There's plenty of finality to the Redbox Bowl. It's the last time out on the field for multiple seniors. It's the last game for offensive line coach Steve Greatwood, as he's set to retire after the game. It's the last game in blue and gold for Beau Baldwin and Nick Edwards, who will take a trip down the Pacific Coast Highway to start their jobs at Cal Poly.

It's also the final game of a 2019 season that was defined by inconsistency. With the bowl game a month after the Bears final game against UCLA, they get a chance to show what they can do when healthy against an Illinois team that has had similar fortunes.

Date: December 30th, 2019

Location: Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, CA

Time: 1:00 PM PST

TV: Fox

Radio: Cal Bears Sports Network (KGO 810 AM locally), TuneIn Channel, KALX 90.7 FM

Line: Cal -6 (O/U 43.5)

Series: Illinois Leads 7-3

Last time these teams played: Cal took a 35-20 decision over the Illini in 2005, in the first start of RB Justin Forsett's career. Justin Wilcox was Cal's linebackers coach at the time, as the Bears came back from being down 17-7 at the half, with defensive back Tim Mixon landing the final blow with a punt return TD.

- Cal DL Luc Bequette lived in Champaign for six years, prior to moving back to Arkansas to play his senior year of high school football. OLB Chinedu Udeogu is the only player on the Cal roster to list Illinois as their home state.

- Illinois has three players on their roster, in Dylan Wyatt (Oakland), Delano Ware (Richmond) and Milo Eifler (Berkeley) to list Bay Area cities as their hometowns.

- Illinois DL coach Austin Clark played at Cal from 2009-14 and spent 2015 as a recruiting assistant for the Bears

- Illinois is the Big 10 team Cal has played the most

- Cal's Evan Weaver and Illinois' Dele Harding are the top two tacklers in FBS football this year (with 173 and 147 tackles respectively)

"He's a dynamic guy, makes plays throwing the ball, running the ball, takes care of it, makes good decisions. They play well together offensively, they play well together defensively. Their team plays together as one, you notice that when you watch the entire games. I think he gives them a spark, no matter what, we've got to prepare for their best game." - Wilcox on Brandon Peters

"There's similarities, I think (in any) spread offense, you're going to see carry over, but everybody's got their own wrinkles, like Illinois does, they're not cookie-cutter, one is not the same as the other because the players are different, what they lean on because of the players' strengths changes." - Wilcox on if Illinois' offense resembles Arizona's (from when Illinois OC Rod Smith was there)

"Very similar, a lot of those themes, they're going to go tempo at times, mix it up some. A lot of 11 personnel, lot of run and RPO game, so a lot of things we saw in the Ole Miss game, a lot of things going back two years ago to Arizona. They'll be both in 11 personnel and 12 personnel and 20, all those same themes and they do a lot of things to stress a defense. We've got to do a great job in the run game, that's probably the strength of their team right now. They're pretty strong in their run schemes, they're extremely physical up front, and they've got a couple backs that run extremely hard, and they have about 1200 yards between them." - Tim DeRuyter on Rod Smith's offense looking like Rich Rodriguez's Arizona offenses.

"They're very sound, there's an NFL style to it with their head coach and what they do. More split safety than we usually see, because there's so much post safety in our conference now, we've got to get used to that. Even front, we see more odd front, they're primarily in even front, and they're really good at what they do. They don't necessarily get super complicated, but they're sound in what they do because of that. They know their assignments, they react well off QBs, they're very tough and physical up front, so at each level, it reminds me and it's not schematically the same, but it reminds me how sound Stanford is in team defense, they have a lot of that in them as well." - Beau Baldwin on the Illinois defense.

"They've got a really good kick returner (RB Dre Brown), he's a hard, downhill runner, he trusts the hole is going to be there, and he hits it. Then their punter (Blake Hayes), he's the Big 10 punter of the year, he's another kid from Australia, lefty, so he does a variety of kicks. Some of that has to do with the weather, you have to deal with that in that conference, but they've got some weapons and they're well coached." - Charlie Ragle on what stands out about Illinois' special teams units.

Illinois

- QB Brandon Peters will play (concussion) after missing the Illini's final contest against Northwestern

- WR Josh Imatorbhebhe and LB Jake Hansen are both gametime decisions for the Illini. Imatorbhebhe is their leading receiver, while Hansen is the second leading tackler

Cal

- S Ashtyn Davis (surgery) is out. OLB Tevin Paul, WR Jordan Duncan, and S Trey Turner will not play (undisclosed reasons)

QB Brandon Peters - Michigan transfer with two years of eligibility. Started 10 games for the Illini this year. Not the most accurate passer (54.6% completion), but a solid scrambler when necessary. 17-7 TD-INT ratio, but he's also fumbled nine times

RBs Dre Brown and Reggie Corbin - A duo worth knowing, Corbin has more yards, but Brown is more elusive, with 33 avoided tackles on the year. Two backs over 200 lbs who can break tackles. Corbin rushed for over 1000 yards in 2018

LB Dele Harding - The best tackler in the country not named Evan Weaver, Harding also has 13 tackles for loss, 3 interceptions, and 3 forced fumbles to his name in a productive year.

S Stanley Green - Productive safety with 3 forced fumbles of his own for an Illinois defense that has had a ton of success forcing turnovers (28 on the year)

No Cheez-It Bowl Part Two

Cal responded to a turnover heavy bowl game a year ago by only committing 13 turnovers in 2019 (a regular season record). Against an Illinois team that thrives off forcing turnovers and defensive touchdowns (they rank third in the nation in turnovers, first in defensive touchdowns), taking care of the ball is imperative.

Dealing with the Run

Cal's allowed just under 60 yards per game on the ground defensively over their final three games. If Josh Imatorbhebhe can't go for the Illini, expect their gameplan to be more run oriented. Brown and Corbin become bigger threats, as does Peters, who is a load to tackle at 6'5" and 220 lbs.

Get Goode

Cam Goode had two of his best pass rush outings to close the regular season, with two sacks in each of the final two games. Goode has an opportunity against an Illinois line that is better in pass protection up the middle than on the edges (for the most part, starting tackles Vederian Lowe and Alex Palczewski have given up 18 and 20 pressures respectively, per Pro Football Focus)

Chase to the Finish Line

When Chase Garbers plays the whole game for the Bears this year, Cal is 6-0. It's up to the Bears to keep him upright, as Garbers, Cal's offensive MVP, has had the switch flipped on his performances since the Ole Miss game. He has a line that's as healthy as it has been all year, Nikko Remigio is starting to come into his own, Kekoa Crawford is back (Cal is undefeated when he plays) and Chris Brown looked like himself against UCLA. A lot of things are breaking right for the Bears.

This won't be a high scoring game, and one though is that the Levi's Stadium turf is known for being slippery. Nonetheless, Cal is undefeated this year on natural grass and they're the healthier team at this point. That said, Illinois has played extremely well against some tough teams, coming back for a massive win over Michigan State and taking down an undefeated Wisconsin squad. They have the tools to make it close. The Bears just might have a few more tools

Cal 20, Illinois 14