Cal Bears Football

Week 3 is much too early to have a realistic conversation about the 2013 Heisman Trophy race. That said, let's have a frank discussion about the 2015 Heisman, shall we? 

If we were to embark on the quixotic endeavor of compiling a list of early front-runners for college football's most prestigious individual honor two years from now, Cal quarterback Jared Goff would have to be near the top. 

The true freshman exceeded 300 yards passing for the third time in as many career collegiate appearances Saturday, throwing for 371 yards and three touchdowns.

And while the Golden Bears defense continued to experience sharp growing pains, surrendering 52 points to the No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes, Goff more than held his own against BCS championship-caliber competition. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P53EmXjVRVs

Cal's defensive deficiencies will likely keep the Golden Bears from contending in the Pac-12 during Sonny Dykes' first season as head coach, but Goff's impressive arm and understanding of the Bear Raid offense should keep his team in plenty of contests. 

Goff told Jeff Faraudo of the San Jose Mercury News he is "really not concerned about [stats]." The quarterback may not be, but the rest of the nation can discuss how impressive the numbers Goff is registering in his debut campaign are.

His three touchdowns against Ohio State give him seven for the season. He's over 1,300 yards, which puts him on a pace for roughly 5,200. That's 1,000 more than the nation's leader, Rakeem Cato, passed for in 2012. 

Goff is doing some impressive things, but what makes his future even more intriguing is how much room he still has for improvement. 

He threw one interception Saturday, putting him at four on the season. The same gunslinging style that makes Goff such a perfect fit for Dykes' version of the air-raid spread also leaves him susceptible to turnovers. It's the high risk that goes with the high reward he's capable of providing. 

Dykes summed it up best in his press conference following the Bears' Week 2 defeat of Portland State. 

"He is going to continue to get better," the coach said of Goff. 

With as strong as the freshman has started, his progression and maturation will push him closer to the Heisman Trophy. Bears fans may want to keep their calendars open for December 2015. 

Kyle Kensing is the Pac-12 lead writer for Bleacher Report. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow Kyle on Twitter: @kensing45.

Despite a 44-30 loss to the No. 22 ranked Northwestern in Week 1, the California Golden Bears were able to put up quite the fight in head coach Sonny Dykes' debut in Berkeley on Saturday, August 31.

Needless to say, Cal's performance prompted some unique and interesting responses on Twitter.

The Bears have the luxury of playing in Northern California, near the heart of the tech world. As a result, there is no shortage of involved fans and opinions close to technology. Twitter is part of that relationship and there are a number of tweets that are worth taking a close look at following last Saturday's game.

Cal Is Relevant Again

Cal fans will remember last season. It was the year that ended former head coach Jeff Tedford's 11-year tenure in Berkeley, and a year that saw the Bears go 3-9 and a continued fall from prominence in the Pac-12 Conference.

Yet things appear as if Dykes is turning it around in Berkeley, and the team's performance in Week 1 may suggest such.

The team is no longer an embarrassment and the future may very well be bright.

Joe Davidson of the Sacramento Bee tweeted such on September 1. 

Yes, there was a time—just a year ago—that was hard to watch. It seems as if that has changed. Cal looked good against a top-25 team and that has to be a positive sign moving forward.

As Davidson says, it is a good first step and one that plenty of Cal fans should echo.

To Be Injured or Not To Be Injured—That Is the Question

One of the more intriguing elements of last Saturday's game were allegations that Northwestern was intentionally having its players fake injuries to thwart the Bears' fast-paced offense. 

While Dykes did not come out and state that the injuries were faked, he did acknowledge that they had an effect on his offense. In an interview published via CSN Bay Area's Kyle Bonagura, Dykes stated:

It affected it a lot. You know it was just unusual, it seemed like every time we had a first down they would have an injury. I hadn't seen that, didn't expect to see that, was disappointed that I saw that but that's the way it goes sometimes.

So what did the Twitter universe have to say about it?

Bonagura wonders if Northwestern was faking injuries.

In addition, @Boodog4849 thought that it was the case. He also felt that penalties were not entirely going Cal's way.

California Golden Blogs were also pretty vehement in accusing Northwestern of faking injury.

