Cal Football Countdown: 5 Days, Five Things to Watch for UC Davis
FIVE THINGS IS BACK BABY THE INTERNET'S BEST GUIDE COVERING WHAT THINGS CAL NEEDS TO DO TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN A GIVEN GAME AND IS ALMOST ALWAYS CORRELATED WITH WHETHER OR NOT THEY DO SO YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Okay. So, hi.
1) The New (!) Chase Garbers
If you've been following Trace Travers' fantastic fall camp coverage, then you know that all the buzz -- or perhaps by necessity -- points toward Chase Garbers improving over his performance in the 2018 campaign, but how much improved remains to be seen during game time.
As he goes, so too, do the Bears, and all they really need him to go is a cool, semi-efficient 20-of-33, 250 yards, 2 TD performance each week. A scramble here, a well-timed takeoff there, an occasional deeper throw to keep defenses honest, and suddenly that 6.5 win projection looks much, much easier to break through
Due to the new freshman redshirt rule, it's also likely (and indeed, preferable) that the Bears will play Spencer Brasch at some point during the game. He's made some strides and earned reps throughout camp, but it's also because Devon Modster's availability remains up in the air for at least the early part of the season.
2) Skills
I end up writing some version of this point in the opener every year, and this year, it's for Chris Brown, Makai Polk, Kekoa Crawford, the elder stateman Jordan Duncan, and the rapidly improving Nikko Remigio. (That's leaving off several other faces, but you get the point.) This is a new generation of skill position players all around, recruited specifically to jumpstart the offense immediately, and if the trend holds true, there should be a significantly higher amount of explosive plays generated.
3) BRETT JOHNSON!
No Siu or Maldonado for basically all of camp has meant Luc Bequette and JOHNSON! mostly splitting duties here at the nose. There's a way to reason this out as a not-entirely-disastrous development -- Cal's had success with those smaller, disruptive nose types in the recent past, going back to Austin Clark and James Looney, and more playing time for JOHNSON! as a true freshman could mean the very first four-year Nam Le Receipt Guy.
He's currently already dominant against the 2s, and a hefty 290. Growing pains are likely inevitable with him, especially against the stronger fronts in the conference, but with only an FCS group in front of him this week, it could provide a strong glimpse into the future with him.
4) No injuries
Cam Goode was lost in the first half of last year's season opener.
Let's hope there are no more damaged goods of any kind. (Sorry, sorry, I'm trying to delete it.)
5) No traps
This is a default talking point against any and all FCS opponents. It's especially true, though, when there've had multiple flirtations with unranked disaster as of late -- Idaho State wasn't a complete blowout for awhile, Weber was not even a 2 TD margin, and the Portland State near-disaster is still within recent memory. None of those teams were the #5 FCS team, and none of those teams had the extra "UC" motivation on their shoulder, either -- should you believe in things like that.
Look, these "C" games are inherently risky because there is so much to lose in not playing well, and little to gain if you do so, especially in the way of analysis. What happens Saturday isn't likely to tell too much about the Washington game -- it's in their best interest to get it over with by going vanilla early and get the starters out -- but the Bears are hoping it's the latter anyway.
As far as Davis goes, it might be best not to underestimate them entirely as the reigning Big Sky co-champs, and after having taken FCS powerhouse Eastern Washington to the very brink in last season's playoffs. Boasting 17 returning starters, the Aggies will only really have a hole replacing receiver Keelan Doss (118 receptions, 1334 yards, 9 TDs), and a lot of it might come from running back/all-purpose threat Ulonzo Gilliam, who scored 17 touchdowns (4 receiving; their third leading receiver after Doss and Jarred Harrell.)