Even after its third straight loss, ASU is a more confident team than it was just two weeks ago. But to return to the win column, they will need to achieve that on the road visiting Cal. What are the challenges and opportunities they can expect? Here’s our examination of ASU’s next opponent.
California Offense
In a fashion somewhat similar to ASU’s week two opponent, Oklahoma State, the California Golden Bears operate their offense with multiple quarterbacks as both Sam Jackson V and Arizona native Ben Finley have seen meaningful reps behind center for Cal in all four games in 2023.
Both Finley and Jackson are transfers, as Finley came to Cal from NC State and Jackson from TCU.
The numbers by Finley and Jackson are relatively similar so far, as Finley has thrown for 533 yards and completing 62.0% of his passes with three touchdowns and four interceptions, while Jackson has thrown for 426 yards and has completed 57.4% of his passes while tossing four touchdowns and two interceptions.
On the ground, Jackson has offered more than Finley, as he has 68 net rushing yards and a touchdown on 18 carries, while Finley has recorded eight carries for 18 net yards without a score.
Jackson saw a comparatively limited workload in the opener against North Texas with just four pass attempts but was 14 of 27 for 129 yards and two interceptions. Against Auburn, he was 12-of-23 passing for 108 yards and two touchdowns versus Idaho, and last week, he was 10-of-14 for 156 yards with a touchdown against Washington.
Finley, on the other hand, saw the vast majority of his reps in the first and fourth games of the season as he was 24-of-34 for 289 yards with a touchdown and an interception against North Texas in the opener and then last week versus Washington, he completed 17-of-32 passes for 207 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. Against Auburn and Idaho, he had a combined 13 passing attempts and notched just 37 combined passing yards.
For this week, Jackson is the first quarterback listed on Cal’s depth chart, albeit with the ever-popular ‘OR’ noted between his name and Finley’s, so it stands to reason that, yet again, ASU will face a dual-quarterback system.
The clear offensive standout so far for Cal has been running back Jaydn Ott, who had a very good true freshman season last year with 897 rushing yards and 11 total touchdowns. Ott opened the year with 188 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries against North Texas and followed that with 20 carries for 78 yards and a score versus Auburn. He missed the Idaho game due to injury and had some struggles against Washington as he notched 40 yards on 14 carries with a touchdown. On the season, Ott also has five receptions for 31 yards.
In addition to Ott, Isaiah Ifanse and Ashton Stredick have put together very solid starts to their 2023 seasons as Ifanse has 236 yards and four touchdowns on 42 carries, while Stredick has 182 yards on 38 carries with two touchdowns.
Ifanse, a former Montana State and San Jose State transfer produced the bulk of his output two weeks ago in Ott’s absence against Idaho with 137 rushing yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. He also had three rushing touchdowns on just ten carries in the opener against North Texas.
Stredick has been a steady second or third option at running back as he has between six and 13 carries and between 24 and 77 rushing yards in each of the first four games of the season for Cal.
Jeremiah Hunter, Washington transfer Taj Davis, and Trond Grizzell are listed as the starting wide receivers for the Golden Bears and are, in order, the team’s top three leaders in receptions this season.
On the season, Hunter has 21 catches for 232 yards with three scores to lead Cal in all three categories, while Davis has 13 catches for 141 yards with two touchdowns, and Grizzell has 12 receptions for 177 yards and two scores.
No other player on the roster outside this trio has a touchdown catch so far for Cal in 2023.
Jack Endries is slotted as the team’s starting tight end and has seven catches for 84 yards in four games this season.
Cal’s offensive line figures to start left tackle Barrett Miller, left guard Matthew Wykoff, center Brian Driscoll, guard Sioape Vatkani, and right tackle T.J. Session.
Miller came to Cal this offseason after starting 30 games at guard for rival Stanford from 2019-22, while Wykoff played at Texas A&M from 2021-22 and collected nine starts over that period. Driscoll started all 12 games last year, and Vatkani posted nine starts, and Session had seven starts for Cal in 2022.
California Offense Summary
Cal’s greatest offensive strengths are on the ground, primarily through the efforts of Ott, making it the clear priority for the Sun Devil defense to stack against the ground game – though to be truly effective in that area would require a noted improvement from last week in that department.
Though preparing for a two-quarterback system can bring about its challenges, neither Finley nor Jackson has been tremendously potent this season, so one would think that with the right gameplan, the Sun Devils can create some complications for Cal’s QBs.
Overall, in what could be a bit of a defensive battle, ASU cannot allow its run defense to be porous in Berkeley.
California Defense
Who will start at defensive tackle for Cal? Maybe everyone!
What do I mean? Well, on this week’s depth chart, Cal lists four players per spot at two defensive tackle positions – so, for you math majors, that’s eight total players – all of which have the famous ‘OR’ tagged by their name.
At one tackle position, Ethan Saunders is at the top of the list, along with Nate Burrell, Curlee Thomas IV, and Derek Wilkins. At the other slot, Arizona native Brett Johnson is followed by Ricky Correia, Darius Long, Jr., and Stanley Saole-McKenzie, all of which, again, have that good ol’ ‘OR’ slapped beside their names on the depth chart.
