Rating the Bears: Cal at Auburn Football
If not for some struggles running the ball and a missed field goal, this would have been one of our best sets of ratings in the Wilcox Era
Recent marquee Cal OOC games (at TCU, at Notre Dame, vs. Auburn) have always seemed to have a latent doom lurking in the air. Cal was competitive in each game, but I (and many others, I’m sure) could not help but think of how every turnover, long third-down conversion allowed, and missed field goal would inevitably doom the Bears down the stretch. And indeed, in each of those games those mistakes inevitably played a role in a game whose outcome was decided in the final two minutes. But this past Saturday? That was an unusually comfortable win. After their first drive, Auburn struggled mightily while Nando turned in an otherworldly first half to help keep the chains moving and keep the ball out of the hands of Auburn’s talented WRs and RB. Perhaps it was the continuous montages of Sad Auburn Fans that ESPN started showing regularly from the second quarter onward, but this one never really felt like Auburn was going to use take advantage of one of those classic Cal mistakes to steal a win from the jaws of defeat. Instead, Auburn was the team whose repeated mistakes (fumble, interceptions, third down conversions allowed) seemed to seal their fate as their loss became more and more inevitable. And for that reason this one will likely stand the test of time as one of Cal’s more memorable wins, especially if this is a springboard to a strong season in an increasingly suspect ACC.
Rating the Bears
Amid the revelry many of you submitted your ratings on how various units of the team performed. Except for a mediocre running grade and a solid-but-not-stellar special teams score, these scores were fantastic.
Three categories broke the 80-point mark and two managed to exceed the rare 90-point mark. While something as specific as pass defense or pass offense can occasionally exceed 90, it’s very rare that we see the overall score hit 90. It was that good of a day for the Bears on the field. Meanwhile in San Diego, it was a terrible day as the Aztecs were shut out by Oregon State. Their loss and our win helped to give a notable bump to our preseason predictions of a win.
Ratings Comparison
Compared to all our previous OOC games against P4/5 foes (including bowl games), this one fared quite well.
Except for the run offense’s disappointing day (albeit not unexpected), every category scored above the 75th percentile. Pass defense set a new record by a large margin while overall narrowly set a new high. Again, this is a non-conference game many of us will happily remember for a long time.
Compared to all games we have seen under Wilcox, this one compares quite favorably.
Run offense struggled but everything else was in the top quartile of Wilcox team performances.
Awards
Next, we have some trophies to hand out.
Sunshine Pumpers
First, the highest grades of the week. The number in parentheses next to the rater’s name denotes the number of previous awards in that category.
Calamo has company as it’s a four-way tie at the top of the board this week!
Old Blues
Next, the worst ratings of the week.
All passing grades! That’s a rare feat.
The Voice of Reason
Finally, the ratings that were closest to the group averages for each category.
I’m surprised we have no repeat recipients for this or the Old Blues…
Alright, onwards to your non-numeric thoughts on the game.
Comments
Any comments on the gameday experience?
The Ghost of Joe Roth: Yes, I gave 100s across the board but I don't care if that is sunshine pumping. A win in that setting on the road against an SEC team is awesome!
Kj1980: A great game before a hostile SEC crowd!
Texashaterforlife: Thank God the game was on ESPN 2! I did not comment on the last Cal game because I could not see it (Damn ACC+). I wish Cal and Stanford had to option to get a local network to cover the game if not on the major networks. CW (channel 4) or Comcast Sports Bay Area should negotiate for that.
I dId not like the announcers; sounded like complete SEC Homers!
Shaka2025: The radio broadcast was superb as I’m out in the Pacific without ESPN
TKE Prytanis 79: Watched from home with my little dog wondering why Dad was so excited...but the real story was how we put up with 88,000 fans in their house...amazing
LiffeyBear: I hate ESPN. I set the game to record so I could watch with my wife when she got home from work. I ignored social media and managed to keep family from giving out spoilers. Then when I ho to watch the game, the first 5 minutes sre missing.
andrewculv: Watched from half moon bay, stressed the whole time. Made my gf want to throw my phone in the ocean
Rose Bowl Oski: It was warm, but much cooler with lower humidity than I had expected. Auburn fans were very friendly, and gracious in defeat. Great energy in the Cal section. I think we surprised Auburn by how loud we were.
