From: randall@informix.com (Randall Rhea)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.college
Subject: Cal 46, San Jose St. 16
Keywords: cal sjs
Date: 8 Sep 92 18:14:18 GMT
Organization: Informix Software, Inc.

Observations about the Cal-SJS game on Saturday:

The attendence was 56,000, which I believe is a record
opening day crowd at California Memorial Stadium.  (You may need
to go back to the 1920's to find a larger crowd for an opener)
There were only a handful of Spartan fans.   It looks like Cal
football has started to attract a following at last.

The starting QB question, if there ever was one, was settled
by an excellent, poised performance by sophomore Dave Barr.
Considering that he had never thrown a college pass, he looked
great: he read the defenses well, dumped the ball off when he
had to, and threw really accurate passes.  Perry Klein entered
the game for a few plays and was very unimpressive: several
passes were badly thrown, including an interception.  He has never
had a good outing, including his few appearances last year.
The QB position was a major Cal question mark, but it looks like
as long as Barr remains healthy, Cal's offense will be as potent
as last year's.

Shawn Dawkins turned in a truly inspired WR performance.  SJS had
no one who could cover him.  He caught three Barr passes for TDs,
all in the first half.   He is an All-American candidate, and he
will be causing defenses problems all year.  Defenses will not
be able to double- and triple-cover him, as the Bears have good
depth in the WR position.

Russell White still does not have the quickness that he did in
1990, but he seems to be in better shape than last year.
He ran through huge holes in the first half and made every
advantage of them.  His TD run was vintage Russell, breaking
a few tackles and diving into the end zone, much like the UCLA
TD last year.  I question whether or not he can win the Heisman,
especially if Marshall Faulk turns in a few more performances
like he did against USC.  Faulk seems to be a step or two
quicker.

Although he had over 200 yards, I think he will
have some trouble against the better run defenses.  It is hard
to say how good SJS's run defense is, so I can't say how good the
Cal offensive line is shaping up.  It looked good in the first half,
so-so in the second half.  Russell's heisman chances will depend
on the offensive line.

The Cal defense had trouble stopping the pass, but this was
due mainly to terrific play by Garcia, the SJS QB.  Garcia
did an excellent job of calling audibles after reading the 
blitz.  I would say that there is a question as to whether the
Bears can cover the faster receivers, especially man-to-man.
The interior LBs were outstanding as expected; Willard seems
to be getting over his injury, and Barsala was wonderful as
usual.  The defensive line was dominating, holding the Spartans
to -40 yards rushing. (a new school record)  However, SJS was
using their second string OL, as their starters are having
academic problems.  

Overall, this was an impressive performance by the Bears
against a team that is actually pretty good.

Next week: at Purdue.





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Randall Rhea                                        Informix Software, Inc. 
Project Manager, MIS Sales/Marketing Systems    uunet!pyramid!infmx!randall