"I hope LunchTime can digest this!"
My football predictions are premised upon essentially a status quo Cal, i.e. same QB, same OC, etc., for next season. But, hey don't worry (I know the Premium members will be relieved), I will update these forecasts to reflect any ensuing developments that might be seen to impact any outcome listed below, hopefully in Cal's favor!
PROJECTED 2019 CAL FOOTBALL SCHEDULE OUTCOMES
UC Davis - Oh hum, Cal's traditional early sacrifice to the football gods; this is a Cal WIN which will surely nurture false hope once again among the Bear fans.
@ Washington - Petersen should be able to develop another good defensive unit given the Huskies' recent stellar recruiting. This plus the Huskies 6'-6" ***** QB Eason, a transfer from Georgia, should make the loss of Browning hardly noticeable, so UDub will undoubtedly be nationally ranked in the preseason. This will be a Cal LOSS, especially considering Udub will also have extreme partisan home field advantage.
North Texas -The Mean Green got murdered by nationally ranked Utah State in their recent bowl game. In 2016 NT hired a new head coach, Seth Littrell, after finishing 1-11 in 2015; Littrell, who served as an assistant coach under Leach at Texas Tech and Fedora at UNC, has improved NT's record every year thereafter to 5-8, 9-5, and 9-4, but even so, Cal has home field advantage, a good pass defense, and has more overall depth foretelling a second Bear WIN.
@Ole Miss- With no more bowl ban and with hiring ex-P12 head coaches Arizona Rich Rodriguez as OC and Colorado Mike MacIntyre as DC, Ole Miss will be a different team than the undisciplined (5-7) 2018 one; thus this game is another tossup leaning towards another Cal road LOSS because of home field disadvantage and because the Rebels should definitely be prepared for whatever Cal brings as their OC and DC have faced the Bears before at their respective schools.
Arizona State - ASU desperately needs to find a starting QB. The odds are that Sun Devils will find one; they have 6 QB candidates on their current roster and have 3 more QB recruits coming in this fall. If ASU does find that QB, he will have a lot of help from All-American TB Eno Benjamin, who set a school-record 1,652 yards rushing (fourth most in the country) and with the return of five offensive linemen who started games last season. This tossup game is leaning towards a Cal LOSS.
@Oregon- This looks like Cal's third road LOSS given Oregon's several years of outstanding **** recruiting, their head coach staying, and knowing that Herbert is returning at QB. The Ducks will most likely be nationally ranked in the AP Top 25 when Cal meets them in the infamous Autzen Stadium.
Oregon State -The perennial bottom-dweller Beavers just don't have the talent, so home field advantage and game go to the Bears for a much-needed (third or, if really lucky, fourth) WIN.
@Utah - Don't let the Utes' Holiday Bowl loss fool you; Utah will be a formidable offensive and defensive opponent for our Bears. Whittingham was playing a red-shirt freshman because not only was their starting QB Huntley injured but also their starting TB Moss and leading WR Covey too. All three will be returning so if they can stay healthy Cal will be in trouble. With home field advantage to Utah, this game looks like it could be Cal's fourth road LOSS.
Washington State - It's no secret that WSU is going to throw the ball a lot because in his 17 seasons as an FBS head coach Leach hasn't had a team throw for less than 3,500 yards. Leach will have 7 QB candidates from which to select a replacement for Mr. Mustache (6-4 **** Cammon Cooper may be the heir-apparent or EW transfer Gubrud?). Be aware also, unlike Cal's Sonny, Leach hasn't neglected his defense in that since 2014 where the Cougs allowed 38.6 points per game that number has quietly improved to 27.7 in 2015, 26.4 in 2016, 25.8 in 2017 and 23.1 in 2018; ergo, Cal LOSS.
u$C - USC has decided to keep Clay Helton as head coach, but Helton is still on the hot seat, thus he had to wiped his staff clean. The biggest addition to his coaching staff will be the OC. U$C has the money to hire a first-rate OC that should inject some serious life into an offense that is full of talent lead by ***** QB JT Daniels and a slew of highly rated wide receivers; as a result, Cal will be facing a nationally ranked team which will vengefully enjoy oinking Cal for a LOSS.
@dirty stanfurd - The Big Game may depend upon whether Costello goes pro or not. Even if he does, the furds may have a more than adequate QB replacement, like 6-4 ***** Mills? Cal's defense held the furds to only 92 yds. rushing this year so the Bears should be able to handle the furd's running game again. I look at this game as Cal's last chance, especially if a post-season bowl game is at stake. So I'm going with an upset WIN for Cal to bring the Axe back to Berkeley!
@ucla -This could be the ultimate revenge game for **** QB transfer Modster; but, for now, this game's outcome looks like it's wavering on whether Kelly can get Alabama's grad-transfer star QB Jalen Hurts to Bruinville or on whether Modster will be able to magically transformed Cal into a winner. Otherwise, it's a more-of-the-same between soph QBs Garbers and Thompson-Robinson. Smoggy home field advantage goes to ucla, but Cal has the better defense, so this is a Cal WIN with the understanding that Brandon plays at a position other than QB!
I realize that the above predicts Cal to have a 5-7 season and no post-season bowl appearance, but if Modster or Garbers gels, Cal could bring in additional victories against Ole Miss and/or Arizona State for a flip-flop 7-5 season!
