Cal Football: Nose Guard Stanley McKenzie Out for the Season

OLB Kuony Deng still sidelined for the foreseeable future. Bears' inside linebacker position in flux.

Stanley McKenzie's difficult football season became more difficult this week when it was determined that he will miss the rest of the season with a leg injury.

McKenzie (pictured in the cover photo) was Cal's starting nose guard this season, but he had to be helped off the field in the Bears' Sept. 25 loss to Washington and did not play this past weekend against Washington State. Now he is lost for the season.

It had already been a tough season for McKenzie, whose father had died unexpectedly in late August. Stanley McKenzie had returned home to Honolulu for the funeral before returning to the Cal campus.

He had only two tackles this season, but main responsibility of the 340-pound McKenzie was to anchor the middle of the Bears' defensive line and occupy multiple blockers so Cal's linebackers could make the play.

McKenzie is not the only injury for the Bears, who are 1-4 and have a bye this week before playing eighth-ranked Oregon on the road on Friday, Oct. 15, in Eugene, Oregon.

Outside linebacker Kuony Deng, who has missed the past three games with a leg injury, remains to be out for the foreseeable future, although coach Justin Wilcox says he still hopes to get him back before the season ends.

Running back DeCarlos Brooks, who is averaging 10.8 yards per carry in limited playing time, did not play Saturday because of an unspecified injury, and Wilcox described his status as "week-to-week.

Offensive tackle Will Craig and wide receiver Nikko Remigio missed some playing time on Saturday with unspecified injuries, and their status is considered day-to-day, although Remigio seems closer to being ready to go.

The inside linebacker spot

One player who was not injured Saturday is inside linebacker Evan Tattersall.  He had started the Bears' first four games, but did not play at all in Saturday's loss to Washington State.

Wilcox said he was a bit "dinged up," but mostly it was a .case of other players getting an opportunity in that inside linebacker position, which this season has not been the strength it had been in recent seasons. Trey Paster joined Muelu Iosefa in the starting lineup, and Nate Rutchena and freshman Femi Oladejo got significant playing time as well.

The inside linebacker position has been the glamour spot in Wilcox's defense at Cal, and the players at those two inside spots have put up big tackle numbers, spearheading the Bears' strong defenses the past three seasons.

Bears inside backers Evan Weaver (12.2 tackles per game) and Jordan Kunaszyk (11.4) were second and third in the Pac-12 in tackles in 2018, when Kunaszyk was a first-team all-Pac-12 selection.

Weaver was a first-team All-America selection in 2019, when he led the nation in tackles (14.0), and Deng, then an inside linebacker, was fourth in the conference in tackles at 9.2 per contest.

Deng was 10th in the conference in tackles (7.8 per game) in 2020 before being switched to the outside following that season.

Cal's defense is geared to allow the inside linebackers to make a lot of plays, but that has not happened this season. No Bears player ranks among the top 15 in the Pac-12 in tackles, and the Cal's top tacker is safety Daniel Scott, who is averaging 6.6 tackles. Against Washington State, Cal's leading tackler was defensive back Josh Drayden with eight.

Tattersall is averaging 5.6 tackles  per game, and Iosefa is at 5.4.  In his first start, Paster had six tackles and one quarterback hurry, and Oladejo added four tackles. Rutchena had just one tackle, but had one of the biggest defensive plays of the game when he intercepted a Jayden de Laura pass.

Wilcox said he will not name starters at the two inside linebacker spots until next week.

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Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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