upsetof86 said:

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oskidunker said:

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Who? Inquiring minds want to know.

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Mendoza, Vegas has him 3rd behind Carson Beck and Ty Simpson.

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I'd say Beck just took a big step back.

BearlyCareAnymore said:

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Cal88 said:

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The coaching staff deserves some credit for having recruited Mendoza, who was set to play football at Yale and probably did not receive any P4 offers, and turned out to be one of the top QBs in college football.

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I would agree except that when they saw him every day they didn't recognize the ability. He was third string while they started an absolutely awful QB. Then they replaced the awful QB with a worse QB. Then they played Mendoza out of desperation and he did well. Then in the offseason they went out and recruited a transfer to compete with him and made clear he didn't have the job. Whatever you think of the way Mendoza left, it might not have come to that if the coaching staff had any stability, the Oline was any good, and the coaches didn't take so long to realize he was their starter above options that were so far beneath him in ability.

It seems more like they didn't think Mendoza was very good but he was the best they could get at the time and they spent the entire time trying to make sure they never had to play him.

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That was the point I was making in my previous post, but I may have been a bit too oblique. My bad.

Basically, Wilsux, et al. didn't realize their best QB was #3 on their depth chart. They did Nando no favors, really.

That said, I'll give them credit for being the only P4 program to offer him a scholarship. That said, I doubt they did so with the expectation that he'd be the best QB on the roster. The probably figured they'd offer a smart kid with great grades who would be happy to be a scholarship player at Cal and they'd be able to use him on the scout team. They never really looked at him as a real option at QB until they reached the bottom of their QB barrel. Then he was their starter by default. Still, their offense was pretty spectacularly bad and they blamed the poor offense on Nando. Yet, the same 3rd string QB is now starting at an undefeated IU and is looking like he'll end up being drafted on the first or second day.

Given Jaron Keawe-Sagapolutele also likely wants to play in the NFL, I suspect that he might follow the Nando path and end up transferring to another program that will highlight his ability and get him into the first round of the NFL draft. He likely smart enough to know that Wilsux's offense isn't it.

BearlyCareAnymore said:

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LunchTime said:

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BearlyCareAnymore said:

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oskidunker said:

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Frankly I think our qb has looked better

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Mendoza QB rating 183.4
JKS QB rating 129.5

Mendoza Completion percentage 71.2%
JKS Completion percentage 62.2%

Mendoza yards per pass attempt: 9.3
JKS yards per attempt: 7.1

Mendoza Adjusted yards per attempt: 10.93
JKS Adjusted yards per attempt: 6.47

Mendoza Int: 2
JKS Int 7

Mendoza TD: 17
JKS TD: 9

Mendoza Rushing yards per attempt: 3.7 ypc
JKS Rushing yards per attempt: -0'7

Mendoza yards rushing: 133
JKS yards rushing: -19

Mendoza Rushing TD: 2
JKS Rushing TD: 1

Indiana opponents' sagarin ratings
Oregon - 2
Iowa - 23
Illinois - 26
Old Dominion - 62
Kennesaw State - 120
Indiana State - 218

Cal opponents' sagarin ratings
Duke - 34
Minnesota - 57
SDSU - 75
Boston College - 97
Oregon State - 132
Texas Southern - 222

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Blue and Gold looks better than Red and White. I dont see that stat in your list.

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Certainly. That isn't the point. I'm arguing against delusion. Unless you want to argue Cal has the best player in the country at every position because they all wear Blue and Gold.

Wilcox wears Blue and Gold and Cignetti wears Red and White. I don't see anyone putting that in the "stat" column when deciding who is the better coach.

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All Cal players certainly LOOK better. Just sayin'.

Well, so far he's 24 for 28 for 332 yards and 4 TDs and a 232 QBR....

Carson Beck took an absolute dump on the field last night, and if Bama has a rough night, Mendoza is going to become the favorite.

