Tag: Golden Bears

November 27, 2020; Berkeley, California, USA; Stanford Cardinal players celebrate with The Stanford Axe after the game against the California Golden Bears at California Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Big Game arrives amid bad seasons for Cal, Stanford

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Quarterback Chase Garbers looks for a second career win over rival Stanford when he leads visiting California into the annual Big Game among the San Francisco Bay Area’s two Pac-12 Conference football programs on Saturday afternoon.

The schools, separated by a bridge and just 35 miles, have alternated wins and losses the last three seasons. Stanford held on for a 24-23 victory at Cal last November when the Golden Bears missed a PAT after a touchdown with 58 seconds remaining.

That game pitted Garbers against Stanford’s Davis Mills, who has since graduated to the NFL’s Houston Texans.

The Cardinal’s quarterback situation has become a mess in the 10 games since, with opening-day backup Tanner McKee having quickly seized the starting job, only to come away with an undisclosed injury to his left leg in a home loss to Washington last month.

Jack West, Ari Patu and Dylan Plautz have shared the duties in the last two contests, in which Stanford (3-7, 2-6 Pac-12) was blown out by Utah and Oregon State.

The Cardinal totaled just 94 passing yards with two interceptions in last week’s 35-14 loss at Oregon State.

The good news for Stanford, which enters the Big Game on a five-game losing streak, is that McKee appears ready to return from his two-game absence.

“Having some guys back I think will help a lot this week,” Stanford coach David Shaw said, adding cornerback Kyu Blu Kelly and linebacker Ricky Miezan to the list of potential key returners headed by McKee.

“Right now it’s not about any of the previous games. It’s not about next week. It’s about rivalry week and that’s what these guys are focused on, trying to keep the Axe.”

Cal (3-6, 2-4 Pac-12) has had no such problems at the quarterback position, with Garbers ranking sixth in the Pac-12 in passing yards despite having played one or two fewer games than the five guys ahead of him on the list.

Cal’s contest last week against Southern California had to be rescheduled because of COVID issues among the Golden Bears. Cal was seriously undermanned, including the absence of Garbers, when it lost 10-3 the previous week at Arizona.

Cal offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave expects a big performance from Garbers this week despite the fact he hasn’t played since Oct. 30, when he threw for a season-best three touchdowns and rushed for a fourth in a win over Oregon State.

“I feel like we’re getting better as a coaching staff,” Musgrave said of a relationship he believes has kept his quarterback on an upward trajectory this season. “We’re game-planning better and putting him in better position — everybody, all 11 guys — to be successful.”

–Field Level Media

Oct 30, 2021; Berkeley, California, USA; California Golden Bears quarterback Chase Garbers (7) scrambles during the third quarter against the Oregon State Beavers at FTX Field at California Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

USC-Cal game rescheduled due to COVID-19

Posted on | by Field Level Media

In what was a common occurrence a year ago, an NCAA football game has been postponed due to COVID-19. Unlike last year, this is the only FBS game moved so far in 2021, as Southern Cal’s trip to face Pac-12 foe Cal has been rescheduled from this Saturday to Dec. 4.

The Golden Bears were ravaged by a surge of players being deemed ineligible to play a week ago, helping to contribute to Cal’s ugly 10-3 loss to the Arizona Wildcats, previous losers of 20 games in a row.

Seven starters, including starting quarterback Chase Garbers, as well as 24 players and coaches overall were unavailable to Cal in the loss. The school announced Tuesday an undisclosed number of additional players have tested positive for COVID-19, necessitating a postponement.

USC and Cal negotiated a rescheduled date, and the Pac-12 approved the move.

Previously, the Pac-12 announced that teams will receive forfeits for COVID-19-related cancellations in 2021-22, but with the wiggle room to allow commissioner George Kliavkoff to have full discretion to rule differently on a case-by-case basis.

Garbers put out a statement on social media Monday, expressing frustration with Cal’s testing methodology and how it is communicated to athletes.

USC (4-5, 3-4 Pac-12) is now off this weekend before the Trojans play host to UCLA (5-4, 3-3) on Nov. 20. Cal (3-6, 2-4) will next travel to Stanford (3-6, 2-5) to take on the Cardinal Nov. 20.

