Cal Sports Report

Cal Fans Pack Memorial Glade for ESPN's College GameDay

The show began with Pat McAfee leading the crowd in the "Bear Territory" chant, ended with Marshawn Lynch making his game pick

Jeff Faraudo

College Gameday
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More than 3,000 Cal fans celebrated their first-ever appearance on ESPN’s College GameDay by filling the Memorial Glade in the heart of the campus well before sunrise on Saturday morning.

Former Cal running back Marshawn Lynch showed up as the celebrity guest picker as the three-hour program climaxed — naturally, he predicted the Bears would knock off No. 8 Miami on Saturday night.

Fans clamored for former Alabama coach Nick Saban, a GameDay crew rookie, to take off his crimson tie, and they roared  their approval when Pat McAfee helped him replace it with one in blue and gold.

McAfee endeared himself to the Cal crowd by repeatedly leading the “Bear Territory” chant the morning after walking the campus and making stops at Top Dog and Blondie’s.

“The biggest surprise of this college football season . . . we’re in Berkeley, California,” McAfee proclaimed.

GameDay has been traveling to college campuses for more than three decades, and the crowd at Berkeley ranked among the top 5-percent, one of the ESPN broadcasters told a Cal spokesperson.

“It’s been awesome,” analyst Kirk Herbstreit said. “I didn’t know what to expect when we came here. This is an amazing atmosphere.”

It was a rousing start to a long day and night in Berkeley, where the Bears (3-1, 0-1) and Hurricanes (5-0, 1-0) will face off at 7:30 p.m. in Cal’s first-ever ACC home game. The athletic department expects a crowd of at least 50,000 at Memorial Stadium.

Lynch drove onto the site at the wheel of an injury cart — just as he did as a player after a 2006 win over Washington. “It feels good,” he told ESPN reporter Jess Sims, looking over the crowd. “See the love.”

McAfee got more cheers when he picked Cal to upset the Hurricanes. “Give me Cal to beat Miami . . .  something I never thought I’d say,” McAfee roared.

The rest of the ESPN panel — host Rece Davis, Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and Saban — played it safe and went with Miami. Howard made his pick with mixed emotions after having lunch Friday with famed Cal professor Dr. Harry Edwards.

Popular ex-coach Lee Corso, 89, who traditionally dons headgear of the team he favors, was “under the weather” and not available.

In the program’s “SuperDog” segment, ESPN studio contributor Stanford Steve teased the crowd by saying, “I’m going to take Cal . . . no I’m not.”

Earlier, coach Justin Wilcox joined the ESPN crew on stage to dissect game tape highlighting the Bears’ defense. Cal has not allowed more than 14 points in a game this season but will be challenged by a Miami team averaging 49.4.

Minutes before Wilcox joined the show, Daniel Villasenor, a civil engineering student and former soccer player, won $100,000 by drilling a 33-yard field goal uphill while wearing checkered Vans sneakers. Made the long night worthwhile for Villasenor, who said he lined up to get into Memorial Glade at 11:40 on Friday night. 

“Great performance under pressure,” Wilcox praised.

His successful kick also added $100,000 to the $500K EPSN will donate to the Hurricane Helene relief fund.

All morning, in keeping with GameDay tradition, fans waved signs that poked fun at their opponent. One proclaimed, “Miami’s playbook is shorter than my syllabus,” and another teased, “U Couldn’t Get into Cal."

Former Cal quarterback Chase Garbers chimed in on Twitter.

In the early-morning darkness, The Campanile was lit up with the Cal script in gold against the 307-foot tower illuminated in blue.

Saban delivered a great jab at ESPN personality “Stanford Steve” Coughlin — a former Cardinal tight end — asking him, “If it was so great at Stanford, why did you have a girlfriend here at Cal?”

Sims climbed Tightwad Hill and shot off the cannon and interviewed Camryn Rogers and Ryan Murphy, Cal gold medalists at the Paris Olympics.

Later, Sims shared Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza’s signature “Mendoza burrito” from La Burrita with hungry Cal students.

ESPN devoted a segment to “The Play,” and saluted Cal’s four Super Bowl quarterbacks — Aaron Rodgers, Jared Goff, Craig Morton and Joe Kapp.

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Jeff Faraudo
JEFF FARAUDO

Jeff Faraudo was a sports writer for Bay Area daily newspapers since he was 17 years old, and was the Oakland Tribune's Cal beat writer for 24 years. He covered eight Final Fours, four NBA Finals and four Summer Olympics. 

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