Mendoza winning the Heisman might be the most exciting thing to happen to Cal football this season.

Maybe we need this evidence to show that the Wilcox regime is clearly not maximizing the talent they have on hand. Could be a blessing in disguise.

pingpong2 said:

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Well, so far he's 24 for 28 for 332 yards and 4 TDs and a 232 QBR....

Carson Beck took an absolute dump on the field last night, and if Bama has a rough night, Mendoza is going to become the favorite.

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Indiana scored touchdowns on their first 5 drives almost entirely passing the football.

BearlyCareAnymore said:

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pingpong2 said:

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Well, so far he's 24 for 28 for 332 yards and 4 TDs and a 232 QBR....

Carson Beck took an absolute dump on the field last night, and if Bama has a rough night, Mendoza is going to become the favorite.

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Indiana scored touchdowns on their first 5 drives almost entirely passing the football.

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Must be nice to have receivers who don't commit drive-killing drops...

Here is what Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza had to say about the shirtless Hoosiers student section chanting "Heismendoza" in IU's 38-13 win over Michigan State. #Indiana #HeismanWatch pic.twitter.com/otaVK5GWWh

— Dusty Baker (@DustyBakerTV) October 19, 2025

Watch JKS transfer to Indiana.

bearsandgiants said:

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Watch JKS transfer to Indiana.

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At least then he'll have a good coaching staff.

01Bear said:

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bearsandgiants said:

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Watch JKS transfer to Indiana.

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At least then he'll have a good coaching staff.

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A great recruiting line for the extended Wilcox,

'we consider ourselves a pipeline to relevance"

Bobodeluxe said:

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01Bear said:

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bearsandgiants said:

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Watch JKS transfer to Indiana.

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At least then he'll have a good coaching staff.

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A great recruiting line for the extended Wilcox,

'we consider ourselves a pipeline to relevance"

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Yet, there are still countless Wilsux defenders in this forum. /shrug

sycasey said:

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Maybe we need this evidence to show that the Wilcox regime is clearly not maximizing the talent they have on hand. Could be a blessing in disguise.

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Everyone in the world already knew this. Save for the few Wilcox truthers on this board that have turned increasingly unhinged with their defense of the state of this program.

Mendoza for Heisman.

PAC-10-BEAR said:

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Mendoza for Heisman.

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No argument here. I love what Mendoza and his team are doing, and I coached a kid who ran track at Indiana, so like it or not I find myself drawn into the bandwagon vortex and have to root for IU.

Cal Junkie said:

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No argument here. I love what Mendoza and his team are doing, and I coached a kid who ran track at Indiana, so like it or not I find myself drawn into the bandwagon vortex and have to root for IU.

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welcome back CJ..
https://bearinsider.com/account/profile/313
signed, another CJ (waay back in the day)

welcome back CJ...

Thank you. Kind of overcooked on the innerwebz these days. Trying to spend more time outside and offline. Hope you're well.

Cal Junkie said:

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welcome back CJ...

Thank you. Kind of overcooked on the innerwebz these days. Trying to spend more time outside and offline. Hope you're well.

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diagnosed w/alzheimers, can't drive (ever again), other than that, shuurrre, doing great
# gobears

Just give it to him already.
#1 team in all the land.

Totally wrong on this and his NFL prospects

Mendoza may get a chance to play in the Rose Bowl before he dies.

BearlyCareAnymore said:

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Big C said:

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upsetof86 said:

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BearlyCareAnymore said:

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BancroftSteps said:

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He was caught on hot mic running off from the field of play while yelling at his player for going down with an injury. "We gotta be better than this!"

He was an emotional head case the whole game. Haha.

You can tell me how he turned around an abysmal Indiana team all you want. But that's not an indication of character whatsoever. It's kind of a Harbaugh thing maybe - but a little worse than that.

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As opposed to our coach who calmly stares into space pretending to put lipstick on in front of pretend mirror all game and loses.

