Glaring Cal Weakness: Special Teams

The last starting position named by Tedford was that of kicker for kick-offs. He waited until the week before the game to name Giorgio Tavecchio to the position over David Seawright. True freshman Vince D’Amato handles extra points and field goals, beating out Tavecchio for the job. Anger handles punts. As noted by the Chronicle: “Giorgio Tavecchio left several kickoffs short, reviving a lingering problem. David Seawright replaced Tavecchio on kickoffs during the third quarter.”

Tavecchio definitely had problems last season. The Daily Cal’s Matt Kawahara wrote on September 3, 2009 “Where Tavecchio-and Cal as a whole-struggled last year was on kickoffs. The Bears ranked eighth in the Pac-10 in net kickoff average as Tavecchio averaged 56.6 yards per attempt. The sophomore recently said that he increased his range by five to 10 yards over the offseason thanks to Cal's weightlifting program, and Tedford said Wednesday that Tavecchio has constantly landed his kickoffs between the end zone and the five-yard line-a distance of 65 to 70 yards.”

Let’s take a look at the kicking stats for the Cal-Maryland game. Tavecchio averaged 60 yards a kick, not including the 15 yard botched squib kick in the second quarter. Four of his seven kicks were returned for more than 21 yards. The good field position that the Terps had on kickoffs was mostly attributable to poor kick return coverage by special teams, not because Tavecchio wasn’t kicking it hard enough.

First Quarter:

Giorgio Tavecchio kickoff for 63 yards returned by Torrey Smith for 23 yards to the Maryland 30

Giorgio Tavecchio kickoff for 56 yards returned by Torrey Smith for 8 yards, fumbled, recovered by Cal D.J. Campbell at the Maryland 22.

Second Quarter:

Giorgio Tavecchio kickoff for 64 yards returned by Torrey Smith for 21 yards to the Maryland 27.

Giorgio Tavecchio kickoff for 62 yards returned by Torrey Smith for 18 yards to the Maryland 26.

Giorgio Tavecchio kickoff for 15 yards, downed at the Cal 45.

Third Quarter:

Giorgio Tavecchio kickoff for 52 yards returned by Torrey Smith for 23 yards to the Maryland 41.

Giorgio Tavecchio kickoff for 67 yards returned by Torrey Smith for 29 yards to the Maryland 32.

Fourth Quarter:

David Seawright kickoff for 63 yards returned by Torrey Smith for 17 yards to the Maryland 24.

Other than the one fumble recovery on a kickoff by Cal, a relatively weak Maryland was able to start on their own 30, 22, 27, 26, 41, 32. It’s unclear if Seawright was put in the game due to Tedford’s unhappiness with Tavecchio’s performance, or if it was just part of his clearing the benches during a blowout. In any event, kick offs (no more botched squib kicks) and kickoff return coverage are areas that the Bears need to refine prior to the Minnesota game.