Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - How Cal Golden Bears Beat Auburn: Fernando Mendoza's Key Role

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Cow Golden Bears have already pulled off one of the bigger upsets so far in the college football season, but is the best yet to come? You are Locked on ACC, your daily podcast on the Atlantic Coast Conference. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Shout out to the everydayers for making Locked on ACC your first listen and your first watch today. We're available free wherever you get your podcast. We're free on YouTube. We're part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. On today's episode, we're going to bring on our Cal expert who can show us the receipts because Kenton and I, I think especially me, didn't have a lot of faith that Cal would pull it off against Auburn last week.

Starting point is 00:00:48 And they haven't even played an ACC game yet. They've already pulled off a massive upset. We'll talk about what's next for the Cal Golden Bears. We'll recap how they were able to get it done at Auburn last week. And, you know, Kenton, do you think Cal could be a dark horse contender now in the conference? Absolutely not. No, no, Cal cannot be a dark horse candidate. I mean, a win over Auburn, that's a big deal. But again, I think that we're all underestimating how much that travel will take a toll. I think we are all greatly underestimated. We have never seen. This is not the most travel miles that college team has went in the last, this year or the last spot. This is ever in the history of college football since its inception. Never. has a team going as far as often as they're going to have to do. So I think that they'll be better than most people originally predicted.

Starting point is 00:01:46 But if I'm talking about are they actually a contender, I would say no. Can they be a spoiler that we thought SMU was going to be? For sure. I will 1,000% say that. This team can a thousand percent show up and, you know, knock over the punch bowl at a few teams' part. Well, our guest today is making his triumphant return. he is a Cal Golden Bears alum, Cal super fan, an author.

Starting point is 00:02:10 He's got the receipts right there. He has physical receipts, ladies and gentlemen. He has physical receipts. Lawrence, Ross is back. And yeah, Lawrence, you even saw the prediction that I made on Locked on Auburn. Yes, I did. I didn't give Cal much credit.

Starting point is 00:02:25 I was happy to see y'all pull it off, though. I was. It's, you know, something is, you know, look, I understand. Cow belief is something is a slow burn. You have to come into it slowly because Aski, you can't go against Aski. He wants to actually win. No, I mean, I come back with receipts in a very fun way. You know, everyone we already know as a Cal fan, we know people kind of have a stereotype of what they think we are.

Starting point is 00:02:54 And what I tried to say during the previous was, I think I said, we have a deeper running back room than we just have Jay Not. I said we have a senior latent D.Bs, right? I think Kitten was asking about the lines. And I said, in the past, our linebackers basically fill holes. And basically we just are faster and more athletic. We kind of destroyed, you know, Auburn's line. We didn't, Wilcox is not about really sacks, by the way. Wilcox is about pressures.

Starting point is 00:03:25 Wilcox is about getting pressures and moving the quarterback out of the comfort zone. So always, you know, look at it. from that standpoint. I think maybe in Wilcox's tenure, eight years, we maybe had like one or two really good edge rushers, you know, who were getting sacks. So, and then he puts, you know, that takes less pressure on the DBs. And that's the reason why we get a lot of DBs. Remember, Wilcox is originally a DB coach. So all of that and combined with the fact that, you know, Cal as a road warrior underneath Wilcox is pretty damn good. And I predicted exactly what would happen prior to playing Auburn.

Starting point is 00:04:03 I put it out there about how Wilcoctwood actually win. And yeah, there's the tweet. I was like, Cal strangles teams who don't expect it. And they're going to turn it into a rock fight. And really, I said 31 to 20. We missed two field goals. You're close. And really Auburn should not maybe,

Starting point is 00:04:23 you could actually say there are two touchdowns. One, I'm still not convinced that the receiver had to establish themselves in the play when they got the touchdown, that would have been fourth down, that had to kick the field goal. And that definitely wasn't a PI, you know, for the one that Thorne eventually ran it in. It was a interception. So it should have been around 24 to 3,

Starting point is 00:04:43 23 to 7, let's just say around there in terms of it. But no, I mean, and we were down. We're still down. We haven't played our starting receiver yet, two starting receivers yet. We have two starting offense alignment who haven't played yet. We have our David Reese, who hasn't played. We kind of played.

