Cal had their media availability Tuesday afternoon, as Justin Wilcox, OL Ben Coleman, and OLB Marqez Bimage spoke to the media in the leadup to the Bears' matchup with Washington State Saturday.

A focus for the Bears has been on defense, as a Cal defense known for their strong fundamental play has not looked the part through four games. The second half against Washington was the best the Bears have looked so far, but Wilcox still thinks the group needs to be up to a better standard for a whole game

"Rushing the quarterback, taking the ball away," Wilcox said of what the group needed to improve, "the other one I would bring up is 3rd down defense, and we haven't been up to the standard we've been in the past. There are some guys that are making progress, and those are areas we talk about all the time, how can we help the players improve in those areas, so we can get better statistics, which will ultimately lead to better defense. We've seen it in stretches, in the second half it was much more notable to see how we affected the quarterback in the pass game and also were much more competitive on the ball in coverage. If any one thing would fix it, we would do the drill and fix it.. It's not the one thing, there's some new faces, guys are getting valuable reps, and we have to do it with consistency. In order to play good defense, you can't be doing it 60 out of 70 plays, you've got to hit at a higher clip then that."

That second half saw the Bears win more of their one on one matchups, which made more of a difference in Wilcox's mind than anything else.

"It was better execution," Wilcox said, "not a lot of new calls. There's really no magic in the calls, we've got to mix it up, whether it's bringing four, which four are we bringing, some secondary pressure, linebacker pressure, Bear front, even front, we had more one on one wins. The defensive line, especially the interior defensive line, as the game went on, had some more productive rushes."

Though he didn't produce any more tackles for loss, Wilcox praised Cam Goode's pass rushing ability, which he felt ramped up in the second half as well.

"I do think Cameron Goode," Wilcox said, "especially on Saturday night and throughout the season, has been a very impactful player. Cam has consistently impacted the game, especially in the pass game, making it hard on the offense, he's playing at a real high level right now."

At the end of the day, Wilcox was still not happy about the end result of Saturday.

"Nobody is okay with losing, we don't pat ourselves on the back for good effort," Wilcox said, "Good effort and toughness is expected, that's the price of admission. We expect to win, but we're also not going to sit around and feel sorry about ourselves because Washington State is coming in and they don't care about that, nobody does.

Injuries

Cal will likely be without Kuony Deng for a significant portion of their schedule, as Wilcox noted he'll be out for at least next week, then they'll reassess after the bye week

"Kuony will be out for the near future," Wilcox said, "it's significant enough that he'll be out again (Saturday), then we'll probably need to address it week to week."

The four guys who went out with injuries during the Washington game, Nikko Remigio, Damien Moore, Jake Tonges, and Stanley McKenzie are all probable to be back.

"It's too early to tell," Wilcox did note, "on Thursday we'll have a lot better idea, we anticipate those guys being back with us."

Garbers

Cal QB Chase Garbers is leading the conference in total offense, as this is the best football Wilcox has seen him play. That said, Wilcox does believe there's still progression left for his quarterback.

"I think Chase is playing the best football of his career and I think he can play even better. In the past three weeks," Wilcox said. "Chase has thrown the ball down the field and in the intermediate range more successfully than he did in the past. He ran the ball, scrambled and had some timely runs, I still think, and he would say the same, that there's a handful of plays where he could take the next step in converting and to help us score touchdowns."

On Wilcox's own injury, the Cal head coach noted he's looking to get back to normal and presumably off crutches as soon as possible.

"I'm aiming to set a record for rehabilitation," Wilcox deadpanned.

Wazzu

Cal welcomes a Washington State team who sports the same 1-3 record as the Bears, as Wilcox has taken note of some of their skill position players.

"They run the ball, they give you more elements in the run game," Wilcox said, "it's not the same as the Wazzu with coach Leach, it's different schematics. They've got a good back, a really good slot receiver, the quarterbacks are all a little bit different, they have a really good couple tackles, they give people issues."

On defense, the Cougars have forced 12 fumbles through four games, recovering six, as their defense running to the ball shows up on the tape.

"They're getting a lot of guys (to the ball)," Wilcox said, "they play hard and get to the ball. We talk about creating takeaways and effort to the ball is the first thing you can do. They had some timely opportunistic hits and takeaways."

The quarterback position is one to watch, as Jayden de Laura has been injured and Tennessee transfer Jarrett Guarantano has started in his stead, and Wilcox had praise for both signal-callers.

