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The Golden Bears (7-5) reached a bowl game in
consecutive seasons for the first time since making seven
straight from 2003 through 2009. After playing in the Cheez-It
Bowl in Phoenix a season ago, Cal is just 43 miles from its
Berkeley campus in Santa Clara this year.
"Being able to play basically another home game ... is going to
be a great environment," linebacker Evan Weaver told reporters
following the bowl-game announcement. "Great for the Cal
program. Going to back-to-back bowl games to finish out my Cal
career is wonderful."
Weaver, the nation's leading tackler with 173 on the campaign,
leads a stout Golden Bears defense that was integral to a strong
regular-season finish.
Cal started the season 4-0, but after losing quarterback Chase
Garbers to a shoulder injury midway through the Sept. 27 game
against Arizona State, dropped the next four.
The Golden Bears' defense held three of its final four opponents
to 20 points or fewer, including high-powered Washington State.
Cal finished 3-1 in the home stretch, sending it into the Redbox
Bowl on a different trajectory than Illinois.
The Fighting Illini (6-6) dropped their last two to Iowa and
Northwestern, scoring just 10 points in each contest. Still, the
2019 season has been important for the growth of Illinois
football under coach Lovie Smith.
This marks the program's first bowl game in his tenure, and the
first in any capacity since 2014. A win on Monday would give
Illinois its first above-.500 finish since 2010.
"The goal is to become Big Ten champ. Someday, our program will
eventually get there. In the meantime, we'll keep on building,"
Smith said at his bowl announcement press conference. "It's a
process. Part of that process was to play better football this
2019 season. I think we'll all say that we made progress with
that."
Among the milestones in Illinois' season was an upset of Big Ten
West division champion Wisconsin. The Fighting Illini stunned
the Rose Bowl-bound Badgers on Oct. 19, 24-23.
Illinois also knocked off Michigan State in a wild 37-34 game on
Nov. 9 that secured the Illini's bowl eligibility. Illinois
rallied from down 21 points to open the fourth quarter.
The Illinois offense has been up-and-down throughout 2019. How
it stacks up with a Cal defense that ranks No. 33 in the nation,
allowing 22.1 points per game, may depend on the health of
several players.
Quarterback Brandon Peters and wide receiver Josh Imatorbhebhe
each missed the season-finale loss to Northwestern. Imatorbhebhe
caught 33 passes for 634 yards and nine touchdowns on the season
as Illinois' most dangerous deep threat.
Cal will have its own absences to address. The secondary will be
without safeties Ashtyn Davis and Trey Turner, while Tevin Paul
is down at defensive end. On offense, Cal will be without wide
receiver Jordan Duncan.
Beyond injuries, the Redbox Bowl winner may come down to
something as simple as fundamental preparation. Both teams are
returning to action from a month-long layoff.
"You always have a significant (amount) of time from your last
game until the bowl game," said Cal coach Justin Wilcox
following his team's Dec. 26 practice. "Tackling, ball security,
those things always play into performing well in bowl games."
--Field Level Media
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