Respect to the players and congrats on the win. Only downside is a 6-6 finish and minor bowl game will probably mean Wilcox is back for another mediocre rinse and repeat. Really too bad Cal administration doesn't take football seriously, but they do not and probably never will. As GameDay and yesterday showed Cal could sellout and be a major program just like Oregon transformed from a perennial also ran to a national power. Cal has the donor and fan base and other advantages to make it happen but the University is perfectly happy in fact intentional that it remain a happy go lucky modest program that never wins its own conference much less gets in a major bowl. Tedford did it though it nearly killed him and in spite of the administration, until the administration finally dragged him down just like it has the many great coaches Call has had over the years who have gone on to great success after leaving Cal.
Having said all that, it's great to beat Stanford and love the players, but this program is capable of so much more that it's hard to be really stoked about it.
I don't know. If Lyons and rich donors are serious about it, I'm sure they see the need for change and a bowl berth would not change their minds. If they were not going to fire Wilcox to begin with, then 4-8, 5-7, 6-6 would not be any different.
Let's give Chancellor Lyons a couple of years in the seat before we judge his commitment to Cal athletics, and in particular football. I'm hopeful there will be a positive shift, but then, I'm always hopeful!
I was wondering also if Ott might come back again to improve his draft prospects. He had a really down year and I don’t think it is all on the line - he was not making cuts and plays this year that he did the prior two
I think it is all due to his injury in week 1 against UC Davis. I also think he will be back next season but not with Cal. He will transfer portal out.
Except for about 90% of the game itself, yes, delightful.
We were out-coached for most of the game and, maybe it was mostly our better talent that made the difference. As delightful as it is, we stole that game and that is good.
With Justin, being out-coached is pretty much a given. It was talent, and also, sheer determination. If it took a tunnel to the end zone for Cal to win, Nando would just be the first one to pick up a shovel. It's nice to be on the stealing side for a change!
The dream scenario was the extension campus winning today, then both they and $c lose next weekend to finish 5-7 and miss bowl eligibility. Alas, that would be two nice things in one day, and we can’t have that.
Had Jim Breech not missed a field goal at the end of the '74 game, Cal and USC would have been 3-3 in the 70s come that game, but I never knew McKay hated Cal. It started as a bright day but I recall it being night by the end.
Yes, and it was super depressing to see how many ex-Bears they had on their roster. Sturdivant, Oladejo and Bhagtani. While I am as happy as any Old Blue out there right now, I couldn't help but think of how different our season might be if we had Bhagtani. He gets us at least two more wins. O-line and kickers have to be a priority moving forward.
Bhagtani leaving was completely avoidable and all on Wilcox for not offering him a scholarship. The other two, I do not blame Wilcox as they left for the NIL bag.
Bowlesman: Yes, we don't seem to be hurting for production at wide receiver and Nyzeiah Hunter is an absolute stud (along with Grizzell and Brady). We also seem pretty loaded at the tight end position.
For me, it ALL comes down to the OL. Been to 6 games live this year and have paid close attention to the trenches. Watching that unit struggle is the embodiment of Wilcox’s issues as a Head Coach.
Eschewing an OL coach and allowing your inexperienced play caller to try and pull double duty while you employ TWO DB coaches despite being a former defensive back yourself is puzzling. Who thought that was a good idea, especially when you factor in how crucial that position is to play the kind of football you want to play?
The bad poor line play is not coaching fault. It all comes down to who has enough NIL money to pay good offensive recruits or portal players. As coach s
Saban said, "If you don't have enough money to pay then you don't have Shit". Cal and Furd don't have near as much money as the Oregons or USC's. That's why we have two redshirts freshmen, one who has never played O line, starting almost the entire season.
Nah, it's a failure to recruit, develop, and scheme. Wilcox hasn't had a good oline but this year has been the worst under his tenure. Teams with less NIL money than us have better lines.
We have some solid players on the o-line, good enough that we should be at 9 wins instead of 6. While more program money and more NIL money is great, we have had some solid portal classes and the OL's we've brought in have decent talent with experience. They are just very raw, which to me is a result of poor coaching. As a former o-lineman and o-line coach, our guys are good enough that they should not be playing as poorly as they have been playing. I watch 'tape' of the games and I am appalled at the poor fundamentals, lack of technique, and really poor blocking schemes. A good O-Line coach could take this group over Spring and Fall and make them into a solid serviceable unit (certainly not the best, but good enough that they don't get blown up on every run play, and good enough that with good coaching they would not have given up the ridiculous number of sacks. They need a full time coach for their unit, not an OC who has to spend more time on the offense as a whole rather than on his unit. Spav certainly is a better OC than Bloesch and we miss him. JW needs to get real this off season and get a cutting edge OC and I think he needs a new OL coach as well. I like Bloesch, but the results tell the story. He's an o-line coach who's o-line is failing miserably. He's an OC with 6 wins and too many narrow losses because we could not run the ball in critical situations. Whether its o-line problems, execution by the offense or poor play design, or any and all of the above, the fact is our offense is a bust and we have talent. A good head coach is a CEO and sometimes has to make tough decisions. The only good decision JW has made on the offensive side of the ball was hiring Spav and we only had him for a year. Incremental improvement on that side of the ball changes our W/L record. We need change.
I hear ya, Coach, and if you wanna be a contender for the CFP, you need to throw big $$$ at it.
My pushback would be that after watching a lot of football this year, plenty of schools out there with literally zero NIL money as well as injuries still manage to field a functional OL due to better scheme, discipline and technique.
Agree. We need to run a modified spread with air raid elements. I love the system Urban Meyer ran while he was at the Ohio State University. Utilizing TE's changes the game and if you can integrate them into a spread system, its hard to beat.
Agreed. Newellbany and I were talking at dinner last night about how effective they were 1H @ Wake when they threw like 40 times. Go RB + Endries, and 3-wide…spread things out and throw 50 times a game. That will open up running lanes for RBs and Mendoza keepers.
We still need to be able to run the ball though, to keep opposing defenses on their toes and to keep our pass game effective. A one dimensional offense won't win champioships.
From his first post-game interview last year I thought (and posted) and still believe that Fernando Mendoza has major network announcer written all over him. I realize I may be skipping over his post-Cal, possibly NFL career here. That said, he is a dynamic speaker willing to eschew clichés and speak from his heart and his experience, letting us glimpse into the process, both his and his team’s. Clearly a student of the game, he has a gift for explaining it. He will do just fine in life.
Funny thing was that, in a way, Stanfurd functionally turtled for the last 20 mins of the game. Helped of course by our defense that had just come out of hibernation
I was at the game today, and joked with the person next to me that Mendoza's game winning drive was able to kill the clock for the first time this year. Except the clock killing was accomplished with Nando running for his life and getting sacked...
At a conference in Dallas since Thursday. Slipped out of it and hoofed it back to ABnB. Fired up IPad, caught the kickoff and witnessed the first cardinal drive,TD and subsequent Cal “drive”. Made some sarcastic comments aloud to myself and headed back to conference, resigned and disgusted.
Opened phone to check final scores early evening during a dreary banquet.
I was gonna do that and in fact got the air tickets and ABnB closer to SMU in early September. A few days later I realized it meant I was flying down there the day before T-Giving. Forget it, so I cancelled that before getting a game ticket, which was next.
Then the conference I went to came on the radar in mid Oct.
Like I knew he could this season, Fernando snatched victory from the jaws of defeat late in the game. I worry about him, though. Some of the hits he took were definitely cringe-worthy.
He was extremely emotional during his Postgame interview on the field, actually tearing up! So cool to see how much he cared and how much this victory meant to him. Really moving!
Saw interview. Sorry about that. (Have to remember to put smiley face after questions like that). However, you are right. That interview and Fernando did deserve more than I gave it and him.
Nando looked great after, but I 'm sure a lot of it was leftover adrenaline. He must be still feeling the game now. There's selfless, and then, there's the guy that dives onto the grenade to save his fellow soldiers. It's awesome that he's the former, but no one wants him to be the latter, or the college football equivalent. Of the top 20 QB's in the nation, he leads by a considerable margin (41 to 32) in sacks taken. If there was a QBHGRB (QB Hits after Getting Rid of the Ball) stat, you could be sure he'd be close to clinching that unwanted title already.
I looked for him and couldn’t find him. I got photos with Wilcox and Cade in street. Clothes since he didn’t play. He may have been surprised I recognized him!