Heyalumnigo: Great day in Auburn. Got invited to the Pharmacy school tailgate. Jordan Hare atmosphere us really good. The eagle was incredible. Cal won!
Willis Chong: Sigh, TV broadcast says SEC on ESPN. We know what side they are on, even if Brock Osweiler was a former Pac-10 player
Clbear: Great! It's a bit petty, but I enjoyed watching the live meltdown of Auburn fans on social media from my couch. My neighbors might have some thoughts about the noise though, especially during that drive for Auburn 's second TD. I don't normally cuss when I watch games...but those refs were something else.
Tangtpt: I have DirecTV. Apparently so does every restaurant and bar in the Bay Area, so I was left to listening to the game on the radio at home. My first time listening to more than two minutes of a game without Joe Starkey behind the mic. I have to say, I was impressed with Justin Allegri. He was enthusiastic without getting in the way of the game. I could tell what was happening. Mike Pawlawski is amazing as the color man. They have a great chemistry. I enjoyed the experience notwithstanding the frustration I felt by not being able to actually watch the game.
diasfordays: Congrats to my brother for getting married, and shoutout for letting me watch before and after the ceremony lol
What are your thoughts on Cal's passing game?
bigaddi: Fernando is the guy, hopefully just buckled his knee and won't have any impact going forward
supdoelibrary: It’s nando’s job and once we get our OL healthy I think the offense is going to be better than OK. Love the flashes that Hunter has shown.
Bowelsman80: Nando and our receivers were amazing.
Texashaterforlife: much better than I expected. Mendoza earned the starting QB position. With that said, the way Mendoza went down has me fearing the worst (Torn ACL, done for the season.) I was especially impressed with the fact the O-line was missing 2 starters and is holding together with glue/duct tape.
fuzzywuzzy: Much improved fromm last week's shake-the-rust off game. Much better 3rd down conversion rate, and to have that with a hobbled Ott and not muhc of a run game makes this a very good performance.
1988goldenbear: Mendoza was great in spurts, especially when we had zero run game in the first half. He looked composed and made some really solid throws. Receivers were solid.
HaasBear: Great in the first half mainly because Fernando kept finding magic. Slowed way down in the second when the makeshift O-line started to falter.
LiffeyBear: Mendoza was awesome. The receivers made amazing plays. Even the O-line was adequate.
Auburn adjusted just before halftime by bringing pressure from the right side because they saw what I did… every time Mendoza extended a play, it was by rolling to his right. The coaching staff will have to design plays to deal with that pressure.
BearsWillEndMyLife: The first half was vintage Chase Garbers at Ole Miss, and the game plan was working, even if we didn't score more points. The diversity at wide receiver is very promising. Hunter looks like a rising star. Let's hope Nando's knee is not seriously hurt.
CalvNavy1963: Mendoza looked sharp! Reasonable pass protection. Snaps from the center were slow, haphazard, causing severe delays in play development.
GlueAndBold: Near perfect passing in the first half that largely failed to capitalize. Mendoza struggled in the second half once Auburn realized they didn't need to worry about our run game much.
Rose Bowl Oski: Fernando stood in there and delivered some great throws despite getting hit a bunch. Receivers ran some great routes.
Heyalumnigo: Very good in the first half. Not good in the 2nd half. OL was overwhelmed in the 2nd half and Nando had NO time at all. We had a few screens and dumpoffs that didn't connect due to no time. If any of those connected would've gone for big yards
Willis Chong: Great for the 1st half, when Mendoza had enough time to throw. Dunno if it was a conservative game plan or Auburn defensive adjustments, but success wasn't quite there in the 2nd half. He did enough, but would be better if we could keep the chains moving in the 2nd half of games when we are only up by one or two scores. Not entirely his fault-- our running game was not particularly functional for 2 and a half quarters.
Frisco Bear: The first half was special. Mendoza made every read necessary and put the QB competition to bed. Hope his injury isn't lingering. His accuracy in the first half kept the clock running, which was key to keeping Cal in the game and not having a gassed defense in the 2nd half.
bearspot: Hello, my name is Fernando Mendoza. You won last year. Prepare to die.
What are your thoughts on Cal's running game?
supdoelibrary: Ott does not look 100% but Jaivian Thomas does. Give the ball the Jet!
Kj1980: Not many yards. Auburn run defense played well. Is our offensive line opening holes (or protecting the passer)?
