Category: Cal Bears

Cal football podcast with Morris Phillips: Modster looking to regroup against OSU

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bearinsider.com photo: Cal Bears defensive back Jaylinn Hawkins (6) and defensive back Erik Harutyunyan (26) got some joy before Oregon put the kibosh on the Bears happiness with a 17-7 win at Oregon on Saturday.

On the Cal football podcast with Morris Phillips:

#1 Another tough loss for Cal quarterback David Modster, who threw two picks. How much did the turnover play a role in the lack of offense against Oregon?

#2 How tough of a role was it for Modster to step into throwing 17-34, 190 yards and one touchdown.

#3 Knowing head coach Justin Wilcox, he really wanted to set up some kind of rally down 10 points to get back into this game. How uphill was his game plan to execute?

#4 Oregon is noted for its tough defense and they succeeded with holding Cal to just a touchdown. Talk about how the Ducks were able to stop the run?

#5 Oregon State comes to Cal Saturday Oct 19th. There’s no doubt that Modster wants to avoid the interception and get the scoring up. How much of a workload does he have this Saturday?

Morris Phillips does Cal podcasts every Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Cal fades late in classic defensive struggle with No. 13 Oregon, lose 17-7

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By Morris Phillips

Cal’s heralded defense knew it had to be good Saturday night. Oregon’s defense quietly thought it could be that much better.

In a meeting of Pac-12 contenders, the Bears shut out quarterback Justin Herbert and the Ducks for nearly three quarters. But Oregon was even stingier, limiting Cal to 12 first downs and a touchdown in the first quarter.

Lifted by their defense, the Ducks came from behind in a 17-7 win that was hard earned as they come.

“These guys hold themselves to a high standard,” said Oregon coach Mario Cristobal of his defensive unit. “They’ve really established that amongst themselves in the locker room, through the way we walk, and the way we practice. All of us feel that we continue to elevate the status of our defense, and it’s exciting to watch.”

Devon Modster started fast in place of the injured Chase Garbers and was significantly better than his relief appearance against  Arizona State. But after the early scoring pass to Christopher Brown Jr., the Ducks pass rush quickened, and they methodically erased Cal’s receivers. The Bears were hurt significantly by the in-game injury to experienced center Michael Saffell that caused the line to shuffle.

“I thought (Modster) handled himself really well,” Cal coach Justin Wilcox said. “There were a couple of throws in there that he can make that we didn’t quite connect on, but I thought he was calm and his demeanor was good. I think he’s going to keep improving the more he plays.”

The Bears were hurt by two missed field goals by senior Greg Thomas, the second with fewer than four minutes remaining and Cal trailing by 10. But defensively, the Bears were as good as advertised, shutting out the Ducks in the first half, which hadn’t happened to the home team at Autzen Stadium since 2004.

Ashtyn Davis had a critical, red zone interception in the first half, Kuony Deng and Luc Bequette piled up the tackles as the Ducks attempted to move star linebacker Evan Weaver away from the path of the plays they ran. Camryn Bynum was outstanding in pass coverage for the Bears as well. But once, the Ducks got their big breakthrough with Cyrus Habibi-Likio’s short touchdown run to give Oregon their first lead, 10-7 with 1:38 remaining in the third quarter.

 

Cal Bears football podcast with Morris Phillips: Will Garbers be ready for Oregon this Saturday?

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from sfgate.com: Chase Garbers #7 of the California Golden Bears throws a 16 yard touchdown pass against the Arizona State Sun Devils during the first quarter of an NCAA football game at California Memorial Stadium on September 27, 2019 in Berkeley, California.

On the Cal Bears podcast with Morris:

#1 Talk about how bad the shoulder is for quarterback Chase Garbers. Will he be able to play against the Oregon Ducks this Saturday?

#2 ASU head coach Herm Edwards is a miracle worker of sorts. He’s got the Sun Devils believing in themselves and they beat 15th ranked Cal 24-17 and have improved to 4-1.

#3 It’s been an improved year for Cal in spite of the loss to ASU, they lost by a touchdown, and this season, what improvements that the Bears have done have been the most impressive?

#4 It was a game that saw the score tied after each of the three quarters. The Bears had home field, was it a matter of time ran out for Cal or ASU looked like they would squeak this one out?

#5 Cal now heads to Oregon to face the Ducks, who defeated Stanford in their last 21-6. The Ducks have Justin Herbert at quarterback who threw 19-24 for 259 yards and three touchdowns, Herbert and the Ducks could be a handful next Saturday?

