12 Bears get listed to Pac-12 Football Honors
Congrats to the guys
Despite playing only 4 games, 12 Bears were listed on the end of the year honors by the conference. Cam Bynum, and Cam Goode were listed to the first and second team, respectively. Jake Curhan, Mike, Saffell, Kekoa Crawford, Nikko Remigio, Jake Tonges, Brett Johnson, Zeandae Johnson, and Josh Drayden were all honorable mentions. Freshman Damien Moore was an honorable mention selection in the conference’s Freshman Offensive Player of the Year award.
Congrats to all of the Bears!
Read more about their 2020 accomplishments from Cal Athletics, below!
FIRST TEAM
Camryn Bynum, CB, 6-0, 200, RSr., 3L, Corona, CA (Centennial HS)
– Started all four games in 2020 and contributed 19 tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss (-3 yards), one interception that he returned for a career-high and career-long 20 yards, and two pass breakups
– The only Cal player to start all 42 games from 2017-20 with each of his starts at cornerback as he posted career totals of 188 tackles, 8.0 tackles for loss (-16 yards), 0.5 sacks (-5 yards), six interceptions that he has returned for a combined 20 yards, 29 pass breakups and 35 passes defended, with his 29 career pass breakups ranking fifth in school history
SECOND TEAM
Cameron Goode, OLB, 6-3, 235, RSr., 2L, Spring, TX (Klein Collins HS)
– Started all four games in 2020 and contributed 19 tackles, team highs of 8.0 tackles for loss (-23 yards) and 3.0 sacks (-12 yards), one fumble recovery, two quarterback hurries, one pass breakup and one pass defended, while ranking tied for second in the NCAA and the Pac-12 with 2.00 tackles for loss per game, as well as sixth in the Pac-12 with 0.75 sacks per game and tied for seventh with 0.25 fumbles recovered per game
– Has played in and started 26 games while posting career totals of 125 tackles, 27.5 tackles for loss (-120 yards), 14.0 sacks (-83 yards), two interceptions that he has returned for 70 yards and a pair of touchdowns, six pass breakups, eight passes defended, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and eight quarterback hurries
HONORABLE MENTION
Kekoa Crawford, WR, 6-1, 180, RSr., 1L, Pasadena, CA (Glendale Community College/Michigan/Santa Margarita Catholic HS/St. Francis HS)
– Started all four games in 2020 and led the squad with a career-high 19 receptions, 232 yards receiving and a career-high-tying two touchdown grabs, ranking tied for ninth in the Pac-12 with an average of 4.8 receptions per game while his 58.0 yards receiving per contest are 10th
– His 10 receptions at Oregon State are the most by a Cal player since Chad Hansen also had 10 at UCLA in 2016, while his 141 yards receiving in contest were a team season-high and the fourth-most in the conference
Jake Curhan, OL, 6-6, 330, RSr., 3L, Larkspur, CA (Redwood HS)
– Started two games in 2020 and recorded no stats other than participation
– Has started 40 games over the past four seasons all at right tackle and had a string of 39 consecutive starts that spanned all 38 games of three consecutive seasons from 2017-19 and his 2020 season-opener as a senior at UCLA
Kuony Deng, ILB, 6-6, 250, RSr., 1L, Aldie, VA (Independence Community College/Virginia Military Institute/John Champe HS)
– Started all four games and served as a season team caption in 2020, leading the team with 31 tackles and two forced fumbles, while adding 2.5 tackles for loss (-10 yards) and one quarterback hurry, while ranking for third in the Pac-12 and tied for fourth nationally with 0.5 forced fumbles per game as well as tied 10th in tackles with 7.8 stops per contest
– Has played in and started all 17 games possible since the beginning of the 2019 season and posted career totals of 150 tackles, 10.0 tackles for loss (-37 yards), 3.5 sacks (-14 yards), eight pass breakups, eight passes defended, six quarterback hurries and one fumble recovery
Josh Drayden, CB, 5-10, 185, RSr., 3L, DeSoto, TX (Bishop Dunne HS)
– Started a career-high all four games in a season shortened by COVID-19 and contributed 14 tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss (-1 yard) and a career-high-tying one interception that he returned four yards, as well as career highs of four pass breakups and five passes defended
– Has played in 43 games with 10 starts since his arrival at Cal in 2016 and contributed career totals of 78 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss (-11 yards), three interceptions that he has returned for a combined 71 yards including a career-long 54-yard return for a pick-six at Oregon State as a 2018 junior, 12 pass breakups, 15 passes defended and three quarterback hurries
Brett Johnson, DL, 6-5, 290, So., 1L, Phoenix, AZ (Desert Vista HS)
– Started all four games in 2020 and was tied for third on the team and first among defensive linemen with 20 tackles, while adding 2.5 tackles for loss (-8 yards), 1.5 sacks (-7 yards), one pass breakup and one pass defended
