This post will be short, because I am very interested in the USC/Oregon State bonanza that has just entered the fourth quarter. Joe McKnight just muffed a punt, reminding me of Kyle Williams. But I digress; lets talk Cal football.

The Bleacher Report expects the Golden Bears to bounce back despite their tough loss to Maryland:

The Pac-10 has not been very impressive to date, posting only one team in the Top 25—not surprisingly, that would be USC.

With Oregon struggling in a home loss to Boise State and Arizona State losing for the second consecutive week, it looks right now to be a three-horse race for second with Cal, an explosive Arizona squad, and an Oregon team with a powerful running game but quarterback issues galore.

Expect the Golden Bears to get back on track against CSU, and elevate their performance in a season still packed with showdowns: Oct. 4 vs. ASU, Oct. 18 at ARIZ, Nov. 1 vs. ORE, and Nov. 8 at USC.

Tedford’s brilliant offensive mind will have Cal putting up many points throughout the year, but for all the loyal followers of Golden Bear nation, expect to finish second or third in the Pac-10 and win big in either the Sun Bowl  (El Paso, TX) or the Holiday Bowl (San Diego, CA). 

Before Washington State got annhiliated by California, CougCenter discussed how to stop Jahvid Best and Cal's run game on September 5. The information can still be thought of as current.

HydroTech at California Golden Blogs wrote this great analysis of Maryland's defense against the run. While we cannot take the advice rendered by Maryland's 3-4 defensive scheme, we can attempt to align our 4-3 in a way that mimics the blocking schemes that shut down Best and Vereen.