The knee jerk reactions (the tweet, not necessarily you, irishff) to ND's game plan and Pyne's play really crack me up. Did no one listen to Rees' press conference last week? Anyone read a Cal preview article? Cal's defense was literally a bend, don't break, prevent the big play over the top mentality, which is their bread and butter. They play with two deep safeties on just about every play.
I'm not defending Rees this season or saying our offense was lights out but Pyne showed poise and patience taking what the defense gave him all day long, which is tough to do for a QB. You get the itch to go for the big play and that can be a mistake. If the defense is preventing us from taking shots deep, take what they're giving you, and we did, scored 24 points, and got the win. It's not as simple as "WhY aReN't ThEy ThRoWiNg It DeEp?! TaKe A sHoT!" This isn't NCAA 14. There are two schemes, and it's a chess match. We beat them with pawns.
Cal wanted to do what OSU and Marshall both did, which is take away the run game (it worked for one half) and prevent the big play. And we still won, with greatly improved OL play in the 2nd half and diligent execution in the passing game. And Rees did a nice job with those RB passes, nice wrinkles off of the action that was helping us move the ball (RPOs, quick passes to the flats). The TD pass to Tyree specifically was a work of art.