Texashaterforlife: about what I expected against an SEC D-line. hopefully Cal O-Line gets better when fully healthy
fuzzywuzzy: The good news is that Ott didn't sustain any more damage, and we didn't have to depend on it, and still had some nice runs here and there against a very good D line. And all this with a spate of injuries, so...can't complain.
sacman701: Excluding Thomas' breakaway run for the third score, the backs had 43 yards on 25 carries. The OL had a rough go all day against the Tigers' front.
ghthr33: Sending Out up the middle wasn’t working and they weren’t making adjustments. Would have loved to see more designed runs to the outside.
GlueAndBold: Clearly hampered without Ott at full capacity. I have to question the logic of using him in slow-developing run plays behind a patchwork line.
Willis Chong: Not great, but I understand that our O-line is wrecked and Ott wasn't 100%. Was nice to see that we have a bit more clarity as to who our RB2 is. Thomas did good getting that last touchdown
Frisco Bear: Ott was obviously more injured and didn't run like it was an ankle injury. Seemed higher. Understand the lack of information to the public, but hope to see Ott play at his potential soon.
bearspot: Despite bottling up a hampered Ott, the Bears proved well capable in the run. JET! Oooohoohooh! JET! Oooohoohooh!
What are your thoughts on Cal's pass defense?
bigaddi: Amazing but Thorne is not good
supdoelibrary: Elite DB play. The two phantom PI’s were perfect defense. Harris targeting was also a tough call.
Loved how the rush was in Thorne’s face all game either by blitz or 4-man pressure.
Kj1980: 4 INTs. 4 INTs. 4 INTs. Gave up a td on bogus targeting and PI call.
Texashaterforlife: together the Cal defense is more than their parts. DBs more than held their own. and I was generally surprised by the pressure Cal made thru blitzes. great LBs
1988goldenbear: Only 5 picks? Plus another one was taken away on a really crappy PI call? The Takers were amazing today.
HaasBear: Excellent. Auburns two scoring drives included one where a WR went out of bounds and the other had three terrible calls and should have ended in a pick.
LiffeyBear: The takers are back!
First time since DeRuyter that I really remember the defense pressuring a quarterback.
The two go together.
To lip read Peter Sirmon: “F**k Yeah!”
BearsWillEndMyLife: After the first drive, the best game we've seen since 2018 or 2019. All three levels of the defense were active and complementary. We actually had a sustained pass rush! Hopefully we won't also have to overcome the refs every game.
CalvNavy1963: The Cal LBs pressured Auburn's QB all game. And we had four picks. Great job!
Heyalumnigo: 5 (should've been) INTs says it all. No pass rush in the first half. Pressured the QB in the 2nd half. Going to give the coaches the benefit of the doubt that the coaches made halftime adjustments.
Frisco Bear: After the first drive, they made a mediocre QB look pathetic. They were great.
What are your thoughts on Cal's run defense?
The Ghost of Joe Roth: Tough when they needed to be.
Texashaterforlife: If Cal cannot beat them with strength; beat them with speed and discipline to the holes. outstanding LBs
fuzzywuzzy: Solid, much improved tackling and LB play, and a crucial forced fumble when needed. D Line also kept their rushing attack to a minimum.
LiffeyBear: We have a dominant middle linebacker once more. And the defensive line did a good job in the trenches. So fun to watch.
ghthr33: Run D was pretty stout, minus a few runs, but they contained the Auburn offense enough. LBs did a great job of filling gaps and tackled well.
CalvNavy1963: Against what was supposed to be a superior Auburn O line, Cal's D largely stopped Auburn from securing an effective running game all day.
Heyalumnigo: Some big QB keeper runs in the 2nd half but for the most part the DL bottled up the run
Willis Chong: Decent, though I think that the D-line started to wear down a bit at the end of the game. Maybe it was because they shouldn't have been on the field if not for some questionable reffing.
bearspot: Teddye Buchanan and the D's work in the run game had Payton taking to the air like a peace eagle.
What are your thoughts on Cal's special teams?
bigaddi: Cal should abolish the position of kicker, year after year field goals bite us in the ass, especially with how good Wilson is at punting they should either be punting or going for it every fourth down
supdoelibrary: Elite in every phase except Pk. One FG would have made this game academic by the 4Q. Lachlan might have won us the game, especially if that touchback doesn’t get called!
Kj1980: Great punting. But a missed 25 yard FG? The other miss was much longer. We could have used one or both in crunch time
Shaka2025: All around excellent and we know the PK is pro material…just a little off today and all touch backs
LiffeyBear: Just when I thought we had a kicking game, we get Auburned again.
ghthr33: Would have loved to see the early FG made, however the punting was fantastic and flipped the field position and limited Auburn’s playbook.
BearsWillEndMyLife: Sigh. Two completely different performances here. Lachlan was a true weapon all game. Coe on the other hand...one phase of the game always makes us hold our breath.
andrewculv: Wtf coe?
Lachlan Wilson is a legend
Heyalumnigo: 2 missed FGs. First was a short one on The right hash that doinked. 2nd was long and didn't come back. Didn't change the outcome.
But...PUNTING IS WINNING !!!!! Big big punts downed inside the 2. From the stands we couldn't see if the 3rd actually was a touch back
Willis Chong: The only black mark is the missed FG up close. I didn't expect Coe to make a 50+ yarder. Otherwise, punting being a weapon again? Shouts of "WILSON!!!!" may be the next ANGER SMASH
Clbear: Lachlan Wilson was phenomenal and we had questions about that last "touchback" watching it live. The 25yd missed FG was too bad, the 55 yarder I was more "meh" about. The coverage has been good too. Great work overall!
Frisco Bear: Lachlan's punting was phenomenal. Major key to Auburn's poor field position and inability to score.
Tangtpt: I started to feel some deja vu from last year when the second FG missed. We don't have a big enough margin of error to leave points on the field like that.
What are your thoughts on the coaching staff's performance?
supdoelibrary: So many previous Cal teams would have folded under these circumstances and this team did not. Congratulations to Coach Wilcox.
The Ghost of Joe Roth: I've always liked Coach Wilcox. Maybe this is the year?
Northtunnelecho: Good overall, but come up with plays to get Ott in space instead of repeatedly grinding him into the middle of the line
Texashaterforlife: Really impressed with the defensive coaching. Offense was good, but I would liked to have seen more trick plays (reverses, RB option pass).
Shaka2025: Interesting yet created anxiety especially for us Old Blues waiting for the shoe to drop…those bogus targeting and PI in the end zone seemed SEC contrived
fuzzywuzzy: No one gave us any chance, because the odds were against us; OL injuries, long road game in a packed Jordan-Hare stadium , Ott limited on what he can do...and they devised a very good plan (which inlcuded Ott, but didn't ask him to test that knee going to the outside) to put Mendoza's strengths against the weak part of what's not the worst D in the leauge...they fixed a lot of issues from week 1. We've also settled ona QB, which just warms my fuzzy little heart.
sacman701: I thought the offensive game plan was good. We let Mendoza improvise, which is our best bet with the OL in its current state. The defensive coaches did a good job of mixing in blitzes and keeping Auburn off balance.
jakewebs: Coach Wilcox got a well deserved ovation from the Golden Bear faithful after this one. The offensive playcalling was well designed for Mendoza's skillset, and winning with as many injuries as they had is remarkable.
LiffeyBear: Really good job on both sides of the ball of realizing what is working and dialing up more of it. I want to see the procedural penalties and the dangerous tackling cleaned up. We have yet to play a mistake free game.
ghthr33: The second half offense was not great, but did not enough. The defense really stepped up and made plays when it was needed most.
CalvNavy1963: Jack called a great game. Nice calls for Mendoza passing, but our OC needs to rethink how best to use a banged up Ott - and it doesn't include sending him down the middle each time he touches the ball.
ABVidale: The coaches did an excellent job getting them ready and executing in a hostile environment.
Old Bear 71: Nice to meet you. Bloesch Actually seemed to pay attention to what was working on the field...except the runs up the middle for our one legged #1...then he called plays to take advantage! Wowza!
Pete, nice to have a Teddy and Cade on the field, eh?
Willis Chong: Better prepared this week. Higher marks than last week. Still don't like the turtling at the end. Just because the other team adjusts doesn't mean we still can't do creative things to open things up.
Let's do even better next week. SDSU won't make things easy for us.
Clbear: They got the team ready to play. Well done.
Frisco Bear: Did almost everything perfectly. Only wish at the start of the 4th quarter, they would have run more time off the clock (Hike it at 5 seconds vs. 15 or 17). They left an extra minute and a half and could have made the end of the game a little less dramatic.
What are your thoughts on Cal's overall performance?
supdoelibrary: Program changing win. Huge to show up on a national stage and win the game in this fashion. This is starting to feel like a special football season!
Northtunnelecho: A solid win in the SEC despite the horrendous refs. Go Bears!
Texashaterforlife: really outstanding performance. I was expecting a beatdown of Cal. Wont say more without knowing Mendoza's status. If he is healthy, Cal can contend for the conference.
sacman701: We went into a hostile environment in brutal heat and beat a pretty good team with much more talent than we have. That's a good day. That said, it was a typical Wilcox win in that the pass defense carried most of the load while the offense MacGyvered just enough stuff here and there to win narrowly. I think this is already a bowl team, but the degree of improvement (and better health?) on the offensive line will make the difference between 6 wins again and 8 or 9.
David St. Tufnel: This was wonderful to watch in that individual players did their jobs and played great. Uluave and Buchanan played out of their minds. This is a different team from last year and a lot of it has to do with the maturity of Mendoza. He's got skills and a lot of spirit. Loved his coolness in the first half. Looks like he gets a bit gun-shy when hit. Not unfathomable since he got blindsided really badly before the end of the first half. But it did affect his game. (Fun to watch him wanting to be back in the game so badly after he'd messed his knee up.)
jakewebs: I don't care if you win by 1 point or 100, winning a game in the South with 80,000 fans in attendance is impressive. That the Bears looked damn good even with so many contributors injured/limited is sure to raise the fanbase to dangerous levels of hype. Let's bring the 12th man next Saturday night!
Macarolina: Proud of these Bears! Auburn fans were calling Nando Joe Marino Brady and likening him to Joe Namath- such poise and absolute focus. Oh what could have been had one of the rb’s been aware to look for that dunk pass, would have been to the house! Two WRs catching all their targets, punting like a video game, and the TAKERS were phenomenal. After all that wide pre-game overconfidence by AU fans, so satisfying to see it all crash down. Happy for team and Wilcox.
BearsWillEndMyLife: Just outstanding in almost every aspect. Coaches love these kinds of games - wins with plenty of things to correct. Now let's see if we can play more consistently week to week than we have in the last couple seasons.
NeverQuitNeverDie: Awesome road win against an SEC school. Looking at the stat.comparison from last year it was surprising how similar the major categories were for both teams (except turnovers of course).
sacalum: Two down, ten (plus bowl game) to go. Keep it up!
Heyalumnigo: An SEC win is always big! Came into an SEC "power" and came away with a win.
Willis Chong: Refs were bad on both sides, but I think on balance, they definitely did more against us and tried to give the game to Auburn. The only questionable call that went our way was the Uluave targeting that got waived off. The other targeting (not targeting by Harris), the PI in the endzone that negated an INT (ticky-tack at best for PI), the touchback on the 4th quarter punt (I don't think it actually broke the plane before we downed it but ESPN refused to show a sideline view), and a whole lot of other calls in the 2nd half made it seem like there was some SEC favoritism, even if it was an ACC crew.
That being said, ride the high for a bit, then back to work. SDSU isn't going to be an easy game so gotta build on the good and fix the mistakes. Oh, and get healthy.
Clbear: A wonderful start to FBS play. It was a joy to come away with a win, especially on the road against a SEC opponent. I trust the coaches to keep the team focused one game at a time though as we cannot overlook anyone. We did have a lot of penalties that set us back unnecessarily, but considering the environment I think it was understandable. Our back up center needs more practice snapping the ball if he is to continue with that role. Cade and Teddye gave me some Kunaszyk/Weaver energy and that was fun to see.
Tangtpt: Wonderful win in SEC country, which we don't see too often. Hopefully the energy stays up this week against SDSU.
Thanks for participating! Check out the post-game piece Saturday night for our ratings form for the SDSU game.
Refs worked like they’re on Norte Dame’s payroll.
Great win, but let’s hit the ground running and make a serious effort in the ACC.
Thank you for all of this information. I am focused on how we perform against what would appear a weaker opponent. Let's see the first three games through to the end, and the hopeful return of injured players.