Here is a pretty fair look at Cal from FSU Poster "TomRob" on The Territory. If the link does not work, I just copy and pasted TomRob's comments.
http://www.theterritory.org/phorum/read.php?5,885361,885361#msg-885361
California Golden Bears
2023 Record: 6-7 (4-5 PAC-12)
OFFENSE
Style: Justin Wilcox was hired due to his defensive acumen, but his first few Cal offenses were actually pretty good. However, Wilcox' job status began to become shaky around 2021 when the Bears went 5-7 and followed that up with a 4-8 season in 2022. Much of the blame fell on the offense, especially because the defense had been solid for pretty much all of Wilcox' tenure. So, Wilcox hired Air Raid guru Jake Spavital to change things up and kick start the offense. And Spavital largely succeeded. Although Cal was inconsistent, scoring 19 points or less four times but also breaking 40+ points four times, they definitely improved from 2022. Cal finished 35th in scoring offense and scored its most points since 2016. Spavital used that success to jump back to his native Texas as the OC at Baylor so Wilcox promoted OL coach Mike Bloesch to OC. This is Bloesch's first power conference playcalling job and it remains to be seen whether he will keep Spavital's same tendencies, although indications are that Cal will remain an up-tempo, Air Raid style team.
Quarterbacks: Unlike the teams we have previewed thus far, Cal is not settled on their starting QB. That is potentially a surprise to some as Cal does return redshirt sophomore Fernando Mendoza, who was forced to go from third string to midseason starter due to injuries and jump-started the offense. Mendoza (1708 yds, 62.9%, 14 TDs, 10 INTs) was a 2* recruit out of Miami who had plenty of good moments, but also had too many turnovers. Still, the offense seemed to take a leap under his leadership, averaging 41 points per game in the four conference games he started. Despite that leap, Cal brought in North Texas transfer Chandler Rogers in the spring, a guy who has started 29 games thus far in his career. Rogers, who passed for over 3,300 yards and 29 touchdowns last year, arguably has more experience in the Air Raid system as well, although obviously not at Cal. Both guys have gotten reps with the starters, although word is that Mendoza has received more reps with the 1s. This is a competition to keep an eye on.
Cal might have the most depth of any QB room in the country as the Bears also added Ohio transfer CJ Harris in the offseason. Harris started three games over his Ohio career and attempted nearly 150 passes in ten overall appearances. He can also add a rushing dimension.
Running Backs: Very quietly, Cal may have the best RB in the ACC in junior Jaydn Ott, who could emerge as a legit awards candidate if Cal receives enough media attention. Ott (1315 yds, 5.3 avg, 12 TDs, 25 receptions, 169 yds, 2 TDs) is a do-it-all back who can run between the tackles or hit the homerun. He is also a very patient runner who waits for his blocks to set up and should have a big year.
Ott got the lion's share of the carries last year, but Cal did rotate two other backs into the mix and some camp reports indicate that the Bears may try to get as many as four backs carries this year. That may sound crazy, but Cal actually has very good depth here, with three former blue chip recruits among the depth. Sophomore Byron Cardwell rushed for nearly 500 yards in 2022 but was lost to a season-ending injury last spring and missed the 2023 season. He is back and adds nice size (6-0, 215) and big play ability. Senior Kadarious Calloway was the leading rusher at Old Dominion last year and averaged over 7 yards per carry and was a star in spring ball. Sophomore Justin Williams-Thomas (128 yds, 4 avg) and classmate Jaivian Thomas (118 yds, 6.1 avg, TD) are guys who could see carries in special packages, with Thomas being a guy nicknamed the Jet due to his explosiveness.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends: Despite having an Air Raid coordinator, Cal's passing attack actually took a step back from 2022 to 2023, passing for 50 yards fewer per game. Part of that was Ott, but part of that was an inconsistent group of pass catchers. This unit is once again a question after leading receiver Jeremiah Hunter transferred to Washington and Taj Davis, who finished tied for second in receptions and was fourth in yards, graduated.
