Idiots Write About Sports

I don’t have any idea where to begin. Oregon gave Cal this game. At Autzen freakin’ Stadium, Oregon gave this game to Cal. Cal turned the ball over four times, and yet with time ticking down, Cal was in a position to win. Then, trailing by a TD in overtime, they had a man wide open, ready to score! All in a game that, quite frankly, I felt Cal didn’t have much hope of winning when I got up this morning.

I have to be careful, because I have no idea what I might write that’ll be misquoted by an unscrupulous print journalist looking to make a story out of nothing. But make no mistake: this loss is almost entirely on the shoulders of Joe Ayoob. Oregon handed Cal a gift, and Ayoob kicked it out of the Bears’ mitts and onto the floor.

Ayoob couldn’t throw the deep ball accurately all day. He threw an idiotic interception when he should’ve been running out of bounds. He missed a wide-open receiver to tie the game in overtime. He threw balls above and behind his receivers all day. And then there’s the fumble that led directly to a cheap Oregon touchdown.

I hate to beat up the local kid, and I’m sure that Ayoob is trying his best. But you know what? His best isn’t good enough. He hasn’t become more accurate over the course of the year, he hasn’t gained much poise, and he continues to make numerous mistakes that contribute to the failure of the team.

Not to state the obvious, but I honestly believe that if Aaron Rodgers stays at Cal for his senior year, this team is undefeated. Each of Cal’s three losses can be chalked up — with ease — to the repeated failure of Ayoob to throw accurate passes or make smart decisions.

Next week: Let’s just say that USC isn’t going to be as generous as Oregon was. And even if the Trojans wrapped up a nice fruit basket for the Bears, somehow I think that Joe Ayoob would find a way to kick it over and stomp all over it.

One addendum: How sweet would it have been if Schneider hit that field goal at the end of regulation? But it’s a miracle they even got the snap off.

you don't have any idea where to begin? i have an idea. start with "a." ayoob is the--THE--worst qb ever to suit up for the bears. and i have seen every bears qb since 1970. (my brother had the nerve today to mention ayoob in the same breath with j. torchio--an insult to the name of torchio!) ayoob has no physical tools. no mental tools. and, beyond the nonquestion of ayoob, why--why?!--does tedford have no option other than levy? the rest of the team played a great team. brought down by ayboob. (and desean jackson, to a lesser extent.)

This team gets worse every week. A young team is supposed to show improvement and this team has displayed none whatsoever. Ayoob sucks. Period. DeSean Jackson needs to go back to high school to learn how to catch a ball. Jeez, this was a gimme and Cal screwed the pooch up one side and down the other. 5-0 is now going to finish 6-5. What a monumental waste of time. Why even show up if you play like that? Stay home and save us 3 hours of frustration.

I dunno, cal83, Torchio was pretty darned bad. And Justin Vedder too. But Ayoob's giving them a run.

You're both right about Jackson's drops. Awful.

I think Tedford wasn't counting on losing Longshore for the season. He knows that Wright needs at least one year of redshirt, and that leaves us with Levy behind Ayoob.

Big letdown after last year. Still, with a win vs. Stanford this season is 7-4. That's not the end of the world. But it's too bad, when Ayoob's really the main reason why we're not talking about a clash of undefeateds versus USC next week.

Posted by Jason at November 5, 2005 08:21 PM

Doesn't Tedford deserve some of the blame? I mean, how did we get to the point where we are "stuck" with Ayoob?

Why is he our only serious option?

Why don't we have a "Brady Leaf" -- a decent No. 3 QB that we could just stick in there to try out for certain plays? Why no backup QB who would could pose a threat to Ayoob for the starting job? (And no, I don't even want to consider Steve Levy.) Isn't there another QB (I forgot his name) besides Kyle Reed?

Today's day of football -- with AZ's upset over UCLA -- just goes to show what a difference a QB makes.

I was reminded of this column I read in the Stockton Record the day after Cal trounced Arizona, arguing that AZ freshman Willie Tuitama was the best QB that day, although he didn't play.

http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051002/OPED0303/510020321

Too bad Tedford lost out on him.

Any criticism against Ayoob would fail to convey just how bad he was today and in general. He is simply an awful quarterback. He has singlehandedly kept Cal from an undefeated season to date.

I wouldn't be so hard on Desean Jackson. Yes, he had a horrible game. But he's a true freshman -- you're gonna have bad days from time to time. Especially when you're a wide receiver and playing in near-monsoon conditions.

The bright side: no trip to El Paso this year! I'm thinking Vegas or San Francisco. Not much of a trip there, to be sure, but it might be fun to walk to a Cal game from my office.

Posted by Jason at November 6, 2005 08:51 AM

The cursing gets really old really fast, Seth.

Also, the least you could do is spell the curse word correctly. "Fucken?" Huh?

N,
Arizona fans are thrilled that we got Willie--so I can't feel too sorry for Tedford or Cal. Not only did we get one of the best young QBs in the coutry--we got a guy who was impervious to the 11th hour assault of Tedford. But at least you have this: before Tuitama's redshirt came off, Arizona fans were actually jealous of Cal's good fortune to have a quality JC transfer like Ayoob at QB. It's all relative.

I know Ayoob is trying his absolute best -- but, he's just darn frustrating to watch, and I think whatever he accomplished at SF State doesn't matter at this level. Kudos to Jeff Tedford for showing such honor and command of the team, and, above all, not showing any panic. But I think even he's gotta be thinking that (a) Ayoob's not the guy and (b) get Kyle Reed ready for next year.

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