We got several call-outs during the 4th Quarter in the Orange Bowl, with Tosh coming to Cal after Oregon finishes their run. Invaluable Cal awareness building imho. Looks like that will continue with Oregon's win.
They had to play a road game instead of the usual neutral site bowl game. And while they have a few pieces in place, overall they just don't have the Joes to win consistently especially on the road. To get to the next level and win games like these, Cal has to get better players across the board.
It was a fun trip for the players and made for an exciting games on national tv, which is more than most secondary bowl games offer these days. No serious injuries reported Hawaii was favored to win this game on their home field. To somehow blame Wilcox for the loss sounds sour grapes. Coach put together the team that got us here - including the victory over SMU. Let's stop all this negative talk and look forward and hope Tosh and Co can build on this next year. We have a challenging schedule. We need lots of help on the offensive line, more depth at RB and WR and a pass rush. Lots of coaching changes and new monies coming into ACC Schools, not just at Cal. Hope for the best. Go Bears....
Wilcox may not have been on the sidelines but it is his culture. I'm sorry, but the way we lost (and then had to be ridiculously stupid with the post-game brawl) is in fact very bad. Had we lost 35-31 in a well played game, different story. Yet here:
Statistically we "won" offensive yardage categories - more passing yards, more rushing yards - but lost 4th down conversions and, while technically won third down conversions, we were 6 for 10 and they were 8-17. I'd much rather have theirs.
Up 21-0 in the first quarter and a half but lost 35-31 like...Duke and Va Tech
The mind-numbing offensive penalties
Bad special teams (JDJ returns notwithstanding)
Zero d-line pressure
Terrible tackling
Abandonment of the run game though it was working if schemed right.
I’m not upset with this loss because it was a fun and competitive game and we didn’t have any major injuries to any players. I hope the team enjoyed their trip to Hawaii
I am, mostly because I saw it coming from the second quarter on. But what really pisses me off is the extra curriculars after the game, THAT really makes me angry.
Doesn't matter who the coach is, Wilcox or other, Cal has had this MO for years!! The football team does not represent a student body: FULL of working class, driven, unrelenting success. These fucking football players need to train with the rugby team day in and day out. Learn how to tackle, learn what it takes to win, play with passion for your teammates and your school.
Yeah, that loss sucked and I'm pissed.
Moko should never be allowed on campus ever again, not welcomed.
I’m more upset with the optics than just the L. You tell me they lose a TRUE road game 35-31 to a good Hawaii team I’d say yeah, that tracks…let’s move on with better times ahead.
Instead, they blew a 21-0 lead and were totally dominated in the trenches by a MWC team for 3 quarters while making yet another half-dozen crippling, bonehead mistakes, punctuating it with a few different post-game brawls? Based on 9+ years of data, I’d say this is 100% a Justin Wilcox -built team.
You don’t get many chances as easy as this one to begin to shift the narrative surrounding the Cal football program - as the only football game on for literally the entire sports-watching world, this was a prime opportunity to do so and they go out and pretty much embarrass themselves in the process. That’s a bummer.
Sure, if Wilcox were on the sidelines, I would be very worried and concerned about this loss but thankfully he wasn’t. This was a transitional bowl game, most of the coaches are gone or have one foot out the door so I was pleasantly surprised how well we played and that we almost won. Throw in that most of our players didn’t opt out or transfer and no one got hurt, plus it was a fun and competitive game with an interim HC, I’ll take it.
Just that it was a massive missed opportunity nonetheless and with Hawaii’s QB3 throwing a game-winning TD, plus the ugly mistakes and multiple post-game fights, Cal continued to look pretty awful in a variety of different ways at a time when you don’t want to look awful.
Agree. I didn’t get quite as upset or agitated as in the ancien regime. I knew Napoleon was gonna arrive on the scene soon and release a whiff of grapeshot.
Great reading all these comments from those who watched...sadly I was relegated to checking the score from the dinner table....wow, we are up 21 zip...uh oh, what's going on? Now tied! We jump in the car to drive home and now there are 10 seconds on the clock as we are down by four...what happened?? Wilcox Cal happened. One thing I do take some cold comfort in is the box score, where we out played them on every level but the score and the penalties. JKS was fantastic and De Jesus is our new all time reception King...and we even ran the ball. All the mess that conspired to create the loss, much clearly self inflicted, is awful, but I join the many of you who are extremely optimistic about our future. Turn the page, Go Bears Forever!
If only Cal turtle games were as endangered as the Hawaiian sea turtles. A very Wilcox game, despite him not being there. We are incapable of playing a full 4 quarters. Don't know if it's conditioning or inability to adjust play calling, but I am hoping the new regime will fix that.
