Cal (2-0) is moving on from its big 21-14 win over Auburn on Saturday and now will wrap up the first portion of the nonconference schedule with a home game against San Diego State (1-1).
Tuesday, Bears head coach Justin Wilcox met with reporters for his weekly press conference to share his final thoughts on the road victory over the weekend, provide updates on his injured players and the quarterback position plus more.
Here is a full transcript of everything the eighth-year head coach said ahead of the Bears' final game before the start of conference play.
Are you still planning to go with two quarterbacks?
Fernando (Mendoza) will be our starting quarterback. We think Chandler can do some good things to help our team, and as he did last game, having a big first down. But, Fernando has done a really good job. Obviously last week, especially in the first half, was incredibly efficient, and I'm still really bullish on that room. I think those guys are good football players and can help us win.
Are you planning to play Chandler?
I mean, a lot of things happen during games. We planned on Chandler, honestly, going in earlier last week, and then Fernando was 19 of 21 in the first half. So we changed. I understand the question, but this is a dynamic environment we're living in. A lot of things can happen. Fernando did a heck of a job, and we're really glad that Chandler's on our team.
You guys are coming off, I'm sure an emotional win, a great win for you guys. Do you have any concerns at all about your team being up and ready to go for the next game?
I don't have that concern. All we gotta do is turn on the tape and look at the things that we can get better at, and there's a lot of them. I'm very proud of how the team competed as a whole. I thought it took every phase — offense, defense and special teams. A lot of players contributed, and really the competitiveness and how the team played together was apparent last Saturday. And, that's a great thing, but there's a lot that we can improve upon. So really all we have to do is turn on the tape, which we did coming back off that game, and see the areas where we can improve. So I I'm not concerned about that. We have a lot of self-aware guys who are motivated to get better.
What are the areas in particular that you need to get better?
Well, I mean, there's a lot of them. We've gotta by position, but I think the first thing, pre-snap, we gotta be better pre-snap, especially offensively. In that environment, we had too many pre-snap issues, whether it was snap count, cadence, silent, the snaps themselves, we had a few too many busts there. So we can be much better pre-snap. Even on defense, we had a couple plays where we were not either lined up correctly or missed a motion, and that hurt us. So I think we can be much better pre-snap. And then you go through each position group and find plenty of areas where we can improve. Obviously, the game this past weekend, the turnovers, the takeaways were huge. We protected the ball on offense. Didn't give them one, and we took the ball away five times. That and the field position, the two most important critical factors in the game, but there's plenty of room for everybody to get better.
Are you a little concerned that the field advantage and the possession advantage that you had through the turnovers didn't result in more than 21 points, more than a seven-point margin of victory?
I think that's safe to say. I think we did what we had to do to get the victory, which is great. But, yeah, if you take the ball away five times, and I think our average starting field position was right around the minus-40 or minus-41, we've got to get more points. And, we left six out there on field goals. We still feel confident in our field goal unit and our kicker, but we gotta score more touchdowns. And, I think when you look at the tape and we go back and kind of assess what we did well and things that we need to improve upon. There's still more points to be had.
Is there much concern with the snapping? It seemed like the snaps were off a significant portion of the game. How does that get addressed?
We gotta have on-target snaps. It gets addressed with practice and repetition and continuing to work through that pre-practice, during practice, post-practice, as much as we possibly can so we get on-target snaps.
Can you talk a little bit about health? You've got Tobias (Merriweather) and Kyion (Grayes) and (Sioape) Vatikani and (David) Reese and a bunch of key guys that either haven't played at all or have been really limited. Anybody expected to be back this week?
Kyion and Tobias will be week to week at this point. They will not be playing this week. Sioape, Will McDonald ... doubtful for this week. We're hopeful we can get them back next week. David Reese, probable for this week. But, these things change kind of day to day. It's treatment, how they're feeling, how their healing is going. It's between the players and the trainers and the doctors getting cleared, making sure that they're healthy and able to go, and so it kind of changes by the day. But the ones I gave you, that's the most current update on all those guys.
Did you think going into the season that you would have the depth to withstand so many injuries, and how important has it been to have so many players step up?
The injuries have been an issue. It's an unfortunate part of the game. You hear me say that all the time. Having four guys down on offense, four starters down, and then Jaydn not really available for the game, no, that's it's not ideal. But, I'm really proud of the guys that stepped up. Bastian Swinney can do some things better, but, man, his flexibility and his performance in the game, he's shown improvement, and really proud of him. Nyziah Hunter. We've talked about him over and over. He's taking the opportunities that he's gotten and made the most of them, and other guys are doing that as well. So that's what this is all about, and getting guys prepared so when their time comes, that they are ready to go and put their best foot forward.
You mentioned Jaydn, what's his status for this Saturday night? And, to take it a step further, as great as Jaydn has been, you can make a case that the five games in which he played that you won last year, he was maybe, if not the main reason you won, certainly one of the main reasons. How satisfying is it to have beaten Auburn at Auburn without Jaydn making a major contribution?
