Ironically, the Golen Bears have been much more impressive on the road than they have at home, and Friday night's game presents by far the toughest opponent Cal has welcomed this season into the California Memorial Coliseum. How do they match up with ASU? We take a closer look at the Sun Devils' upcoming opponent.
California Offense
Quarterback Chase Garbers started the season as the proverbial “game manager”, with 238 passing yards with two touchdowns and an interception in game one against UC Davis, 111 passing yards with no touchdowns or interceptions along with 42 net rushing yards against Washington in week two then 129 passing yards with a touchdown and 70 net rushing yards against North Texas week three.
Last week, however, Garbers had an out-of-body experience at Ole Miss by completing 23-of-35 passes for 357 yards with four touchdowns with one interception. For perspective, prior to that game Garbers only had three career 200-yard games and his previous career-high was the 238 thrown week one. He also set single-game career highs in pass completions and passing touchdowns.
Overall for the season, Garbers has completed 59-of-103 passes (57.3%) for 835 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions, adding 133 net rushing yards on the year.
In place of departed runner Patrick Laird, who totaled nearly 2,100 rushing yards across the 2017-18 seasons, Christopher Brown earned the nod to start this year for the Golden Bears.
Brown started the season in incredibly impressive fashion – 197 rushing yards in the opener against UC Davis and 110 combined rushing and receiving yards week two against Washington – but injury issues have limited him to just 58 rushing yards on 21 carries the past two games.
On the year, the big back (6-1, 230) has 73 carries for 335 yards with two touchdowns along with eight receptions for 62 yards with a score.
If Brown’s availability is in jeopardy, Marcel Dancy is the next man up with DeShawn Collins listed behind him.
Dancy has 35 carries for 179 yards with two touchdowns so far in 2019, including 47 yards on 12 carries last week as the primary back at Ole Miss. Collins, a junior college transfer, has yet to register a carry at the FBS level.
Kekoa Crawford, Nikko Remigio, and Jordan Duncan are listed as the starting receivers with Gavin Reinwald at tight end.
Crawford leads the team in receptions (10), yards (185) and touchdown catches (two). Remigio has nine receptions for 171 yards and one touchdown while Duncan has nine catches for 123 yards and a score. Reinwald has posted three catches for 45 yards.
Backup tight end Jake Tonges had a big day last week in Cal’s aerial onslaught of Ole Miss, catching three passes for 88 yards and a touchdown.
The offensive line is slated to start Valentino Daltoso or Henry Bazakas at left tackle, Matthew Cindric at left guard, Michael Saffell at center, McKade Mettauer at right guard and Jake Curhan at right tackle.
Cal has started Cindric at left guard, Saffell at center and Curhan at right tackle in all four games but started three different players at left tackle through the first three weeks but Bazakas has started each of the past two games. Mettauer has started the last three games at right guard after Daltoso did so in the season opener before moving to left tackle, where he started the second game but has not started either of the last two games.
Curhan (29 career starts) and Daltoso (24) are the veterans of the offensive line group, while Saffell also has double-digit career starts with his 12 entering Friday.
Overall, however, the California offensive line has struggled mightily as no team in the Pac-12 Conference has allowed more sacks thus far in 2019.
California Offense Summary
The biggest question entering Friday’s game is how much of a fluke Garbers’ performance was at Ole Miss last week. Given his level of performance all last year and through the first three games of 2019, it is logically difficult to expect that he will have output at or near the 300-yard passing mark again, but last week’s effort shows he is a capable weapon at quarterback.
ASU’s biggest task is to find some way in the world to generate a pass rush and not allow consistently clean pockets for Garbers as was the case last week against Steven Montez and Colorado.
However, ASU’s pass rush efforts likely will be aided by Cal’s porous offensive line, which allows the most sacks in the Pac-12 Conference (3.5 per game) and ties for 119th nationally among 130 FBS teams.