–Field Level Media

Oct 23, 2021; Berkeley, California, USA; California Golden Bears quarterback Chase Garbers (7) scrambles for the first down and passes the school record held by Joe Kapp for the most rushing yards by a quarterback for the last 60 years against the Colorado Buffaloes during the first quarter at FTX Field at California Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports

Chase Garbers helps California rout Colorado

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Chase Garbers was 22-of-29 passing for 225 yards and two touchdowns and also rushed for 96 yards, and California beat Colorado 26-3 in Pac-12 play in Berkley, Calif., on Saturday.

Keleki Latu had three catches for 36 yards and a score and Gavin Reinwald caught a 31-yard touchdown pass for the Bears (2-5, 1-3 Pac-12).

Cal held Colorado to 104 total yards, sacked quarterback Brendon Lewis six times and intercepted him once.

The Bears struck first on the first of four field goals by Dario Longhetto, this one from 49 yards out.

On the ensuing possession the Buffaloes (2-5, 1-3) went for it on fourth-and-one at midfield but were stopped.

The Bears took advantage of the field position when Garbers connected with Latu on a 24-yard scoring strike to put Cal ahead 10-0 with 6:05 left in the first quarter.

Colorado was forced to punt again on its next possession and the Bears took 7:08 to drive 88 yards to the Buffaloes 12-yard line. Longhetto made it 13-0 with a 30-yard field goal.

Colorado finally got on the board on its next possession. The Buffaloes drove to the Cal 13 but couldn’t convert on a third-and-two, settling for Cole Becker’s 33-yard field goal that made it 13-3.

The Bears padded their lead before halftime. After Colorado kicked off, Garbers took Cal down the field and hit Reinwald on a 31-yard touchdown pass with 3:21 left in the second quarter.

The Buffaloes got one first down on their ensuing possession before punting to the Bears’ 17. Garbers completed four passes and ran for a first down in the final 58 seconds, and Longhetto hit a field goal from 51 yards out as time expired to make it 23-3.

Neither team scored in the third quarter but Cal added some insurance in the fourth after a wild sequence. Longhetto had his 38-yard field goal attempt blocked and Colorado returned it for an apparent touchdown.

However, the Buffaloes were offside, giving Longhetto another chance, and he hit from 33 yards.

–Field Level Media

California s Jake Tonges dives into the end zone for the first touchdown of the game against Oregon during the first quarter. Eug 101521 Uofb Cal 20

Cal still confident … and still searching for first FBS win against Colorado

Posted on | by Field Level Media

The Cal Bears have a losing record but with a few breaks they could be .500 or better.

The Bears (1-5, 0-3 Pac-12) have lost games by five points, two points and another in overtime. They also went on the road to No. 9 Oregon and gave the Ducks a scare before falling 24-17 last week.

So, it’s no surprise Cal is still confident heading into its home matchup with Colorado at Berkeley Saturday afternoon.

“We have a close-knit group of guys,” senior safety Elijah Hicks said. “To be honest, we’re confident we can play with anybody. The confidence isn’t going to go anywhere.”

Cal is still looking for its first win over a FBS school. The Bears’ lone win came against Sacramento State on Sept. 18.

The Buffaloes (2-4, 1-2) got a much-needed win against Arizona, 34-0, on Saturday. Colorado had opened the season strong with a win and a near upset of No. 5 Texas A&M but was then outscored 102-27 in the next three games.

Freshman quarterback Brandon Lewis has been forced to learn on the job, and the lessons have been tough at times. In his first three games, he threw for 218 yards combined. But against Arizona, he had 248 yards passing with two touchdowns.

The Buffaloes also got a strong game out of Trevor Woods, who had a blocked punt that he returned for a touchdown. He was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week on Monday.

“That was a really good win for us as a program,” CU coach Karl Dorrell said. “All three phases scored touchdowns … We had two weeks of really doing some things in detail. I just felt like the dam was going to break at some point and it did [vs. Arizona].”

The Buffaloes will be without some players against Cal. Running back Ashaad Clayton will miss his second straight game for an undisclosed injury, defensive back Nigel Bethel has a knee injury and “it doesn’t look so good,” Dorrell said.

Wide receiver La’Vontae Shenault is also still serving a suspension.

–Field Level Media

Nov 15, 2020; Pasadena, California, USA; UCLA Bruins running back Demetric Felton (10) runs for a first down against California Golden Bears safety Daniel Scott (32) in the first half at the Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

UCLA routs Cal in hastily added game

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Dorian Thompson-Robinson threw three first-half touchdown passes, Demetric Felton rushed for a game-high 107 yards and the UCLA defense rebounded from a poor performance to limit California to 176 total yards on Sunday as the Bruins dominated the Bears 34-10 in a Pacific-12 game.

