Daltoso and O-Line Ready to Get the Axe Back

“It kinda hit us right out of the gate.”

Redshirt junior offensive lineman Valentino Daltoso is, of course, referring to Cal’s unfortunate luck with injuries this season. No one understands how it has affected Cal this season more than Daltoso, who himself was injured coming into this season and when healthy was forced to move around to fill in for other injured players amongst the offensive line, a group who has had some of the toughest personnel losses out of the entire team.

“I guess Gentle (Williams) going down in fall camp and then Will (Craig) right after UC Davis... obviously it’s tough on guys,” said Daltoso. Both Craig and Williams were projected starters who had their seasons cut short, or in the case of Williams cut entirely, due to injuries. And those are only the guys who are out for the season; most of Cal’s offensive line has been banged up at some point this year, including center Mike Saffell missing several games. The result? Players moving into new positions, and young guys being forced into early playing time.

Daltoso was quick to describe the difficulty of both situations. “When you first move over and take reps and stuff... all of a sudden you’re flipping everything, and it’s not just your feet, it’s where your weight is and how you carry your hands and everything.” Daltoso, a natural right guard, has shifted over to left tackle this year to fill in for the injured Craig. The switch was not an easy task, but Daltoso was up for the challenge.

“You know, it’s tough,” said Daltoso about having to make the switch. “I think the transition from guard to tackle is probably easier if you’re going from the same side. Just moving positions is a little easier than flipping sides, but honestly, it takes maybe a week or two of just kinda the repetitions and all that kinda stuff and it becomes more natural.”

“I think I’ve been improving each week, so I feel pretty good now,” he added.

This also isn’t a new task for Daltoso, who has had to play every offensive line position other than center at some point during his Cal career. He knows that the challenge is much greater for many of the young players that who been forced into significant roles due to injury.

“You’ve seen guys like Matt Cindric moving from starting out at left guard to moving back to center and then left guard again, and that’s not easy on a young guy but I think he’s done a really good job,” said Daltoso about the redshirt freshman. “That’s props to him, that’s not easy to do especially as a really young guy and he’s learning, he’s getting a lot better.”

As Daltoso said though, at least Cindric had his redshirt year to prepare for this situation, unlike true freshman McKade Mettauer, who is filling in at Daltoso’s natural right guard position while Daltoso mans Will Craig’s left tackle spot. Daltoso made comparisons between Mettauer and Craig, both who entered college a bit undersized for their position but were forced to play as true freshmen.

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“Will and McKade, those guys are not the norm for linemen coming out of high school,” said Daltoso. “I think a lot of guys coming out of their senior year would not be ready physically at all to be able to step on the field. I know I probably wasn’t able to. But that’s props to them. Will is a really athletic guy and he was 265 but he moves incredibly well and he’s really athletic and he got the job done back there. And same with McKade, he is a really athletic guy and he’s only going to develop.”

The one thing that Daltoso made sure to point out is that early playing time for these young guys could have huge future benefits. “I think looking forward, that’s a lot of experience for guys that may have not gotten that experience, so I guess maybe a bit of silver lining there,” explained Daltoso. “But yeah, I think next year it’s going to be a pretty veteran group.”

And a veteran group it will be. Cal will only be graduating two players on the offensive side of the ball, and not a single scholarship offensive lineman. This continuity sure will be nice after Cal’s offense has been plagued with key departures, and of course injuries, over the past few years.

“It’s a long way from now, you’ve still got spring ball and a whole training camp and offseason and guys’ bodies changing and stuff, but it’s really exciting,” said Daltoso about the mass of returning talent for next season. “I think we have a really good group of guys and I think we’ve got a group of guys that want to get better and work hard. I think that’s the culture we’ve kinda started to build. The sky's the limit for some of those young guys, and it’s pretty exciting to watch.”

Daltoso also knows that while it may be fun to look ahead, there is plenty of unfinished business ahead of him. “You’re usually thinking pretty week-to-week in the season. I think guys have done a really good job for what the circumstances [have been] and I think we’ve put ourselves in a position to get to a bowl game and win our last few games, which I think is awesome.”

Week-to-week thinking will be needed more than ever for this upcoming Saturday, as Cal looks to break their nine-game losing streak against their opponent, and Daltoso knows it.

“You can talk to anybody that went to Cal or goes to Cal [and] that’s the first thing they ask you: ‘Are you gonna get the Axe this year?’, so it’s a big deal,” said Daltoso about the Big Game. “I think guys are ready for it and not taking it lightly, but it depends on us. It’s nothing that they’re gonna do special, we’ve gotta go out there and win it up front.”

Like Daltoso said, this game will be won in the trenches, and his battle-tested, battle-scarred offensive line sure seems ready to do their part.