[Mick]

Terry's right, and let me add a bit more.  You can see that the Bears' defense tired as the game wore on.  The two teams had virtually equal time of possession, yet Northwestern had just six possessions in the first half against nine in the second half.  Northwestern scored an average of 2.2 points per possession over their first nine possessions (TD, punt, INT, TD, FG, Punt, FG, fumble, punt), but scored six points per possession in their last six possessions (TD, punt, FG, TD, INT, TD).

Separately, Northwestern had 70 offensive plays against last year's  average of just over 63 plays per game, but they scored 44 points, a 42% increase over last year's average of 31 points per game.

I will say this, however...Cal is clearly learning, and I think learning quickly. Their first five drives (out of 14) ended in punts.  But they scored two FGs and two TDs in their next five possessions, 4 points per possession...but then, Cal's offense got tired.  Their last four posessions were punt, int, FG, int.

My takeaway is that their true frosh QB is learning and learning quickly.  That Dykes' offense wears out a team, so Cal would require depth to improve.  And nothing can be done about football players faking injury, not that I can see.

[Mick]

Terry's right, and let me add a bit more.  You can see that the Bears' defense tired as the game wore on.  The two teams had virtually equal time of possession, yet Northwestern had just six possessions in the first half against nine in the second half.  Northwestern scored an average of 2.2 points per possession over their first nine possessions (TD, punt, INT, TD, FG, Punt, FG, fumble, punt), but scored six points per possession in their last six possessions (TD, punt, FG, TD, INT, TD).

Separately, Northwestern had 70 offensive plays against last year's  average of just over 63 plays per game, but they scored 44 points, a 42% increase over last year's average of 31 points per game.

I will say this, however...Cal is clearly learning, and I think learning quickly. Their first five drives (out of 14) ended in punts.  But they scored two FGs and two TDs in their next five possessions, 4 points per possession...but then, Cal's offense got tired.  Their last four posessions were punt, int, FG, int.

My takeaway is that their true frosh QB is learning and learning quickly.  That Dykes' offense wears out a team, so Cal would require depth to improve.  And nothing can be done about football players faking injury, not that I can see.