Cal and Ole Miss meet one more time Saturday to finish a home and home with the Rebels, one started in 2017. It's a homecoming for a couple of Cal players, as WR Jordan Duncan gets to play in his home state, while DL Luc Bequette (a native of Little Rock, Arkansas) and S Trey Turner III (a Mobile, Alabama native) get to play in front of family who will make the trip.

For the Bears, it's a chance to start 4-0 for the first time since 2015, as they take on an Ole Miss squad that may not have the NFL receivers that they had in 2017, but they have a whole lot of talent that the Cal coaches respect.

When: September 21st, 2019

Where: Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford, MS

Time: 11 AM Central Time (9 AM Pacific)

TV: ESPN U

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

Line: Ole Miss -2.5 (O/U 41.5)

Series: Cal leads 1-0-0

Last Meeting: Cal defeated Ole Miss 27-16 in Berkeley on September 16th, 2017, thanks to outscoring the Rebels 20-0 in the second half, with a Cam Goode pick-six providing the capper in the win.

Other Facts:

- Cal is the only current Pac-12 team that Ole Miss has played in the history of their program

- Cal has two players from the state of Mississippi on their roster (Jordan Duncan and Gentle Williams), Ole Miss has one Californian on their roster (Matt Corral)

- Ole Miss added former Pac-12 coaches as coordinators this year, as Rich Rodriguez (Arizona) and Mike MacIntyre (Colorado) joined Matt Luke's staff on offense and defense respectively. Rodriguez coaches QBs and MacIntyre coaches safeties.

- Cal returns eight players who started during the previous Ole Miss game (Jake Curhan, Gavin Reinwald, and Valentino Daltoso on offense, Jaylinn Hawkins, Elijah Hicks, Cam Bynum, Cam Goode, and Luc Bequette on defense)

Guys to Watch For:

QB Matt Corral - A guy with a live arm, competitive, athletic, and can make a number of big time throws downfield. He averages 9.7 yards per attempt when blitzed, so Tim DeRuyter is going to have his hands full with disguises. One curious fact, Corral has thrown outside the numbers to the left only four times this season in 73 attempts. (He has thrown outside the numbers on the right side 17 times)

WR Elijah Moore - Top graded Ole Miss offensive player on PFF, with 18 receptions for 278 yards and 3 scores, a tough cover out of the slot. A shifty player, Corral has a near perfect passer rating when targeting Moore, which he's done 24 times in 3 games

RB Scottie Phillips - Strong runner who has 71 carries for 304 yards and 4 TDs so far. Plays bigger than his size, has done his best work off his center Eli Johnson's left shoulder and off right tackle.

RB/KR Jerrion Ealy - A lightning bolt as a true freshman, returned a kick for a touchdown a week ago.

DE Josiah Coatney - a massive interior lineman, the highest graded defensive player on PFF for his run defense. He and nose guard Benito Jones have made it difficult for teams to run on Ole Miss.

S Jalen Julius - the team leader in tackles with 16, along with 3 PBUs, PFF has him with 5 missed tackles though

Corral the Run Game to Get Corral behind schedule

Though the former Long Beach Poly QB has done well over his first three starts of the year, he's reportedly had a tendency to hold the ball too long in passing situations. If Cal can corral the running game of Phillips, Ealy and Snoop Conner, the secondary is more than capable of making the Ole Miss QB go through his progressions.

Make Duncan's Homecoming Worthwhile

Jordan Duncan has 4 receptions for 60 yards over the first three games of the season. Chase Garbers and company need to find a rhythm in the passing game, especially in the quick game. When Garbers has gotten the ball out in 2.5 seconds or less, he's completed two-thirds of his passes. Getting the likes of Duncan, Kekoa Crawford, and Nikko Remigio open quick against a defense that hasn't done well against the pass is imperative.

Manage the Injuries

Health for a handful of guys is up in the air right now, as five key guys were out for Cal last week, not counting guys already out for the year. Valentino Daltoso, Christopher Brown Jr., Tevin Paul, Cam Goode, and Ben Hawk Schrider were all out during the week. How much these guys play may be pivotal to Cal's chances down south.

This Cal team is better than the one two years ago, while this Ole Miss team isn't as good as the one two years ago, at least from a talent perspective. That said, that doesn't make this a clear cut Cal win, at least from predictors.

What this Cal team has done is to win games without landing the final blow, like a boxer who goes the full 12 rounds to win on points. At a certain point they're going to have to land the final blow.

All I can really predict is to take the under in this one.

Cal 14, Ole Miss 13