CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS NOTES:
LET’S GO BOWLING
– Saturday will be the second all-time meeting between California and Texas Tech – The first matchup came in the 2004 Holiday Bowl when the No. 23 Red Raiders took down the No. 4 Golden Bears, 45-31 – Cal won its third straight game on November 25 with a 33-7 victory over UCLA at the Rose Bowl to secure the program’s first bowl bid since 2019 (Redbox Bowl). The Bears are looking to end the season on a four-game win streak for the first time since winning their final four games in 1993 with a 37-3 victory over Iowa at the Alamo Bowl. The last Cal team to end the season on more than a four-game win streak was 1931 when it won its final five contests – The Bears are 12-11-1 all-time in bowl games and 1-1 under head coach Justin Wilcox – Cal has played once previously in Shreveport, Louisiana, a 41-34 loss to Louisiana Tech on Oct. 4, 1997
OTT-STANT IMPACT
– Jaydn Ott has rushed 229 times for 1,260 yards with 11 touchdowns on the ground (all career highs), while adding 21 receptions for 141 yards and two touchdown catches with one kick return for a 100-yard touchdown. He has 1,501 all-purpose yards and 1,401 yards from scrimmage with 14 total touchdowns – Ott ranks seventh on Cal’s all-time single-season yards rushing list, while he is one shy of the top 10 for rushing touchdowns (four with 12) and four off the school record of 15 shared by J.J. Arrington (2004), Justin Forsett (2007) and Jahvid Best (2008) – Ott ranks among Pac-12 and NCAA leaders in rushing yards per game (114.5, No. 1 Pac-12, No. 5 NCAA), rushing yards (1,260, No. 1 Pac-12, No. 10 NCAA), all-purpose yards per game (136.4, No. 1 Pac-12, No. 8 NCAA), total touchdowns (14, No. 2T, No. 20T NCAA), rushing touchdowns (No. 2T Pac12, No. 31T NCAA), scoring (7.6 ppg, No. 3 Pac-12, No. 48 NCAA) and rush yards per carry (5.5, No. 6 Pac-12, No. 47 NCAA) – Ott has five of the top nine rushing games by Pac-12 players in 2023 while no one else has more than one (188 at North Texas, 167 vs. Washington State, 166 at Stanford, 165 vs. Arizona State, 153 vs. USC) – Scoring on touchdown runs of 61 and 43 yards in the Oct. 28 game vs. USC, Ott now has five career TD runs of at least 40 yards
OFFENSIVE MINDSET
– Fernando Mendoza made history against USC, becoming the first Cal QB with multiple pass and rush TD in a single-game since Aaron Rodgers in 2003 (Rogers had 2 pass TD and 2 rush TD against Virginia Tech in the Insight Bowl on 12/26/2003) – Jaydn Ott is the first Bear with two career games of 3 rush touchdowns since Shane Vereen got his second in the 2009 Big Game. Vereen ended his Cal career with three games of 3 rush TDs or more, getting his third in 2010 – Cal scored 42 points in the Week 11 victory over Washington State at California Memorial Stadium, the fourth time the Bears have scored 40+ points in a game this season. It’s the first time since 2016 Cal has put up 40 or more points in at least four games
RUSHING THINGS
– Cal is fourth in the Pac-12 with 25 rushing touchdowns. The school record for rushing touchdowns in a season is 34 in 1951 – The Bears are averaging 181.1 yards rushing per game (4th Pac-12, 33rd NCAA) the most since putting up 235.2 per game in 2005 and almost double the 96.6 average in 2022
BIG BOOT
– Lachlan Wilson’s 45.7 yard per punt average would be both Cal’s all-time single season and career record for punting. Cal’s record holders are Scott Tabor (44.0 career) and Bryan Anger (45.6 2010 season) – Wilson’s 73-yard punt at UCLA on Nov. 25 was Cal’s longest punt since Steven Coutts also booted one 73 yards at Oregon on Sept. 29, 2018
TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS NOTES:
RED RAIDERS RETURN TO SHREVEPORT
Texas Tech will make its 41st bowl appearance in history Dec. 16 when the Red Raiders face Cal in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl. It will be the second matchup all-time between the two schools as the Red Raiders won the only other meeting with a 45-31 victory over No. 4 Cal in the 2004 Holiday Bowl. In addition, Texas Tech and Cal represent two of the top-performing teams in the country during the month of November as both programs enter the Independence Bowl having won three of their last four games during the regular season.
LOOKING FOR A THIRD-STRAIGHT BOWL WIN
Texas Tech will be searching for a third-consecutive bowl win on Saturday as the Red Raiders defeated a pair of SEC foes in Mississippi State (2021 Liberty Bowl) and Ole Miss (2022 Texas Bowl) the previous two seasons. With a win over Cal, it would mark only the second time in history and the first time since the 2002-04 seasons that Texas Tech boasted bowl wins in three-consecutive seasons. Among teams nationally, Tech is one of nine schools that qualified for a bowl game this season after winning a bowl game in each of the past two seasons.
TWO OF NATION’S TOP RUSHERS FACE OFF
The Independence Bowl will feature two of the nation’s top running backs this season in Texas Tech senior Tahj Brooks and Cal sophomore Jaydn Ott, who rank fourth and 13th nationally, respectively, in rushing yards this season. Brooks, an All-Big 12 first-team honoree, enters the Independence Bowl with 1,443 yards on the ground this season after averaging an impressive 130.6 yards per game during Big 12 play following seven 100-yard outings. Ott, meanwhile, led the Pac-12 with 1,260 rushing yards this season.
TEAM NOTEBOOK
RED RAIDERS, CAL SET FOR SECOND MEETING
Texas Tech and Cal are slated to meet for only the second time in history as the only other meeting came in the 2004 Holiday Bowl, one of the most-memorable bowl victories for the Red Raiders in school history. It marked the fourth victory in school history, at the time, over a top-five ranked team and the first away from Jones AT&T Stadium as the Aaron Rodgersled Golden Bears entered at No. 4 in the polls after being previously snubbed for an appearance in the Rose Bowl.
RED RAIDERS IN THE INDEPENDENCE BOWL
Texas Tech will be making its third trip to the Independence Bowl as the Red Raiders are winless in their two previous trips with both losses coming against Ole Miss. The Independence Bowl serves as an important historical moment for Texas Tech as the 1986 game marked its first under legendary head coach Spike Dykes, who led the Red Raiders to their final bowl appearance during his 13-seasons again in 1998.
The Independence Bowl is only the second bowl outside the state of Texas to welcome the Red Raiders at least three times now in its history. Texas Tech has been to five other bowls at least three times overall with the Gator Bowl in Florida being the lone one outside the state of Texas. The Red Raiders have previously accepted nine bowl invitations from the Sun Bowl (formerly the John Hancock Bowl) as well as five invitations from the Texas Bowl, four from the Cotton Bowl and three from the Alamo Bowl.
Not many can likely say they’ve coached and played a game in the Independence Bowl. For Texas Tech defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter, he’s done so multiple times as he took part in both the 1983 and 1984 Independence Bowls as a player at Air Force, topping Ole Miss, 9-3, the first season before returning for a 23-7 victory over Virginia Tech the following year. This will be his first return to the Independence Bowl since his playing career ended following the 1986 season. Texas Tech outside linebackers coach C.J. Ah You previously coached in the Independence Bowl as part of the Vanderbilt staff in 2017.
