Forsett is dropped for a two-yard loss on 1st-and-10 from the Vols' 44-yard line.

I'm no math whiz, but that adds up to five offensive series, five second-and-long situations and a grand total of negative 26 yards.  Not exactly a recipe for success when you are trying to establish a running game, boost the confidence of a quarterback who is starting for only the second time and instill a winning attitude in an offensive line with three new starters.  If the Bears want to start moving in the right direction this season-and there is still plenty of time to do just that-it would behoove them to get positive yardage on first downs against Minnesota and the following week against Portland State in preparation for the conference opener against the Sun Devils.  Forget about the other problems like dropped passes and missed tackles. Those incidents were isolated and fixable.  "We are not going to harp on dropped balls," Tedford said.  If Cal is able to get its offense rolling in the next two weeks, it can be the team everyone expected it to be at the beginning of the year.  It all starts on first down.