Cal Football: Previewing the Bears' 2020 Opponents -- Game 11: Stanford Cardinal

Golden Bears will go for two in a row after ending nine-game Big Game skid

Photo by Neville E. Guard, USA Today

Game 11: STANFORD at CAL in the 123rd Big Game, Saturday, Nov. 21

Stanford 2019 record: 4-8 overall, 3-6/tied 5th in Pac-12 North

Series record: Stanford leads 64-47-11. Cal won 24-20 last year at Stanford when quarterback Chase Garbers scored on a 16-yard scramble with 1:19 left. Garbers passed for 285 yards and ran for 72 more as the Bears snapped a record nine-game losing skid in the series. The Bears haven’t beaten Stanford in Berkeley since a 37-16 victory in 2008.

Stanford coach: David Shaw is 86-34 in his 10th season. Last year was Stanford’s first losing season under Shaw, who guided the Cardinal to bowl appearances in his first eight years, including three trips to the Rose Bowl. Stanford has won 10 games or more five times under Shaw, but the Cardinal is a relatively modest 22-17 over the past three seasons.

Stanford cornerback Paulson Adebo / Photo by Neville E. Guard, USA Today

Top players: Redshirt junior quarterback Davis Mills (1,960 passing yards, 65.6 percent, 11 touchdowns, 5 interceptions, 8 games); redshirt junior cornerback Paulson Adebo (Two-time 1st-team All-Pac-12, 33 tackles, 4 interceptions, 10 pass breakups, 9 games); junior defensive end Thomas Booker (Honorable mention All-Pac-12, 50 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 4 sacks) redshirt junior linebacker Gabe Reid (43 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, 2 sacks); linebacker Curtis Robinson (Honorable mention All-Pac-12, 64 tackles); redshirt junior offensive tackle Walker Little (1st-team All-Pac-12 in 2018, season-ending knee injury in 2019).

Strengths: The defense, which wasn’t up to usual Stanford standards last season, allowed 31.1 points per game and 45.2 percent third-down conversion to rank 112th nationally. But the Cardinal should be more stout in 2020, especially after cornerback Paulson Adebo surprised some with his decision to bypass entry into the NFL draft and remain in school. . . . The offensive line also should be improved with the return of tackle Walker Little, a first-team All-Pac-12 pick in 2018 who was shelved last season by a knee injury. Little was a pre-season first-team All-American and considered a likely NFL first-round draft pick before being injured in the season opener vs. Northwestern. The Cardinal also has honorable mention All-Pac-12 pick Drew Dalman back on the O-line. . . . Returning wideouts Michael Wilson, Conor Wedington, Osiris St. Brown and Simi Fehoko combined for 158 receptions for 2,007 yards and 12 TDs last season. Fehoko, who averaged 23.6 yards per catch and scored six TDs on the season, came on particularly strong late in the season.

Weaknesses: The Cardinal running game, a staple over most of a decade, has fallen off, partly because of injury. Stanford has ranked near the bottom in the Pac-12 in rushing the past two seasons, producing just 107.9 and 105.5 yards per game, respectively. Among those who will be in the mix to get playing time at running back will be incoming freshmen EJ Smith, a four-star prospect from Dallas and the son of former NFL great Emmitt Smith. . . . While the Cardinal averaged just 3.7 yards per rush last season, its defense allowed 4.5 yards to rank eighth in the Pac-12. That must improve.

What you should know about Stanford: Stanford has not suffered consecutive losing seasons since former coach Jim Harbaugh’s first two seasons in 2007 and ’08. . . . The Cardinal roster will have a dramatically different look after 15 players, including KJ Costello, defensive end Jovan Swann and RB Trevor Speights, entered the transfer portal. . . . QB Davis Mills completed 74 percent of his passes in a 290-yard performance against Cal last season but also was picked off twice. A week earlier he passed for a school-record 504 yards against Washington State. . . . Costello, who was mentioned before last season as a potential Heisman Trophy candidate, suffered a head injury in the opener vs. Northwestern and had a spotty season. He has transferred to Mississippi State, where he’s liable to throw 50 times a game under new coach Mike Leach. . . . placekicker Jet Toner is back after missing the second half of last season with a leg injury. Toner is 47-for-57 on career field-goal attempts and has never missed a PAT.

Spring practice status: The Cardinal splits its spring workouts into two separate sessions and managed to get in seven workouts before the sports shutdown for COVID-19. Stanford’s final seven practice and its spring game were canceled.

2020 Season projection: Stanford will be better than a year ago, provided it avoids the injury bug that was so devastating in 2019 (Costello, Little, Adebo, Toner), but most early predictions envision the Cardinal battling for the No. 4 spot in the Pac-12 North, behind Oregon, Cal and Washington. The opener at home vs. William and Mary should boost confidence, but Stanford plays at home vs. USC in Week 4, at Notre Dame two games later and at Oregon two weeks after that.

123rd Big Game prediction: Cal 27, Stanford 25

*** Quarterback Chase Garbers talks about Cal's streak-ending Big Game victory:

(Previews on Cal's earlier 2020 Opponents: Game 1 UNLV, Game 2 TCU, Game 3 Cal Poly, Game 4 Utah, Game 5 Washington State, Game 6 USC, Game 7 Oregon and Game 8 Oregon State, Game 9 Washington, and Game 10 Arizona State).