This is a part of a continuing series, taking a look ahead to Cal's opponents during the 2021 season.

Previous Installments: Nevada | TCU | Sacramento State

The 2016 season was an inflection point for both Washington and Cal. The Huskies, in year three of the Chris Petersen era, were on their way to the College Football Playoff, with Jake Browning's best year, a couple of explosive playmakers in John Ross and Dante Pettis, along with a fantastic defense. Cal had an explosive offense, with Davis Webb and Chad Hansen providing a large chunk of the production, but the Bears' defense left a lot to be desired.

That culminated in a 66-27 blowout for the Huskies in Memorial Stadium, part of a four-game losing streak for Cal that would leave them without a bowl, and eventually lead to the firing of Sonny Dykes in January. Cal hired from the Petersen tree, with Justin Wilcox coming on board, and the programs have converged back toward each other. Washington hasn't been able to match their 2016 high, while Cal has beaten the Huskies the past two times they've played in close efforts.

The planned opener for the two teams in 2020 was canceled due to Cal not having enough defensive lineman because of contact tracing protocol, so this will be the first time Wilcox faces off against Jimmy Lake. Two former defensive coordinators for Petersen, with plenty of crossover between the two staffs (Wilcox, Peter Sirmon, and Keith Heyward all coached at Washington, Tre Watson played there, while UW defensive coordinator Bob Gregory held the same position at Cal from 2002 to 2009), makes for an interesting matchup in both teams' Pac-12 opener.

Head Coach: Jimmy Lake (2nd season, 3-1 overall)

2020 Record: 3-1 (3-1 in conference)

Last Time These Teams Played: A 20-19 Cal win in Seattle

Two years removed from a lightning delayed game in Husky Stadium, one that saw Marcel Dancy rush for two touchdowns and Greg Thomas kicking a short field goal to provide the winning margin, Washington will look a lot different. The Huskies have a new quarterback, new receivers, new defensive backs, and a new scheme on offense to boot.

Biggest Returners:

OLB Ryan Bowman - A sixth year returner on the edge for the Huskies, Bowman gives Washington experience and size off the edge, a 6'1", 280 lb big linebacker, with 102 tackles, 25.5 TFLs, 13 sacks and four forced fumbles for his career.

TE Cade Otton - One of the top tight ends in the conference, if not the country, Otton's another sixth-year player who can be a mismatch for opponents to guard, especially at 6'5" and 250 lbs. Otton has put up 63 receptions for 776 yards and 8 TDs over the past three seasons. 2020 was his most productive season, with 64.5 yards per game over the four game schedule.

QB Dylan Morris - Morris is the returning starter for the Huskies, likely to start again over Colorado State transfer Patrick O'Brien and five-star true freshman Sam Huard. Morris's overall 2020 numbers (66-109, 898 yards, 4 TDs and 3 INTs) aren't the most telling one way or another, but Morris excelled throwing at the intermediate level (10-19 yards) completing 18 of 29 attempts for 364 yards and 3 TDs, good for a PFF grade of 93.8.

DB Trent McDuffie - A third year corner out of St. John Bosco, McDuffie is a solid tackler on the outside, and per PFF, was only thrown at 8 times over the four games in 2020 (6 receptions allowed for 52 yards and an interception). McDuffie's an athletic player who can return punts, and is rarely out of position.

ILB Edufuan Ulofoshio - One of the starting ILBs in UW's 2-4-5 scheme, from Alaska via Las Vegas powerhouse Bishop Gorman, Ulofoshio is heading into his third year as a starter, with 96 tackles, 4.5 TFLs, 4 sacks and 4 forced fumbles for his career so far. He was Washington's highest graded defender on Pro Football Focus in 2020.

OL Jaxson Kirkland - Kirkland moved from right guard to left tackle for the 2020 season, making the all-Pac 12 first team and looking like a future draft pick. Kirkland is a solid pass blocker, only allowing two QB pressures on 124 pass attempts in 2020

Breakout Potential

OLB Sav'ell Smalls - a five-star in the 2020 class, Smalls will be called on more due to Zion Tupuola-Fetui's achilles injury and Laiatu Latu's medical retirement. Along with Huard, Smalls is one of Washington's top recruiting keeps from the Seattle area

RB Cameron Davis - a likely contributor, after playing with the first team a bunch during spring football. Sean McGrew, a sixth year back, is still at the head of the room, but Davis took a step forward during the spring as an athletic back with speed.

WR Rome Odunze - With the Huskies seeing a handful of wideouts transfer, Odunze is among the most talented in the group, along with Jalen McMillan, but hasn't put all the pieces together yet.

CB Kyler Gordon - Gordon is taking over full-time at one of the corner spot, starting five games over the last two seasons. Gordon came in to Washington with plenty of potential, and working in a Jimmy Lake defense, he'll have the opportunity to be successful.

Impact Transers

DB Bookie Radley-Hiles - The Oklahoma transfer and former five-star DB should find a spot in playing the nickel for the Huskies, as an immediate contributor in the secondary

WR Ja'Lynn Polk - Polk's addition, after playing his freshman year at Texas Tech, gives the Huskies a guy with playing experience that can factor into the WR rotation.

WR Giles Jackson - Same goes for Jackson, the speedy wideout who transferred from Michigan. Jackson also provides return ability for the Huskies.

OLB Jeremiah Martin - Martin transferred in from Texas A&M, looking to shore up the edge in the wake of injuries to ZTF and Latu, and is a former four-star recruit.

Offense (Coordinator John Donovan)

Jimmy Lake has made it clear he wants to run the ball. He wore a hat prior to a game in 2020 that said 'run the damn ball.' That's the kind of style he attempted to bring forward with John Donovan, who was previously with the Jaxckonville Jaguars and Penn State before that. Washington will run some 12 and 13 personnel sets, used a fullback on occasion, with a willingness to try and grind teams out a year ago.

It's admittedly a small sample size with what the Huskies are trying to do, but it's not quite what the Petersen offenses used to do. Both use shifts and motions to try and get teams out of position, but Washington will try to utilize bigger sets, as they have some strong tight end play and more depth at running back than at receiver. The Huskies also return all five starting offensive linemen, making this an interesting matchup for a Cal team that has added size in the offseason.

Defense (Coordinator Bob Gregory)

Gregory's not running the 4-3 he ran when he was with Cal, but the 2-4-5 nickel that can be a variable formation for the Huskies. UW has a couple of bigger interior linemen in Tuli Letuligasenoa and Sam Taimani who will start, occasionally looking to add a third big lineman (Faatui Tuitele played there in the spring), but there will be a focus on stopping the run, something Washington didn't do when Cal beat them in 2019.

Combined with the already mentioned edge depth and returners at inside linebacker (Jackson Sirmon, son of Cal DC Peter Sirmon, is a likely starter next to Ulofoshio), there's stability for the Huskies on defense, even with Pete Kwiatkowski now at Texas. There's a lot of similarities between Cal and Washington on this end, with the coaches all stemming from the same tree. The offenses even share similarities, with varying strengths, but the question will be whether Wilcox's group can continue to pull out slim wins over a Washington squad that is still incredibly talented.