Cal Football: Bears celebrate spring game in front of 3,000 fans at Memorial Stadium

Cal ended Spring Ball on a hot Saturday afternoon with a 65-game scrimmage that likely didn’t settle positional duels but entertained a crowd of about 3,000 fans at Memorial Stadium.

Players and coaches spent 30 minutes signing autographs and posing for photos afterwards, and coach Justin Wilcox called the energy level “incredible”.

“It’s been so long since we’ve been able to do something like this. To bring so many people here. . . the excitement of the fans. We had a ton of former students here, former players. It’s awesome.

“Part of what makes college football so great is the passion of the fans. It’s nice to be able to meet them face to face, shake their hands and tell them how much we appreciate them. I know that the players really feed off of that energy and so do I.

Fans weren’t allowed in the Spring Game a year ago due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and everyone recognized the difference.

“First of all, it was amazing to have so many people in the stadium. Especially because the spring game last year, we couldn’t have people here,” the quarterback said. second-year guard Zach Johnson “Just to have people here to cheer us on, it was so much fun for us.”

Redshirt freshman wide receiver Mavin Anderson enjoyed signing autographs for the fans, but also had the chance to meet former Golden Bears great DeSean Jackson, who traveled to Berkeley for the occasion.

“The whole day was a real experience, from start to finish. Previously, we had DeSean Jackson and Geoff McArthur in our reception hall. So that was really cool, just to cut it with those guys. Anderson said.

Anderson scored the first touchdown of the day, recovering a 24-yard pass from Jack Plummer on the first practice of the afternoon.

“I actually walked off the field after the touchdown and me and him were talking about the game.” Anderson said, referring to Jackson. “I told him what I saw on the pitch. He gave me some advice and tips. It was a cool experience.

The event ended with 15 practice sessions for the Bears, who replace the starters up and down the roster. Wilcox always noted his encouragement with the team’s progress.

In terms of settling positional battles, he and the coaching staff will assess the whole spring rather than giving extra importance to Saturday’s controlled scrum, where quarterbacks wore yellow jerseys and couldn’t be tackled.

Safety Miles Williams had an outstanding game with an interception and a sack. Placekicker Dario Longhetto was 3-for-3 on field goals, including 44 and 49 yards.

Wilcox later confirmed that although reserve quarterback Ryan Glover took snaps during the scrimmage, he entered the transfer portal and will play elsewhere next fall.

Here are some stats from Saturday’s game:

Who passed

Jack Plummer: 6 against 8, 59 yards, 0 INT, 1 TD

Scroll to continue

Kai Millner: 5 for 16, 52 yards, 1 INT, 0 TD

Zach Johnson 3 for 3, 48 yards, 0 INT, 1 TD

Ryan Glover 1 for 2, 4 yards, 0 INT, 0 TD

Robby Newell 2 for 3, 2 yards, 0 INT, 0 TD

Dash

Damien Moore: 4 carries, 23 yards

Jadyn Ott: 6 carries, 21 yards

DeCarlos Brooks: 2 carries, 7 yards

Ashton Stredick 5 carries, 56 yards, 40 yards long

Beaux Tagaloa: 3 rushes, 10 yards, 1 TD

Receive

Mavin Anderson: 2 receptions, 40 yards, 1 TD

Jake Muller: 2 receptions, 33 yards

Damien Moore: 2 receptions, 8 yards

Justin Richard Baker: 2 receptions, 14 yards, 1 TD

Christopher Street 2 receptions, 8 meters

J. Michael Sturdivant: 1 reception, 1 yards

Jeremiah Hunter: 1 reception, 5 yards

Cover photo of coach Justin Wilcox signing autographs

FFollow Cal Sports Report’s Jeff Faraudo on Twitter: @jefffaraudo