Cal Football Tuesday Weekly Presser - FSU Game Week

Cal head coach Justin Wilcox, DC Peter Sirmon, OC Mike Bloesch, NT Aidan Keanaaina, TE Corey Dyches and QB Fernando Mendoza were on the mic today for Cal's weekly presser heading into Saturday’s road contest vs Florida State in Tallahassee.

The program the Bears will be facing in Doak Walker Stadium is not the 12-1 juggernaut of last season after 12 players departed for the NFL and the 2024 version of the Seminoles is still clearly figuring things out after a surprisingly sloppy 0-3 start.

Wilcox was asked about the stark difference in the Bears’ running game after they exploded in the second half after being stopped largely in their tracks in the opening half.

Soph running back Jaivian Thomas led the way with 169 yards in just 17 carries (9.9 ypc) along with senior portal transfer Kadarius Calloway‍, who had a break out game with 87 yards in just 9 carries, including a 60-yard jaunt and a TD run.

"I think it was better technique," Wilcox said. "It was not committing penalties. It was breaking a tackle. I think it was a combination of those things where we started being much more productive in the run game.

"It was great to see The Jet continue to develop. He's done some good things early on this season. Last year, he was kind of a spot player, but it was great to see him get out a little bit this this past week. He had a big run, obviously, against Auburn as well. So Jet is creating more and more confidence playing in there. We have confidence in him. There's a couple things he has to clean up in protection that showed up, and we'll keep working on them, working with him, on those things.

“And then the rest of the room. We really want to continue to develop and see who else can be counted on in clutch moments to get us some valuable yards. So Kadarius got some more opportunities last game, which was good to see. And you know, we still have (Byron) Cardwell and some other guys in there, (Jamaal) Wiley, who we'd like to continue to develop. And then obviously we want to get Jaden back and get him going. That's primary."

"I just think we made a decision at halftime, went in there and told those guys, that's how we were going to win the game,” OC Mike Bloesch said. “We needed to come out and impose our will in the second half. And we did that. I thought our backs ran hard. I thought everybody was bought into it. Receivers were blocking down the field. And I think I've talked to you guys about that last week. For us to grow, it's not just the right guard or the or the tight end, it's 11 guys buying into being a great rushing offense."

Bloesch and the Cal offense aren’t sleeping on the Seminoles’ defense, who have not been as bad perhaps as their 0-3 record suggests.

"Really, really talented, probably as talented of as of a front as we've seen since I've been here," Bloesch said of the FSU defense. “Athletic linebackers that can run and really good cover guys so it's going to be a great challenge for us. You look at their games this year, they're giving up just right around 24 points a game. So they're not giving up a ton of points. They've been stingy against the run and the pass, and they're a very, very good defense."

On the defensive side of the ball, the Bears have been a revelation, opening eyes across the country with an aggressive style of play led by inside linebackers Cade Uluave and senior Teddye Buchanan‍ and cornerbacks Nohl Williams and Marcus Harris‍. The Bears lead the nation in turnovers with 10 and are tied for second in turnover margin with a stellar +8.

Sirmon was asked if the Bears’ more aggressive style of defense this season was more indicative of his defensive philosophy rather than the more conservative style fans have seen in recent years.

"I think you're always trying to do two things," Sirmon noted. "I think you always have to identify what you're attempting to stop within your conference, with your opponents. And then the second objective is, what is your team? What are the positive traits? What are the things that they can do well? And I don't know if it's conservative. I would have said the mindset with what we were, what we had, what ingredients we were working with, and who we were trying to defend. I felt at the time calling the games, I thought that was the appropriate attack to what we were trying to do to win the games. 

"As we've continued to grow, I think philosophically, I continue to grow as a defensive coach. I've been playing a lot of football. I've been coaching a lot of football. However, I think I would like to look at myself as somebody that can learn something, that can adapt, somebody that can be open to new thoughts. And the collection of what we're doing on defense has been a group collection. I feel I'm surrounded by a lot of really good assistant coaches here. I also have a very, strong defensive-minded head coach, which is a great resource for me. And as we've built this team and added some new parts, we've grown a little bit in what we call and how we coach it and some other ways that we kind of attack the week."

NT Aidan Keanaaina‍ 

TE Corey Dyches‍ 

Cal QB Fernando Mendoza has continued to grow as a quarterback and as a leader and is taking care of the ball far more effectively than last season, with only one interception in the first three games along with 5 TD passes and a TD run. He’s also 20^th in the nation in completion percentage with a stellar 70.1 comp rate.

Mendoza was asked about his thoughts on his growth as a QB since being thrown into action midseason as a redshirt frosh as well as the growth of the team, with six straight regular season wins after starting last season just 3-6.

"That's a lot for post year, because you don't want to hang the bell," Mendoza said. "So three games out of I think we have at least nine or 10 more games, or who knows, even more, now, with the college football playoff, I can't count, but with the work that the team has put in the offseason, I'm extremely proud of all the expectations I've set on myself, my teammates set of themselves, because we see multiple guys that have had really high expectations, like The Jet, Nyziah Hunter and others across across the offense and team that have had high expectations for themselves and performed at a very high level. 

"I think that it speaks to how well the team is doing, because these first three games, we haven't had our best player on offense, Jaydn Ott, for the entirety of or most of the games. So I think it speaks volumes about how high of a standard we have on offense, on our execution, and just how we handle ourselves as an offense. But I am very satisfied that - not satisfied because there's still a long way in the season to go, but I do look forward to keeping up those habits that we put in place for the first three games, such as ball security."

The Bears will face off against Florida State at 4 pm on ESPN2.

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