I think it just kind of shows you what the team's made of. Obviously, Jaydn's a fantastic player, very important player to us, but I thought the Jet (Jaivian Thomas) did an excellent job. Had a huge run, had a couple catches, and he just did a really, really nice job. Proud of him. We were hoping to get Jaydn back as soon as possible. He's day to day at this point. I know that he wants to play, and we'll see where he's at each day this week, and as we lead up to game day. If he's not able to go, then we'll roll with the guys that are available. Like I keep saying, Jet's another great example of a guy making the most of his opportunities. And, the guys on the team trust him, so I think that's big and really proud of him.
We talked about this before the season, but you've taken one of your four really long trips you're going to have this year. How do you think the Auburn experience sort of prepared your players for the grind that they're going to have with all the travel?
It went great. We practiced on Thursday. We had a really good practice, and then we were looking for military efficiency in how fast we got out of here. So they went in and got the fastest shower they could. We got on the plane and took off as fast as we could, so we could get out there. I thought the travel, the hotel, the meetings, the walkthrough Friday walkthrough, they handled exceptionally well. And, it was great for our team, and so we are embracing these opportunities to go on the road and go to these different venues. It's a great test for us, and we welcome it. So I'm really proud of the way the team managed that whole weekend. Then it's about coming back as fast as we can, gettin' our sleep, so we can get back at it this week.
You mention Jaivian. He had a really scary incident last year at Oregon, and then we didn't see him for a while, which made sense. How is he a different player, and how has he overcome that? Because that could shake a lot of guys.
It was a scary moment, no doubt about it. He really came back and was full speed ahead. He's a very tough guy. He's very competitive. He loves playing. I think he loves being an important part of the team, and I think he relishes that. So I don't want to speak for him, I can't pretend to know exactly what he was feeling through all of that, but he did a heck of a job coming back and had a great offseason. He's put weight on. He's not the biggest guy in the world, but he's tough. He'll stick his face in there against guys that are much bigger than him, whether it's running the ball or in protection. So I really appreciate what he's done, and looking forward to him getting more and more opportunities.
If I can ask you real quick about their running back, Marquez Cooper. I think he's the leading active rusher in college football. What do you see when you watch him that makes him so effective?
He's entered the season with 3,856 yards, I think is the number. All-conference player multiple times. He's just a really good back. The guy's super productive. He runs, he catches, he can break tackles, he can make people miss. He's just a very, very good football player all around. And you don't get 4,000 yards by accident. So he's a he's an excellent player.
Is there any player that maybe didn't fill up the stat sheet on Saturday that when you went back and watched the tape was super impressive to you with how they played?
Defensively, I thought Craig Woodson. I mean, he had stats, he had tackles, he played well. Ryan McCulloch really was impactful certain moments during the game, which was great. I thought Miles Williams, coming off a game where he didn't tackle real well, had three really big tackles. The first play of the game, open field against a talented guy. We talked about the punter and the field position. We actually had opportunities to have two more inside the 5-yard line that we didn't capitalize on for one reason or another, but I thought the punter was was huge.
There's been quite a bit of attention for the team after Saturday whether within the fan base or out. What's it been like on campus since the win, and how important is it to harness or capitalize on the buzz you guys are building right now?
Getting a victory down there was was huge, we know that. They're hard to come by, and especially in an environment like that. So I'm really proud of the team. It should build confidence with our players and our team. It should validate the work they put in. Then the humility that we all need to have that we need to get better. You kind of talk about whatever the buzz and this and that. We're at practice. I want the players to learn from every experience and understand that if they work really hard and we go out and perform, that we'll have a chance to play well and win a lot of games. But, we can't stay the same. We've gotta get better and better throughout the season, and they know that. I know that, and so it's not hard to be motivated come Sunday morning when you come back.
A couple plays that were really key that didn't go your way. The first touchdown for Auburn where they ruled that the receiver was forced out. And, then what could have been a game-ending pick by Nohl. Very little contact on either of those plays. Did you get any explanation about why those calls when that way?
No. I asked during the game. On the the first one, they said he was forced out of bounds. That's what the officials had told me. Then late in the game, they called the PI on Nohl. I don't have any comment on that.
With Marcus's targeting call where he was ejected, did you get any explanation on that one? Did they say it was around the neck and head area?
Yes, that's what they had told me.
So Marcus, does he have to sit out the first half then?
Correct.
Tell me what you're seeing with their freshman quarterback, Danny O'Neil. He's the first true freshman to ever start their opening game. He was a pretty dynamic player in high school, and he's come on to win the job as a freshman. What are you seeing in him?
Really impressive for a young guy to do that so quickly. He's from the Midwest, if I remember correctly, really good high school player. Really good. I don't know how much you guys know about Coach (Sean) Lewis. He's an excellent coach. I mean, really good football coach. He has been for a long time. I've known about him for a while. Out at Kent State, prolific offensively. Very disciplined teams, and he knows what he's doing with the that offense and that quarterback. So, he's impressive for a young guy like that, and I'm sure every time he touches the field he gets a little better and better. So we'll need to be really sharp this weekend in every phase of the game against these guys.
