The Stanford Cardinal wide receiver Emmett Mosely V (right) takes the ball on the run against Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker Kyngstonn Vilamu-Asa (27) at Notre Dame Stadium on Sat Oct 12, 2024 (AP News photo)
On the Stanford Cardinal podcast with Michael Roberson:
#1 When Stanford battled the Notre Dame Fighting Irish they had a hard time containing Irish quarterback Riley Leonard who threw three touchdowns and rushed for a touchdown as No.11 Notre Dame crushed Stanford 49-7.
#2 Leonard also went 16-22 for 229 yards, rushing six times for 31 yards and a touchdown.
#3 The game was delayed an hour due to lightning in the area and Leonard was replaced by back up quarterback Steven Angeli who was 2-5 for 19 yards. Leonard did most of the damage under center for Notre Dame.
#4 The Fighting Irish shutdown offense with eight tackles, four sacks and recovered a fumble. Those turnovers hurt the Cardinal most and Notre Dame were just running away with the game.
#5 It doesn’t get any easier as Stanford face the SMU Mustangs who are 5-1. The Mustangs have won three straight games and defeated the Louisville Cardinals last Saturday 34-27. The Mustangs have an offense they landslided TCU on Sep 21st 66-42. Michael how do you see this match with SMU and Stanford this Saturday on the Farm.
For Cal, the margin of loss again was small. But the totality of mistakes and penalties were bigger than coach Justin Wilcox could tolerate.
“I’m not sure you ever go through a game perfectly, but we don’t have the margin for error to play bad football from time to time and expect to win against a Top 25 team,” Wilcox said of Cal’s 12 penalties that left his Bears on the short end of a 17-15 loss at Pittsburgh. “Nobody feels sorry for us. Those are things we have to fix. If we do that, than we can win these one-score games.”
Cal’s resourceful 3-0 start to the season has dissolved into a three-game conference losing streak with an aggregate loss total of eight points. At Acrisure Stadium on Saturday afternoon, the Bears shut out the host Panthers for the final 40 minutes but couldn’t regain a lead at any point.
“If we were able to take the lead, I felt good about our defense stopping them,” Wilcox said. “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to do that.”
Cal’s counter to Pitt’s surprising 5-0 start that now has them at 6-0 for the first time since 1982 in the glory days of Dan Marino and Hugh Green should have been the story. Prolific Pitt quarterback Eli Holstein was forced into a defensive posture as Cal added to their nationally-leading interception total of 13 with picks by Nohl Williams and Cam Sidney.
“That’s a great defense we played right there,” Holstein said. “They played every coverage in the book. They gave me different looks. It was hard to tell what they were playing in certain situations.”
Games aren’t normally decided on the first play of the second quarter, but ultimately, this one was. Coach Pat Narduzzi rolled the dice and elected to attempt a fourth down conversion on his side of the field. A handoff to Desmond Reid was the perfect call as the speedy back went 72 yards untouched against Cal’s unbalanced set.
That was Reid’s second scoring run and put the Panthers up 14-6. A few minutes later, they would increase their lead to 17-6 on Ben Sauls booming, 58-yard field goal.
Fernando Mendoza played well with 27 of 37 passing for 272 yards. But his offensive line again incurred critical penalties that stopped drives and limited Cal’s scoring. With Cal’s defense in control for the vast majority of the game, Mendoza and the offense could only muster Ryan Coe’s 39-yard field goal in the third quarter, and Jack Endries 19-yard scoring catch with 10:30 remaining.
Twice Cal failed to convert two-point conversions, including backup quarterback Chandler Rogers rushing attempt that was stuffed after Endries score.
Jaivian Thomas got the majority of Cal’s rushing attempts as Jadyn Ott was scratched before the game due to lingering ankle issues. Thomas opened the scoring with a 21-yard run in the first quarter.
The Bears return to Berkeley for Homecoming and a meeting with North Carolina State on Saturday. At 0-3 in the ACC, the Bears won’t earn a championship game appearance in their first year in the new conference. But they do figure to be favored in all of their remaining games, which could lead them to a significant bowl game invitation.
