Scouting the Cal Bears Cal lost their big play RB Laird and their top 3 WR's (Noa due to transfer, which could be telling about their offense or QB situation). I think this will be a big blow to their already awful offense. The QB's in contention all come back, but none of them were that good last year (or the year before that). They have Modster transferring over from UCLA. Although he is new to the program, I would not be surprised if he ends up becoming the starter because the others were just not very good.
Cal's defense will be strong again. Their secondary and linebackers will be solid. Plus, they add a new stud LB in Deng. Their DL is competent, but not great. I remember Cal's defense scoring a lot last year. I don't see that going away this year. I think Cal's biggest scoring threat will be their defense.
We need to avoid turnovers and not allow any big offensive plays by Cal. I don't think Cal will have a lot of long sustained drives, but they have a lot of speed which means the potential for a big play will always be there.
Since this is the first game of the season, it is hard to know just how good (or bad) Cal will be. I think we have a fighting chance.