Tosh and his two coordinators have not officially started their jobs yet, but they are already kicking ass. 

Cal is currently ranked 9th nationally in portal pickups. 

Doesn’t mean much this early, but it is exciting. 

With Tosh we expected a jump in recruiting. Seeing it actually happen fills me with relief. 

Again its early, but here are the changes we are predicting in 2026. 

TLDR: 

Offense: We are getting JKS the weapons he deserves. Shaping up nicely.

Defense: I have full faith in DL. Secondary and Linebackers I am concerned about. 

QB – No Change (All the glory to God)

JKS will be a Golden Bear in 2026. One year the wiser and more mature. Maybe he’ll gain some foot speed. 

We promised him weapons… 

RB – Large Upgrade 

I am sad to lose our 2025 starter Kendrick Raphael (a smart workhorse who just lacked speed). 

We already have THREE running backs committed. Each look much, much better than our 2025 backs. Hopefully they are also big brain.  

We have a big bruiser from Washington and a couple of speedsters coming from Davis and UTEP.

People are most excited about UC Davis transfer Carter Vargas who was being recruited by LSU.

⏳ 🤞agtg pic.twitter.com/Es7V4gbZS6

— Carter Vargas (@CarterVargas21) December 9, 2025

WR – Large Upgrade 

Biggest question right now is whether De Jesus returns. He is trying to use the “Pavia Rule” to legally appeal for an extra year of NCAA eligibility. The ruling says Juco years shouldn’t count towards your eligibility. 

In 2025 he led the nation in completions. 

If I were him I would be thinking NFL, but maybe His 5’7” height kills his draft stock and another year makes more sense.

4* WR Ian Strong will go down in history as the FIRST big time portal commit in the Tosh era. Big, strong outside receiver with medium to bad speed and good route running. 

I am usually out on big, slow WRs. I prefer speed… But because JKS is the king of the back shoulder pass… I can see why we made Strong a priority. 

Need a few more adds here but feeling great so far. 

2025 WR were so bad… Things can only go up. 

OL – TBD… Upgrade?

My gut blames the 2025 under performance on the lack of talent in the RB room. 

I love the position coach Famika Anea. 

I’d rather keep 2025 lineman than get a bunch of new transfers. 

Continuity >>>>>

Looks like we are retaining most starters but I need to do a true deep dive. 

TE – Medium Upgrade 

2025 unit was excellent IMO. 

TE Coach Saffel is an up and coming super star. 

Mason Mini got open frequently, made clutch plays and were just sick. He seems be sticking around.

We just added 4* TE from New Mexico who I am NOT sold on. 

Decent dance moves, but arrogant cocky vibes… Not giving energy back to the boys who are fired up… It’s especially distasteful because he didn’t do anything impressive on the play. Couldn’t have been more open. 

Bad first impression but I’m probably being dramatic.

All in all, things are looking up here. 

Defense: 

We are losing many players. 

Linebackers: Gone. 

Despite Ferrelli being ACC Rookie of the Year I am ok with him leaving… I blame him for our issues against the run in 2025. He missed gap assignments constantly. 

Same for Cade. His 2025 highlights are probably great but I think he had a sneaky bad season. Like Ferreli, he was inconsistent and missed gap assignments. Maybe it was bad coaching. 

Also I did not love his vibe as a leader. Victim to Jaydn Ott syndrome? (swollen NIL dome)

I pray Tosh has a backup plan. 

DL + Edge Rushers: Gone… Reinforcements Incoming??

Tosh is a DL coach by trade. I have full faith he puts together an elite unit. 

Hate losing edge rushers TJ Bush and Ryan McCullough… But apparently our scheme is changing from (“4 x 3” to “3 x 4” or something like that) and neither player fits the new system. 

Our biggest portal add so far is this Texas A&M beast. ‘Hell Raiser”

Officially! Production with limited opportunity! pic.twitter.com/ooSpQpATrr

— Solomon Williams (@SolomonW__) January 2, 2026

He must have been so expensive… But I love his tape and have complete faith in Tosh to evaluate DL talent. 

Still a lot of moving pieces… But so far so good. 

Secondary: Gone… STOLE OREGON SAFETY 

We are losing most of our talent. 

BUT… We signed the nation’s 5th ranked Safety from Oregon… Could this be the first of several players following Tosh from Oregon to Berkeley?? 

Again lots of moving pieces but so far so good. Need many adds here. 

TLDR: 

Offense: We are getting JKS the weapons he deserves. Shaping up nicely.

Defense: I have full faith in DL. Secondary and Linebackers I am concerned about. 

The message boards are an absolute mess right now. 

You have to wade through a ton of bullshit to find anything meaningful on there.

The ‘Old Blues’ are excited about Tosh… As we all are… Unfortunately, they are channeling that positive energy into posting photos of their dogs and asking questions about their personal lives.

Here are the important things that have happened since Tosh’s hiring on Friday.  

Blue and Gold Carpet 

Cal welcomed their new head coach the way an SEC team would. Tosh and his family took a PJ from rainy-Eugene to sunny-Berkeley, touching down to the sweet sound of the marching band. Cheerleaders. Oski. The whole shebang. 

Loved this post from some Stanford guy. 

Huge Alumni Donations 

$20m is the number I read… From just three donors. 

Does this indicate there was more frustration with Wilcox and his program than we thought? 

I don’t think so. To me it indicates big donors were bored and not paying attention. As opposed to being pissed off. People now see a path to restoring Cal to its mid-2000s glory. 

In one post some guy predicts Cal and Stanford will soon dominate the Georgias and Alabamas… because we have so many more billionaires. A fun thought. 

JKS Retained 

Tosh left the press conference and flew straight to Hawaii. He and JKS met from midnight to 2:00am. Baller. JKS was on island to support his high school team in the state championship. 

Tosh immediately got him to commit to returning to Berkeley. Let the fun begin. 

God is Good. Mahalo to #CoachLup for coming to visit me and my family in HI. I believe in Cal and what this football program is capable of. #ComeToCal #GoBears #SmartAndTough https://t.co/Rzhb2EtmZh pic.twitter.com/y7nrifBNd4

— Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele (@JaronKeawe) December 6, 2025

Recruiting… No big changes

I expected there to be lists of recruits he was targeting at Oregon who might flip to Cal… But there is none of that yet. 

We know he offered a 2027 target BEFORE officially accepting the job in Berkeley. Wild move. There is evidence of a few other targets he has been talking to but nothing notable has happened.

I cannot wait for this new era of recruiting.

Recruiting is the reason I fell in love with college football in high school… Before I even had allegiance to a team. Watching high school tape, looking through the class rankings, the drama around players committing, decommitting, etc… 

Tweeting at high schoolers. It’s the best. 

Wilcox recruiting presence was basically zero. I stopped following because we had no hope of landing a top 20 class. Every year was the same. A rag-tag collection of three star recruits with medium offer lists. 

We are so back. Lupoi is a recruiting god. Here are some of his greatest career lands. 

Assistant Coaches

Our assistant coaches salary pool has been increased by 70% putting us on par with the top teams in the ACC. 

Like recruiting, I expected there to be some theories on who he is going to try to bring in for OC and DC by this point. Nothing yet. 

The only thing that has happened… Rolovich, our interim head coach who has a great relationship with JKS is in discussion to return as QB Coach and Assistant HC. Rumored this may have secured the return of Jaron.

There was worry we would have to make him Offensive Coordinator to retain him. He is perfect at QB coach. 

Lupoi said he will consider keeping current coaches if they fit the culture. Here are the coaches I would like to see back next year in no order. 

1. Mike Saffell – Tight Ends || Young, energetic Cal grad. Did a great job with the unit this year. Great job with Endries last year. Recruited the 16th ranked TE in the 2026 class. He should be a lock to stay on. 
2. Famika Anea – OL || 2025 was his first year on staff and granted it wasn’t great… But he is a fiery recruiter and I truly believe in his long term potential as a coach. Seems to fit the Lupoi energy. 
3. Terrance Brown – DBs || Has done a great job bringing on talent and coaching them up. Many NFL players in the last few years. With Lupoi behind him he’ll likely improve further.
4. Nick Rolovich – QB || Already discussed. 

Other than that… Clear house!! 