I'm emotionally preparing myself for a very full and busy portal. Our new coaching staff is light on play calling experience but heavy on recruiting experience so I'm anticipating major turnover.
Yup. Start with what you know and recruit like crazy. Tosh got a 5-year deal which basically leads right up to the next round of realignment madness. He'll likely be given at least 3, likely 4, years to figure the rest out (barring complete disaster or him leaving).
Tosh will have as close to a blank check that Cal can offer.
We need a huge upgrade in talent. But what if our current players love Cal and are excited for Tosh and don't want to leave. Can we take their scholarships away? How do we make them enter the portal?
It’s not just talent, though I do agree we need more of that. Guys need to step up. Last nights game showed it. Fundamental tackling, coverage, blocking etc. weren’t present. We gotta be great on the fundamentals.
Scholarships are offered year-to-year. So schools can just non-renew. Under the House settlement, rosters expanded from 85 scholarships to 105 roster spots (all of which CAN be on scholarship).
The coaching staff will say, "We will be targeting players for your role, changing scheme, etc.. You can either compete or transfer." A lot of starter-caliber players may rather transfer somewhere to a better fit.
For players very low on depth chart, they may be non-renewed or have their scholarship reduced, depending on the budget.
The new system acts more like a free market than the old one so it's easier to think of transfers as "job hopping" with many of the same motivations.
One of the worst Cal fades i've ever witnessed and believe me I've seen a lot. A Cal fan for 70 years, I don't know why I still follow them. This one was depressing and disturbing. In spite of Hawaii's will to win, once again Cal was playing against 12 men ( the officials). No calls on roughing? Bad calls? Unbelievable favoritism. Late hit on JKS?- no call. Twice Cal's best kick returner signals for a fair catch when he has room to run? Fake injuries by the Hawaii QB? I really hope the new regime can turn this collapsing and losing around. Thanks for letting me rant.
Yes…..I wrote my own post on the many fake injuries throughout the game. And I noticed several obvious late hits on JKS (I guess it wasnt enuf he grew up on Oahu), and also noticed several late blows to the head by the same Hawaii safety who attacked Adams after the play and game were over. But getting homered in Hawaii is no surprise. I just wish Cal didn’t get homered at Cal….lol
Anyone who still has any doubts why we needed to terminate Justin Wilcox, actually years ago if we’re being honest, does not understand the new NCAA landscape nor what is at stake for the entire Cal Athletic Department.
Given the massive amount of funds we have now raised in large part after having moved on from Wilcox, the fact that he was allowed to remain employed as long as he was is a staggering testament to inept leadership.
As the author noted on X (below). Suspect he's already gone from the roster?
"...Cal OL Jordan Spasojevic-Moko sucker punched helmetless Hawaii DB Justin Sinclair. Moko had previously been dismissed from Texas A&M for violating a restraining order. Bad look for the Bears."
Wouldn't be the first fight that broke out in a bowl game with Hawaii. But it seems like we may have started this one. I hate undisciplined behavior like that so it should be dealt with however is deemed necessary.
Spasojevic-Moko should be kicked off the team along with anyone else who was involved. There’s no excuse for that kind of behavior snd I’ll bet Tosh or RR deal with it immediately. These kids represent the University of California at Berkeley and that kind of behavior should result in a zero tolerance consequence.
It was refreshing to see everyone stay and play in the bowl game yesterday. Except for injured players, it looked like the same personnel as the season. Even EJ Caminong was suited up.
We put up points unlike previous Bowl games. Obviously we lost in a typical Wilcox fashion but it was a nice change.
I felt like SMU was the solid ending we needed, and with all the excitement of Tosh's hiring, I was ready to turn the page cleanly. Didn't feel like anything could be gained, nor did I necessarily want to even see this roster play again. But obviously good for the players if they wanted it.
