I thought the line would have been higher.
Go Bears

Justin Wilcox just confirmed to the media after the game that starting middle linebacker Jackson Sirmon will miss the remainder of the season with the injury he suffered last week.

Following Cal's loss to Auburn last Saturday, I wrote about the state of the Cal football program. With high hopes and an energized fanbase, the Bears once again struggled to convert, resulting in a four-point 14-10 loss to the Tigers.

Justin Wilcox is in his seventh year as Cal head coach, and only has two winning seasons to show for it. You can make as many excuses as you want — stale offensive scheming for the past few years, an apathetic fanbase, unfavorable media deals, COVID-19 — but it’s clear that this is becoming an issue.

That being said, after everything I’ve seen following Saturday’s loss, this is one of the biggest takeaways I have for fans: Take it easy on the players. Hold the program accountable, hold the coaching staff accountable. But don’t take it out on the athletes. You’re allowed to be critical without being downright cruel.

Read my (first!) column on the state of Cal football following the loss against Auburn:

"Our football team is in the middle of one of the toughest stretches of the schedule in our history – after playing ranked opponents in each of our past two games, three of our final five games are also against teams currently ranked in the Associated Press top 25, and another is just outside the poll. We’ve shown signs of promise in every game, and I know we are close to putting together the type of complete performance that Coach Wilcox and our team are working toward. We all know winning in football is critically important to our university, and we will continue to fight for California. Our loss at Utah last weekend really came down to a handful of plays that didn’t go our way, and if we can turn those around, I’m confident we will be doing some celebrating very soon."

For the second time this year, Cal lost a crucial sixth-year contributor to the team in inside linebacker Jackson Sirmon. Sirmon injured his bicep against Oregon State and had surgery last Thursday, the senior said at Tuesday’s media availability.

Despite having to take time off — and with losing valuable playing time in his last season of collegiate eligibility — Sirmon said his injury does not change his plans for the future. He still has one goal in mind: to play in the NFL.

“I don’t plan on that being my last game or my last snap. So, that’s how I’m moving forward — rehab from this, the same way I attack everything, and I think good things will happen," Sirmon said.

Read about Sirmon's collegiate football career and plans for the future:

Agree or disagree?

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With Cal on a bye week, the coaches got the day off from their usual media availability on Tuesday and instead Jackson Sirmon was given an opportunity to speak with reporters about his season (and Cal career) ending injury that he suffered in the game against Oregon State. The Bears linebacker injured his bicep and it required surgery, and he had a big brace on his arm while speaking with us today.

He plans to do the same thing that Matthew Cindric is doing (also, done for the year with a biceps injury) by helping the rest of the linebacker group as much as he can and serving as an extra set of eyes for his dad on defense.

You can watch his full media session from earlier today above.

1-4-1 last week (thanks wilcox!) for 18-26-2 for the year. 1-0 for my lock of the week for 6-1 for the year. https://cal.forums.rivals.com/threads/lets-pick-the-pac-12-games-week-7.32303/

Home teams in italics
Oregon by 20 over WSU - No idea. WSU?

USC by 6.5 over Utah - No idea. Utah?

UCLA by 16.5 over the Furd - UCLA covers.

UW by 28 over ASU - Let down, but not sure it matters. UW covers.



Non conference lock of the week: WVU by 3 over Oklahoma State - WVU covers.

Game Details

Who: Cal (3-3, 1-2 Pac-12) at No. 16 Utah (4-1, 1-1 Pac-12) | All-time series: Tied 6-6

When: Noon

Where: Rice-Eccles Stadium | Salt Lake City, Utah

TV: Pac-12 Network | Roxy Bernstein (play-by-play), Lincoln Kennedy (analyst)

RADIO: 810 AMJustin Allegri (play-by-play), Mike Pawlawski (analyst), Kevin Danna (sideline reporter); SiriusXM Ch. 386 SXM App 976, The Varsity App

Cal is back in action as the Bears continue their difficult stretch facing another ranked team today. The Bears will square off against Utah for the first time since 2019 as Fernando Mendoza makes his second start at quarterback hoping to replicate some of the success the offense had last week. The defense, meanwhile, will look to regain some momentum after struggling to stop Oregon State's offense a week ago. It will have to do so without starting middle linebacker Jackson Sirmon who is out for today's game.