Whatever the case, the apparent injuries to Northwestern beg further questions as to what the NCAA should do to prevent coaches from intentionally having players appear injured in situations where a timeout would be best saved.

  

Who Would Have Thought?

The Bears have some talent—really good talent.

True freshman Jared Goff had a promising debut under center as he finished with 445 passing yards and two touchdowns. While he did throw three interceptions in the game, it is likely that Bears' fans will come to like this kid.

Wide receiver Chris Harper also had a big impact, netting 11 receptions for 151 yards and hauling in both of Goff's touchdown passes.

Like Goff, Harper may be a player to watch.

California Golden Blogs had this to say about Goff.

John Breech, NFL writer for CBS Sports, sang Harper's praises.

What these tweets mean is pretty simple. Cal is developing some talented athletes that will have a positive impact on the team over the course of this season. It will be exciting to see exactly what happens in the weeks that follow.

Sure, it was a loss and the Golden Bears' 2013 opener did not go according to plan.

Yet given the task that they faced, the fact that Cal put forth such a commendable effort speaks volumes. In spite of the alleged injury controversy, the Bears almost pulled this one off.

There were plenty of bright spots that surpass the questionable ones. 

Thankfully, Twitter caught them all.

Peter Panacy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report.  Follow him @PeterMcShots on Twitter.

True freshman Jared Goff has beaten out redshirt freshman Zach Kline for California's starting quarterback job, reports Jeremy Fowler of CBSSports.com, and Goff is exactly the type of quarterback that Cal needs to succeed in 2013.

Head coach Sonny Dykes has already showed that he favors Goff, but it will take a few games before he really sees just how great of a decision he has made. Goff is a pocket passer that possesses a quick release and tight spiral. He has top-notch fundamentals and accuracy for a quarterback his age.

Dykes and offensive coordinator Tony Franklin are likely planning a prolific offensive attack for 2013, and Goff should be the focal point. The two coached together at Louisiana Tech last season and turned their passing attack into the third-best in the nation. Their 44 attempts and 350.8 yards per game show just how pass-heavy LaTech's offense was.

Their rushing attack ranked No. 17 in the nation (nothing to sneeze at, mind you), but the team was pass first, run second. This is the type of offense that Dykes and Franklin should introduce to Goff and the rest of the Bears. It gives the entire team the best chance to succeed.

Dykes will be implementing the "Bear Raid" offense in his first season with Cal, a spread offense that looks to move the ball down the field quickly. A quarterback with the arm strength and accuracy of Goff fits this system best.

Kline, the quarterback Goff beat out in training camp, has the arm strength to run this type of offense, but lacks the accuracy and touch to be as effective as his counterpart. A quarterback lacking touch or consistency on the deep ball in this system would be a liability for the offense. A spread offense will feature a ton of plays that go over the top of defenses, so big-time arms with big-time accuracy are ideal.

Goff's ability to keep the fast-paced offense moving (Franklin has averaged 79 snaps per game over the last three seasons, ranking him third in the nation) and in rhythm will be what makes the Bears one of the most prolific offenses in college football. Naming a true freshman the starting quarterback of a major university is a risky move for a first-year head coach, but Dykes has made the correct decision.

Building off a 3-9 season in 2012 won't be an easy task, but Dykes has already taken steps in the right direction with his new offensive attack and new quarterback. There's no better situation for a true freshman quarterback to be in than on a team that is coming off a down season, with a new head coach and offense that suits his skill set. Goff should be able to transform a poor offense into one that boasts both depth and explosiveness.

It's not like he doesn't have weapons around him. Bryce Treggs and Jackson Bouza are solid options at receiver, while Darren Ervin is a running back with the potential to balance out the offense if need be.

The Bears will likely improve on their 3-9 season from a year ago, but picking them for a bowl game may be a stretch. There are simply too many "firsts" on this team (first-year coach, first-year quarterback, first year with new offense, etc.) to count on them being consistent. That doesn't mean they won't be improved, though.

Goff should be able to lead his team to a record in the 5-7 range. The team plays tough opponents in Ohio State, USC, Stanford and Oregon this season, and Goff could really put his team on the map with an upset victory over one of them.

