Watching the game tape of Saturday’s win over Stanford could not have been too much fun for the offensive line. They allowed seven sacks for 45 yards and committed five penalties, making this statistically their worst game of the season. The Bruins now rank 112 out of 119 Bowl Subdivision teams in sacks allowed per game.
“Our pass protection needs to improve,” redshirt senior guard Micah Reed said. “We had some guys rushing off the edge that we completely missed assignments and didn’t account for them.
“We got some young guys in there, but that’s no excuse. They’re our guys now and they got to get the job done.”
For redshirt sophomore center Jake Dean, who’s had to learn on the job this season as a first-time starter, mistakes happened when the line got sloppy.
“We need to stay on our blocks longer,” Dean said. “We just got to make sure those little things don’t happen. We all got to play as a unit and make sure that we have each other’s backs.”
Three of the Bruins’ starting five on the line Saturday had no starts prior to this season, but Dean refused to blame their poor play on the experience factor.
“You can say inexperience, but football’s football,” Dean said. “You’ve been playing your whole life. It’s real easy to blame things on inexperience, but you got to go out there and execute. You hit a guy, you got to stay on the guy.”
This week the offensive line will have some adjustments to make as they prepare for a different defensive scheme than they’re used to. Cal runs a 3-4 defense, meaning three down linemen instead of the typical four. Stanford ran the 3-4 on Saturday in passing situations, and UCLA also saw it on occasion against Arizona.
“As far as the guards go, it makes it easier for us because we’re not covered most of the time,” Reed said. “It’s probably harder for the tackles, but it’s fine.”
Cal’s defense ranks 17th nationally in sacks per game, with much of production coming from the linebacker position.
“We’ve seen the 3-4 and hopefully we’ll respond and play well against it,” Neuheisel said. “It’s a talented defense. There’s no question about it.”
SURGERY FOR STOKES: Redshirt sophomore defensive end Reggie Stokes was scheduled to have surgery to repair a torn meniscus today. Stokes started two games this season, replacing an injured Tom Blake who has a sports hernia. Neuheisel was hopeful that Stokes could return by the Washington game on Nov. 15.
BACA GOES DOWN: Near the end of practice, freshman tackle Jeff Baca was helped off the field after spraining his left hamstring, chasing a defensive player who had made a pick. Neuheisel was unaware of the injury until talking to reporters, because he had been watching the first team defense on the other side of the practice field.
“Well there went my great day,” he said.
Baca did not practice on Wednesday.
VERNER GOES RED: At practice on Tuesday and Wednesday, junior cornerback Alterraun Verner was wearing a no-contact red jersey as a result of a shoulder injury suffered against Stanford. He will be ready to play on Saturday, Neuheisel said.
“It was a little sore,” Verner said. “I just wanted to relax it, but I’m good.”
Verner was planning on making some phone calls Tuesday night to friends he has on the Cal team. He’s got a lot to talk about as it was his interception return for a touchdown that iced UCLA’s upset victory over the No. 10 Bears last year.
“We haven’t really talked too much so I’m probably going to hit one of them up tonight and get in their ear a little bit,” Verner said.