This is not to excuse the pathetic lack of effort by our so called All American corner giving up 2 last minutes TD passes ( that were in the air for a very long time), but why hasn’t anyone pointed out the obvious fake injury ploys by Hawaii….especially their QB and their crazy safety who started the post game brawl by assaulting the diminutive Adams AFTER both the play and the game were long over. Thank goodness a Cal player came over to defend Adams against this maniac. NCAA should but won’t take action. Their QB was constantly on the ground all 2nd half rolling around because of the same ankle issue that’s he’s played with (successfully) the entire season, and in retrospect he/Hawaii clearly used that last fake injury to stop the clock long enuf for them to plan the last long pass into the end zone…which actually had very little risk because if they didn’t catch Cal off guard and it fell incomplete they still had their sure thing kicker to kick a tying field goal. Just way too many times Hawaii players stayed on the ground after a play (to give their O and D coaches time to slow Cal down and scheme a play). Isn’t this something that Cal was vehemently accused of back in the day that resulted in Lupoi being chastised etc? Cal blew the lead, and no excuse for their absolutely stupid unnecessary roughness penalties on defense that extended H drives and set Cal up for failure, but this kind of cheating should be limited to the game of soccer (where faking injuries and deliberately “holding” players when they are on the attack, which is never punished due to the poorly thought thru “advantage” rule). Cal’s history of failure on the football team in the clutch must end, and probably will. But I recognize unsportsmanlike gamesmanship when I see it, and Hawaii coaches should ashamed of themselves.
Exactly. 1:52 to go and all we need is a stop and we win the game; instead, they go the length of the field and score with their back-up QB. Typical Cal.
We got several call-outs during the 4th Quarter in the Orange Bowl, with Tosh coming to Cal after Oregon finishes their run. Invaluable Cal awareness building imho. Looks like that will continue with Oregon's win.
They had to play a road game instead of the usual neutral site bowl game. And while they have a few pieces in place, overall they just don't have the Joes to win consistently especially on the road. To get to the next level and win games like these, Cal has to get better players across the board.
It was a fun trip for the players and made for an exciting games on national tv, which is more than most secondary bowl games offer these days. No serious injuries reported Hawaii was favored to win this game on their home field. To somehow blame Wilcox for the loss sounds sour grapes. Coach put together the team that got us here - including the victory over SMU. Let's stop all this negative talk and look forward and hope Tosh and Co can build on this next year. We have a challenging schedule. We need lots of help on the offensive line, more depth at RB and WR and a pass rush. Lots of coaching changes and new monies coming into ACC Schools, not just at Cal. Hope for the best. Go Bears....
Wilcox may not have been on the sidelines but it is his culture. I'm sorry, but the way we lost (and then had to be ridiculously stupid with the post-game brawl) is in fact very bad. Had we lost 35-31 in a well played game, different story. Yet here:
Statistically we "won" offensive yardage categories - more passing yards, more rushing yards - but lost 4th down conversions and, while technically won third down conversions, we were 6 for 10 and they were 8-17. I'd much rather have theirs.
Up 21-0 in the first quarter and a half but lost 35-31 like...Duke and Va Tech
The mind-numbing offensive penalties
Bad special teams (JDJ returns notwithstanding)
Zero d-line pressure
Terrible tackling
Abandonment of the run game though it was working if schemed right.
Ummm, an All-ACC player couldn't play the ball in the air allowing for the go ahead touchdown. Frankly that CB is soft and has been all year.
Gonna call this game the Trash Can Drill. As promising as it starts, it's still a fade that ends in the garbage.
Given the melee at the end, I'm gonna call it the Kalikimaka Eve Melee
I’m not upset with this loss because it was a fun and competitive game and we didn’t have any major injuries to any players. I hope the team enjoyed their trip to Hawaii
I am, mostly because I saw it coming from the second quarter on. But what really pisses me off is the extra curriculars after the game, THAT really makes me angry.
Doesn't matter who the coach is, Wilcox or other, Cal has had this MO for years!! The football team does not represent a student body: FULL of working class, driven, unrelenting success. These fucking football players need to train with the rugby team day in and day out. Learn how to tackle, learn what it takes to win, play with passion for your teammates and your school.
Yeah, that loss sucked and I'm pissed.
Moko should never be allowed on campus ever again, not welcomed.
I’m more upset with the optics than just the L. You tell me they lose a TRUE road game 35-31 to a good Hawaii team I’d say yeah, that tracks…let’s move on with better times ahead.
Instead, they blew a 21-0 lead and were totally dominated in the trenches by a MWC team for 3 quarters while making yet another half-dozen crippling, bonehead mistakes, punctuating it with a few different post-game brawls? Based on 9+ years of data, I’d say this is 100% a Justin Wilcox -built team.
You don’t get many chances as easy as this one to begin to shift the narrative surrounding the Cal football program - as the only football game on for literally the entire sports-watching world, this was a prime opportunity to do so and they go out and pretty much embarrass themselves in the process. That’s a bummer.
Change can’t come soon enough.
Sure, if Wilcox were on the sidelines, I would be very worried and concerned about this loss but thankfully he wasn’t. This was a transitional bowl game, most of the coaches are gone or have one foot out the door so I was pleasantly surprised how well we played and that we almost won. Throw in that most of our players didn’t opt out or transfer and no one got hurt, plus it was a fun and competitive game with an interim HC, I’ll take it.
