2020 California Golden Bears football team

The 2020 California Golden Bears football team represented the University of California, Berkeley during the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was led by head coach Justin Wilcox, in his fourth year as head coach. The team's offense was led by Bill Musgrave, who replaced Beau Baldwin; Baldwin left to become the head coach at Cal Poly.^[2]

2020 California Golden Bears football
Conference	Pac-12 Conference
Division	North Division
Record	1–3 (1–3 Pac-12)
Head coach	Justin Wilcox (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Bill Musgrave (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Spread option
Defensive coordinator	Peter Sirmon (1st season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Tim DeRuyter (1st season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	California Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 2019 2021 →

2020 Pac-12 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
North Division
Washington x		3	–	1					3	–	1
Oregon y$		4	–	2					4	–	3
Stanford		4	–	2					4	–	2
California		1	–	3					1	–	3
Washington State		1	–	3					1	–	3
Oregon State		2	–	5					2	–	5
South Division
No. 21 USC xy		5	–	0					5	–	1
Colorado		3	–	1					4	–	2
Utah		3	–	2					3	–	2
Arizona State		2	–	2					2	–	2
UCLA		3	–	4					3	–	4
Arizona		0	–	5					0	–	5
Championship: Oregon 31, USC 24
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Note: Due to COVID-19, the Pac-12 suspended the season on August 11, but later decided to begin play on November 6. In addition to the title game on December 18, the conference seeded all remaining teams for a game during that weekend.[1] Rankings from AP Poll.

On August 11, 2020, the Pac-12 Conference canceled all Fall 2020 sports competitions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[3] On September 24, it was announced that a seven-game season would be played in 2020, and the schedule was officially announced on October 3.^[4] Due to additional COVID-related game cancellations, the Bears ultimately only played four games and finished with a 1–3 record for the season, with the sole win coming against No. 23 ranked Oregon.

Offseason

Position key

Back	B		Center	C		Cornerback	CB		Defensive back	DB
Defensive end	DE		Defensive lineman	DL		Defensive tackle	DT		End	E
Fullback	FB		Guard	G		Halfback	HB		Kicker	K
Kickoff returner	KR		Offensive tackle	OT		Offensive lineman	OL		Linebacker	LB
Long snapper	LS		Punter	P		Punt returner	PR		Quarterback	QB
Running back	RB		Safety	S		Tight end	TE		Wide receiver	WR

Offseason departures

Nine Golden Bears graduated in 2020,^[5] and three were selected in the 2020 NFL draft.

2020 California offseason departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Ashtyn Davis	27	S	6'1	202	Senior	Santa Cruz, CA	Declared for NFL draft, drafted in the third round by New York Jets.
Jaylinn Hawkins	6	S	6'2	210	RS senior	Buena Park, CA	Declared for NFL draft, drafted in the fourth round by Atlanta Falcons.
Evan Weaver	89	LB	6'3	235	Senior	Spokane, WA	Declared for NFL draft, drafted in the sixth round by Arizona Cardinals.
Ricky Walker III	21	WR	5'11	190	Senior		Graduated
Colt Doughty	42	LB	6'1	230	Senior		Graduated
Trey Turner III	5	S	6'1	185	Senior		Graduated
Lone Toailoa	55	DE	6'2	290	Senior		Graduated
Chinedu Udeogu	91	TE	6'4	275	Senior		Graduate transfer to Illinois.
Gabe Siemieniec	46	PK	6'1	210	Senior		Graduate transfer to Louisiana Tech.
Greg Thomas	39	PK	5'9	165	Senior		Graduated

Recruiting

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Jaden Casey QB	Calabasas, CA	Calabasas High School	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Oct 14, 2019
	Recruit ratings: Rivals:    247Sports:    ESPN:
Jeremiah Hunter WR	Fresno, CA	Central East High School	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	178 lb (81 kg)	May 11, 2019
	Recruit ratings: Rivals:    247Sports:    ESPN:
Muelu Iosefa OLB	Mililani, HI	Mililani High School	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Jun 11, 2019
	Recruit ratings: Rivals:    247Sports:    ESPN:
Collin Gamble CB	Argyle, TX	Liberty Christian High School	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sep 22, 2019
	Recruit ratings: Rivals:    247Sports:    ESPN:
Overall recruit ranking:    247Sports: 39
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Rivals commits". Rivals. Retrieved October 19, 2020. "ESPN commits". ESPN. Retrieved October 19, 2020. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals. Retrieved October 19, 2020. "247Sports commits". 247Sports. Retrieved October 19, 2020.

