Bay Area Sports Guy – Cal’s defense, Zach Maynard exposed in 31-24 loss to Nevada

The California Golden Bears came into their week one matchup with the University of Nevada Wolf Pack as 12-point favorites. They were returning to Berkeley’s Memorial Stadium for the first time in 21 months, a place they hadn’t lost to UNR since 1903. Cal led the all time series 22-2-1 coming into Saturday. But none of that kept them from falling flat and losing their first game in their new digs 31-24.

Maynard’s education

When I was writing my pregame post yesterday, I saw a little tidbit regarding Quarterback Zach Maynard’s offseason academic issues. I decided to pass on including it because it seemed like old news – Maynard was slated to start the game and he appeared to be in good academic standing. That is, until I flipped on KGO to hear play-by-play man Joe Starkey saying that Maynard would not start because he missed a tutoring session in the offseason.

It seems that head coach Jeff Tedford is taking academics very seriously for all his players this season, and taking away Maynard’s chance to be the first starting quarterback in the newly renovated stadium is a pretty big statement.

The offense was flat with Maynard’s back up Allan Bridgford at the helm. Bridgford played 3 series, going 1-for-8 for 8 yards.

Nevada’s head start

Cal struggled with three drives that resulted in punts while Maynard was on time out; meanwhile, Nevada found a way to take advantage. The Wolf Pack’s second possession was a 16-play, 80 yard drive that ended in a Stefphon Jefferson touchdown.

Maynard took the reins late in the first quarter. But after his first drive stalled at Cal’s 43 yard line they punted the ball back to Nevada, who made the score 14-0 on the strength of a 49-yard touchdown run from quarterback Cody Fajardo.

The Bears found a way to battle back and knot it up at 24-all by the fourth quarter with touchdown catches from wideouts Bryce Treggs, Keenan Allen and Chris Harper. But it was Cal’s defense that would ultimately cave.

Defensive irresponsibility

In discussing the Bears’ 2010 loss to UNR, Cornerback Marc Anthony mentioned the importance of gap responsibility and technique. Cal must not have studied hard enough for this test, because Fajardo looked like the second coming of Colin Kaepernick on Saturday.

The Wolf Pack’s pistol offense still puzzled Cal’s defense, as UNR racked up 450 yards of total offense and five touchdowns, all of which came on the ground. Fajardo looked elusive running the ball, racking up 97 yards and a touchdown. But that doesn’t mean that Nevada’s air attack wasn’t clicking: Fajardo finished his day 25-for-32 for 230 yards.

Cal may have found a way to hang in offensively, but Nevada was the team that sustained the final scoring drive and finished the game victorious.

Game notes

- Zach Maynard finished the game 17-for-30 for 247 yards and 2 touchdowns.

- Cal’s run game wasn’t exactly dominant Saturday. They totaled 29 rushes for 110 yards as a team, and CJ Anderson was their leading rusher; he gathered 14 carries for 66 yards (4.7 avg). The rushing highlight of the day was a double reverse to Keenan Allen, who scampered 39 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter.

- Speaking of Allen, his connection with Maynard looked as healthy as ever. He pulled in 5 catches for 69 yards. Although the quarterback looks like he may have a nice new target to throw to in Treggs (3 catches, 63 yards, 1 TD), Allen remains Maynard’s favorite receiver, especially on third down. Allen showed a dynamic ability to snatch passes out of the air and elude tackles once the ball was in his hands.

- Fajardo may have stolen the show, but his co-star Stefphon Jefferson looked pretty darn good too. He rushed for 145 yards and 3 touchdowns.

- Recorded attendance at the game was 63,186 – a sellout.

Stan

Maynard is better then the backup is all we learned. He's too unpolished looking. And that fumble?..he was far past the line of scrimmage and ran with the ball as if he was going to throw it. THAT was just plain dumb. Tedford had his crest..then was on cruise control and now is treading water to keep his head afloat. I don't know..maybe it came down to recruits over the years noticed that Cal would have a high ranking pre season..and yet,seemed to get worse at bowl games,and farther from Pac 10 championships. Everybody wanted to see Tedford make Cal a dynasty. That boat has sailed. And left Tedford just barely with his head above water.