The fact remains that Goff is the best option for California—for both now and the future. He will be the quarterback there for at least the next three seasons and has plenty of time to win some games with the Bears. All he needs to show this season is that he has potential in the role Dykes envisions for him.

Head coach Sonny Dykes will be testing Cal football fans' patience when he debuts his new offensive sets this fall. One of the biggest changes will the insertion of vertical set blocking.

To understand this system, understand the man who is implementing it. 

Dykes is part of the Hal Mumme coaching tree. He worked for Mumme as an assistant coach at Kentucky in 1997 and 1999. Dykes also worked under head coach Mike Leach at Texas Tech in 2000-2006. Leach's Air Raid offense was practiced and preached at Texas Tech and Dykes took that knowledge to Louisiana Tech.

In Dykes' three years as their head coach, the Bulldogs went 22-15. Louisiana Tech had the top-ranked offense in the nation in 2012 averaging 577.9 yards per game. After dismissing longtime coach Jeff Tedford in 2012, Cal hired Dykes to usher in a new era of Golden Bear football. 

Dykes' vertical set blocking packages, also referred to as vertical set pass protection, is being utilized more often in spread formations.

Brophy Football explains the technical aspects of vertical set blocking techniques here. 

In layman's terms, the linemen set up a yard behind the center and establish a new line of scrimmage before the ball is snapped. When the ball is snapped, they retreat deep in the backfield in choreographed steps and drop anchor to pass or run block. In the video below, Louisiana Tech shows vertical set pass protection sets against Texas A&M.

The premise for this blocking technique is simple. When a defensive linemen pushes off from his set position, he is upright as he moves toward the offensive linemen or ball carrier. An upright defender making contact against an offensive lineman who is down low in his stance can be at a disadvantage.

The offensive lineman has a lower center of gravity, his shoulders are squared to absorb impact and he has anchored his position against a defender who has lost some leverage. 

Another benefit is that while the lineman backpedals to his new position, he has a better view of how the defense is reacting. Reading blitzes, stunts and twists should be easier. The defensive linemen also have to travel further to make contact because of how deep the offensive linemen are.

Will this blocking scheme work in the Pac-12? That depends on the play called.

Most of the league's interior defensive linemen are built leaner than the traditional defensive linemen. They are fast and have excellent agility. Lining up against a vertical set block should be a dream for a defensive end with decent speed. If he can get a beat on the inside, the quarterback will get flushed out of the pocket. The video below shows aggressive defense against vertical set pass protection.

Traditionalists will wonder if it is a bad idea to invite defenders into your own backfield.

On screen plays that is exactly what an offense is doing. It can be effective. It can also end up with a fat guy touchdown from the defense.

A defensive end is champing at the bit when he sees a lot of space between a guard and tackle. When the two backpedal to set up and drop anchor, he's looking to split the two and go after the ball carrier. There is no resistance for the first few yards of his bull rush. If the linemen stop him, it works. If they don't, he's going to make a tackle for a loss of yardage.

Teams like Oregon should be able to overcome vertical pass blocking. The Ducks' defense is full of speedy athletic players who can twist and stunt to get at the ball carrier. Stanford should also adjust well to this scheme. The Cardinal linebackers will be able to fill the gaps and stop the run. Last year Stanford defeated Oregon 17-14 (OT) by defending against the Ducks' zone read option. 

For VSPP to work, all of the offensive linemen have to be on the same vertical plane, according to Brophy Football.  If one or two are not in the same plane as the other linemen, the pass blocking will fail. For an offense facing a team with a prolific pass rusher, this can be problematic since the lineman pass blocking him may lose position and create an uneven plane. 

In Cal's spring game, Dykes introduced his new scheme and it was met with mixed reactions. The vertical pass protection set worked fairly well in pass plays. On run plays, not so well. A short video of Cal's spring game highlights great execution of VSPP. There are also some lowlights.

This system may work at Cal. But most football fans feel that great defense, not offense, wins championships. Since Dykes runs the Bear Raid (the nickname of Cal's Air Raid offense) the focus appears to be on the offense.

Last year under Dykes, Louisiana Tech finished last in total defense among all 124 FBS teams. It finished first in total offense. The numbers tell the story. Offense is a priority for Dykes. 

