keeping it short:
-first three games showed a largely same wilcox team in the 5-7 win range
-last week is promising and exciting but they need the wsu win to really think about changing the arc
-stanford, ucla, oregon, usc, uw and osu, you're likely to be underdogs in at least 4. let's say 2 of 6 from this group, for now (could be more, could be less, but i think they can get two just based on wilcox's record of beating one team they shouldn't, per year). that gives you 5 wins.

wsu and colorado give you 7. if they're gonna reach the baseline, winning this game is pretty major, and getting into 5-1 before washington (who i think is really good) would be just huge. so, cautiously optimistic. nothing from last week is lasting until that happens, but the door cracks open a bit with the skill guys you have now. how much more is based on the OL's improvement, if any.

go bears, all

Here's Jesse's recap of today's loss against Washington State breaking down all sides of the 28-9 loss to the Cougs.

Let's get this started. I think I'm gonna do this for the reverse juju:

WSU 41 - Cal 31

Is it far enough away from the injury for me to posit that we screwed up? Why was he participating in a practice in the week before the season that ended his season?

Essentially a roundup of all the takeaways from the week ...


I will post the new Guess the Score standings before kickoff. It just becomes such a scramble for me on Fridays/Saturday mornings without fail. I was up past midnight with the UCLA-UW game and then back up at 5 a.m. to get stories posted on that site. I have to write a USC feature story while there's still time to read it, and then I'll circle back on the Guess the Score standings!

This from Jesse and it's a fun read.


I have something in a similar vain coming in the next couple hours as well. I'm legit excited for this game and I'll be able to watch it live, so I'll be in the game thread with you all tomorrow!

Penix can sling it. Up 7-0 after 1st drive

We’ve seen weird stuff almost every Cal Vs WSU game. Make your outlandishly bold prediction like WSU missing a 19 yard game winning field goal or playing in the smoke filled domination by Cal without Downs and Roberson.

Login to view embedded media
So do we get a W as restitution?

2-4 last week for 17-18 for the year. 0-1 for my lock of the week for 0-4 for the year: https://cal.forums.rivals.com/threads/lets-pick-the-pac-12-games-week-4.31406/

[home team in italics]

UW by 3.5 over fUCLA - Too much UW love around. fUCLA covers.

Utah by 10.5 over Oregon State - Bad matchup for the beaves. Utah covers.

WSU by 4 over Cal - This screams a typical wilcox low scoring turd of a game. WSU covers.

Arizona by 17.5 over Colorado - Betting against colorado until they prove otherwise. Arizona covers.

USC by 26.5 over ASU - USC has a home heavy favorite generally is a bad bet, but ASU looks like they've given up. USC covers.

Oregon by 17 over Furd - Is the furd just a bad team? I think so. Oregon covers.



Non conference lock of the week: Florida State by 7 over Wake Forest - Line makes no sense. Wake Forest covers.

I think this covers ALL of it!

Excellent matchup breakdown by Jesse. It's crazy that not only do Cal and Wazzu have the same records but they're averaging the same amount of points and giving up the same amount of points per game. Yet, these teams are really nothing alike.

I'll be writing off this before I go to bed ...

Login to view embedded media

Here's the latest look at Cal's commits from their games last week. I was at a couple of them so have some first-hand reporting. The offensive guys really continue to shine led by Nyziah Hunter and TE commit Ben Marshall, who scored another touchdown and went over 100 yards receiving last week.

I have listened through all of the basketball interviews and am working up a story now and will have more filtered in through the week. But here's the full transcript of what Mark Fox said on Monday -- he covered a lot of ground.

Opening comments:

"Day 1, super excited about this group. We've had a lot of voluntary cooperation throughout the offseason and these guys have really invested a lot the last few months to continue to improve and develop as a team. We have essentially five new faces that will play this year -- all will impact, I think, our team. So we're excited for Day 1. I think it's finally a team that has more depth, more balance, more athleticism than we've had. So we are super excited to begin the year."

What is the emphasis in camp?

"Every coach demands that their teams defend. There's not one who doesn't so there's no surprise there. And I thought that last year we improved as a defensive unit, and I think this year's group, because we have more athleticism, more depth, some rim protection, we have a chance to make another jump there. But we also have balance, which is so important as you get into a season offensively because you have to spread your scoring around. When you only can go a couple places with it, it's easier for teams to scheme to defend you, and I think we have a lot more guys who have the ability to finish plays. So our work now will begin to make them into a unit and form a team that has chemistry on that end as well."

What was the value of the Europe trip?