Job Start Timing

Lupoi will stay on as Oregon DC through their playoff run. He is a workhorse… I expect him to be actively working for us in the meantime. I have decided to root for Oregon through the playoffs… The benefit of Lupoi winning a Natty would trump having a few extra weeks of his undivided attention . People will probably disagree with that.

One last “Thank you, Justin.” 

Though he never had a breakthrough season, he kept the ship steady through some tumultuous years… That was not an easy task. 

The Big Game loss, at least, made the decision to fire him easy. There was no… ‘Oh, did we do the right thing??” 

It’s like you are 80% sure you want to break up with your girlfriend, then she cheats on you. 

Thank you! 

Speaking of being cheated on. 

Tosh Lupoi

It seems the Golden Bears will be getting back together with their high school girlfriend who made out with another guy. 

And I am ok with it. 

I was not a Cal fan when this all went down. Here is a quick summary of the Tosh Lupoi drama. 

2011

• Tosh was Cal’s Defensive Line Coach and STAR recruiter 
• As a former player he was the heart of the Cal brand 
• He put together Cal’s highest rated recruiting class ever (top 15) 
• Days before signing day, Washington poached Tosh 
• Tosh flipped multiple Cal recruits (including 5 star Shaq Thompson) to Washington
• He was accused of recruiting for Washington while on Cal’s payroll (infidelity) 
• This left Cal with a bad recruiting class 
• The Tedford era collapsed 

He betrayed his Alma Mater and Tedford. For what?

His salary went from $105,000 to $165,000. 

It was ugly. Some old blues are still upset, but most are dying to win back the girl that cheated. 

Tosh’s Resume

After one year at Washington, Tosh went to Alabama as an intern (appropriately donning the scarlet letter).

Under Saban he climbed the ranks efficiently up to Defensive Coordinator. He was hailed as a masterful recruiter. 

This encouraging stretch of his career was brought to a sudden halt after a BEAT DOWN by Trevor Lawrence and Clemson in the 2019 Natty. 

Fired. 

Then things get funky…. 

His strength as a coach is undoubtedly recruiting. But for some reason…  He ends up spending three years as a journeyman NFL Defensive Line coach. Why? I don’t know. Maybe he was trying to improve his Xs and Os . 

Then he lands the Oregon DC job where he has an amazing stretch. 

Aside from this beatdown reminiscent of Clemson v Bama.  

People Change

At first, I was not excited about Tosh because of the whole cheating thing but that was almost 15 years ago now.

In the back of my mind I have to say I am scared that he is playing Cal to negotiate a contract with Penn State. 

But… If Cal does land him I will be thrilled. 

I want young. I want hungry. I want a PUT YOUR HAT ON type motivator as Head Coach. 

Wilcox and Dykes were similar in that they were soft spoken leaders who lacked the fire of a Tedford, Carroll, Saban or Harbaugh. That is not a prerequisite to being an elite head coach, but it is something that I think this program in particular needs given the lack of excitement from the fan base when things are going poorly. 

Tosh fits that perfectly.

He understands Berkeley. He was here at our peak and if anyone can restore us to our former glory it is him. 

Plan B?

It looks pretty close to a done deal… But If we do not land Tosh we would be in trouble.

There is no other coaching candidate with ties to Cal.

I’d guess we end up promoting Rolovich to Head Coach permanently. Not a terrible option.

But let’s pray for Tosh.

Update: We got Tosh !

I woke up on Saturday of Big Game regretting what I had written the day before. 

In short, I had stated it best that Cal part ways with Head Coach Justin Wilcox… Pointing to an overall record of 48-54 over 9 seasons. His best season 8 wins. His worst season 4. 

After a 5 – 7 record in 2021… Cal had made the insane decision to EXTEND Justin… When in reality he probably should have been fired. 

Why? Ridiculous rumors that Oregon was going to try to hire him. 

Also, he is a super chill guy. 

By extending him because he is a chill guy, we did Justin did a huge disservice. After 2021 he needed a job change. Either a new HC position or a stint as a coordinator under an elite coach where he could get back to scheme, and take some time to reflect before returning to a head coaching role. 

