Cal Football Preview: Bears Host UC Davis in Opener

Golden Bears have not announced who their starting quarterback will be in Saturday afternoon's game

UC Davis quarterback Miles Hastings / Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

Cal opens its 2024 football season on Saturday afternoon in Berkeley against FCS opponent UC Davis, a nonconference opponent.

Cal head coach Justin Wilcox has not announced who the Bears’ starting quarterback will be against the Aggies.

Here are the important facts about Saturday’s game.

CAL (0-0) vs. UC DAVIS (0-0)

SITE: Memorial Stadium, Berkeley, Calif.

WHEN: Saturday, 2 p.m.

TV/LIVE STREAM: ACC Network Extra and ESPN+ -- Roxy Bernstein (play-by-play), Craig Haubert (analyst), Sherree Burruss (reporter)

RADIO: 810 AM and Sirius XM Radio (Sirius XM 113 and 202) -- Justin Allegri (play-by-play), Mike Pawlawski (analyst), Kevin Danna (sideline reporter)

BETTING LINE: Cal is favored by 20.5 points as of Friday afternoon. Over/under is 54 points.

WEATHER FORECAST: Saturday morning will be mostly cloudy in Berkeley, but it will be sunny with some clouds in the afternoon with a high of about 73 degrees. There is an 19% chance of rain, and it may be misty at times.

CAL-UC DAVIS HISTORY: Cal and UC Davis have played each other 11 times, and Cal has won all 11 by at least 14 points.  The most recent meeting was in 2022, when Cal won 34-13

CAL PLAYER AVAILABILTY: Guard Sioape Vatikani, receiver Tobias Merriweather, receiver Mike Matthews and safety Criag Woodson are projected starters who are questionable with injuries.  Coach Justin Wilcox does not announce short-term injuries and practices this week were closed, so this is based on missed practice time earlier in preseason camp.

CAL STORYLINES:

--Cal coach Justin Wilcox did not announce a starting quarterback for the opener, as third-year sophomore Fernando Mendoza and sixth-year senior Chandler Rogers were vying for the starting job through preseason camp.  Mendoza, who started the final eight games for Cal last season, will probably be the first quarterback to take a snap, but Rogers, who was North Texas’ starting quarterback for the final 10 games in 2023, will probably get playing time. CJ Harris, a transfer from Ohio, might also receive playing time at quarterback for Cal on Saturday.

--Wilcox enters his eighth season as Cal’s head coach, and the Bears are hoping to win their season opener for the third year in a row.  Last season Cal defeated North Texas 58-21 in its first game.

--Saturday will be Mike Bloesch’s first game as Cal’s offensive coordinator. He was the Bears’ offensive line coach last season (a position he continues to hold) when Jake Spavital was the Bears’ offensive coordinator. Spavital left in the offseason to become the offensive coordinator at Baylor. Bloesch was the offensive coordinator and play-caller at North Texas for two seasons (2021 and 2022) and was the Mean Green’s co-offensive coordinator in 2020.

--Cal’s roster features 54 players who were not on the roster a year ago.  That includes 28 transfers, and as many as 11 of those new transfers could be starters in the opener. The 54 newcomers represent nearly half of the entire Cal roster of 116 players. One of those new Cal transfers, starting inside linebacker Teddye Buchanan, played for UC Davis last season and played against Cal when the Bears beat UC Davis in 2022.

--Junior Cal running back Jaydn Ott, a first-team all-Pac-12 selection last season when he led the conference in rushing, needs 1,156 yards this season to break Russell White’s record and become Cal’s all-time career rushing leader.

--Cal expects as many as four running backs and eight receivers to receive playing time in a given game. Kadarius Calloway (if healthy) and Jaivian Thomas are likely to get playing time at running back on Saturday, and Byron Cardwell may get into the game at that position as well. Trond Grizzell, Cal’s top returning receiver from last season, will play Saturday but may not start, while Jonathan Brady, Mavin Anderson, Tobias Merriweather and Kyion Grayes are also expected to play early in the game if healthy.

(Click here to see Cal’s depth chart for the opener)

--Cal is hoping to land a bowl berth for the second straight season, after losing to Texas Tech in the Independence Bowl a year ago.  Cal has played in three bowl games under Wilcox and won one of them. Cal’s best season under Wilcox was 2019, when the Bears went 8-5 overall and 4-5 in the Pac-12.  Cal has had a losing conference record in each of the past 14 seasons.

--Cal’s bench will be on the west side of Memorial Stadium this year.  That is the pressbox side of the stadium and will put the Cal players in the shade for afternoon games.  Cal coaches will communicate offensive and defensive plays through a microphone to an audio receiver in the helmet of the quarterback on offense and one defender on defense. This is new in college football and is the same system used in the NFL.

UC DAVIS STORYLINES

--UC Davis’ first-year head coach is Tim Plough, who was Cal’s tight ends coach last season. Plough is a UC Davis alumnus who served as the Aggies offensive coordinator before becoming Boise State’s offensive coordinator in 2021.  He was dismissed from the Broncos’ post midway through the 2022 season.

--UC Davis had a 7-4 record last year, including 5-3 in the Big Sky Conference, and the Aggies were disappointed they did not get a berth in the FCS playoffs. They are picked to finish fourth this year in the Big Sky in both the coaches and media preseason polls.  UC Davis is ranked 17th in the preseason coaches FCS national poll, and 18th in the Stats Perform FCS preseason top 25.

--Aggies running back Lan Larison was named a preseason FCS first-team All-American by every outlet that posts such teams.  He was the Big Sky Conference offensive player of the year last season when he rushed for 1,101 yards despite missing three games. Larison had three carries for 14 yards as a sophomore in UC Davis’ loss to Cal in 2022.

--Miles Hastings, who is scheduled to be UC Davis starting quarterback on Saturday, was a first-team all-Big Sky selection in 2022. But his production declined last season when he threw 14 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions and was not named to any all-conference teams. In the 2022 loss to Cal, Hastings was 32-for-50 for 242 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

--UC Davis defensive back Tyson McWilliams and linebacker Blake Antzoulatos played for Cal last season before transferring to UC Davis, and both might be starters on Saturday.

(Mike Bush, who covers UC Davis football, answers five questions about the Aggies.)

CAL PLAYERS TO WATCH: QB Fernando Mendoza (14 TD passes, 10 interceptions for Cal last season); QB Chandler Rogers (29 TD passes, 5 interceptions for North Texas last year); RB Jaydn Ott (preseason first-team all-ACC): OLB David Reese (5.5 sacks in the final four 2023 games); ILB Cade Uluave (2023 Pac-12 freshman defensive player of the year); WR Kyion Grayes (Ohio State transfer).

UC DAVIS PLAYERS TO WATCH: QB Miles Hastings (2022 first-team all-Big Sky); RB Lan Larison (2024 preseason Big Sky offensive player of the year); DB Rex Connors (2023 second-team all-Big Sky despite playing just seven games); DL Zach Kennedy (2023 first-team all-Big Sky); K Hunter Ridley (2024 preseason first-team all-Big Sky); WR Trent Tompkins (430 receiving yards, 333 rushing yards in 2023).

CAL 2023 STATISTICS: Click here

CAL NOTES, DEPTH CHART: Click Here

UC DAVIS 2023 STATISTICS: Click here

JAKE'S PICK: Cal 28, UC Davis 10

JEFF'S PICK: Cal 34, UC Davis 10

MIKE BUSH’S PICK (freelance writer and former Davis Enterprise sports editor): UC Davis 21, Cal 19

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