Something strange happens every time Cal goes to Arizona. This time, it was 24 players, five assistant coaches and a handful of graduate assistants and quality control guys being out due to COVID-19 protocol or injury.
That led to an ineffective offense, with 122 yards produced on the day and 1-14 on 3rd down attempts. Cal's defense had one of their better performances despite the adversity, but offensive ineffectiveness led to the Bears losing to Arizona, which snapped Arizona's 20 game losing streak spanning over two years.
Cal's woes started around Thursday, when news began to trickle out that Cal would have significant absences due to COVID protocol. Per multiple sources, these have been asymptomatic positive tests, as the Bears have 99% of their players vaccinated. That still led to Cal missing multiple starters in Chase Garbers, Ben Coleman, Will Craig, Matthew Cindric, Luc Bequette, Femi Oladejo, Trey Paster, and Collin Gamble, along with kicker Dario Longhetto.
Wilcox noted that they found out Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday that guys would be out. Wilcox noted in the press conference that he didn't know when the guys out would be back.
QB Ryan Glover would start his first game at Cal, and struggled to find his receivers throughout the afternoon. Cal would not get into scoring position until they went down 3-0, with Nick Lopez hitting his first career FG attempt from 34 yards out. Cal struggled behind a mostly new offensive line, with Bastian Swinney and Everett Johnson getting their first starts, while Brayden Rohme had his first start of 2021 at left tackle.
Cal's defense would play well in stymieing the Wildcats most of the day, with Will Plummer in and out of the lineup, and Marqez Bimage would tip a pass, and Evan Tattersall would grab the interception in the redzone to halt one of Arizona's early scoring opportunities. Holding penalties would stop Cal's next drive despite a couple nice throws from Glover to Kekoa Crawford and Justin Baker. Jamieson Sheahan, who may have been Cal's MVP on the day, punted 11 times for 518 yards, averaging 47.1 yards per punt.
Cal would eventually injure Plummer, Bimage laying a hit that brought in walk-on Luke Ashworth, and Cam Goode would get a tip that turned into a Nate Rutchena interception. Cal didn't score off the turnover, something they didn't do on any of their three forced turnovers on the day.
Plummer's injury would force Arizona to play Jamarye Joiner at QB, who Ethan Saunders would sack to force a 3 and out, but the Bears couldn't move the ball with Arizona's pressure, with a slat to J. Michael Sturdivant (on Sturdivant's first drive), falling incomplete prior to the half.
The second half saw much of the same from Cal and Arizona, with drives stalling out due to negative plays and incompletions, but the Wildcats would have some life thanks to a Cal PI call and a long Plummer scramble, and Tyler Loop would knock in a 29 yard field goal. Cal would answer, with a Crawford 30 yard gain on an RPO and McKade Mettauer taking a shot to the groin on an unsportsmanlike conduct call. Glover missed Justin Baker on what could've been a touchdown before Nick Lopez nailed his first career FG attempt from 34 yards out.
Cal would intercept Plummer on the next drive, Elijah Hicks tracking down a deep ball, but Chris Brooks was stopped on a 3rd and 3 and Cal would have to punt. An Arizona punt would put Cal down at the 1, and while a sideline interference call would get them out of the shadow of their own goalposts, Brooks getting stuffed on 3rd and 4 led to a punt, and Stanley Berryhill would break a 25 yard return to set up solid field position, which Arizona turned into the only touchdown of the day. Glover was hurried or sacked on three of the four final offensive plays, and Cal lost to Arizona for the sixth straight time.
Takeaways
In the aftermath of a painful loss, lots of questions loom for Cal, as to when the players who were absent will be back and if that's in enough time for USC. The reality is that Cal sits at 3-6, needing a sweep of the California schools in order to be bowl eligible. This was a big misstep in a winnable game, and while there were circumstances out of control of the players, the execution wasn't there when the Bears needed it. It played out similarly to a number of other crushing Cal defeats in the Wilcox era, where the defense holds while the offense can't do much, before a final break of the defense.
Cal's defense, who has played more depth this year than the offense, didn't suffer as much, as Daniel Scott (12 tackles) and Elijah Hicks (4 tackles, 1.5 TFLs, 1 INT) played well from their safety spots, but Cal's front struggled.
Also missing the game, aside from the eight starters and those already out for the year: QB Zach Johnson, RB Chris Street, WR Jeremiah Hunter, WR Nikko Remigio, OL Ender Aguilar DL Darius Long, ILB Andy Alfieri, ILB Kyle Smith, ILB Mo Iosefa, CB Branden Smith, CB Chigozie Anusiem, K Dario Longhetto, LS Daniel Etter.
First starts today: ILB Nate Rutchena, OL Everett Johnson, OL Bastian Swinney
First major action: ILB Ryan Puskas, ILB Myles Jerningan, DL Gunnar Rask, DL Derek Wilkins, S Hunter Barth, WR J Michael Sturdivant.
Cal was without multiple position coaches, including OL coach Angus McClure, which led to former Cal OL Mike Saffell and Addison Ooms coaching the position in his stead.
Cal returns home to take on USC Saturday at 12:30 on November 13th.
