Texas-raised Cal players excited for visit to No. 9 SMU to close first ACC season

For Craig Woodson and Miles Williams, sixth-year starters at safety for Cal, Saturday’s regular-season finale at No. 9 SMU is an unexpected joy as a bridge to their past.

Woodson and Williams are among 20 Golden Bears from Texas, and a trip back to the Lone Star State is something neither could have envisioned when they committed to Cal out of high school in 2019.

“I’m trying to capture it, take it all in,” said Williams, who grew up in the Dallas suburb of Mansfield. “SMU was my first offer — March 22, 2017. It’s crazy to go back, crazy how everything just works out.”

Woodson was raised in Grand Prairie, even closer to Dallas and just 19 miles from Mansfield. Woodson and Williams knew each other casually as high school seniors and have become close at Cal.

“It’s going to be beautiful, man,” Woodson said. “When the schedule first came out and seeing that we were going to end the season at SMU, it was amazing. It kind of feels like a homecoming.”

Both players expect upwards of a dozen family members and friends when the Bears (6-5, 2-5 ACC) battle the Mustangs (10-1, 7-0) at Ford Stadium. SMU already has clinched a spot in the ACC Championship Game and Cal has secured bowl eligibility.

SMU is a potent and balanced team, fifth nationally in scoring (39.3 points per game) and just a tick behind Cal as the most stingy defense in the conference.

Cal has fared well in Texas, both in recruiting and on the field.

Former Golden Bears with Texas roots include running backs Justin Forsett and Daniel Lasco, quarterback Davis Webb and linebacker Cameron Goode, all of whom have played in the NFL.

All of them made the move from Texas before Cal played in a conference with a school in the state.

“We’ve had some real good success with guys from Texas coming out here. The state of Texas gets recruited heavily by most everybody — there’s a lot of good football there,” Cal coach Justin Wilcox said. “Obviously, we want to start here in California but Texas has been good. We’re going to continue to recruit Texas.”

Two high school prospects who have committed to sign with Cal next week are Texans.

This is the Bears’ sixth trip into the state for a game in the 21st century. Cal has won four of the previous five, including a wild 45-44 victory over the Texas Longhorns in 2015.

Of all the Texas-born players on the Cal squad, none have had the impact of Woodson and Williams.

Woodson redshirted his freshman season, played just four games in 2020 due to the trimmed-down COVID schedule then missed all of 2021 after an ACL tear in training camp. But he has made up for lost time, and has 235 tackles and five interceptions in 44 career games, including 60 tackles and two picks this season.

Williams never started a game in his first five seasons, playing mostly special teams. But he stayed with it and, like Woodson, has started every game this fall. He has 47 tackles, fourth-most among the Bears, and one of the team’s 17 interceptions.

“I could talk a long time about those two guys. Craig and Miles have meant a lot to us,” Wilcox said. “It’s been a joy to watch those guys grow up as football players and as men.”

The two have become buddies as teammates.

“It’s always just a comforting feeling I get,” Williams said, “when we’re in the heat of battle and I look over and me and Craig both got the same look on our face, like we’re about to go hit somebody. I love it.”

“We’re locked in for life,” Woodson said. “Hopefully we can both go out, making inceptions, making plays on the ball showing everybody we still got that Texas football in us.”