Idiots Write About Sports

This has got to be the least impressive 4-0 team I have ever seen.
That said, you’ve got to look at this Cal victory for what it was: the defense might have allowed more than 300 total yards, but they also allowed a total of six points. (The Aggies’ only touchdown was on a kickoff return.) And Cal managed almost 600 yards of total offense.
Still, when you’re the number 13 team in the country and you’re playing a team that’s 0-3, you expect to look good, and Cal looked sloppy. When you try to convert the poor teams that Cal has played into stronger Pac-10 opponents (sorry, Washington), you’ve got to wonder if Cal’s team is for real, or if they’re just a mirage that’s feasting on weak opponents.
I’m actually sure they’re pretty decent, but they’re playing so sloppily that you have to figure that sooner or later, they’re going to make way too many mistakes and a Pac-10 team is going to wipe them out. It might be Arizona next week, or UCLA, but it seems likely to happen.
Not that it’s the fault of the players or coaches, necessarily — a lot of Cal’s weird start has to be laid at the foot of all the injuries the team has suffered as well as all the positions they have had to fill after last year’s starters graduated.
As for the New Mexico State Aggies? Not a good team. And yet, they showed a lot of heart. If they hadn’t stupidly dropped some passes, they might’ve given Cal more of a challenge.
However, in contrast to the team, I’ve got to say that new Aggies coach Hal Mumme didn’t impress me. At the end of the first half, trailing 27-10, he called three consecutive time outs before a field-goal attempt by Cal. Yes, Schneider missed the kick — it was a long one, so I wasn’t too surprised — and then ESPN’s cameras cut over to show Mumme doing a little dance on the sideline. (I seem to remember dancing a similar dance last Sunday when I read the sports section.) He was just so thrilled with himself for spending three time outs to stop Cal from scoring three points. Whatever, dude. You’re 0-4 now.
Anyway, Cal is 4-0, and yet I’m carping. I guess that means that Cal’s football team has really turned the corner, if I’ve found myself unsatisfied with every single win so far this year. I really wanted to see Cal dominate one team for the entire game — and despite wins of 38, 39, 15, and 28 points, I haven’t felt that this year.
Maybe I’m simply unable to sit back and enjoy Cal victories. It could be the long-time Cal fan in me — I’m so convinced that the old Cal is going to come back that I’m paranoid, waiting for it to happen.
It probably won’t, but when I look at the schedule ahead, I’m starting to suspect that we’re far more likely to see 8-3 than 10-1 this year. Which, given the amount of rebuilding this team had to do this year, wouldn’t be the end of the world. And then they could fly back to El Paso, Texas, for that exciting Sun Bowl. Woo-hoo!