– Has played in all 17 games possible with 13 starts since arriving at Cal as a true freshman in 2019 and posted career totals of 46 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss (-26 yards), 3.0 sacks (-19 yards), one pass breakup, one pass defended and one fumble recovery
Zeandae Johnson, DE, 6-4, 290, RSr., 3L, Fresno, CA (Central HS)
– Started all four games in a season shortened by COVID-19 and contributed with eight tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss (-1 yard) and one quarterback hurry
– Has played in 41 career games including all 30 over the past three seasons as a 2018 sophomore, 2019 junior and 2020 senior with 18 starts and posted career totals of 59 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss (-40 yards), 5.5 sacks (-32 yards), one forced fumble, nine quarterback hurries, three pass breakups and three passes defended
Nikko Remigio, WR/RET, 5-10, 185, Jr., 2L, Orange, CA (Mater Dei HS)
– Played in all four games with two starts in 2020 and contributed 10 receptions for 90 yards and a team-high-tying two touchdown grabs, three rushes for 11 yards, three kick returns for 55 yards and seven punt returns for 33 yards to total 189 all-purpose yards, as well as a career-high two tackles
– Has played in 25 games with 12 starts since his arrival at Cal as a freshman in 2018 and contributed 59 receptions for 665 yards and five touchdowns, as well as 34 punt returns for 274 yards, three kick returns for 55 yards, seven rushes for 18 yards to total 1012 all-purpose yards and three tackles
Michael Saffell, OL, 6-2, 290, Sr., 3L, Huntington Beach, CA (Edison HS)
– Started all four games and served as a team season captain in 2020 while being honored as a semifinalist for the prestigious Campbell Trophy and Wuerffel Trophy honors that are considered the Academic Heisman and college football's premier award for community service given annually to the FBS player that best combines exemplary community service with academic and athletic achievement, respectively
– Has played in 28 career games with 23 starts since his 2017 arrival including all 15 Cal contests over the past two seasons as a 2019 junior and 2020 senior following his first eight starts at right guard including the first six as a 2018 sophomore before suffering a season-ending lower-body injury and two as a 2017 freshman
Jake Tonges, TE, 6-5, 240, RJr., 2L, Los Gatos, CA (Los Gatos HS)
– Played in all four games with three starts in 2020 and contributed 13 catches for 80 yards and one touchdown
– Has played in 29 of 30 possible games with 12 starts over the last three seasons after redshirting as a 2017 freshman, recording 25 receptions for 342 yards with two touchdowns as well as five tackles
HONORABLE MENTION FRESHMAN OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Damien Moore, RB, 5-10, 210, Fr., HS, La Puente, CA (Bishop Amat HS)
– One of three true freshman to play in all four games and posted team highs of 188 yards rushing and 4.9 yards per carry on 38 rushes (second on team), while adding one reception for 10 yards for a total of 198 all-purpose yards
– Rushed 10 times for a career-high and team season-high 121 yards in the Big Game against Stanford to become the first true freshman running back with more than 100 yards rushing in a game since Marshawn Lynch rushed for 122 yards in the 2004 Big Game
No super egregious snubs, but some curious awards:
- UCLA QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson on the second team, and not, say, Stanford's Davis Mills
- Stanford WR Simi Fehoko on first team (!?) with USC WR Drake London--the most dominant receiver in the Pac-12 this year--on the second team (!?!?)
- UCLA TE Greg Dulcich on the second team, he was definitely the best TE in the conference this year
- Oregon DB Mykael Wright on the first team (I think he has a lot of promise, but he didn't earn first team this year), and USC DB Chris Steele on the second team (despite being the single biggest liability at corner of any team)
I think DB is a bit hard to judge this year with the limited sample size, and while I'd obviously prefer pretty much any Cal DB on that second team (Elijah Hicks, Daniel Scott, Josh Drayden, etc), I'm surprised UCLA DB Qwuantrezz Knight didn't get mentioned. I think maybe people voted based on stat sheets, but that's not a great measure of how well a DB did-- a lockdown corner would have no stats as QBs would avoid him. Mykael Wright actually led the conference in passes defended, but I'd argue that's a result of being constantly picked on by opposing QBs. Qwuantrezz Knight had the biggest impact on games of any DB not already mentioned-- e.g. safety blitz forcing a fumble, etc., even if he's not leading in PDs and INTs. OSU's Nashon Wright is also a bit of a snub, as I think he did better in coverage than probably anyone on the second team.
Tonges had modest receiving stats and still made HM as a TE. Kind of tells me that he has the respect of the league for his all around play at the position, including blocking