Yep, certainly not disputing those facts.
Just that it was a massive missed opportunity nonetheless and with Hawaii’s QB3 throwing a game-winning TD, plus the ugly mistakes and multiple post-game fights, Cal continued to look pretty awful in a variety of different ways at a time when you don’t want to look awful.
Agree. I didn’t get quite as upset or agitated as in the ancien regime. I knew Napoleon was gonna arrive on the scene soon and release a whiff of grapeshot.
Didn't end well for Napoleon. You know that, right?
It's pretty apt. Almost every HC eventually gets fired.
I'll take the number of years he was around whilst in "power", the disruption he caused etc.
This effort definitely gave Tosh a number of things he knows he’s gotta fix.
Great reading all these comments from those who watched...sadly I was relegated to checking the score from the dinner table....wow, we are up 21 zip...uh oh, what's going on? Now tied! We jump in the car to drive home and now there are 10 seconds on the clock as we are down by four...what happened?? Wilcox Cal happened. One thing I do take some cold comfort in is the box score, where we out played them on every level but the score and the penalties. JKS was fantastic and De Jesus is our new all time reception King...and we even ran the ball. All the mess that conspired to create the loss, much clearly self inflicted, is awful, but I join the many of you who are extremely optimistic about our future. Turn the page, Go Bears Forever!
Thanks Avi. Good stuff.
If only Cal turtle games were as endangered as the Hawaiian sea turtles. A very Wilcox game, despite him not being there. We are incapable of playing a full 4 quarters. Don't know if it's conditioning or inability to adjust play calling, but I am hoping the new regime will fix that.
I'm emotionally preparing myself for a very full and busy portal. Our new coaching staff is light on play calling experience but heavy on recruiting experience so I'm anticipating major turnover.
You can win 8-9 each year with talent and you can win 8-9 each year with execution.
You can win 10-11 each year with both.
Wilcox did neither.
Tosh is initially going to have to do the former and get to the latter.
Other than JKS, and if they stick around, JDJ, Ferrelli and Cade, no job should be safe.
You can reach 6-7 wins with 4-5 win talent if everything breaks right. You can't get beyond 7-8 wins with 5-6 win talent.
Yup. Start with what you know and recruit like crazy. Tosh got a 5-year deal which basically leads right up to the next round of realignment madness. He'll likely be given at least 3, likely 4, years to figure the rest out (barring complete disaster or him leaving).
Tosh will have as close to a blank check that Cal can offer.
The offensive and defensive lines basically need to be rebuilt from scratch, again.
We need a huge upgrade in talent. But what if our current players love Cal and are excited for Tosh and don't want to leave. Can we take their scholarships away? How do we make them enter the portal?
It’s not just talent, though I do agree we need more of that. Guys need to step up. Last nights game showed it. Fundamental tackling, coverage, blocking etc. weren’t present. We gotta be great on the fundamentals.
Scholarships are offered year-to-year. So schools can just non-renew. Under the House settlement, rosters expanded from 85 scholarships to 105 roster spots (all of which CAN be on scholarship).
The coaching staff will say, "We will be targeting players for your role, changing scheme, etc.. You can either compete or transfer." A lot of starter-caliber players may rather transfer somewhere to a better fit.
For players very low on depth chart, they may be non-renewed or have their scholarship reduced, depending on the budget.
The new system acts more like a free market than the old one so it's easier to think of transfers as "job hopping" with many of the same motivations.
One of the worst Cal fades i've ever witnessed and believe me I've seen a lot. A Cal fan for 70 years, I don't know why I still follow them. This one was depressing and disturbing. In spite of Hawaii's will to win, once again Cal was playing against 12 men ( the officials). No calls on roughing? Bad calls? Unbelievable favoritism. Late hit on JKS?- no call. Twice Cal's best kick returner signals for a fair catch when he has room to run? Fake injuries by the Hawaii QB? I really hope the new regime can turn this collapsing and losing around. Thanks for letting me rant.
Yes…..I wrote my own post on the many fake injuries throughout the game. And I noticed several obvious late hits on JKS (I guess it wasnt enuf he grew up on Oahu), and also noticed several late blows to the head by the same Hawaii safety who attacked Adams after the play and game were over. But getting homered in Hawaii is no surprise. I just wish Cal didn’t get homered at Cal….lol
If anyone still doubts why Ron Rivera hit the reset button, the reasons were all on display during this game.
Agreed.
