I don't understand how the defense went from being so bad to being good these last weeks. Even given the quality of the opponents, does it make sense? ... Mendoza is such a great story. What role do you see Sam Jackson playing in 2024, can he be both a backup QB and a receiver?
bend but don't break works really well against mistake-prone, inexperienced offenses with mediocre quarterbacks, because if you give them enough chances, they eventually make a drive-ending mistake. But they don't work against Nix/Penix/Williams offenses, as we painfully saw earlier in the year.
Sirmon Jr. may have been all conference but Uluave is an instinctual football player and if he has enough snaps to qualify will be on the Pac12 all-conference FRESHMEN team. Very few ballers like Uluave. I thought he was under sized for Pac12, boy was I proven wrong. This kid is one of the hearts of this team going forward. He along with Orr makes for one of the best ILB tandems in college football for the next few years.
May I suggest that we get a series next year on all the reasons we should hate each team we play next year? I don’t know what I’m going to do without the LA schools
What a beautiful way to close out the final game of the Pac 12 with a hammering of UC Los Angeles on their home field. A huge shout out to Coach Wilcox for keeping the Bears focused after the disaster in Eugene.
Yeah, the fact that the team was able to stay focused is one of the strongest arguments for keeping him. There are going to be a lot of distractions switching conferences.
So as a season recap: every conference team we lost to ended 7-5 or better and every one we beat was 7-5 (UCLOL) or worse. OOC lost to 6-6 SEC and beat 5-7 AAC (arguably the best G5 conference now) and 8-4 FCS (heading to the second round of the FCS playoff).
Cal was also a couple plays/ref calls from beating 7-5 USC and 6-6 Auburn, and from losing to 5-7 WSU. Honestly kind of impressive they played a whole season without any big upsets one way or another. The UCLA game was the ONLY upset, with us as an 8.5 point underdog at kickoff. Auburn we were dogs per Vegas but favored per FPI.
2023 marks only the 12th time the Bears have finished a regular season at .500 since Cal made the permanent move to football in 1915. This first happened in Andy Smith’s second season (1917) and not again until Bill Ingram’s last season (1934). Stub Allison did it once (1942) and Pappy Waldorf in successive seasons (1953 and ’54). Ray Willsey was the king of the 5-5 record managing three such seasons (1965, ’67 and ’69) before the NCAA expanded seasons to eleven games specifically to prevent Willsey from doing it again (he subsequently went 6-5 in his last two campaigns). Joe Kapp and Bruce Snyder each had one .500 season (1983 and 1988) both were 5-5-1. Tedford had a 6-6 season (2007) but a bowl win made California 7-6. Steve Mariucci (1996) and Roger Theder (1979) had final records of 6-6 but those years included a bowl loss after a 6-5 regular season.
You intended to say finished at exactly .500 right? Otherwise, it might be possible to misconstrue the statement to suggest that Cal has only finished over .500 12 times. I’m also quite sleep deprived so I may be reading this with the wrong mindset.
So many positives to build on going into the next season, especially if Cal can win their bowl game. If no starters transfer out, which sadly in college football now is always a possibility, Cal has qb, rb, wr, te, and ilb set. Could then really focus this offseason on getting ol and dl in the transfer portal, also some better corners would hurt either
TBH our DL showed out last night! And we get all of them back. Carlton, Correia, Saunders, Johnson, and Burrell are all juniors! We'll miss Reese for sure tho. I'm so excited to see what that unit can become next year with another off season and Uluave and Orr behind them
The early rumors indicate Cal playing the Independence Bowl in Louisiana. Anyone know how these verkakte decisions are made? Wouldn't one of the west coast or southwest bowl games rather host Cal and get at least some of the people who can drive to the stadium? Do the management of the Independence Bowl expect to sell out by hosting Cal?
I think most people are expecting Cal to be the last selection by virtue of having the worst record, and the Independence gets the last Pac-12 pick. But it's not out of the question that we get selected by another one first.
Are we going to get a Nick Kranz recap this week?
I don't understand how the defense went from being so bad to being good these last weeks. Even given the quality of the opponents, does it make sense? ... Mendoza is such a great story. What role do you see Sam Jackson playing in 2024, can he be both a backup QB and a receiver?
bend but don't break works really well against mistake-prone, inexperienced offenses with mediocre quarterbacks, because if you give them enough chances, they eventually make a drive-ending mistake. But they don't work against Nix/Penix/Williams offenses, as we painfully saw earlier in the year.
If Sam Jackson is on the team next year I’d be shocked
Uluave, simple.
Sirmon Jr. may have been all conference but Uluave is an instinctual football player and if he has enough snaps to qualify will be on the Pac12 all-conference FRESHMEN team. Very few ballers like Uluave. I thought he was under sized for Pac12, boy was I proven wrong. This kid is one of the hearts of this team going forward. He along with Orr makes for one of the best ILB tandems in college football for the next few years.
May I suggest that we get a series next year on all the reasons we should hate each team we play next year? I don’t know what I’m going to do without the LA schools
I nominate FSU and Clemson for starters.
How soon can we poach some OL from Oregon State (and get their OL coach on staff in some capacity)??
I feel bad for OSU and WSU. Especially OSU for losing their coach. Can they avoid massive loses among their high school commits and in the portal??
I suspect the OSU program is on the verge of an implosion
tbd, but can't be good for OSU.
Mizalchek (sp?) is going with smith to M St.
Don’t know if OL players are going too, but wouldn’t be surprised if some do.
