Offense gets headlines, but improving defense also punished Oregon
By Jay Heater
BERKELEY — Of all the big plays by Cal in a 45-24 win over Oregon on Saturday at Memorial Stadium, there is one being replayed over and over in the film room today. The subject of the play is Oregon tight end Dante Rosario, who stomped on a fallen Cal player during DeSean Jackson's 65-yard punt return. A few minutes before that play, Rosario head-butted Jackson along the sideline. Neither play drew a personal foul. Cal coach Jeff Tedford argued with the officials that Rosario should have been tossed out of the game. Nothing happened. So Bears linebacker Zack Follett took care of it himself. On Oregon's next possession after Jackson's punt return for a touchdown, Follett lined up Rosario, who had caught a short pass from quarterback Dennis Dixon. Follett, with a full head of steam, buried Rosario, hitting him chin-high, driving him into the turf and knocking his helmet flying. It was a defensive statement play, one that is becoming more common as Cal's season progresses.
Those statement plays had come mainly from the offense — terrific bursts by Marshawn Lynch or tremendous catches by Jackson and not from Bob Gregory's unit. But if the Oregon game is an indication, Gregory's chargesare coming together. "Defensively, I thought Cal played very well," Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said. "They took away some of our running game and some things we've been successful doing. "Their defensive tackles were tough to move inside, and their ends and linebackers played off the blocks of our edge protectors pretty well. I think their run defense was the best thing they did." Follett said that Gregory and linebackers coach Bob Foster studied film of Oregon's rushing success against Cal last season and made significant changes that were put into effect last week in practice. "The team did a good job of learning it," Follett said. Oregon tailback Jonathan Stewart said his unit was frustrated. "It seemed like they were right on top of our whole game plan," he said. Ducks center Enoka Lucas echoed that thought. "A lot of times, they kind of knew what we were doing," Lucas said. Cal might not have known what Oregon was running, but the Bears defense certainly has the speed and talent to make it look that way.
Until Saturday's rout, the numbers hadn't reflected that ability. Cal went into the Oregon game ranked seventh in the Pac-10 against the rush at 143 yards allowed per game. The Bears were ninth in total defense at 370.6 yards allowed per game. That was hard to believe since the Bears had seven returning starters from a unit that led the Pac-10 in scoring defense a year ago. It appeared to be the kind of unit that could completely shut down opponents. Five Bears linebackers Desmond Bishop and Mickey Pimentel, defensive tackle Brandon Mebane, cornerback Daymeion Hughes and defensive end Nu'u Tafisi — appear to have the talent to go in the NFL draft next year. There's no reason to think they can't be as explosive as the offense has been so far. The numbers on Saturday indicate that talent is meshing. Oregon was averaging 227.5 rushing yards per game. The Ducks had 70 against Cal. Stewart led the conference in rushing at 114.2 yards per game. He gained 25 yards against the Cal defense. Tedford was thrilled with Gregory's game plan and the defensive execution. "That's a feat to stop those guys, to slow them down like our defense did," Tedford said. "Coming up with those turnovers (four) was critical in the game." There might be more statements to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment