Also need to consider that after three games, there was plenty of tape on JKS and the offense. Whatever SDSU did defensively, we better figure out a workaround for it or it’s going to be an ugly season.
At this point it's pretty clear that we have no run game and inconsistent receivers. Will make the lives of DCs much easier to plan for with our limited arsenal of weapons
Yep, that's when this team hit's it's late September/October slide. Buckle up for probable L's the next 2 games for this years rendition of "The 6-7 Wilcox experience".
Honestly, I knew better. But, "Because Cal", our annual inflated torment and disappointment-seeking optimism, had me thinking above our likelihoods.
Nice reality check, but Jaron has no business doing anything but getting stronger and wiser from it.
The Aztecs deserve their props. They played better. The mystery is why did we play so badly? Did RR basically tell Wilcox this is his last year? Would Wilcox's bad news percolate through the staff and affect them all? The constant is JW, a controversy-free coach, who knows the game, but just can't seem to coach the team to the success they deserve.
JKS is a treasure. We need to buoy him through this.
Cal was ranked #6 going into unranked Oregon game. We had all the hype coming off 5 TD performance by Jahvid Best and he was getting Heisman talks. We were looking forward to a potential College Game Day coming to Berkeley for two unbeaten teams against USC after winning in Eugene.
Damn, I remember being on campus in rehearsal for that Oregon game, hearing the cheers from Bears Lair for that first field goal and then utter silence for the rest of the afternoon. 😔
Those big early long pass drops were a game changer. Catch one of those and JKS and receivers all have better confidence and momentum, SDSU would have had to change up coverage/taken the brunt of negative mindset. Catch both of those and we would likely have early game scoring cushion, the run open up more. I think that is what coaches planned for, and when it didn’t happen, back-up plans were nil. I was glad Hamper caught a longish pass later in the game, I hope he can shake off the drops and execute with the other WRs this Saturday. And yes, all those other things went wrong, but the drops were the momentum killers.
The WRs have unfortunately had key drops in 3 of the 4 games, with multiple players having multiple drops in multiple games.
Power Conference football is certainly a big step up for some of these portal guys, but it’s tough to see this team truly capitalizing on JKS’ talent if the WRs can’t catch the ball consistently, especially because we can not run the football.
So what's new? I am a long-time Cal football season pass holder and 30-year retiree. Now with the change to ACC, I find it VERY difficult to figure out how I can view Cal football games on TV without having to pay for some kind of package. I pay a lot for my season tickets already. Now I am looking for any kind of Sports bar that will be carrying the rest of Cal's away games. I live very close to the Claremont Hotel, but I'm sure my beverage cost for the 3 hours there will be more than a game-time ticket cost. Any suggestions, before I finally give up on Cal Football? BTW, I have found Cal Rugby not only a fine watch, but it only costs me $5.00 for a Senior Citizen ticket. If I could find a "disabled" driver spot, it would make leaving football palatable.
This was just so bad. I don't blame JKS for trying to do to much. Aside from Trond, his receivers can't seem to catch a ball that isn't straight into the numbers. De Jesus is fast and elusive, but has no catching radius. I'm not sure if our running game issues are more OL or RB. Unlike years past, I'm leaning latter but it could be both.
The overall vibe I got was that our scheme completely sucked, but maybe that's just what poor play across the board feels like. Being a Cal fan, I will never assume that any given performance is rock bottom. There are always more points to lose by. Hoping this is a wake-up call that talent without scheme, effort, and execution gets you annihilated by inferior competition. Flukes happen, but one does not perform this poorly by chance alone.
One more blowout with our schedule should be the immediate end of the Wilcox era. Contract aside, Ron would HAVE to show donors that he's in control and not just a figurehead.
I think that’s the biggest issue: there’s stumbling in a potential trap game on the road against a team off a BYE. Bad games happen.
It’s another thing to get shutout as 2-touchdown favorites and simply fail to compete. Wilcox was quoted today as saying he thought they had a good week of practice, which actually shows just how clueless he really is.
This performance was inexcusable, for the entire NCAAFB watching world to see. Same old Cal.
The rot is systemic and at the top - and it’s the same old thing. Really, nothing changes until Wilcox is gone.
Cal fans: All we can do is pray that last week was a horrific one off and that Wilcox and co. will right the ship at Boston College. I guess one thing that has all of us scratching our heads is, how could we play so well against Minnesota but simply shit the bed against SDSU? Against Minnesota, we were able to get the run game going in the second half against a good Big-10 defense. In fact, there were great adjustments throughout that game that were simply nowhere to be found against SDSU. Somebody was half-joking last week that Cal had to be careful because Snapdragon Stadium is still built over the ruins of the old stadium so they bad juju was probably still there. How right they were! Is it bad coaching or bad luck in one game? I guess we are going to find out in the next few weeks. GO BEARS!!!!! FOREVER!!!!!!!
If we had a decent running game the outcome would have been much different. The run play selection looked like one you'd see in a JV high school game. I'm sure there is more imagination and quantity of other selection of plays in the playbook. Inside Zone blocking dive plays is all I saw last week. I sure hope we see more emphasis on a TRUE running scheme this Saturday.
I'm preparing to drive from Pennsylvania to Massachusetts for this weekend's contest at BC. I was also there in the stands 39 years ago on a sunny day in Chestnut Hill when Cal stumbled in their opener 21-15. Cal actually LED the contest behind QB Brian Bedford's TD run (anyone remember him?) Bears led 15-13 with under 14 minutes to go. But the Eagles rallied behind their 3rd string QB, a backup TB, the brother of the '84 Heisman Trophy winner and a bruising fullback who scored his first career TD from inches out with under 7 minutes to play. The heat & humidity seemingly sapped the energy from Cal the rest of the way, unable to mount any kind of drive to win it, instead giving up a safety on a punt attempt.
It sounds like we'll be spared the rain at Alumni Stadium on Saturday, but hopefully the clouds & cooler temperatures will help our Bears find a way to turn this ship around from the shipwreck that was last Saturday. GO BEARS!!!
Sigh. As a San Diego transplant from NorCal 4 years ago, I had been looking ahead to this game for 2+ years (all the more so after the Pac-12 blew up and a potential SDSU-Cal in-state/in-conference rivalry could have emerged). But mercy, I've NEVER left a game this early before. EVER. Yet I'm only marginally embarrassed to have left before the start of the 3rd quarter b/c it was just so painful in a different way this time (and Cal fans know it's ALWAYS painful). Yes, I'm the eternal optimist who wondered about whether we could run the table in studying this season's schedule, hearing that Rivera and the higher ups were looking forward to re-tooling for this season, despite losing key folks to the portal. It's true that this game doesn't really matter...and I'll be at the Duke game for homecoming. So, I'm hoping we learn and that it's only up from here.
My joys were in taking pride in an epic tailgate party and appreciating an otherwise awesome experience at the super cool Snapdragon Stadium. My last visit to a SD game was at the old Qualcomm in 2004 with a deflated Aaron Rogers-led team losing an uninspired game against Texas Tech after being robbed from a Rose Bowl berth. Don't get me started on that season...but da*n you, Mack Brown...
I honestly don’t know where the offense goes from here. Its clear now they can’t run the ball and they don’t have receivers who can get open or make a tough catch.
Not sure there is a quarterback under more pressure to make an offensive magically work than JKS and he is an 18 year old true freshman.
As has been the case throughout Wilcox’s tenure, the fact that this effort even happened at all takes most of the wind out of the sails for 2025.
After being more than intrigued by the first 3 weeks, I now find it unfortunately tough to really get all that excited about what lies ahead before the inevitable parting with Wilcox.
I know you and I debate this but I don’t really see Wilcox being let go after this season. Wilcox should be able to bumble and stumble to 6 wins this season, which will buy him another season at Cal.
With 2 years remaining on his contract at the end of this year, Wilcox would be looking for an extension, as failure to do so would be a de facto vote of no confidence. It's pretty hard to recruit against that. I think 6 wins will give Wilcox more time with his family.
Because he was a competent DC at previous stops and has had success producing NFL talent in the secondary.
Plus he has a good reputation and is known fielding above average defenses at Cal, and if you can do that at Cal, you can do it anywhere….the thinking goes.
I wonder if he's doing all the scheming and play calling on defense this year, and if its basically too much with being the HC. I prefer my coordinators to be in the booth seeing the whole field and focusing on only that. Not sure I buy the current co-coordinators as being more than a title and money thing.
After Bloesch last year, I think handing the play calling duties in a crucial year to not 1 but 2 guys that have NEVER done it before is literally the most Justin Wilcox thing ever….no one thinks that’s a good idea.
But regardless of who is calling plays, the D plays well enough to win and is not currently their issue.
Disappointed in Anae - their OL is still poor in run blocking, which makes sense because a lot of the same guys are back. Was hoping Anae would scheme it up a little better - maybe he is and they just can’t execute. I dunno - Rugbear would certainly know better than me, but the eye test currently ain’t pretty. That holding call first play out of half Saturday seemed so fitting.
Also need to consider that after three games, there was plenty of tape on JKS and the offense. Whatever SDSU did defensively, we better figure out a workaround for it or it’s going to be an ugly season.
They had a BYE week to game plan, as well. A BYE week in week 3 is a huge advantage for a coaching staff.
At this point it's pretty clear that we have no run game and inconsistent receivers. Will make the lives of DCs much easier to plan for with our limited arsenal of weapons
Yep, that's when this team hit's it's late September/October slide. Buckle up for probable L's the next 2 games for this years rendition of "The 6-7 Wilcox experience".
Can these things be fixed: WR drops, bad tackling, pre-snap penalties, bad pass protection, bad defense calling vs short passes?
I think so.
Can these things be fixed: bad run blocking, freshman QB mistakes?
I don’t think so.
I am wondering how RR factors into adjustments to be made? What can he do here and what will he do here?
Many saying same ol’ Wilcox, but he’s got a new boss. I’m guessing new boss gonna give him an earful. But will it change anything?
We shall see.
Honestly, I knew better. But, "Because Cal", our annual inflated torment and disappointment-seeking optimism, had me thinking above our likelihoods.
Nice reality check, but Jaron has no business doing anything but getting stronger and wiser from it.
The Aztecs deserve their props. They played better. The mystery is why did we play so badly? Did RR basically tell Wilcox this is his last year? Would Wilcox's bad news percolate through the staff and affect them all? The constant is JW, a controversy-free coach, who knows the game, but just can't seem to coach the team to the success they deserve.
JKS is a treasure. We need to buoy him through this.
We were favored by 5.5 for the 42-3 loss at Oregon 09/26/2009, so that's a 44.5 point under performance.
We were a 14.5 point underdog for the 62-14 loss at Oregon State 11/17/2012, so that's only a 33.5 point under performance.
So, yes, this was worse.
I 'liked' this because it's super helpful information, but I do not LIKE this information, sigh. Thanks Vic!
LOL. I've been a Cal fan for a long time. I completely understand.
Cal was ranked #6 going into unranked Oregon game. We had all the hype coming off 5 TD performance by Jahvid Best and he was getting Heisman talks. We were looking forward to a potential College Game Day coming to Berkeley for two unbeaten teams against USC after winning in Eugene.
Somewhere in the dark places of our collective pain, Ed Dickson has scored another touchdown...
Damn, I remember being on campus in rehearsal for that Oregon game, hearing the cheers from Bears Lair for that first field goal and then utter silence for the rest of the afternoon. 😔
Those big early long pass drops were a game changer. Catch one of those and JKS and receivers all have better confidence and momentum, SDSU would have had to change up coverage/taken the brunt of negative mindset. Catch both of those and we would likely have early game scoring cushion, the run open up more. I think that is what coaches planned for, and when it didn’t happen, back-up plans were nil. I was glad Hamper caught a longish pass later in the game, I hope he can shake off the drops and execute with the other WRs this Saturday. And yes, all those other things went wrong, but the drops were the momentum killers.
The WRs have unfortunately had key drops in 3 of the 4 games, with multiple players having multiple drops in multiple games.
Power Conference football is certainly a big step up for some of these portal guys, but it’s tough to see this team truly capitalizing on JKS’ talent if the WRs can’t catch the ball consistently, especially because we can not run the football.
Thanks Nick.
You feel the pain of all of us here.
We laughed at “Seven win Sark,”
Now everyone outside of Berkeley is laughing at “Wrong Way Wilcox.”
Go Bears!
So what's new? I am a long-time Cal football season pass holder and 30-year retiree. Now with the change to ACC, I find it VERY difficult to figure out how I can view Cal football games on TV without having to pay for some kind of package. I pay a lot for my season tickets already. Now I am looking for any kind of Sports bar that will be carrying the rest of Cal's away games. I live very close to the Claremont Hotel, but I'm sure my beverage cost for the 3 hours there will be more than a game-time ticket cost. Any suggestions, before I finally give up on Cal Football? BTW, I have found Cal Rugby not only a fine watch, but it only costs me $5.00 for a Senior Citizen ticket. If I could find a "disabled" driver spot, it would make leaving football palatable.
YouTube TV has all of their games available if you're willing to ditch cable / satellite
I can sympathize with you, old blue - myself included, (since 1973).
The worst game I've witnessed was the Nov 1, 1980 vs usc at the coliseum.
A 60 - 7 loss under Cal coach Roger Theder. Some may need to be reminded
of Northwestern's 34 game losing streak and Duke's recent 23 and 22 game losing streaks.
I hope the team wakes up and get to work.
Go To Raleighs or Calis. On campus bars have a lively atmosphere and always will have the game on.
Just not the Graduate (formerly Henry’s).
One of the most useless establishments on the planet.
This was just so bad. I don't blame JKS for trying to do to much. Aside from Trond, his receivers can't seem to catch a ball that isn't straight into the numbers. De Jesus is fast and elusive, but has no catching radius. I'm not sure if our running game issues are more OL or RB. Unlike years past, I'm leaning latter but it could be both.
The overall vibe I got was that our scheme completely sucked, but maybe that's just what poor play across the board feels like. Being a Cal fan, I will never assume that any given performance is rock bottom. There are always more points to lose by. Hoping this is a wake-up call that talent without scheme, effort, and execution gets you annihilated by inferior competition. Flukes happen, but one does not perform this poorly by chance alone.
One more blowout with our schedule should be the immediate end of the Wilcox era. Contract aside, Ron would HAVE to show donors that he's in control and not just a figurehead.
I think that’s the biggest issue: there’s stumbling in a potential trap game on the road against a team off a BYE. Bad games happen.
It’s another thing to get shutout as 2-touchdown favorites and simply fail to compete. Wilcox was quoted today as saying he thought they had a good week of practice, which actually shows just how clueless he really is.
This performance was inexcusable, for the entire NCAAFB watching world to see. Same old Cal.
The rot is systemic and at the top - and it’s the same old thing. Really, nothing changes until Wilcox is gone.
Cal fans: All we can do is pray that last week was a horrific one off and that Wilcox and co. will right the ship at Boston College. I guess one thing that has all of us scratching our heads is, how could we play so well against Minnesota but simply shit the bed against SDSU? Against Minnesota, we were able to get the run game going in the second half against a good Big-10 defense. In fact, there were great adjustments throughout that game that were simply nowhere to be found against SDSU. Somebody was half-joking last week that Cal had to be careful because Snapdragon Stadium is still built over the ruins of the old stadium so they bad juju was probably still there. How right they were! Is it bad coaching or bad luck in one game? I guess we are going to find out in the next few weeks. GO BEARS!!!!! FOREVER!!!!!!!
Surfing YTube, one can see the SDSU channel and their grinning, we pulled it off, HC. Didn't watch.
If we had a decent running game the outcome would have been much different. The run play selection looked like one you'd see in a JV high school game. I'm sure there is more imagination and quantity of other selection of plays in the playbook. Inside Zone blocking dive plays is all I saw last week. I sure hope we see more emphasis on a TRUE running scheme this Saturday.
I wonder what happened to Wiley. He showed promise as a tough runner as a freshman
Completely wonder this as well!