Starting point is 00:04:59 and then it's hobble. So it's one of those things that we're not really understanding the talent level that's on Cal, but more importantly, the mentality that's on the Cal football team right now. That's the difference. If this was the Pact 12, I would already know which ones were going to be the almost we cannot win, right? Oregon, Washington, listening to that damn air horn, seahorn go off, and Washington is able to haunts my dreams. We don't know going into the ACC

Starting point is 00:05:33 which ones are going to be the ones that were, oh my God, we were just overwhelmed, right? It could be North Carolina State, Kenton. I mean, you know, despite the Tennessee thing, you know. I was a whoopper. You ain't got a whole thing. You can call it what it is. But, you know, but for Cal, we are not good enough.

Starting point is 00:05:53 And I want all you, everybody up there who's like, Cal has only played two games. And, you know, look, I'm not saying that we're going to win every game. I said on the thing, I said between Auburn, Florida State, and Miami, we'd win one. Right. But we won that one. Now we win, we go game. Cal is the ultimate game by game team.

Starting point is 00:06:15 And if you get ahead of yourself with irrational exuberance, you will get burned. And I don't care what time of the year it is. You will get burned. Just play it, feel good. and let the social media and our memes go in between the games that we're going to be happy as a Cal fan. You know, I got to say something here because you said that Justin Wilcox defense is designed

Starting point is 00:06:37 not to get sacks, but to get you out of your comfort zone. Is Jordan Hare Stadium Peyton Thorpe's comfort zone that he was outside of? Because that, did you switch his contacts before the game loss? Did you put you over some description? It was finding wild open Cal D.Bs everywhere. it. Hey, look, it is our job to catch the ball that is thrown. It is not our job to make your guy, not make good decisions. Our guy, Fernando Mendoza, is an absolute gym. In the fact that I was

Starting point is 00:07:15 mentioning before, if you ever watch interviews of Fernando, he's the most, he is the guy you want representing your university. He is earnest. He is, he is, he, he, he, he, He deflects credit, and he literally will go through everyone out of position, which made the success of whatever the question is, right? But he also is not too big for the moment. And Cal has always had success. You know, we've had the Aaron Rogers and the Jared Goss of the world, but we've also had success with managing manager quarterbacks,

Starting point is 00:07:45 Chase Garbers, Nate Longshore, Kevin Riley, the ones who don't even come up on the radar from most college football fans, but keep the ball moving down the field who make the right decisions who you know last year he was thrown in as the third string you know scout team quarterback that's a reason why his numbers are skewed he was literally coming in and just trying to slow things down now this is a kid who learns and is not really tripping off the moment not at all well i loved what i saw and i wonder if it's only going to get better or will you know will cal have their ups and downs this year we'll talk with Lawrence about what happens next.

Starting point is 00:08:24 Now, next is San Diego State, and then after that, they start the ACC schedule. So things are going to get really, really interesting. My friends, we're only getting started. You want to keep it locked right here. Alex Dono, Kenton Gibbs, Lawrence Ross with you on this brand new episode of Locked on ACC. I'm only getting started with eBay Motors. Passion, drive, and patience.

Starting point is 00:08:47 That's the formula for winning championships. It's also what keeps your ride or die alive. eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to peak performance. Superchargers, roof racks, exhaust kits, LED headlights, and more. Whether you're into speed, power, or style, eBay Motors has you covered. With over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die, you'll always find exactly what you're looking for. And with eBay guaranteed fit, your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or your money back. Because with eBay Motors, you're burning rubber, not cash.

Starting point is 00:09:16 With all the parts you need, at the prices you want, it's easy to make your car the MVP and bring home huge wins. Keep your ride or die alive with eBaymotors.com. Eligible items, only. Exclusions apply. eBay guaranteed fit only available to U.S. customers. We're also proudly brought to you by Factor Meals. Fuel up with factors, no prep, no mess meals. Meet your wellness goals thanks to the menu of chef crafted meals with options like calorie smart, protein plus and keto. Factors fresh, never frozen meals are dietitian approved and ready to eat in just two minutes. I hate prep. I love factors, no prep time. No matter how busy you are, you will always have time to enjoy nutritious, great tasting meals.

