SF Gate: Cal spends bye week taking stock after loss

Rusty Simmons

In college football, more than any other revenue sport, a loss often calls for alarm and major renovation - because every game really does count for so much. Amid a bye week and still somewhat stewing over Saturday's 35-27 loss to Maryland, Cal's hierarchy eschewed the idea of a negative postmortem. Without drawing on many of the normal coaching cliches and refusing to point fingers, the Bears believe the loss is just that: one nonconference loss.

Here's the state of the units:

Coach Jeff Tedford on the offense: "There are things that cost you football games - third-down conversions, red-zone opportunities, attention to detail and penalties. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out how you fall short when those things go against you."

Defensive coordinator Bob Gregory: "It's never as complicated as it sounds. It's not physics, like the Nobel Prize winners are doing on this campus."

Special-teams coordinator Pete Alamar: "There's a sense of resolve, but there's no panic in any way."

Maybe more telling is the play on the field, which consisted of a number of bone-crushing hits Tuesday and Wednesday. None was more dramatic than a Worrell Williams hit on Peter Geurts in the backfield that literally made the coaches pause before calling the next play.  Gregory said Tuesday's practice was the best bye-week effort he has seen since arriving at Cal in 2002. The proof won't come until a Sept. 27 game against Colorado State, and there's plenty to fix in the meantime.  The offense has to start converting on third-down plays, according to Tedford, and can't forget the most dynamic player in the conference resides in its backfield. Cal was 2-for-11 on third downs against Maryland and called for passes on the final 25 plays, instead of handing the ball to Jahvid Best.  "Take your pick," Tedford said. "They took turns. One time it's a blown route, one time it's pressure, one time it's something else." Redshirt freshman right tackle Mitchell Schwartz, who quickly is becoming a sensation for pancake blocks on YouTube, has moved to the left to protect sophomore quarterback Kevin Riley's blind side. Left tackle Chet Teofilo is manning the right side after being outmanned by Maryland.  The defense kind of gets a pass for limiting Michigan State running back Javon Ringer to 81 yards before he went for 417 yards and seven touchdowns the last two weeks. Still, Gregory didn't hide how Maryland had two 80-yard rushers Saturday. "It's get back to the basics," Gregory said. "There's no need to scrap what we do. We've got to get better at what we do." That means the defensive line and linebackers have to be fundamentally sound enough to fill the proper gaps, and that means the safeties have to erase the mistakes of the front seven. None of that, according to Gregory, happened against Maryland.

So is the case with the kick coverage, which has rewarded opponents great field position. Three different kickers have failed to boot the ball deep, and the rest of the unit fails to make up for the weakness.  "Obviously, our kick coverage is a work in progress," Alamar said. "... If I'm a basketball team that has a guy who's gunning and scoring 30, I've got a chance with four other schmoes. In football, you better have 11 guys who are doing their jobs right." "We'll eliminate the mistakes." Tedford has promised to take a more hand's-on approach with the defense and special teams this season. During Tuesday's special-teams periods, he moved cones within an inch of where he wanted them, watched each player intently and hit a padded Bernard Hicks with a block. "Everything that went wrong in that game is within our control," Tedford said. "When you lose, you don't let it stick with you forever. You have to study it, learn from it and never let it happen again."

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