Coe’s made FG felt inconsequential at the time…even frustrating given how that drive stalled with another longish FG attempt…but his FG became the margin of victory in the game!
Should've been up by 3 more (margin of victory = 6) if Nando continued running with a open field in front of him, instead he threw a incomplete pass. Coe missed the long FG attempt.
But if the attempt was closer, this would have netted 3 before half time.
The reason two of our drives stalled was because our rs freshman O tackle held on good plays and instead of first downs we had long 3rd downs. didn't notice Furd had any holding drive stopping calls.
Unsung hero yesterday: the Coach that moved Marcus Harris away from any potential unsportsmanlike penalty here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFCZneQ7Jek&t=691s! Great job by him on the sideline!
Respect to the players and congrats on the win. Only downside is a 6-6 finish and minor bowl game will probably mean Wilcox is back for another mediocre rinse and repeat. Really too bad Cal administration doesn't take football seriously, but they do not and probably never will. As GameDay and yesterday showed Cal could sellout and be a major program just like Oregon transformed from a perennial also ran to a national power. Cal has the donor and fan base and other advantages to make it happen but the University is perfectly happy in fact intentional that it remain a happy go lucky modest program that never wins its own conference much less gets in a major bowl. Tedford did it though it nearly killed him and in spite of the administration, until the administration finally dragged him down just like it has the many great coaches Call has had over the years who have gone on to great success after leaving Cal.
Having said all that, it's great to beat Stanford and love the players, but this program is capable of so much more that it's hard to be really stoked about it.
But as always, Go Bears!
I don't know. If Lyons and rich donors are serious about it, I'm sure they see the need for change and a bowl berth would not change their minds. If they were not going to fire Wilcox to begin with, then 4-8, 5-7, 6-6 would not be any different.
Let's give Chancellor Lyons a couple of years in the seat before we judge his commitment to Cal athletics, and in particular football. I'm hopeful there will be a positive shift, but then, I'm always hopeful!
Our yearly floor should be 8 wins.
Gotta' keep building.
Maybe Saban will come, here, like Pappy Waldorf did, and Wilcox would be willing to DC or something given a chance to work under the GOAT.
Question: what bowl options will Cal have if they pull off an upset and beat SMU?
There's still Shreveport!
Nooo!!!!
Either way it seems LA Bowl seems most likely.
Especially w/ the UCLA loss.
I keep wondering how good he could be with a good offensive line ( and Coordinator).
I was wondering also if Ott might come back again to improve his draft prospects. He had a really down year and I don’t think it is all on the line - he was not making cuts and plays this year that he did the prior two
I think it is all due to his injury in week 1 against UC Davis. I also think he will be back next season but not with Cal. He will transfer portal out.
I expect he'll likely play again next year but will transfer to a team with a good OL and better NIL money.
I'm afraid that's a possible scenario, but it's also possible he stays.
Schrodinger's Ott.
We just Miami’d them and it felt great
Simply delightful
Except for about 90% of the game itself, yes, delightful.
We were out-coached for most of the game and, maybe it was mostly our better talent that made the difference. As delightful as it is, we stole that game and that is good.
With Justin, being out-coached is pretty much a given. It was talent, and also, sheer determination. If it took a tunnel to the end zone for Cal to win, Nando would just be the first one to pick up a shovel. It's nice to be on the stealing side for a change!
It was like today's first half and second half were the exact opposite of how we played each halves this season.
And UCLA drops to 4-7 and will not be able to secure bowl eligibility
That’s huge
waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
The dream scenario was the extension campus winning today, then both they and $c lose next weekend to finish 5-7 and miss bowl eligibility. Alas, that would be two nice things in one day, and we can’t have that.
It feels like the exact opposite of 1975 when, if USC had defeated UCLA, Cal would have gone to the Rose Bowl.
Notably, John McKay hated Cal and so, declined to defeat UCLA that bright November day in LA.
Pac-8 co-champs and no bowl game for us.
Didn’t know that about McKay.
Had Jim Breech not missed a field goal at the end of the '74 game, Cal and USC would have been 3-3 in the 70s come that game, but I never knew McKay hated Cal. It started as a bright day but I recall it being night by the end.
