I haven't seen Cal's defense play, I can't fully assess the speed, intensity and characteristics of a defense unless I watch them, but the stats indicate that Cal has a above average defense, probably the best in the PAC, which is not saying that much.
The general metric that I calculate in saying generally above , median or below is scoring defense, it's the summation of their performance, how well does a D prevent points. I calculate how well did a team do over the entire year in relation to the average of the offensive points the teams they've played have put up against others and I look at consistentcy. Raw numbers are deceptive, one can't compare the WAC to the PAC, for instance, and I take out the cupcake opponents, adding the score against the Helen Keller School for the Blind that's playing for money for new canes and a short bus will skew the data. That was rude,oh well, too bad.
To assess a game I go much more specific, but here's the numbers on Cal. The Bears held their opponents to .722 of their average scoring for the year, that's decent, the Horns were at .609, that's good, and TX was more consistent. Their opponents only scored more than average once against them this year, Oklahoma State, while Cal allowed three opponents more points than their average, WSU, UCLA and Illinois. Letting the pitiful Illini score 20 points is not good.
Is Texas a great defense by this standard, no. Miami is at .473 and Ohio State is at .464, those are shutdown excellent but Miami allowed Clemson to go above average, OSU let no opponent above.
Like I said, this is my general base calculation, not the gameday analysis.
Olb - I know that Binge, Iron and I understand the variabilty of a rivalry game, I'm just glad y'all beat the damn Aggies, that's one weird straight place that an individualist like me abhors.