Instead he stayed in Berkeley and rattled off 3 perfectly average seasons, consisting of some fun upset wins and some devastating let down losses. 

Playing up and down to competition has defined his program from the very beginning. 

Nevertheless, I woke up on Saturday morning of Big Game considering keeping him on. 

Why?

1. Buyout – It’s not perfectly clear what the buyout is or how it works but we believe it is in the range of $10m. Part of me thinks… Would we not be better off retaining Wilcox and spending $5m / year for the next two years on talent? Surely that would lead to more wins.

2. Rolling the Dice – If you look at similar Power 5 programs who have tried their hand with new coaches… It’s not working out great for most of them. It’s a huge gamble.

3. Administrative Alignment – Wilcox years have been unstable from the standpoint of University buy in. Berkeley did a terrible job through conference realignment and organization of NIL in the beginning. It has been a difficult coaching environment for Justin…. Until now. We finally have a stable set up with Rich Lyons and Ron Rivera. Does it really make sense to fire Wilcox now? Are we unnecessarily thrusting ourselves back into instability? 

We fired Tedford at a similar inflection point… He had his glory years, then the program declined during the stadium and facility renovation. We played on a baseball field for two years. It was an incredibly hard coaching and recruiting environment. The program understandably went south… Then right when the new stadium and facilities were finished…. we fired him?? 

That doesn’t seem fair in retrospect and could have been a big mistake. Maybe he would have brought us back to glory with the new facilities. 

So, when the Cal v Stanford started, I was thinking about all this and came to the conclusion that if we have a resounding big game victory tonight and somehow pull off an upset against SMU next week, we should think about keeping him. 

Let’s jack up the NIL money. Let’s see what we can do with better talent. 

Nope. We fumbled another game against a shit team. 

Felt just like San Diego State. 

A huge issue with these Justin Wilcox teams is their inability to deal with early adversity in games. When things do not go well out of the gate, the team crumbles in on itself and has zero ability to bounce back. 

In a game of momentum… We need to have a coach that can rally the troops. 

We need a coach who can STOP THE FALSE STARTS. 

Anyways, what is done is done. 

In a way the Big Game loss was merciful as it made the decision to fire a no brainer.

I can’t wait for an exciting off season. We get a new HC.

Yes, there are a lot of top programs with head coaching jobs open. But there are also a lot of talented, exciting coaches out there. So what am I looking for?

I want young. I want hungry. I want a PUT YOUR HAT ON type of motivator. 

First name out of everyone’s mouth is Tosh Lupoi. 

What a weird season it has been. Amazing wins. Devastating losses. Amounting to what will likely be a another forgettable 6 or 7 win season.

In all, I think the coaching staff did a good job with the players available. If you think about how destitute the program was a year ago after losing a Heisman QB, our entire running back room, all but one wide receiver, an NFL tight end along with four NFL draft picks on defense…

I think we would have taken 6 – 4 going into the Big Game in a heartbeat.

There have been a lot of highs:

JKS whooping that ass at Oregon State

Great team win against Minnesota

Upsetting #15 Louisville (+1000)

The moment before SDSU kick-off when we genuinely believed… With all of our hearts… That Cal would make the College Football Playoff.

And the lows:

What went wrong?

Our preseason keys to the season were:

“Decent QB Play from Freshman JKS”  ✅

• Despite some inconsistency, JKS over performed in every way. 

“Decent play from DBs and Safeties” ✅

• Aside from some of the worst tackling known to mankind… They over performed big time.

Was it the offenses fault?

The Wide Receivers dropped so many passes. So many.
Run game was wildly inconsistent and lacked speed.

Still, I put 90% of the blame on the other side of the ball.

Terrible Defense:

We were worried about the DBs before the season… But they were actually great. 

The worst call in the history of Bearly Interesting was the following:

We gave both our Defensive Line and our Inside Linebackers the preseason grades of 

“Incredible” 

Could not have felt more comfortable about our front seven. Cal ranked 14th in the nation against the run in 2024… And everything signaled improvement. 

I cannot believe how bad we have been. It has shocked me to my core and forced me to re-evaluate everything I think I know about football, myself and our collective general existence. 

I could write a full article on what has been going wrong against the run, but I will spare the details. 