Cal will have a fun offense to watch this year. But there should be some concern over whether or not the linemen have quick enough feet to backpedal fluidly. Tedford didn't recruit players for this type of blocking so there will be some growing pains. There should also be concern over the emphasis on the offense.

Oregon had a great offense last year. It appeared unbeatable. But when it played against Stanford, the league's best defensive team, it lost.  

If Dykes can improve the league's 10th-ranked defense, then this offense shouldn't be a point of contention for fans. It will be a fun team to watch. If the Bears' defense doesn't improve, then Dykes may take heat for focusing too much on the offense.

It's a big risk. 

Especially for a school that has watched its rival Stanford turnabout a fledgling program and play in three consecutive BCS bowls. 

Cal has risked a lot. The school dismissed Coach Tedford in 2012 to bring in Dykes. Tedford lobbied for Cal's stadium renovation and new athletic facility. He was instrumental in laying down the foundation for building up a program. It took him 11 years but the patience wore out after a 3-9 season last year. 

This year, Bear fans' patience may be tested again. 

The University of California at Berkeley has a pristine academic reputation. Smart students go there. However, the institution's leaders made a dumb decision that they and possibly their students will be paying for dearly.

Memorial Stadium needed an upgrade. Not just to please boosters who had a desire to keep up with the Joneses. The stadium needed to be retrofitted, California's way of saying they needed to fix the stadium so it can withstand the Big One. 

However, Cal not only retrofitted the stadium, it built a new athletic center. The stadium cost $321 million to renovate and the athletic center cost $153 million, according to a San Francisco Chronicle report.

Stadium debt already absorbs 20 percent of intercollegiate athletics' annual income, or roughly $18 million of its $89 million budget. And that pays only the interest.

Cal won't start paying down the principal until 2032, when its yearly payments rise to $26 million, then $37 million, before tapering off in 2051. After a brief respite, Cal will owe a lump sum of $82 million in 2053 alone. Then it will have six decades to pay off the final 17 percent, or $75 million.

Incurring $445 million in debt at a California state school was a bad idea. The stadium had to be made seismically sound. But the additional money spent on the athletic center was not a smart decision in a down economy.

The report notes that "even if every endowment seat were sold, Cal would still be short by $134 million." If Cal had passed on building the athletic center, it would be in the black by $19 million. 

Every student-athlete deserves to have nice things. But tapping into the academic funds to repay the debt may cause a hike in tuition. The report states that UC schools pledge "all forms of revenue 'including tuition'" when financing large projects with high debt. This will not sit well with the students.

Cal offers one of the best educations in the country. It is ranked No. 21 among all colleges by U.S. News and World Report. With an in-state tuition of around $12,000 per year, Cal's value as an institution of higher learning is unmatched.

But Cal football is in flux.

After 11 years of rebuilding a dormant program, head coach Jeff Tedford was dismissed at the end of the 2012 season. With an 82-57 record, Tedford has the most wins and bowl victories of any Cal coach. He was also named the Pac-10 Coach of the Year twice.

Sonny Dykes is the new head coach. The former Louisiana Tech head coach will have the daunting task of raising the bar and infusing more enthusiasm in the fanbase. Selling all 2,902 of the stadium's endowment seats—at a cost between $40,000 and $250,000—is a priority for Cal. Turning in a good season may encourage more fans to invest in the seats.

But Cal's dreadful 3-9 season last year has already taken a toll. The Chronicle notes that "sales have stagnated at 1,857 seats" and "16 buyers gave their seats back this winter, stopping payments and cutting short their ownership deal."

A resurgent Cal football program would certainly help the league's credibility. But having bigger and better things is not always the way to go. Stanford remodeled its stadium in 2006, reducing the 90,000-seat capacity to 50,000.

At a cost of around $90 million, it was a good investment. The reduction in size was to help the Cardinal football team. More from Stanford Magazine:

Stanford’s facility was influenced by Oregon’s 54,000-seat Autzen Stadium, where sellouts are the norm and raucous, mind-bending noise rattles opposing teams. 

Stanford had a smaller budget than Cal, but it is also a private school with wealthy donors. The article notes that John Arrillaga, of Stanford's class of '61, "made an unrestricted gift of $100 million to the University." With cash in hand, the school would not go in the red after remodeling its stadium.  

