Cal's Spring Game Stokes Excitement as Golden Bears Continue to Put Together Puzzle Pieces
The Bears are on an upward trajectory, but it's hard to make conclusions in spring
A new era of Cal football is upon us, but it’s got a familiar first day of school feel for those that have been around the program for a few decades. An underrated benefit of Coach Tosh Lupoi’s return home is the environment around little things like the spring game, which comes off natural under of the leadership of someone who has put blood, sweat and tears into this place.
The teams were not set up in 1’s vs 2’s, and that was on purpose per Coach Lupoi.
. “We didn’t want to do a so called ‘ones and twos’ because we don’t know who that is,” stated Coach Lupoi after the game. “We drafted the teams, myself, Marshall Cherrington, Norm (Mo) Ron Rivera, put that together, drafted the teams, Gold had their pick, Blue had their pick, back to back to back, we assembled the teams.”
While the hardcore fans might bemoan not getting a preview of the JKS to Ian Strong connection, the mix of players catching balls from different QBs every series, kept things varied and allowed some insights into these combinations.
It was difficult to parse anything definitive from the game itself, but some takeaways were there for the taking.
The running back room is something to get excited about this year. Returning redshirt freshman Anthony League showed out in the first half, running with vision and authority. Transfers like Adam Mohammad took a moment to come on, before breaking off a 50+ yard run in the fourth quarter.
There’s some competition behind JKS. Colorado State transfer Jackson Brousseau connected with Oregon transfer Cooper Perry for a 34 yard touchdown pass. Perry looked strong all game, making multiple strong catches. EJ Caminong seemed comfortable. Novato native Dominic Ingrassia fooled everyone on the field and in the press box running in a 37 yard keeper for a TD that nobody saw coming.
With all the positivity surrounding the regime change in Berkeley, there are some questions around the continuation of “DBU”. It must have been comforting to this lot to see the first score of the game come from a 95 yard return for touchdown off of a red zone interception at the hands of Marquis Groves-Killebrew, a high school stand out that had a few productive stops before his 2025 was cut short by injury.
Returning defensive players Aaron Hampton and Nate Burell both made impact plays on the ball. They seem to be adapting nicely. They will look to expand and grow their roles under this new staff.
AJ Tuitele had a bit of a stand out game as well, showing violence getting stops before skill players could make it across the line of scrimmage.
The Big Picture
We’ve got a long way until Cal hits the field for fall camp and eventually opening week against UCLA. It’s far too early to make any meaningful conclusions about the football acumen of the team but there is clearly a concerted effort by this team to be more than just a group of individuals.
In a day and age of college athletics that almost puts a “mercenary” label on certain sectors, both the coaches and players within the Cal program have consistently emphasized the connection and power of unit pillars of the program.
DC Michael Hutchings expanded in his post Spring game press conference that connections between opposites sides of the ball and people within all corners od the building is simply a prerequisite.
Cal did what they had to do in beginning to build the foundation for the future. Xavier Jones running in the touchdown to end the day was a nice cherry on top for a feel good day that got the fanbase back in the swing of things.
Fall camp beckons in August, as this new era of Cal Football approaches its debut. In the meantime, the staff will hit the road in recruiting as they look to “blitz the bay.”
You may just get to see them in your backyard in the coming months. Just like you got to head back to the friendly confines of California Memorial Stadium to close out the spring season.
What a great day for Cal, spring football at CMS and a huge win at Witter rugby field. GO BEARS!