The building block is junior slot receiver Trond Grizzell, who finished tied for second in receptions and was second in both yards and touchdown receptions last year. Grizzell (39 recs, 590 yds, 5 TDs) is steady, but also can create big plays due to his size (6-4, 205). Cal signed six WR transfers and those guys will likely be the bulk of the other players receiving snaps. Junior Tobias Merriweather, a transfer from Notre Dame, and Mikey Matthews, a transfer from Utah, are expected to join Grizzell as starters. Merriweather caught just 15 passes over the past two years for Notre Dame, but he flashed big play potential and adds great size at 6-5, 200. Matthews caught 29 passes as a true freshman last year and is another slot option, which could push Grizzell outside.
Depth will mainly be transfers, as mentioned previously. Junior Jonathan Brady started 21 games at New Mexico State and led them in all receiving categories last year. Sophomore Kyion Grayes was a top 65 recruit who never saw the field at Ohio State. Junior Isaac Torres is a JC transfer who adds more size at 6-4, 210. Mason Starling is a former JC transfer who missed last year due to injury while junior Mavin Anderson caught eight passes last year.
At tight end, Cal has one of the better pass catchers in the conference in sophomore Jack Endries. Endries (35 recs, 407 yds, 2 TDs) is not the best blocker in the world, but he is a matchup problem for most linebackers and safeties and is a nice story as a former walk-on. Senior Corey Dyches transferred in from Maryland, where he caught 107 passes over four years with the Terps. He is undersized at 6-2, 220 and is mainly a receiving threat. Cal played five tight ends last year and sometimes had three on the field at once so expect junior Nate Rutchena and redshirt frosh Ben Marshall to get their chances too.
Offensive Line: Cal loses four starters off what was a solid o-line last year, with Cal finishing 31st in sack rate and 53rd in yards per carry. Much like at WR, the Bears hit the portal to add a couple potential starters. Due to that, the Bears have seven players on the roster who have starting experience.
The early projection is that the starting group will be redshirt frosh LT Nick Morrow, senior LG Will McDonald, junior center Matthew Wykoff, junior RG Sioape Vatikani, and senior RT TJ Session. Wykoff, Vatikani, and Session are all holdovers from last season, although Wykoff and Session are both former transfers. Vatikani and Session both have started 20 games at Cal while Wykoff started 12 games at left guard for the Bears last year, but is shifting over to center, where he started eight times at Texas A&M, this year. Morrow is a former high school tight end who stands 6-8 while McDonald started 13 games at Coastal Carolina last year.
The Bears do have some experienced depth on the bench. Senior Rush Reimer is a transfer from Montana State where he started over 30 games in his career. Reimer is competing with McDonald at LG and can also kick out to tackle if needed. Senior Victor Stoffel is a native of Sweden who started 20 games over his final two seasons at Temple and can help at either tackle spot. Junior Bastian Swinney has made three spots starts over his career at center and guard.
DEFENSE
Style: Wilcox made his name as a defensive coach, serving as the DC at Boise State, Tennessee, Washington, USC, and Wisconsin before taking the Cal job, where he had served as the LBs coach under Jeff Tedford. And Wilcox' first few defenses at Cal were downright good, with the Bears finishing as a top 30 unit per SP+ for four straight years. However, the Bears started to slide in 2022 and then slid some more last year, finishing 84th in SP+ while also finishing 116th in scoring defense, 70th in yards per play, 92nd in third down conversions, and 100th in completion percentage allowed. Cal was great at generating takeaways, creating 28 of them, but if they did not get a turnover, they generally gave up scores. Wilcox is hoping a lot of returning experience plus portal additions will shore up this unit.
One unique thing about Cal's style is they essentially run a 2-4-5 defense with big-bodied defensive linemen surrounded by versatile players who can play a variety of roles behind them. Ultimately, Wilcox is trying to create pressure in a variety of ways, although the pass rush was quite poor last year and the secondary was a major issue. The style, though, will be pretty unique to the ACC and it will be interesting to see if that pays dividends.
