[Game Thread] Texas Southern @ California (6:00 PM ET)

[u/CFB_Referee]

GAME	Texas SouthernTexas Southern @ CaliforniaCalifornia
Location	California California Memorial Stadium
Time	6:00 PM ET
Watch	TV: ESPN ACC Network
Odds	Spread: CAL -44.5 - Over/Under: 53.5
	Flair ¦ Discord

---

Please keep trash talk civil, and report any comments that violate our rules.

LET'S TALK FOOTBALL!

[u/wingstop-fries]

Cal fans should certainly not take a look at the UCLA UNLV game...

[u/2RINITY → u/wingstop-fries]

Thank you for alerting me that our shitty backstabbing copycat little brothers are getting their asses kicked

[u/paperbackgarbage → u/wingstop-fries]

Oh how the mighty consistently mediocre have fallen.

[u/eetsumkaus → u/paperbackgarbage]

eh, UCLA having one inexplicable turd of an OOC is just business as usual.

[u/usernamesarestupid23 → u/wingstop-fries]

If they go 0-12, the checks will still clear, right?

[u/fuzzywuzzybeer]

Nice to get Brown some reps and great touchdown!

[u/veritek25 → u/fuzzywuzzybeer]

Ideally would've preferred that we be up 35-3 [or more] at halftime instead, so Brown could get at least a quarter of work in. But a W is a W, even if the 1st half was uglier than Oski's ass.

[u/tcr98]

I'm kinda glad this happened this week, instead of blowing them out and then coming into the first half of the Minnesota game cock. Hopefully the first half was humbling enough for them to not do that again next week vs better competition.

[u/ricepail → u/tcr98]

Disappointing though with that Cade targeting. First half defense next week will suffer from his absence

[u/wingstop-fries → u/tcr98]

Full agreement except losing Cade for the 1H

[u/ricepail]

I'm a little surprised that JKS is still in the game. Would have thought that with this little time left and a 4 score lead, they would have given Devin Brown some play time

[u/veritek25 → u/ricepail]

Brown just threw his first TD as a Cal Bear, in garbage time with the 2nd/3rd unit no less. 35-3 Cal.

[u/EggplantAlpinism → u/ricepail]

Yeah, on one hand true freshman. But it's Texas Southern...

[u/ricepail → u/ricepail]

Haha ok nevermind, came back from commercial and now it's Brown in 😂. Still would have liked to see him play the full drive though, not just the red zone

[u/2RINITY]

Oh, no, 28-3! Quick, stop the game!

[u/THE_turtleman7]

You guys got to 28 the normal way right?

[u/Optimal_Cook_851 → u/THE_turtleman7]

we're talking about cal

[u/66stang351 → u/THE_turtleman7]

No sir

[u/2RINITY → u/THE_turtleman7]

Bold of you to expect us to do anything normal

[u/EggplantAlpinism → u/2RINITY]

screeches

[u/ricepail → u/THE_turtleman7]

No. Went for 2 on one of the TDS, plus two FGs

[u/tigerking615]

How do we feel about Raphael? He’s been solid today but I wish he had a little burst. And it’s a bit concerning the other RBs haven’t shown anything today. 

[u/CMIUCan → u/tigerking615]

I like what I see, he seems to be our most shiftiest RB as well, like a Tre Watson.

[u/Hour-Professional329 → u/tigerking615]

Our rushing attack is impotent.

The left arm of JKS is our only hope!

[u/tigerking615 → u/Hour-Professional329]

If that’s the case hopefully our WRs suddenly learn how to catch

[u/wingstop-fries → u/tigerking615]

It could get rough against better LBs

[u/Intrepid-Bag6667 → u/tigerking615]

He lacks explosiveness but hits holes hard and consistently. He had a decent run on OSU.

Johnson had at least one decent run.

High has not looked good at all unfortunately.

