Cal's Jack Endries: `We're On The Track To Win The Next Seven Games'

Bears trying to leave behind the `brutal' loss to Miami, say they're excited to face No. 22 Pittsburgh

Cal tight end Jack Endries / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Tight end Jack Endries says he’s still wrestling with what went wrong Saturday in Cal’s painful collapse and 39-38 loss to Miami.

But it hasn’t changed his view of this football team.

“I think we’re a very good team and there’s no doubt in anyone that knows the Cal football team that we should be 5-0,” Endries says in the video above. “I think we’re still on the same track to win the next seven games. I think we’re very capable of doing that. 

“I’m eager to get on to this Pittsburgh game and get a win on the table.”

The Bears (3-2, 0-2 ACC) play Saturday on the road against No. 22 Pitt (5-0, 1-0), which is off to its best start since 1991.

Quarterback Fernando Mendoza agreed it’s time to move on.

“We recognize it’s a tough loss. Coach (Justin) Wilcox recognizes it, the team recognizes it,” he said. “With this large adversity, you either get stronger or weaker. That’s what the message has been.”

There is no time for self-pity, he said.

“Teddye Buchanan and I were talking today. It’s pretty crazy, we’re flying to Pitt in two days,” Mendoza said. “We’ve already been focusing on Pitt, but it’s time to wash it off.

“It’s going to be a big one. Pitt, away. They’re 5-0 and this is a real test. They’re a great opponent and we can really showcase what we can do against these guys.”

Defensive tackle Nate Burrell said the quality of Cal’s practice Tuesday convinces him the Bears are headed in the right direction.

“I feel like everybody came in and was working with intent, working on things that we’re already good at and things we need to get better at,” he said. “I definitely feel like we got better today.”

There’s no getting around the frustration of a 14-9 loss at Florida State followed by the Miami game, in which the Bears squandered a 25-point lead.

“Especially these past two games, it’s been one or two plays that changed the whole entire game,” Burrell said. “We could be 5-0, but we’re still sitting at 3-2 and we have at lot (we’re) looking forward to the rest of the season.”

ONE LAST THANK-YOU: Wilcox ended his Tuesday media session with an unprompted salute in the video above to Cal’s students and fanbase after their huge response Saturday at both the ESPN College GameDay show in the morning and with a capacity crowd at Memorial Stadium.

Endries echoed that appreciation.

“It was the best crowd I’ve ever seen at Cal Memorial in my time,” he said. “The GameDay atmosphere from what I could tell on TV was electric also. I wish I could have gone down there, I wish I could have experienced it as well. It was awesome. 

“Unfortunately we didn’t complete the night because it probably would have gone down as one of the best days in Cal fan history.”