The 2013 California Golden Bears football team represented the University of California, Berkeley in the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. This was Cal's first year of being led by the head coach Sonny Dykes. Cal's athletic director Sandy Barbour stated that it was his emphasis on offense that was the primary factor in the decision. Dykes was hired from Louisiana Tech, and was known for his reliance on the pass heavy and high scoring Air Raid offense, that utilized a shotgun formation with four wide receivers. Cal finished this season with a 1–11 record, with Dykes becoming the first head coach since the University began playing football in 1886 to fail to defeat a single D-1 opponent in a season that has lasted at least five games. The Bears lost to Stanford by 50 points, the largest margin ever in the 119-year history of the Big Game. During the season, the team was featured on The Drive, a weekly documentary series on the Pac-12 Network.
One of the season's few positives was the performance of true freshman Jared Goff as the starting quarterback. Under Dyke's Air Raid offense, Goff delivered a record-breaking season, setting Cal single-season records for passing yards (3,508), yardage gained (3,508), total offense (3,446), passes completed (320), and passes attempted (530).
Schedule
Game summaries
No. 22 Northwestern
Statistics NWCAL First downs 22 30 Total yards 508 549 Rushing yards 209 89 Passing yards 299 460 Turnovers 3 3 Time of possession 29:35 30:25 Team Category Player Statistics Northwestern Passing Trevor Siemian 18/29, 276 yards, TD, 2 INT Rushing Treyvon Green 15 rushes, 129 yards, 2 TD Receiving Danny Vitale 5 receptions, 101 yards California Passing Jared Goff 39/64, 450 yards, 2 TD, 3 INT Rushing Brendan Bigelow 15 rushes, 61 yards Receiving Chris Harper 11 receptions, 148 yards, 2 TD
Portland State
Statistics PRSTCAL First downs 23 31 Total yards 553 616 Rushing yards 245 131 Passing yards 308 485 Turnovers 2 1 Time of possession 27:43 32:17 Team Category Player Statistics Portland State Passing Kieran McDonagh 13/28, 308 yards, TD, INT Rushing D. J. Adams 21 rushes, 139 yards, 3 TD Receiving Kasey Closs 5 receptions, 160 yards, TD California Passing Jared Goff 33/51, 485 yards, 2 TD Rushing Brendan Bigelow 18 rushes, 75 yards Receiving Bryce Treggs 8 receptions, 121 yards
No. 4 Ohio State
Statistics OSUCAL First downs 27 28 Total yards 608 503 Rushing yards 332 132 Passing yards 276 371 Turnovers 1 2 Time of possession 33:55 26:05 Team Category Player Statistics Ohio State Passing Kenny Guiton 21/32, 276 yards, 4 TD Rushing Jordan Hall 30 rushes, 168 yards, 3 TD Receiving Devin Smith 3 receptions, 149 yards, 2 TD California Passing Jared Goff 31/53, 371 yards, 3 TD, INT Rushing Daniel Lasco 10 rushes, 64 yards, TD Receiving Chris Harper 6 receptions, 115 yards, TD
At No. 2 Oregon
Statistics CALORE First downs 20 21 Total yards 325 381 Rushing yards 149 264 Passing yards 176 117 Turnovers 5 2 Time of possession 31:20 28:40 Team Category Player Statistics California Passing Zach Kline 18/37, 165 yards, TD, INT Rushing Brendan Bigelow 18 rushes, 61 yards Receiving Richard Rodgers 2 receptions, 38 yards Oregon Passing Marcus Mariota 11/25, 114 yards, 2 TD Rushing Byron Marshall 19 rushes, 130 yards, 2 TD Receiving Josh Huff 2 receptions, 44 yards, TD
Washington State
Statistics WSUCAL First downs 27 26 Total yards 570 585 Rushing yards 49 64 Passing yards 521 521 Turnovers 1 5 Time of possession 32:45 27:15 Team Category Player Statistics Washington State Passing Connor Halliday 41/67, 521 yards, 3 TD, INT Rushing Marcus Mason 7 rushes, 32 yards Receiving Marcus Mason 4 receptions, 118 yards, TD California Passing Jared Goff 33/59, 504 yards, 2 TD, INT Rushing Brendan Bigelow 12 rushes, 41 yards Receiving Chris Harper 14 receptions, 231 yards, TD
