Cal Football Tuesday Notebook
Beating Texas Tech in Saturday’s Independence Bowl would serve dual purposes for California’s football team.
It would extend the Bears’ late-season success and give them a four-game winning streak – something they haven’t done since winning their first four games of the 2019 campaign – capping a season in a way few thought possible after the team sat at 3-6 in early November.
A victory in the bowl game would also serve as a boost both for ongoing recruiting, as well as some momentum for offseason workouts.
“It’s finishing the season out the right way,” Cal head coach Justin Wilcox said Monday. “We’d love to do our best to finish on a four-game win streak. I also think it does help catapult you into your winter workouts, your spring football. Doesn’t count for next year but it sure can make a difference in the winter.
“We have to do everything we can to go out and play our best Saturday because it certainly matters. Matters a lot to us.”
Wilcox and his team have a lot on their plate as they prepare for their first postseason game since beating Illinois in the RedBox Bowl in 2019. Players are still taking finals while the coaching staff has been dealing with the transfer portal and recruiting, all while trying to get ready for a Texas Tech team that is anchored by one of the best running backs in the country.
Tahj Brooks, who recently announced he will be returning next year for a fifth college season, was fourth in the nation among FBS running backs with 1,443 yards and nine touchdowns. Brooks averaged 5.4 yards a carry on his way to finishing with the sixth-best rushing total in school history.
Cal defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon compared Brooks to the Bears’ top back, Jadyn Ott, who like Brooks, can also be a punishing, physical runner when he’s not running through and around defenses. According to Pro Football Focus, Brooks tallied almost 1,000 yards this season (919) after contact.
“They’re going to rely heavily on the run game,” Sirmon said. “(Brooks) is going to be probably the most physical player that we’ve had the opportunity to play against this season. There’s going to be some significant leaning into the run game for both sides of the ball to come out and play well.”
The Bears have already lost some players to the transfer portal, but one who stuck around and is hopeful of playing Saturday is running back Isaiah Ifanse. Ifanse has been dealing with an unspecified injury for weeks now but Wilcox hinted he might be ready for Texas Tech.
“It’s really a day-to-day evaluation at this point.,” Wilcox said. “He’s working like crazy to get back out there. This means a lot to him, and we want to give him that opportunity.”
While rumors are out that the Bears have hired former Ole Miss assistant coach Sterling Gilbert to be Cal’s quarterback coach, Wilcox declined to confirm the chatter. But he did hint at it when he said, “We’re excited about the staff member we’re adding and looking forward to talking about him at length shortly.”
Line coach Mike Bloesch, who was promoted to offensive coordinator following Jake Spavital’s departure to Baylor, seems to have made the adjustment fairly smoothly. He’s done some play-calling in previous coaching stints in college and is trying to continue offensive momentum for the Bears.
“Just trying to keep this thing rolling,” Bloesch said.
With everything going on all at the same time, things could get a bit out of hand as the bowl game approaches. But Wilcox is embracing it all and hopes to cap it all off with a bowl win.
“I don’t know that there’s been two weeks in my coaching career here at Cal that have been busier than the last two for a number of reasons, and that’s good,” Wilcox said. “I’m glad to be busy. Being bored would not be good for the program.”