Defensive Line: With Cal starting just two down linemen (think basically two DTs), the emphasis for this group is size. These guys are meant to eat up blocks and clog up lanes more than anything. The starting duo will likely come from the group of senior Ricky Correia and juniors Ethan Saunders and Nate Burrell. Correia (35 tackles, 2.5 for loss, 2 sacks) is the biggest of the group at 6-4, 325 and had his best season last year. Saunders was limited to two games last year due to injury, but has 15 career starts to his name and is probably the best playmaker of the group. Burrell (20 tackles, 2.5 for loss, 2 sacks) is another experienced option with 13 career starts.
Cal has plenty of veteran, upperclassmen depth here, although not necessarily a lot of guys who have put up big stats. Junior Aidan Keanaaina is a transfer from Notre Dame who adds more size (6-3, 320) and did play as part of the rotation for the Irish last year. Junior TJ Bollers is a transfer from Wisconsin who appeared in 18 games in his career with the Badgers and was a 4* recruit out of high school. Juniors Akili Calhoun, Stanley Saole-Mckenzie (11 tackles), and Derek Wilkins (8 tackles, 2 for loss) have all been in this defensive system for several years and are expected to push for time.
Linebackers: Cal should have a pretty good group here, with a mix of experience and portal additions. The linebackers are expected to do a lot of things in this defense and you will probably see some mixing and matching based on opponent since the Bears do have a number of options here.
The starting OLBs look to be seniors Xavier Carlton and David Reese, who were both starters last year. Carlton (48 tackles, 5.5 for loss, 4.5 sacks) saw his production as a pass rusher dip after a big 2022 season, but he is a veteran presence with upside. Reese (36 tackles, 8 for loss, 6.5 sacks) is a former blue chip recruit and transfer from Florida who got better as the year wore on. Expectations are that he takes another step forward. Depth will be provided by junior Myles Williams, sophomore Ryan McCullouch, junior Cheikh Fall, and redshirt frosh Serigne Tounkara. Williams (17 tackles) was a top backup last year, McCullouch flashed promise as a true freshman, Fall is a transfer from Eastern Kentucky who was a decent role player there, and Tounkara redshirted in his lone season at Missouri.
On the inside, senior Teddye Buchanan and sophomore Cade Uluave appear to have starting jobs locked up. Buchanan is a transfer from UC-Davis who racked up over 200 tackles in his career and made all-conference last season. Uluave (66 tackles, 6.5 for loss, 2.5 sacks, 2 INTs) came out of nowhere to be a star as a true freshman and has the size and playmaking ability to be a very good one. The Bears have experienced depth here too with senior Liam Johnson, junior Hunter Barth, and sophomore Lucas Vanderlind. Johnson is a transfer from Princeton who was the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year back in 2021. Barth (21 tackles) was a rotational player last season while Vanderlind is a JC transfer who started in his one year at Contra Costa College. The coaching staff is very high on true freshman Aaron Hampton, an unheralded recruit from Alaska who has shot up the depth chart.
Secondary: Any way you slice it, the secondary was not good last year. While Cal did lead the nation in takeaways, the secondary was giving up big plays if they did not get an interception. As with other areas of the defense, hope for improvement rests on the fact that Cal is very experienced here, with a slew of upperclassmen in the two deep.
The Bears are probably best set at corner where seniors Lu-Magia Hearns III and Nohl Williams are returning starters and the coaching staff is very high on senior Marcus Harris, a grad transfer from Idaho. Hearns (28 tackles, 2 INTs, 6 PBUs) and Williams (53 tackles, 2 INTs, 6 PBUs) can certainly be feast or famine and Hearns is a bit undersized at 5-10, 170, but both are playmakers. If they get more of a pass rush to help them, they could be a solid duo. But they will need to hold off Harris, a FCS All-American in 2023. Sophomore Jasiah Wagoner is a transfer from Oklahoma who appeared in seven games as a true freshman for the Sooners and is a former blue chip recruit who was described as a pure football player.
