Independence Bowl 2023 Insta-Recap & Rate the Game: Cal blasted by Texas Tech 34-14
After a strong start, the California Golden Bears were ripped apart in Shreveport
Rate the Cal v. Texas Tech Game!
This was a tough epilogue for the California Golden Bears in the 2023 season. After starting out strong to go up 14-7, the Bears were outclassed by the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the final three quarters, getting outscored 27-0.
The battle was mostly won in the trenches, where Texas Tech bottled up Jaydn Ott to 42 yards rushing and sacked Fernando Mendoza six times, as the Red Raiders racked up 13 tackles for loss. Cal did a decent job holding Tahj Brooks in check to 99 yards, but Behren Morton completed 14 of his first 18 passes for 182 yards and three touchdowns and that early precision made all the differences.
Cal would go three (or four)-and-out on five of its remaining possessions, and turn the football over (downs, fumble and interceptions) on five other possessions. Texas Tech scored on four of their seven possessions to turn a 14-7 deficit into a 31-14 lead, and essentially held steady the rest of the way. Mendoza committed several turnovers in the last few drives to seal the Texas Tech win.
Cal falls to 6-7 in their final year in the Pac-12. They will start the 2024 season in the ACC. There’s a lot to fix and a lot to figure out before that happens.
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Final Stats:
This game was lost at the line of scrimmage. TTU defensive line dominated our OL. Our defensive line seemed little more than a mild annoyance to TTU. We need to find and coach up some Todd Steussies Alex Macks (a 2* recruit), and Cameron Jordans.
I do think having to take finals messed up Cal's practice/pregame routine -- they just seemed a little off all night. I noticed that the announcers didn't say anything about TTU having finals.
Unlike some of the curmudgeonly Old Blues on this blog, I'm still bullish on next season. They made great strides on offense this year under a new system, finding a young QB who grew into the role nicely (notwithstanding the bowl game), and despite Spav leaving, there will be good continuity going into next season. Plus our ACC schedule will be much easier than the gauntlet we had to run through this season.
Disappointing and disillusioning performance. In the first half, Cal had three possessions that went 3-and-out. Another possession went 4-and-out. In the second half, Cal was shut out and possessions ended on an interception, punt (3-and-out), downs, fumble, interception, interception, and punt (3-and-out). That's a team that is both uninspired and not well coached.
A bowl game performance should be a culmination of effort. Instead, what we saw was a team clearly struggling to perform simple tasks. This program is clearly in a downward trajectory. I predict that next year Cal will not win more than 3 games and lose the Big Game. I have never felt so pessimistic, even after the end of the 2000 season.