John Wilton, vice chancellor for administration and finance at Cal, says the school has now learned its lesson.

"In the past, if someone promised to buy a seat, Cal added the hoped-for revenue to the books," he told the Chronicle. "They learned a commitment is not a commitment until you have a binding document."

Football is king. But football's cyclical nature demands that athletic venue improvements proceed with caution.

The University of Texas is considering financing a new stadium, but the efforts "aren't going well," according to the Chronicle's interview with Roger Noll, a Stanford professor and stadium financing expert.

"If Texas can't raise the money, how the hell do you think Cal can?" Noll said. 

College football makes a lot of money, but it also supports non-revenue sports, which eats up the revenues. 

More perspective: Cal's athletic department revenues and expenses database shows roughly $65 million in revenues (almost $11 million subsidized) and $63 million in expenses from 2006-11, according to USA Today. Texas had $150 million in revenues and $134 million in expenses, and it still has not secured financing for a new stadium.

Cal announced last month that it is building a $15 million aquatics center. The school says "work will begin once the entire amount has been committed" and that the "donor-based construction and financial model guarantees that the campus will not incur any expense or debt to complete the project."

It appears Cal has learned its lesson. With a little good luck, Cal's stadium renovation may bring in unexpected revenues.  

Dykes' style of football is exciting. He may energize the fans at Memorial Stadium.

With only 11 returning starters, improving on last season's disastrous record won't be easy for Dykes. 

Inspiring more than 1,000 fans to shell out serious cash for the unsold endowment seats is a priority for the school. Beating Northwestern, Ohio State, Oregon, Washington, UCLA, Oregon State, USC and Stanford would probably do the trick.

No pressure, Sonny. None at all. 

The University of California, Berkeley is making major headway as a national power in the college sports landscape, and now the school will have a new Golden Bears logo to mark that commitment to excellence.

California athletic director Sandy Barbour introduced the new logo on Wednesday in a special press conference at the school, per the Pac-12's official website.

There aren't any major changes to the colors—the school's dark blue and California gold are still ever-present—but this new logo marks a stark course shift.

Though the Golden Bears logo was prominent previously, the university's standard uniforms kept the logo to a bare minimum. Instead, the prominence of the stylized "Cal" or "California" was the standard, with the Golden Bears logo rarely showing up.

Now, the bear will be displayed on nearly every major school sports uniform. Here is a look at the Golden Bears' new home football uniform, for example, where the logo is prominently placed on both sleeves:

The football team is also seeing changes to its gold alternate uniform, and the basketball and volleyball uniforms will get a new look as well. The Pac-12's official website has high-resolution pictures of each uniform.

Developed by apparel monolith Nike, Cal has been working behind the scenes on a new logo since last year. Barbour subtly announced on Twitter back in December that the university would be getting new uniforms in 2013, and the anticipation has been palpable at Berkeley ever since. 

The athletics department will be hoping the new uniforms go over well in the mainstream. Cal has fallen behind in recent years among its Pac-12 brethren, and a new logo is seen as a way to inspire a new era of Golden Bears fans.

While this increased emphasis on and changing of the Golden Bears logo is not overly substantial, Barbour and Nike will undoubtedly be waiting on bated breath to see the response of alumni in the coming weeks and days. 

Follow @tylerconway22

Football in Berkeley, Calif., will look a lot different this fall. 

It'll be exciting for sure, but excitement isn't always a positive thing in college football—Michigan fans can attest to this. Whenever Denard Robinson cocked his arm for a deep throw, it was pucker time. 

Cal has a new coach in Sonny Dykes, and his former team, the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, was exciting to watch. His offenses at Tech were ranked No. 1 in total offense in 2012 and No. 51 in 2011. In two years, Dykes took a 5-7 team and turned it around to a 9-3 team.

So far, so good. 

Those stats were from his days in the WAC, when five of its seven teams' defenses also gave up 400-plus yards per game. The Bulldogs' defense was ranked last in the league in total defense, giving up an average 526 yards per game in 2012. 

The Pac-12 is a little tougher in defense. Not one of its teams finished the season with a 500-plus yard average in total defense, and only five of its 12 teams' defenses had a 400-plus yard average.

