Cal a 'Top-15-Caliber Team,' According to a College Football Expert

Bruce Feldman of The Athletic has high praise for the Golden Bears on a Fox television show. Unfortunately there may be no college football this fall

If you look through the Internet long enough you can find some promising prediction about the college football team you follow. For Cal fans that optimistic outlook is provided by Bruce Feldman, a respected college football writer for The Athletic and Fox Sports.

Feldman believes the Golden Bears are "a top-15-caliber team" in 2020 -- if there is a college football season in 2020, that is. Every day seems to bring us a step closer to the inevitable conclusion that there will be no college football this fall, which makes Feldman's appraisal tougher to swallow for Golden Bears fans. Well, maybe there will be spring football, and we can consider Feldman's assessment again.

"This is a really good young team Justin Wilcox has... I think they are a really good sleeper to keep an eye on as a top 15 caliber team." @BruceFeldmanCFB breaks down why he thinks @CalFootball will be a top breakout team this season ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/xPcQsHiROr

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) July 30, 2020

While on a Fox TV panel discussion along with Urban Meyer and Reggie Bush about possible breakout teams for 2020, Feldman had this to say about Cal:

"Our TV crew for Fox, we did the Redbox Bowl where they beat Illinois, and this is a really good young team Justin Wilcox has. Everybody who scored a touchdown in that game for them was a freshman or sophomore, including their quarterback, Chase Garbers, who's a really talented young quarterback from [Matt] Leinart's neck of the woods in Orange County. Garbers, in games in which he actually was able to finish or played most of, they were undefeated. It was when he got hurt and had some injury issues, that's when they struggled.

"So I think he's going to have a really big year. I think when you look at Christopher Brown is a big, really productive running back, is a good complement to him. They have really, really good corners.

"On top of that -- this goes back to Urban's point somewhat -- if you look at the two best teams, the two most talented teams that they have to compete with in the Pac-12 North, Oregon and Washington, both of them have to break in not just new starting quarterbacks, but also have to break in new coordinators.

"So I like Justin Wilcox's team. I think they're a really good sleeper to keep an eye on as a top-15-caliber team."

Feldman is correct that Cal has good corners, but one of those good corners, Elijah Hicks, was moved to safety in the offseason. Nonetheless Cal may have  enough quality depth at the cornerback spot to fill that vacancy adequately.

And Cal has to break in a new coordinator too -- offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave. The key, of course, is Garbers and his ability to stay healthy.

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Cover photo by Stan Szeto - USA TODAY Sports

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

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