This video says it all. Here is the Virginia Tech QB after the game where VT ran for 355 yards against Cal on 58 carries.

*****

I can’t find the video. But basically he says…

“Yeah our game plan was not to run the ball like that. But we kept doing it, and they couldn’t adjust, so we just kept doing it ”

****

I owe an apology to Peter Sirmon, our DC who left after 2024. I believed our defense was underperforming under his tenure, and that having him out of there so WIlcox could act as DC himself would be good for the team.

It was not. Peter Sirmon was a good coach.

So, what is next?

The season isn’t over, but the question on everyone’s mind is… 

What do we do about Wilcox?

A brief review of Wilcox Era:

His first few years… Great start!  

He gets a 5 year extension, deservedly so. Then COVID. 

The 2021 team was garbage. It seems insane looking back, but we extend him AGAIN in January 2022.

At the time I believe the logic was… given conference realignment we can’t afford a rebuild. 

Also, he was flirting with the Oregon Head Coaching job. That freaked us out and we panicked.

Then the three most boring years imaginable. (Dark Age) 

I doubt we will remember the thrilling upset wins and heartbreaking losses because they canceled each other out and left us with unmemorable records.

Justin, if you are reading this I apologize. 

I apologize for not firing you after the 2022 season. And I mean that genuinely. We did you a huge disservice. If you think about the successful careers of Sark and Kiffin… They each needed a good firing plus a stint as a coordinator under a coaching legend for them to come into their own. 

You didn’t get that because Cal was ok with mediocrity. 

If Oregon actually did offer you the coaching job, you probably should have taken it. Cause at least you would have had a new environment to learn and grow. 

There is a huge part of me that wants to keep you next year. No one puts more value on coordinators and position coaches than I do, and the staff you have put together is legit. If we get you an improved roster, and Rivera thinks Cal can make the jump to compete for a CFP spot with you at the helm…. Then I am with it 100%. 

But I would hate to see you sticking around because the buyout number is too high for Cal to pay.

2026 would be your tenth year… The program has been so stagnant for so long, it is hard for me to imagine a breakthrough now. 

I will be the first to admit… We have not made it easy on you. You dealt with bullshit from our administration from day one. Plus NIL changes, conference realignment, etc. I blame you for nothing. 

Sadly, it’s probably time for us to go our separate ways. 

Thank you for everything. You’ve been an amazing Golden Bear.

Before you go though…. How about we go get one more at the farm tomorrow, just for old times sake???

 

Donkey-Punch Save 

It took a goal-line donkey-punch forced fumble to secure victory against a terrible UNC team. 

UNC was inches away from taking the lead with ~5 minutes left.

Cal successfully ran the clock out from there.

The press asked Wilcox what emotions he felt after the play. 

Visibly annoyed, he states the obvious…. we shouldn’t have been in that situation in the first place. 

But since we were… Yeah, he was happy it happened. 

We won the turnover margin 3 – 0… Yet somehow almost found a way to lose. 

There were a few moments when Cal almost broke the game open. Those efforts were thwarted by penalties, many terrible dropped passes and special teams mistakes. 

Ceiling Established: 

Bad news…  this team’s ceiling is not super high if you didn’t already realize. 

The receivers won’t magically get faster and start creating space. 

Our running backs aren’t going to become explosive overnight and start busting out 40 yard carries. 

Edge rushers won’t start winning one-on-ones all the sudden and sacking QBs.

Room for Improvement:

With that said… It is not outrageous to think that maybe our linebackers will start doing the bare minimum by sticking to their run fits. 

Maybe our wide receivers will start dropping just one ball a game instead of six. 

There is a small chance our offensive line starts getting a push 70% of the time instead of 40%. 

Though our ceiling is NOT THAT HIGH, we are still underachieving compared to our potential. 

5 – 2

It has never felt worse to be 5 – 2 …. (first time since Jared Goff) 

But we are 5 – 2.

Virginia Tech Preview: 

Virginia Tech has turned things around since firing their coach. 

Their dual threat quarterback is solid. 

Reader Steve Maze noted this is the 4th time Cal has to play a team coming off a bye, which sucks a lot. 

