Cal's Jaydn Ott Wants a Bowl Victory And A Place in the 2024 Heisman Conversation

Ott, who has rushed for 1,260 yards as a sophomore this season, is eager to duel Texas Tech’s Tahj Brooks, who enters the game with 1,443 rushing yards.

“It’s definitely cool, but Cade Uluave is going to be all over him,” Ott said, referring to the Bears’ productive freshman inside linebacker.

“Man, he’s been good. He went from scout team defense at the beginning of the season to being a running back to being the starting linebacker.”

Ott’s visions don’t end with Saturday night. His ambitions for 2024 are big, such as contending for the Doak Walker Award, given to the nation’s top running back. And the Heisman Trophy, college football’s biggest individual award.

“That’s definitely in my head when I'm working out and I’m practicing. I just use it as extra motivation,” Ott said.

A running back has not won the Heisman since Derrick Henry did it in 2015 while rushing for 2,200 yards for Alabama’s national championship team. LSU’s Jayden Daniels last weekend became the 20th quarterback since 2000 to take home the hardware.

But certainly a Jaydn/Jayden winning two years in a row would be a long shot?

“Nah, it’s not a long shot,” Ott said.

What would it take to enter the conversation?

“Quote-unquote, you would have to go stupid.”

And for Ott, who had five games this season of at least 150 rushing yards, what would that look like? “Get some of those up to 200,” he said.

Ott has declined so far to take questions addressing whether he will definitely play the 2024 season in Berkeley. But maybe one thing he said will be a small source of encouragement for Cal fans.

Asked if a 1,000-yard season and a bowl game added up to a satisfying year, Ott said, “Not really. There was a lot that was left out there, on my behalf and on the team’s behalf.

“We didn’t get things going until later in the season, which will be a no-no for next season. I wouldn’t say satisfied is a good word.”

The Bears, who were 3-6 before winning three in a row to become bowl eligible, will take on a Red Raiders’ squad with an identical 6-6 record.

Ott shouldered a major burden during those wins over Washington State, Stanford and UCLA, carrying the ball 84 times for 413 yards. Including his 100-yard kickoff return against the Bruins, he scored four times in those three wins.

“I can’t even put it all on me. It wasn’t just me,” Ott said. “There were so many other parts to those games, especially my linemen, of course. Fernando (Mendoza) and the receivers stepping up — it wasn’t just me.”

He credits seniors Matthew Cindric and Jackson Sirmon — both shelved by season-ending injuries — as important voices in the locker room.

The team’s confidence was shaken a bit, Ott conceded, after the 63-19 loss at Oregon that left the Bears at 3-6 and on the brink of postseason extinction.

“After a couple of losses, any team would feel that way,” he said. Sirmon and Cindric helped teammates keep their eye on the ball. “It makes things a lot easier because they’re preaching the right things and getting everybody’s mindset correct.”

The heavy workload left Ott tired but no more than usual, he said. Now, after three weeks’ rest, he says he’s 100-percent healthy.

“I just feel like I’m back at the beginning of the season,” Ott said. “My body’s not as beat up anymore.”

Ott said his game has matured this season, mostly because he understands what's unfolding in front of him.

“In high school, all I did was run left, run right,” he said. “Now I’m able to regurgitate what I’ve seen on the field to my coaches and let ‘em know what kind of looks we got, things like that. So the game is a lot easier.”

Ott will have a grandmother, a couple of aunts and uncles and a cousin cheering him on at Shreveport. His parents and four younger sisters will watch on TV from home in Southern California. The two youngest sisters, babies he calls them, will be decked out in Cal cheerleader gear.

They’re all enthusiastic supporters, but Ott said only his Dad really understands the game.

“Man, nobody gets football . . . my Mom or my sisters. I’ve been playing since I was four years old and my Mom still doesn’t get it,” he said, chuckling. “The only one who understands it is my Dad. He’s just proud.

“It makes me happy to be able to make my parents proud.”