Christie Aguilar

Cal (7-6, 4-5) and TCU’s (7-6, 4-5) overtime contest that ended in favor of the Horned Frogs, 10-7, featured a historically bad nine interceptions (Cal five, TCU, four) and was only meekly revived by both squads’ defense.

All season, the Bears have echoed the sentiments of never looking too far ahead yet understanding that every success and failure was building up to their goal for the season: to win a bowl game.

Following the bowl game projection frenzy, bids are in for the postseason and the Bears will be spending their Christmas in the desert. Cal football (7-5, 4-5) is headed to Phoenix, AZ, to face TCU (6-6, 4-5) in the 2018 Cheez-It Bowl on Dec. 26.

For the first time since 2015, Cal football is going bowling — not just as a team bonding event with hardwood floors and tacky footwear — along with fellow Pac-12 teams No. 10 Washington, No. 12 Washington State, No. 17 Utah, Oregon, Stanford and Arizona State.

It’s been nearly two months since Cal has scored at least 21 points in a game; seemingly needing to make up for lost time, the Bears amassed 21 points in the first six minutes of play during their Senior Day battle Saturday.

One year later, there is no confusion as to who Daltoso is. He has become a quintessential part of Cal’s offensive line family — one that has grown immensely under Greatwood’s watch.

The Bears now find themselves with a 6-4, 3-4 record, and it is going to be tough for Cal to topple either, or both, of its remaining opponents — Stanford and Colorado.

It will be interesting to see if Baldwin is still aboard the McIlwain Train come Saturday and the remainder of the season. For 2018, fans seem to have hopped off the metaphorical locomotive — or maybe they never even boarded it.

Though Cal would get its chances to score, Garbers could not generate rhythm though the air, throwing several ugly passes in the game’s last few series. The game ended on another sour could-have-been, held down by Cal’s defense — the Bears are now 5-4, 2-4.

While Cal is seemingly out of the storm of its three-game losing streak, in recent history, the program’s downfall has been its failure to string together enough significant wins to be taken seriously in the football world.