Like many watching the program, the Cal football team came back off of Saturday with the feeling of a loss, despite the 23-17 win over North Texas and the new number 23 ranking next to their name, and they've attacked practice as such.

"They almost responded like we lost the football game," offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin said.

And that stems from a bit of disappointment with how the Bears played, as Baldwin notes that they've got to rebound when there's a dip in production.

"I wasn't necessarily disappointed with what we did in the first quarter," Baldwin said, "because we went on a string where we hadn't started fast in the first two games, and we started fast in this game, from the second half of Washington to the first quarter, we scored on 7 of 8 possessions. The problem is that we're continuing to get in a dip, which we all do, but we're not getting ourselves out of that dip, not throwing that finishing punch in the fourth quarter."

One of those areas is getting the ball out of Chase Garbers hands, as Baldwin is making sure his quarterback knows where that line is, of running too much vs. running too little.

"He knows that we want the ball out of his hand more often," Baldwin said. "If a quarterback never scrambles, that's not a good thing, because a defense can sit back, and if a quarterback scrambles too much, that's not a good thing, there has to be that happy medium."

Garbers is going to have to be quick, as Ole Miss has done a number with their run defense under Mike MacIntyre, as the size the Rebels bring to the table is apparent.

"Size at the nose guard position," Baldwin said, "that's really impressive, they have some solid pass rushers, they have some athletic linebackers who do a good job, very much a Colorado style, what you'd expect. We see a lot of that, it's similar to our defense, really physical in the secondary too, they play physical and they're in a physical conference where they have to do that."

It's something the Bears are going to figure out, as they have a situational practice tomorrow before leaving Thursday morning for Oxford.

The Arizona Youth Playing

Charlie Ragle has two of his recruits from the last cycle playing already in Brett Johnson and Braxten Croteau. Johnson has taken the starting job, and there was enough confidence in him that Cal moved both Erick Nisich and Ben Coleman to the offensive line.

"That's why we recruited him," Ragle said, "we know what he's capable of doing and he's doing exactly what we thought he would, and that's why we fought so hard at the end to make sure we got him. I don't want to speak for coach Browning, but I know he's pleased, I'm pleased, coach WIlcox is pleased and he's got a tremendous upside."

Croteau clawed his way into the rotation, thanks to injury at OLB this past weekend, and even if the likes of Tevin Paul, Cam Goode and Ben Hawk Schrider return, he's still going to come in to make an impact. Ragle credits his progression with his practice habits.

"The thing that makes him what he is is that he's so cerebral, and he practices so hard," Ragle said, "I told this to a lot of people on our coaching staff, when I went to watch him practice and in all the years I've been doing this in high school and college, he was and is the hardest practicing player I've ever watched from start to finish and then he helped them clean the field, he's just that kind of young man, so it doesn't surprise me that he's playing. He's really smart, he's gonna be in the right place and maybe he's not where you want to be, physically, weight-wise, he's got to get bigger and stronger, but that will come with time."

Curhan

Jake Curhan was Cal's offensive player of the week the last time the Bears played Ole Miss, and with the offensive line losing Will Craig, there was a thought that he could flip to left tackle, something he did in camp. The discussion did happen.

"There was a little discussion of it between coach Wood and I," Curhan said, "during the Washington game. If we kept having struggles like we did in the first half, maybe (they'd) move me over there, because some of those guys are more comfortable on the right side too. But Henry did a really good job, and this last week, Henry and Brandon split duties over there, they're doing a good job. I think for right now, coach Wood's pretty comfortable and hopefully we'll have Valentino back and able to play over there soon."

Daltoso did practice today, as the Bears look for him to make an impact on the offensive line. In his place at right guard, McKade Mettauer has been showing out early, enough for Curhan to feel confident about his future.

"McKade's doing awesome," Curhan said."he's gonna be a hell of a player, he's already a good player. Having McKade between Mike and I, it's good for him because Mike and I are the two guys that have played the most on the line and have the most experience. If he gets lost on the line, we always have his back. I've been really impressed with McKade, I knew pretty early in camp that he'd be traveling with us, I didn't know that he'd be playing, but when some of those injuries started happening, he started rotating in with us, and I was not worried at all, with the way that he was playing."

Other Note:

- Cal special teams unit had Ryan Longwell, former Cal and Green Bay Packers kicker, out to practice. Longwell kicked for the Bears from 1993-96, before embarking on a 15-year NFL career, retiring in 2013.