Cal Football: How Does a Stinker in Game 1 Impact the Rest of the Season?

Cal’s 34-10 loss to UCLA on Sunday morning snapped the Bears’ six-year win streak in season-opening games.

But this wasn’t just any season opener.

It was in mid-November amid a global pandemic. It came just two days after the matchup was hastily scheduled when both teams suddenly needed games. And it was against a conference rival.

Still, the outcome and the way the Bears performed certainly threw some cold water on the team’s dreams of challenging for the Pac-12 North title.

We wondered how the Bears have fared following similar opening-day losses.

Did those outcomes dictate the way the rest of the season unfolded?

Is this team’s season already torpedoed after one disheartening defeat?

Or can the Bears flip the script on what we saw Sunday in Pasadena?

They haven’t come often, but over the past 50 years Cal has lost by two touchdowns or more nine times in the first game on its schedule.

Here’s a look at those games and where the Bears went from there:

1971: Lost 51-20 to Arkansas in Little Rock. The Bears also lost 35-3 at Ohio State three weeks later (and were shut out by USC and Stanford) but managed to go 6-5 in coach Ray Willsey’s final season.

1973: Lost 66-0 to Alabama in Birmingham. This was probably not a great piece of scheduling. Bear Bryant’s Crimson Tide began the season 11-0 and reached No. 1 before losing to Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl. Cal finished 4-7, but was 15-6-1 the next two seasons with Steve Bartkowski, Joe Roth and Chuck Muncie leading the way.

1980: Lost 41-13 to Florida at Tampa. The Bears’ tough non-conference schedule also included a 38-13 road loss to Michigan. Cal finished 3-8, but closed out the season with a Big Game triumph.

1989: Lost 35-19 at Oregon. The Bears went just 4-7 but coach Bruce Snyder was building a foundation. Cal went 17-6-1 the next two years, winning back-to-back bowl games.

1995: Lost 33-8 at San Diego State. Coach Keith Gilbertson’s fourth season spiraled to 3-8, leading to his ouster and the hiring of Steve Mariucci.

2001: Lost 44-7 to Illinois. The Bears never did get anything going this season, also dropping their next 10 games before beating Rutgers to finish 1-11. Tom Holmoe was let go as coach, replaced by Jeff Tedford.

2003: Lost 42-28 to Kansas State. Led a junior college quarterback named Aaron Rodgers, the Bears wound up 8-6 with victories in the Big Game and over Virginia Tech in the Insight Bowl.

2006: Lost 35-18 at Tennessee. Tedford’s ninth-ranked Bears were overpowered by the No. 23 Volunteers in Knoxville but rebounded to go 10-3 and claim a share of the Pac-10 title.

2013: Lost 44-30 to Northwestern. This was Sonny Dykes’ debut season and the Bears, with freshman Jared Goff at quarterback, kicked off an era where they routinely scored a lot of points and gave up a lot. In 2013, they struggled to a 1-11 record.

*** Chase Garbers reflects on Sunday's game against UCLA:

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

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