2023 California Golden Bears football team

2023 California Golden Bears football
2023 California Golden Bears football
Independence Bowl, L 14–34 vs. Texas Tech
Conference	Pac-12 Conference
Record	6–7 (4–5 Pac-12)
Head coach	Justin Wilcox (7th season);
Offensive coordinator	Jake Spavital (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Up-tempo spread
Defensive coordinator	Peter Sirmon (4th season)
Base defense	2–4–5
Captains	Matthew Cindric; Jackson Sirmon;
Home stadium	California Memorial Stadium
	Seasons ← 2022 2024 →

The 2023 California Golden Bears football team represented the University of California, Berkeley in the Pac-12 Conference during the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Golden Bears were led by Justin Wilcox in his seventh year as the head coach.^[1] They played their home games at California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, California.^[2]

ConferencePac-12 Conference

Record6–7 (4–5 Pac-12)

Headcoach

Justin Wilcox (7th season)

OffensivecoordinatorJake Spavital (1st season)

Quick facts California Golden Bears football, Independence Bowl, L 14–34 vs. Texas Tech ...

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2023 Pac-12 Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 2 Washington y$^	9	–	0	14	–	1
No. 6 Oregon y	8	–	1	12	–	2
No. 11 Arizona	7	–	2	10	–	3
Oregon State	5	–	4	8	–	5
Utah	5	–	4	8	–	5
USC	5	–	4	8	–	5
California	4	–	5	6	–	7
UCLA	4	–	5	8	–	5
Washington State	2	–	7	5	–	7
Stanford	2	–	7	3	–	9
Arizona State*	2	–	7	3	–	9
Colorado	1	–	8	4	–	8
Championship: Washington 34, Oregon 31
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion y – Championship game participant * – Ineligible for postseason play due to self-imposed ban for 2020 recruiting violations Rankings from AP Poll

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This was California's final season in the Pac-12 Conference before they move to the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2024.^[3]^[4]

The California Golden Bears football team drew an average home attendance of 38,684 in 2023.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 2	1:00 p.m.	at North Texas*	DATCU Stadium Denton, TX	ESPNU	W 58–21	21,350	^[5]
September 9	7:30 p.m.	Auburn*	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	ESPN	L 10–14	44,141	^[6]
September 16	1:00 p.m.	No. 5 (FCS) Idaho*	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	P12N	W 31–17	36,810	^[7]
September 23	7:30 p.m.	at No. 8 Washington	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	ESPN	L 32–59	69,107	^[8]
September 30	12:00 p.m.	Arizona State	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	P12N	W 24–21	34,353	^[9]
October 7	7:00 p.m.	No. 15 Oregon State	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	P12N	L 40–52	34,930	^[10]
October 14	12:00 p.m.	at No. 16 Utah	Rice-Eccles Stadium Salt Lake City, UT	P12N	L 14–34	52,115	^[11]
October 28	1:00 p.m.	No. 24 USC	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	P12N	L 49–50	43,716	^[12]
November 4	2:30 p.m.	at No. 6 Oregon	Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR	P12N	L 19–63	54,046	^[13]
November 11	1:00 p.m.	Washington State	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	ESPN2	W 42–39	38,155	^[14]
November 18	3:30 p.m.	at Stanford	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (Big Game)	P12N	W 27–15	52,971	^[15]
November 25	7:30 p.m.	at UCLA	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (rivalry)	ESPN	W 33–7	42,439	^[16]
December 16	6:15 p.m.	vs. Texas Tech	Independence Stadium Shreveport, LA (Independence Bowl)	ESPN	L 14–34	33,071	^[17]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Bears	14	19	15	10	58
Mean Green	7	14	0	0	21

Statistics	CAL	UNT
First downs	29	9
Plays–yards	95–679	53–225
Rushes–yards	56–357	27–41
Passing yards	322	184
Passing: comp–att–int	27–39–1	15–26–3
Time of possession	39:07	20:53

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
California	Passing	Ben Finley	24/34, 289 yards, TD, INT
	Rushing	Jaydn Ott	20 carries, 188 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Jeremiah Hunter	6 receptions, 64 yards, TD
North Texas	Passing	Stone Earle	12/19, 174 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Isaiah Johnson	6 carries, 34 yards
	Receiving	Ja'Mori Maclin	4 receptions, 122 yards, 2 TD

Statistics	AUB	CAL
First downs	12	19
Plays–yards	55–230	78–273
Rushes–yards	38–136	40–113
Passing yards	94	160
Passing: comp–att–int	10–17–1	21–38–2
Time of possession	25:12	34:48

2023 California Golden Bears football team

Schedule

Roster

Game summaries

at North Texas

vs Auburn

vs No. 5 (FCS) Idaho

at No. 8 Washington

vs Arizona State

vs No. 15 Oregon State

at No. 16 Utah

vs No. 24 USC

at Oregon

vs Washington State

at Stanford

at UCLA

Vs. Texas Tech (Independence Bowl)

