Cal's athletic director Sandy Barbour stated that it was his emphasis on offense that was the primary factor in the decision.

[1] 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.

[2] The Bears lost to Stanford by 50 points, the largest margin ever in the 119-year history of the Big Game.

[4] One of the season's few positives was the performance of true freshman Jared Goff as the starting quarterback.

Their last victory occurred in 2002 where the Cougars beat the Golden Bears 48-18 at Memorial Stadium.