Golden Nuggets: Playing With Heavy Hearts

Have to make this quick, I got called into work. Do let me know if I made egregious errors like Tuesday!

Football

Thanks to Golden Bear Report. I will not be posting transcripts.

Videos

Justin does begin with talking about the air quality in Berkeley.

Tim begins by talking about WSU.

Beau talks about what the offense is doing to show up better on Friday.

How does Ross plan on bouncing back Friday?

Articles

• Cal is playing with heavy hearts due to the fires in the North Bay. Three players have been affected. The fire has also affected the quality of the air in Berkeley, but there is no plans on changing the start time of Friday’s game.

"We've got a couple guys that are deeply affected, but obviously, our thoughts are with everybody up there, and what's going on," Wilcox said. "It's obviously really sad, and we're here to support them -- the guys on our team -- but also the people who are up there that are affected by this. This is really, really difficult for a lot of folks."

Those three players are starting right tackle Jake Curhan, an alumnus of Larkspur (Calif.) Redwood, as well as Santa Rosa Junior College alum Matt Robinson and Santa Rosa (Calif.) Maria Carrillo alum Alex Netherda.

Netherda, a walk-on who's played linebacker and receiver, tweeted that he and his family are out of harm's way, but the family has lost its home of the past 23 years in the Tubbs Fire in the early morning of Oct. 9, and has opened a donation account at Wells Fargo.

"Hopefully, we can give some inspiration to the people that are going through some tough times right now with the fires," said defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter.

• SF Chronicle: “How do we respond?” to three straight losses.
• SF Chronicle: Ross Bowers re-establishes himself as Cal’s starting quarterback.
• Golden Bear Report: “Five Things” to know about WSU.
• Two unsung heroes for Cal Football are on the scout team.
• Catch up on NFL Bears from Week 5.

Women’s Basketball

• Bears had their Pac-12 Network media day yesterday. I don’t have the videos of the direct interviews with Lindsay Gottlieb, Asha Thomas and Kristine Anigwe but here’s some other tidbits.

• Cal was picked to finish 5th in the Pac-12 in 2018 behind #1 pick UCLA, #2 Oregon and Stanford, and #4 Oregon State.
• Lindsay is featured prominently in an article on WBB coaches that have talked to their players about social justice issues.

“I hope what I’m saying doesn’t alienate anyone,” Gottlieb said. “I just think as coaches in this day and age that you can’t put your head in the sand and say ‘I only coach basketball’. I just want them to feel that they have an adult figure and a coach that cares for them more than in just basketball. To not be tapped into how they may be feeling, I think is negligent.”

Men’s Basketball

The men’s turn to be on Pac-12 Network is today. Kingsley Okoroh, Marcus Lee and Wyking Jones will be the Cal Bears on set.

• Cal and Stanford’s ADs talk about the recent NCAA Basketball scandal: “no easy solutions.”

Women’s Soccer

• The team was awarded with academic honors from the United Soccer Coaches group.
• Emily Boyd received Goalkeeper of the Week honors from the Pac-12.

Misc.

Two Cal Sports Quarterly articles before I go!

• Caihla Petiprin (Volleyball) spent the summer in Mexico. Learn more here.
• The two senior leaders for Track and Field, Bethan Knights (women) and Trent Bendel (men), are “setting big goals for the legacies they will leave behind.”

My heart is with the North Bay. I hope I can help in the coming days.