With a tackle of UCLA running back Joshua Kelley in the first half of the team’s contest against the Bruins, Cal inside linebacker Evan Weaver secured his 168th tackle of the 2019 season, setting a new school record in single-season tackles. 

Weaver, the nation’s leading tackler with 164 total tackles on the year heading into Saturday evening, surpassed Hardy Nickerson’s 167 during the 1985 campaign. In 2018, Weaver compiled 159 tackles, which tied David Ortega’s total in the 1989 season for second-most in program history. 

The Bears’ inside linebackers one-two punch of Weaver and junior college transfer Kuony Deng entered the night with 268 combined total tackles. Weaver’s impressive run has netted him First-Team Midseason All-American honors from ESPN, the Associated Press, the Athletic and several other national outlets. 

With last week’s 24-20 win over Stanford, Cal clinched bowl eligibility for the second year in a row. The additional game will allow Weaver, who is the only FBS student-athlete with a trio of 20-plus tackle games in a season since 2000, to build upon his record-setting total at the end of tonight.