Join the conversation and follow along for updates as Cal takes on Utah today.

Going into its second week of five straight ranked opponents, Cal was hoping to get an upset win against No. 16 Utah. Instead, the Bears saw a lackluster performance, especially on defense, leading to a 34-14 loss to the Utes at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday.

The Bears’ offensive struggles were nowhere near its defensive woes in terms of costly performance, and Cal’s inability to capitalize on a weaker Utah offense proved to be detrimental.

Read the Utah-Cal recap here:

There were some technical difficulties after the game with the postgame Zoom press conference, so here are the videos from Cal Athletics of today's media sessions with Justin Wilcox, Taj Davis, Cade Uluave and Fernando Mendoza.

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Who’s on everyone’s list? A few I’d be excited about:

Troy Taylor
Brennan Marion
Dennis Simmons

Our Week 6 winner was @Eugene Choo with a score of 27 on his guess of Oregon State 34 - Cal 31. Next best were @bearborn11 with a score of 31 and @CalGreg and @marklog with a score of 34.

Here are the updated standings through six weeks. Remember, after Week 4 we drop each person’s two worst scores from the average provided they have participated all four weeks (or drop one score if a week has been missed). The bold scores are the scores that have been dropped.

Cal is now onto the second week of its gauntlet — five ranked teams in a row. Following a 12-point, 52-40 loss to Oregon State at home last week, the Bears (3-3, 1-2 Pac-12) now turn their attention to Utah (4-1, 1-1 Pac-12). Set to be a challenging game at Rice-Eccles Stadium, Cal is heading to Utah looking for an upset win against the No. 16 Utes.

Here are the top storylines ahead of Cal’s Week 7 matchup against Utah:

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A lot of confidence from Mark Madsen today at his first (and only) Pac-12 Media Day as Cal's head coach. Madsen continued to come back to the Bears being the team no opponent will want to play this season. Good stuff from Madsen, Keonte Kennedy and Grant Newell today.

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I had an opportunity to listen in on the Zoom session in regard to what alums are looking for from the next chancellor and was very encouraged by what I heard. Many alums spoke directly to the necessity of charting a new path with respect to the revenue sports. They are tired of seeing Memorial Stadium half full on Saturdays.

Additional Takeaways:

1. Create and sustain a culture that demands excellence in the revenue sports ( One alum brought up Michigan as a prime example of the coexistence of high level academics and a sports culture that demands accountability and performance excellence).
2. Fundraise, Fundraise and Fundraise some more. (Tap into our Ultra high Net Worth alums to develop a consistent funding pipeline)
3.Create additional student housing opportunities.
4. Look within our community to develop a list of Chancellor candidates.( Preferably an alum that knows what the student experience was life i.e. registering for classes, attempting to secure housing, navigating the various bureaucracies within Cal.
5. Limiting the opportunities for outsiders ( folks that didn't graduate from Cal) to make decisions that effect Cal(Name changes etc.)
6. The next Chancellor should understand branding and the unique opportunity we have as we transition to the A.C.C. Our commercial is super outdated and it is time for an update.

I was very pleased that the alums that participated had the revenue sports on the brain. We have to do better and we can do better Go Bears!!!!!

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Here's this week's depth chart as the Bears prepare to face No. 16 Utah.

Fernando Mendoza moved to the starting job officially on the depth chart. Sioape Vatikani still listed as the starter at right guard but we're expecting to get an update on him when Wilcox speaks to reporters today.

Saturday, redshirt freshman quarterback Fernando Mendoza stepped into some big shoes. Not just because of some of the talented quarterbacks that have come and gone in recent years, but some of the bigger, now household names, the likes of Aaron Rogers, Jared Goff and even Davis Webb.