I figured the OL coach would go w/ Smith but still wished it.
Wouldn't surprise me if multiple players go to the portal and if we can pick off an OL or two that would be G(r)EAT!!
Bye, Felicia.
What a beautiful way to close out the final game of the Pac 12 with a hammering of UC Los Angeles on their home field. A huge shout out to Coach Wilcox for keeping the Bears focused after the disaster in Eugene.
Yeah, the fact that the team was able to stay focused is one of the strongest arguments for keeping him. There are going to be a lot of distractions switching conferences.
Best Game so far, this year, hope our Bowl Game is even better! Roll On You Bears!
Well, the only thing more fun that watching the game was reading all these comments...thanks all..on to next year and the ACC. GO BEARS!!!!!!!
Oh, and a quick Bowl victory in between....
GO BEARS
So as a season recap: every conference team we lost to ended 7-5 or better and every one we beat was 7-5 (UCLOL) or worse. OOC lost to 6-6 SEC and beat 5-7 AAC (arguably the best G5 conference now) and 8-4 FCS (heading to the second round of the FCS playoff).
Cal was also a couple plays/ref calls from beating 7-5 USC and 6-6 Auburn, and from losing to 5-7 WSU. Honestly kind of impressive they played a whole season without any big upsets one way or another. The UCLA game was the ONLY upset, with us as an 8.5 point underdog at kickoff. Auburn we were dogs per Vegas but favored per FPI.
Technically we did upset Auburn, I think since we beat the spread.
Beating the spread is just beating the spread. To get an upset you need the win.
I once heard someone say that good teams win, but great teams cover.
F Chip Kelly.
2023 marks only the 12th time the Bears have finished a regular season at .500 since Cal made the permanent move to football in 1915. This first happened in Andy Smith’s second season (1917) and not again until Bill Ingram’s last season (1934). Stub Allison did it once (1942) and Pappy Waldorf in successive seasons (1953 and ’54). Ray Willsey was the king of the 5-5 record managing three such seasons (1965, ’67 and ’69) before the NCAA expanded seasons to eleven games specifically to prevent Willsey from doing it again (he subsequently went 6-5 in his last two campaigns). Joe Kapp and Bruce Snyder each had one .500 season (1983 and 1988) both were 5-5-1. Tedford had a 6-6 season (2007) but a bowl win made California 7-6. Steve Mariucci (1996) and Roger Theder (1979) had final records of 6-6 but those years included a bowl loss after a 6-5 regular season.
You intended to say finished at exactly .500 right? Otherwise, it might be possible to misconstrue the statement to suggest that Cal has only finished over .500 12 times. I’m also quite sleep deprived so I may be reading this with the wrong mindset.
Thanks for that. Interesting.
I had basically written off our chances at a bowl game after the Auburn loss, so this is a very pleasant surprise!
UCLA did not seem to want this game very much.
Maybe a Good Bye, Mr. Chips let down with Chip’s likely departure and, in turn, left the team disheartened.
Plenty of Bruins did play intensely and spitefully. And Garbers was marching on us with great determination and effect.
Yeah, maybe they deflated after their QB went down.
That, too.
Honestly, I felt sorry for Dante Moore.
The poor kid looked dazed and confused.
He really looked like he didn’t want to be there.
So many positives to build on going into the next season, especially if Cal can win their bowl game. If no starters transfer out, which sadly in college football now is always a possibility, Cal has qb, rb, wr, te, and ilb set. Could then really focus this offseason on getting ol and dl in the transfer portal, also some better corners would hurt either
TBH our DL showed out last night! And we get all of them back. Carlton, Correia, Saunders, Johnson, and Burrell are all juniors! We'll miss Reese for sure tho. I'm so excited to see what that unit can become next year with another off season and Uluave and Orr behind them
Also need some defensive coaching changes but gotta wait until after the bowl for that
The early rumors indicate Cal playing the Independence Bowl in Louisiana. Anyone know how these verkakte decisions are made? Wouldn't one of the west coast or southwest bowl games rather host Cal and get at least some of the people who can drive to the stadium? Do the management of the Independence Bowl expect to sell out by hosting Cal?
I thought there was a set order but I guess that's not the case anymore.
https://collegefootballnews.com/bowl-projections/college-football-bowl-ties-affiliations-for-each-conference-2023-2024
FWIW, this projection has us against Texas Tech in Independence
https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/bowls/predictions/
247 has us in First Responder Bowl
https://247sports.com/longformarticle/college-football-bowl-projections-predictions-for-all-41-games-after-the-regular-season-221247616/#2313743
We'll see more sites update predictions today.
I think most people are expecting Cal to be the last selection by virtue of having the worst record, and the Independence gets the last Pac-12 pick. But it's not out of the question that we get selected by another one first.
There are a ton of 6-6 SBC teams that qualified for bowls that nobody wants IIRC. We'll be picked above them.
Yes, but the Independence gets the last choice out of the Pac-12. That could be either Cal or UCLA. We'll see.
I think Independence Bowl was for our 5-7 scenario. But I could be wrong.
It’s been a long time since we discussed which Bowl game we’ll play in - feels good
It's been a while since I was disappointed with Holiday Bowl selections
Why didn’t those goalposts come down? I gotta’ wonder if we need to be treated for shock.
I'm guessing Granddaddy Stadium doesn't play around lol.
Yeah, I remember Fiat Lux relating how he got scolded and folded when he unraveled a huge California state flag in an otherwise unoccupied endzone.