Cal Football Video: OT Jake Curhan Talks About How Arizona State Stopped Bears' Running Game

Maybe you noticed how easily Cal marched down the field on its first possession of the second half against Arizona State.

The Bears marched 63 yards on 12 plays, all runs. The sense was that Cal might be able to do that for the entire second half, taking the pressure off new quarterback Devon Modster to complete a lot of passes.

But after that drive, Cal’s running game virtually disappeared for the rest of the game.

Why?

As Cal offensive tackle Jake Curhan notes in the video above, Arizona State changed its defensive structure, and Cal was unable to adjust. The Sun Devils essentially moved one of the safeties into the box as another linebacker. That extra defender near the line of scrimmage made it difficult for Cal to run the ball, but could open up possibilities in the passing game.

Modster and Cal’s offensive could not take advantage of it.

Oregon will probably use a similar defense, loading the box with defenders to stuff the run and force Modster to try to beat that defense over the top. It’s the same strategy opposing defenses used against Cal last season, when the Bears could not pose a deep passing threat. Chase Garbers was starting to ruin that strategy with his passing success in the past few games, which opened room for the run game.

Until Modster makes opposing defenses pay for crowding the line of scrimmage, they will keep doing it.