Star reporter Michael Lev breaks down key matchups, strategy and starters for both Arizona and Cal, and offers a prediction for the teams' game Saturday night.
Arizona quarterback Khalil Tate will hope to deny Cal of its first Pac-12 win.
Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP 2017Who: California Golden Bears (3-1, 0-1) at Arizona Wildcats (2-3, 1-1)
Where: Arizona Stadium
When: 7 p.m. Saturday
Watch: FS1
Listen: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM
Follow: @TheWildcaster on Twitter / TheWildcaster on Facebook
Noa is one of the better slot receivers in the Pac-12. He leads Cal in catches (5.0) and yards (53.0) per game. He had six receptions for 79 yards and a touchdown in last year’s meeting. The TD gave the Golden Bears a 38-31 lead in overtime.
Young did not play in last year’s game; he was recovering from a knee injury. He made his 2018 debut in Week 3, and he’s still shaking off the rust after missing spring and part of training camp (suspension). Last week marked his first start at “Spur.”
Generating a consistent pass rush has been an issue for Cal. The Bears are tied for 97th in the nation at 1.5 sacks per game. Paul has yet to record one, but he does have a team-high 4.5 TFLs. He will face a freshman or a banged-up senior.
After four solid performances to start his UA career, Laie struggled against USC. He needs to be sturdy against the powerful Paul, especially with fellow tackle Layth Friekh trying to play through a painful lower-leg injury.
Kevin Sumlin noted how balanced the Bears are; they have 793 passing yards and 781 rushing yards. But they have run more than they’ve thrown in every game, so stopping the run will be priority No. 1 for the UA defense. Running back Patrick Laird finally got going against Oregon (18-92-1) after a slow start. Arizona also must be wary of No. 2 quarterback Brandon McIlwain, who shares time with Chase Garbers and rushed for 123 yards versus the Ducks.
Khalil Tate had a season-high 13 rushing attempts against USC but continues to be hampered by a sore ankle. Tate had 137 of Arizona’s 345 rushing yards in last year’s meeting, and running the ball will continue to be the Wildcats’ M.O. — especially after they failed to crack triple digits last week. Cal ranks ninth in the Pac-12 in run defense (163.8 ypg). The Bears held bruising BYU to 91 yards but yielded 260 to Oregon.
California coach Justin Wilcox watches the game against Oregon during the second half in Berkeley.
Don Feria / AP PhotoCal will be motivated after losing at home last week and getting torched by Tate in a double-overtime thriller last year that came down to the final play. But Arizona has a lot at stake as well. Landing a bowl berth becomes a lot more difficult if the Wildcats fall to 2-4. Look for Arizona to re-establish its ground game, build on last week’s strong defensive finish and get back to .500.
Chase Garbers (7) is expected to start Saturday in Cal's dual-QB system.
Don Feria / AP PhotoOffense
WR 17 Vic Wharton III 5-11 190 Sr.
LT 79 Patrick Mekari 6-4 320 Sr.
LG 61 Valentino Daltoso 6-4 305 So.
C 57 Addison Ooms 6-4 295 Sr.
RG 53 Michael Saffell 6-2 300 So.
RT 71 Jake Curhan 6-6 330 So.
TE 83 Ian Bunting 6-7 255 Sr.
SLOT 9 Kanawai Noa 6-0 185 Jr.
WR 2 Jordan Duncan 6-1 205 Jr.
QB 7 Chase Garbers 6-2 205 Fr.
RB 28 Patrick Laird 6-0 205 Sr.
Defense
DE 93 Luc Bequette 6-2 295 Jr.
NG 98 Chris Palmer 6-2 335 Sr.
DE 96 Tevin Paul 6-4 270 So.
RUSH 36 Alex Funches 6-2 240 Sr.
MIKE 89 Evan Weaver 6-3 245 Jr.
WILL 59 Jordan Kunaszyk 6-3 235 Sr.
CB 24 Camryn Bynum 6-0 180 So.
FS 27 Ashtyn Davis 6-1 190 Jr.
SS 6 Jaylinn Hawkins 6-2 205 Jr.
CB 3 Elijah Hicks 5-11 190 So.
NB 22 Traveon Beck 5-9 160 Jr.
Safety Scottie Young Jr. (19) is back in the defensive rotation for Arizona.
Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily StarOffense
WR 18 Cedric Peterson 5-11 193 Jr.