References

Related Articles

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Auburn	Passing	Payton Thorne	9/14, 94 yards, 2 TD, INT
	Rushing	Jarquez Hunter	11 carries, 53 yards
	Receiving	Rivaldo Fairweather	3 receptions, 39 yards, TD
California	Passing	Sam Jackson V	14/27, 126 yards, 2 INT
	Rushing	Jaydn Ott	20 carries, 78 yards, TD
	Receiving	Jeremiah Hunter	5 receptions, 35 yards

Statistics	IDHO	CAL
First downs	22	23
Plays–yards	72–387	68–370
Rushes–yards	26–108	43–256
Passing yards	279	114
Passing: comp–att–int	28–46–1	13–25–0
Time of possession	32:43	27:17

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Idaho	Passing	Gevani McCoy	28/46, 279 yards, INT
	Rushing	Anthony Woods	11 carries, 56 yards, TD
	Receiving	Hayden Hatten	8 receptions, 80 yards
California	Passing	Sam Jackson V	12/23, 108 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Isaiah Ifanse	22 carries, 137 yards, TD
	Receiving	Jeremiah Hunter	5 receptions, 48 yards, TD

Statistics	CAL	WASH
First downs	28	23
Plays–yards	81–502	62–529
Rushes–yards	35–139	30–140
Passing yards	363	389
Passing: comp–att–int	27–46–3	23–32–1
Time of possession	29:50	30:10

Statistics	ASU	CAL
First downs	17	19
Plays–yards	72–430	77–326
Rushes–yards	29–68	48–196
Passing yards	362	130
Passing: comp–att–int	27–43–1	12–28–0
Time of possession	30:18	29:42

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Arizona State	Passing	Trenton Bourguet	26/41, 344 yards, INT
	Rushing	Cameron Skattebo	24 carries, 59 yards, TD
	Receiving	Cameron Skattebo	4 receptions, 98 yards
California	Passing	Sam Jackson V	12/28, 130 yards, TD
	Rushing	Jaydn Ott	29 carries, 165 yards, TD
	Receiving	Jeremiah Hunter	6 receptions, 89 yards, TD

Statistics	OSU	CAL
First downs	24	22
Plays–yards	71–499	65–448
Rushes–yards	43–203	33–241
Passing yards	296	207
Passing: comp–att–int	21–28–0	21–32–1
Time of possession	37:17	22:43

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Oregon State	Passing	DJ Uiagalelei	19/25, 275 yards, 5 TD
	Rushing	Damien Martinez	17 carries, 89 yards, TD
	Receiving	Anthony Gould	7 receptions, 117 yards
California	Passing	Fernando Mendoza	21/32, 207 yards, 2 TD, INT
	Rushing	Isaiah Ifanse	11 carries, 86 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Taj Davis	7 receptions, 69 yards

Statistics	CAL	Utah
First downs	16	21
Plays–yards	55–24	75–445
Rushes–yards	24–66	53–317
Passing yards	188	128
Passing: comp–att–int	15–31–1	15–22–0
Time of possession	22:07	37:53

Statistics	USC	CAL
First downs	20	29
Plays–yards	80–506	81–527
Rushes–yards	40–137	42–235
Passing yards	369	292
Passing: comp–att–int	23–40–0	25–39–1
Time of possession	32:36	27:24

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
USC	Passing	Caleb Williams	23/40, 369 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	MarShawn Lloyd	17 carries, 115 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Tahj Washington	5 receptions, 102 yards
California	Passing	Fernando Mendoza	25/39, 292 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT
	Rushing	Jaydn Ott	21 carries, 153 yards, 3 TD
	Receiving	Jeremiah Hunter	8 receptions, 96 yards

Statistics	CAL	ORE
First downs	16	32
Plays–yards	63–286	82–597
Rushes–yards	29–109	36–153
Passing yards	177	444
Passing: comp–att–int	18–34–1	35–46–1
Time of possession	23:26	36:34

Statistics	WSU	CAL
First downs	32	16
Plays–yards	97–483	51–327
Rushes–yards	37–125	36–177
Passing yards	358	150
Passing: comp–att–int	35–60–1	14–21–0
Time of possession	35:45	24:15

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Washington State	Passing	Cam Ward	34/59, 354 yards, 3 TD, INT
	Rushing	Leo Pulalasi	11 carries, 66 yards
	Receiving	Josh Kelly	9 receptions, 130 yards, TD
California	Passing	Fernando Mendoza	14/21, 150 yards, 2 TD,
	Rushing	Jaydn Ott	27 carries, 167 yards, TD
	Receiving	Jeremiah Hunter	3 receptions, 45 yards

Statistics	CAL	STAN
First downs	29	12
Plays–yards	84–455	59–289
Rushes–yards	47–161	24–101
Passing yards	294	188
Passing: comp–att–int	24–37–1	18–35–0
Time of possession	35:36	24:24

Statistics	CAL	UCLA
First downs	17	23
Plays–yards	62–302	83–379
Rushes–yards	32–124	36–70
Passing yards	178	309
Passing: comp–att–int	19–30–2	30–47–2
Time of possession	30:01	29:59

Statistics	California	Texas Tech
First downs	15	24
Plays–yards	64–353	80–384
Rushes–yards	31–69	36–128
Passing yards	284	256
Passing: comp–att–int	22–33–3	27–44–1
Time of possession	26:25	31:02