Morris does the Cal podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

With Garbers lost to injury, ASU seizes an opportunity with big 24-17 upset win over No. 15 Cal

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, Calif. — By the numbers, Friday Night Lights in the Pac-12 conference has been pretty predictable.

Fifteen games, 13 wins for the home team.

But if you throw a veteran coach with the pedigree of Herm Edwards into the mix, the task of going on the road–against a good team–on a short week gains some clarity.

It did for Arizona State, and the task became even clearer when Cal quarterback Chase Garbers was felled with a shoulder injury.

“We forced them to throw the ball. We had to put our best guys on their guys and go cover them,” Edwards said.

“We’re playing the 15th ranked team on the road. You can’t be afraid to win. We had nothing to lose. The pressure was on them.”

In a tight ballgame that was tied after each of the first three quarters, the Sun Devils didn’t flinch. With the exception of the opening drive of the second half, the Cal running game was shut down. Garbers kept the Bears churning, throwing a 16-yard touchdown pass to Treveon Clark, but he was finished before halftime after he was tripped up and fell hard on shoulder.

The wopening drive of the second half provided momentum for Cal. They ran the ball on all 12 plays, played at a faster pace, and took a 14-7 lead on Christopher Brown Jr.’s 1-yard run.

But Arizona State answered right back, first with a big kickoff return from Brandon Aiyuk that was aided by a 15-yard penalty on Jose Ogunbanjo for grabbing Aiyuk’s face mask. Seven plays later, the Sun Devils were tied again after Benjamin Eno’s touchdown run.

Ogunbanjo gained some redemption when he recovered ASU quarterback Jayden Daniels fumble forced by linebacker Cameron Goode. That set up the Bears at the ASU 30-yard line with 11:58 remaining. But the Bears did little offensively, settling for Greg Thomas’ 47-yard field goal.

The field goal and the 17-14 lead would be Cal’s final push of the evening. Behind the running of Benjamin, ASU responded, turning a 15-play drive into a 21-17 lead with 6:16 remaining. Benjamin challenged himself and his offensive mates on the sideline prior to the drive.

“They don’t have their starting quarterback,” Benjamin told his teammates. “We have to take advantage of it.”

The Sun Devils registered back-to-back road upsets of ranked teams in nearly 15 years by beating the Bears, and No. 18 Michigan State two weeks ago. Edwards declared that being the visitor took the pressure off his team in both cases.

“When it’s a one-score game, you’re comfortable being uncomfortable,” Edwards said of his team’s mindset.

Afterwards, the Bears pointed to their lack of effort as the difference in the game.

“Can’t play very well and can’t win games when you’re not even making the simple plays, and we didn’t today. That was it,” said linebacker and defensive leader Evan Weaver.

The Bears failed to move to 5-0 for the first time since 2015. They travel to Oregon next week for a meeting with the No. 13 Ducks.

Garbers enjoys his best game, Cal improves to 4-0 with 28-20 win over Ole Miss

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By Morris Phillips

This time the concern wasn’t a slow start, or an overconfident finish. The Bears survived the heat, and the early, Eastern time zone kickoff and played with the lead throughout.

But in a game this close, something had to set the Bears apart, it may have been how they caught their second wind, and smoothly transitioned into the second half. A 14-13 halftime score grew to a 28-13 Cal lead in a matter of minutes, enough for the Bears to hold on for a 28-20 victory over Ole Miss, the first time a Pac-12 school has gone to SEC country and emerged with a win since Oregon won at Tennessee in 2010.

“We talked about some things schematically on both sides, but it was really a matter of execution,” head coach Justin Wilcox said. “I think it’s a little bit over stated, but the offense came out and had a great drive, and the defense got a couple three-and-outs back-to-back. But the middle of the game, second, and third quarters, the defense played better.”

Cal’s defense forced three, empty Mississippi possessions in the third quarter. Still trailing by 15, the Rebels put together a 14-play drive, but saw that squandered when Luke Logan missed a 29-yard field goal with 9:30 remaining.

Chase Garbers keyed the Cal attack with 357 yards passing and four touchdowns. Garbers threw a pick with Cal leading 14-10 in the second quarter. That was his first turnover since the opener against UC Davis, and it allowed the Rebels to climb closer with a second quarter field goal. But Garbers responded, throwing touchdowns less than three minutes apart in the third quarter.

The Bears operated for the most part without a power running attack with Christopher Brown Jr. and Marcel Dancy combining for 20 carries and fewer than 60 yards rushing. But Garbers made the offensive imbalance less noticeable by completing nearly half of his 24 completions for more than 10 yards, and completing passes to nine teammates in the process.