SLOT 6 Shun Brown 5-10 188 Sr.
LT 58 Layth Friekh 6-5 297 Sr.
RT 76 Cody Creason 6-4 294 Jr.
C 50 Josh McCauley 6-3 292 So.
RG 54 Bryson Cain 6-4306So.
RT 78 Donovan Laie 6-4 318 Fr.
SLOT 9 Tony Ellison 5-11 189 Sr.
WR 19 Shawn Poindexter 6-5 218 Sr.
RB 21 J.J. Taylor 5-6 184 So.
QB 14 Khalil Tate 6-2 215 Jr.
Defense
DE 52 PJ Johnson 6-4 335 Jr.
NT 99 Dereck Boles 6-2 306 Sr.
DT 91 Finton Connolly 6-5 301 Jr.
STUD 14 Kylan Wilborn 6-2 248 So.
MLB 7 Colin Schooler 6-0 236 So.
WLB 1 Tony Fields II 6-1 230 So.
SPUR 19 Scottie Young Jr. 5-11 195 So.
BANDIT 3 Jarrius Wallace 6-1 180 So.
BC 2 Lorenzo Burns 5-10 181 So.
FC 8 Tim Hough 5-11 195 Sr.
FS 6 D. Flannigan-Fowles 6-2 209 Sr.
Passing
Garbers 49-75-4 Cmp-Att-Int, 493 Yds, 6 TDs, 52 Lg
McIlwain 22-38-2 Cmp-Att-Int, 230 Yds, 2 TDs, 45 Lg
Bowers 8-17-0 Cmp-Att-Int, 56 Yds, 0 TDs, 19 Lg
Rushing
McIlwain 4 games, 38 Car., 252 Yds, 2 TDs, 6.6 Avg
Laird 4 games, 67 Car., 236 Yds, 2 TDs, 3.5 Avg
Garbers 4 games, 31 Car., 150 Yds, 0 TDs, 4.8 Avg
Dancy 2 games, 13 Car., 85 Yds, 1 TD, 6.5 Avg
Brown Jr. 4 games, 6 Car., 31 Yds, 0 TDs, 5.2 Avg
Receiving
Noa 4 games, 15 Rec., 159 Yds, 1 TD, 10.6 Avg
Wharton III 4 games, 17 Rec., 144 Yds, 0 TDs, 8.4 Avg
Duncan 4 games, 11 Rec., 135 Yds, 3 TDs, 12.2 Avg
Defense
Weaver 53 Tk, 0 Sk, 0 Int, 0 FR
Kunaszyk 40 Tk, 1.5 Sk, 0 Int, 0 FR
Paul 15 Tk, 0 Sk, 0 Int, 0 FR
Bynum 12 Tk, 0 Sk, 0 Int, 0 FR
Davis 12 Tk, 0 Sk, 2 Int, 0 FR
Passing
Tate 79-149-3 Cmp-Att-Int, 1,271 Yds, 10 TDs, 75 Lg
Rodriguez 6-7-0 Cmp-Att-Int, 49 Yds, 0 TDs, 16 Lg
Rushing
Taylor 5 games, 89 Car., 527 Yds, 3 TDs, 5.9 Avg
Brightwell 5 games, 48 Car., 277 Yds, 2 TDs, 5.8 Avg
Tate 5 games, 36 Car., 69 Yds, 2 TDs, 1.9 Avg
Marsical 5 games, 11 Car., 68 Yds, 1 TD, 6.2 Avg
Smith 2 games, 15 Car., 62 Yds, 1 TD, 4.1 Avg
Brown 5 games, 2 Car., 40 Yds, 0 TD, 20.0 Avg
Receiving
Poindexter 5 games, 18 Rec., 391 Yds, 2 TDs, 21.7 Avg
Brown 5 games, 23 Rec., 304 Yds, 3 TDs, 13.2 Avg
Ellison 5 games, 14 Rec., 270 Yds, 2 TDs, 19.2 Avg
Defense
Schooler 57 Tk, 1 Sk, 0 Int, 1 FR
Fields 36 Tk, 0 Sk, 0 Int, 0 FR
Wallace 27 Tk, 0 Sk, 1 Int, 0 FR
Flannigan-Fowles 21 Tk, 0 Sk, 0 Int, 0 FR
Hayes 20 Tk, 0 Sk, 0 Int, 0 FR
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