I'm not arguing whether he is a whack job or not. (I don't know and neither do you - though whatever he is doing he is getting the most out of his players) I'm saying it is ridiculous that you think your judgment of whether he is a whack job based on a very little is so remotely important FOR A FOOTBALL COACH, compared to the fact that he has overseen one of the most dramatic turnarounds in a program in college football history. Haha.

He ain't a professor and maybe Cal fans ought to stop acting like the skill sets are remotely similar. I loved spending five years having Cal fans tell me that "when Holmoe succeeds we will be so happy because he will have done it the right way."

Your way of thinking is arrogant, clueless, and completely destructive to the Cal football program. There is no indication that Cignetti has done anything that is unethical or lacks character. I'm not inviting him to high tea.

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Agreed. There is a scary social engineering vibe to the persistent support of Wilcox. Specifically, it's not about hiring a winning gootball coach, its about what "we want" a winning football coach to look like, above all else. No previous Cal football head coach in history has been given these immense financial and human resources and time, but for some Crack pot notion that HE is how we want our coach to look and act. Holmoe is a great comp. Powerful Cal people desperately wanted him to figure it out during those 5 years cause they desperately wanted his image/likeness to represent us.

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I probably spend too much time reading this board and the premium board. And yet, I am not seeing this "persistent support of Wilcox", at least not lately. And if it wasn't for his lengthy contract with no discount for a buyout, "lately" would include the past 3-4 years.

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I don't think there is persistent support among fan opinion, but there has been almost bizarrely persistent institutional and donor support for him. We are now years passed the point where it was clear that he was at best mediocre if not downright poor. Instead of raising money to cut him loose so we could find a good leader to run the program, as many wanted to do, we were told to raise money to buy him players to somehow drag this program to success in spite of his poor leadership. That didn't work so we hired a million former head coaches to drag his carcass to success. We've brought in Rivera and paid him top dollar to drag Wilcox's carcass to success. It is bizarre the lengths they are going to make WILCOX successful instead of making Cal successful which would point to a much simpler first step to the solution - get rid of Wilcox. At this point, if Cal succeeds it is because of everything Cal has done to prop him up, not because of him. Again Weekend at Bernie's comes to mind.


It is a really bad strategy to prop up dead weight in the most important position. He should have been replaced first and the next guy should have gotten the support. This seems pretty obvious so it begs the question why we have tried so hard to make him specifically successful. I don't think he is even that great as a "face of the program" or particularly ethical.

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The institutional and donor support was based in financials. And fear of who was making the hiring decisions.

After the TOSU win - he looks better and better...

Oski87 said:

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BearlyCareAnymore said:

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Big C said:

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upsetof86 said:

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BearlyCareAnymore said:

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BancroftSteps said:

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He was caught on hot mic running off from the field of play while yelling at his player for going down with an injury. "We gotta be better than this!"

He was an emotional head case the whole game. Haha.

You can tell me how he turned around an abysmal Indiana team all you want. But that's not an indication of character whatsoever. It's kind of a Harbaugh thing maybe - but a little worse than that.

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As opposed to our coach who calmly stares into space pretending to put lipstick on in front of pretend mirror all game and loses.

I'm not arguing whether he is a whack job or not. (I don't know and neither do you - though whatever he is doing he is getting the most out of his players) I'm saying it is ridiculous that you think your judgment of whether he is a whack job based on a very little is so remotely important FOR A FOOTBALL COACH, compared to the fact that he has overseen one of the most dramatic turnarounds in a program in college football history. Haha.

He ain't a professor and maybe Cal fans ought to stop acting like the skill sets are remotely similar. I loved spending five years having Cal fans tell me that "when Holmoe succeeds we will be so happy because he will have done it the right way."

Your way of thinking is arrogant, clueless, and completely destructive to the Cal football program. There is no indication that Cignetti has done anything that is unethical or lacks character. I'm not inviting him to high tea.