For Pitt, a day dangerously thin on offense but propped up with their best defensive effort of the season stood up. Far from what Narduzzi would have preferred and less than the subdued, nervous home crowd wanted, but it worked.
“I don’t know if there’s ever been a perfect game,” Narduzzi said. “I wish. We strive for perfection and take excellence. It’s never going to be perfect. There’s too many scholarship athletes out there.”
All fans could do was wait for the lightning bolts to simmer down before resuming the game between Stanford Cardinal and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium in Notre Dame IN on Sat Oct 12, 2024 (AP News photo)
By Daniel Dullum
Saturday, October 12, 2024
Notre Dame scored 49 unanswered points Saturday, as the No. 11-ranked Fighting Irish rolled past Stanford 49-7 in non-conference football before 77,622 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Ind.
Play was interrupted at the start of the fourth quarter as inclement weather with lightning passed through the area. The game was held up for one hour before resuming at 7:10 p.m. local time.
Notre Dame gained 477 yards in total offense, while the Cardinal gained 200. The Fighting Irish had the edge in first downs 24-14 and converted three fourth down plays and converted 6 of 11 third downs.
The Cardinal (2-5 overall, 1-2 ACC) scored first when Justin Lamson ran in front of one yard out. After Emmet Kenney added the extra point at 6:49 of the first quarter, it was all Notre Dame.
Riley Leonard’s 6-yard touchdown run out of the shotgun with 1:27 to play in the opening quarter tied the game at 7-7. The Irish (5-1 overall) went ahead to stay when Leonard completed a 15-yard scoring pass to Jayden Thomas at 7:46 of the second quarter.
With 1:11 to play in the first half, Leonard’s 5-yard TD pass to Kris Mitchell gave Notre Dame a 21-7 lead at the break.
The second half started with an ominous tone for the Cardinal when Tiger Bachmeier bobbled the kickoff at his own 3-yard-line. Three minutes later, Jadarian Price ran 16 yards for a Notre Dame touchdown.
Jeremiyah Love ran 39 yards up the middle for the next Irish touchdown at 6:49 of the third quarter. Five minutes and 20 seconds later, Notre Dame extended its lead to 42-7 on a 5-yard TD pass from Leonard to Eli Raridon.
The Fighting Irish wrapped up the scoring with a 19-yard touchdown run by Aneyas Williams at 9:17 of the fourth quarter.
Leonard completed 16 of 22 passes for 229 yards and three touchdowns and no interceptions. Love rushed for 52 yards on six carries, and Price gained 49 yards on 12 carries. Mitchell and Beaux Collins each caught four passes.
Daniels threw for 74 yards on 8 of 13 passing but was sacked three times. Daniels also ran for 42 yards on 14 attempts. Chris Davis Jr, led the Cardinal ballcarriers with 45 rushing yards on 10 carries. Elic Ayomanor caught three passes for 16 yards.
Next week, the Cardinal return to Atlantic Coast Conference play when they return home to host Southern Methodist. Kickoff is at 5 p.m. Pacific.
The Cal Bears running back Jaydn Ott (1) takes the football in for a 66 yard score in the second quarter while being pursued by a Miami Hurricane defensive back Jaden Harris (7) at Cal Memorial Stadium in Berkeley on Sat Oct 5, 2024 (AP News photo)
On the Cal Bears podcast with Morris Phillips:
#1 Morris, the Miami Hurricane (6-0) rallied from 25 points down to edge the Cal Bears (3-2) last Saturday night 39-38 that took some doing by the Hurricanes to have to score three unanswered touchdowns in that fashion.
#2 Morris taking a look at Miami’s scoring at 10:28 left in the game the Hurricanes Isaiah Horton scored on an 18 yard pass from quarterback Cam Ward to make it 38-25. The Hurricanes scored once again at 4:04 when Ward carried for a 24 yard rush to cut Cal’s lead down to six 38-32.
#3 The Hurricanes scored the winning touchdown with 26 seconds left when Ward hit wide out Elijah Arroyo for five yards for the 39-38 win. Miami stays perfect at 6-0. How true is it that good teams can rally late and win.
#4 Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza was 11-22 for 285 yards for two touchdowns and one interception. For Mendoza was it a matter of not getting enough protection or Mendoza just didn’t the completions and conversions he needed to create some offense in that fourth quarter.
#5 Cal tries to get back in the win column once again this time at Pitt where the Panthers are another team that comes in undefeated at 5-0. The Panthers won their last game against the North Carolina Tar Heels 34-24. The Panthers quarterback Eli Holstein can do it all throwing 381 yards for three touchdowns. Do you see Cal having a busy day trying to keep the Panthers offense down to a low roar?
Virginia Tech Hokies cornerback Dorian Strong (44) can’t quite make the interception while Stanford Cardinal Ismael Chase (84) defends on the play at Stanford Stadium on Sat Oct 5, 2024 (AP News photo)
Stanford Cardinal podcast with Michael Roberson:
#1 The Stanford Cardinal (2-3) got demolished last Saturday by visiting Virginia Tech (2-3) 31-7 at Stanford Stadium. The Hokies quarterback Kyron Drones was unstoppable throwing for three touchdowns and 201 yards passing.
#2 It was a great recovery for Virginia Tech rebounded from their previous week’s loss to Miami Florida. The Hokies got good protection from the Stanford pass rush which left to be almost non existent.
#3 Hokies running back Bhaysul Tuten rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown. Tuten was a transfer from North Carolina AT&T and now has more than 3,000 yards rushing career.
#4 Stanford quarterback Ashton Daniels did not play last Saturday due to a ankle injury he sustained against the Clemson Tigers the previous week. Back up quarterback Justin Lamson completed 13 of 24 passes for 103 yards and was intercepted once.
#5 The Cardinal are back to the drawing board again this time at Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish are rolling they are 4-1 and won their last contest last Sat Sep 28th against Louisville Cardinals 31-28. Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard threw 17-23 for 163 yards and two touchdowns. Michael will Stanford have their hands full this Saturday?
San Jose State Spartans outside right side hitter Blaire Fleming (3) has been the focus of being a transgender playing on a women’s volleyball team. Three universities have boycotted against playing SJSU and did not disclose the reasons why. (SJSU photo)
On Headline Sports podcast with Charlie O:
#1 San Jose State Spartans volleyball has been in the spotlight over transgender outside right side hitter Blaire Fleming. Three universities have boycotted playing SJSU, Southern Utah, Boise State, Wyoming. The three universities did not disclose a reason for boycotting the games against SJSU. Fleming teammate Brooke Slusser has joined a lawsuit against the NCAA regarding safety issues after finding out that Fleming was transgender. How much of a conundrum is this going to cause the NCAA with teams boycotting and players filing lawsuits.
#2 Charlie, it was a special day for Cal football on Saturday as they hosted the Miami Hurricane. It was the first time in the school’s history that they host ESPN Game Day. The event went down as a big deal as Cal made the national scene. Cal had gone 3-1 previous to their game with Miami and got some love from the World Wide Sports Leader.
#3 Vice President Kamala Harris on her podcast “All is Smoke” expressed sadness about Oakland losing all it’s professional sports teams which included Golden State Warriors, Oakland Raiders and Oakland A’s. Harris was joined by former Warriors Harrison Barnes and Stephen Jackson on the podcast. Harris said “it breaks my heart.” The vice president said she feels sadness each time she passes the Oakland Coliseum when she flies in and out of Oakland Airport.
#4 It was mentioned on a local talk show that it’s 98% certain that the A’s will end up at Sutter Health Field but it’s the uncertain 2% that you have to look out for. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that A’s president David Forst said “I don’t think we have a 100% certainty.” even though renovations have been made in the dugouts the artificial turf has not been installed at all. The players of other teams behind the scenes have told their agents they do not want to play on artificial turf and using a minor league park would not be practical for big league players. According to A’s manager Mark Kotsay, “no decision (to go) from grass to turf has been made.” Charlie you were there on the last game in Oakland I know you said it’s a done deal in Sacramento but there is doubt about Sutter Health and the players really are leaning on finishing up at the Coliseum before moving to Vegas.