I'm preparing to drive from Pennsylvania to Massachusetts for this weekend's contest at BC. I was also there in the stands 39 years ago on a sunny day in Chestnut Hill when Cal stumbled in their opener 21-15. Cal actually LED the contest behind QB Brian Bedford's TD run (anyone remember him?) Bears led 15-13 with under 14 minutes to go. But the Eagles rallied behind their 3rd string QB, a backup TB, the brother of the '84 Heisman Trophy winner and a bruising fullback who scored his first career TD from inches out with under 7 minutes to play. The heat & humidity seemingly sapped the energy from Cal the rest of the way, unable to mount any kind of drive to win it, instead giving up a safety on a punt attempt.
It sounds like we'll be spared the rain at Alumni Stadium on Saturday, but hopefully the clouds & cooler temperatures will help our Bears find a way to turn this ship around from the shipwreck that was last Saturday. GO BEARS!!!
was that the game mark hicks kept slipping on shoes he’d taped on for some reason? is that too ridiculous? Am I hallucinating?
Sigh. As a San Diego transplant from NorCal 4 years ago, I had been looking ahead to this game for 2+ years (all the more so after the Pac-12 blew up and a potential SDSU-Cal in-state/in-conference rivalry could have emerged). But mercy, I've NEVER left a game this early before. EVER. Yet I'm only marginally embarrassed to have left before the start of the 3rd quarter b/c it was just so painful in a different way this time (and Cal fans know it's ALWAYS painful). Yes, I'm the eternal optimist who wondered about whether we could run the table in studying this season's schedule, hearing that Rivera and the higher ups were looking forward to re-tooling for this season, despite losing key folks to the portal. It's true that this game doesn't really matter...and I'll be at the Duke game for homecoming. So, I'm hoping we learn and that it's only up from here.
My joys were in taking pride in an epic tailgate party and appreciating an otherwise awesome experience at the super cool Snapdragon Stadium. My last visit to a SD game was at the old Qualcomm in 2004 with a deflated Aaron Rogers-led team losing an uninspired game against Texas Tech after being robbed from a Rose Bowl berth. Don't get me started on that season...but da*n you, Mack Brown...
I honestly don’t know where the offense goes from here. Its clear now they can’t run the ball and they don’t have receivers who can get open or make a tough catch.
Not sure there is a quarterback under more pressure to make an offensive magically work than JKS and he is an 18 year old true freshman.
As has been the case throughout Wilcox’s tenure, the fact that this effort even happened at all takes most of the wind out of the sails for 2025.
After being more than intrigued by the first 3 weeks, I now find it unfortunately tough to really get all that excited about what lies ahead before the inevitable parting with Wilcox.
I know you and I debate this but I don’t really see Wilcox being let go after this season. Wilcox should be able to bumble and stumble to 6 wins this season, which will buy him another season at Cal.
With 2 years remaining on his contract at the end of this year, Wilcox would be looking for an extension, as failure to do so would be a de facto vote of no confidence. It's pretty hard to recruit against that. I think 6 wins will give Wilcox more time with his family.
I’ve heard from multiple sources there is a decent chance he may go the Peter Sirmon route, regardless of whatever the win total ends up being.
Why would an NFL team look at this team and think Wilcox is qualified to be DC at the pro level?
Because he was a competent DC at previous stops and has had success producing NFL talent in the secondary.
Plus he has a good reputation and is known fielding above average defenses at Cal, and if you can do that at Cal, you can do it anywhere….the thinking goes.
I wonder if he's doing all the scheming and play calling on defense this year, and if its basically too much with being the HC. I prefer my coordinators to be in the booth seeing the whole field and focusing on only that. Not sure I buy the current co-coordinators as being more than a title and money thing.
Not sure what to make of it.
After Bloesch last year, I think handing the play calling duties in a crucial year to not 1 but 2 guys that have NEVER done it before is literally the most Justin Wilcox thing ever….no one thinks that’s a good idea.
But regardless of who is calling plays, the D plays well enough to win and is not currently their issue.
Disappointed in Anae - their OL is still poor in run blocking, which makes sense because a lot of the same guys are back. Was hoping Anae would scheme it up a little better - maybe he is and they just can’t execute. I dunno - Rugbear would certainly know better than me, but the eye test currently ain’t pretty. That holding call first play out of half Saturday seemed so fitting.
Thanks Nick! Well put.