Cal certainly has talent at safety, although reports from Bears websites that I read described the safety play as inconsistent last year. If the Bears are to improve, hope rests squarely on the shoulders of senior Craig Woodson, who did make second-team all-conference last year, but was still up and down. Woodson (81 tackles, 3.5 for loss, INT, 4 PBUs) has started 27 games in his career and the coaching staff believes he has NFL talent if he can be more consistent. Starting alongside him will likely be senior Miles Williams or junior Isaiah Crosby. Williams (12 tackles) is a career backup who has appeared in nearly 40 games in his career. Crosby is a JC transfer who was considered one of the top 40 JC prospects in his class. Further depth will be provided by junior Jair Smith, a JC transfer, and Ryan Yaites, transfer from LSU who made 16 tackles as a true freshman for the Tigers last year.
Cal will start a nickel back and senior Matthew Littlejohn is a returning starter there. Littlejohn (42 tackles, INT) did not make a lot of splash plays, but was mostly steady. The coaching staff would like to see more turnovers and tackles for loss from him this year. Depth will be provided by junior Colin Gamble and sophomore Cam Sidney. Gamble missed last year due to injury, but has 16 career starts under his belt and will likely play a lot if fully recovered. Sidney (10 tackles) got his feet wet last year in Gamble's absence.
Special Teams: Cal returns one of the best punters in the country in senior Lachlan Wilson, who averaged 44.5 yards per punt last year and 17 punts of 50+ yards. Taking over at kicker will be senior Ryan Coe, a transfer from North Carolina who has made 22 of 27 attempts over the past two seasons. Cal was poor in the return game last year and hopes are that the aforementioned Mikey Matthews, who was a solid return man at Utah last year, improves that unit. The punt coverage unit was very poor, allowing 13.7 yards per return.
Schedule: The switch to the ACC means Cal is going to travel as much as any team this year. The Bears head to the Eastern or Central time zone for road games against Auburn, FSU, Pitt, Wake, and SMU this year. They also have tricky home games with UM, NC State, and Oregon State. The schedule is not daunting, as SP+ rates it the 49th hardest, but it will be interesting to see if all the travel adds up over the course of the season.
Overall: Much like Georgia Tech, Cal appears to be a team that will probably score 30+ points in most games, but might also give up a lot of points. Despite losing some pieces at receiver and along the o-line, it appears Cal has added enough guys there via the portal to field a good offense. In fact, SP+ predicts Cal to have the 34th best offense in the country, one spot ahead of Tech. Even though the Bears have not settled on a QB yet, they have two good options plus an All-American caliber RB in Ott.
If anything holds Cal back, it will be the defense. This seems to be a recurring theme after looking at Tech and Memphis. Cal's defense is predicted to rank just 88th by SP+ and although they have a lot of upperclassmen and decent depth, it still seems like a defense that is going to struggle at being good at any one thing. It just is not an impressive group on paper and is very reliant on transfers.
Cal has enough weapons on offense to outscore a few opponents and should probably go bowling once again. Cal fans seem very bullish on this team, with several websites saying this is the best Cal team in years and predicting 8 wins or more. I could see 6-6 or 7-5, but 8 wins seems like too much for me. The schedule is not daunting, but a new conference, many new opponents, some long road trips, and some clear defensive deficiencies makes me think this team goes bowling, but does not push much higher than that.
