LA Bowl: Rate the Cal v. UNLV Game - Bears Lose to Rebels, 13-24
Golden Bears complete the season with a losing 6-7 record
The California Golden Bears (6-7) ended their 2024 season with a 13-24 loss in the LA Bowl. The No. 24 UNLV Rebels (11-3) held the Golden Bears to a single touchdown and two field goals, frustrating California’s third-string quarterback, CJ Harris.
CJ Harris threw for 109 yards and completed 13 out of 20 passes before getting injured in the third quarter. The injury saw the debut of first-year signal-caller EJ Caminong, who played his first college football game. Caminong contributed 57 passing yards and 18 rushing yards to the stat sheet.
The Golden Bears’ lone touchdown against the Rebels came at the end of the first quarter to bring the score to 10-7 in Cal’s favor. First-year wide receiver Josiah Martin found the end zone on a 29-yard reverse to cap off a nine-play 89-yard drive.
While California out-gained UNLV 348 yards to 291, the nationally ranked Rebels frustrated and out-played the ACC team.
The Rebels scored three touchdowns at SoFi Stadium. Its first score came in the first quarter from a 49-yard reception by Kayden “Big Play” McGee, helping bring the score to 7-3.
UNLV’s second visit to the end zone came after a fake punt at the start of the second quarter, which turned a fourth-and-seven into a first-and-goal. UNLV punter Marshall Nichols threw a 52-yard pass to defensive back Cameron Oliver from his own 37, which was caught at the 42-yard line and advanced to the Cal 9-yard line. Jacob De Jesus, the senior receiver, hauled a nine-yard receiving touchdown on the next play.
Rate the Cal v. UNLV game!
Grade the team’s performance, and we’ll publish the results next week. Thanks for being a part of our community for another season. Go Bears!
In the postgame it was good to hear Wilcox point out the broken mess that is college football today. Beautiful game that is broken and needs fixing. Aside from all my thoughts on Wilcox and coaching and such, it's my primary concern that the NIL and portal process prevent non-playoff teams from having any real meaningful post seasons. This wasn't Cal playing UNLV. This was Cal's 2nd and 3rd team playing UNLV 2nd and 3rd team. You can cheer for the jersey, but it's hard to cheer for the team given that it isn't really the team that played all year.
Personally, it's been a long year and I am taking most of December off to recover from some tough events I've had. Cal's bowl game coming to where I live was a perfect outlet. Listening to our fight song in the pre-game event almost made me cry for some reason. It felt home, with the whole Cal community in the stadium, even though I didn't really know anyone. It kind of felt like being back in Berkeley but the bond felt stronger when it happened far away from Berkeley. Regardless of the outcome of the game, I really appreciated the experience. SoFi is a heck of a stadium too. I've gone to a Rams game once but haven't returned because I couldn't really stand the aggressive pro football crowd and the traffic mess in Inglewood (and I was more of a Jared Goff fan anyways). Being there with a much smaller educated bunch in that fancy stadium at a reasonable ticket price made it super enjoyable.
This was my first Bowl game visit since 2009 in San Diego, and I was reminded that a Bowl game is more than just a sporting event for the alumni and fans. I doubt we will have a Bowl team next season, but will look forward to the next one.
Go Bears!
(Summary: Wilcox should still be fired.)