Cal Football: Redbox Bowl Will Determine How We View 2019 Bears
How important is it for Cal to win Monday’s Redbox Bowl game against Illinois?
Well, a final 8-5 record looks like a successful season, a sign of progress with potential for growth as the Bears would finish with a three-game winning streak.
A 7-6 season would elicit a resounding “meh.”
The bowl result is more about perception than reality, but in sports perception may be just as important.
(Cal defensive end Luc Bequette talks about Illinois' offense and the Bears' defensive line for next season in the video below.)
There was a time when bowl games were merely a reward for a good season, a virtual celebration that mattered little. Minnesota was the Associated Press national champion in 1960 even though it lost the Rose Bowl game to Washington 17-7. Until 1968 (with the exception of 1965), the final AP and UPI polls, which determined the national champion, were released before the bowl games.
It’s different now. Bowl games provide the final, lasting impression of a team’s season. It stamps the team’s identity for that season, and it is the image the squad will live with throughout the spring and summer. The bowl-game result is the single most important factor in determining expectations and preseason rankings for the next season.
Last year, Cal’s offense sputtered badly in its 10-7 loss to TCU in the Cheez-It Bowl. Chase Garbers was benched at halftime after throwing three interceptions. That was the image people had of the 2018 season for Cal and Garbers, and the image that was carried into 2019.
Garbers started to dispose of that image with his performance against Mississippi, and he continued to perform well in every game thereafter. If he and the offense are productive against Illinois it will lead to high marks for the season and high expectations for 2019. (It will also lead to moans from Cal fans about what might have been if Garbers had been healthy all season.)
Make no mistake, though, Garbers’ season and his potential for next season will be judged by what he does against Illinois.
That’s true for every Cal player but is particularly true for linebacker Evan Weaver and safety Jaylinn Hawkins, a pair of seniors who hope to play pro ball. What they do in the Redbox Bowl will have a direct impact on their status for the 2020 NFL Draft. (Safety Ashtyn Davis, who is expected to be the first Cal player drafted in the spring, will not have that chance because he is out with an injury.)
Do you doubt that one game at the end of a season can impact a player’s draft status dramatically?
Well, JaMarcus Russell had a good 2006 season for LSU, but there were questions about his consistency before he had a big game in a 41-14 Sugar Bowl win over Notre Dame. His size (6-foot-6, 260 pounds), athleticism and amazing arm strength were on full display as he outplayed Irish quarterback Brady Quinn, a third-place finisher in the Heisman Trophy voting.
Russell did not finish among the top 10 in the Heisman Trophy voting, but he was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, and that simply would not have been the case without his showing in the Sugar Bowl. That one-game performance proved to be deceiving, as he flopped as a pro.
The Redbox Bowl could be pivotal for cornerback Camryn Bynum, a redshirt junior who is considering entering the 2020 NFL Draft. If he had a standout game against the Illini, that may impress NFL scouts enough to convince Bynum to turn pro. He may even get a chance to show his skills at the safety spot, since the Bears are looking for answers with Davis and his backup at safety, Trey Turner III, being unavailable for the bowl game.
The Cal offense has the most to prove, and a strong showing by the Bears’ offense in the Redbox Bowl would make Cal’s vacant offensive coordinator job more enticing. An offensive coordinator could make himself look good in a hurry if he can improve a Cal offense that finished last in the conference in scoring in 2018 and 2019. The bowl game could indicate whether signficant improvement is possible since most of the components are back next season.
People remember a team’s most recent performance, and they attach labels based on that.
A loss in a game close to home (Santa Clara) to a 6-6 Illinois team when Cal is favored by about a touchdown leaves a feeling of gloom, doom and disappointment. The fact that Cal will be without four key players for the bowl game won't soften the blow much.
A win, particularly an impressive win, puts a glow on the season, virtually erasing the losses to Oregon State and Arizona State and highlighting that road win over Washington and the domination of Washington State.
It’s the closing argument.
Luc Bequette talks about Illinois in the video:
