There was not a lot of joking around in today's media session with Cal players Sam Jackson V, Jaydn Ott, Brian Driscoll and Brett Johnson. It was definitely a more serious tone for the Bears who expressed plenty of confidence in their team's ability to pull out a win over Auburn. Ott's comments are likely to end up as bulletin board material, but he was clear about his confidence level in the Bears this weekend.

Watch all four interviews in the two videos below:

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And what they looked like back in their high school days:

My assumption is most of you wouldn't be here if you'd lost all hope that Cal can ever win a conference title and/or get in the College Football Playoff. Obviously that is not within grasp currently, but this post isn't about the here and now.

There is a pretty spirited debate taking place on the Stanford board right now about Cal's longterm potential. There seems to be an even split between those who think Cal has great untapped potential and maybe even a higher ceiling than Stanford, and those who see Cal's 60+ years of mostly terrible football as being all the proof needed to write Cal off for the longterm.

Personally, ever since I started following this maddening program in 1990, I've seen reason to believe Cal could be if not a powerhouse, certainly a consistently nationally relevant program. But it wasn't until today and the revelation that Cal has lined up donors to fund it to be in a major conference, that I felt this could be close to being a reality, but it depends on the following two questions.

Is this possible "donor takeover" an inflection point to take football away from any influence of faculty and administration that have held it back for decades? Will donors have power to put people in positions of power to make sure football gets the support it needs to thrive?

Curious to read what y'all think about Cal's potential in a vacuum outside of conference craziness, and your outlook for what is possible if things get on the right track with a donor call to arms.

I can honestly say I have never watched the CW. But hey it's linear. Wonder how many games Cal will be on CW in 2024.

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Ryan/Matt/Maria - can you provide any details on the planned visit by 2024 SDE AJ Canady. Clint Cosgrove in your network suggests that Cal may become the leader if the visit goes well.

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Cal starting left guard Brian Driscoll has been voted the Pac-12 Offensive Lineman of the Week for Week 1 of the season. Driscoll moved over to center to finish out Cal's win over North Texas on Saturday and helped guide the Bears to 669 yards of offense and over 350 yards rushing against the Mean Green.

Driscoll is the first Cal offensive lineman to win the award since Ben Coleman in Week 4 last season.

Here are all four of today's interviews with Cal coaches Justin Wilcox, Jake Spavital and Peter Sirmon plus quarterback Ben Finley as the team begins to turn its attention toward Auburn. Maria will have a full rundown of today's media session in just a little bit.

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Sun Bowl vs. Pitt

-or-

Rose Bowl vs. Alabama

Independence Bowl vs. Iowa State

Thoughts?

At first I thought Jackson might’ve broken a collarbone based on his reaction during the game but it sounds like it’s more along the lines of a sprain and the coaches being cautious in game 1 not to injure him further.

I know it was UNT, but I liked what I saw from Finley. He also got enough game time to get settled, take some big shots, success in big chunks and looked decent with the short passes as well. He seems to have that tall, pocket passer mold which makes me think of Goff and Davis in a Spavital offense.

So come this Saturday who do you have start that game against Auburn? Finley, who played well against a weak opponent? Or Jackson who gives you more mobility but didn’t have as much of an opportunity in game 1?

This article sure seems to think so.

It is almost over. After a month of back and forth, Cal is expected to receive an invitation to join the Atlantic Coast Conference alongside Stanford and SMU. The move will be for all sports and add somewhere around $72 million in revenue for the ACC. NC State is reportedly the school the flipped pushing the approval of the additions through.

The invites have to be officially accepted, but that is expected soon while details continue to be completely ironed out.

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Check in with 2025 Rivals150 guard Aaron "Ace" Glass today at an event down in Orange County. He was one of the more notable prospects in attendance, and he played like it for sure. The camp setting can be difficult since the teams are put together just for the day, but he made some impressive plays and showed his all-around ability as a guard throughout the event.

Cal offered Glass, who is beginning to see his stock rise, back in July and since then he has built a strong connection with assistant coach Amorrow Morgan. The Bears will be one of the first schools to get him out on an unofficial visit this fall as he plans to stop by Berkeley before the start of the season. UCSB is also getting him out on a visit.

Washington State probably sits in the best position right now after becoming the first school to offer him a year ago, but Cal is definitely making its presence felt and has pushed him to make the trek out to Berkeley. The exact date is still being figured out, but he says the plan right now is to head up to Cal in October.