Yes, and it was super depressing to see how many ex-Bears they had on their roster. Sturdivant, Oladejo and Bhagtani. While I am as happy as any Old Blue out there right now, I couldn't help but think of how different our season might be if we had Bhagtani. He gets us at least two more wins. O-line and kickers have to be a priority moving forward.
Bhagtani leaving was completely avoidable and all on Wilcox for not offering him a scholarship. The other two, I do not blame Wilcox as they left for the NIL bag.
IMHO- Hunter > J Mike
Bowlesman: Yes, we don't seem to be hurting for production at wide receiver and Nyzeiah Hunter is an absolute stud (along with Grizzell and Brady). We also seem pretty loaded at the tight end position.
I must say, for the most part, Wilcox has come out ahead on the overall Portal exchange.
I’ll never tire of this feeling.
Make em feel our close losses is better than blowing em out
Jonathan Brady.
That's the comment.
Just watched the highlights again.
Nails.
Say good bye to this RPO nonsense and bring back the Bear Raid.
Losing Spav really hurt. With him running the offense and Bloesch at OL, this team might have won 9 regular season games with ease.
For me, it ALL comes down to the OL. Been to 6 games live this year and have paid close attention to the trenches. Watching that unit struggle is the embodiment of Wilcox’s issues as a Head Coach.
Eschewing an OL coach and allowing your inexperienced play caller to try and pull double duty while you employ TWO DB coaches despite being a former defensive back yourself is puzzling. Who thought that was a good idea, especially when you factor in how crucial that position is to play the kind of football you want to play?
The bad poor line play is not coaching fault. It all comes down to who has enough NIL money to pay good offensive recruits or portal players. As coach s
Saban said, "If you don't have enough money to pay then you don't have Shit". Cal and Furd don't have near as much money as the Oregons or USC's. That's why we have two redshirts freshmen, one who has never played O line, starting almost the entire season.
Nah, it's a failure to recruit, develop, and scheme. Wilcox hasn't had a good oline but this year has been the worst under his tenure. Teams with less NIL money than us have better lines.
We have some solid players on the o-line, good enough that we should be at 9 wins instead of 6. While more program money and more NIL money is great, we have had some solid portal classes and the OL's we've brought in have decent talent with experience. They are just very raw, which to me is a result of poor coaching. As a former o-lineman and o-line coach, our guys are good enough that they should not be playing as poorly as they have been playing. I watch 'tape' of the games and I am appalled at the poor fundamentals, lack of technique, and really poor blocking schemes. A good O-Line coach could take this group over Spring and Fall and make them into a solid serviceable unit (certainly not the best, but good enough that they don't get blown up on every run play, and good enough that with good coaching they would not have given up the ridiculous number of sacks. They need a full time coach for their unit, not an OC who has to spend more time on the offense as a whole rather than on his unit. Spav certainly is a better OC than Bloesch and we miss him. JW needs to get real this off season and get a cutting edge OC and I think he needs a new OL coach as well. I like Bloesch, but the results tell the story. He's an o-line coach who's o-line is failing miserably. He's an OC with 6 wins and too many narrow losses because we could not run the ball in critical situations. Whether its o-line problems, execution by the offense or poor play design, or any and all of the above, the fact is our offense is a bust and we have talent. A good head coach is a CEO and sometimes has to make tough decisions. The only good decision JW has made on the offensive side of the ball was hiring Spav and we only had him for a year. Incremental improvement on that side of the ball changes our W/L record. We need change.
I agree with all of this and the OL has been a problem for Wilcox before NIL was a thing. Hiring Angus McClure was a huge mistake.
I agree - they have size it is just they are 18-22 year old dudes that need to be coached
I hear ya, Coach, and if you wanna be a contender for the CFP, you need to throw big $$$ at it.
My pushback would be that after watching a lot of football this year, plenty of schools out there with literally zero NIL money as well as injuries still manage to field a functional OL due to better scheme, discipline and technique.
Right, how much money are Indiana, Boise State, UNLV etc are paying out in NIL to their OL? It can’t be as much as Cal.
Losing Spav and Bhagtani.
Losing Mateen was a microcosm of my issues with Justin Wilcox as the leader of this program.
I was just thinking based on how accurate Mendoza is on short and medium passes we should run a spread or Air Raid next year.
