Cal Set For Matchup At Arizona State
KGO Radio (810 AM) | KALX Radio | Tune-In Radio | Live Stats | Cal Game Notes | Watch Live (ESPN2)
BERKELEY - After Cal's football game vs. Washington was canceled, Cal will now look to open the 2020 season by traveling to Arizona State for a Saturday night kickoff. The game will start at 7:30 p.m. PST/8:30 p.m. MST and be broadcast on ESPN2 and KGO Radio 810 AM.
BEARS AIM TO START YEAR VS. SUN DEVILS
- Cal and Washington were scheduled to start the season on November 7, alongside the rest of the Pac-12. However, the game was not played as scheduled and was declared a no contest due to the Golden Bears' inability to field a competitive roster following the results of one positive COVID-19 test and subsequent contact tracing.
- Cal will be one of the final four FBS teams to begin the 2020 fall season (alongside Washington, Utah and Arizona). New Mexico State and UCONN have not and are not scheduled to play this fall.
- This will be the 36th matchup between Cal and Arizona State, with Cal leading the series, 18-17.
- Over the past 13 meetings, Cal is 9-4 vs. Arizona State and 4-2 at Sun Devil Stadium.
- The last five meetings (since 2011) in the series have all been decided by 10 points or less.
- Last year's contest was tied, 7-7, when quarterback Chase Garbers left the game due to injury. The Bears fell to ASU, 24-17. Cal was 7-0 in games that Garbers started and finished in 2019.
STARTING THE SEASON STRONG
- Cal is 87-45-5 all-time in 137 season openers and has a current win streak of six straight dating back to 2014. The six-game win streak in season openers is tied for the second-longest in school history behind only the 14 in a row from 1919-32.
- Cal is 13-3 in its last 16 season openers since 2004.
- Cal has opened every season under Justin Wilcox by winning at least the first three games (3-0 in 2017, 3-0 in 2018 and 4-0 in 2019)
- 2020 will be the eighth time Cal has opened the season with a conference matchup, Cal is 3-4 all-time in that scenario.
- In 1979, Cal opened the season against No. 18 Arizona State, winning, 17-9, in Tempe.
- The most recent season opener vs. a conference opponent was 1993, when Cal beat UCLA, 27-25.
2019 SEASON REVIEW
- Record: 8-5 (4-5 Pac-12)
- Won the Redbox Bowl by defeating Illinois, 35-20, at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
- The Bears won at UCLA for the first time since 2009, claiming a 28-18 victory at the Rose Bowl.
- Cal reclaimed The Axe by defeating Stanford for the first time since 2009, as they won, 24-20.
- Cal tied for second place in the Pac-12 North, the Bears highest finish in the division since the conference created divisions in 2011.
- Cal has won back-to-back road games in Los Angeles in 2018 at USC and in 2019 at UCLA for the first time since 1970-71. The Bears also won in 1999-2000, but the 1999 win was later forfeited.
due to the Golden Bears' inability to field a competitive roster following the results of one positive COVID-19 test and subsequent contact tracing.
CAL ENTERS 2020 ON BEST STRETCH IN A DECADE
- Cal finished the 2019 season with a 8-5 record (4-5 in the Pac-12).
- Cal tied for second place in the Pac-12 North, the Bears highest finish in the division since the conference created north and south divisions in 2011.
- Cal made in its third bowl appearance in last five years and the first back-to-back bowl appearances since the team went to seven straight bowl games between 2003-09.
- The 2018-19 seasons are the first two-year period where Cal recorded back-to-back winning seasons and bowl game appearances since 2008-09.
- Cal has been to 24 bowls in school history, but the team has only been to multiple bowl games in a row five times, including the past two years (1921-22, 1949-51, 1992-93, 2003-09, 2018-19).
- The Bears had back-to-back seasons of .500 or better records on the road for first time since 2004 (5-1) and 2005 (3-2) as they went 4-2 in 2019 after going 3-2 in 2018.
- Cal won at UCLA for the first time since 2009 during the 2019 season.
- The Bears reclaimed The Axe in 2019 by defeating Stanford for the first time since 2009, as they won, 24-20, at Stanford Stadium.
- Cal won back-to-back road games in Los Angeles in 2018 and 2019 for the first time since 1970-71. The Bears also won in 1999-2000, but the 1999 win at UCLA was later forfeited due to the use of ineligible players.
- 2018-19 is the first time that Cal has won on the road at all three of its California rivals (Stanford, UCLA, USC) over a two-year span since 1949-50.
- The Bears also secured road wins over No. 14/12 Washington and in SEC Territory by defeating Ole Miss in 2019 and are 7-4 in road games over the past two seasons.