Among this group of eight linemen, Correia is the only player with more than four tackles on the year, as he has six total stops, including a sack. Long is second on the team with two TFLs as part of his three total tackles, while Wilkins has 1.5 TFLs with one sack among his three tackles this season.
At inside linebacker, Jackson Sirmon and Kaleb Elarms-Orr are listed as the team’s two starters and are by far the team’s most productive defender so far.
Elarms-Orr leads the team with 32 tackles with three pass breakups, one forced fumble, and one interception, while Sirmon ranks second on the team with 29 tackles, including a sack with two pass breakups and one fumble recovery. Elarms-Orr’s average of 8.0 tackles per game currently ranks third in the Pac-12
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At outside linebacker, either Myles Jernigan or Myles Williams figures to occupy one starting spot, with either David Reese or Xavier Carlton at the other.
Williams has seven tackles on the year, while Jernigan has five tackles with one sack, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery.
Carlton has 11.0 tackles and leads Cal with 2.5 TFLs and 2.0 sacks, while Reese has nine tackles, including one sack.
In the secondary, Patrick McMorris and Craig Woodson figure to start at safety, with Nohl Williams at cornerback and either Lu-Magia Hearns III or Jeremiah Earby at the other spot, and either Matthew Littlejohn or Kaylin Moore at nickel back.
McMorris ranks third on the team with 19 tackles, with Woodson right behind him with 18, including 1.5 for loss. Williams leads the team with two interceptions and has 11 tackles, while Moore has nine tackles and two pass breakups.
California Defense Summary
Prior to last week’s 59-point outburst by the explosive offense of the highly ranked Washington Huskies, the Cal defense had stood its own quite admirably by allowing 52 points across the season’s first three games.
Cal’s rush defense has been solid, as it allows just 106.0 yards per game and 3.5 yards per carry, and it has given up just four rushing touchdowns.
The calling card of this California defense so far has been its tremendous ability to generate turnovers, as the Bears are tied for second nationally with 11 takeaways. To get to that impressive mark, Cal is also tied for sixth nationally with five fumble recoveries and is tied for 12th nationally with six interceptions.
Needless to say, it is of extreme importance in this game that ASU’s starting quarterback Trenton Bourguet takes excellent care of the ball and also that last week’s sensation Cam Skattebo is able to assert his will against the Cal defense as he did versus USC.
California Special Teams
Cal’s placekicker Michael Luckhurst, the younger brother of Jack Luckhurst, who kicked for ASU in 2019-20, has struggled mightily, to say the least, as he’s connected on just 3-of-9 field goal attempts and has missed all five of his attempts this year beyond 39 yards.
Punter Lachlan Wilson averages 42.3 yards on his 14 attempts so far this season.
The return game has been limited for Cal this season as Jeremiah Hunter has just two total yards on three punt returns, while Mavin Anderson has the team’s top kickoff returner but averages just 18.0 yards on five returns.
Overall Summary
As ASU continues its farewell tour among the California and Pacific Northwest teams that it’ll leave behind as the Sun Devils upgrade to the Big 12 next season, this meeting with Cal, headed along with Stanford to the ACC next year, will be a bit of a rubber match as the 34 all-time matchups between these two programs are tied at 17 each entering Saturday’s contest.
It may come as a surprise to some, but Cal head coach Justin Wilcox, who began his tenure in Berkeley in the 2017 season, is the second-longest tenured head coach in the Pac-12 behind Utah’s Kyle Whittingham.
Though he does have seniority over the vast majority of his Pac-12 peers, Cal has not made a bowl game since 2019, and though the Golden Bears are 2-2 at this point, after ASU, they face five consecutive opponents who are currently ranked in the nation’s top-25.
As the season progresses, Cal faces a major uphill battle to return to bowl eligibility, but to do so, winning Saturday versus ASU is an absolute must for the Bears.
For Arizona State, last week’s effort against USC legitimately provided a morale boost even in defeat and showed traces of what could lead to viable progress over the course of this season and beyond. That said, the buck completely stops here because there is no conceivable scenario where the Sun Devils can leave Berkeley with a loss that provides a sense of pride and improvement anywhere remotely close to what was felt after ASU’s competitive loss last weekend.
Familiar Faces
· ASU assistant coach Charlie Ragle coached at Cal from 2017-21
· ASU RB DeCarlos Brooks, OL Ben Coleman, K Dario Longhetto, and LS Slater Zellars played for Cal before transferring to Arizona State
· Cal LB Hunter Barth is the younger brother of former ASU K Mike Barth
· Cal K Michael Luckhurst is the brother of former ASU K Jack Luckhurst
· Cal LB Hunter Barth (Queen Creek HS), LS David Bird (Sandra Day O’Connor HS), QB Ben Finley (Paradise Valley HS), DL Brett Johnson (Desert Vista HS), OL Nick Morrow (Flagstaff HS) and OL Brayden Rohme (Perry HS) all played high school football in the state of Arizona
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