In three games against FBS opponents, Cal has allowed 13 sacks on Garbers (4.3 per game)
California Defense
Operating out of a 3-4 base alignment, Cal’s defense features the nation’s most productive defender thus far in 2019 and a seasoned, talented secondary.
Luc Bequette is listed as a potential starter at either nose guard or defensive end; if he starts at nose guard, Lone Toaiola likely will start at end opposite Zeandae Johnson and if Bequette is the first-string end along with Johnson, Arizona native Brett Johnson likely will get the start at nose guard.
Bequette leads all Cal linemen with 18 tackles and ties for the team-high in both tackles-for-loss (3.5) and sacks (2.5). Johnson has 11 total tackles, Toailoa has seven and Johnson has six.
No defensive player at any position in the nation has put up the eye-popping statistics of inside linebacker Evan Weaver, who averages nearly 16 tackles per game thus far in 2019 with an amazing 63 tackles in just four games.
Weaver started the season with 12 tackles against UC Davis, followed by 18 at Washington, 11 versus North Texas and then a spectacular 22 total tackles last week at Mississippi. His productivity is nothing new, as Weaver collected 159 total tackles last year – the second-best single-season output in school history.
This year, Weaver also has 3.5 tackles-for-loss, four quarterback hurries, a huge forced fumble at Washington and one pass breakup.
Kuony Deng starts along with Weaver at inside linebacker and is trending toward all-conference honors as he is tied for fourth in the Pac-12 with 36 tackles while also tying Bequette for the team lead in tackles-for-loss (3.5) and sacks (2.5). Deng, a four-star junior college recruit in his first year with the Golden Bears, also ranks within the nation’s top-40 in tackles-per-game (9.0).
At outside linebacker, the depth chart lists Cameron Goode, Ben Hawk Schrider, Nick Alftin, Tevin Paul and Braxten Croteau all as options to occupy the two starting spots.
After Paul and Good started each of the first three games together, Alftin and Croteau formed the starting outside linebacker duo last week at Ole Miss.
Among this group, Goode leads the way with nine tackles including 3.0 for loss with 2.0 sacks, while Croteau and Paul have five tackles, Schrider has three and Alftin has one.
Cal boasts one of the nation’s most talented secondaries, with cornerbacks Camryn Bynum and Elijah Hicks joined by safeties Ashtyn Davis and Jaylinn Hawkins. Traveon Beck sees significant snaps as the nickel defensive back, though his availability may be in doubt for Friday.
The quartet of Bynum, Hicks, Davis, and Hawkins, the Pac-12’s interceptions leader in 2018, has formed the starting secondary in each of Cal’s first four games of 2019.
Davis ranks third on the team with 24 tackles, adding two pass breakups, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery. Bynum has 16 tackles, three pass breakups, and an interception while Hawkins has 15 tackles including 2.0 for loss with one sack, a pass breakup, and a forced fumble. Hicks has registered 13 tackles including a sack and three pass breakups and Beck has totaled eight tackles, two pass breakups, and an interception.
California Defense Summary
As impressive as California’s defense has been it oddly does not anywhere near the national leaders in many defensive statistics as the Golden Bears rank 61st nationally in total defense and rush defense, 63rd in forced turnovers, 64th in pass defense and 76th in red zone defense.
However, Cal makes it count where it is most meaningful by ranking 27th nationally in scoring defense (17.3) and has held 11 consecutive opponents to under 24 points. As overused as the “bend but don’t break” label is in college football, it truthfully applies to the 2019 Golden Bear defense.
There is no shortage of talent across the defense, though some injury issues could impact availability on Friday. Weaver is well on his way to becoming the Pac-12 Conference Pat Tillman Defensive Player of the Year and the Golden Bear secondary can certainly make a true freshman quarterback pay if Jayden Daniels has uncharacteristic ball control issues.
California Special Teams
Greg Thomas, formerly a walk-on member of the ASU roster in 2015-16, serves as Cal’s kicker with either Steven Coutts or Dario Longhetto at punter. Thomas has connected on 7-of-8 field goals with a long of 47. Longhetto averages 40.9 yards on 14 punts while Coutts averages 25.8 on five.
