Cal Football Fails to Capitalize against Virginia

Ultimately too many chances gone to waste

Credit: Cal Football

In years 1-3 of any new coaching era, games like this *can* be encouraging. Gritty fight against a nationally ranked team mixed in with some chances that you want back. For 2025 Cal and year 9 under this coaching regime, its just another game. The Bears did play better after their despondent performance against Virginia Tech but didn’t capitalize on chances offensively and ultimately had too rough of a start defensively in a 31-21 loss to No. 15 Virginia.

Slow starts become too much to overcome

Too many times in recent games, Cal has been on the backfoot in terms of process and execution. Besides the Duke game, the Bears have taken far too long to calibrate themselves and don’t have the moxy in the bank to consistently overcome the odds.

See the following dynamics for Cal in recent games:

• San Diego State: drives down to the goal line on the first drive, and doesn’t threaten again

• Boston College: down 14-0 immediately (W)

• Duke: good start, scoring touchdowns on the first three drives. Didn’t score again

• UNC: Cal capitalizes on an early fumble, eventually holds on for dear life (W)

• VT: Got their bell rung, falling behind 10-0 before rallying

• UVA: Falls behind 10-0 again, gets within three points but never climbs the mountain

Its another disheartening characteristic for an inconsistent football team, one where clearly the bulk of the fanbase has seen enough and are making it known. Virginia had several third and longs early in the game and Cal could simply not find a way off the field, resulting in a day where the Hoos ended up 10/19 on third down.

We’ve reached…..apathy

It’s not hard to see why the casual fan is tuning out. But it’s certainly something when the crowd at California Memorial Stadium responds in tow. Cal vs UVA brought out the worst home game attendance of the season and it wasn’t particularly close.

• TSU 35,898

• Minn: 38,556

• Duke: 42,240

• UNC: 33,401

• UVA: 30,898

This was a shocking figure to see and quite honestly, I don’t see how 30,000 people even made it inside CMS on Saturday. There were tons of empty seats and sections, and against a ranked team, it befuddled me in the moment.

Cal does have a winning record after all but its not hard to see why the deck of cards is falling this way. The product is still an ever changing roller coaster, one where people have found other things to do with their Saturday’s. It’s a figure that should ignite conversation from General Manager Ron Rivera as to what happens next.

The conundrum of potentially being without Cade Uluave and conclusions

After the first series, Cade Uluave was seen on the sideline without his helmet. By the time halftime came and went, he was in street clothes with a cast/club near his right wrist area.

Given the struggles on defense both in the tackling department along with ability to keep opponents off schedule, its another roadblock in a laundry list of them this year. If the Bears are to be without him while already being down Ryan McCulloch and Isaiah Crosby, it could spell a world of hurt against potentially the best running back in the ACC in Louisville’s Isaac Brown.

Walk-on Aaron Hampton had a nice game where he mentioned that “he proved to himself that he can play with these dudes.” Justin Wilcox mentioned that it was an admirable effort for Hampton as he slotted in and showed some solid instincts.

However, there’s simply no replacing Cade Uluave. It’s a reality that Cal may have to face as it closes the 2025 season, putting contests such as the Big Game even more on the margins.

At the end of the day, Virginia is tallied as another winnable game where Cal did not come through. Despite playing what is probably the most improved team in the ACC, the Bears had their chances but too much Chandler Morris and Kam Robinson proved costly. Maybe things change if timeouts are called differently at the end of the game but the fact of the matter is that the Bears had opportunities to take the lead and ultimately left the win at the altar.

Entering this year, Cal had the easiest schedule that it will ever have. They have not capitalized on it. We’ll see what the future of Golden Bear Football holds.