FSU-specific analysis: In a lot of ways, FSU is probably happy where this game falls because they will have seen a couple of teams similar to Cal. Plus, Cal will be coming all the way to Tallahassee and will not have been able to focus solely on the Seminoles as the Bears will be coming off games against Auburn and San Diego State, two opponents they will not be able to look past. Much like FSU's other opponents to this point, Cal has enough talent, especially on offense, to pull off an upset if FSU plays poorly but I think FSU rides its running game to a comfortable victory here.
http://www.theterritory.org/phorum/read.php?5,885361,885361#msg-885361
California Golden Bears
2023 Record: 6-7 (4-5 PAC-12)
OFFENSE
Style: Justin Wilcox was hired due to his defensive acumen, but his first few Cal offenses were actually pretty good. However, Wilcox' job status began to become shaky around 2021 when the Bears went 5-7 and followed that up with a 4-8 season in 2022. Much of the blame fell on the offense, especially because the defense had been solid for pretty much all of Wilcox' tenure. So, Wilcox hired Air Raid guru Jake Spavital to change things up and kick start the offense. And Spavital largely succeeded. Although Cal was inconsistent, scoring 19 points or less four times but also breaking 40+ points four times, they definitely improved from 2022. Cal finished 35th in scoring offense and scored its most points since 2016. Spavital used that success to jump back to his native Texas as the OC at Baylor so Wilcox promoted OL coach Mike Bloesch to OC. This is Bloesch's first power conference playcalling job and it remains to be seen whether he will keep Spavital's same tendencies, although indications are that Cal will remain an up-tempo, Air Raid style team.
Quarterbacks: Unlike the teams we have previewed thus far, Cal is not settled on their starting QB. That is potentially a surprise to some as Cal does return redshirt sophomore Fernando Mendoza, who was forced to go from third string to midseason starter due to injuries and jump-started the offense. Mendoza (1708 yds, 62.9%, 14 TDs, 10 INTs) was a 2* recruit out of Miami who had plenty of good moments, but also had too many turnovers. Still, the offense seemed to take a leap under his leadership, averaging 41 points per game in the four conference games he started. Despite that leap, Cal brought in North Texas transfer Chandler Rogers in the spring, a guy who has started 29 games thus far in his career. Rogers, who passed for over 3,300 yards and 29 touchdowns last year, arguably has more experience in the Air Raid system as well, although obviously not at Cal. Both guys have gotten reps with the starters, although word is that Mendoza has received more reps with the 1s. This is a competition to keep an eye on.
Cal might have the most depth of any QB room in the country as the Bears also added Ohio transfer CJ Harris in the offseason. Harris started three games over his Ohio career and attempted nearly 150 passes in ten overall appearances. He can also add a rushing dimension.
Running Backs: Very quietly, Cal may have the best RB in the ACC in junior Jaydn Ott, who could emerge as a legit awards candidate if Cal receives enough media attention. Ott (1315 yds, 5.3 avg, 12 TDs, 25 receptions, 169 yds, 2 TDs) is a do-it-all back who can run between the tackles or hit the homerun. He is also a very patient runner who waits for his blocks to set up and should have a big year.
Ott got the lion's share of the carries last year, but Cal did rotate two other backs into the mix and some camp reports indicate that the Bears may try to get as many as four backs carries this year. That may sound crazy, but Cal actually has very good depth here, with three former blue chip recruits among the depth. Sophomore Byron Cardwell rushed for nearly 500 yards in 2022 but was lost to a season-ending injury last spring and missed the 2023 season. He is back and adds nice size (6-0, 215) and big play ability. Senior Kadarious Calloway was the leading rusher at Old Dominion last year and averaged over 7 yards per carry and was a star in spring ball. Sophomore Justin Williams-Thomas (128 yds, 4 avg) and classmate Jaivian Thomas (118 yds, 6.1 avg, TD) are guys who could see carries in special packages, with Thomas being a guy nicknamed the Jet due to his explosiveness.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends: Despite having an Air Raid coordinator, Cal's passing attack actually took a step back from 2022 to 2023, passing for 50 yards fewer per game. Part of that was Ott, but part of that was an inconsistent group of pass catchers. This unit is once again a question after leading receiver Jeremiah Hunter transferred to Washington and Taj Davis, who finished tied for second in receptions and was fourth in yards, graduated.
