Quick Takes: California

WHO: California vs. Texas

WHEN: Saturday September 19, 2015 at 6:30 PM CST

WHERE: Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, Austin TX (on Fox)

ODDS: Cal -7

The Good: Or maybe we should say ‘The Bad’ for Texas is that the Cal offense has been a machine throughout the first two weeks. They are led by quarterback Jared Goff who many expect to be the first quarterback taken in the next NFL draft. In his first two games, Goff has thrown for 630 yards and 6 touchdowns on 73% passing. Goff has a talented stable of receivers and backs to spread the ball around to, and he doesn’t mind doing it. Six different receivers have reached the end zone for the Golden Bears this season which poses a nightmare scenario for a Texas defense struggling with pass rush and pass coverage. Their running game hasn’t churned a lot of production yards wise, but their backs are finding the end zone when they get near it. On defense Cal has been very good, but their performance is much harder to gauge against opponents Grambling State and San Diego State. California held both their opponents to low scores, but those programs feature low powered offenses with inferior athletes. On the season they are allowing an average of 311 yards per game and 4.5 yards per play.

The Bad: There isn’t much for California to feel bad about early on except for two key areas that could allow Texas to beat them. The Bears were bitten by the injury bug early in the year, and face the prospect of facing Texas without four of their players. The biggest impact loss to injuries is Griffin Piatt who is questionable for the game. Piatt plays at safety and notched 40 tackles, 1 sack, and 3 interceptions in just six games last season. The other area of concern is penalties, and the Golden Bears have racked them up on defense. The Golden Bears are averaging 10 penalties for 98.5 yards per game and those penalties could help a struggling Texas offense extend drives and keep the ball.

The Uncertain: Cal’s strength of schedule is an unknown right now. Are the Bears putting up these numbers due to inferior competition, or could their offense be one of the best in the nation this season? They certainly have a juicy matchup on their hands with an inexperienced Texas defense dealing with missed tackles and blown assignments through their first two games. Cal is also dealing with some young players in their secondary, but it remains to be seen if Jerrod Heard can take advantage of poor coverage units to make big plays with his arm.

What’s at stake: Cal wants to show everyone that they are a legitimate contender in the Pac 12, and while a win over Texas isn’t the ringing endorsement it used to be it still carries some weight. Texas would like to continue on the growth of their offense under Jerrod Heard and Jay Norvell while improving the issues they are seeing on defense. A win over a solid California team would do wonders for their confidence and recruiting as it would appear that Texas is starting to improve.