Otis Byrd III

As far as Tedford goes, yeah, he might be on the hot seat, but at the same time, he has helped put Cal football back on the map, and it's only fair that Cal gives him a chance now, to see what he can do, now that they have better facilities and a new renovated stadium. Will recruits want to come to Cal now to play for Tedford? We'll see how things go for Tedford. You do kind of feel that he has no excuses now, with the new facilities and new renovated stadium. I just don't see Cal getting rid of Tedford without a solid replacement in mind. A guy like Mike Leech isn't available since he took the Washington State football head coaching job. Also, as I said, Tedford helped put Cal football back on the map, so it's almost like you get the feeling Tedford will stay at Cal for a while, unless Cal bottoms out and becomes as bad as UCLA in football or Washington State in football. If Tedford is let go though, what happens if they brought in another Tom Holmoe? LOL. Basically, if Tedford was let go, what if they bring in a replacement who sucks? Then people would've wished that Cal would've kept Tedford. But yeah, I just don't see Cal getting rid of Tedford right now.

Otis Byrd III

Yeah, Maynard isn't really that good. The guy just doesn't look comfortable out there, and it's almost like you have to hold your breath whenever he throws or runs. Even though he had a decent good game yesterday despite being benched (I didn't know he threw for 247 yds.), does Tedford seriously think Maynard is the answer at QB though? This guy has got to make Tedford nervous. As you alluted to in your other post about Cal QB's, it is hard to believe that there hasn't really been a good starting QB at Cal since Aaron Rodgers. Nate Longshore could've been something, and there was some hype around him after Aaron Rodgers left, but Longshore just couldn't stay healthy. I don't think he ever played a full season at Cal when he was there.... Joe Ayoob sucked at Cal, even though he was great at City College (CCSF). It's too bad he was never able to put it together at Cal, after putting up big numbers at City College.... Riley had promise, but he wasn't really that good as well. We'll see what Maynard can do the rest of this season. Yeah, at times he can make plays and throw the deep ball, but the guy looks unpolished out there at times. I'm sorry.

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Slam

I'm not saying Maynard is a good QB, but maybe the reason he's running around scared is because Cal has a crap O- line. Also, what's interesting to me is, Cal is on the hot seat with the UC Regents / State of California as Tedford is one of the highest paid State employees, so Sandy Barbour CAN'T fire him and eat the remainder of his contract, because the State has no money to throw around. It's a political Hot Potato. So it seems to me Cal has their hands tied, and Tedford knows it. I can only hope with the shiny new facilities, Tedford can really ramp-up the recruiting.

ReggieWrite

For once I don't totally disagree with Stan, Maynard just isn't very good. He a few decent moments last year but on other occasions he looked awful, terrible body language, and played scared. Wonder if Tedford is in a bind and must play Maynard or risk upsetting his brother. Probably also true that as Stan said, the backups don't look that great either. As Otis mentions, hard to understand how CAL has experienced such mediocre QB play over the last several years. Tedford is supposed to be some kind of QB guru.

I totally agree with you on Maynard. The guy does play scared, especially when he scrambles, and he had "happy feet" in the game against Nevada a couple of days ago. It's almost like he's afraid to fail. He doesn't have that confidence you want in a starting QB. He does have terrible body language. Yes, he will celebrate a big play, but when he struggles, he looks like he doesn't care sometimes or that it doesn't bother him. But yeah, I agree that he just isn't that good. I wonder if Tedford knows this. That's an interesting point you made as to why Maynard is playing. Now that you mention it, you might have to wonder if risking upsetting his brother Keenan Allen, has something to do with it. Did Allen influence Tedford to play Maynard and/or threaten to go to the NFL Draft or transfer to possibly another Pac-12 school or somewhere else, if Tedford didn't play Maynard? You're right that Tedford was probably in a bind, even though Maynard is probably their best option at QB right now, which is kind of scary and says a lot about Cal's QB situation right now. But yeah, you're right, Tedford is supposed to be a QB guru since he coached Joey Harrington (when he was good. LOL), when Tedford and Harrington both were at Oregon, and Tedford of course coached Aaron Rodgers at Cal. You would think more QB's would want to come to Cal because Tedford worked with Harrington who was a great QB in college, and Aaron Rodgers who was a great QB as well in college, and of course is now one of the best QB's in the NFL right now. Maybe Tedford will have more luck with QB's after this year, with all their new facilities and of course the new renovated stadium.