Tonight I’d actually prefer a good loss to another sloppy, lucky win. 

Let’s put together four quarters of solid football. Don’t need to do anything special. 
Just execute. 

Go Bears.

Field reporter, Winterer, was on ground at Alumni Stadium for Cal’s 28-24 win against BC.

He interviewed Ron Rivera, who was honored to be featured in last weeks Bearly Interesting article.

His dad, a lifelong BC fan, chucked a full beer against the bleachers.

Narrowly Avoided Collapse

Our biggest fear was realized…

Cal went down 14-0 after 7 minutes of play.

Was our spirit broken? Would the Wilcox regime crumble?

The Golden Bears found their fighting spirit and battled back to win in dramatic fashion…

A goal line interception!

LUKE. FERRELLI.

Ferrelli picks off Cal’s potentially game winning score in the endzone to lock up the dub pic.twitter.com/mbFLoO3wd5

— ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) September 27, 2025

Here are our takeaways from Week 5:

JKS WINNER:

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!@CalFootball takes the lead 🚨

📺 @accnetwork pic.twitter.com/Ohrrivq2T6

— ACC Football (@ACCFootball) September 27, 2025

You can’t teach it. Jaron kept his composure with the game on the line and got the job done.

Getting clutch plays under the belt early in a career is crucial to building confidence. Though he has been incredibly poised, he has lacked composure in the following situations.

• Early in games he gets excited (happened this week, pic on first throw of the game)
• When down 20+ points to SDSU he started forcing the ball

Other than that… No notes.

Offensive Line Competent?

We saw huge improvement in the run game this week.

Offensive line got a consistent push through the entire game.

Kendrick Raphael carried the ball 25 times for 119 yards (avg 4.8). This allowed us to win time of possession 35 min to 25 min.

If it wasn’t for San Diego State, I would be quite pleased with this unit.

3.5 Quarters of Solid Defense

Boston College had a full bye week to script a series and scored easily on their first possession.

BC’s second possession started on Cal’s 27 yard line (after a JKS interception). BC scored immediately on a 27 yard touchdown run (theme).

Through the next 3.5 quarters, Cal defense gave up just 10 points.

Seven of those points came from a 71-yard touchdown run (theme).

71 YARD ANSWER FROM @BCFootball TO RE-TAKE THE LEAD 🤯

📺 @accnetwork pic.twitter.com/SNA8tQr819

— ACC Football (@ACCFootball) September 27, 2025

Why do we suck against the run?

Run defense was ranked 14th nationally in 2024. On paper, our 2025 front seven looked even more talented.

Yet we keep giving up chunk run plays. Bear Insider did a good (though long winded) film review explaining why this is happening.

TLDR;

Linebackers are missing simple gap assignments. Wilcox defenses typically excel at the fundamentals. That was not the case against San Diego State or Boston College.

How it goes down:

• The defensive line gets a good push
• Linebackers get out of position
• Running backs go untouched into the secondary

Thus….

Key to Victory: Linebackers Stop the Run

Duke’s QB is elite… They will have success throwing the ball.

Duke Freshman running back Nate Sheppard is very, very good… And he is just starting to heat up.

We NEED to clean up our run lane assignments. If we do not keep Sheppard contained, Duke will destroy us.

Linebackers need to step up. Cade Uluave had a great start to the season but has looked average at best since he was called for targeting in week two.

Duke Defense:

I see nothing special about Duke’s defense. Tulane destroyed them with the read option. Syracuse moved the ball fine, but turned it over.

If our good offensive line shows up, we should be able to score 30 points.

Prediction: Inconclusive

I love…

• Duke cocky after slaughtering Syracuse
• 7:30pm kickoff (second half will start at 1:00am ET)
• JKS Winner

I hate…

• Our linebackers playing terrible
• Duke RB Sheppard
• Hot and cold offensive line

Our Chief Sharp Officer lost his confidence last night after picking Rams in the elimination league.

He is taking the day off to reflect and gather himself before making a prediction for the Cal game.

The pick will be in by 3:30pm before kickoff.

This moment was peak.

The year felt different.

Hammering Cal -14.

Joking but not joking about a home playoff game.