Wilcox eluded to the total, roster effort in assessing the win afterwards. The head coach also hinted to injuries mounted throughout the roster, an issue that the Bears overcame by contributions from numerous players.

“The guys who are banged up, we have to work to get healthy, and these other guys have to keep growing with the reps they are getting,” Wilcox said.

Mississippi quarterback Matt Corral led an attack that amassed 525 yards in offense and didn’t commit a turnover. But the Rebels lost Corral in the fourth quarter to a rib injury, and couldn’t realize a game-changing play. With backup John Rhys Plumlee seeing the first action of his college career, the Rebels pulled within 28-20. But a game-ending drive to possibly tie the game died on the one-yard line when Elijah Moore caught a pass and was stopped at the one-yard line, then on the next play, Plumlee’s rush up the middle was stuffed by Cal’s Evan Weaver.

Weaver came up with 22 tackles, bettering his career-best effort at Washington two weeks ago. Weaver has made at least 10 tackles 11 times in his Cal career. Mississippi’s fast start that netted 10 points on their first three possessions, frequently targeted Cal’s outside backers, who were integrating some new pieces. But the unit held up in subsequent Ole Miss possessions, keeping Cal from being forced to make schematic changes.

“The young guys know what they’re doing,” Weaver said. “They’ve been through camp, they’ve been here a few years. They got in and played great. They did a great job. A few miscues like I said, but nothing we can’t fix with film.”

The Bears attempt to realize a 5-0 start to the season on Friday when Arizona State visits Berkeley in a 7:30 pm start.

John Ralston (1927-2019) once coached the SJSU Spartans

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Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By Ana Kieu

John Ralston was one of the San Francisco Bay Area’s most popular and beloved college and professional sports figures and passed away peacefully in Sunnyvale, Calif., on September 14, 2019.

Ralston’s impact on the Bay Area sports scene spanned 60 years from his days as a linebacker on the 1947 through 1950 University of California, Berkeley football teams playing for legendary coach Lynn “Pappy” Waldorf” into the 21st century as a special assistant to the athletics director at San Jose State University.

HIS FOOTBALL COACHING CAREER: Ralston was best known as a football coach with a positive approach to life that took Utah State University, Stanford University and the Denver Broncos to unprecedented success.

Ralston began his coaching career as an assistant football coach at San Lorenzo (Calif.) High in 1953 and spent two seasons at Mt. Diablo High before returning to Cal. He returned to the University of California in 1956 as an assistant football coach and was on the staff for the 1958 Golden Bears’ team that played in the 1959 Rose Bowl.

Ralston was the head coach at Utah State (1959-62), Stanford (1963-71), Denver Broncos (1972-76), Oakland Invaders (1983-84) and San Jose State (1993-96). Combining his college and pro head coaching records, his teams amassed a 140-126-7 win-loss record.

Ralston’s Utah State teams played in the 1960 Sun Bowl and 1961 Gotham Bowl and his Stanford squads won consecutive Pacific 8 Conference championships and Rose Bowls following the 1970 and 1971 regular seasons. The Broncos’ first winning season in franchise history was in 1973, his second as a NFL head coach.

Ralston’s coaching tree included former NFL head coaches the late Bill Walsh, Dick Vermeil, Jim Mora, Sr., Mike White, the late Rod Rust, the late Jack Christiansen and college head coaches the late Roger Theder, the late Tony Knap, Ed Peasley and Rubin Carter.

Ralston’s best-known players included 1970 Heisman Trophy winner Jim Plunkett at Stanford and Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive lineman Merlin Olsen at Utah State.

MORE THAN A FOOTBALL COACH: Ralston’s football experiences extended beyond coaching players and his assistants. He was the Broncos’ general manager and head coach. He was a Philadelphia Eagles assistant coach to Vermeil in 1978. He was the vice president of the San Francisco 49ers during the 1979 and 1980 seasons. He was the president of the Portland Breakers in 1984 and 1985.

Ralston scouted for the Seattle Seahawks in 1988 and 1989 and served three years — 1990 through 1992 — as the coordinator for Operation Discovery, a search for foreign-born football players of the World League of American Football. His search took him to the Soviet Union and a short-lived position as head coach of the Moscow Bears, the U.S.S.R’s first pro football team.

Ralston, a one-time Dale Carnegie Courses instructor, also served as an administrator for Major League Volleyball, a pro women’s volleyball league, and the general manager of the Sacramento Capitols team tennis franchise.