The meeting was hastily scheduled on Friday, fewer than 48 hours before kickoff, after UCLA had its scheduled game against Utah and Cal its matchup with Arizona State cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns.

Thompson-Robinson connected with Charles Njoku for a 27-yard touchdown, Chase Cota for a 6-yard score and Kyle Phillips for a 5-yard TD, helping the Bruins (1-1, 1-1 Pac-12) build a commanding 27-10 halftime lead.

Felton did most of his damage in the second half, during which UCLA built its rushing total up to 244 yards en route to a 440-176 advantage in total offense. Defensively, the Bruins recorded five sacks.

One week after allowing 525 yards in a 48-42 loss to Colorado, the Bruins held the Bears (0-1, 0-1) to 54 rushing yards on 28 tries and harassed Cal quarterback Chase Garbers into just 122 passing yards and an interception on 18-for-33 passing to avenge a late-season, 28-18 home loss to their in-state rival last November.

In his team’s season debut after also having last week’s opener against Washington canceled, Garbers scored Cal’s only TD on an 8-yard run in the second quarter.

After hurting themselves with four turnovers last week against Colorado, the Bruins overcame an early blocked punt and interception to build their 17-point halftime advantage.

Craig Woodson blocked a Luke Akers punt after UCLA’s first possession, setting up Cal on the Bruins’ 17-yard line and leading to the game’s first score, a 31-yard field goal by Dario Longhetto.

UCLA then held Cal scoreless after a Camryn Bynum interception on its next possession, before dominating most of the rest of the game.

Thompson-Robinson began a personal four-TD, first-half onslaught with a 2-yard rushing score to give UCLA the lead for good in the final minute of the first quarter, before his TD connections with Njoku, Cota and Phillips produced the 27-10 halftime lead.

Thompson-Robinson finished 14-of-26 passing for 196 yards through the air and added 52 rushing yards on 12 carries.

After a scoreless third quarter, UCLA’s Brittain Brown accounted for the only points of the second half with a 31-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter.

–Field Level Media

Oct 5, 2019; Eugene, OR, USA; California Golden Bears head coach Justin Wilcox reacts after his team missed making a first down during the first half against the Oregon Ducks at Autzen Stadium. Oregon won the game 17-7. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports

Cal-Washington game canceled amid COVID-19 quarantines

Posted on | by Field Level Media

The season opener between Cal and Washington, scheduled for Saturday in Berkeley, Calif., won’t be played because one positive COVID-19 test left the Golden Bears without enough players.

In a news release, Cal said several players are in quarantine because of contact tracing. That leaves the Bears without the required minimum number of scholarship players available.

The game will not be rescheduled under Pac-12 guidelines.

The Pac-12 said in a statement that it approved Cal’s request to cancel the contest. It said the game has been declared a no-contest.

The player who tested positive is asymptomatic, the school said.

“We have been diligent in the development and execution of our return-to-play plan, and our goal all along has been to provide a safe environment and to mitigate risk as much as possible,” athletic director Jim Knowlton said. “We know how much our team and the greater Cal Athletics community was looking forward to the start of the football season this weekend. While we are disappointed in our inability to play this week, we are confident that we have made the right decision.”

The loss of the game means the Bears and Huskies will play a maximum of six games on the season.

“It is very disappointing that we will not be opening our 2020 season this Saturday night against Washington,” Golden Bears coach Justin Wilcox said. “My heart goes out first and foremost to all of our players who have been through so much since the pandemic began and worked so hard under difficult circumstances to prepare themselves to play. They have done so well following the protocols that have been put in place, but as we are finding out firsthand, playing football during 2020 is a fragile situation.”

Cal said its has conducted a total of 3,547 PCR tests of all student athletes through the end of last week, with 20 positive tests.

The Bears now will look toward preparing for their scheduled game at Arizona State on Nov. 14. Washington is slated to host Oregon State that day.

Washington athletic director Jen Cohen termed the development as disappointing.

“Our students, coaches and staff have put in incredible amount of hard work to get to this point and we are deeply disappointed they won’t have the opportunity to compete Saturday in Berkeley,” Cohen said in a statement. “I’m also disappointed for Husky Nation, they have been so patient and supportive, and we know they couldn’t wait to cheer on our Dawgs this weekend.

“With that said, the policies and protocols developed by the Pac-12, local and state officials placed the health and safety of students, coaches and staff at the forefront. We will now turn our attention to next week and start our preparations for Oregon State.”

–Field Level Media