#5 The Arizona Cardinals (1-3) kick off against the San Francisco 49ers (2-2) at Levi Stadium. The Cardinals are a struggling bunch they had their heads handed to them by the Washington Commanders last week. Cardinal quarterback Kyler Murray was 16-22 for 142 yards, and one touchdown. The 49ers after losing two straight games defeated the New England Patriots last Sunday 30-13 and ran up the score on the Pats. Will the 49ers make easy work of the Cardinal today?
#6 The Las Vegas Raiders just got by the Cleveland Browns last week 20-16. After holding a 20-10 win the Raiders in the fourth quarter couldn’t get any offense going and the Browns returned a fumble for a touchdown but it wasn’t enough as Las Vegas came away with a four point win at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
BERKELEY, CA–At some subtle, hard to determine juncture approaching the three-hour mark of a lengthy, college football game, Cal lost its grip.
Miami coach Mario Cristobal sensed it, then framed it after his Hurricanes scored 29 of the game’s final 32 points to stun the Bears, 39-38 to remain unbeaten and squarely in the hunt for a national championship.
“I don’t know how many teams in the country would have come back against that defense,” Cristobal said of Cal, which held Miami to 10 points until 3:02 remained in the third quarter.
Damian Martinez’ 1-yard touchdown run and Xavier Restrepo’s two-point reception didn’t trigger an avalanche for the Canes. Instead, Cal proved steadfast and took another three plus minutes off the clock in increasing their lead to 38-18 on Ryan Coe’s 37-yard field goal.
Three Miami touchdowns would follow, capped by Elijah Arroyo’s 5-yard catch and score with 26 seconds remaining.
“We kept clawing and scratching, and the defense held up,” Cristobal recounted.
“How many people cut this off?” he said, touching on the fact that the Hurricanes’ comeback didn’t hit maximum thrust until after 1:00am in Florida.
What caused the television audience to rest was Cal’s defense. Nohl Williams picked off Miami’s Cam Ward, his fifth of the year, which leads the nation. Linebackers Cade Uluave and Teddye Buchanan combined for 23 tackles while Cal built a 25-point lead. But the experienced Ward played the waiting game, and the result was 35 completions, 437 yards, and two fourth quarter touchdown passes that sandwiched his 24-yard touchdown run.
“That’s two games straight we had to do that. We have to lock in,” Ward said. “It’s good to get a win. We’re not going to complain. An ugly win is better than a good loss.”
Ward improved to 2-1 against California with the first win and loss coming when the quarterback was with Washington State in 2022 and 2023. Conversely, the Bears missed a rare opportunity to upset a team ranked in the top ten nationally. The last time was 2017 versus the Cougars prior to Ward’s arrival.
Ward’s 437 yards passing gives him six consecutive performances of 300 plus yards passing to put him squarely in contention for the Heisman trophy.
Fernando Mendoza led Cal with 285 yards passing. Jadyn Ott made the most of a slow night with a 66-yard touchdown catch and run. That production helped the Bears build a sizeable lead, but 2 of 10 third down conversions left the Bears defense vulnerable to fatigue that surfaced in Miami’s comeback.
Coach Justin Wilcox didn’t appear to agree with a targeting situation that didn’t draw a penalty on Miami after a review. That non-call on third down forced Cal to punt and gave the ball back to Miami for their game-winning, six-play drive.
Wilcox was close-lipped regarding that play but was open regarding the game in its entirety.
“We had every opportunity to win that game, obviously,” Wilcox said. “We didn’t get it done, so every individual has to own it.”
The Bears travel to meet undefeated Pittsburgh (5-0) next week. The Panthers posted an impressive 34-24 road win over North Carolina on Saturday.
BERKELEY, CA–Before things became fun and wicked smart along Memorial Glade on UC Berkeley’s campus, they grew dark and sinister in the middle of the night.
The Cal Bears fans gathered for the first-ever football ESPN College GameDay in Berkeley grew restless, and in a fit of rage, as noted by Fox News, and in the absence of sufficient security blew through the barriers to get closer to the ESPN production stage. The crowd’s actions were spiritedly defiant, unchecked, and entirely successful.
