Cal draws Independence Bowl matchup with Texas Tech
Cal earned its first bowl invite since 2019 and learned Sunday it will be heading to Shreveport, Louisiana, to take on Texas Tech in the Independence Bowl on Dec. 16.
Cal has a chance to have a winning season for the first time since that 2019 season.
The Bears have put together a 6-6 record, winning their last three games to achieve bowl eligibility. Beating Washington State, Stanford and UCLA has given the program a chance to build some real momentum heading into the offseason.
“It’s definitely an honor to be able to play in a bowl game. I know it means a lot for the program, and to have our first bowl berth in a couple of years, it just shows how our program is trending in the right direction,” said Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza Sunday. “It’s great to be able to have the opportunity to go down to Shreveport, Louisiana, which I know the team is ecstatic about, to get to play a great team in Texas Tech.”
There was a lot of speculation ahead of Selection Sunday, as the LA Bowl has the second-to-last priority in choosing its Pac-12 team among the conference’s bowl tie-ins, while the Independence Bowl picks last.
Though UCLA has a better overall record than Cal, both are 4-5 in conference play this season and the Bears had a decisive 33-7 win against the Bruins in the last week of the regular season. But UCLA will head to the LA Bowl instead, to face Boise State.
Cal will be facing another 6-6 team in Texas Tech, which was on a three-game winning streak before its 57-7 loss to Texas in its final regular-season matchup of the year.
“We know Tech’s a really good team, they’re going to be well coached," Cal head coach Justin Wilcox said in a media session Sunday. "They’ve got a really, really good running back, a good young linebacker, so we know we’re going to have to play well. So it’s not about just going to a bowl game, it’s preparing, getting the work in so you give yourself the best chance to win a bowl game and it’s going to be a tall task, but that’s what we’re going to work on doing."
The Bears will be heading to Shreveport without several key contributors, both in terms of staff and on the field. Cal’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Jake Spavital announced Thursday that he was making the move to Waco, Texas to serve as Baylor’s new play-caller and quarterbacks coach. Offensive line coach and run game coordinator Mike Bloesch will step in as the team’s new offensive coordinator for the Bears, the program announced Saturday.
Wilcox confirmed to the media Sunday that tight ends coach Tim Plough, who was announced as the new head coach at UC Davis Friday, will remain with the team through the bowl game and will serve as the quarterbacks coach
“We hate to see coach Plough go," he said. "He’s a big time guy, he’s a big time coach and I know that’s a great opportunity for him and we wish him nothing but the best but he’s going to stay on with us through the bowl game and help us with the quarterbacks, which we’re grateful for,” Wilcox said. “He’s worked with our quarterbacks in the past as well, so there’s a lot of familiarity with the QBs.”
Several players have also announced that they will be entering the transfer portal — most notably Bears’ leading tackler, linebacker Kaleb Elarms-Orr, who leads the team with 92 total tackles, and backup quarterback Ben Finley.
Wilcox said that some players who have entered the transfer portal may still participate in the bowl game, and a roster will be released at a later date. Should Finley not play, it is unclear who will serve as the backup to Mendoza against the Red Raiders, as Wilcox said that quarterback Sam Jackson V will be unavailable as he is struggling with injury concerns.
In his seven-year tenure as Cal head coach, Justin Wilcox has taken the team to a bowl game two other times. In his first year in 2018, the Bears faced TCU in the Cheez-It Bowl, losing to the Horned Frogs in 10-7 overtime defeat that included a game-winning field goal from TCU and nine combined interceptions between the two teams.
In 2019, Cal decisively beat Illinois 35-20, and former Cal quarterback Chase Garbers threw for 272 yards and four touchdowns. Now, the Bears will look to create a bowl game winning streak with a chance to beat Texas Tech in winning the Redbox Bowl in Santa Clara, finishing off the year with four consecutive victories and a 7-6 overall record.
The Bears’ total bowl record stands at 12-11-1, though Cal has only appeared in a total of three bowl games, not including this year’s, over the last decade.