Preseason

On January 3, 2020, Cal announced that it would hire former Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave as its next offensive coordinator, replacing Beau Baldwin. Musgrave, an Oregon alumnus like Wilcox, began his coaching career as quarterbacks coach for the Oakland Raiders in 1997. He last coached at the collegiate level as an offensive coordinator for Virginia in 2001–2002.

On January 10, Angus McClure was announced as the next offensive line coach.^[6] McClure spent 11 years at UCLA. Four days later, Aristotle Thompson was hired as the running backs coach.^[7] Thompson was the running backs coach at Cal Poly prior to being hired at Cal.

Cal's defensive line coach, Gerald Alexander, was hired to the same position by the Miami Dolphins on January 24.^[8] Cal announced it would hire former Arizona defensive coordinator Marcel Yates to replace him the following day.^[9]

On March 4, it was announced that Peter Sirmon would be made co-defensive coordinator alongside Tim DeRuyter.

Pac-12 media poll

In the 2020 Pac-12 preseason media poll, California was voted to finish in second place in the North Division.^[10]

Media poll (North Division)
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Oregon	222 (35)
2	California	176 (3)
3	Washington	161
4	Stanford	105
5	Oregon State	76
6	Washington State	58

Schedule

Cal's 2020 regular season was announced on January 16.^[11] The Golden Bears had 3 games scheduled against UNLV, TCU, and Cal Poly, but canceled these games on July 10 due to the Pac-12 Conference's decision to play a conference-only schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[12]

On August 11, the Pac-12 Conference canceled all Fall 2020 sports competitions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[3] However, following an agreement that boosted testing capacity for players and personnel,^[13] the conference announced it would play a seven-game football schedule beginning in November.^[14] The schedule would see Cal play all five division opponents, Arizona State from the Pac-12 South division, and a season-closing game against the equally-ranked team in the opposite division (the division winners will play each other in the conference championship, while the team that finishes second in the North division plays the team that finishes second in the South division).

On November 13, Cal's scheduled game at Arizona State for November 14 was canceled after a COVID-19 outbreak within the Arizona State program.^[15] The Pac-12 then announced that Cal would instead play at UCLA on the morning of November 15;^[16] the Bruins' scheduled game against Utah had also been canceled after Utah had a COVID-19 outbreak.^[17]

Original 2020 California Golden Bears schedule
Date	Opponent	Site
August 29	at UNLV*	Allegiant Stadium • Paradise, NV
September 5	TCU*	California Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, CA
September 12	Cal Poly*	California Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, CA
September 26	Utah	California Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, CA
October 3	at Washington State	Martin Stadium • Pullman, WA
October 10	at USC	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA
October 17	Oregon	California Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, CA
October 24	at Oregon State	Reser Stadium • Corvallis, OR
October 31	Washington	California Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, CA
November 7	at Arizona State	Sun Devil Stadium • Tempe, AZ
November 21	Stanford	California Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, CA (Big Game)
November 27	UCLA	California Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, CA (rivalry)

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
November 7	7:30 p.m.	Washington[18]	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	ESPN	No Contest
November 15	9:00 a.m.	at UCLA	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (rivalry)	FS1	L 10–34	—
November 21	12:30 p.m.	at Oregon State	Reser Stadium Corvallis, OR	FS1	L 27–31	—
November 27	1:30 p.m.	Stanford	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA (Big Game)	FOX	L 23–24	—
December 5	4:00 p.m.	No. 23 Oregon	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	ESPN	W 21–17	—
December 12	1:00 p.m.	at Washington State[19]	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	FS1	No Contest
December 19		Arizona[20]	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA		No Contest
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

Game summaries

At UCLA

See also: 2020 UCLA Bruins football team and California–UCLA football rivalry

California Golden Bears vs. UCLA Bruins – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Bears	3	7	0	0	10
Bruins	7	20	0	7	34

at Rose Bowl • Pasadena, California

• Date: November 15, 2020
• Game time: 9:00 a.m.
• Game weather: Clear, sunny, 65 °F (18 °C)
• Game attendance: 0
• Referee: Steven Strimling
• TV announcers (FS1): Aaron Goldsmith (play-by-play) and Brady Quinn (analyst)
• Reference