Ralston, a Oakland, Calif. native, was born on April 26, 1927, and spent parts of his youth in Norway, Michigan. He graduated from the University of California in 1951.

A World War II veteran, Ralston served in the Marine Corps, achieving the rank of corporal. He was stationed mainly on the S.S. Little Rock in the South Pacific.

SOME HONORS & ACCOLADES: Ralston’s lengthy list of accolades includes induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1992, the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 1996, the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in 1997, the San Jose Hall of Fame in 2001; and the Sports Halls of Fame for San Jose State, Stanford and Utah State.

As a coach, Ralston was named Stanford’s “Coach of the Century” when the university celebrated its centennial anniversary of football in 1991 and the 1973 United Press International’s American Football Conference “Coach of the Year” in his second season with the Broncos.

Ralston is survived by his daughter, Terry (Ralston) Zaffonato, four grandsons, two granddaughters, and one great granddaughter. He was predeceased by his wife of 46 years, Patty (Ward) Ralston; a son, Larry; a daughter, Sherry (Ralston) Brown, the twin sister of Terry; and Virginia Fanelli, his life partner following the passing of Patty.

A celebration of life for Ralston will be announced in the near future.

Cutting It Close: Bears happy to be 3-0, but not happy with narrow, 23-16 win over North Texas

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, Calif. — Winning is what it’s all about, but this early in the season, improvement is almost as important.

The Cal Bears jumped to a 20-0 lead over Conference USA opponent North Texas, which was exactly what they wanted after falling behind 10-0 in each of their previous wins.

But after punts on four, consecutive second half possessions, the Bears had to sweat out a final possession by North Texas with the Mean Green having a chance to win it with a touchdown.

“We have to play a lot better,” quarterback Chase Garbers said. “It starts with me. I just have to put ball in the right spot. Everywhere else we just have to execute better.”

Garbers may have given himself a harsh assessment, but he was a big factor in the win, carrying the ball a career-high 18 times for 70 yards. Where Garbers didn’t necessarily get it done was in the pass game, where he completed just 9 of 22 passes for 129 yards and a touchdown.

And the Bears managed just 17 first downs and 278 yards of total offense. Not enough to extend their second quarter lead, and not enough to put North Texas away early.

“Our guys play hard and the effort’s really good. Now the level of execution’s gotta match that for us to do what we want to do,” coach Justin Wilcox said. “We’re not there yet.”

Defensively, the Bears did what they intended for the majority of the game. North Texas senior quarterback Mason Fine threw for two scores, but both came in the second half, and a critical interception by Cal’s Traveon Beck was sandwiched in between the scores. Fine threw for 210 yards, but misfired on 19 of his 40 pass attempts.

“You have to credit Cal,” Fine said. “They did a great job defensively, mixed it up and didn’t let us drive it. They made the plays.”

Cal went the final three quarters scoring just three points, and while they flatlined offensively, injuries may have played a critical role. Christopher Brown Jr., Cameron Goode, Tevin Paul, Ben Hawk Shrider and Chinedu Udeogu all suffered in-game injuries and didn’t finish. Brown, the Bears’ most, productive offensive player thus far rushed for just 47 yards on 13 carries.

The Bears travel to Oxford, Mississippi on Saturday for a date with Ole Miss.

Headline Sports podcast with Barbara Mason: A’s going for the gusto in big series in Houston; Giants can play for pride and prospects at this point; plus more

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Photo credit: orovillemr.com

On the Headline Sports podcast with Barbara Mason:

#1 The Oakland A’s always have their plate full when they go to Houston for a four-game series, and this series is no different, the A’s need each one of these games to keep pace in the AL wild card.

#2 The San Francisco Giants just want to win their games for prides sake. They have battled one of the NL’s best the Los Angeles Dodgers and took two out of three from them in LA. For a team that is struggling and out of the wild card race, a great effort by the Giants.

#3 The Oakland Raiders played in Denver on Monday Night Football, but the overshadowing story is how they let their big fish wide receiver Antonio Brown go and who turned around and signed with New England but as karma would have it Brown was accused of rape by his trainer in Florida and is on suspension until the NFL concludes it’s investigation. Brown has stated that he will countersue his accuser for civil extortion.

#4 The San Francisco 49ers got a key win on opening week in Tampa Bay. The Niners defense forced four turnovers and Kwon Alexander who was ejected for a personal foul going helmet to helmet on Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston got the game ball.

#5 The Cal Bears took the Washington Huskies by storm after a 2 1/2 hour delay. The Bears and Huskies played back and forth football until 1:30 in the morning and the Bears edged the Huskies out with eight seconds left in the game on a Greg Thomas field goal to win it 20-19.