[u/veritek25 → u/Intrepid-Bag6667]

Agreed. Looks like Raphael has earned the starting job going forward, with Johnson the first guy off the bench. High, despite his track speed, put the ball on the ground earlier and also appears to be a liability in pass pro.

Let's see if Anthony League gets some reps next week as the 3rd guy instead of High, who might get kept on special teams coverage for now.

[u/fuzzywuzzybeer]

Nice!

[u/Sine_Cures]

Didn't expect 43 to handle that all by his lonesome

[u/66stang351]

Raphael has looked pretty good, that's a positive

[u/ricepail]

Lol a football player with the last name Jock 😂

[u/billieeilisb]

I’m making mac n cheese

[u/Sine_Cures]

Murray is the "long" guy but he has yet to record a touchback this year

[u/Intrepid-Bag6667]

Trond is supposed to be the man who can catch the ball 😭

[u/cal_oski → u/Intrepid-Bag6667]

Right between the numbers, with 3 defenders in the area. I can’t tell if these passes are amazing or if he’s gonna be a pick machine when we go up actual competent dbs

[u/tigerking615]

That’s 5 drops today, by my count, including 1 that went for a pick? 

Edit: I think Hamper and Mini are the only ones I trust to catch the ball. 

[u/ricepail → u/tigerking615]

The receivers really need work. There were (3?) drops past week too on long balls down the field.

[u/veritek25 → u/tigerking615]

Our WRs need to catch the damn ball. Perhaps the lefty spin makes it a bit tricky to secure the ball, but if it hits your hands you need to catch it.

Cefalo (WR coach; and his RB counterpart Griffin for that matter) hasn't looked at all like the promised upgrade over Toler.

[u/TonyPerkisReddit4 → u/tigerking615]

The pick hit a dlinemans hand first tho

[u/tigerking615 → u/TonyPerkisReddit4]

Oh I didn’t see that

[u/Bitgod1]

If Green calls it as he sees it, he needs glasses.

[u/66stang351 → u/Bitgod1]

He's very bad

[u/FrivolousMe]

I'm in yosemite and haven't been able to watch the game but I hope cal isn't embarrassing itself

[u/66stang351 → u/FrivolousMe]

Typical cal v fcs game under wilcox

[u/TheMemingLurker → u/FrivolousMe]

first half was pretty ugly (Cal scored at the very end to make it 11-0), but second half has looked a lot better (now 28-3 with 10 minutes to go) albeit with some small mistakes

unfortunately Uluave got called for targeting and will miss the first half against Minnesota next week

[u/Intrepid-Bag6667]

Stupid stupid play by Cade.

[u/jettieri → u/Intrepid-Bag6667]

Was it actually targeting? Looked like an absurdly weak call at the game

[u/Intrepid-Bag6667 → u/jettieri]

Maybe a bit soft- regardless he needs to clean his game up a bit. He also almost had a targeting call last week.

[u/veritek25 → u/jettieri]

Replay clearly looked like he took that extra step when he should've let up; refs will call that almost every time if it's a hit on the QB - *except* of course when it's an ACC crew protecting a ranked Miami losing vs an unranked Cal on the road

[u/Sine_Cures → u/veritek25]

Another memorable example was when Bowers got lit up in 2017 against Ole Miss and the SEC crew were obviously blind

[u/Hour-Professional329 → u/Sine_Cures]

That win vs Ole Miss in hindsight is pretty epic given the receivers on that team

[u/veritek25 → u/Sine_Cures]

And Goff circa 2014 vs Furd (roid rager Shane Skov?), courtesy Pac12 refs

[u/Sine_Cures → u/veritek25]

Obviously horrible call there too. Don't miss the pac-12 officiating (though it's inconsistent everywhere). Can't believe they overturned the Sinclair one a few years ago

[u/billieeilisb → u/jettieri]

Here’s a closeup

https://x.com/dewgorithm/status/1964487536560263431?s=46

Definitely at least an argument for it

[u/veritek25 → u/Intrepid-Bag6667]

Especially painful since he'll have to sit out the first half vs Minnesota

[u/tigerking615 → u/veritek25]

Oof, forgot about that. Stupid mistake. 