At No. 11 UCLA
Statistics CALUCLA First downs 21 28 Total yards 320 488 Rushing yards 105 78 Passing yards 215 410 Turnovers 2 0 Time of possession 30:00 30:00 Team Category Player Statistics California Passing Jared Goff 26/43, 215 yards, INT Rushing Khalfani Muhammad 14 rushes, 63 yards Receiving Bryce Treggs 5 receptions, 42 yards UCLA Passing Brett Hundley 31/41, 410 yards, 3 TD Rushing Paul Perkins 14 rushes, 36 yards, TD Receiving Devin Fuller 6 receptions, 98 yards, TD
Oregon State
Statistics ORSTCAL First downs 31 19 Total yards 496 291 Rushing yards 74 75 Passing yards 496 291 Turnovers 2 4 Time of possession 33:28 26:32 Team Category Player Statistics Oregon State Passing Sean Mannion 35/45, 481 yards, 4 TD Rushing Chris Brown 6 rushes, 36 yards Receiving Brandin Cooks 13 receptions, 232 yards, TD California Passing Jared Goff 21/31, 220 yards, INT Rushing Darren Ervin 11 rushes, 40 yards Receiving Chris Harper 7 receptions, 93 yards
At Washington
Statistics CALWASH First downs 21 24 Total yards 483 642 Rushing yards 131 262 Passing yards 352 380 Turnovers 1 0 Time of possession 31:09 28:51 Team Category Player Statistics California Passing Jared Goff 32/54, 336 yards, TD Rushing Khalfani Muhammad 4 rushes, 90 yards, TD Receiving Chris Harper 6 receptions, 98 yards, TD Washington Passing Keith Price 20/32, 376 yards, 2 TD Rushing Bishop Sankey 27 rushes, 241 yards, 2 TD Receiving Jaydon Mickens 6 receptions, 180 yards, 2 TD
Arizona
Statistics ARIZCAL First downs 26 24 Total yards 448 419 Rushing yards 187 130 Passing yards 261 289 Turnovers 0 2 Time of possession 32:57 27:03 Team Category Player Statistics Arizona Passing B. J. Denker 24/38, 261 yards, TD Rushing Ka'Deem Carey 32 rushes, 152 yards Receiving Terrence Miller 5 receptions, 88 yards California Passing Jared Goff 34/56, 289 yards, 4 TD, 2 INT Rushing Daniel Lasco 12 rushes, 71 yards Receiving Kenny Lawler 6 receptions, 72 yards, 3 TD
USC
Statistics USCCAL First downs 20 30 Total yards 499 483 Rushing yards 256 190 Passing yards 243 293 Turnovers 0 0 Time of possession 24:01 35:59 Team Category Player Statistics USC Passing Cody Kessler 14/17, 170 yards, 2 TD Rushing Javorius Allen 6 rushes, 135 yards, 2 TD Receiving De’Von Flournoy 3 receptions, 63 yards California Passing Jared Goff 35/49, 260 yards, 3 TD Rushing Khalfani Muhammad 10 rushes, 61 yards, TD Receiving Kenny Lawler 6 receptions, 54 yards, 2 TD
At Colorado
Statistics CALCOLO First downs 23 23 Total yards 411 485 Rushing yards 197 121 Passing yards 214 364 Turnovers 2 1 Time of possession 27:19 32:36 Team Category Player Statistics California Passing Jared Goff 23/45, 173 yards, INT Rushing Brendan Bigelow 15 rushes, 107 yards, 2 TD Receiving Kenny Lawler 6 receptions, 81 yards Colorado Passing Sefo Liufau 23/36, 364 yards, 3 TD, INT Rushing Christian Powell 18 rushes, 60 yards, TD Receiving Paul Richardson 11 receptions, 140 yards
At No. 10 Stanford
Statistics CALSTAN First downs 18 25 Total yards 383 603 Rushing yards 73 186 Passing yards 310 417 Turnovers 1 1 Time of possession 28:14 31:46 Team Category Player Statistics California Passing Jared Goff 10/19, 194 yards, TD Rushing Khalfani Muhammad 5 rushes, 45 yards Receiving Richard Rodgers 5 receptions, 125 yards Stanford Passing Kevin Hogan 17/26, 329 yards, 5 TD Rushing Tyler Gaffney 16 rushes, 95 yards, TD Receiving Ty Montgomery 5 receptions, 160 yards, 4 TD
In a 63–13 victory, #10 Stanford broke the record for most points scored in a Big Game and for the largest margin of victory at 50 points. With the victory, Stanford clinched the Pac-12 North Division Championship while Cal ended their season at 1–11, the most losses in one season in Cal football history.
Awards September 2, 2013 – Vincenzo D'Amato, PK, was named Pac-12 Conference special teams player of the week
References