Starting point is 00:09:55 35 different meals and more than 60 add-ons to choose from every week. You'll always have new flavors to explore. Make your day delicious from breakfast to dessert. Stay fueled with easy, nutritious options. Enjoy effortless support for your lifestyle. Choose from six menu preferences to help you do whatever you want to do, whether it's manage calories, maximize protein intake, avoid meat, or simply eat well-balanced. Head to factormeels.com slash locked-on college.

Starting point is 00:10:21 And use code locked on college 50 to get 50% off your first box. 20% off your next month. That's code locked on college 50 at factor meals.com slash locked on college 50. Thank you so much for making this episode of Locked on ACC. Your first listen and your first watch today for your next listen, make sure you check Kenton out at Locked on Wolfpack. Make sure you check me out at Locked on Cains. And we're so happy to have Lawrence Ross with us.

Starting point is 00:10:53 So Lawrence, again, huge, huge win against an SEC opponent. As Kenton mentioned, a lot of, a lot of big. cross-country flights, Auburn being the first of many for Cal this year. What would we like to see against San Diego State on Saturday before you start that ACC schedule the following week against Florida State? So the big thing I think all Cal fans are kind of worried about is whether not the kids are locked on, right? There's a lot of hype, a lot of energy, all the rest of the stuff. Wilcox has a really good way of kind of like really kind of like giving it 24 hours and then going, okay, this is what we do. But there was something that Fernando Mendoza said,

Starting point is 00:11:30 during the press conference and he talked about the fact that oftentimes we, Cal wouldn't close out games like this, right? There would be like Auburn. It would be like, oh, we played a really great game. The year before, you know, we played a real good game, but we were only four points away from doing stuff. And he, what we call tip of cow, right? Typical, you know, you come close, but you're not really there. They are aware of that. And that's a very important trait. It's one thing to be able to like, I'm going to overcome some. They're very aware of the fact that games like San Diego State are the ones that they would normally trip up. I'm going to be interested to see whether or not they come out sharp from the very beginning. And this is a night game.

Starting point is 00:12:04 So this is basically a continuation of Pact 12 after dark, just ACC version. So it kind of gets scary. But shout out to in terms of like I told you in the past that Cal is going through an existential threat, meaning that we have to win. This is not one of those things where we can kind of glide in ACC. We have to prove our value. And the university, including our chancellor, big shout out to Rich Lyons, who took a suggestion about giving free tickets out to students and everything to reengage the campus back with Cal football, those are really good signs. Now, do they all translate to winning on Saturday? I think Cal will win

Starting point is 00:12:41 on Saturday. It's still going to be, it won't be one of those things where you go, oh, Cal broke out with a 48 to 17 win. Now, it'll still be a Wilcox 28 to 17 slug fest type of deal. But it will be the same steady type of game that they're going to take into Florida State. Now, as for the travel, I think Cal is actually taking it as being a challenge, right? Instead of kind of like, oh my God, we've got this. I think their mentality is professionalism. We're going to be professional. We know exactly what to do. Exactly, you know, our schedules are really thought out, and we're going to take that into our routine. Yes, you know, travel is going to be a big deal. This is going to be an experiment. I think, you know, between Stanford and SMU, all of them are going to basically have

Starting point is 00:13:28 different responses to that travel, depending on how good you are. You know, if you've got good players, hey, you know what? You can play at, you know, Syracuse, you know, with a distance as long as it's like, not at, Nungis is not at 9 a.m. That's the only time that Cal has really been, when Cal played Miami, excuse Maryland, at way back with Jared, with Job at Best, we played at 9 a.m. Maryland time. And I think Jobbitt ended up. up throwing up on the field after a hit. So we want to avoid that. But the FSU game, I think, has been announced for like four o'clock,

Starting point is 00:14:02 um, uh, eastern time. So that's one o'clock. One B and y'all time. Okay. That's one o'clock. There's nothing. Yeah, it's, it's actually four o'clock, uh, Pacific seven o'clock Eastern. So that's, that's fine.

