Q&A with Daily Cal writer Riley McAtee

With USC’s only weeknight matchup of the season looming, Daily Trojan sports editor Will Hanley asked Daily Cal football writer Riley McAtee a few questions about the state of the Bears.

DT: Cal’s offense has been impressive in every game this year except for a 31-7 loss to Washington on Oct. 11. What did the Huskies do that game to successfully stop the Bears?

DC: The Washington defensive line definitely feasted on the Bears that day, especially when it came to getting to Jared Goff. The final score might not show it, but Cal did effectively move the ball in this game — to the tune of 368 yards, just 16 fewer than the Huskies themselves. The difference is that Goff was sacked four times, and the Bears fumbled the football five times, losing it on two of those.

It’s hard to win any football game with three lost fumbles, and those turnovers often put an end to the Cal drives that otherwise looked effective, with the most obvious example being Shaq Thompson’s 100-yard fumble return touchdown. That’s a 14-point swing on one play, and it basically set the tone for the entire game.

Goff can move in the pocket better than he’s often given credit for, but he’s still not great when he faces pressure for an entire game. And it’s not like fumbling issues are new for him, he had the same kind of problems show up against Oregon last season. The difference is that game was in the pouring rain — against Washington, the Huskies just hit him a few too many times.

DT: Quarterback Jared Goff gets a lot of credit for being Cal’s offensive firepower, but running back Daniel Lasco has fairly quietly had an excellent season fairly quietly. How crucial is this balance for the Bears?

DC: The resurgence of the running game has been the most encouraging sign of the season for Cal faithful. Coach Sonny Dykes brought his brand of the Air Raid offense last year but promised that he ran something that was more balanced. He might be a disciple of Mike Leach, but Dykes isn’t trying to pass the ball 75 percent of the time. And indeed when Dykes was at Louisiana Tech, he did have a balanced offense that ran the ball almost as much as it passed it.

Last year, Cal ended up airing the ball out in almost every game, but that was more a product of a defense that put the Bears behind literally every single week. The Bears have been much more balanced this year, and Lasco has certainly been a part of it. His emergence has given the Bears the ability to find balance — last year they didn’t find a trustworthy feature back between Brendan Bigelow and a weird experiment that saw then-wide receiver Richard Rodgers in the backfield. Lasco can do a bit of everything — run, catch, block — which allows the team to keep him out there all the time. And that balance really showed against Oregon State — when Goff had a down day it was Lasco that carried the team to a win. That never would have happened last year.

DT: After a 1-11 season in 2013, many Cal supporters were unhappy with head coach Sonny Dykes. Has Dykes’ second season settled those concerns, and do you see him as the long term answer in Berkeley?

DC: It’s still hard to say. I generally reserve judgement on coaches for at least three seasons. So far he has begun to find a solution to the poor test scores and graduation rates of Cal’s football team that played a part in Jeff Tedford’s firing in 2012. If those hadn’t improved, I’m sure Dykes would have gotten the axe last year.

That said, I’m not so naive as to think that grades alone will allow Dykes to keep his job. He’ll need wins. Those have come so far this year — the Bears are 5-4 — but can Dykes build a program that will be successful consistently, even after stars like Goff are gone? It certainly appears so, but it’s early. The jury is still out.

DT: With three games remaining (against USC, Stanford and BYU), the Bears need one more win to earn a bowl berth. Where do you see the easiest chance for that win?

DC: I’ll take BYU as the easiest win without Taysom Hill. Plus I just want to see the Bears fight for a bowl berth in their final game — and at home no less! Drama!

DT: USC is as balanced on offense as any team in the Pac-12. Do you have confidence in Cal’s inconsistent defense to keep the Trojans in check?

DC: Not at all. Cal wins by outgunning its opponents, not by stopping them. But that’s what has finally clicked for the Bears this season. Even though Cal’s defense is still terrible, the offense is putting up over 40 points per game. Sometimes the defense doesn’t need to do much, and the offense takes care of the rest. That hasn’t always worked, but there is something to it.

I will say that having a balanced offense doesn’t really help USC, as Cal has been significantly worse against the pass than against the run. And this Trojan team likes to pound the ball, but I think they’ll be better off if they let Kessler air it out in this one.

 

DT: For the Bears to win this game, they need to _______ .

DC: Keep Goff protected. This team lives and dies by its offense, and this offense lives and dies by its quarterback. The offensive line has done a good job this season, but Leonard Williams scares me.

 

DT: Final score prediction?

DC: I’ll go with 45-34, USC.