Cal put UC Davis to bed last week in a 34-13 win at home and has turned the focus to the UNLV Rebels, who come to Berkeley on Saturday. This will be the first-ever matchup between the programs.
The Rebels visit after a less than impressive two-year stretch, with head coach Marcus Arroyo leading the program to 2-16 record. However, an offensive explosion in UNLV's 52-21 opening win over Idaho State should raise some red flags for the Bears, regardless of the opponent.
Additionally, the Rebels last played Aug. 27th, giving them a full two weeks to prepare for Cal.
On paper, this is another matchup the Bears should handle convincingly. But when teams have confidence and an extra week to prepare, there can always be room for some trouble.
Let’s take a closer look at what the Rebels are bringing to the table.
UNLV Rebels
Location: Las Vegas, Nev.
Conference: Mountain West
Coach: Marcus Arroyo (3rd season, 3-16)
2021 Record: 2-10
2021 statistical rankings
Scoring Offense: 20.8 PPG (111th)
Scoring Defense: 32.8 PPG (107th)
Total Offense: 312.3 YPG (119th)
Total Defense: 408.4 YPG (88th)
Last game: 52-21 win over Idaho State
What the Rebels do well:
UNLV is going to come out throwing the ball. The team got 356 passing yards out of starting quarterback Doug Brumfield last year, with 182 yards going towards his top receiver Ricky White (more on them later). Completing 84% of your passes is impressive no matter who it is against, and that’s exactly what the Rebels did against Idaho State. Without superior talent in the trenches, expect them to come out trying to work the underneath passing game and taking their deep shots here and there in order to keep Cal honest.
Where the Rebels might be vulnerable:
There are a few places that the Bears should look to beat UNLV.
First, the Rebels do not have very much team speed on either side of the ball. Idaho State was just a step behind them all game, and with all due respect to the Bengals, an FBS team should not be just barely running by them. Several players should have had long touchdowns but were caught by Idaho State players. That didn’t stop them from making big plays, but it’s easy to see that there is just a different class of speed between the Bears and the Rebels on film.
Additionally, the trenches for UNLV are not exactly intimidating. They got a decent amount of push versus a severely outmatched Idaho State team, but it was not exactly convincing every time. The Rebels looked like a team that went out and tried to ‘out-athlete’ the Bengals, and it worked. But that is not exactly a formula that is going to win them games against Power 5 opponents.
Five Players to Know:
1. WR Ricky White (No. 11)
The former Michigan State Spartan made his presence very well known against Idaho State, snagging eight catches for 182 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound receiver left his mark at Michigan State as a true freshman, posting up 8 catches for 196 yards against Michigan in 2020, but he did not participate in any football activities for the Spartans last year and entered the transfer portal that December. White is certainly a talented football player with great natural hands, ball skills and good routes, but he’s not necessarily a true burner. Seeing him matched up against Cal’s secondary is going to be fun, but it’ll be interesting to see how they manage any height mismatches that may present themselves.
