Cal Football: Trond Grizzell Shines on Big Game Stage

We assume somewhere on his desk or cell phone, Justin Wilcox has written a note to himself along the lines of this: Find a scholarship for Trond Grizzell.

The redshirt sophomore wide receiver delivered perhaps the best performance of his Cal career in Saturday’s 126th Big Game, catching seven passes for 136 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the Bears’ 27-15 win at Stanford.

“Dare you say, Big Game hero,” Wilcox said. “He’s going to be in the conversation.”

He is no doubt in the conversation to land a scholarship after arriving on campus from Park City, Utah as a preferred walk-on in the summer of 2021.

“Trond is a great receiver,” said quarterback Fernando Mendoza of his roommate.

“I told him pregame that I felt good,” Grizzell said. “To have a game like that is amazing.”

Grizzell redshirted in 2021 and had no catches last season. The 6-foot-4, 200-pounder has 33 receptions for 498 yards and five touchdowns this season and his 15.1 yards per catch is best on the team.

“Trond, from a year ago to right now, has made as big a jump as anybody,” Wilcox said. “He was not highly recruited by any means, but just goes to to show if you commit yourself to it and you have some talent that you can make this football thing work. So I’m really proud of him.”

OTT CLIMBS THE CHARTS: Jaydn Ott, who rushed for 166 yards against Stanford, has jumped to No. 4 among NCAA leaders in rushing yards per game. He is now averaging 118.2 per game after his fifth outing this season with at least 150.

BEARS AWAIT WORD ON ULUAVE: Freshman inside linebacker Cade Uluave has been a revelation — and a life-saver — for the Bears. He took over as a starter last month when All-Pac-12 senior Jackson Sirmon went down with a season-ending biceps injury.

His status for the Bears’ regular-season finale at UCLA next Saturday is uncertain after he was injured and left the game in the second quarter. Wilcox said he did not have an immediate status report.

Uluave, who had 41 tackles the previous four games, won Pac-12 freshman of the week and defensive player of the week after compiling nine tackles, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries (including one he returned for a touchdown) and a game-clinching interception last week vs. Washington State.

UP NEXT, ANOTHER GARBERS: When Cal (5-6, 3-5 Pac-12) goes for bowl eligibility Saturday night against UCLA (7-4, 4-4) at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, they will face a familiar face. Or at least a familiar name.

Ethan Garbers, whose older brother Chase was Cal’s quarterback through 2021, had the first three-touchdown game of his career for the Bruins in their 38-20 win over USC. He was 18 for 31 for 155 yards without an interception.

PLUMMER TO ACC TITLE GAME: Former Cal quarterback Jack Plummer helped Louisville clinch a spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game with a 38-31 win at Miami on Saturday.

The 10th-ranked Cardinals (10-1, 7-1 ACC) will play No. 4 Florida State (11-0, 8-0) on Dec. 2 in Charlotte, NC.

Plummer was 24-37 for 308 yards and three touchdowns against Miami. For the season, has has passed for 2,710 yards with 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

THE LAST WORD: "Man, at this point, I expect to win the Axe. Like I said, it's the Cal Axe." -- Cal fifth-year senior safety Craig Woodson, alluding to the Bears winning three straight Big Games.

Cover photo of Trond Grizzell running toward the end zone against Stanford by Al Sermeno, KLC fotos

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo