Cal needs to build on progress, get first win

BERKELEY >> It may seem ridiculous to label Cal’s matchup against Sacramento State today as a mustwin game.

It’s also undeniable. The Bears (0-2) likely will decisively prevail over the Hornets (1-1), an FCS-level program from the Big Sky Conference coached by former Cal quarterback great Troy Taylor. Because games pitting FBS and FCS teams typically are mismatches, Las Vegas does not set betting lines on them.

This will be Cal’s 13th game against an FCS foe since 2005, and the Bears have won the previous 12, some of them by huge margins. Wins by 73-14 over Grambling State in 2015 and 63-12 over Presbyterian in 2011 come to mind.

But Cal fans remember the 37-30 squeaker over Portland State in 2013, when Sonny Dykes was in his first season as coach and Jared Goff was a freshman. Goff passed for 485 yards but the Bears trailed in the third quarter before rallying to post what would be their only victory in a 1-11 campaign.

This Cal team, the first to start 0-2 against two nonconference opponents since 2001, cannot afford a hiccup today. A loss to Sac State could derail any hopes the Bears have of creating momentum heading into the start of Pac-12 play a week from now at Washington, which is also 0-2 with a loss to FCS opponent Montana.

Here are five keys for the Bears:

• Cal will try to build on the progress made in its passing game in last week’s 34-32 defeat at TCU. Determined for the past two years to develop a downfield threat, the Bears’ QB Chase Garbers had four pass plays of at least 40 yards.

Senior wide receiver Trevon Clark, who had catches of 68 and 54 yards, became the first Cal player with two receptions of at least 50 yards in the same game since 2016.

The side benefit was that after rushing for just 1.6 yards per try in the first half, Cal boosted that to 8.5 yards in the second half against a Horned Frogs’ defense that was loosened up by the vertical passing game.

• The Bears’ defense, the team’s staple during the Justin Wilcox coaching era, allowed 498 yards at TCU. Now they face a Sacramento State team with a dualthreat quarterback who was coached by Tony Franklin — Goff’s mentor at Cal.

Asher O’Hara, the starting quarterback at Middle Tennessee in 2019 and ’20, passed for more than 4,500 yards with 32 touchdowns and ran for nearly 1,600 more and 16 touchdowns in 21 games.

O’Hara had a rough time last week with three interceptions and two lost fumbles in the Hornets’ 34-16 loss to Northern Iowa.

• Will the Bears have outside linebacker Kuony Deng? The 6-foot-6 senior left the TCU game on crutches and is doubtful this week.

Braxten Croteau and Texas graduate transfer Marquez Bimage figure to get more playing time at the position.

• Can the Cal kicking team convert a PAT? The Bears botched the snap on their first try at TCU and wound up twice trying (and failing) to catch up by making a two-point conversion.

It’s the latest stumble by the Bears’ special teams, which last season had a big hand in two of the team’s three defeats.

• Could an 0-2 Cal team look past the Hornets?

“I don’t worry about us looking past any opponent, ever,” Wilcox said. “We know what Sac State is capable of. The parity in college football is evident. We see it each and every week.

“We don’t for one second sit over here thinking we’ve done something this week because we haven’t.”