Kyle Whittingham Talks About This Week's Matchup with Cal

It's Tuesday, so we have another set of transcripts from the opponent's weekly press conference. Why doesn't CalBears.com ever publish these?

On the upcoming game against California:

"Going forward, we have Cal coming in here this week. They are a dangerous team that is very talented on both sides of the football. They haven't been able to put it together this season and have had some struggles, much like we have. But make no mistake; they are one of the more talented teams in the conference. It will take our best effort to get the win."
...
On the place-kicking game:

"It certainly influences our decisions, particularly from about the 36 or 37 to 25 yard line, which may become four-down territory. Inside the 25, we feel we are capable of making kicks inside of that area, even though we missed one Saturday night. [Coleman Petersen] hit it well, it was a good snap, good hold and good protection. [Petersen] struck the ball well, but he just pulled it to the left. At some point during the last five games, we're going to need to call upon our placekickers. We've been working hard every day on it. We've created competition. Nick Marsh has been giving every opportunity, but hasn't been able to beat [Petersen] out. It continues to be a work in progress and has been one of our deficiencies this year. We just have to keep working on it because at some point this year, we're going to need [Petersen] to make a kick to win a game."

On this team's leadership:

"I don't think [we're missing leadership compared to last year.] Tony [Bergstrom] was a great leader for us last year, but we have guys who have filled that role this year. Dave Kruger, Tevita Stevens, Star Lotulelei we have a lot of guys who have stepped up. Lotulelei has been much more vocal this year so I don't sense a lack of leadership at all. That is not an issue. We have guys who make sure things are done right in practice and make sure everything is going right in the weight room."

Onto the links.

Football

• Utah opened as a two-point favorite over Cal.
• Wilner gives the Bears a D- for the Big Game loss and looks ahead to a tough game against Utah.
• Cal earned Uncle Ted's coveted "Frowny face" award in this week's Pac-12 Weekend Rewind.
• The Bears sit at 9th in Ted Miller's Pac-12 Power Rankings.
• Tedford talks about trying to steer clear of the negativity surrounding the program. He knows it's there but would rather not get distracted with it.
• Injury updates: Chris McCain (ankle) and Tiny Moala (foot) should play this weekend. Brennan Scarlett (hand) and Jalen Jefferson (concussion) are somewhere between questionable and probable. Since he continued to play through the end of the game, CJ Anderson will certainly play.
• During Tuesday's press conference, a frustrated Tedford revisited (against his wishes) the lackluster offensive performance against Stanford. Fun facts: Cal has the most negative-yardage plays in the nation (67). That's one out of every eight plays.
• Marc Anthony was an honorable mention for the CFPA Defensive Back of the Week award.
• Keenan Allen and his 69-yard TD reception vs. WSU are nominated for the GEICO Play of the Year. Fans can vote daily on facebook to determine the winner.

Basketball

• CalBears.com has video of the pre-game event on Saturday.
• ESPN previews the men's season. They call Cal a "lock" for the NCAA tournament and say Cal or Stanford (?) will have the best shot at challenging UCLA and Arizona for the conference title.
• The women's team was picked to finish second at Pac-12 Media Day. The Bears earned a single first-place vote, from Tara VanDerveer who could not vote for her own team.

Soccer

• The Women's Sports Foundation named Alex Morgan the Sportswoman of the Year award.
  

Tennis

• Ben McLachlan reached the singles semifinal and three Cal duos reached the doubles quarterfinals at the USTA/ITA Northwest Regional Championships.
• The women's team claimed three of four berths in the singles and doubles quarterfinals. They won three of four quarterfinals matches against Stanford players.

Golf

• The top-ranked Bears hold a four-stroke lead over defending national champion Texas at the Isleworth College Invitational.
• They held a three-shot advantage over second-place Illinois going into Tuesday's round.
• The women's team finished 16th at the Stanford Invitational.

Baseball

• Current Bears topped the Alumni team 5-3 at the annual Alumni Game.

Soccer

• The 12th-ranked women's team topped WSU 3-2. Cal scored its first goal 5 seconds into the game.

Field Hockey

• The Bears suffered another narrow loss: 4-3 to Wake Forest. 8 of Cal's 10 losses have been by a single point.

Water Polo

• Collin Smith was named the Muscle Milk Student Athlete of the Week for his 6-goal performance in the Big Splash.