3 Keys to Victory for Auburn Tigers against Cal Golden Bears

The Auburn Tigers host the Cal Bears on Saturday as nearly-two-touchdown favorites.

After a light load against Alabama A&M, Auburn Tigers running back Jarquez Hunter will play a bigger role vs. Cal. / Photo by Zach Bland, Auburn Tigers

The Auburn Tigers welcome the Cal to Jordan-Hare on Saturday. The Golden Bears make the cross-country trek for the first time as a member of the ACC - a trek they're going to have to get used to. The Tigers turned the page on last Saturday's resounding victory and now look forward to an elevation in competition level. 

This is the second of five home games to start the 2024 season for Auburn, and the Tigers aim to send Cal back out west with a loss.  In order to start the season 2-0, Auburn must do the following to emerge winners. 

Ball Security

If you needed to find one aspect of the 73-3 drubbing of Alabama A&M that Auburn must correct, look no further than turnovers. The Tigers put the ball on the ground twice. Granted, the outcome of the game never fell into doubt. 

However, fumbles will swing the balance of games and teams rarely lose the turnover battle while winning going away. As a result, special emphasis on ball security must occur. California finished first in FBS last year in takeaways. They will give extra effort to trying to rip the ball away, even sacrificing yards to stand up the ball carrier looking to dislodge the football. 

Watch the Deep Routes

During their victory against UC Davis, California executed a rather conservative approach to the passing game. That runs counter to what Justin Wilcox, the head coach, mentioned in the offseason. Wilcox promised a vertical attack, and aggressive departure from their run heavy approach during his previous seasons in charge. 

Normally, when coaches want to establish a trend on offense and the team fails to accomplish this, they will force feed the ball to fit what they want. California will line up and look to get vertical as soon as possible, hoping to catch the Tigers sleeping, leading to big gains. 

Temper Expectations

Now, no one expects Auburn to hang seventy-three on California. Well, at least, they probably should not. As a result, scoring fewer points and still winning doesn't mean a worse victory. Auburn will possess the ball for more than the 25 minutes they had last year against Cal.

The offense, instead of trying to air Cal out in the same fashion they did against AAMU, they need to pound the ball, mix plays, establishing the run and the intermediate passing game before taking the ball off the top vertically.

Down the road, while facing SEC competition, the Tigers need to hit on all cylinders while exploring every facet of their offense.

Kickoff for Cal at Auburn is set for 2:30 CDT on ESPN2.