Late last week, I wrote an unfortunate post titled "The Cougs can stop Best and Vereen." Trust me when I say I've taken my lumps in subsequent days from Cal fans, some of whom have taken it in the spirit it was intended and others who have cheerfully displayed that there is no shortness in the supply of smugness in Berkeley.

I do, however, want to bring some closure to that little piece of off-base analytical genius.

Realizing the incendiary nature of the headline might have caused some people to not read the entire post, I want to draw your attention to a pair of things I wrote that I think were proved absolutely true on Saturday.

First:

(Jahvid Best and Shane Vereen) are fast and awesome. But let's be real. There is one reason and one reason alone those two guys had the success they had (against Michigan State): Their offensive line was spectacular.

Anyone care to argue that the offensive line wasn't responsible for the bulk of the running success of the Bears against the Cougs? WSU was absolutely manhandled up front. In fact, think back to that first TD run -- you know, the one that is going show up everytime ESPN decides to do a breakdown on Cal. The hole was so huge and defensive line blocked so well that there really was only one guy who could stop that play: Greg Trent. Unfortunately, he overpursued, and it was over from there.

It happened time and time again. Virtually every big play was not the result of some exceptional individual effort, but superb blocking up front. Yes, Best and Vereen have the talent to turn what would be a 20- to 40-yard gain into a 50- to 80-yard gain, but let's give the credit where the credit is due. Cal runs for a 250 yards even if their running backs are named Tardy and Ivory.

Second:

What stood out most to me was just how poor of an angle the (Michigan State) safety took to Best -- he had no prayer of making that tackle. It happened over and over again throughout this highlight reel. That tells me that Best's speed is special, something that just can't be appreciated by watching film, or duplicated on a practice squad.

This is where I'll give Best and Vereen their due as special talents. One game is a theory, but two games is a trend, and I absolutely stand by that assessment -- the Cougs missed a lot more tackles on Saturday than they did in the opener. You can attribute that to the speed and talent of Best and Vereen, and that's what's going to give defensive coordinators nightmares all year long: These guys are just so explosive that nobody can fully comprehend it until they play Cal and try to make a tackle in the place where Best and Vereen used to be, coming up with an armful of air.

I'll leave you with this final assessment, which really is more of a prediction: If he can stay healthy this year, and the Bears can stay in the Pac-10 race through at least the end of October -- which I think they will -- Jahvid Best will become a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate.

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In 1997, my Dad and I traveled down to Pullman to watch WSU play the Southwest Louisiana Rajun Cajuns, a team which I only recently learned was not created for the movie "The Waterboy". The Cougs mopped the floor with them, 77-7.

On Saturday, I got to feel the exact opposite of what I felt that day. It was embarrasing. Humiliating.

It was meaningless.

You see, whether you lose 96-0 or 28-27, it's still a loss. At the end of the day, it's just one tally in the "L" column. Were we really expecting to beat Cal? Did we really think that a stagnant offense from the week before could come to life and overpower a team with more talent on both sides of the ball?

Yes, it was historically bad. The worst loss in 104 years of Cougar Football. But you also have to consider the following things about history:

• Jeff Tedford is a no-class loser swell guy who enjoys flowers and rainbows, who went for it on fourth down and goal, up 52-3.
  
• Before about 1940, most football games were 7-0, 3-0, or 0-0 ties.
• Before 1950, a large number of teams probably discouraged or flat out banned black athletes from playing.
• Jahvid Best runs 100 meters about 0.6 seconds slower than Usain Bolt.
• Offenses are so predicated on speed and scoring today that a 66-3 whipping is nowhere near as bad as a 42-0 defeat would have been 40 years ago.
• The Cougars have been blessed with great offenses over the years, to the point where we have the second longest shutout avoidance streak in the nation (Michigan is #1). In other words, the more you score, the less embarrassing the final score is, even in a blowout. (For example, which looks worse: losing 79-28, or 51-0? It's the exact same margin)

Which brings us to the positives and negatives for this week. Yes, there are positives. In fact, I'll start with one of them. Stop rolling your eyes.

+ Wayne Patrick Rooney: Rooney gets top billing - but not just for the ability to kick the ball five yards deep into the end zone. He also belongs here for running off the field after each boot acting like he was going to run his fist through some drywall, Andy Bernard-style. Seriously, he was jacked up after every kick. And he has a good leg. If he keeps up the good work we may be able to cross off kickoff-coverage from our mile long list of special teams concerns.

+ Reid Forrest: Bill Doba has some explaining to do. Mainly, how he allowed Forrest to do the rugby-style punt time after time when the reality is that he can, apparently, boot a ball 58 yards with no bounce required. I'm also glad that unlike the Doba era, we now have a backup punter (Dan Wagner) who is actually a punter.

+ Special Teams: Three pluses in a row after this game? Yep. Mainly because the only large cheers from the crowd in this game came after special teams plays: the Grasu 43 yard field goal, the Rooney kickoffs, the Forrest punts, the two 60+ yard kickoff returns from Staden and Ivory (one each). Want a stat that makes you want to cringe? Special teams had almost twice as many return yards (306) as the offense had total yards (167) ! In one game, Chantz Staden went from "who's that guy?" to a pretty decent return man.

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- The QB Controversy: Gary Rogers (a.k.a. Seth Rogen, judging by his picture) waited four years for a chance to be the Cougar starter. Now he gets six quarters and that's the end of the rope? Nothing against Kevin Lopina, who is a great talent in his own right, but at least give Rogers a chance to start through the cupcake game against Portland State. Rogers' struggles are well documented, but how much of it is Gary and how much of it is the offense as a whole? Yes, his decision making hasn't been the best at times, but both Lopina and Lobbestael threw interceptions in this game despite having less attempts, and playing a reserve-heavy Cal defense.

- The offense: Oh, it's bad. 65 plays. 167 yards. That's 2.6 yards per play. Last week, Nuss spent a whole post breaking down how awful the offense was. They averaged 5.3 3.3 yards per play in that game. I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.

- The D-Line: My X-factor decided the game, alright. Too bad it was in favor of the Cal Bears, who put on a track meet to the tune of 391 yards. 391! That's 9.8 yards per freaking rush. If the line doesn't show up in Waco with a chip on their shoulders this Saturday, I will be very disappointed. It was a bad, bad day.

+ Glenn Johnson: "Sean Young is back to return the punt... again." If you don't love Glenn Johnson, please leave the internet.

- Jeff Tedford: Going for it on fourth and goal up 52-7 is the football equivalent of shoving a 10 year old kid out of the way while trying to catch a foul ball at a MLB game. I'll say it again: classless.

+ Martin Stadium: The new scoreboard is amazing. The "Martin Stadium" sign above the East end zone is scrumtrillescent. The "guard tower" elevator to the new Cub is premium freeloader seating (if you can avoid the CMS attendants). The new concourse on the East side makes the old walkway look like an alleyway in downtown Pyongyang. It's amazing how a few little improvements can make such a big difference. It's beautiful, modern and hopefully a middle finger to the Husky boosters who want taxpayer money for their redesign.

- Pac-10 officiating: I'm a Cougar, and I think the celebration call against Locker was not only ridiculous, but goes against everything college athletics should be about. He wasn't taunting, he wasn't dancing and he was caught up in the moment. If you call that on Locker, you need to go back and charge 798 technical fouls to Brook Lopez for pounding his chest last season (actually, not a bad idea). Luckily my fiancee was there to hear me say "Offff course" when ESPN said it was a Pac-10 crew.

+ The fans that stayed until the end: Support your team. You can go eat and drink and all that fun stuff later.

- Parking and traffic management: A lots. B lots. AA and BB lots. Green permits, President's permits, Chartreuse permits. Lots that are normally free blocked off to charge people for parking. Traffic direction that isn't usually any better than what the traffic lights normally do. Welcome to Pullman, where Parking Services is your master.

+ Cougar Football: So, we lost. Big deal. There's always next week. It's great to be back in Pullman.

Yes, you read that right.

All week, all I've heard is, "Wow, Jahvid Best is awesome," "Holy cow, Jahvid Best is fast," and "No.  The Cougs don't have a prayer (of stopping Jahvid Best)."

Bullocks.

The Cougs do have a prayer of stopping Best and his friend, Shane Vereen. In fact, I think it's much better than a prayer -- I believe the Cougs can severely limit what Best and Vereen are able to do, at least on offense. (I wouldn't even pretend to tell you what the Cougs can do on special teams to limit these guys, except to kick the ball out of bounds.)

Please watch the following highlight reel of Best and Vereen from last Saturday's game, and I'll tell you just how the Cougs are going to stop these two guys. (CougCenter suggests watching with the volume off.)

Now, your first impression, as most people's will be, probably was this: "Wow, those guys are fast! They're awesome!"

And I don't disagree. They are fast and awesome. But let's be real. There is one reason and one reason alone those two guys had the success they had on Saturday: Their offensive line was spectacular.

If you didn't notice it the first time around, I suggest going back and rewatching it: Michigan State's defensive line routinely was pushed three to five yards downfield on just about every running play. When Paul Wulff talked this week about Cal being a physical team, this is the kind of stuff he was talking about.

So why do I think the Cougs can, at the very least, contain these two guys?

Last Saturday, the Cougs were facing what was purported to be one of the better offensive lines they were going to see all year long. I expected the defensive line to get shoved around and run all over for three hours -- I told anyone who would listen that my over/under for rushing yards by Oklahoma State was 275.

To my surprise, the unit of Matt Mullenix, Kevin Kooyman, A'i Ahmu, Matt Eichelberger and Adam Hineline more than held their own. Yes, they gave up 4.1 yards per rush, but that number was inflated somewhat in the fourth quarter as the Cowboys salted the game away against a fatigued defense.

If those guys can repeat that performance and be stout at the point of attack -- and I do realize Ahmu will miss the first half, so the job is tougher -- I think they have a very good chance of limiting Cal's backs, neither of whom are downhill runners who can make holes for themselves. Both operate best in space, and my goodness, there was a ridiculous amount of space against Michigan State.

Take away that space, and you take away their effectiveness.

The other thing I noticed is that there were a fair amount of missed tackles by MSU, especially by linebackers. That won't happen with these Cougs; our linebackers are the strength of the defense, and these guys are excellent tacklers.

However, I will finish this off with one word of caution for the linebackers and secondary.

Go back to the video, and fast forward to the 3:17 mark. It's a goal-line set. Michigan State actually did a decent job plugging the hole, so Best did what he does ... um, Best: Used his speed to bounce it out to the goal line, cruising into the end zone.

What stood out most to me was just how poor of an angle the safety took to Best -- he had no prayer of making that tackle. It happened over and over again throughout this highlight reel. That tells me that Best's speed is special, something that just can't be appreciated by watching film, or duplicated on a practice squad (apologies to James Montgomery).

And therein lies the rub. If the Cougs can reasonably control the line of scrimmage (which I think they can) and if the linebackers can take good angles to the ball carriers and wrap up when they get there (which I think they can), they can contain Best and Vereen.

With a little bit of help from the offense, this game is going to be a lot closer than people think.

CougCenter has hooked up with our SB Nation friends at California Golden Blogs to exchange some info on each other's teams in a Q&A format. What follows are the thoughts of TwistNHook, blogger extraordinaire all the boys over at CGB. You can find Grady's answers to their questions here.

CougCenter: Are the Bears legit Pac-10 title contenders?

California Golden Blogs: Firstly, it seems HIGHLY unlikely anybody is challenging USC for the conference title.  Let's be honest here.  Especially a team with such turnover on offense.  Although we do face them fairly late into the season, so who knows by then? 

But this year, they could definitely challenge for the #2 spot there.  And if USC goes to the Title game, who knows?  Cal fans are feeling confident after the better than it seemed victory over MSU.  It is true that we have a lot of young and inexperienced talent all across the offense.  But many portions of it looked really good on Saturday.  Jahvid Best was a stud.  Shane Vereen had a sick 81 yard run.  Kevin Riley started to grow as a QB.  Cameron Morrah was the leading pass-catcher.  There are still some problems with the WRs.  Inexcusable drops at terrible, terrible times.  So, that is definitely a point of concern there.  But there is a lot of talent on offense, even if there are few "big names."  If it develops well, this offense might not be half bad. 

As for the Defense, this is Cal's bread and butter.  They have many returning starters, especially at the linebacker position.  Felder, Follett, Williams, and Young aren't just the world's worst improv crew.  They are also an amazing crew of linebackers.  They shut down MSU's Ringer, a stud RB.  In the defensive backfield, there is SydQuan (SydGOD) Thompson.  He is one of the finest corners in the Pac10.  He had the game of his life against MSU and looks to be getting better each game.  MSU picked on the other corner, Darian Hagan, a lot.  He had some rough times, but also some good times.  He had 5 opportunities for interceptions, failing on all 5.  Were he to get 1 or 2 of those, we'd be talking about an amazing Defense.

There are some problems with DLine.  Not as much of a rush as we would have liked.  But hopefully with increased production out of the latter 8 players, the front 3 will be helped out.  We'll see who can develop.  A healthy Rulon Davis is a beast.  But he's had trouble staying healthy.

So, with a favorable schedule and a lot of talent across the board, we feel that Cal can contend for the #2 spot.  And hey, if they catch USC on an off night?  Who knows?

CC: Do the Cougs have a prayer of stopping Jahvid Best?

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