One week after Cal opened its season at home against an FCS-level opponent in front of a modest crowd of 32,275, the entire script flips on Saturday.
The Bears (1-0) traveled nearly 2,500 miles Thursday to face Auburn (1-0) of the powerhouse Southeastern Conference in front an expected crowd of more than 88,000. Kickoff is 12:30 p.m. PT.
It’s a non-conference scenario Cal may not see again, at least for a while.
Set to play at Florida State in two weeks in their debut as new members of the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Bears aren’t likely to schedule non-conference games that will require the kind of travel that comes with playing in a league on the opposite coast.
“That’s a great question,” Cal coach Justin Wilcox said, “and I think if we had known whenever these games are scheduled, I doubt they would have done that just because of the new travel schedule.
“But nobody saw any of this (conference realignment) change coming when these games were scheduled, and usually that’s six, seven, even 10 years out.”
The home-and-home arrangement with Auburn, which beat Cal 14-10 at Berkeley last season, was initially scheduled back in 2014. At that time, the teams were set to square off in 2019 at Auburn, 2020 at Cal.
It was rescheduled for 2020 and ’21 so Cal could play Ole Miss in 2017 and ’19, and that was tweaked again after the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out all non-conference games involving Pac-12 schools in 2020.
Cal has 13 future non-conference contracts signed through the 2032 season, and none of those games will be played this far from the Bay Area. The longest trips: Minnesota in 2028 and Wisconsin in 2030.
In the meantime, Cal braces for a big and fast Auburn squad at Jordan-Hare Stadium. At least the Bears might get a break from the weather, which is projected to be in the low 80s, humid but mostly cloudy with a chance of rain early in the day.
A sellout crowd of 88,043 watched Auburn dismantle FCS-level Alabama A&M 73-3 last Saturday, and the Tigers filled every seat at all their home games last year.
“I know we’re excited to go to Auburn and play,” said Wilcox, whose team opened with a 31-13 win over UC Davis, also an FCS opponent. “It’s an unbelievable environment. It’s a great football team, storied tradition.”
Cal isn’t likely to encounter a non-conference crowd this big again for the foreseeable future. Jared Goff led the Bears to a 45-44 victory at Texas in front of 91,568 in 2015, but games at Ohio State in 2012 (105,232 fans) and Tennessee in 2006 (106,009) didn’t go as well.
The Bears’ offense prepared for the crowd noise by using a silent count in practice, something they have utilized at Oregon’s Autzen Stadium and Washington’s Husky Stadium.
Quarterback Chandler Rogers, expected to share time again with Fernando Mendoza, played games at Texas and Alabama when he was at Louisiana-Monroe.
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“I’ve been in these environments before. Really not worried about it,” he said. “The one thing I definitely know is the defense and their team feeds off the crowd.
“At first, it’s going to be loud. We know that. Just weather the storm early and go play football. Our confidence is very high.”
Mendoza said the Bears will be plenty motivated.
“Every win tastes great, this one would better, especially because we suffered a loss to them last year. A brutal loss,” Mendoza said. “Being able to go to an SEC venue and getting that win would only add more and more momentum going into ACC play.”