In the return game, Ashtyn Davis and Jeremiah Hawkins are listed as the top options on kickoffs with Nikko Remigio on punt returns. Remigio has excelled in his role, averaging 18.5 yards on four punt returns. Davis averages 20.8 yards on four kickoff returns, while Hawkins has one return for an impressive 53 yards.
Overall Summary
The team picked in the preseason by the conference media to finish fifth in the Pac-12 north division, California has been a surprise on both the conference and national levels as the Golden Bears enter Friday’s game ranked No. 15 in the Associated Press poll.
Berkeley has been a wasteland for the Sun Devils for more than 20 years, as ASU is just 1-6 when visiting the Golden Bears from 1998-2018 – tying Stanford (1-7) for the conference opponent against which ASU has the fewest road wins in that 20-year span. The Devils’ lone win in Berkeley in those 20 years came in Todd Graham’s debut season when ASU claimed a 27-17 victory over the Golden Bears in 2012.
In no season since the conference expanded in 2011 has ASU started 0-2 in league play and facing a top-15 team on the road presents the double-edged sword of a challenging adversary but also an excellent opportunity for ASU to regain momentum before its first bye week of the 2019 season.
Keys to a Sun Devil Victory
Press Garbers: ASU showed major pass rush deficiencies last week in the loss to Colorado and after a career-high passing day last weekend, Garbers’ confidence will be riding high. The Sun Devils cannot afford to allow him time and safety in the pocket. Cal has allowed at least three sacks to each of its three FBS opponents including six surrendered to Group of Five member North Texas. ASU should have the talent to make defensive plays in the California backfield.
Focus Like East Lansing: Cal is an undefeated, nationally ranked opponent fresh off a rare win in SEC country for the Pac-12. The home crowd for the Golden Bears should be just about as good as Berkeley can create, so all sides of the ball for the Sun Devils will have to execute with efficiency and grit as it did against Michigan State two weeks ago.
Shake It Off: Despite inconsistencies, the first three weeks – especially the first two – ASU could take solace in leaving with a victory. After a disappointing loss in which the defense showed uncharacteristic struggles, the Sun Devils must have the mental fortitude to learn from but not allow the frustrations of last week to impair the efficiency and execution against California.
Familiar Faces
· ASU head coach Herm Edwards played at California in 1972 and ’74.
· California K Greg Thomas was on the ASU roster from 2015-16.
· California Special Teams Coordinator Charlie Ragle was a graduate assistant under Dirk Koetter at ASU in 2006.
· California QB Spencer Brash (Gilbert Higley High School), RB DeCarlos Brooks (Chandler High School), OLB/DE Braxten Croteau (Peoria Liberty High School), DL Brett Johnson (Phoenix Desert Vista High School), LB Ryan Puskas (Peoria Liberty High School), OL Brayden Rohme (Gilbert Perry High School) and LS Slater Zellers (Scottsdale Notre Dame Prep) are Arizona natives.
· California OLB Ben Moos is the younger brother of former ASU DL Bo Moos (2007-11)
· California OLB Nick Alftin attended San Jose (Calif.) Archbishop Mitty, as did ASU TE Tommy Hudson.
· California DB Traveon Beck and DB Elijah Hicks attended Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco High School, as did ASU RB Demetrious Flowers, LB Jacob Jornadal and OL Zach Robertson.
· California RB DeShawn Collins, QB Jack Newman, and K Greg Thomas attended City College of San Francisco (Calif.), as did ASU RB Isaiah Floyd.
· California K Nick Lopez and WR Nikko Remigio attended Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei High School, as did ASU OL Alex Losoya.
· California S Steve McIntosh attended Los Angeles (Calif.) Bishop Alemany High School, as did ASU LB Ely Doyle, WR Brandon Pierce, and OL Dohnovan West.
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