The building block is junior slot receiver Trond Grizzell, who finished tied for second in receptions and was second in both yards and touchdown receptions last year. Grizzell (39 recs, 590 yds, 5 TDs) is steady, but also can create big plays due to his size (6-4, 205). Cal signed six WR transfers and those guys will likely be the bulk of the other players receiving snaps. Junior Tobias Merriweather, a transfer from Notre Dame, and Mikey Matthews, a transfer from Utah, are expected to join Grizzell as starters. Merriweather caught just 15 passes over the past two years for Notre Dame, but he flashed big play potential and adds great size at 6-5, 200. Matthews caught 29 passes as a true freshman last year and is another slot option, which could push Grizzell outside.
Depth will mainly be transfers, as mentioned previously. Junior Jonathan Brady started 21 games at New Mexico State and led them in all receiving categories last year. Sophomore Kyion Grayes was a top 65 recruit who never saw the field at Ohio State. Junior Isaac Torres is a JC transfer who adds more size at 6-4, 210. Mason Starling is a former JC transfer who missed last year due to injury while junior Mavin Anderson caught eight passes last year.
At tight end, Cal has one of the better pass catchers in the conference in sophomore Jack Endries. Endries (35 recs, 407 yds, 2 TDs) is not the best blocker in the world, but he is a matchup problem for most linebackers and safeties and is a nice story as a former walk-on. Senior Corey Dyches transferred in from Maryland, where he caught 107 passes over four years with the Terps. He is undersized at 6-2, 220 and is mainly a receiving threat. Cal played five tight ends last year and sometimes had three on the field at once so expect junior Nate Rutchena and redshirt frosh Ben Marshall to get their chances too.
Offensive Line: Cal loses four starters off what was a solid o-line last year, with Cal finishing 31st in sack rate and 53rd in yards per carry. Much like at WR, the Bears hit the portal to add a couple potential starters. Due to that, the Bears have seven players on the roster who have starting experience.
The early projection is that the starting group will be redshirt frosh LT Nick Morrow, senior LG Will McDonald, junior center Matthew Wykoff, junior RG Sioape Vatikani, and senior RT TJ Session. Wykoff, Vatikani, and Session are all holdovers from last season, although Wykoff and Session are both former transfers. Vatikani and Session both have started 20 games at Cal while Wykoff started 12 games at left guard for the Bears last year, but is shifting over to center, where he started eight times at Texas A&M, this year. Morrow is a former high school tight end who stands 6-8 while McDonald started 13 games at Coastal Carolina last year.
The Bears do have some experienced depth on the bench. Senior Rush Reimer is a transfer from Montana State where he started over 30 games in his career. Reimer is competing with McDonald at LG and can also kick out to tackle if needed. Senior Victor Stoffel is a native of Sweden who started 20 games over his final two seasons at Temple and can help at either tackle spot. Junior Bastian Swinney has made three spots starts over his career at center and guard.
DEFENSE
Style: Wilcox made his name as a defensive coach, serving as the DC at Boise State, Tennessee, Washington, USC, and Wisconsin before taking the Cal job, where he had served as the LBs coach under Jeff Tedford. And Wilcox' first few defenses at Cal were downright good, with the Bears finishing as a top 30 unit per SP+ for four straight years. However, the Bears started to slide in 2022 and then slid some more last year, finishing 84th in SP+ while also finishing 116th in scoring defense, 70th in yards per play, 92nd in third down conversions, and 100th in completion percentage allowed. Cal was great at generating takeaways, creating 28 of them, but if they did not get a turnover, they generally gave up scores. Wilcox is hoping a lot of returning experience plus portal additions will shore up this unit.
One unique thing about Cal's style is they essentially run a 2-4-5 defense with big-bodied defensive linemen surrounded by versatile players who can play a variety of roles behind them. Ultimately, Wilcox is trying to create pressure in a variety of ways, although the pass rush was quite poor last year and the secondary was a major issue. The style, though, will be pretty unique to the ACC and it will be interesting to see if that pays dividends.
