123rd Big Game
Who: Stanford (0-2, 0-2 Pac-12) at Cal (0-2, 0-2) When: 1:30 pm. Friday
Where: Memorial Stadium
TV/Radio: 2t /1050, 810
WHAT TO WATCH
Big Game oddities: For the first time in the history of college football’s sixth-most-played rivalry, Cal and Stanford enter the Big Game winless and will play on a Friday. Oh yeah, and there won’t be fans in Memorial Stadium or on Tightwad Hill because of coronavirus protocol. Joining Massachusetts and Arizona State as the only FBS teams yet to host a game this year, the Bears have been working on piping in fan noise to create some sense of a home-field advantage. “There are some parameters they put on the ambient noise and when they crank up or turn down the crowd noise,” Cal head coach Justin Wilcox said. “It’s not a free-for-all in how high you turn it up or when you turn it up. It has to be certain plays, certain parts of the game, and then, there’s a decibel level after a big play. Hopefully, we can get some big plays going, so we can crank it up a little bit.”
The replacements: With tackles Will Craig and Jake Curhan and guard Valentino Daltoso expected to stay in coronavirus quarantine, the Bears will likely start Matthew Cindric, Brandon Mello and Brayden Rohme for the second straight week. In a game during which Cal also lost center Michael Saffell to an apparent right leg injury, the Bears rushed for 124 yards on 3.3 yards per carry and allowed only two sacks against Oregon State. Cal says Saffell has made progress toward returning and is considered a game-time decision.
Key matchup: One of the most intriguing matchups will be Cal’s loaded secondary against Stanford’s impressive receiving corps. The Bears have allowed 175.5 passing yards per game, which is ranked eighth in the NCAA, and have one interception apiece from Camryn Bynum, Josh Drayden and Elijah Hicks. Stanford has three gamebreaking receivers in Simi Fehoko, Connor Wedington and Michael Wilson, and Osiris St. Brown is expected to be available after missing the first two games for virusrelated reasons. Wilson had a team-high six receptions for 63 yards against Cal last year.