Dykes recently talked to ESPN's Ted Miller, and Dykes sounded impressed with Cal's defense:

Dykes: I feel good about where we are defensively. We've been vanilla to this point. We're teaching base techniques. The offense knows where the defense is lining up right now so they are taking advantage of that in scrimmage situations. We'll do more blitzing this week. That's by design. I'm not worried about the defense. I like what I've seen. 

Dykes also liked how well the offense has picked up the tempo of his "Bear Raid" offense:

I think on Saturday our players got into a good rhythm during the scrimmage. They got a sense of how demoralizing that can be to a defense. Tempo is always an area that we try to stress. You never have it figured out completely. But our guys are picking it up pretty fast. Anything under 10 seconds is pretty good.

Oregon has done very well with that up-tempo offense, so the Bears know it can work. The question is, with depth as an issue at several positions, can the reserves maintain that tempo when players, specifically the offensive linemen, need some rest as the game wears on?

Former Duck coach Chip Kelly recruited well and found players who fit the prototype player for the spread/zone read. But Cal's players, for the most part, were recruited for Tedford's Power I/Pro Set offense. Will they truly be able to adjust?

Before Cal had its first practice, Dykes was prepared for the worst. From the San Francisco Chronicle:

[Dykes] said the offense is easy to learn but hard to master with the speed and consistency necessary to be successful.

"They'll look terrible at first," Dykes said. "You'll come to practice and say, `Wow those guys are awful.' It's part of the deal. When you're teaching 90 guys something brand new, that they've never done before, it's not going to look like poetry in motion."

Cal football will definitely be more exciting to watch, and that's a welcome break from last year's offense as well as that dreadful 2009 offense.

But you can't fit a square peg in a round hole, and thus some players, as Dykes pointed out, aren't going to adjust as well as others in this new offense. 

We'll count on seeing a lot more points scored by the Bears this fall— but we'll also count on some growing pains as Dykes works with the players he has, as well as with the new guys he has recruited specifically for this new offense.

College football programs around the nation are looking to make their final pitches to recruits before they sign on the dotted line come national signing day on Feb. 6, and the California Golden Bears have a solid pool of talent heading into the all-important deadline.

With 4-star running back Khalfani Muhammad headlining the 27th-ranked class in the country, according to Rivals, the Bears are in decent shape. 

However, this article will look at just the linebackers that make up Cal's recruiting class, and one sleeper that could benefit the Golden Bears should he opt to sign with them. 

Cal has verbal commitments from two 3-star linebackers: Victor Egu (De La Salle/Concord, Calif.) and Chad Whitener (Mansfield/Mansfield, Texas). 

Egu is an excellent linebacker that is best utilized as a pass-rusher, establishing himself as the defensive leader on the national powerhouse De La Salle Spartans. In addition, Egu has exceptional instincts and is great at diagnosing run versus pass plays (and vice versa). As a result, he is very rarely fooled on the play-action. He is not much of an interception threat in coverage, although he can be serviceable in those situations. 

Whitener also isn't much of a threat in coverage, but he has exceptional speed and is able to neutralize running quarterbacks and help out on the blitz. 

Egu and Whitener are the two that have committed, but there is one underrated linebacker that Golden Bears head coach Sonny Dykes should take a look at. 

Anthony Costleigh (Valencia/Valencia, Calif.) is an unheralded linebacker nationally, although I feel that he is one of the better linebackers in Southern California.

Costleigh was one of the best players on Valencia's team this season and was named the 2012 Foothill League Defensive Player of the Year. He was also named to the L.A. Daily News' All-Area Team. 

Costleigh proved himself to be a dual-threat for Valencia, intercepting five passes and recording 91 tackles on the season. He's an extremely underrated linebacker and I feel he could make an impact for the Golden Bears, although not immediately. He will most likely have to redshirt his freshman season and may not get consistent playing time as a starter until his junior year, but he could have a big impact for California when he does receive an opportunity. 

The Golden Bears' need for a linebacker down the road leads me to believe that Costleigh would be an excellent weapon to add to their roster. 

University of California wide receiver Keenan Allen is unlikely to receive the hype and attention that  others at his position will during the 2013 NFL draft because of the lack of outstanding physical traits.