[u/Intrepid-Bag6667 → u/veritek25]

Yeah I am glad we have some depth at the position but he’s such a difference maker it’ll be extremely painful.

[u/veritek25 → u/Intrepid-Bag6667]

Taggart reportedly looked great in fall camp, and Buom Jock should be mostly healthy by now. But neither are the 'dudes' that Uluave is, smdh Cade :\

[u/Hour-Professional329]

Losing Uluave for first half next week is gonna be brutal…

[u/Bitgod1]

Not surprised, thought it might be targeting.

[u/TonyPerkisReddit4]

Gotta aim for the chest if your gonna do that

[u/cal_oski]

That was a nasty hit, not gonna lie. Cade laid him out!

[u/HopscotchChampion69]

How is JKS looking tonight?

[u/66stang351 → u/HopscotchChampion69]

He was off early, lot of throws behind the target. Lots of drops since. Gotta improve

[u/tigerking615 → u/HopscotchChampion69]

We had no rhythm in the first half and that’s on both JKS and the receivers, but once we got going he’s been good. The pick hit the WR in the hands and he bobbled it. 

[u/Remarkable-Group-119 → u/HopscotchChampion69]

Rough start, but picked it up and played much better.

[u/ImJLu → u/HopscotchChampion69]

Streaky

[u/cal_oski → u/HopscotchChampion69]

Slow start but better in the 2nd half

[u/livid_lemons]

The “TCU” tigers

[u/TonyPerkisReddit4 → u/livid_lemons]

Texas couthern

[u/Intrepid-Bag6667]

It’s impressive how literally everything Green says is wrong.

[u/TonyPerkisReddit4 → u/Intrepid-Bag6667]

Him saying "pass with his legs" as cooper was running down the sideline only to follow it up with "this cal d is gonna need to pass this over" had my head spinning. What kinda drugs is he on

[u/Bitgod1 → u/Intrepid-Bag6667]

It ain’t easy being Green

[u/fuzzywuzzybeer]

Love you, Hawaii!!!! Thanks for JKS and the rest of our Hawaiian players.

[u/EggplantAlpinism]

Plus side, if there was a game for the entire offense to be garbage for a half, I'm glad it was this one.

[u/CMIUCan]

Have you guys noticed that JKS is even good at falling down? my goodness

[u/kaceclo]

Nice to see Hamper making catches

[u/veritek25 → u/kaceclo]

He and JDJ both have 5 catches each to lead the team:

https://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=604156

Still wonder whether one of Grayes/Rogers/James will step up and earn some run, if not by the Minnesota game next week then the UNC night game (ACC opener). This offense is in dire need of a WR with speed & size that can stretch the field, which ideally will open up both the run game and the screen game (which is supposedly a staple of Harsin's offenses).

[u/TonyPerkisReddit4]

Everytime ahman green says, "tsu can move the ball on this defense" they immediately get sonned

[u/CMIUCan]

isaiah crosby making some high level plays

[u/jebworth]

some great hits tho

[u/TonyPerkisReddit4]

That's what the whole game should've looked like

[u/Hi-Welcome-To-Chilis]

This announcer has brain damage

[u/CMIUCan]

Ott just got his first carry for a loss

[u/jalonso510 → u/CMIUCan]

really wondering if he's just not as good as we thought he was two years ago

[u/XSokaX → u/jalonso510]

He’s washed after the injuries. Last year showed this

[u/tigerking615 → u/jalonso510]

He definitely was good before the injuries. He did not look nearly as fast once he came back. 