Starting point is 00:14:14 Yeah. That's in their, that's in their sleep cycle. That's not anything that's, you know, like, you know, all out of times, the East Coast teams, they set it up for a 730 game. So they're starting at 1030. So, you know, there's an all. the automatic advantage on the West Coast time. But as long as that occurs, I think, let me put it over here, if Cal gets,

Starting point is 00:14:31 this is all the gods coming together, if Cal gets to the Miami game unbeaten, then college game day will come for the first time to Berkeley. I would love that. For a Cal top 10 ranked Miami game and it will be rocking at Memorial Stadium. I'll tell you what, that would be a hell of a ball game. That would be a hell of a hell of, because by that time, I love this. to tell people throughout the game, if you let a lesser opponent kind of hang in,

Starting point is 00:14:57 they get confidence. The same thing happens with teams. It doesn't matter if they're lesser or better. A team that is six and no, seven and oh, if you take that same team to three and four, they feel different. Yeah. The ice ain't as cold.

Starting point is 00:15:10 The water ain't as funny. The drinks that don't taste good. The women ain't as pretty. Nothing's as good. Nothing's as good when you're losing. But when you're winning, you start to feel yourself. You start the chest starting to swell up.

Starting point is 00:15:21 Your posture get right. Yeah. And then Cal, remember, Cal is almost, you know, we've got a squad of people from everywhere. But in essence, Cal is an Oakland Bay Area team. You know, J.B. and Thomas, who you saw who backed up Ott, you know, it's from a climberman's, right? And, you know, Marshawn Lynch is an Oakland guy, right? And all these kids are Oakland guys. So it has a real big effect on, for example, keeping the talent that's in the Bay going to Cal.

Starting point is 00:15:51 and it used to be in the Pact 12, those people would be picked apart by Washington, Oregon, and UCLA and USC. Now that's a distinctive personality of us being the ACC. It's a different thing that we can present. We can say, hey, you come to Cal, you can play in Miami, or you can play Florida State, or you can play all these, or Clemson, you can play these teams. And this is the reason why the back end of leaving the Pact 12, you know, we still consider it to be a tragedy to leave the Pact 12. but I think we had the best deal of them all, even with the travel, because think of those, you know, UCLA is going to get lost in the Big 12, oh, the Big Ten.

Starting point is 00:16:26 It's going to get, they're going to get lost. And their brand is going to, they're going to make money, but their brand is going to suffer. This is one way for Cal to actually reimagine our brand. And that's what we're doing. And shout out, by the way, to all the burners out there in the social media who are letting people understand that Cal is not only funny with the social memes, but very smart in our memes in terms of how we do them. You guys do have great memes. I'm learning that. I am.

Starting point is 00:16:50 Go ahead, Ken. I'm so confused. You mean to tell me that players would rather play at Miami than at Camp Randall in Wisconsin? Oh. Oh, hey, and guess what? You know what? Some of those Miami players look at California to go, hey, you know what? I can get the sun without the humidity.

Starting point is 00:17:11 Mendoza. Fernando Mendoza, Miami Kid. He is a Miami Kid. He's a Miami kid. kid. And he was joking about, he said, every time that he played in high school, it felt like it was raining, you know, so he was just like, he was soaked from the humidity, right? But he was like, you know, we can handle it. And I think, you know, everyone in this scenario, and I'm a big English football fan, you know, I'm a Manchester United fan, right? And this scenario reminds me of like 30

Starting point is 00:17:38 years ago when all the, you know, the realignment of all the English clubs, you know, from the top to the bottom. But there has been a development of those teams that have been traditionally may have been making smarter decisions and then they start to challenge. It doesn't mean that they win the championship, but they start to challenge. And a little to Kenton's point in that I don't know if Cal is going to be, you know, challenging for it to go to Charlotte. But I do know there will probably be an eight to nine win team and be in the mix. And I don't know whether or not it's going to be the I spoil somebody else's thing. I wonder whether or not it just whether not they won't get to the mountain top because they just trade up lose, right?