So naive.

Where did it go wrong?

The main assumption underpinning our confidence:

• Minnesota = Solid Big Ten team with elite offensive and defensive line
• Therefore, Cal offensive and defensive line = elite
• Therefore, dominate San Diego State

The transitive property failed us.

• Cal : 2.1 yards per carry
• SDSU : 4.1 yards per carry

We lost the trenches on both sides of the ball. We never got a push. They always did.

Skill position players were equally terrible.

The mistakes started early with some heartbreaking dropped passes and they didn’t stop all night.

Every time we gained the slightest momentum, we’d make another one. Penalties, fumbles, interceptions. I don’t have the heart to go through them all.

Jaron was amazing in the first half, but got too aggressive once we were down. I can’t imagine how frustrated he is with his receivers.

What to do ?

We had front row seats to the trainwreck.

There was zero energy, zero enthusiasm, zero fire on the sideline.

Cal needed a spark to get going and never got one.

It was reminiscent of our loss to Florida State last year. That game ended up being close (FSU played terrible too) but Cal had a similar lackluster performance. We came in overconfident and got humbled.

It is encouraging to remember that we bounced back the following game against Miami. The loss was a wakeup call, and the team responded.

Fingers crossed that happens again.

Building a Winning Culture:

2 minute segment from Ron Rivera on changing a losing culture.

“If every time something bad happens, half the people jump off the bandwagon… before you know it you have nobody left to support you. If you want to change this program you have to support this program no matter what through thick and thin”

Been a Cal fan for nearly 30 years. This is the best speech I’ve ever heard about the program. It’s a must listen.

The future of Cal Football is in Ron’s hands. Support it now, or get out. pic.twitter.com/nrAz4mM4iM

— Ghost (@GhostofGarbers) September 24, 2025

Preview: Boston College -5.5

Boston College also just received a punch to the gut.

They lost to a Stanford team that is otherwise having terrible season (crushed by BYU and Virginia, lost to Hawaii).

BC had a bye week to regroup, so I expect them to play with vigor.

It is imperative that Cal build early momentum to renew their confidence. I fear a scenario in which a few dropped passes or a turnover leads to complete collapse.

With Boston College coming off a bye week, Cal crossing the country, and given how much money we all lost last weekend… Let’s stay away from this one.

Did Cal underachieved vs SDSU? Over achieve against Minnesota? Is Minnesota is fraudulent?

Time to find out.

All in all, we love a stress free win on a beautiful day in Berkeley. 

The Bears got off to a slow start. With three minutes left in the first half… Cal led just 3 – 0. 

This could have been a scary moment, but by that point it was clear we had exhausted their front seven and would be able to dominate the line of scrimmage in the second half. 

Golden Bears win 35-3. 

JKS comes back down to earth:

Coaches agreed our 19 year old leader let the moment get to him this week. 

JKS showed no signs of jitters in his college football debut against Oregon State. The first throw he made was not a great one, but our receiver went up and made a play on the ball. From there, he sunk in and played four quarters of near-perfect football. 

After week one he was PFF’s #1 highest rated QB, but what really impressed Twitter and the talking heads was his poise and calm. 

That poise and calm thrust him into the national spotlight, but in week two, the moment did get to him.  

He looked eager to prove people right. He tried to take over the game instead of letting the game come to him. 

• At Oregon State he started 9-for-9 with two touchdowns. 
• Against Texas Southern he started 0-for-4 with two three-and-outs. 

To his credit, he then settled in and completed 26 of his remaining 33 passes (78% completion) and rushed for a TD. He threw one interception that was not his fault. Our right tackle let a defensive end through effectively untouched. JKS made the read quickly and adjusted his arm angle to avoid deflection, but unfortunately (per Bear Insider podcast) WR Kyion Grayes did not settle into the zone as he should have. The result: a tip and pick. 

Keep an eye on the right tackle.

It’s a relief to have the spotlight off our young QB. He can’t be happy with his play in Week Two, but luckily it was against an FCS opponent and we still got a W.  I’m looking forward to seeing how he bounces back. Let’s hope we see a balanced, calm and controlled JKS this Saturday against Minnesota. 

