Senior Spotlight: Cal Safety Stefan McClure Receives Deserved Pac-12 Weekly Honors
The play of Cal's defense has helped make the Golden Bears a legitimate contender in the Pac-12 this season, and senior safety Stefan McClure is one of the reasons why.
Last weekend against the Washington State, McClure came up with a pair of big plays in the second half to help Cal tie down the Cougars offense. The key play was a 45-yard fumble return for a touchdown that brought Cal within one point of the visitors, 21-20. Later in the half, McClure broke through for his first career sack. The sack came at a critical point, as it pushed the Cougars back on the field and forced Washington State to attempt a 40-yard field goal. The ensuing kick was missed and allowed Cal to hold on to a 28-20 lead. McClure also added six tackles and he broke up a pass against the pass-happy Cougs.
His efforts against Washington State did not go unnoticed around the conference. The Pac-12 named McClure its defensive player of the week, making it the second straight week Cal's defense had a player receive the conference award with Kyle Kragen taking home the honors in the previous week. It just helps reinforce the idea that Cal's defense is taking form and helping make Cal a more complete team to reckon with in the Pac-12 North.
The senior from Vista, California has battled through injuries during his career at Berkley, forcing him to miss 25 out of 49 possible games during his first four seasons on campus. After appearing in nine games in a limited backup role in 2011, McClure missed the entire 2012 season and then sat out the final seven games of the 2013 season. Injuries again kept McClure out of action for a few games in 2014, but he would eventually return in the second half of the season and pick up an interception against Oregon.
As is the case with most of the seniors on Cal's roster, McClure has been through quite the experience with the growth of the Cal football program. McClure came to the program in the final year to be coached by former head coach Jeff Tedford. That season ended with a loss to Texas in the Holiday Bowl. McClure did not play in that game, a 21-10 setback to the Longhorns.
Now healthy, McClure is clearly having an impact on the defense in his final year of eligibility. McClure is currently third on the team in tackles, with 24 (Jalen Jefferson's 26 are a team-high), 13 of those takedowns have been solo tackles. After Cal came up shy of a chance to go to a bowl game in 2014, McClure and the rest of the Cal seniors are inching closer and closer to assuring themselves a postseason bowl trip and a chance to end the year with a victory in a postseason game.
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Kevin McGuire is a Philadelphia area sports writer covering the Philadelphia Eagles and college football. McGuire is a member of the FWAA and National Football Foundation. Follow McGuire on Twitter @KevinOnCFB. His work can be found on Examiner.com.