It's still a little bit early, but we might as well get this thread going as the beginning of the season is right around the corner! The Aggies have a brutal start to season and it is entirely possible that through the first 5 games we end up with 1 win. Before we get through the entire meat grinder though, we have to begin with Cal.

The Golden Bears finished last season with a record of 5-7 with wins over Sac State (42-30), Colorado (26-3), Oregon State (39-25), Stanford (41-11), and USC (24-14). Cal is going to have to do without last year's starting QB Chase Garbers, who is now with the Las Vegas Raiders. Garbers threw for 2531 yards with 16 TDs and 8 INTs and added 597 rushing yards with 4 TDs. It is believed that Purdue transfer QB Jack Plummer is going to be taking the reins this season. Plummer played in 9 games the previous season at Purdue and threw for 864 yards with 7 TDs. Other notable returns for Cal's offense includes RB Damien Moore who ran for 535 yards with 6 TDs and WR Jeremiah Hunter with 388 receiving yards with 1 TD. In addition to losing Garbers, the Bears are losing their leading rusher and 3 of their 4 leading receivers from the previous season.

On defense, Cal is returning their top tackler in S Daniel Scott who had 82 total tackles with 3 INTs and 1 forced fumble. They additionally are returning ILB Muelu Iosefa who finished the season 55 total tackles with 6.5 TFL. The Bears defense allowed 136.8 rushing yards per game and 229.5 passing yards per game last season. Special teams wise, Cal is returning both their previous punter and kicker in Jamieson Sheahan and Dario Longhetto.

All in all, I expect this to be a loss just like I expect us to lose most FCS vs FBS match ups but as we've seen in the past the expectation doesn't always match the reality.

I think the big questions for the Aggies going into this game are:

1. Who is going to start the game at QB and will we see multiple QBs throughout the game? (not counting Trent Tompkins gadget plays). Regardless of who is ends up being, I hope that we have a guy actually WIN the job and lead this team through the season.

2. Who steps up in the receiving game with Harrell and Vaughn gone? Castles and Hutton are returning but will we get someone to step up and be a true #1 receiver. Our last 1k receiver was Doss (1334) in 2018 and the next closest to 1k was Harrell (896)... also in 2018. Having a game changer out wide can really help to open up the rest of the offense. Could the transfers in Crump Jr. and Kraut impact the offense or even the return of Babb II who showed flashes before his absence from the roster?

3. On defense who can fill the shoes of Perryman and Rogers? Perryman led the team with PBUs and forced fumbles and has apparently looked fantastic in Washington's preseason practices. Rogers' 9 TFLs, 4.5 sacks, and 8 QBHs is production that will be sorely missed for a defensive line that struggled to consistently provide pressure.

GO AGS!