Wide Receivers: 

This group needs an intervention. They did a decent job of gaining separation in the second half against a terrible team, but I do not have faith in their ability to get open against Minnesota. 

There were three true drops… Four if you count the bad route that led to an interception. Veteran leader and sure-handed punt returner, Jacob De Jesus, dropped TWO. One was on 3rd and 7. I don’t have the answer here. This group just needs to step up.

Fingers crossed. 

Run Game: 

The first quarter was ugly for our Offensive Line. We failed to get a push and found no success between the tackles. Eventually, we overpowered and exhausted Texas Southern. By the middle of the second quarter it was clear we would be able to run the ball all afternoon if we wanted to. 

RBs were effective and showed some explosion. #1 Kendrick Raphael, who looked like the best back in Week One, ended up getting the bulk of the carries after Brandon High fumbled early. He rushed for 122 yards and a touchdown. 

Week one we ran a true committee: 

• Brandon High: 10 carries 
• Kendrick Raphael: 9 carries 
• LJ Johnson: 8 carries  

Now, it looks like we now have our starter:

• Kendrick Raphael: 17 carries 
• Brandon High: 5 carries 
• LJ Johnson: 3 carries 

Given our depth at OL and RB, this group should continue to improve throughout the season. 

Good Week for the Defense: 

The Defensive Line continues to look strong. They pressured the QB and stopped the run comfortably. Texas Southern running backs totaled just 22 yards on 15 carries. 

The coaching staff critiqued our pass rushers’ lack of discipline. We were winning one-on-ones but failed to stay in our rushing lanes. This allowed the QB to escape the pocket, rush for 30 yards, and complete several chunk plays down the field. 

Those plays accounted for ~150 of their total 192 yards. 

Wilcox did not complain much about tackling, but I saw plenty of room for improvement. 

More Amazing Defensive Backs? 

#5 Zeke Masses spends a lot of time in front of the camera. He has two interceptions on the season and should have three (one pick-6 was called back). He is lightning fast and always seems to be in the right place at the right time. 

#4 Brent Austin is the unsung hero. He has been a lockdown corner… Granted, not against the strongest competition. His PFF score of 84.6 makes him the second highest ranked CB in the nation. 

Masses is just behind him, ranked 4th among DBs. 

Will Cal continue its recent trend of developing elite talent in the secondary? 

Cade Targeting: 

The low-light of the game was a targeting call on Cade Uluave in the second half, which disqualifies him from the first half against Minnesota. A huge loss for the Bears. Luckily, his backup is seasoned BYU transfer, Harrison Taggart, who started all 12 games last year. 

Minnesota Preview: 

The Gophers have the nation’s highest ranked defense, primarily because they forced four turnovers last week. They are big, fast and athletic. Look out for their edge rusher #0. 

Their offense was unstoppable against ‘Northwestern State Demons’, but they struggled to score against the ‘Buffalo Bulls’… Squeaking out a 23-10 win. That gives me confidence that we can get stops.

Their QB looks fine. He makes good throws to the sidelines when he escapes the pocket. He has an ok deep ball. He is big and strong but not super mobile.

The biggest question… Can we hang with these guys in the trenches? Very hard to tell. I think we are big and strong enough, but the Big Ten is the Big Ten.

I see us struggling to run the ball between the tackles early. It may take the OL a few possessions to get used to a higher level of competition, but they should rise to the occasion. 

Minnesota cornerbacks are not great, but I still think they will shut down our receivers on the outside forcing JKS to go through his reads and check the ball down to the tight ends and slot man Jacob De Jesus. If we can establish the run, we will score points. Thank God we have a real, proven offensive coordinator in Bryan Harsin. 

Expect Cal defense to come out FIRING in the first half, motivated by their captain Cade Uluave being sidelined. Minnesota’s run game will be a true test for our front seven. I have faith that we can keep them in check and force them to take to the air.

Then we will see if our defensive backs deserve their PFF ratings.

Prediction: 

This Minnesota football team could be good… But I do not think Cal should be an underdog at home in this matchup.

We love playing a team coming of a 66 -0 victory.

And we love that the second half will start after midnight Minnesota time.

That’s just 7:00pm in Honolulu 🤙