From: bnoble+@cs.cmu.edu (Brian Noble)
Subject: Cal 14 v. Purdue 41
Organization: School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1992 23:35:13 GMT


(Sorry this is late - just got back to the Burgh from West Lafayette)

We got our butts kicked.  We Got Our Butts Kicked.
   ****** WE GOT OUR BUTTS KICKED! ******

That said, here's a wrap-up:

Purdue played mistake-free football, and capitalized on the many Cal
miscues.  As another poster already mentioned, they are not
overpoweringly large, fast, or particularly talented.  They *are* a
well-coached, disciplined football team.  The Purdue coaching staff
has sqeezed every ounce of talent out of this team, and had them
pumped up for more.  The Bears seemed as though they expected to mop
up Purdue without breaking a sweat, and the game was so lopsided by
the time we figured out that they play real football in Indiana that
motivation was at an all time low.  The Boilers came out looking a bit
nervous, but soon forgot all that playing-a-ranked-team crap when they
found out that the Bears were mostly doing a Miami Blowhard impression
without the talent (and perhaps game-day desire) to back it up.  More
on that later.

Gilbertson (Cal's head coach) seemed to be committing Snyder's Folly
Number One: insisting on setting up the pass with the run.  This may
have been my mistaken impression, but it seemed that the Cal offense
spent *way* too much time trying to run against a team that faces a
running offense every week of the season: few conferences overall run
the ball (or defend the run) as well as the Big Ten.  Purdue ran *at*
*will*.  Period.  I have no idea what happened to our front seven, but
it looked like they had never seen a draw or a trap before in their
entire lives.

Cal's passing attack was mostly ineffective until the Boilermakers
went into a conservative don't-give-up-the-big-play defense - late in
the second quarter.  Barr consistently threw behind his recievers, and
his recievers kept tipping the ball.  Did I mention that aside from
not making mistakes, Purdue capitalized on all four (or was it five)
Cal turnovers?  They did.  The passing game got back on track in the
second half, and Klein (who was brought in for the mop-up) put up some
very respectable numbers.  In fact, he played like the game was still
on the line (i.e. like someone who wants his starting job back.)
However, before some Cal-woofer from the OCF posts about how we
outgained Purdue (we did), listen up: they were garbage yards.  No one
cared.  I didn't care, the rest of the Cal fans didn't care, and most
of all the Boiler defense didn't care.  They gave up the underneath
stuff and didn't want to let the Bears break one long.  Purdue
respected the deep threat all day and for that I am grateful :-).
Purdue's pass attack was not particularly spectacular, but they got
the job done against some sloppy coverage when they needed too.

Special teams were just as dismal.  Plenty of good field position for
Purdue.  Poor coverage overall.  Purdue did an excellent job of
containing Bear returners.  In other words, there really wasn't a
single bright spot all day long.  Sure, a few Bears will have high
tackle counts, but that's 'cause Purdue ran so many damn plays.  The
passing game looked good, but Purdue gave up anything under ten yards
between the thirties the entire second half.

I take it back: hats off to the twenty-one members of the Cal Band who
drove all the way from Berkeley (on their own money), stayed the whole
game (and played for the thousand or so other Cal alumni) and got
right back in their cars to go back to Berkeley for school on Monday.
Or Tuesday.  There's your Cal bright spot.

Now for the editorial piece.  The one thing I never liked about the
Snyder programs at Cal was the lack of discipline.  For example the
four hundred and sixty seven personal fouls against Stanford last year
in the Big Embarrassment.  I was hoping that Gilbertson's more
hands-on style and more traditional attitude would bring some class
and style back to the Bay Area's Bad Boys.  It is true that Cal is
playing a somewhat more disciplined game than that typical under
Snyder: other than turnovers there were fairly few boneheaded
penalties, and only a brief skirmish at the end of the game from some
very frustrated twenty year olds marred an otherwise sportsmanlike
game - or so it seemed.  After breakfast with a fellow alumn's family
in Indianapolis I read that the Bears were up to their old tricks:
some of them arrived at the airport wearing straw hats in a very
un-subtle dig at the Purdue "farm boys".  Other interesting quotes
were (from memory from the Indianapolis Star, and therefore not
completely accurate) "They talked trash all game, but we kept our
poise and took it to them."  "I have little respect for the Cal
players..."  The head coach of Purdue did imply in one of his quotes
that Gilbertson and his staff is not entirely to blame, and is trying
to make a turn around.  (He was very explicit in leaving the coaching
staff out of any disparaging comments.)  For the Cal program's sake, I
hope he's right.  I don't give a flying rat's tail if Cal goes on to
win the MNC - if they can't do it with some class and grace, I won't
give a damn.  I refuse to follow a program that can't win --- and lose
--- with style.

We have a lot of work to go before we play Kansas (who kicked someone
else's butt this week).  I hope the team and coaches learn something
from this little exercise.

Brian
"Try Hard Bears! - Be Dilligent!"
   - A Dark Years cheer, resurrected for hopefully the last time.
"We'll win the game or know the reason why."
   - The Cal drinking song, traditional.