Golden Nuggets: Reaction from Team and Media from Cal’s Loss to USC

There are A LOT of articles today... something to cheer yourself up after likely waking up still sick about the game yesterday...

Football (Post-Game)

Post-Game reaction from the Cal Football team.

Opening Statement:

"First and foremost, we need to give USC a lot of credit. They're a very talented team, well coached, good schemes and they made good plays when it counted. So we give them a lot of credit. We were disappointed. We came into the game expecting to win and we just didn't make enough plays at the critical times. Our guys, they fought and played extremely hard, and we knew it would be a battle against a team like that, and it was. We were tight there until the fourth quarter and then there were a series of plays that we went from 16-13 down 3 getting the ball, and within a matter of minutes it was 30-13 and the end of the game. We have so much to learn from and so much room to grow. Everybody in that locker room is disappointed, but we can't be discouraged. We have some really good guys who are doing good things. We just didn't do what it took today to get the win. So you have to give them credit, but we need to learn and grow from this. No one win or loss will define our season, so we will get back to work on Monday."

On The Turnovers:

"They all come up for different reasons, and we will see why on the tape. You can't turnover the ball six times and expect to beat a team like that, so it's not all on the quarterback. Everyone is involved in that. We need to do a better job on defense. If we turn the ball over on offense, it's an opportunity to make a stop, and we didn't do that enough. There are going to be a lot of plays, but obviously you can't turn the ball over six times against a team like that."

On assessment of the game:

"I think we came out pretty good today, but we just can't turn the ball over. It's hard to win when you keep giving the other team the ball. We were trying to make too much happen and trying to manufacture something that wasn't there. We weren't executing and they were. A couple of the fumbles hit my arm and were tipped. The first interception was tipped. I have to get the ball out quicker and find ways to get it past them. Credit to them on making plays and they capitalized on our mistakes. We just have to be better in the future."

On his interception:

"On the play, I saw the USC quarterback look at Deontay Burnett; I think that was his favorite receiver. I pretty much knew the ball was coming my way. They tried to test my leverage and I turned around and saw it. I was like 'let's go get it.'"

Post-Game Notes. Some notable ones:

Today's game marked the first time Cal did not trail at halftime. USC's 13 first-half points were the fewest the Cal defense has allowed in a first half this season, and the fewest since the first half of the UCLA game last year (0).

Cal held the USC offense to zero big plays (20 or more yards from scrimmage).

Devante Downs tied his career high with 14 tackles (Stanford, 2016).

Cal was 4-for-6 on fourth downs Saturday and is now 10-for-13 on the season.

Josh Drayden caught his first career interception in the second quarter.

Malik Psalms forced his first career fumble that Luc Bequette garnered his first career recovery on.

Alex Funches notched his second career sack on the game's opening drive, also his second sack in as many games.

Attendance was only 46,747. Seriously, Cal fans? I know $C fans and their band are unbearable, but...

• Recaps: San Francisco Chronicle. East Bay Times. Daily Cal. Bear Territory. Golden Bear Report.
• Postgame notes from the SF Chronicle. Most notable is Wilcox expressing support for Ross Bowers. Matt Anderson also talks about his kicking struggles.
• Jon Wilner’s “5 Lessons” From Week 4 has him seeing Cal as potentially being the second best team in the North, but no one is going to hang with Washington.
• Trace’s takeaways from yesterday’s game.
• Cal actually goes UP to #5 in ESPN’s Power Rankings thanks to the promising first half.

Football (General)

All of these features were published before the USC game.

• Cal is going to be on The Drive on the Pac-12 Networks this Thursday! Here’s a preview.

• Pretty outdated now, but the second half shutdowns of Weber State and Ole Miss was pretty impressive.
• Remembering Joe Roth’s pinnacle 1975 win over USC.
• Ryan Gorcey chats with friend/teammate of Joe Roth, Duane Williams.
• Congrats to coach Marques Tuiasosopo for being a finalist for the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame Class of 2018.
• Jeremiah Hawkins has “D” in his (middle) name, so its not surprising that he has become a force on Cal’s resurgent defense.
• Jeff Faraudo looks at how Cal went from no defense... to some defense... and maybe even better than that in the near future.
• Jon Wilner’s mailbag looks at some mailbag questions about the Pac-12 Network, with a small (not really meaningful) Cal question near the end.
• Jon Wilner also reports that Cal is looking to hire a consulting firm to plot a strategy for a “long term sustainability model”.
• Daily Cal’s feature on Addison Ooms, and how his experience at Mater Dei helped shape his career.
• Bear Territory also has a feature on Ooms.
• Daily Cal’s feature on Beau Baldwin talks about his trajectory from Eastern Washington coach to Cal. There is even bonus video of him shaking Jeff Tedford’s hand after Cal beat EWU 59-7 in 2009. Those were happy times...
• Trace’s feature on Gavin Reinwald and why he chose Cal despite not even having them on his radar until Wilcox’s hire.

Misc.

• Cal Women’s Rowing will be represented in the 2017 World Rowing Championships in Sarasota, Florida beginning today. Kara Kohler and Kendall Chase are on Team USA while Rowan McKeller is on Great Britain. Assistant coach Laurel Korholz will coach Team USA. Go Bears!
• Jose Carrera-Garcia’s journal talks about men’s soccer’s non-conference season and looks ahead to conference play.
• After the tough loss to Stanford, the Cal Volleyball team has a second chance of a road upset against Utah today at 1PM (on Pac-12 Networks).
• The Cal Baseball alumni game is set for Sunday, October 22.
• Three baseball players committed to Cal this weekend. Hance Smith, Mitchell Scott (brother of Cal CWS participant Logan Scott) and Trevor Tishenkel.

Dul Béir!