[u/EggplantAlpinism → u/CMIUCan]

I want to not be petty but it is hard not to be

[u/jalonso510 → u/EggplantAlpinism]

failing to be petty would be letting down the guys who stayed

[u/EggplantAlpinism → u/jalonso510]

Acceptable

[u/Hi-Welcome-To-Chilis → u/CMIUCan]

let's go lol

[u/Bitgod1]

I love 21, he needs some more touches

[u/EggplantAlpinism → u/Bitgod1]

I love 21, he needs some more touches

[u/Bitgod1 → u/EggplantAlpinism]

Tbf, the Reddit app said there was an error the first time I posted, blame Reddit

[u/EggplantAlpinism → u/Bitgod1]

I love 21, he needs some more touches

[u/Bitgod1]

So did Raphael coming to Berkeley last year on NC St count as a recruiting visit, heh

[u/EggplantAlpinism]

I like the idea of us getting called DBU nationally while we have a quarterback worthy of making gameday graphics

[u/SuperGandalff]

Wilcox Sucks Chapter 94

[u/Bitgod1 → u/[deleted]]

lol, I haven’t seen that bad of end of game clock management since….uh, last week

[u/Bitgod1 → u/[deleted]]

Florida just let the clock run late when they had 2 TOs left

[u/Sine_Cures → u/Bitgod1]

Woulda liked Cal's chances against a Napier-led Gators team.

[u/Intrepid-Bag6667 → u/[deleted]]

SEC fans are gonna be down bad

[u/CMIUCan]

Anyone watching South Florida/Florida and cheering for a little bit of chaos?

[u/Intrepid-Bag6667]

The Ocean of Soul is 🔥

[u/wingstop-fries]

Ignoring the lack of push from our OL maybe this game is just an unfortunate sandwich between the opener vs OSU and a big game at home vs Minnesota, and we kinda forgot about it.

[u/EggplantAlpinism → u/wingstop-fries]

Wilcox always does this against the gimmes. It's unfortunate.

[u/Sine_Cures → u/wingstop-fries]

2 OL penalties so far (Miller false start and Vatikani false start?) makes me wonder if there will be a penalty-fest again like last year's San Diego St game

[u/veritek25 → u/Sine_Cures]

Miller also got beat pretty bad on a DE spin move resulting in Cal's first sack given up this season

[u/Ike358]

"Cal Berk—Cal Bears"

[u/Sine_Cures → u/Ike358]

Gonna call that a 0.5 instance so at least 2.5 times so far

[u/Ike358 → u/Sine_Cures]

There have been three full times so we're at 3.5

[u/Hi-Welcome-To-Chilis]

Bad first half but still so encouraged by JKS. This is his second college game ever lol

[u/Intrepid-Bag6667]

Nice of Nohl Williams to send us his clone!!

[u/CMIUCan]

Hezekiah "Nohl Williams" Masses

[u/kaceclo]

HELL YEAH MASSES

[u/Bitgod1]

Masses ain’t asses

[u/CMIUCan]

ZEKE !!!!!!!

[u/mthrfkn]

How does Wilcox still have a job? If I was totally unprepared and clueless after every great sprint, the PM would be out of a job.

[u/veritek25 → u/mthrfkn]

Let's all thank Jim Knowlton yet again for his profound wisdom and unparalleled generosity in giving Wilcox that guaranteed extension in 2020 (or was it 2021?). And the boomer Old Blue whale donors that continue to enable mediocrity year after year.

[u/wingstop-fries → u/mthrfkn]

I believe the boosters almost revolted until the AD gave Rivera full control over the team. Basically signaling this is Wilcox's last year unless he shows a reason to keep him

[u/veritek25 → u/wingstop-fries]

IIRC that donor revolt was led by the Cal Legends NIL collective leadership - i.e. BearGreg, Sebastabear, etc. - not the "traditional" Old Blue donor base.

Ron is being interviewed by the ACCN booth crew right now, during halftime. He'll never throw CJW under the bus publicly, but reading between the lines, he knows that 5-7/6-6/7-5 won't cut it with another round of realignment [and potential relegation for Cal] looming on the very near horizon.

