Schedule offers few, if any, respites

Cal already has one of college football’s toughest schedules, and it won’t get any easier when it hosts No. 18 Utah on Saturday.

The Bears have played consecutive games against No. 19 San Diego State, No. 22 Texas and Arizona State, which is seven voting points from entering the Top 25.

“It’s pretty typical. In the four years I’ve been here, I don’t think we’ve played a schedule outside of the top five in the country,” Cal head coach Sonny Dykes said. “We told our guys that we’re a couple of plays away from being 4-0, and if we were 4-0, we’d probably be ranked pretty high.

“But we didn’t finish some games on the road, and that’s sometimes what happens with young football teams. Hopefully, we’ll get this young bunch to grow up a bit and figure out a way to win these things down the stretch.” First-month firings: LSU’s Les Miles headlined a list of coaches who were fired this week, even though it’s still the first month of the season. LSU also fired its offensive coordinator, Florida International fired its head coach, and Notre Dame fired its defensive coordinator.

“It’s tough to see coaches get fired in September. I think that just speaks to the nature of our business now,” Dykes said. “… It just shows the pressure in our business these days. You hate to see anybody get fired. Everybody works hard.

“I never thought I’d see a day where guys lost their jobs in September, but I guess that’s what it’s come to.” Giving Goff space: Cal graduate-transfer quarterback Davis Webb generally talks to No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff once or twice a week to go over game plans, but the two haven’t chatted yet this week.

Webb said he wanted to give Goff some space this week because the Bears’ former QB threw five interceptions in Cal’s 30-24 loss at Utah last season.