The California football team wrapped up its third week of spring football with a live scrimmage on Saturday at California Memorial Stadium. The Bears ran just over 90 plays.
"A lot of young guys," Cal's Travers Family Head Football Coach Justin Wilcox said when asked about who stood out. "It was not as clean as we'd like it to be, but there were some individual plays that stood out."
Some of the top highlights of the scrimmage included …
 

• Jaivan Thomas' 63-yard run touchdown run on the second series and scoring runs later in the scrimmage during red zone work from Dean-Taylor Chapman with a pair of 10-yarders and Justin Williams-Thomas from nine yards out
• Three touchdown passes from Fernando Mendoza including a pair to Trond Grizzell of 18 and 20 yards, as well as one to Jonathan Brady for six yards
• A 20-yard touchdown pass from Chandler Rogers to Cole Boscia on the final play of the scrimmage
• A 15-play, 71-yard scoring drive that ended in a 42-yard Ryan Coe field goal
• Four sacks with 1.0 each from Akili Calhoun (-10 yards), Hunter Barth (-7 yards), Aidan Keanaaina (-7 yards) and Stanley Saole-McKenzie (-4 yards)
• An interception from Dayday Aupiu

 
Cal will practice next Monday, Wednesday and Friday before culminating 15 spring workouts with the Cal Football Spring Showcase on Saturday. The Pac-12 Network telecast and scrimmage begin at 2:30 p.m. with gates open at 1:30 p.m.

All remaining practice sessions including the Cal Football Spring Showcase are open to the public, free of charge and held at California Memorial Stadium. Attendees can enter the venue via Gate 2 in the northwest corner of the stadium and proceed to the concourse level through Stairwell 6 to available seating on the west side of the stadium. All other sections of the stadium including the field and North Tunnel are closed to public access.

2024 Cal Football Season Tickets

• Visit CalBears.com to place a 2024 Cal football season-ticket deposit. Season-ticket holders receive benefits such as …
  • An exclusive season-ticket holder gift
  • Access to exclusive experiences and events
  • Priority for purchasing additional single-game, away game, and postseason tickets
  • Special discounts towards merchandise at sponsor locations
  • Much more

2024 Cal Football

Cal will be in its first season as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2024. The campaign begins Aug. 31 with a nonconference home game against UC Davis, while the Golden Bears' inaugural ACC conference game is scheduled for Sept. 21 at Florida State. Cal will host four home ACC contests in its first campaign as members of the league with Miami (Oct. 5), North Carolina State (Oct. 19), Syracuse (Nov. 16) and Stanford (Nov. 23) visiting California Memorial Stadium. In addition to the season-opener against UC Davis and four ACC games, the Bears will host San Diego State (Sept. 14) and Oregon State (Oct. 26).

Cal begins a five-game road schedule Sept. 7 by traveling to Auburn in the return game of a home-and-home series with the perennial SEC powerhouse and will follow the Florida State trip with ACC road tilts at Pittsburgh (Oct. 12), Wake Forest (Nov. 8) and SMU (Nov. 30).

The ACC Championship Game is slated for Dec. 7 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

All Cal games are on Saturdays other than a Friday contest at Wake Forest, while the Bears have byes in Weeks 5 and 10. Kickoff times and television networks for all contests will be announced at later dates.
Cal features a national honors candidate in junior running back Jaydn Ott, who rushed for 1,315 yards and 12 touchdowns on 246 carries last season while leading the Pac-12 and finishing ninth nationally with an average of 109.6 rushing yards per contest. Ott earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors and was an honorable mention All-American pick of Phil Steele in 2023. In his first two seasons at Cal, he has rushed for 2,212 yards and 20 touchdowns on 416 carries over 24 games and 22 starts. He will begin his 2024 junior campaign within 1,155 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns of Russell White's school records of 3,367 rushing yards and 35 touchdowns on the ground.

All six players from Cal's 2023 Independence Bowl squad that were honored on the All-Pac-12 Team last season return in 2024, with Ott joined by second-team punter Lachlan Wilson, honorable mention choices in outside linebacker David Reese and defensive back Craig Woodson, and a pair of freshman honorees in Pac-12 Freshman Defensive Player of the Year inside linebacker Cade Uluave and Freshman Offensive Player of the Year honorable mention selection quarterback Fernando Mendoza.

Uluave and tight end Jack Endries were also 2023 Freshman All-American picks with Uluave a three-time first-teamer (College Football Network, FWAA, The Athletic) while Endries earned first-team recognition from College Football News and second-team honors from The Athletic, and was also an honorable mention choice of the College Football Network.

Cal returns a total of 16 players who made at least six starts in 2023.

The returnees will be joined by a 2024 recruiting class that includes a transfer portal group that currently ranks No. 8 nationally according to On3Sports after reaching as high as No. 6. The recruiting class currently totals 30 scholarship players, including 18 who joined the Bears as mid-year enrollees in January.

Cal has also made coaching changes on the offensive side of the ball in 2024, including the promotion of Mike Bloesch to offensive coordinator/offensive line coach just before the 2023 Independence Bowl after he served as offensive line coach/run game coordinator during the regular season. Bloesch's 2023 offensive line provided room for Ott to run and was credited with much of the team's improvement on the ground last season with the Bears' average of 172.8 rushing yards per game the program's highest since 2012.

In addition, Cal has added Sterlin Gilbert as passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach and former Cal standout offensive lineman Mike Saffell will coach the tight ends.

2024 Cal Football Schedule

Date – Opponent
Aug. 31 – UC Davis
Sept. 7 – at Auburn
Sept. 14 – San Diego State
Sept. 21 – at Florida State*
Oct. 5 – Miami*
Oct. 12 – at Pittsburgh*
Oct. 19 – North Carolina State*
Oct. 26 – Oregon State
Nov. 8 – at Wake Forest*
Nov. 16 – Syracuse*
Nov. 23 – Stanford*
Nov. 30 – at SMU*
Dec. 7 – ACC Football Championship Game+
Home Games In Bold At California Memorial Stadium; *ACC Game; +Bank Of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC; All Games On Saturdays Other Than Friday At Wake Forest; Kickoff Times And Broadcast Television Networks To Be Announced At Later Dates

California Memorial Stadium Location/Parking/Transportation Options

California Memorial Stadium is located at 2227 Piedmont Avenue in Berkeley between Bancroft Way and Stadium Rim Way, adjacent to the Simpson Center for Student-Athlete High Performance. Public transportation is highly recommended when visiting California Memorial Stadium. There are multiple public transportation options. Visit bart.gov, actransit.org, 511.org and pt.berkeley.edu for more information.

Parking in the vicinity is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Please read all signs at each parking location for further important information. See below for some suggestions in order of proximity to the stadium.

• Stadium Parking Garage – Paid parking near the corner of Gayley Road (where Piedmont Avenue becomes Gayley Road) and Stadium Rim Way just north of the stadium
• Street Parking – Paid and two-hour free parking may be available on streets near the stadium
• Witter Lot – Paid parking near the corner of Centennial Drive and Stadium Rim Way just east of the stadium
• Lower Sproul Garage – Paid parking on the north side of Bancroft Way between Telegraph Avenue and Dana Street
• Rec Sports Facility Garage – Paid parking on the north side of Bancroft Way between Dana Street and Ellsworth Street
• Underhill Garage – Paid parking on the corner of Channing Way and College Avenue

Cal Football Championship CALiber Initiative

Fans can support the Cal football program by making a gift to the Cal Athletic Fund's Cal Football Championship CALiber initiative. Gifts help ensure Cal student-athletes have success at the highest levels of competition and academics.