Brigham Young Cougars (7-4) at California Golden Bears (5-6)Saturday, Nov. 29 | 1:30 pm PTKabam Field at California Memorial Stadium | Berkeley, CATV: Pac-12 Networks - Ted Robinson (Play by Play), Glenn Parker (Analyst) Jill Savage (Sideline)Radio: KGO 810 AM - Joe Starkey (Play by Play), Mike Pawlawski (Analyst), Todd McKim (Sideline)Live Stats: CalBears.comLive Audio: TuneIn RadioSiriusXM Satellite Radio: Sirius (92) and XM (198)Cal Student Radio: KALX 90.7 FM Dave Fusano (PlayBy-Play), Nic Montano (Analyst), Anthony Manzella (Analyst)Series History: BYU leads, 2-1Last Meeting at Cal: BYU 44, Cal 16 (Sept. 8, 2001)Last Meeting: Cal 35, BYU 28 (Dec. 22, 2005, Las Vegas Bowl)Current Win Streak: Cal - 1 (2005)First Meeting: at BYU 38, Cal 28 (Oct. 9, 1999)
Three months ago, the California Golden Bears began the season at Northwestern, anxious to get the bitter taste of the 2013 season out of their mouths. Cal won that day and gave us all hope that 2014 would be much better than 2013. Hope turned into reality and we have been far more entertained by the 2014 California Golden Bears than most of us expected.
Today, the Bears play their regular season finale against the BYU Cougars, needing one more win to become bowl eligible. After starting the season 4-1, Cal dropped four of the next five games and finished Pac-12 play with a 3-6 conference record. Despite the losing record in conference play, the Bears have one last chance today to get their sixth victory of the season and, with it, bowl eligibility.
Cal will try to get that sixth win against BYU, which has had a streaky season. The Cougars started 4-0 and had designs on crashing the college football playoffs. But after starting quarterback Taysom Hill suffered a serious leg injury and was lost for the season, BYU lost four straight games to drop to .500. Since then, however, the Cougars are riding a three-game winning streak and have already accepted a bid to play in the Miami Beach Bowl on December 22 against an opponent from the American Athletic Conference.
Cal has not faced BYU since the 2005 Las Vegas Bowl, a game won by the Bears 35-28. The Cougars and Bears have only met once in Berkeley, with BYU winning 44-16 in 2001 in a game in which Cal was coached by Tom Holmoe, BYU's current athletic director.
Today's game will be the final home game for 12 Cal seniors: offensive lineman Chris Adcock, defensive tackle Austin Clark, offensive lineman Alejandro Crosthwaite, offensive lineman Donovan Frazer, fullback Lucus Gingold, quarterback Austin Hinder, kicker James Langford, safety Michael Lowe, safety Bryce McGovern, long snapper John Sheperdson, wide receiver Drake Whitehurst and defensive end Harrison Wilfley. While it may be the final home game for these seniors, the Bears hope it is not their final game in a Cal uniform. A win today will keep Cal's hope for a bowl game alive and complete a remarkable turnaround from a 1-11 season.
This is your pregame open thread. Talk about the game here and watch for the first quarter thread as the 1:30 PM kickoff time draws near.
GO BEARS!
#CalvsBYU Uniform. #GoBears #BeatBYU pic.twitter.com/0hd53LLLKW
— Sonny Dykes (@CALCoachDykes) November 28, 2014
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Nick Kranz previewed the BYU defense