Quote:
|
Cal is going to get rocked by Tennessee again. People seem to be underestimating SEC Speed. I wonder if Eric Berry will see some PT.
|
Oh, please. Even Tennessee fans (the reasonable ones, at least) don't predict that sort of result. Reasons.
1: Tennessee is missing their top RB, losing their AA set of WRs, playing a hurt QB, losing home-field advantage, etc etc.
2: Cal is playing without significant injuries. Last year, we lost senior CB Mixon (whose replacement, a true freshman with a cast on, got repeatedly torched for huge yardage) and TE Stevens.
3: Situation is entirely different. Last year, it was Longshore's first real game in an incredibly hostile environment against a very talented team. This year, Nate's returning to Memorial Stadium after a successful year.
4. Cal's play at Neyland last year was unusually bad. Pretty much everyone agrees that last year's Bears were not a team that would normally go down 35-0 to Tenn. Assuming both teams play decent football, it's going to be much closer, not one team being "rocked" by the other.
5. Of course Eric Berry's getting time. He's supposed to be the most consistent player in the Volunteer's secondary in training camp. Good as he is, I still think Cal's aerial game will do well--Longshore's as solid as ever, and Cal has one of the top three receiving corps in the nation.
6. Speed? DeSean Jackson? Jahvid Best? The latter, if you don't know, is an incoming freshman who won the California 200m and 400m races, whose high school times would have placed him 4th in the NCAA meet. I don't think we're really lacking in terms of speed.
No one's underestimating the SEC. It's the Pac-10 that loses a lot of unnecessary respect. But whatever.
I'm just going to say that you're wrong that Cal's going to "get rocked" again.