Headline Sports with Barbara is heard every Tuesday night at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Cal Bears Saturday game recap: Electrifying win for Cal 20-19 at UW; 1250 lighting strikes delays game for 2 1/2 hours

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photo from bearinsider.com: The Cal Bears quarterback Chase Garbers (7) in the shot gun sets up the offense with audibles in the Bears second consecutive win for the season at Husky Stadium in Seattle.

By Jerry Feitelberg

1250 lighting strikes was all it took to hold up the second game of the season between the visiting Cal Bears and the Washington Huskies at Husky Stadium in Seattle on Saturday night. The 2 1/2 hour delay restarted the first quarter of play around 10:30pm and the game ended around 1:30 am. The Huskies had a 14-point spread coming into the contest, but with 15% of the crowd staying after the delay, the Bears were able to take advantage of a quieter stadium and edged the Huskies 22-21.

The loss marked the end to the Huskies’ 15-home game win streak. The Bears put the ball through the uprights for the win and a 17-yard field goal for the one point winner. Earlier with the Huskies up 19-17 with just second to the two minute warning Patrick Henry booted a 49 yard field goal. The Bears got that second wind and answered back marching the ball to the Washington 17 and with eight seconds left got the game-winning field goal from Greg Thomas for the win.

Husky Stadium is a house of horrors. No team has won there in 15 straight home games, and for the Huskies, it was a set of different circumstances with the lighting and mother nature taking the crowd out of it and that it all changed. It was a see-saw game to begin with. In the second quarter at 14:57, the Huskies kicker Patrick Henry kicked a 36-yarder to put Washington on the scoreboard 3-0. At 7:59 Salvon Amhed rushed for 21 yards to put UW on top 10-0.

The Bears got on the scoreboard with a field goal from Thomas that made it 10-3 Washington at 3:43. In the third quarter, the Bears Marcel Duncy would score twice. He rushed for a 20 yards at 11:56 to tie the game up at 10-10. At 5:50, Patrick Henry booted a 21-yard field goal that put the Huskies back on top 13-10. Still, in the third quarter, Duncy got the ball for an eight-yard rush to get Cal back on top with 50 seconds left in the quarter for a 17-13 lead.

In fourth quarter action, the Huskies’ Henry kicked a 25-yarder at 7:10 to make it a 17-16 contest and the Huskies regained the lead 19-17 at 2:09 when Henry booted a 49-yard field goal. It was all for naught as the Bears quickly marched down field with under two minutes left in the game and got in field goal position for Thomas to boot the game winner for a 20-19 victory with eight seconds left in the game.

The Bears quarterback Chase Garber threw for 111 yards and the Huskies quarterback Jason Eason threw for 162 yards and one interception.

Headline Sports podcast with Barbara Mason: Cal and Stanford get opening day wins; 49ers open in Tampa Bay and Raiders host Denver on MNF; plus more

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Photo credit: mercurynews.com

On the Headline Sports podcast with Barbara:

#1 For the Cal Bears, getting a victory on opening day last Saturday was an important way to start the 2019 season with a win over UC Davis at Memorial Stadium and what a way to start with running back Christopher Brown Jr. rushing for 197 yards to help lead the team to a 27-13 win.

#2 The Stanford Cardinal defeated Northwestern, but the Cardinal lost their starting quarterback during the game when KJ Costello took a forearm to the head. The Cardinal hung onto win it 17-7. Costello could muster only one strong drive before the injury. The Cardinal are on the road next week to face the USC Trojans next Saturday.

#3 The San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo took Thursday Night Football off last week and the 49ers went with three quarterbacks: Nick Mullins, CJ Beathard, and Nick Speight. Speight and Beathard both saw the most time in the game with Mullens resting. Is that an indication that Nick Mullens, who saw limited time will be the backup, and head coach Kyle Shanahan wants to see if Beathard or Speight will fill the third-string spot?

#4 The Oakland Raiders look as if they had a very solid preseason winning three of their four games. Raider head coach Jon Gruden said he’s happy with the progress of backup quarterbacks Nathan Peterman (out with elbow injury) and Mike Glennon who he’ll really depend on if starting quarterback Derek Carr ever needs a rest.

#5 The Oakland A’s are hosting the LA Angels and Detroit Tigers this week at the Oakland Coliseum. The A’s are 1/2 game back in the AL wild card behind second place Cleveland. It could go right down to the wire for a chance of a wild card birth.

Join Barbara for Headline Sports each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com