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Agreed. There is a scary social engineering vibe to the persistent support of Wilcox. Specifically, it's not about hiring a winning gootball coach, its about what "we want" a winning football coach to look like, above all else. No previous Cal football head coach in history has been given these immense financial and human resources and time, but for some Crack pot notion that HE is how we want our coach to look and act. Holmoe is a great comp. Powerful Cal people desperately wanted him to figure it out during those 5 years cause they desperately wanted his image/likeness to represent us.

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I probably spend too much time reading this board and the premium board. And yet, I am not seeing this "persistent support of Wilcox", at least not lately. And if it wasn't for his lengthy contract with no discount for a buyout, "lately" would include the past 3-4 years.

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I don't think there is persistent support among fan opinion, but there has been almost bizarrely persistent institutional and donor support for him. We are now years passed the point where it was clear that he was at best mediocre if not downright poor. Instead of raising money to cut him loose so we could find a good leader to run the program, as many wanted to do, we were told to raise money to buy him players to somehow drag this program to success in spite of his poor leadership. That didn't work so we hired a million former head coaches to drag his carcass to success. We've brought in Rivera and paid him top dollar to drag Wilcox's carcass to success. It is bizarre the lengths they are going to make WILCOX successful instead of making Cal successful which would point to a much simpler first step to the solution - get rid of Wilcox. At this point, if Cal succeeds it is because of everything Cal has done to prop him up, not because of him. Again Weekend at Bernie's comes to mind.


It is a really bad strategy to prop up dead weight in the most important position. He should have been replaced first and the next guy should have gotten the support. This seems pretty obvious so it begs the question why we have tried so hard to make him specifically successful. I don't think he is even that great as a "face of the program" or particularly ethical.

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The institutional and donor support was based in financials. And fear of who was making the hiring decisions.

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The donors ended up doing a full court press for their choice, Lupoi. That could have been done with Knowlton in place too, he <probably> would have done what they wanted (though he didn't with basketball and maybe we are better off?). Some other similarities between Tosh and "the Kicker"….

All water under the bridge. The thing I am most happy about is Rivera will be Tosh's mentor and help him build the program and Sagapolutele is already committed.

Anarchistbear said:

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Totally wrong on this and his NFL prospects

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On the same boat. Still not totally sold on NFL prospects but at some point I'm going to have to reverse my position. I thought some of the first round or even 2nd round hype was hogwash. Now, barring injury, it seems inevitable. After that it's all a crapshoot.

86blue said:

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After the TOSU win - he looks better and better...

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…..he tried channeling JKS in his post game on field interview but he fell a few gods, lords and saviors short. Kind of goofy. I wish him well…definitely winning the heisman

His Heisman acceptance speech might be legendary. I hope he thanks the coaches and players he met at Cal.

Mendoza usually thanks almost everyone, from waterboys to Jesus. If he doesn't give a shout out to Cal, it would really be a slap in the face. I mean he has a Cal degree and if not for Cal he never has the opportunity to play for Indiana.

cal83dls79 said:

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86blue said:

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After the TOSU win - he looks better and better...

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…..he tried channeling JKS in his post game on field interview but he fell a few gods, lords and saviors short. Kind of goofy. I wish him well…definitely winning the heisman

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+1

Grrrrah76 said:

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Mendoza usually thanks almost everyone, from waterboys to Jesus. If he doesn't give a shout out to Cal, it would really be a slap in the face. I mean he has a Cal degree and if not for Cal he never has the opportunity to play for Indiana.

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he did give a shout out to Butte College and Tedford so there is that

Fernando Mendoza: This young man totally gets it. The attitude and leadership are off the charts. Any @NFL team needing a QB will be extremely happy to get him in the draft. Oh yeah, his QB skills are pretty dam good. 👍🏻🏈 https://t.co/Og9UNLwj6s

— Boomer Esiason (@7BOOMERESIASON) December 7, 2025

Boomer needs to read this board to wise up.

OK Boomer.