Golden Nuggets: Sonny Dykes "emotionally drained;" Joel Willis has movement in extermities

Well. After an ugly game against Washington State, representatives from the Cal team spoke to the media. Our own Eugene Choo was present to live-tweet the responses, so follow @GoldenBlogs to get this news as it happens.

First up was Head Coach Sonny Dykes, who appears to be shellshocked from our performances this season.

at the postgame presser: Sonny's opening statement addressed poor play/coaching, turnovers, injuries ... Sonny looks emotionally drained

— GoldenBlogs (@GoldenBlogs) October 6, 2013

...mentioned young team being 'fragile' but took responsibility "gota play better, coach better, that falls on us (as coaches)"

— GoldenBlogs (@GoldenBlogs) October 6, 2013

One catalyst for conversation these past two years--for very different reasons each year--has been Brendan Bigelow. Last year, we all saw flashes of brilliance from the Fresno Flash, which left us wanting to see more. This year, his performance has been lackluster at best and outright detrimental to our offense due to unfortunate fumbles.

re: Bigelow's fumbles "poor kid doesnt have much confidence right now, makes it tough to play him"

— GoldenBlogs (@GoldenBlogs) October 6, 2013

Dykes also noted we've been forced to burn Cameron Walker's redshirt; Trey Cheek and Darius Allensworth are injured, so they will be redshirtting no matter how thin our secondary gets. This has left us with only three healthy cornerbacks and forced us to consider playing our superstar wide receivers on defense, but they might not be ready according to Defensive Coordinator Andy Buh:

re DBs - young DBs need "1000 reps" to be ready at this level, Treggs & Harper only there as emergency DBs

— GoldenBlogs (@GoldenBlogs) October 6, 2013

Unfortunately, this is all very disheartening news. Let's try to get a few slivers of good news in, although these both resulted directly from bad news. After foolishly showboating after an interception (and having some words with Dykes, Buh, and Secondary Coach Randy Stewart, safety Michael Lowe was apologetic for his actions.

Lowe up next, asked about the flip into endzone: "selfish thing that i did, hurt the team, coach & i talked about it on the sideline"

— GoldenBlogs (@GoldenBlogs) October 6, 2013

The best news is that Joel Willis appears to be okay after a scary injury on kickoff coverage.

Cal sophomore cornerback Joel Willis is resting at Highland Hospital following an injury that occurred on the opening second-half kickoff of Cal's game Saturday against Washington State at Memorial Stadium. Willis has movement in all his extremities. He is expected to be held at the hospital overnight and released soon.

Good luck to all the wounded Bears on their roads to recovery.

Update: After correcting and finalizing stats, QB Jared Goff officially holds Cal's single-game record for passing yards with 504, surpassing Pat Barnes, who threw for 503 yards in quadruple overtime in 1996. Thanks to Sam Fielder for pointing this out.

Cal Athletics

• A look at the phenomenal blend of world-class athletics with world-class academics here at Cal

Rugby

• A photo of Cal training on Witter Rugby Field before the match against St. Mary's was highlighted by ESPN

Men's Swimming and Diving

• Cal had an impressive win over Pacific

Women's Swimming and Diving

• The freshmen woman--including this semi-famous swimmer by the name of Missy Franklin--were victorious in their home opener against Washington State

Men's Soccer

• The top-ranked Golden Bears continue their undefeated march with a win over Oregon State

Women's Soccer

• No. 11/15 Cal is also undefeated following a victory against Arizona State

Volleyball

• The team has become masters of improv after the campus blackout affected their home at Haas Pavilion

Men's Tennis

• Our play at the ITA All-American has come to a close
• The Bears have advanced past the first round of the $100,000 Tiburon Challenger
• Mads Engsted has reached the semifinals of the Aggie Invitational

Women's Tennis

• The Golden Bears were unable to advance in doubles or singles at the ITA All-American

Men's Water Polo

• No. 4 Cal lost a one-point game to no. 3 Pacific

Cross Country

• Kelsey Santisteban earned individual honors and Cal placed fifth at the Sacramento State Inter-Regional Jamboree

Field Hockey

• The Golden Bears came up short in double overtime against no. 7 Duke

Football

• More coverage of the game from the AP and SFGate
• Post-game interviews from Buh, Lowe, and Jared Goff and Chris Harper
• Rivals has been grading every snap for Goff, declaring the WSU performance to be the second-worst of his young career, but far better than the Oregon game
• This will just be left without comment:

— Isaac Williams (@berserkinberk) October 6, 2013