By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports
You get the feeling that the first thing Cal coach Justin Wilcox did when he found out his team was headed to Shreveport to play in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl was tell them “it’s in Louisiana.”
Whether or not he had to explain where Louisiana is would be a different matter.
But give the Golden Bears credit – they’ve done their homework.
“I know how much the bowl means around here,” said freshman tight end Jack Endries. “I’m just excited to come out and play in it on Saturday.”
“We are super excited to be here, super excited to play,” said linebacker Cade Uluave. “I’d never been to Louisiana, never been to Shreveport, never really heard of it, but I was super excited. I did some research and found out it’s a cool place and I’m ready to go explore a little bit and see what it’s all about.”
He may not have been super excited to make the five-hour plane trip, but he and his teammates are happy to be here for Saturday’s 8:15 p.m. game against Texas Tech.
It is 1,959 miles from California Memorial Stadium to Independence Stadium. One is located in a recreational area called Strawberry Canyon. The other is located right next door to where pigs and heifers are judged at the state fair, emanating a hint of the fragrance mixture of corn dogs and funnel cake that never seems to completely go away.
Cal is a team that is accustomed to playing up and down the West Coast in the Pac-12, but the plane trip to a semi-foreign location was nothing compared to what the Bears have gone through this season just to reach this game.
After giving up a 63-spot to Oregon to fall to 3-6, they had to win the final three games of the season just to get to the postseason. So if they seem a little more excited than the average 6-6 bowl team, that might be a good reason why.
“It was a real point of emphasis for us going into that last part of the season,” said defensive lineman Ricky Correia. “We really wanted to finish strong and get to a bowl game. Being able to come together and do that is just amazing to see and has made us closer. It has rewarded our hard work and we want to go out there and finish it with a bang.”
The streak started with a 42-39 win over Washington State and then Cal had to beat hated rival Stanford and then get a road win over UCLA. Which win was bigger? Tough to say.
One was Stanford; the other got them into a bowl game.
“It was all or nothing,” Endries said. “UCLA is also a rival to us and that was big. We had to win that … but we have to win the Stanford game too. That’s the biggest game of the year.”
The win over UCLA in the Rose Bowl wasn’t close as the Bears won 33-7 and achieve their post-season goal.
“When we were 3-6, we realized we had to win three in a row to get to a bowl game,” Endries said. “But I think we always had that mentality that we were going to win those last three games.”
“It’s huge and creates momentum coming into this game,” said Uluave. “Our goal was to make it to a bowl game and now our goal is to win a bowl game. We are super excited going forward and we are prepared and ready to go.”
“We just went out there and got better every day,” Correia said. “We came together as a group and made the plays we had to make. We had the playoff mindset because it was win or go home. We just wanted to go out there and dominate and that’s what we did. It was great to see.”
Uluave, a freshman inside linebacker, and Correia, a junior defensive lineman, will be charged with trying to slow down the Texas Tech running game, led by Tahj Brooks, who is the nation’s fourth-leading rusher with 1,443 yards.
“I know from watching them that they have a really good back and really good running game, so I know they are going to put some emphasis on that,” Correia said. “I wouldn’t say it’s a challenge, but I really like games like this because it gives a chance to showcase what we have. A game like this is great for a defensive lineman like me.”
“He’s a great player,” Uluave said of Brooks. “Runs hard, runs physical. At the end of the day, it comes down to knowing our job and doing our job. It oughta be good.”
But when you get right down to it, the Golden Bears’ message is simple.
“We’ve got to get that win,” said Endries. “No doubt that 7-6 is better than 6-7.”
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com