He doesn't have the towering height or blazing speed that usually receives fanfare come draft time, but he shouldn't be knocked simply because of that. He possesses many important traits, such as yards after the catch ability and quick feet, which should be recognized because they could take him a long way, perhaps even longer than those favored over him, in the NFL.

Scheme

I always like to start off any evaluation with a look to the scheme. Where has the receiver aligned on the formation, and what routes is he being asked to run?

In the case of Allen, he's lined up in the boundary and the slot. This is an immediate sign of his versatility and likelihood of understanding defensive coverages (to a degree), which is very important for a receiver.

From these alignments, he's ran a lot of short routes, such as stick, shallow cross and hitch, as well as vertical routes along the likes of deep crossing routes, bends and skinny posts. These are all routes that will be asked of him in the NFL.

Route Running

Although he has been asked to run several types of routes, Allen is still rough around the edges in this department. He doesn't always execute routes with precision, sometimes tipping off his break point and running with high pad level.

Both of the above are going to be important to clean up at the next level or Allen will struggle immensely.

Tipping the breaking point of a route is one of the worst things a receiver can do as it gives the cornerback an early advantage. Allen also tends to tip off his routes with his eyes or by drifting in the direction he will be opening up to. Here's an example against the USC Trojans from earlier this season. 

Allen was lined up wide against cornerback Torin Harris and was going to be running a short, inside breaking route. He started the route off properly by focusing his eyes on the cornerback as he ran forward. But as he gained depth, he peeked to the middle of the field, tipping off his route, and then broke off his route to the inside.

Allen recorded a reception for the first down on this play because it was deep zone coverage, which means the cornerback played with a cushion. However, if it was man coverage, this could have potentially been a turnover because of his revealing eyes. There are many cornerbacks, such as the Eagles' Nnamdi Asomugha and Atlanta's Asante Samuel, that have made a living off of picking up tendencies.

Allen also tends to run with his pads skyward, suggesting issues with pad level. I would like to see him bring them down as he is running down the field, keeping his pads over his feet.

Separation

Separation is tough for every wide receiver, but Allen does a good job of it. He runs many short routes, which sometimes makes it tough to judge, but overall he has done well of distancing himself from defensive backs at the top of his route.

Allen does a good job of separating because of his quick feet. He uses short, choppy steps to separate from defensive backs on short routes and also has the acceleration to win vertically. Against USC, he ran a jerk route from the slot that illustrated his quick feet.

After releasing to the inside of the defense, he took a step back to the outside and in front of the cornerback. He squared his shoulders and closed the gap between himself and the defender, which is key because it forces the defensive back to take wasted steps.

Once the gap was closed, he abruptly planted his right foot into the ground and drove back toward the middle of the field, creating separation and getting open for the quarterback.

His quick feet are very important and are often on display, enabling him to get open versus tight coverage. Although he is often open, he does not catch enough passes because quarterback Zach Maynard has failed to deliver the ball.

Hands

The judging of quality hands is one that's long been interesting to me. If a receiver bobbles the football, how good are his hands?

Allen has a tendency to bobble passes but overall, he's shown good hands that have enabled him to haul in difficult passes. What's impressive about his catching is that he mostly catches away from the body opposed to trapping the ball as it comes in, as many receivers do. He has the ability to adjust to the ball and bring it in, registering diving catches on numerous occasions as well as high-pointing the football.

Yards After Catch

One of the most important aspects of playing wide receiver in today's NFL is picking up yards after the catch. Coaches are preaching it, tailoring their offense to getting it and wide receivers simply have to get it. Fortunately, Keenan Allen does.

Allen is impressive after the catch, showing the ability to pick up yards quickly with quality acceleration and quick feet. He sometimes looks like a running back with the ball in his hand, showing patience and vision as a runner as seen on the first play in the video to the right.

However, he doesn't always show great balance and is sometimes easily taken down by his ankles. I'd like to see him improve in both of these areas, which may come after cleaning up his pad level.

Overall

The 2013 wide receiver draft class is wide open, with many having differing opinions on who the best player at the position is. Keenan Allen is surely to be in the discussion for the top spot.