Mendoza said he tries to learn a lot when Spavital talks about Webb or Will Grier, the Patriots’ quarterback that Spavital coached during his time at West Virginia.

Read about Mendoza's path to earning the starting job and his reflection on working with Spavital and his teammates:

Cal football has finally found an identity at quarterback — and his name is Fernando Mendoza.

Was Mendoza’s performance perfect? Of course not — the 20-year-old just started his first collegiate football game, there’s no talk about a Heisman contender here. But after weeks of uncertainty for the Bears’ signal callers, it’s nice to at least see someone bring a sense of confidence and reliability to the position.

Ladies and gentlemen, get settled in for the Fernando Mendoza Show — we should all be seeing much more of him going forward.

Read my column on Mendoza's Saturday performance:

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Cal has been picked 11th by conference media in the Pac-12 preseason media poll today.

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Fernando Mendoza met with reporters today to discuss his first start last week and look ahead to facing another ranked opponent this weekend when the Bears head to Utah.

Game Details

Who: Cal (3-2, 1-1 Pac-12) vs. No. 15 Oregon State (4-1, 1-1 Pac-12) | All-time series: Bears lead 39-36

When: 7 p.m.

Where: California Memorial Stadium | Berkeley, California

TV: Pac-12 Network | J.B. Long (play-by-play), Max Browne (analyst)

RADIO: 810 AMJustin Allegri (play-by-play), Mike Pawlawski (analyst), Kevin Danna (sideline reporter); SiriusXM Ch. 158 or 197 SXM App 959, The Varsity App

It's once again game day at California Memorial Stadium, and we'll have coverage as the Bears host No. 15 Oregon State. Cal is coming off last week's win over Arizona State with plenty of question marks remaining, including what will happen at the quarterback position. We'll get answers to some of those questions soon, and we invite you to join in the conversation and follow along for updates from tonight's game.

We'll provide any updates here as well throughout the night.

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Today was our weekly media availability with the Cal coaching staff as Justin Wilcox, Peter Sirmon and Jake Spavital all met with reporters to discuss last Saturday's game agains Oregon State while also looking ahead to this week's matchup with No. 16 Utah.

Pac-12 Media Day is tomorrow in Las Vegas. Matt will be there for us. Today, they announced the preseason teams:

2023-24 Pac-12 Men's Basketball Preseason Media All-Conference Team

First Team

Oumar Ballo, Arizona

Adem Bona, UCLA

Keion Brooks Jr., Washington

Branden Carlson, Utah

Isaiah Collier, USC

N’Faly Dante, Oregon

Tristan da Silva, Colorado

Boogie Ellis, USC

Spencer Jones, Stanford

KJ Simpson, Colorado

Second Team

Fardaws Aimaq, California

Kylan Boswell, Arizona

Kobe Johnson, USC

Caleb Love, Arizona

Jordan Pope, Oregon State

Honorable Mention (votes from 5-or-more members of media)

Kwame Evans Jr., Oregon

Pelle Larsson, Arizona

Aday Mara, UCLA

Cody Williams, Colorado

1-3 last week for 17-22-1 for the year. 1-0 for my lock of the week for 5-1 for the year. https://cal.forums.rivals.com/threads/lets-pick-the-pac-12-games-week-6.32287/

Home teams in italics

Colorado by 12 over the Furd - Beats me. My guess is Colorado comes out fired up and covers.

Utah by 13.5 over Cal - Too many points. We lose by 10. Cal covers.

UW by 3 over Oregon - No real conviction here. I just think Oregon is better.

WSU by 8.5 over Arizona - Who knows? Arizona covers.

ND by 2.5 over USC - Not sure either team is all that good. USC covers.

Oregon State by 4 over fUCLA - fUCLA is just better.



Non conference lock of the week: Wisconsin by 10 over Iowa - Iowa covers.