Cal Fans Ripped By Arizona Dagger

Know the feeling of a dagger piercing your heart? You don't? Then, fortunately, you're not a die-hard Cal fan. We're used to that agony. Unfortunately, we re-acquainted ourselves with it Saturday night when Arizona, in Tuscon, shocked Cal, 49-45, on a 47-yard Hail Mary on the last play of the  game.

This wasn't just a plain old one-jab dagger. This was one of those twisting, thrusting jobs, meant to leave lingering pain. And man, does it hurt.

This wasn't just a loss. Cal fans are used to that. This one was a bonafide calamity.  This one ran the gamut, from extreme high to the depths of despair--all in one game. At the end of  the first half, Cal was leading 28-6, on the road yet, after piling up nearly 400 yards of total offense. Cal fans were humming "Happy Days Are Here Again." Maybe those two wins over crappy teams, Northwestern and Sacramento State,  meant something. Maybe the 2-0 record indicated this was actually a decent team. Maybe Sonny Dykes, who began his Cal head-coaching career last season with one measly win over a bad team, wasn't a bum after all. Maybe he'd turned the corner.

But in the second half, things went sour. Not right away though. In the third quarter, Cal scored only a field goal while Arizona countered with just one touchdown. That 31-13 Cal lead seemed safe. Panic wasn't in the picture.

But then, in the fourth quarter, the sky fell on Cal.  The Cal defense, which had smothered Arizona's AK-47-like passing game sprang leaks--big ones. The linebackers slowed down. The defensive line seemed mired in mud. The secondary players, who always seemed to be in the right place earlier, were constantly out of position. The Cal defense was locked into one scheme--chaos.

That crumbling defense gave up 36 points in the final quarter--five touchdowns and a field goal. How is that possible, you say? The answer, of course, is that it's Cal, and bungling, historically,  is what the Bears do best. Every time Arizona got the ball you knew they'd score. Cal couldn't keep up, scoring only two TDs in that last quarter. After that first half explosion, Arizona coaches figured out how to slow down the Cal offense, which totaled 573 yards, most in the first half. In the last quarter, the Cal defense, which gave up a total of 627 yards, was helpless.

But, when that final play began, as bad as the quarter had been, you figured the 45-43 Cal margin was safe. Even Cal couldn't blow that. Arizona was on the Cal 47 and only a successful Hail Mary could bring down the Bears. Defensing a Hail Mary is actually easy. The defense knows where the ball is going, so defenders just crowd around the goal line, avoid bumping any receivers and bat down the ball.

Want a crash course on how not to defend a Hail Mary? Just watch how Cal defenders botched that 47-yard pass from QB Anu Solomon to Austin Hill. I watched it again and again and still don't believe it.

So we're back to square one with the Bears. Dykes is a limited, offense-minded coach whose defenses are abysmal. Apparently that will be Cal's identity--score a lot but ultimately be outscored. The team fattened up on two out-of-conference patsies, but when the PAC 12 schedule started--with Arizona--Cal showed that, once again, it can't hang with the big boys.

Last season ended with the chant from angry Cal fans--fire Sonny Dykes. Let's hear it again. DOWN WITH DYKES. As long as he's in charge, the defense will sputter and Cal with stagger through the PAC 12.

Well, Cal fans, take my advice. Prepare yourselves for more of those damned daggers.