Cal at Washington State cancelled due to COVID tracing for the Bears
Season might be over.
Cal’s glorious 2020 football campaign might be coming to an end. And it starts and end with COVID cases quarantining our defensive line.
So, if you’re keeping track at home, here’s how Cal’s season has gone.
Game 1 against Washington: Cancelled due to defensive line positive case, plus contact tracing quarantine of too many defensive lineman to be able to play.
Game 2 against ASU: Cancelled due to an outbreak on the Arizona State team.
Game 2 against UCLA: Rescheduled to play UCLA on around a day-and-a-half notice, with the defensive line coming out of quarantine.
Game 3 against Oregon State: Three offensive line starters quarantined due to a COVID positive case. Bears playing with bare minimum of needed offensive line starters.
Game 4 against Stanford: Three offensive line starters quarantined due to a COVID positive case. Bears playing with bare minimum of needed offensive line starters.
Game 5 against Oregon: Cal plays with basically their full team. Wins.
Game 6 against Washington State: Cancelled due to defensive line positive case, plus contact tracing quarantine of too many defensive lineman to be able to play.
As far as I’m concerned, Cal finished this season 1-0. Congrats to the Bears on their first undefeated season since 1937!
Why cant they just play the game remotely like on Zoom or something?
I am not buying the sentiments that this was a throwaway season. What I saw was that Cal got leapfrogged by a bunch of programs, namely UCLA and Oregon State, that did not struggle as much with COVID problems and may have taken this shortened season a lot more seriously. If pressed, I would put Cal in the number 11 slot behind Arizona to start next season.
That's a bad look for a head coach entering his fifth season and still struggling to find an offense that can compete in the Pac 12. It will get worse if the two best defenders on the team - Deng and Goode - opt for the NFL. I might feel differently tomorrow, but I am just pissed that yet another Cal player tested positive two hours before gametime. Was it an accident, did this player pick up COVID walking down the street or stopping in Safeway to pick up a deli sandwich? I don't think so...