Game information

First Quarter CAL – Dario Longhetto 31-yard field goal, 11:12. California 3–0. Drive: 6 plays, 3 yards, 2:38. UCLA – Dorian Thompson-Robinson 2-yard run (Nicholas Barr-Mira kick), 0:58. UCLA 7–3. Drive: 15 plays, 88 yards, 6:20. Second Quarter UCLA – Charles Njoku 27-yard pass from Dorian Thompson-Robinson (Nicholas Barr-Mira kick), 11:45. UCLA 14–3. Drive: 9 plays, 71 yards, 3:04. CAL – Chase Garbers 8-yard run (Dario Longhetto kick), 7:10. UCLA 14–10. Drive: 12 plays, 75 yards, 4:35. UCLA – Chase Cota 6-yard pass from Dorian Thompson-Robinson (kick failed), 5:49. UCLA 20–10. Drive: 5 plays, 67 yards, 1:14. UCLA – Kyle Philips 5-yard pass from Dorian Thompson-Robinson (Nicholas Barr-Mira kick), 1:17. UCLA 27–10. Drive: 3 plays, 13 yards, 1:22. Third Quarter No scoring plays. Fourth Quarter UCLA – Brittain Brown 31-yard run (Nicholas Barr-Mira kick), 10:12. UCLA 34–10. Drive: 8 plays, 78 yards, 4:15. Top passers CAL – Chase Garbers – 18/33, 122 yards, int UCLA – Dorian Thompson-Robinson – 14/26, 196 yards, 3 TD, int Top rushers CAL – Christopher Brown – 8 rushes, 25 yards UCLA – Demetric Felton – 25 rushes, 107 yards Top receivers CAL – Collin Moore – 2 receptions, 28 yards UCLA – Greg Dulcich – 3 receptions, 80 yards

At Oregon State

See also: 2020 Oregon State Beavers football team

California Golden Bears vs. Oregon State Beavers – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Bears	7	13	0	7	27
Beavers	14	0	3	14	31

at Reser Stadium • Corvallis, Oregon

• Date: November 21, 2020
• Game time: 12:30 p.m.
• Game weather: Partly cloudy, 41 °F (5 °C)
• Game attendance: 0
• Referee: Chris Coyle
• TV announcers (FS1): Eric Collins (play-by-play) and Ben Leber (analyst)
• Reference

Game information

First Quarter OSU – Jermar Jefferson 75-yard run (Everett Hayes kick), 14:42. Oregon State 7–0. Drive: 1 play, 75 yards, 0:18. CAL – Makai Polk 7-yard pass from Chase Garbers (Dario Longhetto kick), 10:30. Tied 7–7. Drive: 8 plays, 75 yards, 4:12. OSU – Teagan Quitoriano 35-yard pass from Tristan Gebbia (Everett Hayes kick), 5:47. Oregon State 14–7. Drive: 1 play, 35 yards, 0:09. Second Quarter CAL – Dario Longhetto 26-yard field goal, 14:49. Oregon State 14–10. Drive: 12 plays, 66 yards, 5:58. CAL – Kekoa Crawford 21-yard pass from Chase Garbers (Dario Longhetto kick), 2:31. California 17–14. Drive: 4 plays, 64 yards, 2:05. CAL – Dario Longhetto 52-yard field goal, 0:00. California 20–14. Drive: 11 plays, 30 yards, 1:24. Third Quarter OSU – Everett Hayes 35-yard field goal, 6:20. California 20–17. Drive: 13 plays, 53 yards, 5:45. Fourth Quarter OSU – Tristan Gebbia 8-yard pass from Tyjon Lindsey (Everett Hayes kick), 13:35. Oregon State 24–20. Drive: 6 plays, 39 yards, 2:57. CAL – Jake Tonges 2-yard pass from Chase Garbers (Dario Longhetto kick), 8:04. California 27–24. Drive: 6 plays, 32 yards, 2:21. OSU – Tristan Gebbia 1-yard run (Everett Hayes kick), 4:30. Oregon State 31–27. Drive: 3 plays, 14 yards, 0:56. Top passers CAL – Chase Garbers – 28/42, 315 yards, 3 TD, 2 int OSU – Tristan Gebbia – 12/20, 147 yards, TD, 2 int Top rushers CAL – Marcel Dancy – 17 rushes, 76 yards OSU – Jermar Jefferson – 18 rushes, 196 yards, TD Top receivers CAL – Kekoa Crawford – 10 receptions, 141 yards, TD OSU – Teagan Quitoriano – 4 receptions, 65 yards, TD