Agree. We need to run a modified spread with air raid elements. I love the system Urban Meyer ran while he was at the Ohio State University. Utilizing TE's changes the game and if you can integrate them into a spread system, its hard to beat.
Agreed. Newellbany and I were talking at dinner last night about how effective they were 1H @ Wake when they threw like 40 times. Go RB + Endries, and 3-wide…spread things out and throw 50 times a game. That will open up running lanes for RBs and Mendoza keepers.
We still need to be able to run the ball though, to keep opposing defenses on their toes and to keep our pass game effective. A one dimensional offense won't win champioships.
Agreed and we can still certainly call and execute the 2nd down run up the middle for 1-2 yards each series.
No but a philosophical change in the offense, might make it easier.
100% agree.
Didn't think I could love Nando more, but today that respect went up even more! Go Bears Forever!!!
His post game interview on the field nailed it for me. A true Golden Bear.
From his first post-game interview last year I thought (and posted) and still believe that Fernando Mendoza has major network announcer written all over him. I realize I may be skipping over his post-Cal, possibly NFL career here. That said, he is a dynamic speaker willing to eschew clichés and speak from his heart and his experience, letting us glimpse into the process, both his and his team’s. Clearly a student of the game, he has a gift for explaining it. He will do just fine in life.
Flipped the 2024 script! The Bear did not turtle. The Bear did not die.
Funny thing was that, in a way, Stanfurd functionally turtled for the last 20 mins of the game. Helped of course by our defense that had just come out of hibernation
I was at the game today, and joked with the person next to me that Mendoza's game winning drive was able to kill the clock for the first time this year. Except the clock killing was accomplished with Nando running for his life and getting sacked...
I love the irony.
Love Nando even more.
That being said, always great to get that win. We goin' bowlin'!
At a conference in Dallas since Thursday. Slipped out of it and hoofed it back to ABnB. Fired up IPad, caught the kickoff and witnessed the first cardinal drive,TD and subsequent Cal “drive”. Made some sarcastic comments aloud to myself and headed back to conference, resigned and disgusted.
Opened phone to check final scores early evening during a dreary banquet.
Whoa!
Shoulda stayed for the SMU game next weekend.
I was gonna do that and in fact got the air tickets and ABnB closer to SMU in early September. A few days later I realized it meant I was flying down there the day before T-Giving. Forget it, so I cancelled that before getting a game ticket, which was next.
Then the conference I went to came on the radar in mid Oct.
weekend conferences are bullshit
Friday conferences are bullshit as well. Some people have no life.
Like I knew he could this season, Fernando snatched victory from the jaws of defeat late in the game. I worry about him, though. Some of the hits he took were definitely cringe-worthy.
Think this was an emotional win for him?
He was extremely emotional during his Postgame interview on the field, actually tearing up! So cool to see how much he cared and how much this victory meant to him. Really moving!
Saw interview. Sorry about that. (Have to remember to put smiley face after questions like that). However, you are right. That interview and Fernando did deserve more than I gave it and him.
He looked happy and healthy after. Baseline Nando. He was on the field talking with fans for a really long time.
Nando looked great after, but I 'm sure a lot of it was leftover adrenaline. He must be still feeling the game now. There's selfless, and then, there's the guy that dives onto the grenade to save his fellow soldiers. It's awesome that he's the former, but no one wants him to be the latter, or the college football equivalent. Of the top 20 QB's in the nation, he leads by a considerable margin (41 to 32) in sacks taken. If there was a QBHGRB (QB Hits after Getting Rid of the Ball) stat, you could be sure he'd be close to clinching that unwanted title already.
He’s 11th in passing yards
I looked for him and couldn’t find him. I got photos with Wilcox and Cade in street. Clothes since he didn’t play. He may have been surprised I recognized him!
Coe’s made FG felt inconsequential at the time…even frustrating given how that drive stalled with another longish FG attempt…but his FG became the margin of victory in the game!
Should've been up by 3 more (margin of victory = 6) if Nando continued running with a open field in front of him, instead he threw a incomplete pass. Coe missed the long FG attempt.
But if the attempt was closer, this would have netted 3 before half time.
The reason two of our drives stalled was because our rs freshman O tackle held on good plays and instead of first downs we had long 3rd downs. didn't notice Furd had any holding drive stopping calls.
Are you saying we should not convert a TE to start at Online?
Nailed it.