Anyone who still has any doubts why we needed to terminate Justin Wilcox, actually years ago if we’re being honest, does not understand the new NCAA landscape nor what is at stake for the entire Cal Athletic Department.
Given the massive amount of funds we have now raised in large part after having moved on from Wilcox, the fact that he was allowed to remain employed as long as he was is a staggering testament to inept leadership.
On to bigger and better.
As the author noted on X (below). Suspect he's already gone from the roster?
"...Cal OL Jordan Spasojevic-Moko sucker punched helmetless Hawaii DB Justin Sinclair. Moko had previously been dismissed from Texas A&M for violating a restraining order. Bad look for the Bears."
Was Sinclair the guy who late hit Adams?
Wouldn't be the first fight that broke out in a bowl game with Hawaii. But it seems like we may have started this one. I hate undisciplined behavior like that so it should be dealt with however is deemed necessary.
I didn't realize how bad it was until seeing the vid. He should probably be charged criminally.
Spasojevic-Moko should be kicked off the team along with anyone else who was involved. There’s no excuse for that kind of behavior snd I’ll bet Tosh or RR deal with it immediately. These kids represent the University of California at Berkeley and that kind of behavior should result in a zero tolerance consequence.
I'd guess Rivera has already taken care of that.
And really a sad ( and very frustrating) way to turn the page.
I was actually hoping we'd opt out of a bowl this year, until the Hawaii story lines with JKS and Rolo made sense. Now I really wish they did.
Opting out would have been such a weak move. If this be becomes the norm, we might as well just get rid of bowl games.
The tradition as we knew it is already dead.
Doesn’t mean we should participate in it. Embrace competition. Don’t be a wuss
It was refreshing to see everyone stay and play in the bowl game yesterday. Except for injured players, it looked like the same personnel as the season. Even EJ Caminong was suited up.
We put up points unlike previous Bowl games. Obviously we lost in a typical Wilcox fashion but it was a nice change.
I felt like SMU was the solid ending we needed, and with all the excitement of Tosh's hiring, I was ready to turn the page cleanly. Didn't feel like anything could be gained, nor did I necessarily want to even see this roster play again. But obviously good for the players if they wanted it.
I honestly just wanted more practice reps for jks
That's true. But if we just won, it would have been a nice end too.
I definitely wouldn't be complaining if we'd won and didn't have an ugly incident in the end
This is not to excuse the pathetic lack of effort by our so called All American corner giving up 2 last minutes TD passes ( that were in the air for a very long time), but why hasn’t anyone pointed out the obvious fake injury ploys by Hawaii….especially their QB and their crazy safety who started the post game brawl by assaulting the diminutive Adams AFTER both the play and the game were long over. Thank goodness a Cal player came over to defend Adams against this maniac. NCAA should but won’t take action. Their QB was constantly on the ground all 2nd half rolling around because of the same ankle issue that’s he’s played with (successfully) the entire season, and in retrospect he/Hawaii clearly used that last fake injury to stop the clock long enuf for them to plan the last long pass into the end zone…which actually had very little risk because if they didn’t catch Cal off guard and it fell incomplete they still had their sure thing kicker to kick a tying field goal. Just way too many times Hawaii players stayed on the ground after a play (to give their O and D coaches time to slow Cal down and scheme a play). Isn’t this something that Cal was vehemently accused of back in the day that resulted in Lupoi being chastised etc? Cal blew the lead, and no excuse for their absolutely stupid unnecessary roughness penalties on defense that extended H drives and set Cal up for failure, but this kind of cheating should be limited to the game of soccer (where faking injuries and deliberately “holding” players when they are on the attack, which is never punished due to the poorly thought thru “advantage” rule). Cal’s history of failure on the football team in the clutch must end, and probably will. But I recognize unsportsmanlike gamesmanship when I see it, and Hawaii coaches should ashamed of themselves.
They burned their time out for that "injury" so I don't think it was fake.
Regardless as to the “fake”injuries, there is no excuse for losing that game, especially on a hail Mary pass by Hawaii’s backup quarterback.
Of course they have no idea regarding any remorse for what you've described. They are congratulating themselves for how "clever" they are.
Merry Christmas! To 2026 bringing us EXCELLENCE & nothing less. Ugh those post game fights were not a good look.
Definitely Cal will need to make sure the conditioning is there to play 60 minutes. That always seems to be lacking.
Exactly. 1:52 to go and all we need is a stop and we win the game; instead, they go the length of the field and score with their back-up QB. Typical Cal.
A continued stunning lack of execution in the most basic fundamental plays of the game of football.
Reminded, indeed. Reminded x 2+.