This team.
Just a week after its most inexplicable loss of the season, two weeks after an offensive flatline against a very beatable opponent, four weeks after a defensive save job 3,000+ miles from home, and a month-plus since being rolled over by future playoff contender UCLA, the California Golden Bears produced yet another surprising result. Cal has been turning heads since their ACC move by doing things no one can anticipate week-to-week, and that pattern continued with their first stunning homecoming win in October in a decade.
Being a Cal fan isn’t always good times. But we are definitely always living in interesting times.
Tosh Lupoi’s difficult decision to move playcalling duties from first-choice offensive coordinator Jordan Somerville paid dividends, as Pat McCann came in and provided immediate lift in scheme, playcalls, and most particularly in-game adjustments. At a crucial point in his early tenure, Lupoi has proven he can pull the trigger, and there was an immediate lift in offensive outcomes.
After some early bumps that seemed to indicate the same old story on offense, McCann adjusted very well in-game. The offense looked simplified, with the ball coming out faster to negate pass rush. The spacing looked cleaner in play design, allowing outlets when the first hot read wasn’t availabe A beleaguered pass protection suddenly found relief from that quick-hitting game, making good blocks and adapting in-game. And the Bears responded with several late drives at the end of each half, including three scoring drives and two late touchdowns to grab the win.
Jackson Brousseau, who showed some promise in his time under McCann at UNLV, minimized mistakes and threw catchable footballs. With Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele in concussion protocol, Brousseau made good reads and gave his receivers great options, putting up net stats that matched Ethan Grunkemeyer. And leading those drives in a must-win game for Cal was absolutely nail. For the Bears to transition from a non-functional pass game to one that can score on consecutive drives with their backup QB upturns the long-term outlook of the Bears this year.
Ian Strong has had a difficult season, plagued by drops and disconnection with his QB, but he’s rediscovered some of his groove with Brousseau, hauling in two of the biggest catches of the game. Chase Hendricks had a productive game after catch, piling up the YAC to move the ball down the field. No one had Carson Perry-Smith on the scout when this season began, but he has stepped into his role and delivered the biggest catch for the Cal pass game in the last two weeks.
Ashton Emory, basically Cal’s only functional healthy running back, didn’t really get much space to produce tons of yardage, but he punched in two scores at the goal line. Dorian Thomas has had a disappointing year but executed a perfect fake punt that led to crucial Cal points. Towns McGough hit two huge field goals that bridged the gap. The Cal defensive line produced hosts of pressure on Grunkmeyer, with JD McKinley, Jericho Johnson, Solomon Williams and Derek Wilkins all found their way into the backfield to disrupt multiple drives.
There are underlying factors that remain of concern, obviously. There are still too many penalties and mental errors that keep opponent’s drives alive. The Cal defense continues to struggle to hold after a score, forcing the Bears entirely on the backfoot. The Bears still are very error-prone, as evidenced in the final 18 seconds when Virginia Tech got the ball back all the way to first and goal. They remain overaggressive and undisciplined, leading to more explosive plays conceded, as (after a very solid game) AJ Tuitele logged the Cal defense yet another in-game ejection.
Given the circumstances, though, it’s best to swallow the lumps and eat the tacos. Nothing is given in this sport, not even to the best teams, and sometimes it’s better to go out there and make your own luck.
It is funny that after spending all this money, Cal is now essentially playing a more chaotic version of Justin Wilcox football to get win number three, but at this point, we take what we can get.
It’s win at all costs for the California Golden Bears. We often don’t win when we most need to, but when we need to really win in bizarre situations, Cal can find a way. This type of football won’t win beauty contests or assuage concerns that a rebuild will be longer than expected, but the Bears stay alive in the ACC, and there remains hope of incremental improvements that’ll make every game on their schedule winnable enough.
Win stupid, win smart, win silly, win beautifully, win weird. The Bears just need to find the wins and get to the next week, to prove their relevance in a world where eyeballs on their team can keep them in the Power 4 realignment and relegation era.
Cal won in all of those ways on Saturday. There’s much to fix, and still a lot for Tosh Lupoi to learn as a first-time head coach, but for at least a moment, the panic has been quelled.
Cal was down its starting quarterback, top two running backs, debuted a new playcaller, had its best defender out, saw its second-best defender get ejected, and continued to deal with a host of injuries, and saw their season fading away.
Then they threw out the expectations, the disappointment, and played ball.
I can live with that. For now, let’s take it and move with it.
You nailed the Bears with your word pictures that long time fans recognize and understand. We are a fan base that suffers through tough injuries of players who we have expectations. We moan and groan at penalties bad calls staff we want replaced. But, then it happens. The dark turns to light and our Bears play their hearts out and make plays that are needed at that particular time... Our team and coaching staff brought their A Game to Memorial Stadium and the cheering didn’t stop. It’s great to a Bear, but sometimes it’s better than great. Going forward, it’s on to the next game💙🏈💛Go Bears💙🏈💛
Let us not forget that had VT had a better field goal kicker Cal would likely have lost this game.
Brousseau played well and the OL actually looked better, perhaps helped by Brousseau’s ability to stay in the pocket when threatened, unlike JKS. Furthermore, Brousseau showed a running ability thst JKS simply does not have. Play calling improvement certainly helped, particularly since it was adapted to the new offensive set and was oriented more to a QB like Brousseau rather than JKS.
The run game was still pretty anemic and one had to wonder how this game would have gone with both Brousseau and Mohammed in the backfield. The powerful running game represented by Mohammed would definitely have helped balance out this new offense.
Still way too many stupid and costly penalties, which goes to coaching and Cal has had way too many targeting penalties already this season.
I make no predictions on where this team will end up, but it now heads into the heart of its ACC season against a set of teams that will take advantage of every mistake and weakness. I am hoping we can beat Stanford to avenge that awful defeat from last year, but even that isn’t a foregone conclusion.