“Complete chaos in Berkeley,” Avinash Kunnath of “Write for California” reported at 12:30am. “There is not enough security to organize the crowd.”
Luckily, the playful crowd wasn’t destructive or menacing, just hyped. And that was the beginning of Cal’s triumphant appearance on GameDay, which peaked hours later as Marshawn Lynch displayed his curious driving habits, and the crowd demanded that coach Nick Saban remove his disgusting red tie.
After Cal was left scrambling by USC and UCLA’s pre-emptive move to the Big 10, and subsequently forced to join forces with the ACC for pennies on the dollar of the conference’s already determined television deal, the campus community was forced to get wise and money smart to find their way through the changing major college sports landscape. The Bears’ encouraging start to the season was the first step, and ESPN’s decision to bring its road show to Berkeley was next in Cal’s athletic department closing the gap on its financially positioned competitors.
Bear Backers started with the phrase “Calgorithm” and quickly built a full-fledged comedy review. From all the live reports and cemented by GameDay host Rece Davis, Cal aced the test.
“Cal is one of the best crowds we’ve ever had,” Davis proclaimed at 9:05am as the television lights were extinguished for the day and the crowd dispersed.
“Sometimes it’s about feeling good,” a University Library librarian said. “And clearly, people felt good about this.”
So good that people spent the night, characteristically did not use drugs, and maintained the exposure fever until shortly after sunrise when fatigue and the live broadcast vapors waned slightly.
But the sunlight revealed a bunch of kids, families, young alumni couples, and a smattering of smugsters from the U who couldn’t have honestly said they knew what to expect. The mix was respectful even before security materialized, and new friendships sprung up all over the place.
“We’re happy to be in the ACC,” said Charles Karren, class of ’90. “It was that or death.”
Karren, whose son is also pursuing a Cal degree, was quick to mention chancellor Rich Lyons as an advocate and savior for Cal athletics. Undoubtedly, Cal has successfully navigated the gauntlet of NIL, the transfer portal and budget concerns from the top, with Lyons, on down.
Back on television, suddenly, and perfectly calculated, Cal’s Memorial Glade was like the Today Show with the bluster of network personality Pat McAfee at his zenith as the loud mouthed galvanizing force.
“You know it! You tell the story! You tell the whole damn world this is Bear Territory!” McAfee bellowed with seamless support from the crowd.
Sitting next to McAfee was Saban, fiercely determined to be his somewhat cranky self until the crowd demanded he yank off his Stanford red tie. Finally, the Hall of Fame coach relented and swapped in a traditional Cal rep tie that enriched his blue blazer. Was Saban prepared to interview for a graduate assistant position under Coach Justin Wilcox? He was.
The signs didn’t disappoint. Instead, they shimmered as every smart aleck grew biceps in displaying their humorous takes.
Woke vs. Coke (carried by an unsuspecting 9-year old. Cal parents do better!)
This Game Is Past My Bedtime (also carried by a 9-year old. This is better.)
Virginia Tech Hokies cornerback Dorian Strong (44) has gone airborne in an attempt to intercept a pass intended for Stanford Cardinal wide receiver Ismael Cisse (84) at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto on Sat Oct 5, 2024 (AP News photo)
By Michael Roberson
STANFORD, Calif. — A blazing 89 degrees was a contributing factor why the Stanford Cardinal (2-3, 1-2 ACC) realized hosting the inaugural Atlantic Coast Conference game at Stanford Stadium was Too Hot to handle, and lost to the Virginia Tech Hokies (3-3, 1-1 ACC), 31-7.
The visitors from the Old Dominion State won the coin toss, but graciously deferred the ball to the hosts. Unfortunately Stanford did not cherish the benevolent gift. They failed to convert any points on the scoreboard.
As the Cardinal took the snap on the first drive of the game, there was a chang under center. Backup junior QB Justin Lamson was the starter, as Ashton Daniels was out with an ankle injury, reportedly from the game last week at Clemson.