Defensive Line: With Cal starting just two down linemen (think basically two DTs), the emphasis for this group is size. These guys are meant to eat up blocks and clog up lanes more than anything. The starting duo will likely come from the group of senior Ricky Correia and juniors Ethan Saunders and Nate Burrell. Correia (35 tackles, 2.5 for loss, 2 sacks) is the biggest of the group at 6-4, 325 and had his best season last year. Saunders was limited to two games last year due to injury, but has 15 career starts to his name and is probably the best playmaker of the group. Burrell (20 tackles, 2.5 for loss, 2 sacks) is another experienced option with 13 career starts.
Cal has plenty of veteran, upperclassmen depth here, although not necessarily a lot of guys who have put up big stats. Junior Aidan Keanaaina is a transfer from Notre Dame who adds more size (6-3, 320) and did play as part of the rotation for the Irish last year. Junior TJ Bollers is a transfer from Wisconsin who appeared in 18 games in his career with the Badgers and was a 4* recruit out of high school. Juniors Akili Calhoun, Stanley Saole-Mckenzie (11 tackles), and Derek Wilkins (8 tackles, 2 for loss) have all been in this defensive system for several years and are expected to push for time.
Linebackers: Cal should have a pretty good group here, with a mix of experience and portal additions. The linebackers are expected to do a lot of things in this defense and you will probably see some mixing and matching based on opponent since the Bears do have a number of options here.
The starting OLBs look to be seniors Xavier Carlton and David Reese, who were both starters last year. Carlton (48 tackles, 5.5 for loss, 4.5 sacks) saw his production as a pass rusher dip after a big 2022 season, but he is a veteran presence with upside. Reese (36 tackles, 8 for loss, 6.5 sacks) is a former blue chip recruit and transfer from Florida who got better as the year wore on. Expectations are that he takes another step forward. Depth will be provided by junior Myles Williams, sophomore Ryan McCullouch, junior Cheikh Fall, and redshirt frosh Serigne Tounkara. Williams (17 tackles) was a top backup last year, McCullouch flashed promise as a true freshman, Fall is a transfer from Eastern Kentucky who was a decent role player there, and Tounkara redshirted in his lone season at Missouri.
On the inside, senior Teddye Buchanan and sophomore Cade Uluave appear to have starting jobs locked up. Buchanan is a transfer from UC-Davis who racked up over 200 tackles in his career and made all-conference last season. Uluave (66 tackles, 6.5 for loss, 2.5 sacks, 2 INTs) came out of nowhere to be a star as a true freshman and has the size and playmaking ability to be a very good one. The Bears have experienced depth here too with senior Liam Johnson, junior Hunter Barth, and sophomore Lucas Vanderlind. Johnson is a transfer from Princeton who was the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year back in 2021. Barth (21 tackles) was a rotational player last season while Vanderlind is a JC transfer who started in his one year at Contra Costa College. The coaching staff is very high on true freshman Aaron Hampton, an unheralded recruit from Alaska who has shot up the depth chart.
Secondary: Any way you slice it, the secondary was not good last year. While Cal did lead the nation in takeaways, the secondary was giving up big plays if they did not get an interception. As with other areas of the defense, hope for improvement rests on the fact that Cal is very experienced here, with a slew of upperclassmen in the two deep.
The Bears are probably best set at corner where seniors Lu-Magia Hearns III and Nohl Williams are returning starters and the coaching staff is very high on senior Marcus Harris, a grad transfer from Idaho. Hearns (28 tackles, 2 INTs, 6 PBUs) and Williams (53 tackles, 2 INTs, 6 PBUs) can certainly be feast or famine and Hearns is a bit undersized at 5-10, 170, but both are playmakers. If they get more of a pass rush to help them, they could be a solid duo. But they will need to hold off Harris, a FCS All-American in 2023. Sophomore Jasiah Wagoner is a transfer from Oklahoma who appeared in seven games as a true freshman for the Sooners and is a former blue chip recruit who was described as a pure football player.
