Bears will have ‘a lot of work to do’
game and recorded zero winning years in conference play.
Opening Sept. 2 at North Carolina, the Bears face the toughest schedule in the nation, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index, and are expected by most Las Vegas sports books to win only three or four of their 12 games.
“There is a lot of energy in our building right now,” said Wilcox, who was tabbed in January to replace the fired Sonny Dykes. “We know we’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ve made a lot of strides, but we’ve got to continue that.”
Cal’s immediate challenges are as obvious as they are arduous. The Bears have to establish a quarterback, find a group that can protect him and develop a defense that doesn’t require him to score on every possession.
A season after Davis Webb was drafted in the NFL’s third round and two seasons after Jared Goff was selected No. 1 overall, Cal is searching for its next quarterback among an inexperienced group.
Junior Chase Forrest has attempted three collegiate passes, sophomore Ross Bowers has played one offensive series, and freshman Chase Garbers has been enrolled in college for less than a week. Transfer Brandon McIlwain, who completed 52.5 percent of his passes for 600 yards, two touchdowns and an interception last season at South Carolina, is a long shot to gain eligibility before next year.
The quarterbacks had generally been sharing repetitions during training camp, until Forrest saw his snaps decreased Saturday. No one has emerged as the starter, and the coaches are keeping open the possibility of continuing the competition into the season.
“It’s a good situation to have in a lot of ways,” offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin said. “Sometimes I think the negative can be if you have one, but you have three that you’re unsure of. We have four guys that are competing and four guys that I believe strongly can win football games.”
Once the Bears find a quarterback, they’ll have to identify players who can keep him upright. Cal lost six offensive linemen — who had combined for 129 career starts — from last year’s roster. Center Addison Ooms (12 starts) and left tackle Patrick Mekari (four starts) are the only returners with starting experience.
The defense returns 15 players who have combined for 150 starts, but the defense also returns saddled by historically bad numbers.
Last season, Cal allowed 42.6 points per game (127th out of 128 teams in the country) and 6.2 yards per rush (128th). At 518.3, the Bears were one of only seven teams in the country to yield more than 500 yards of total offense per game.
Wilcox, along with defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter, is installing a 3-4 defense that is intended to blitz from any position and play multiple pass coverages in hopes that the unit can slow the Pac-12’s offenses.
“We’ve had some ups and downs in the past, but it’s time to hit the restart button,” junior outside linebacker Cameron Saffle said. “That’s how we’re approaching this whole thing: We’re starting from scratch.
“We’re living the story of Cal football, and we’re getting to write our own chapter.”