- After starting the 2019 season with four straight wins, Cal moved up to No. 15 in the AP Top 25 and No. 16 in the Coaches Poll. It was the highest Cal has been ranked since week 4 of the 2009 season when the Bears were No. 6/6.
CAL SHOWS IMPROVEMENT UNDER JUSTIN WILCOX
- Justin Wilcox enters his fourth season as the head coach at Cal in 2020.
- The Bears have improved during each year of Wilcox's tenure: 5-7 (2017), 7-6 (2018), 8-5 (2019).
- Wilcox has a record of 20-18 (.526) after three seasons.
- His career winning percentage currently ranks fourth amongst all Cal coaches since 1960. He only trails Jeff Tedford (.590), Bruce Snyder (.544) and Mike White (.538).
- The Bears are 9-0 in regular season non-conference games during Wilcox's tenure, including wins over North Carolina (Home & Away), Ole Miss (H&A), BYU (A), North Texas (H), UC Davis (H), Idaho State (H) and Weber State (H).
2020 SCHEDULE
- On January 16, 2020, Cal announced a 12-game schedule which included the first-ever game in Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas vs. UNLV and a home matchup against TCU. The season was canceled due to the outbreak of COVID-19 across the United States.
- Cal was able to hold four spring practices before the cancellation of all Pac-12 sports on March 11, instrumental in helping the team put in a new offense.
- On July 31, the Pac-12 announced a 10-game conference-only schedule.
- On, August 11, the Pac-12 postponed all competitions through 2020.
- On September 24, the Pac-12 announced the resumption of the football season, followed by an October 3 announcement of a seven-game conference only schedule that started on November 7.
- Cal was scheduled to start its season vs. Washington on Nov. 7, but the game was canceled on Nov. 5 and declared a no-contest due to Cal's inability to field a competitive roster due to one positive COVID-19 test and subsequent contact tracing.
- Cal will host Stanford (Nov. 27) and Oregon (Dec. 5), while this year's road slate has the Bears traveling to Arizona State (Nov. 14), Oregon State (Nov. 21) and Washington State (Dec.12). Cal will conclude the season on Dec. 18 (Pac-12 Championship Game) or Dec. 19 (opponent and location to be determined).
- When Cal kicks off vs. ASU, it will be the Bears' first game since the Redbox Bowl on Dec. 30, 2019, a span of 321 days.
- It will have been 377 days between games at California Memorial Stadium when the Bears kickoff against Stanford on Nov. 27, having last played at CMS on Nov. 16, 2019 vs. USC.
- The only two Cal campaigns that have started later (Dec. 2, 1882 and Dec. 12, 1892) included games played the following spring. The Bears have never opened a season in November and the last time Cal began in October or later was with a 21-7 loss to Fort MacDowell on California Field in Berkeley on Oct. 5, 1918.
- 2020 will be the eighth time Cal has opened the season with a conference matchup. Cal is 3-4 all-time in that scenario.
- In 1979, Cal also opened the season against No. 18 Arizona State, winning, 17-9, in Tempe.
- The most recent season opener vs. a Pac-12 team came in 1993, when Cal defeated UCLA, 27-25.
- This is the first time the Big Game will be played on a non-Saturday since Thu., Nov. 29, 1900 and the first time the game will be played on a Friday.
- This season will be the first time since 1920 that Cal will not play USC.
- This will be the first time that Cal has not played UCLA since the two UC system schools played their first game in 1933.
ARIZONA STATE CONNECTIONS
- This will be the 36th matchup between Cal and Arizona State, with Cal leading the series, 18-17.
- The will be Cal's first trip to ASU since 2016.
- Over the past 20 years, Cal is 4-2 vs. Arizona State at Sun Devil Stadium and 8-4 overall.
- The last five meetings in the series have all been decided by 10 points or less.
- Cal has nine players on the team from the state of Arizona; Spencer Brasch (Gilbert), DeCarlos Brooks (Chandler), Tommy Christakos (Scottsdale), Braxten Croteau (Peoria), Brett Johnson (Phoenix), Aidan Lee (Mesa), Ryan Puskas (Peoria), Brayden Rohme (Chandler) and Slater Zellers (Scottsdale).
- Arizona State head coach Herman Edwards attended Cal in 1972 and 1974, before finishing his collegiate career at San Diego State.
- Edwards holds the Cal record for most interceptions in a game when he recorded four vs. Washington State on Nov. 16, 1974. He also is tied for eighth in school history, for most interceptions in a season, recording six in 1974.
- Cal Special Teams Coordinator Charlie Ragle spent his entire coaching career in Arizona before joining Cal in 2017. He was a graduate assistant at Arizona State for the 2006 season where ASU went to the Hawaii Bowl. He also spent five years on the staff at Arizona.