Here's Maria's latest piece dissecting Cal's season-opening victory over the Mean Green earlier today.

What a horrible quote.


Also interesting point about NIL although they mightve miswrote what NIL funds are about —

“Cal’s third-party booster group, California Legends Collective, announced Monday that it’s trying to raise $1 million in a 72-hour period for ACC-related expenses. Bears alum and Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera and his wife, Stephanie, plan to match the first $500,000 raised.”

NIL isnt for ACC-expenses, it should be for the players. Travel related stuff is supposed to come from the school, right?

From Maria:

Game Details

Who: Cal at North Texas (Bears lead series 1-0)

When: 1:02 p.m.

Where: DATCU Stadium | Denton, Texas

TV: ESPNU

RADIO: 810 AM Radio, Sirius XM (132 or 203), the Sirius XM App (966) and The Varsity Network App

It's game day!

I'll be manning the game thread today, and Maria will jump in as well throughout today's matchup between the Bears and UNT in Denton.

I invite you to join in the conversation throughout today's game.

• A couple pregame notes (from Cal PR): Safety Raymond Woodie III is out for today's game with a (lower body) injury will not play today. Woodie, who worked quite a bit with the first unit throughout camp, had been slotted as Patrick McMorris' backup heading into today's game. Effectively, this moves Dejuan Butler into the backup role for today.

Additionally, backup punter Thomas Lee did not make the trip to Texas with the Bears.

Go Bears.

Apologies for the delay on these, but here are the postgame interviews after today's win.

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For me its UNC. Those punks give me UCLA vibes. And after their no vote to us, I hope we destroy them in football.

Yes, it became clear I couldn’t manage the Guess the Score game on top of everything else last year. But doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have one!

One of my assistants Jeff McCulloch had been appointed Quality Control Analyst for Guess the Score. He will do the standings by Monday each week and make sure I get prizes paid out promptly.

I know we already have a thread with score predictions for tomorrow so keep using that one and I’ll pull all the picks from there.

The prize structure, again, is $50 Amazon gift card for an exact score guess — limit to first two to pick a certain score each week. The winner each week, even if not exact, gets 2 months subscription extension tacked on.

Season contest prizes are as follows:

1st: $100 Amazon gift card, 3 comped months
2nd: $50 Amazon gift card, 3 comped months
3rd: $25 Amazon gift card, 3 comped months.
4th-6th: 3 comped months

Scoring is simple — the difference from your predicted Cal score to the actual Cal score plus the difference from your predicted opponent score to the actual score.

Thus, if you predict Cal 24, North Texas 17 and it’s Cal 28-10, then you were 4 off on Cal and 7 off on UNT for a score of 11 for the week. Lowest score wins, obviously.

For the season contest, you can skip up to two weeks or exclude your two worst scores (or one of each). So in the end each person’s 10 best scores will be averaged out to their season score. We’ll cut it off at end of regular season.

As for the mess I made of last season, I do think I paid all the winners — I at least contacted everybody and paid those who responded to me with email addresses for the gift cards.

Questions?

Again, Jeff will post standings by Monday night each week. Have fun with it!

Just kidding!!!! But good clickbait right???!
But seriously, at the end of the day, who/what got Cal to the ACC? Was the alignment with Furd the key? A little luck of the Irish, or should I say from the Irish?
I think there is an interesting story to be told....eventually...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ot...p&cvid=30cb3bee20be4a25b816a9449b4d5b3e&ei=73

I would rather see Notre Dame than U$C to be honest.

I’m guessing (hoping?) that the offense shows some life but doesn’t open it fully open, to save some spice for Auburn. Defense will look rusty but good (lots of PI calls is my guess!). Heat will mean lots of rotations but we are (finally) deep enough to be able to deal with that:

Cal wins, 31-20

Cal's trip to Denton, Texas is more than just a season opener for some of the Bears, as over a dozen of the players will be going back to their home state to kick off the 2023 season. Some of these players, including Craig Woodson and Myles Jernigan — as well as offensive line coach Mike Bloesch and OC Jake Spavital — spoke this week about going back to Texas and playing in front of a "home" crowd.

The team's season opener should prove truly special, as many of the players' family and friends will be heading over to see the Bears. For those far away from home in Berkeley, getting to play close to home — albeit just for the weekend — is a cherry on top of what they’ve all been waiting for: the arrival of the 2023 college football season.

So much truth to this article that it hurts. Self Destruction and a lot of people saw it coming.