Offense must adjust to loss of playmakers
Cal was forced to commence life without its most dynamic offensive players Monday, a day after the school confirmed that Demetris Robertson had joined Tre Watson on the seasonending-injury list.
Robertson, who was a Freshman All-America wide receiver selection after an attention-grabbing season last year, has missed the past three games and had surgery Saturday to repair damage to a “lower body” part, according to Cal.
“Next man up,” head coach Justin Wilcox said. “Unfortunately, injuries occur, and guys have got to step up. That’s what has got to happen, and it’s not just the receivers. It’s the O-line. It’s the running backs. It’s the defense. It’s the kicking game. “It’s everybody.” It’ll take a village to replace Watson and Robertson.
Watson, a running back who injured his right knee midway through the victory over Weber State in Week 2, averaged 96.3 all-purpose yards per game during last year’s eight-touchdown season. Robertson, who was a late scratch before the Week 3 game against Mississippi, had 50 catches for 767 yards and seven touchdowns last season.
When the two played in this season’s first two games, Cal averaged 34 points per game and committed only two turnovers. The Bears averaged 168.5 rushing yards on 4.88 yards per carry and 281.5 passing yards, going for 8.53 yards per attempt and completing 66.7 percent of their passes.
In the three games without Watson and Robertson, Cal has averaged 23.7 points per game and committed 11 turnovers. The Bears have averaged 130 rushing yards on 3.82 yards per carry and 264.7 passing yards, having gone for 5.55 yards per attempt and having completed 48.3 percent of their passes.
“Before this staff got here, we recruited so many receivers,” said senior receiver Jordan Veasy, who has 14 catches for 176 yards and three touchdowns. “If there’s any group that can withstand and handle injuries, it’s this one. “We’ll be fine.” Along with Veasy, Cal has gotten good production from junior Vic Wharton III, who has 25 catches for 389 yards and three touchdowns, and sophomore Kanawai Noa, who has 24 catches for 373 yards and a touchdown.
Junior Patrick Laird has run 63 times for 388 yards (6.2 yards per carry) and four scores, and senior Vic Enwere has added 48 carries for 161 yards (3.4 yards per carry) and two touchdowns.
But replacing the gamechanging Watson and Robertson is not so easy.
Since they’ve been sidelined, the offense’s thirddown conversions (40 percent to 30.5 percent) and its redzone conversions (83.3 percent to 75 percent) have dropped. After allowing four sacks for 15 yards in the first two games, the offense has yielded 11 sacks for 75 yards in the past three.
“Nobody in our conference, nobody we play cares,” Wilcox said. “We have to come back and practice, and everybody has to step up their game a little bit . ... We’re still playing Saturday. We’re going to practice like crazy this week and prepare the best we can.”
It’s not like Cal has time to prep a bunch of new players, either.
The Bears play at No. 6 Washington on Saturday and host No. 11 Washington State on Oct. 13, so it’ll be obvious pretty quickly whether they’ll be able to replace Watson and Robertson.
“We’ll find out,” Wilcox said. “… You hurt for guys like that, when they go down for the year, but we’re going to play with the guys who are able to play and who are out here working their butts off every day in practice.”