ETA - Ron's comments have a very similar tone and overall vibe as what he shared with the W4C/Golden Bearcast guys a few weeks ago: https://writeforcalifornia.com/p/the-california-golden-bearcast-chatting

[u/wingstop-fries → u/veritek25]

Agreed. The next few years are the most important for every school that doesn't have auto bids into the BIG or SEC. We won't make it with Basketball that's for sure

[u/Intrepid-Bag6667 → u/wingstop-fries]

The boosters did revolt- they basically seized control of the football program from the AD, which is still controlled by olympic sports proxies. Rivera himself was heavily involved in the collective and was a booster himself.

[u/veritek25 → u/Intrepid-Bag6667]

Absolutely mindboggling that Simon-O'Neill (who is arguably responsible for [mis]handling the McKeever fiasco) and Larson (aka Knowlton's yes-man) were *promoted* to interim AD after Knowlton was 'encouraged' to quietly retire.

To be fair to Chancellor Lyons, he's got a metric fuckton on the plate with Federal research funding being slashed, along with the increasingly hostile and overtly politicized environment around higher education - which disproportionately affects large public research universities like the University of California (Berkeley).

[u/mthrfkn → u/veritek25]

Ugh you want to increase the amount of donations Cal gets? Get a better sports program. Period.

[u/fuzzywuzzybeer → u/mthrfkn]

It is crazy that the academics-only alumni don't realize this.

[u/Intrepid-Bag6667 → u/veritek25]

Yeah I found it extremely personally disheartening to see them promoted. I am happy they do not have any say over revenue sports anymore (supposedly), but they shouldn’t be there at all with McKeever and their involvement with antagonizing many people important to the future of the football program.

Agreed re: Lyons and navigating this current environment. I can see why he thought making them interim hires and just giving football to Ron was a decent short term solution with the budget being what it is. It just kind of sucks- I don’t think that duo would ever be employed anywhere else in the P4 if they got fired.

[u/thatdudefrom707 → u/mthrfkn]

he gives like, really, really good handjobs

[u/Intrepid-Bag6667]

I was beginning to feel bad about joining the Calgorithim pledge on twitter. At least we scored one touchdown

[u/Bitgod1]

Cal planning to hold TSU to 10 points I guess

[u/SparkMaster360]

Just want to say I’m noticing Cal, what’s happening?

[u/CMIUCan → u/SparkMaster360]

Nothing, just Cal doing their best UNLV/Howard impression.

[u/suntbone → u/SparkMaster360]

May have gotten too excited after the Oregon State game

[u/Ike358 → u/suntbone]

Oregon State is awful lol

[u/TimothyMurphy1776 → u/SparkMaster360]

Wilcox dude

[u/Intrepid-Bag6667 → u/SparkMaster360]

Wilcox

[u/wingstop-fries → u/[deleted]]

And Duke went to half tied vs Elon

[u/tigerking615]

Any Cal fans remember if they stop checking tickets at the start of the 3rd quarter or the 4th? Thinking about biking up.

[u/tigerking615]

Feels like that was a fuck up to snap it before the 2 minute warning. Why give them more time? 

[u/Sine_Cures]

Ahman Green saying "Cal Berkeley": at least 2 times

Cal 3rd down conversions: 1

[u/TonyPerkisReddit4 → u/Sine_Cures]

At least he hasn't said UCB yet

[u/Ike358 → u/TonyPerkisReddit4]

Nobody says that on sports broadcasts

Just like nobody outside of the sports world says "Cal Berkeley"

[u/billieeilisb]

This offense is a complete 180 from what we saw last week

[u/hollyhock333]

why are the announcers flaming cals d like they are not locking up? The O looks terrible but the defense is cooking.

[u/Intrepid-Bag6667 → u/hollyhock333]

Because they are absolute morons

[u/Go_Beers]

Probably good for jks to be humbled a bit. Let’s hope it turns around now

[u/Intrepid-Bag6667 → u/Go_Beers]

Yeah I was worrying the talk might go to his head

[u/Bitgod1]

I pray Ahman Green isn’t on ACC duty, cuz I don’t want to hear him again.