He possesses solid build, quick feet, good hands and yards after the catch ability. These are all traits that are very important to a successful receiver, which Allen can become if he cleans up certain areas of his game. Although he is not a dynamic No. 1 receiver, he is likely to be a late first- or early second-round pick and has the ability to become one of the best receivers from the class.

That vacancy sign at Cal didn't last very long. 

Late Wednesday, Cal athletic director Sandy Barbour announced that Sonny Dykes had been hired as the new head coach of the California Golden Bears.

 

Very excited to welcome #SonnyDykes to Cal! Looking forward to student athletes in program thriving under his ... m.tmi.me/BGxjv

— Sandy Barbour (@gobearsAD) December 6, 2012

 

Dykes is no stranger to the Pac-12 conference—he spent three years as an assistant coach at Arizona and was nominated for the Broyles Award, which honors the most outstanding assistant coach in FBS. 

Dykes comes from the Mike Leach coaching tree—he served as Leach's receivers coach from 2000 to 2005 and then as co-offensive coordinator (with Dana Holgorsen) in 2005 and 2006 before accepting the assistant head coaching job at Arizona.

After three years of working under head coach Mike Stoops as the Wildcats' offensive coordinator, Dykes was named the head coach at Louisiana Tech, where he compiled a three-year record of 22-15. The Bulldogs won the 2011 WAC crown and Dykes was named the WAC coach of the Year.

SI.com columnist Stewart Mandel tweeted that Dykes had told him two months ago that the Bay Area would be his top choice if he could live anywhere in the U.S.

 

Sonny Dykes told me 2 months ago, unsolicited, if he could live anywhere it'd be the Bay Area. He's on his way.

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) December 6, 2012

 

Cal football has lately been a yearly culmination of under-achievement despite former coach Jeff Tedford's remarkable imprint on the program.

According to an ESPN.com story, Dykes acknowledged Tedford's push to remodel Cal's stadium and upgrade its facilities to rival those of any elite football program.

"I have great respect for the remarkable job [Tedford] did in building this and doing it the right way," Dykes said. 

This season, Cal's offense could only muster up 391.3 yards per game, but while that average only placed the Bears seventh among all Pac-12 teams, Cal's defense was a different story. The Bears gave up over 441 yards per game and were ranked behind some teams with notably suspect defenses: Washington State, USC and Oregon. 

Dykes' Bulldogs' total offense this year was the second-most productive in the nation, averaging one fewer yard per game than the top-ranked offense in FBS, the Baylor Bears, who averaged 578.8 yards per game. 

Dykes will inherit an offensive line that loses a lot of seniors and he'll be without the services of receiver Keenan Allen, who recently announced he will declare for the 2013 NFL draft.

According to a Sports Illustrated article, "Allen finishes his career as the school's all-time leader with 205 receptions. He ranks third with 2,570 yards receiving and seventh with 17 touchdown catches."

An interesting note—Oregon had the top-scoring offense for 2012, averaging 51.5 points per game. The second-ranked team was Louisiana Tech, averaging 50.8 points per game.

The Pac-12 will be an exciting conference to watch with the top two scoring offenses in the country residing in the North division. But the 2012 Pac-12 champion Stanford Cardinal had the top-ranked defense in the conference, and that certainly lends credence to the adage, "Defense wins championships."

Current New Mexico State head coach DeWayne Walker sounds like he might be the right guy for Dykes to go after to fill the defensive coordinator position.

Walker made some interesting remarks after his Aggies finished the season 1-11. The Chicago Tribune highlighted what appears to be mounting frustration at New Mexico State. 

"I got a lot of thinking to do," Walker told the Las Cruces Sun-News. "A lot of stuff to think about. The coaches get on the road to recruit Tuesday. You don't want to go out like this."

The Tribune noted that New Mexico State's future may be throttled by the fluid conference realignment and expansions taking place nationwide.

"The Aggies' blowout loss to Texas State in the first week of December marked the last game in the illustrious history of the WAC. Without a conference, NMSU is forced to play next year as an independent, a plan that can only work in the short term for the cash-strapped Aggie athletics department."

Cal will be a contender in the Pac-12. A renovated stadium, top-notch facilities, internationally respected academia and membership in a conference that will send eight teams bowling this season all point to a promising future for Cal football.