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Post-Game Press Conferences
On experimenting with player positions
”It was nice to see Ian (Bunting) make a couple nice catches. Chase threw the ball 8 or 9 feet in the air and he just jumped up and caught it. I give a lot of credit to Idaho State, they played really well and were tough. We were bigger than they were and had more speed. It’s going to get harder and harder as we move into the schedule here and get into Pac 12 play. Ian making some catches and Nikko (Remigio) with the punt return, it’s good to see that. We just have so much that we need to clean up. It’s apparent.”
On Jordan Duncan and Jeremiah Hawkins
”We had some opportunities in the past game where we didn’t catch them and it’s nice to see them finish that. Jeremiah can do something with the ball once he catches it. He’s strong and we see him make those plays. Same with Jordan, he’s worked hard. He’s had a good offseason, changed his body. In fall camp, he was moving a lot better than he did a year ago.
On the impact of mistakes
”The better the team you’re playing, the harder it is going to be to recover from those. Fifteen-yard penalties, pass interference, facemask on a third down, third down pass interference, fourth down pass interference that they end up scoring on, running into the punt return. We scored a touchdown, and then the ball comes back and then we are out of bounds. We can’t have that. If it’s 10 out of 11 guys doing it right and one not. They’re trying, doesn’t mean they aren’t trying. No one on our team overlooked the opponent today, we just have to play better. It’s technique, it’s focus, and it’s training. We have to be better across the board, starting with me.
On Ashtyn Davis’ interception
”It was nice, he went up and got the ball. He’s been playing well. He’s gotten better and better since he has been playing a lot for us last year and now. He’s a talented athlete. He ran through a tackle and beat everyone on the sideline. He plays fearless.”
On Jake Ashton’s touchdown
”It was awesome. Jake’s worked hard. He’s put a lot of time in here so it was nice to see him go in today and make that play.”
On his touchdown
”We always look back on film and see one blocker, one cut that I could have made and so we were kinda due for one. It was exciting to finally get it.”
On his interception
”I saw the quarterback hit his back foot and look one way and just took off. The D-line got a lot of good pressure and kinda tossed it up and just went for the ball.”
On what stands out the most from the game
”I’m not sure. I always love getting a takeaway because I don’t know if I could put any in front of the other that kick return just opened right up and ran right through it.”
On being out there/being on the field
”I’ve been waiting for it and finally get that moment and that shot to do what I’ve been waiting and preparing for.”
On his punt return
”I just saw a lot of open field and really, to be honest, I was pretty nervous the first few plays going in, I just told myself ‘you just gotta run and get out of there.’ Once I convinced myself to do that, it all worked out.
No quotes provided from the above link, but Weaver is fired up and upset in the video about the defense’s lack of ability to close games.
Post-Game Articles
- Post-game notes from Cal including highlighting a lot of the firsts that happened yesterday. (Like Dancy’s first TD and lots more). Despite only getting one interception, Cal’s defense still leads the nation in interceptions and they still have yet to allow a first quarter score.
- Nam’s novel is out!
When you have an early season schedule like Cal’s, with the FCS tuneup game coming before the bye, and a large measuring stick one after it, the number one goal is to simply emerge unscathed.
By that measure, Saturday was a wildly successful game for the Bears, who:
a) won
b) won in an encouraging, confidence-building fashion
c) won and stayed healthy – outside of Cameron Goode’s lower leg issue, a late game issue with what appeared to be Malik Psalms, and whatever kept Kanawai Noa sidelined for Saturday’s matchup against Idaho State, they look like they’ll have a relatively clean injury report entering the Oregon game, not to mention a week to prepare while the Ducks face a 60 minute visit to the Stanford meat grinder.
It’s not yet clear how good their chances will be to snag the upset, but everything that can be in their favor entering it, is, for a matchup that now has all kinds of larger implications – a win, or even a strong showing against the Ducks could signal that the Bears are up for a legitimate run in a down conference this year. Arizona and UCLA follow, and splitting those games – if not outright sweeping them – seems far more likely than it did in July.
- Josh Yuen’s instant reactions from Week 3’s game.
- Ashtyn Davis shined on special teams, becoming the first Cal player to return a kickoff for a TD since another Davis, Trevor, did it twice against Wazzu.
- What did we learn, if anything, from the game? Jake Curtis tries to answer.
- Cal received votes in the AP Poll, and a fair amount of that came from Jon Wilner, who gave the Bears a #18 ranking.
Pre-Game Articles
In the 24-48 hours before a home game, usually after my Thursday Golden Nuggets post is already out, multiple Cal outlets post some spotlight articles on star players or players on the rise. Usually, since the articles are still worth reading after games, I still post them. I did not do so after UNC because I was at an A’s game and forgot to make the article before I left... plus the articles that I found were about Cameron Goode and that was depressing. But, even though I’m a few hours late again, I will post the ones I found. All but one are still good (the one that’s not was about Cal’s lack of explosive plays on special teams...)
- Camryn Bynum’s drive embodies the “new Cal era”.
- Looks like the two-headed quarterback is here to stay.
- Elijah Hicks looks to become a star cornerback.
- Christie Aguilar breaks down the tape for Traveon Beck’s interception at BYU.
- Cal Sports Maven, expecting a historic blowout yesterday that didn’t happen, looked at the biggest blowouts by Cal Football in history (including the most recent Grambling State win).
- Cal’s secondary’s biggest critic is itself. (Despite being one of the best in the country!)
- What is working about Cal’s up and coming defense and how can they still get better?
Misc.
- Preslie Anderson is the middle child of a family of five kids (who all play sports), and she is the middle blocker on the Cal Vollleyball team. Somehow, these two facts help shape her Cal career.
- Unfortunately, have to end this positive article on a downer. The Boston Globe has more information on the ongoing tragic Jabari Bird story and what comes next.