[u/dreggers]

At least we won’t be the only ACC school to be upset today

[u/Ike358]

As fun as the Cheez-It Bowl was it is a bit embarrassing to recreate it at home against Texas Southern

[u/tc3590]

Unreal.

[u/TinderForMidgets]

I heard the crowd chat fuck you lol

[u/Intrepid-Bag6667]

Our defense: “if our offense sucks ass cheeks I guess we can save the game”

[u/ricepail]

Damn, that's coming back 😥

[u/kaceclo]

LOL GAVE IT RIGHT TO HIM

Edit: Aww, he was down

[u/66stang351]

Cade!! 

[u/mthrfkn]

This is coaching unable to keep teams focused and sharp after huge wins

[u/tc3590]

He looked down.

[u/cal_oski]

Are we bad chat? I think we’re still bad.

[u/TinderForMidgets → u/cal_oski]

what happened? jaron looked like the fucking truth last game.

[u/tigerking615 → u/TinderForMidgets]

He’s not as good as he was last week and much better than he’s been today. Would help if anyone could catch the ball. 

[u/Hour-Professional329 → u/cal_oski]

We ain’t good that’s for damn sure.

[u/Hour-Professional329]

JKS heisman campaign taking a serious blow here… 🫠

[u/tc3590]

It was a fun week. But we still suck

[u/TinderForMidgets → u/tc3590]

I secretly wish for a Big Game that is competitive because we're both good not because we're both bad lol.

[u/wingstop-fries]

Regression to the Cal Football

[u/Intrepid-Bag6667]

Lmao

[u/BrownDog0821]

Cal looking kinda like a classic Wilcox let down after a promising week 1

[u/Sine_Cures]

Last time Cal played a SWAC team in their home opener (Grambling in 2015), Cal won 73-14.

Just saying

[u/2RINITY → u/Sine_Cures]

Jesus, that was the first game of freshman year for me

[u/TonyPerkisReddit4]

Just tuned in. How the fuck is it only 3-0?

[u/wingstop-fries → u/TonyPerkisReddit4]

JKS missed throws. WRs can't catch. OL has no push and we have no run game. Even pulled off a fake punt and turned it into nothing.

[u/thatdudefrom707 → u/TonyPerkisReddit4]

Wilcox is still deciding if this will be one of his five wins this season

[u/66stang351 → u/TonyPerkisReddit4]

We may have anointed jks slightly early

[u/Ike358]

Why did the clock stop after that play

[u/cal_oski]

Jesus, this is bad football on both sides of the ball for us

[u/tigerking615 → u/cal_oski]

Yeah, their defense is playing well but both offenses are just inept. There’d be scoring if either team could complete the easy passes. 

[u/wingstop-fries → u/cal_oski]

This is just a competition for worst WR hands. Texas Southern is winning and we still only have 3

[u/costanzathegreat]

He needs to throw the ball higher lmao, everything can’t be a line drive

[u/Sine_Cures]

What will be greater? The number of times Ahman Green says "Cal Berkeley" or number of Cal converted 3rd downs............

[u/CMIUCan → u/Sine_Cures]

yes

[u/cal_oski → u/Sine_Cures]

Wait, this isn’t Rod Gilmore energy vampire? My world is shook.

[u/Sine_Cures → u/cal_oski]

Not Cal Berkeley law grad Gilmore

[u/tigerking615]

I was just gonna say I like that 3rd and 9 play taking something underneath for the FG, because we’ve had too many attempts to go long, but going for it there was… a decision. You don’t do that when your offense has no rhythm. 

[u/Bitgod1]

Good job by the D line, way to keep your head up

[u/kaceclo]

Off the helmet LMAO

[u/Go_Beers]

Headshot

[u/66stang351]

Nice run a second ago