Stanford

See also: 2020 Stanford Cardinal football team and Big Game (American football)

Stanford Cardinal vs. California Golden Bears – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinal	0	10	14	0	24
Golden Bears	7	3	7	6	23

at California Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, California

• Date: November 27, 2020
• Game time: 1:30 p.m.
• Game weather: Clear, 64 °F (18 °C)
• Game attendance: 0
• Referee: Matt Richards
• TV announcers (FOX): Alex Faust and Petros Papadakis
• Reference

Game information

First quarter CAL – Kekoa Crawford 7-yard pass from Chase Garbers (Dario Longhetto kick), 10:32. California 7–0. Drive: 8 plays, 75 yards, 4:28. Second quarter STAN – Jet Toner 27-yard field goal, 14:55. California 7–3. Drive: 8 plays, 48 yards, 4:29. CAL – Dario Longhetto 24-yard field goal, 10:15. California 10–3. Drive: 9 plays, 68 yards, 4:40. STAN – Michael Wilson 11-yard pass from Davis Mills (Jet Toner kick), 3:09. Tied 10–10. Drive: 3 plays, 16 yards, 0:57. Third quarter STAN – Austin Jones 2-yard run (Jet Toner kick), 10:57. Stanford 17–10. Drive: 3 plays, 41 yards, 1:00. CAL – Nikko Remigio 3-yard pass from Chase Garbers (Dario Longhetto kick), 9:13. Tied 17–17. Drive: 6 plays, 75 yards, 1:44. STAN – Austin Jones 8-yard run (Jet Toner kick), 1:51. Stanford 24–17. Drive: 8 plays, 71 yards, 4:28. Fourth quarter CAL – Christopher Brown 3-yard run (kick blocked), 0:58. Stanford 24–23. Drive: 14 plays, 90 yards, 3:30. Top passers STAN – Davis Mills – 24/32, 205 yards, TD CAL – Chase Garbers – 19/29, 151 yards, 2 TD Top rushers STAN – Austin Jones – 21 rushes, 85 yards, 2 TD CAL – Damien Moore – 10 rushes, 121 yards Top receivers STAN – Michael Wilson – 7 receptions, 88 yards, TD CAL – Kekoa Crawford – 5 receptions, 52 yards, TD

Oregon

See also: 2020 Oregon Ducks football team

Oregon Ducks vs. California Golden Bears – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 23 Ducks	3	14	0	0	17
Golden Bears	7	7	7	0	21

at California Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, California

• Date: December 5, 2020
• Game time: 4:05 p.m.
• Game weather: Partly cloudy, 60 °F (16 °C)
• Game attendance: 0
• Referee: Francisco Villar
• TV announcers (ESPN): Dave Flemming, Rod Gilmore, Taylor McGregor
• Reference

Game information

First Quarter ORE – Henry Katleman 21-yard field goal, 8:06. Oregon 3–0. Drive: 10 plays, 75 yards, 3:19. CAL – Chase Garbers 1-yard run (Dario Longhetto kick), 2:23. California 7–3. Drive: 13 plays, 75 yards, 5:43. Second Quarter CAL – Bradrick Shaw 1-yard run (Dario Longhetto kick), 5:31. California 14–3. Drive: 19 plays, 80 yards, 9:51. ORE – Johnny Johnson III 39-yard pass from Tyler Shough (Henry Katleman kick), 2:08. California 14–10. Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 3:23. ORE – Cyrus Habibi-Likio 1-yard run (Henry Katleman kick), 0:23. Oregon 17–14. Drive: 3 plays, 75 yards, 0:23. Third Quarter CAL – Nikko Remigio 28-yard pass from Chase Garbers (Dario Longhetto kick), 5:14. California 21–17. Drive: 5 plays, 64 yards, 2:21. Fourth Quarter No scoring plays. Top passers ORE – Tyler Shough – 14/26, 231 yards, TD CAL – Chase Garbers – 20/32, 183 yards, TD Top rushers ORE – Travis Dye – 12 rushes, 71 yards CAL – Marcel Dancy – 5 rushes, 34 yards Top receivers ORE – Travis Dye – 2 receptions, 85 yards CAL – Nikko Remigio – 6 receptions, 81 yards, TD

Players drafted into the NFL

See also: 2021 NFL draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL club
4	125	Camryn Bynum	CB	Minnesota Vikings