Five Things To Watch: BYU
Starting with a quick recap of last week:
1) Quarterback – Cal win, barely
The three-headed, six-armed amalgam that Cal trotted out didn’t live up to expectations for any, but they didn’t turn the ball over four times, either. Even one ill-advised decision from this group would have likely led to a loss, so by definition, we won the category.
2) The Skill Replacements – Cal loss, barely
Jordan Duncan, Ian Bunting, Ray Hudson, Moe Ways, Jeremiah Hawkins collectively didn’t do very much, and Marcel Dancy and Derrick Clark didn’t even get to see the field. For the jobs they’ve all been asked to do: step in for Demetris Robertson, Melquise Stovall and Taariq Johnson, week one wasn’t quite what we hoped for.
3) UNC Backs vs Cal Front 7 – Cal win
A lot of near TFLs and Weaver/Kunaszyk combined for nearly 20 tackles between them alone. It’s a W.
4) Special Teams – Cal loss, barely
Nearly decided the game between a missed field goal, the variety of punts from plus territory, and the onside kick, while producing little extra value.
5) Crowd – no decision
This one’s highly subjective, but I didn’t see a particularly special effort here from the fans.
Easy enough to understand. Tied the two categories, barely escape with a win.
2-2-0 (1-0)
Now to BYU:
1) Quarterback
No matter which candidate you’re rooting for, the fact that the level of play ended up being what it was is nothing short of immensely discouraging. The Bears have a big decision on their hands this week between Chase Garbers or Ross Bowers, and the battle lines have been drawn between the higher upside candidate or the veteran who, quite frankly, didn’t look it on Saturday but might have earned another chance.
In a stroke of fortune, whichever guy it is will be matched up against a mildly experienced, not immensely productive signalcaller on the other side -- still finding his footing after an Achilles tear and hasn’t been as good as he was three season ago.
This means the bar for outplaying the opponent, position for position, isn’t incredibly high. Even matching Mangum’s output might be plenty.
2) Cal “big” DL vs BYU run game
Luc Bequette and Chris Palmer figure to play a bit more this week, and possibly Lone Toailoa as well, because BYU is big up front and loves to use 12, 13 personnel (2, 3 TE packages) to generate the run game. Cougar back Squally Canada had a long of 13 against Arizona, but 3 touchdowns and 98 yards is 3 touchdowns and 98 yards, no matter how many carries it took to get that far.
(He took 24.)
Bequette and Palmer don’t need to make all the plays themselves – just enough to let everyone else fall in behind them.
3) Moos and Banjo
Against a big BYU offense but limited in their explosiveness, can Ben Moos and Joey Ogunbanjo be counted on for regular snaps? Can they handle the stress of playing in space and read the proper keys this week? The answer to these questions will determine how successful the Cal defense is over the next month, which is how long we anticipate Goode will be out at minimum.
(If not, Cal can conceivably play 4-2-5 fronts or 3-3-5 fronts, but that’s one less card for DeRuyter to have in the deck.)
4) Explosives
The strongest argument for playing Garbers is that he can at least provide the possibility of creating chunks of yardage by his legs, and after getting only 6 total chunk plays last week, the Bears need all the help they can get – and if they can’t get it by the addition of the quarterback running package, it may be time to tweak things schematically to create more separation. BYU is in a similar position themselves, ranking near the botton of the country in explosiveness last season, and then only averaging 10% explosiveness vs the Wildcats.
5) Corbin Kaufusi
Malik Carney and the UNC DTs were a force against the interior of the Cal OL on Saturday, tallying ten total TFLs. Not a misprint. As disruptive as the Bears were with the interceptions and passes knocked down, the Tar Heels were a shade better on a per play basis. They won’t face Malik Carney again, but they will have a nice 6’9, 270 end to deal with this week in Kaufusi, who recorded 6 sacks last year and got one on Khalil Tate too. Linebacker Sione Takitaki is their other major disruptor, with 12.5 TFLs recorded last year, although none last week against Arizona.