"Jayden de Laura, he's a little like a point guard," Wilcox said, "he's active and you see it even when the play isn't going, you see him bouncing around and he plays the game like a point guard, makes things happen. Jarrett, he's a little more of what you'd call traditional, big, tall, throws the ball down the field, has played a lot of college football, another talented guy."

Cal offensive lineman Ben Coleman has had a meteoric rise over the past year, going from backup to rotation player to Cal's starting left guard. The sophomore from Temecula has some family history at the position. His father, also Ben Coleman, donned the number 62 that the younger Coleman wears at guard between four different teams in the NFL. Cal's Coleman neve felt the pressure from his dad to play the sport growing up.

"I never felt it, especially growing up," Coleman noted, "he let me mold into the player I wanted to be. I played defense at first (at Cal) and he never pressured me to go back to the O-Line. I made that decision myself, because I wanted to fully embrace it, and when I was able to embrace it, he was able to help me and give tips. We watch film together, and the difference between high school and now is that he's had more of a dad perspective rather than a coach perspective."

That led to Coleman choosing to play football as opposed to being forced into the game, as the younger Coleman started to football more seriously as high school approached.

"He never had to push me," Coleman said, "I had to tell him when I was ready to take it serious, and t was around that late middle-school, early high school time that I told him I really wanted to take training serious, I wanted to take football serious. His reaction was 'let's go, let's do it.'"

Coleman noted that his dad wanted him to put his all into whatever he's doing, which led to a question of if he decided to train to be a chess master, would his father have supported him the same way.

"Would've been okay with it," Coleman said, "as long as I was doing something and giving my heart to it. I had to stay in school so there was no dropping out, but if I wanted to be a chess player, my dad would've wanted me to be the best one ever."

In the meantime, Coleman has been a part of a successful OL unit, one that is paving the way for 5.8 yards per carry and has allowed only 6 sacks through four games (after allowing 15 a year ago). The continuity has helped

"I feel good," Coleman said, "at home at left guard especiqally working with the same guys every week, I think that's been a key, being able to work with Will Craig and Matt Cindric. The more repetitions we get, the more we play, the more chemistry we gain."

At Cal, OLB Marqez Bimage is making a transition to a new position. The Texas transfer has excelled in his move to outside linebacker, with a TFL and fumble recovery in the Washington game. He's listed as a co-starter at the position with Kuony Deng out, and may get a start this weekend at a position he feels fits him.

"At the University of Texas I played more of a 4i," Bimage said, "we had a three man front, I didn't play in a four-man until the back end of my career at Texas. I feel more comfortable at this position, I feel like my body is more suited for it, and I feel like coach Heyward has really helped with that. Being able to stand up and let loose, be violent in more ways than I was when I played the 4i. Being in a two point stance as an outside linebacker gives me the leverage to make moves that I wouldn't be able to make playing a 4i."

"He's growing more comfortable in the scheme," Wilcox added, "he hasn't been here a long time, so knowing what to do, transitioning from a different system into here. He's a physical guy, he's got power, and he plays very hard."

The funny part is that Bimage wasn't even focused on football as his reason for coming to Berkeley. The former four-star recruit had turned his attention to applying to masters programs as he'd opted out of the 2020 season at Texas. Bimage applied to one school, Cal's masters in education program.

"I wanted to further my schooling and my education," Bimage said. "During the time I didn't play, I was in the admissions process and I applied to UC Berkeley. I did not apply to any other university in the country. I did a lot of research and found that this program was very unique. I wanted to further my education in education, specifically in the intersection between sport and education. After I found out I was accepted, I made the move. I had never once been to the Bay Area, I'm glad that I'm here. Then I decided I wanted to keep playing ball as well, I had some years left, and I'm happy to be here."

Bimage made the move to Berkeley in May, meeting with coaches in June in order to make his way onto the football team, and doesn't have a set idea of what he wants to do with his degree, like a 22 year old should. The lure of Cal's education, where the Texan didn't know anybody, made the difference.

"I didn't know anyone that went to Cal," Bimage said, "I solely did my research, I got in contact with, now my advisors, professors at Cal, letting them know my situation and my interest in the program, how I wanted to be involved, I ended up applying for the program and I was accepted."

Now Bimage, who has another year of eligibility beyond this one if he chooses to use it, will play an even bigger role in the Cal defense with his success and Deng's injury.