Cal certainly has talent at safety, although reports from Bears websites that I read described the safety play as inconsistent last year. If the Bears are to improve, hope rests squarely on the shoulders of senior Craig Woodson, who did make second-team all-conference last year, but was still up and down. Woodson (81 tackles, 3.5 for loss, INT, 4 PBUs) has started 27 games in his career and the coaching staff believes he has NFL talent if he can be more consistent. Starting alongside him will likely be senior Miles Williams or junior Isaiah Crosby. Williams (12 tackles) is a career backup who has appeared in nearly 40 games in his career. Crosby is a JC transfer who was considered one of the top 40 JC prospects in his class. Further depth will be provided by junior Jair Smith, a JC transfer, and Ryan Yaites, transfer from LSU who made 16 tackles as a true freshman for the Tigers last year.
Cal will start a nickel back and senior Matthew Littlejohn is a returning starter there. Littlejohn (42 tackles, INT) did not make a lot of splash plays, but was mostly steady. The coaching staff would like to see more turnovers and tackles for loss from him this year. Depth will be provided by junior Colin Gamble and sophomore Cam Sidney. Gamble missed last year due to injury, but has 16 career starts under his belt and will likely play a lot if fully recovered. Sidney (10 tackles) got his feet wet last year in Gamble's absence.
Special Teams: Cal returns one of the best punters in the country in senior Lachlan Wilson, who averaged 44.5 yards per punt last year and 17 punts of 50+ yards. Taking over at kicker will be senior Ryan Coe, a transfer from North Carolina who has made 22 of 27 attempts over the past two seasons. Cal was poor in the return game last year and hopes are that the aforementioned Mikey Matthews, who was a solid return man at Utah last year, improves that unit. The punt coverage unit was very poor, allowing 13.7 yards per return.
Schedule: The switch to the ACC means Cal is going to travel as much as any team this year. The Bears head to the Eastern or Central time zone for road games against Auburn, FSU, Pitt, Wake, and SMU this year. They also have tricky home games with UM, NC State, and Oregon State. The schedule is not daunting, as SP+ rates it the 49th hardest, but it will be interesting to see if all the travel adds up over the course of the season.
Overall: Much like Georgia Tech, Cal appears to be a team that will probably score 30+ points in most games, but might also give up a lot of points. Despite losing some pieces at receiver and along the o-line, it appears Cal has added enough guys there via the portal to field a good offense. In fact, SP+ predicts Cal to have the 34th best offense in the country, one spot ahead of Tech. Even though the Bears have not settled on a QB yet, they have two good options plus an All-American caliber RB in Ott.
If anything holds Cal back, it will be the defense. This seems to be a recurring theme after looking at Tech and Memphis. Cal's defense is predicted to rank just 88th by SP+ and although they have a lot of upperclassmen and decent depth, it still seems like a defense that is going to struggle at being good at any one thing. It just is not an impressive group on paper and is very reliant on transfers.
Cal has enough weapons on offense to outscore a few opponents and should probably go bowling once again. Cal fans seem very bullish on this team, with several websites saying this is the best Cal team in years and predicting 8 wins or more. I could see 6-6 or 7-5, but 8 wins seems like too much for me. The schedule is not daunting, but a new conference, many new opponents, some long road trips, and some clear defensive deficiencies makes me think this team goes bowling, but does not push much higher than that.
FSU-specific analysis: In a lot of ways, FSU is probably happy where this game falls because they will have seen a couple of teams similar to Cal. Plus, Cal will be coming all the way to Tallahassee and will not have been able to focus solely on the Seminoles as the Bears will be coming off games against Auburn and San Diego State, two opponents they will not be able to look past. Much like FSU's other opponents to this point, Cal has enough talent, especially on offense, to pull off an upset if FSU plays poorly but I think FSU rides its running game to a comfortable victory here.
