Opening the ’73 season with a 66-0 loss against Alabama and yielding forty-plus points in four other games clearly demonstrated the continuing lack of defense. The defensive blood-letting totaled 380 points which overshadowed a very potent offense and the end result was a 4-7 mark. The offense was on the other end of the scale with soph RB Chuck Muncie the team MVP with 801 rush yards and twelve TD's. HB Howard Strickland was overshadowed but added 641 yards to the ground total. With an average of 27.8 yards a catch, end Wesley Walker was the primary target of soph QB's Bartkowski and Ferragamo who between them threw for over 1900 yards. Highly touted DB Herman Edwards joined the squad for 1973 from Monterey Peninsula JC and tied the PAC 8 INT record with six but then left for San Diego State and eventually, the Eagles, Rams, and Falcons before becoming a well-respected NFL coach. The ’74 version of the Bears' defense could have used him, even as the team improved to 7-3-1. That mark came primarily from QB Steve Bartkowski who came into his own after Ferragamo grew tired of the QB musical chairs and transferred to Nebraska to complete his career. Bartkowski threw for 2580 yards, was a consensus All American and went to the Falcons as their number one draft choice, spending eleven years with Atlanta before finishing his pro career with the Rams (see HELMET HUT feature  http://www.helmethut.com/Atlanta/Bartkowski.html). Steve Rivera was tapped for forty-seven receptions and 733 yards to rank him third in the nation while Walker again tallied a huge per catch average, this time at 30.3 per reception. Tackle Ted Albrecht anchored the line. The 22-20 loss to Stanford on a Cardinal field goal with no time on the clock ruined what otherwise was a turnaround season for the Bears. For 1975 the Conference instituted a new rule that allowed a school that did not win the championship to participate in post-season bowl play. Cal's 8-3 record included a loss to UCLA that was their only league defeat as they bowed to Colorado and West Virginia in the season's first two games. The game versus USC and tailback Rickey Bell came up a winner for Chuck Muncie and company. When it was UCLA's turn to play USC, a Trojan win would have put the Bears in the Rose Bowl. However, the USC vs. UCLA game was pushed back a week to accommodate television, and the Bruins upset propelled them to the Rose Bowl against Ohio State while Cal sat home, the victim of bowl scheduling that could not wait for the outcome of the delayed game, thus the 6-1 PAC 8 mark did not benefit the Bears. Still, the highly successful season found the Bears with 2522 yards passing and another 2522 rushing and they led the nation in total offense. Featured back Muncie became the first back taken in the pro draft and he followed that with a nine-year pro career split between the Saints and Chargers. Rivera was on the receiving end of fifty-seven of JC transfer QB Joe Roth's passes and then squeezed in two years with the 49'ers and Bears. Wesley Walker's penchant for big plays placed him third in yards-per-catch in the country and once again tackle Albrecht was the man who controlled opponents' defenses and was named as Second Team All American. The improved defense was led by LB's Burt Toler Jr., a former walk-on whose father was the first African-American NFL game official, and Phil Heck who garnered some All American mention. White was accorded National Coach Of The Year honors. 

Harry Vance Muncie was the key to Cal's offense from the moment he transferred from Arizona Western Junior College. Muncie’s last name was actually spelled as Munsey and his older brother Bill had been a star running back at both Uniontown, PA High School and at the University Of Minnesota, sharing the backfield with high school teammate Sandy Stephens who led the Gophers to the 1960 National Championship. A standout in football, Harry, better known by his nickname of “Chuck”, had not played football since his sophomore year in high school but was in junior college on a basketball scholarship. Convinced to try out for football, he excelled and matriculated to Cal. He was the first sophomore to be named as team MVP and eventually set six school rushing records. Also feared as a receiver, Muncie finished second to Archie Griffin in 1975's Heisman race and was the first round draft pick of the Saints and the draft's third overall pick. The first Saints player to rush for 1000 yards in a season, he was a Pro Bowl selection but requested a trade, believing he was the target of racism in New Orleans. He became a star in San Diego, was named to two more Pro Bowls and led the Chargers to division titles. With allegations of drug use and a positive test for cocaine, he abruptly retired after the 1984 season, having accumulated 6702 rushing yards, and catching 263 passes as well as being an effective kick returner. After his retirement Muncie devoted his life to mentoring and reaching out to youth at risk so that they could avoid the pitfalls of the street.