In addition, I think that even if Tedford keeps some of the Dunbar aspects, I expect that over time it’ll get phased out just by the nature of the type of football he’s comfortable with, even if it’s not his intention to do so. While that may not be an important statement for the Tennessee game, I think by the time our old “friends” USC roll into town, we’ll be seeing the offense that won us the game in 2003.

But all of this is just my guessing at something that only Tedford knows.

I’m glad you know that the game was closer than the score indicated. So many casual fans think the game was a murder but only 2-3 missed tackles made the game. Of course, Tennessee fans will claim that’s our homerism speaking, but in all honesty our claim is fairly truthful. If we had made those tackles, Tennessee might not have scored or at least scored less. That would give more time and opportunities for our offense to score. If we did score, the game would have been entirely different.

Personally, I think your #1 and #3 as well as the following will be the big positive differences:

-new #2. not having the Tedford-Dunbar experiment still needing the kinks worked out (or said another way, using the traditional Tedford offense)
-#4. Experience at corner.

Whether those will be enough to beat Tennessee with the other weaknesses that will be exposed and the changes in Tennessee’s strengths and weaknesses… personally I think is very hard to call at this point.

There are three factors that I think will give Cal the edge here:
1) Homefield Advantage – Memorial Stadium isn’t Neyland, but it’ll still be an advantage, especially if Gameday is there.
2) Desean Jackson’s playmaking abilities. He can outrun CBs, he can return punts for touchdowns. If Tennessee doesn’t cover him adequately, he makes big plays. If Tennessee pushes too many defenders on him as a WR, that leaves Hawkins, Jordan, or Stevens open for a big play. If Tennessee tries to avoid punting to him, they screw up (think A&M in the Holiday Bowl).
3) Revenge as a motivating factor – Not just pride for Cal, but pride for the entire Pac-10 and, in turn, west coast football, is at stake. Tennessee came into the 2006 game off an incredibly disappointing 2005 season where it came in ranked in the top five (number three in some polls) and ended it losing to Vanderbilt for the first time in twenty-something years.

I actually want it to be a blow-out this year, but I know better than to expect that.