Aaron Carrara
Prior to the season opener I said this game was a toss-up. After witnessing what the Texas offense is capable of after two games, there’s no reason to think the Longhorns won’t score a lot on Cal and leave Berkeley with a win. It’s a late game on ESPN and the Longhorns will showcase an explosive running attack on a porous Cal run defense.
San Diego State RB Donnel Pumphrey ran for 281 yards against the Golden Bears last weekend, and Foreman/Warren/Porter should all have success against the Golden Bear defense. On the flip side, Cal ranks 3rd in total offense – amassing a whopping 617 yards of offense per game. That’s concerning, regardless of the (in)capabilities presented by Sonny Dykes’ defensive unit. The storyline for me in this game is how the Texas defense holds up against the run and playmaking ability of quarterback Davis Webb. In the end the Longhorns leave Berkeley with a 3-0 record and enjoy a bye week next week before heading to Stillwater to begin Big 12 play.
Score prediction: Texas 45 Cal 32
Daniel Seahorn
Let me say this from the jump. Texas is a young team going into their first road game at night, so I expect there to be some miscues and struggles as they try to get acclimated to the West coast.
That said, I watched Cal’s entire first game against Hawaii (accumulated almost 500 yards and 31 points) and kept up with how they fared against San Diego State, and in my opinion the Cal team overall and specifically the offense was much better last year. Davis Webb is a good quarterback who will more than likely get drafted in 2017, but when you lose the number one overall pick in Jared Goff you are going to see some kind of regression. On top of losing Goff, Cal lost majority of their leading receivers and lost starting running back Daniel Lasco. I think this offense will provide a good test for the Texas secondary, but I think they will fare better than they did last year in Austin with more experience under their belt.
As far as Cal’s defense goes, there’s not many nice things I can say about it right now. Cal’s defense wasn’t very good in 2015 and they lost their best player in Hardy Nickerson Jr. to a transfer. San Diego State’s starting running back almost ran for 300 yards on the ground this past Saturday, and if D’Onta Foreman is healthy, I expect him and Chris Warren to have big days. If Texas is able to run the ball well (and they should) I expect Shane Buechele to gain confidence early and to lead the offense to another big day.
I think Texas notches its third win of the year and gets prepared for conference play with the Cowboys and Sooners looming on the horizon.
Score Prediction: Texas 45 Cal 21
Harrison Wier
Texas travels to California looking to avenge a heartbreaking loss last season courtesy of the Golden Bears. This game has the makings of a shootout, with two of the fastest offenses in the country at the helm of an exciting matchup. This game will come down to whichever team creates the most turnovers. Fortunately, I believe Texas will be that team.
Score Prediction: Texas 49 – Cal 42
Chris Flanagan
Texas looks Strong to start the season. Even with a lineup that was a mixture of 1st and 2nd team players, they still handled their business against UTEP. No one was overly spectacular, but everyone played great.
Cal, on the other hand, after having two week to prepare fell flat against San Diego State in San Diego. The Aztecs are not a scrub FBS program but they controlled the game on the ground. That must be concerning for Sonny Dykes as he is in his 4th year as Cal’s head coach.
The initial line for this game was Texas -4 and it quickly jumped 3 points as bettors seem to be favoring at least a touchdown victory for the Longhorns. However, this is Cal’s home opener, under the lights with a huge crowd anticipated for the Battle of the Public Ivys. This is also Shane Buechele’s first road game of his career. I understand that Buechele seems like this mythological creature who cannot be stopped, but he is still 18 years old, traveling 2 time zones for a gametime that will likely end around 1am CST. That’s a lot to ask of these players.
Despite that, the Longhorns will win by 2 touchdowns. I might only sip the Kool-aid, but I’m not stupid.
Score Prediction: Texas 58 Cal 44
Mike Roach
This shouldn’t be too complicated for the Longhorns. Make sure the players are focused and not overlooking the Bears. Do your best to help them get adjusted to the west coast time zone. Mix in a steady diet of D’Onta Foreman and home run balls from Buechele. If Texas can do those things in addition to limiting key mistakes (penalties) they should win this game by 10 to 13 points. The California offense will keep them in this thing, but their defense has to be losing sleep thinking about this running attack. When two high speed offenses go at it with one another, give the advantage to the one that can control the clock with the run game.
Score Prediction: Texas 47 Cal 34
Ryan Bridges
Cal was much better last year and Texas was much worse — and played more than three quarters without its starting safeties — and this was a 1-point game. The Golden Bears’ screen game and misdirection will be a problem, but as long as Texas tackles well — the tackling efforts in the previous two games should be adequate — and doesn’t forget which direction it’s going on offense, they’ll be 3-0 by 3 a.m. on Sunday when this game finally ends. I didn’t find anything or anyone on Cal’s defense that concerned me, and I expect every back who gets carries to go off. If they miss tackles like they have in the secondary, we might see John Burt turn a 5-yard hitch into a 50-yard touchdown. Maybe this will be a 7-point game as Vegas expects, but there’s a greater chance it gets ugly for Cal.
Score Prediction: Texas 45 Cal 34
Taylor Smith
Going into California will be tough for the Longhorns, but Texas will come out victorious. Shane Buechele and the offense will start off slow, but a come from behind drive in the fourth quarter will allow Texas to capture its first road win of the 2016 season. Chris Warren and D’Onta Foreman will run all over the Bears’ defense, each scoring at least one touchdown while accumulating a combined total of 150 yards. The defense will continue to shine and make stops, which will help the offense in the fourth quarter.
Score Prediction: Texas 38 California 35