Lamson was sacked on a crucial 3rd down play, around the 10 minute mark, resulting in a field goal attempt To the team’s dismay, senior kicker Emmet Kenney missed a 53-yarder.. Despite good intentions during the initial possession, the Cardinal ended up with a “Goose Egg, 0-0.
The Hokies on the other hand, were determined to reach paydirt. More than midway though the first quarter, redshirt-junior QB, Kyron Drones hit graduate WR Stephen Gosnell for a 9-yard touchdown pass. Virginia Tech scored first and put seven points on the board and led 7-0 late in the quarter, However, Stanford still had time to deliver the equalizer.
Lamson tried a QB keeper with :12 left in the first 15; he was hit at the goal line with the opportunity to tie the game, consequently fumbling and turning the ball over to theards into the end zone, doubling their score. Two scoring opportunities thwarted for various reasons. After one quarter of play, 7-0 Virginia Tech.
In the second stanza, the Hokies went on a nearly 7-minute drive, culminating in another score just under the 2-minute timeout before halftime. Senior running back Bhayshal Tuten scampered seven yards into the end zone, doubling their score midway through the game, 14-0. That was their third halftime shutout of the year.
The third quarter provided the Hokies the opportunity to triple their original score in only four plays and just under two minutes. Drones launched a 55-yard TD pass to graduate WR Da’Quan Felton, to give VA Tech a commanding 21-0 lead with almost 3/4 of the contest being over. However, the Cardinal had something to say and do before quarter’s end.
On a trick play, freshman running back Micah Ford tossed a 19-yard TD to redshirt sophomore WR Elic Ayomanor, with a minute remaining in the third quadrant, 21-7 VA Tech. That was all the scoring for the Cardinal, as the Hokies tagged on 10 more points in the final quarter.
Lawson threw an interception early in the quarter, in which the Hokies capitalized on the turnover. A few minutes later, Drones scores on a QB keeper for a 2-yard TD. The Hokies were up 28-7 and capped off the blistering afternoon five minutes later with a 46-yard field goal by redshirt sophomore kicker Josh Love. After 60 minutes of scorching heat, the Virginia Tech Hokies won the conference game, 31-7.
Stanford will next be in action Saturday October 12 in South Bend, IN to take on Notre Dame at 12:30 PM EST. on NBC. Virginia Tech goes back to Blacksburg Thursday October 17, to host Boston College at 4:30 PM EST on ESPN.
Cal Bears quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) gets dragged down by the Florida State Seminoles defensive lineman Marvin Jones Jr (7) at Florida State on Sat Sep 21, 2024. Cal’s offensive line will need to protect Mendoza all day Sat Oct 5, 2024 as the Miami Hurricanes have a potent offensive line in ACC action. (AP News photo)
On Cal Bears podcast with Morris:
#1 For Cal ESPN is hosting a Game Day visit which features lots of celebrities for a first time ever appearance at UC Berkeley coming this Saturday. This no doubt has to be exciting for Cal and alumnus.
#1 The Miami Hurricanes the Cal Bears next opponent. The Hurricanes are living up to their namesake and blowing away the competition at 5-0 in their last game they played a tight game with the Virginia Tech Hokies 38-34 but have been dominant against their opponents this season.
#2 Hurricanes quarterback Cameron Ward is throwing the football with much accuracy in his last game against the Virginia Tech Hokies went 24-38 for 348 yards with 4 touchdowns and was picked off two times.
#3 Cal dropped to 3-1 taking their first loss of the season against a struggling Florida Seminoles who picked up their first win. Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza was 22-36 for 303 yards but didn’t throw for any touchdowns. Do you see him getting those kinds of yards once again but completing passes for scores will that be a question for this week as well?
#4 Miami has a very good pass rush against Virginia Tech but the Hokies also countered with putting pressure on the quarterback as well. Do you seeing Cal focusing on protecting the quarterback from the Hurricanes pass rush this Saturday.
#5 Morris, just wanted to get your prediction on this upcoming game as Miami comes calling this Saturday at Cal Memorial in Berkeley in ACC action between the Miami Hurricanes and the Cal Bears with that 7:30pm PT?
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