Starting point is 00:18:14 They just lose a game that, you know, Wake Forest. I think I told y'all, Wake Forest is the one of Friday game. That's the one I see Cal maybe not winning, right? Wow. Bad schedule on the road, the last of, you know, the, of the games. And that's kind of the Oregon state-ish type of team, you know, either they're kind of really, good or they're not so good, but they always at their home play out of their head because they have, you know, orange night or black and gold night or whatever it is. And it just kind of

Starting point is 00:18:53 sweeps the other team away. That's the game that I kind of circle and I look and I say, man, that may be a game that I think we should win, but won't win because of the Friday night and the end of travel. Yeah, something I wanted to get your reaction to Lawrence is now that it's not going to look like what it used to, but the PAC 12, they're making a comeback. Like, they're about to add four teams. They're looking at adding at least two more to get to that minimum number of eight. Now, I've already seen some, like, you know, some nameless people on social media trying to link Cal and Stanford to go back into the PAC 12. And my follow-up question would be how. Like, you know, if it was that easy to leave the ACC, Florida State and Clemson wouldn't be in court right now.

Starting point is 00:19:38 Right. It would never happen. Granta Rice, you know, regardless of, you know, Regardless, Cal and you can call it to elitist or whatever you want, right? But Cal and Stanford will only associate themselves with top-tier research universities. And this is nothing against the universities that are in the new Pact 12. But this is the reason why they didn't ask the Colorado states of the world and even the San Diego states, which had kind of risen within the Cal State system, the academic. to become a member. I always talk about, and the folks who are doing it, I understand why they're doing it. It usually is Oregon State fans who are doing it. Because we're kind of like, I said, we're kind of like Will Smith and Fresh Prince when his dad came and didn't want him and he's swinging at the air. Like, why don't they want me, you know, in terms of, you know, they had a better football record than Cal and Stanford, right? And yet we got picked up. But we're, you know, the new PAC 12 is a little bit like an ex-wife, right? You know, getting married, right? You wish her well. You know, you have no more love for her and you're not coming back. And we're not coming back.

Starting point is 00:20:46 Even if the ACC imploded, I would venture to guess that Call and Stanford would rather go independent, seriously, than go back to a PAC 12 in which they were in the midst of Boise State, San Diego State, and Fresno State. And particularly Stanford with Fresno State because Fresno State is kind of like in their recruiting imprint, too. So that wouldn't happen. So that's not going to happen. it's just not going to happen you know you know he really meant it about that ex-wife because he started talking like HR you know whenever you start doing that in the interpersonal relation we wish you the best in all your future it happens no I mean I mean I'm having never 32 years so I don't want them trying to trouble but you know but I you know you've seen it you've seen it enough you've seen it enough

Starting point is 00:21:31 right we're a brother who's who's been married to somebody and they get married and you look at your face you ask what you know you don't have any emotion about it he was like I wish them well. Then they drink a beer. I hope them all the success and all the full moons in their future, in their future union. That's all I've got to say about it. Thank you.

Starting point is 00:21:51 Kid and little bit of this, I've been married to a Delta for 32 years. So I ain't going nowhere. You ain't leave it if you want to to. You stay right there. I'm going to stay right there. I got you. I'm here where she's going to strip me broke.

Starting point is 00:22:07 So that's those are the things. So no. No, it's, I was saying beforehand, by the way, Alex, Kenton, y'all have to go into our social media and find one of our social media folks who are doing a lot of wonderful things and get them a locked on Cal show. They do wonderful work. Not me. I don't have enough time. I'll be happy to come visit. But you'll get them. They are so funny and so representative of.

Starting point is 00:22:39 kind of like what it means to go to Cal, you know, beyond the football, that I think it would be a great addition to the locked on family. I agree. We need it. Lawrence, I appreciate you so much for taking the time. Anything you want to plug, where can people find you on social? Oh, you can always find me on social Alpha 1906 on my Twitter feed. You can find that on my Instagram and just come by and say hello. I'll be happy to be happy to say hello on you. Absolutely. For Kenton Gibbs, Kenton, of course, hosts Lockdown Wolfpack. I am Alex Dono from Lockdown Cains and for the great Lawrence Ross. We will talk to everyone again next time on another episode of Lockdown ACC. We're part of the awesome Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team every day.

Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - How Cal Golden Bears Beat Auburn: Fernando Mendoza's Key Role

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.