The Cal offense goes by many names: “The System,” “Air Raid,” “Bear Raid.”
“The System” sounds like something UC-Berkley students would protest against. Hey man, meet me by Sather Gate at 4:20 pm dude, we’re gonna demonstrate against THE SYSTEM broham. There’s going to be a massive demonstration on Telegraph Hill.
Califiornia Golden Bears Coach Sonny Dykes has his finger on the button of the system, and he’s handed controls over to sophomore quarterback Jared Goff. He has a budding star developing at the position.
Yesterday, Northwestern Defensive Coordinator Mike Hankwitz attempted to get his unit “to put THE SYSTEM on trial,” and it didn’t work out too well. There were Bear Raid sirens going off all over Lake Michigan airspace, as Jared Goff put up nearly 200 yards passing and three scoring tosses by halftime alone. Cal went up 24-7 at half, and held on to win 31-24.
“All the work we put in all season, everything we did from last winter all the way to spring ball all the way to summer conditioning all the way to camp has really kind of just come together. That doesn’t mean we’re done or we’re finished or anything, but it just feels great to get a big win like this, it’s big time,” said Goff after the game.
“Jared, I thought played really well early in the game, he made good decisions, was in command, accurate, hit a lull there in the 4th quarter, as our offense hit a lull, we dropped some balls in the fourth quarter,” said Dykes.
Last year, Cal went 1-11. Their only win was over FCS foe Portland State, so this was the Golden Bears first win over a FBS opponent since 2012. So this was a long time coming. The Bear Raid takes time to be implemented correctly. It’s a very high tempo offense that involves a high number of snaps per game.
“Our system is a little but unique, it does take a little bit of time, you tell people that and they don’t really ever want to hear that,” said Dykes.
“We don’t want to hear it as coaches, and we don’t tell our players that, but it takes some time, it’s just a little but different.”
Jared Goff looks like a star in the making, somebody you might seriously put in your 2017 NFL mock draft…if you’re thinking that far ahead. ESPN has already started the hype machine, comparing Goff to Peyton Manning during the telecast yesterday.
Obviously, that’s more than a bit of an over-statement.
Jared Goff on how playing NU last year prepared him…
“I knew their defense better obviously because I played against them but I think we just came in as a more prepared team. A lot more leadership on the team. A lot more determination I think. It was just a great feeling.”
Today was also perhaps the coming out party of California QB Jared Goff. For much of the game, he made plays some of the most fabled Cal signal callers: Aaron Rodgers, Kyle Boller, Pat Barnes, etc.
Paul M. Banks owns and operates The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with Fox Sports, Yahoo! and the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He’s been a guest on news talk shows all across the world and been featured in hundreds of media outlets including NFL Network, Fox Sports 1 and ESPN2. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)