Golden Nuggets: Bears try to stay positive after USC loss

Another loss, another press conference. After a few injury-free weeks, LB Hardy Nickerson Jr suffered a foot injury, which Coach Sonny Dykes explained had profound effects on the defense.

Sonny said after Hardy got injured, Cal was down to 1 MLB (true freshman Chad Whitener) - which affected the checks/calls on defense

— GoldenBlogs (@GoldenBlogs) November 9, 2013

Saturday was the ninth loss of the season and basically the 29th consecutive loss against USC. But it was also the last home game of the 2013 season and Senior Day, honoring 13Golden Bears. Dykes took the time to recognize the home crowd and the contributions of the seniors.

Sonny just now: "thank you to our fans for your loyalty & support... fan & students have been incredible this year"

— GoldenBlogs (@GoldenBlogs) November 10, 2013

We should join Dykes in thanking the seniors for all they've done for the program.

re: senior class "its hard for those guys (when you dont win)... but when things flip, you want them to come back and see how (important)...

— GoldenBlogs (@GoldenBlogs) November 10, 2013

...they were to get things turned around... "tip your hat off to those guys"

— GoldenBlogs (@GoldenBlogs) November 10, 2013

One of those seniors, WR Jackson Bouza, commented on the team's struggles, but spoke with optimism for the future:

Bouza up next: "its been hard, bc we know we're much better than our record shows... from the inside, you can see the change every day..."

— GoldenBlogs (@GoldenBlogs) November 10, 2013

With a perspective from the other end of the spectrum (switching from offense to defense and senior to freshman), LB Michael Barton also noted the positives he's observed from the team.

Mike Barton up next: "it's tough but we cant quit... just gotta keep fighting. One thing we've been good at this year is not giving up..."

— GoldenBlogs (@GoldenBlogs) November 10, 2013

Press-conference interviews can be seen for Dykes, QB Jared Goff, Bouza, and Barton.

Field Hockey

• This season has come to a close for the Bears (7-12) with a win over Radford

Women's Basketball

• Another banner will be added to the collection to commemorate the first Final Four appearance in program history
• The ninth-ranked Bears were victorious in the season opener
• Prepare for war--No. 9 Cal vs. no. 2 Duke

Men's Basketball

• The Golden Bears--and a bulked-up David Kravish--are optimistic about the upcoming season
• Cal started the season on the right foot with a win over Coppin State

Women's Tennis

• An unfortunate singles loss at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships
• An impressive debut for two Cal freshmen, upsetting top seeds and nationally-ranked players to earn spots in the singles finals of the ASU Thunderbird Invitational

Men's Tennis

• The Bears' representatives in singles and doubles at the UST/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships are out of the tournament

Men's Soccer

• The no. 4 Golden Bears (12-2-2, 6-1-1 Pac-12) shut out Oregon State

Volleyball

• No. 22 Cal (15-7, 8-5 Pac-12) swept Utah

Men's Water Polo

• No. 5 Cal (14-6, 3-3 Pac-12) lost to no. 2 USC

Football

• Game recaps by CalBears.com and the Associated Press

• We're front-page news on Yahoo for letting USC tie an NCAA record with three punts returned for touchdowns (which includes the blocked punt). By the way, their front-page teaser for the story is:

Nothing much is going right for Cal's football team this season, even when it's just trying to punt.

• OL Mark Brazinski is First Team on the Capital One Academic All-District 8 team
• OL Chris Adcock and LB Jalen Jefferson are the Scholar-Athletes of the Week
• Could RB Shane Vereen be the spark the Patriots are looking for?