Thursday Practice Report: Bears Finish Up Time in Berkeley

On Thursday Cal held its final Berkeley practice prior to the Redbox Bowl. The Bears will hold the rest of their activities leading up to the Dec. 30 clash with Illinois in San Francisco.

In an impromptu ending to the session, the seniors who were participating in their final Memorial Stadium drill, were carried off the field by their teammates

“It’s bittersweet, the end of a long journey,” said running back Alex Netherda. “I literally just got carried off the field by my teammates, the other running backs. They did a terrible job of it, but it was cool.”

The game itself takes place at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, home to the 49ers. 

The Bears have been working on getting replacements ready for the four regulars who will miss the game: safeties Ashtyn Davis, and Trey Turner III, outside linebacker Tevin Paul and wide receiver Jordan Duncan. 

 Davis is missing the game because of a surgical procedure and Duncan has been “excused” from the team to deal with some “personal matters”. Head coach Justin Wilcox has not offered reasons for the other absences. 

Duncan is second on the team in catches, with 25, and receiving yards with 364. However, there is some depth at that position with Nikko Remigio, who leads the team in receptions with 34 and yards with 477, Trevon Clark, Makai Polk, Ben Skinner and Kekoa Crawford, who is expected to return.

Clark, driving back from Southern California, missed practice because of weather on I-5. “He’ll be all right,” Wilcox said.  “He’s on his way “                                                                             

Depth could be an issue on defense, however, Paul  started ten games this year. Ben Hawk Schrider is listed at the top of the current depth chart. The Berkeley native has started one game this year and received quite a bit of playing time at both outside backer spots.

“I think it’s going good,” he said after Thursday’s practice. “I’ve been blessed with a good opportunity to play this season for a number of games. I’ve gotten to play a lot so I try to make the best of my opportunities.”

Freshmen Braxten Croteau and Orin Patu are probably next up.

Turner started the Big Game and was probably going to start this one when Davis went down. Now it will likely be Daniel Scott starting. Cornerbacks Elijah Hicks and Camryn  Bynum have also been practicing at safety.

In a bit of good news, inside linebacker Evan Tattersall, who has been out since leaving the USC game on a stretcher, has been medically cleared to practice and could play Monday.