"The benefits were the 10 practices we had before we went. Certainly to get guys some game action was important, but the real benefit in a coach's eyes was the 10 practices we had leading up to it. Gives us a little bit of a head start on this year and helped us identify where guys are comfortable on the floor, where maybe they aren't quite as comfortable. So I think we were super encouraged by a lot of things that we saw. We know there's things that we have to clean up, but it was really I think from a basketball perspective really good for us. And when you travel abroad and your team has a chance to navigate foreign waters together, even though we have an international flavor to our team, it builds chemistry. And I think we were able to really have some good time together and strengthen the relationships within the group."

Who has surprised you so far?

"Oh, I don't think there's any question that the biggest surprise for us has probably been Grant Newell. He just had a terrific summer and he really came in and from Day 1 has been impressive with just how he works, how he finishes, how responsible he is. He just has a lot of positive traits on and off the court that just really stuck out this summer. I don't think there's anyone on our staff that would say differently. Grant has been a tremendous surprise out of the gate."

Scoring has been tough in recent years, what do you expect offensively this year?

"I think what we've tried to do, obviously we've played a little slower than we wanted to because of the talent situation. So now we have more depth, I think you'll see us play a faster pace. I think you'll see more balance offensively. But obviously it's an area that we worked hard on this summer, and I think the two transfer guards will impact that end of the floor immediately. So yeah, we hope we'll play a little quicker and have a lot more balance."

Do you hope to have a 9 or 10-man rotation?

"I would like to be able to play nine. Can we get to 10? You know, we'll see. We've got a lot of competition for minutes right now, it's really kind of fun to see every day. So we've got a lot of guys battling and we've got a month to figure it out."

It looks like you have three potential point guards, how do you sort that out?

"I would say we have almost four with Jarred Hyder, so they will all be able to play together. We will play a way to allow any combination of those four to be on the floor together. They could be out there with two bigger wings. We have a lot of versatility within this roster, so we'll practice each day with guys playing all over the place, and as we get into the season and a rotation gets established they may see less time at both spots, but I think we'll have the ability to do that if we choose to."

DeJuan Clayton and Devin Askew, what do they bring to the team?

"Well I think that both have worked really hard to understand which shots to shoot. I think Devin skipped his senior year of high school and went to one of the elite programs in America -- that didn't work out for Johnny Juzang either. That's a tough transition for anybody, and having coached in that league I understand what he tried to tackle there. But I think Devin and DeJuan both have shot the ball really well. We give an annual shooting test and they both passed it with flying colors last week, so that was good to see. Monty Bowser is another guys who has shot the ball really well this summer and will contribute in that area. I think understanding first of all what shots to shoot helps your percentage, and I think that both those guys will be really solid shooters and playmakers for us. But that's going to be important for us to create the balance that we want to have."

In one of the Europe games you didn't play DeJuan, Jarrad Hyder or Marsalis Roberson. Were they hurt?

"One was ill, DeJuan missed a summer game, he had a minor finger injury that we held him out so he didn't play in the summer games, and Jarrad Hyder was injured at the time also."

seemed like very unlike CJW to call something like that leading by 3 scores late in a game. was unsuccessful, got the QB hit, and was a throw into triple coverage. was that all Musgrave feeling himself or something else?

Login to view embedded media

and off the Pac 12 network.I hope Wilcox,Knowlton and anyone with decision making power is figuring out ways to highlight while building the program for sustainable success.If no one at Cal isn't thinking about how to get Ott on the Heisman radar then we have the wrong people at the helm.

This is the play call that got me the most excited. Reminded me of prime Tedford era playcalling. And the execution was phenomenal.

Login to view embedded media

Login to view embedded media
I recorded every one of Nyziah Hunter's catches on Friday night as he helped Salinas HS remain undefeated with a win over Hollister. It took Hunter a little while to get going, but ultimately he showcased why he has been one of the most productive players in the area this season. He sealed the win with a 65-yard touchdown catch, and he was steady for most of the second half contributing with catches on the edges to keep the chains moving. He's definitely impressive and looks the part of a future standout contributor for the Bears. He says the staff plans to play him in the slot, and he has continued to build on his relationship with Burl Toler since committing to the program back in late June.

The recent rise of a player (freshman) like Jaydn Ott has certainly caught his attention, and he is excited about his future at Cal. Catch my interview with Hunter after his game Friday night in the video below. You can also watch the full game clips as well.

Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media

Hey all,

I've been to that other school up in the Bay Area that has a tree for a mascot before, but I'll be making my first ever trip to Memorial Stadium and Berkeley this weekend. Anything I need to know or any places I gotta see while I'm in town? I'll obviously be a little busy for a few hours beginning at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday but I should have a good amount of time otherwise. I figure I'd come to the source and you all wouldn't let me down! Really looking forward to checking out the campus since I've heard a lot of good things.

Hey all - I'm on Zoom with Wilcox right now, I'll be posting any highlights in here

I would have made the line 7.5 but will gladly pull for the upset!