Golden Nuggets: What Will Cal’s Record Be By October?

Football

• Jon Wilner posted his game by game predictions. Although he thinks the Bears have a shot at nine wins, he predicts a 6-6 record which includes a long losing streak to start conference play.
• Meanwhile, apparently Yogi Roth of Pac-12 Networks called a 7-0 start... and this actually gets labeled a hot take by Daily Cal’s Josh Yuen, who predicts a (Also pretty positive) 5-2 start.
• Lone Toailoa brings some New Zealand and Samoa culture to Cal Football.
• Shannon Carroll’s takeaways from fall camp.

Ross Bowers looks like Cal’s starter, Brandon McIlwain adds a legitimate threat on the ground

With how things played out in camp, Ross Bowers should be the Bears’ starting quarterback come September 1, when Cal faces UNC at Memorial Stadium. Bowers looked solid during camp — even if he probably had a better start to it than an end. He’s continuing to make nice throws in tight windows, and his footwork and pocket presence are improved. Plus, he’s established better chemistry with the whole stable of wideouts, and he seems to have taken on more of a leadership role within the team. But he did make several errant throws and was picked off a decent amount. And while some of those interceptions were a bit head-scratching, a lot of it had to do with confusion with wide receivers over routes (there are a lot of new-ish guys in the rotation) and just some exceptional pressure by the defense.

• Greg Thomas and Gabe Siemieniec lead the kicking competition.
• Cal ranks 49th in Athlon’s Sports rankings of all 130 teams. For them, who forgets Cal plays in the Pac-12 sometimes (I’ve left out many of their Pac-12 articles this month for having 0 mentions of us), this is pretty good.
• Cal Football season preview.

Misc.

• Cross Country begins fall camp.
• Jim Knowlton is working on his vision for Cal Athletics, and has made an impact in his first 3 months.

“When you kind of let yourself drift away from the university a little bit, it can become a ‘me and them’ instead of a ‘we,’” Knowlton said after Christ’s back-to-school news conference Monday. ... “That’s been part of the feedback, and everyone has given me good feedback. I’m not going to solve all the problems.

“I don’t have any magic dust, but it’s been exciting to see the passion of our fans.”

Knowlton said he has heard from teams asking for more scholarships, an extra assistant coach and facility updates. There have been requests for better branding, more connection with the community and more fans at games.

Of course, plans for any of that have to fall in line with the chancellor’s mandates and a sustainable department.

GOLD RUSH