Did Jim Phillips know something the rest of us didn’t? Of all the recent realignment additions Cal has picked up one of the most noteworthy out-of-conference wins of them all. Cal went to Auburn and left with a 21-14 win. Outside of Texas winning at Michigan, no conference new member school picked up a better win in the early part of the season.
Cal headed to Auburn as a double-digit underdog, and from an ACC perspective, it was a little bit of an afterthought game, to be honest. Games like Miami vs. Florida and Georgia vs. Clemson got all the attention. NC State vs. Tennessee was a primetime affair, and Vanderbilt vs. Virginia Tech ended up as a stunning loss for the Hokies.
By the time it was over there were double takes around the country and ACC.
The Golden Bears put together a performance that absolutely got everyone’s attention.
In particular, the Cal defense may have put together arguably the best defensive performance we’ve seen in the early part of the season for an ACC team. They held Auburn to 286 total yards and turned the Tigers over a whopping 5 times with 4 interceptions. They looked physical and tough. QB Fernando Mendoza was an efficient 25/36 for 233 yards and 2 TDs, and Cal’s short passing game had Auburn on their heels the whole day.
We knew about RB Jaydn Ott, but in a game where Ott only has 11 yards rushing, Cal proved itself much more than a 1 man show.
You have to look at Cal as capable of making real noise in the ACC now. San Diego State, Cal’s next opponent just lost 21-0 Oregon State. Cal could very will be 3-0 heading to Florida State, and we know the state of the Noles right now. You get by that game, and the Golden Bears could be hosting Miami on October 5th with a 4-0 record.
Remember when the critics scoffed about this addition? Geography aside, hey its whacky everywhere, Cal went out took care of business and made early season 2024 ACC football better.
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