Cal's Independence Bowl Post-Mortem: `We Didn't Play Good Enough Football'

Coach Justin Wilcox said the 20-point defeat should light an offseason fire under everyone in the program.

When it was over Saturday in Shreveport, Louisiana, Cal coach Justin Wilcox praised organizers of the Independence Bowl for their hospitality and said he hadn’t given a thought to this being the Bears’ final game in the Pac-12 Conference.

All that really mattered in the wake of a 34-14 loss to Texas Tech was how much more the Bears must improve as they head into the offseason before joining the Atlantic Coast Conference next fall.

"Effort is great but you need more than effort. You've got to execute, you've got to play good football. And we didn't play good enough football today,” Wilcox said. “You've got to give Texas Tech credit. They outplayed us.

“I love the guys in the team. But we need better football. We've got to demand that from ourselves and the players need to demand it from themselves and their teammates.

"If this doesn't build a fire for your offseason workout program, then you're probably in the wrong sport or at the wrong place.”

In the video at the top of the story, linebacker Cade Uluave, quarterback Fernando Mendoza and Wilcox all comment on where the Bears need improvement in the offseason.

After three straight victories to end the regular season and gain bowl eligibility, the Bears (6-7) were outscored 27-0 after building a 14-7 lead in the first quarter.

Quarterback Fernando Mendoza threw three interceptions, lost a fumble and was sacked six times. It was Mendoza, the redshirt freshman and third-stringer when the season began, who personified the Bears’ late-season surge.

But he was unable to orchestrate any consistency in the offense after the first quarter.

"To put it plain and simple, I didn't perform at the level I'm capable of. My play wasn’t up to par,” he said. “I promise this: I’ll be so much better next year and I’ll be the hardest worker I can be to show my teammates, and I hope they know that as well.”

The Bears relied this season on a running game triggered by Pac-12 rushing leader Jaydn Ott. He had a 26-yard burst on the Bears’ second series of the game but otherwise was given no room to operate and had just 16 yards on his remaining 14 carries.

The defense was no better, unable to slow quarterback Behren Morton, who passed for 256 yards and three first-half touchdowns, or running back Tahj Brooks, who rushed for 99 yards and a score.

Punter Lachlan Wilson has been a special teams weapon most of the season, earning second-team All-Pac-12 honors. But he averaged just 35.8 yards on six punts, and five Red Raiders possessions after punts began no farther from the end zone than their own 40-yard line.

Wilcox explained his decision to go it on fourth-and-2 from the Texas Tech 5-yard line with the Bears already leading 7-0 in the first quarter.

“We had been moving the ball effectively, I thought, and we wanted to be aggressive,” he said. “When you don’t get a fourth-down play, it’s very easy to look back and say we should have kicked it.”

Cal was 0-for-2 on fourth downs Saturday, Texas Tech was 2-for-2.

“To play winning football there’s times you’ve got to make a fourth-and-short,” Wilcox said, “and we did not do that.”

But that decision — a good one that simply didn’t work — was not the reason the Bears lost.

And they all knew it.

Cover photo of Cal coach Justin Wilcox by Peter Thomas, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo