Game preview from another board....
GAME NOTES: For the first time in four decades the Golden Bears of California make their way to Salt Lake City to do battle with the Runnin' Utes of Utah Thursday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Last Saturday, the Bears were at home in Berkeley and were forced to try and come from behind versus the Colorado State Rams, another member of the Mountain West Conference, but it was too much too ask as Cal fell for the second time in three outings by a final of 23-21. The Bears were involved in one of the only two Division I-A games played during the first official weekend of the college football season, dropping a 42-28 decision to the nationally-ranked Kansas State Wildcats. The team followed that up with a 34-2 win over Southern Mississippi, marking its only win so far. As for the Utes, they lost more than just a game on Saturday to Texas A&M (28-26), they also lost starting quarterback Brett Elliott for an undetermined amount of time after he broke his left wrist trying to tie the contest with a two-point conversion in the closing moments. Utah comes into this game having split the first two outings of 2003, beating an overwhelmed Utah State team at home in the season opener, 40-20. The last meeting between Cal and Utah, which took place during the 2000 campaign, ended in a 24-21 victory for the Golden Bears, giving them four wins in five all-time meetings with the Utes.
California actually held a lead versus the Rams, late in the first quarter, but that was before the offense went cold and sputtered for the better part of half the game. Quarterback Reggie Robertson had an up and down contest, completing a solid 23-of-35 pass attempts for 248 yards and three touchdowns, but was also picked off twice. Receiver Geoff McArthur reeled in a pair of scoring strikes and finished the day with four catches for 79 yards overall.
The rushing game is what derailed the Bears, as they produced a mere 51 yards on 31 attempts. In three games thus far, Cal is averaging 124.3 yards on the ground, but only three and a half yards per attempt. The squad has converted 38 percent of its third-down attempts but has missed on all three tries on fourth down. Robertson has completed 61.5 percent of his passes, leading to 647 yards and eight scores, against just three picks. McArthur has established himself as the favorite target down field, pulling down 17 balls for 340 yards and three scores, making his 113.3 yards per game average one of the highest in the Pac-10.
The Bears could do little to stop CSU from putting 17 points on the board before halftime, making it that much more difficult to battle back in the second half. California surrendered 448 yards of total offense, 317 of which came on just 15 completed passes by Ram quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt. The Bears did well to limit Colorado State to just 4-of-15 on third down, but once the Rams entered the red zone they were 3-for-3 against Cal. Donnie McCleskey tied for the team high with nine stops and accounted for two sacks and a forced fumble in the defeat. While the Cal offense is producing a modest number of yards on the ground, the defense is allowing opponents too much latitude coming out of the backfield, giving up better than 175 yards per contest. Although, when it comes to clamping down on third down, California has found its strength by stopping offenses 75 percent of the time. The defense also appears to get a kick start at half time, permitting just 21 points after the break in three games, compared to 46 during the first 30 minutes of play. McCleskey has been a one-man wrecking crew for the Bears, posting 21 solo tackles, 29 overall, with seven and a half TFLs, which include four and a half sacks.
The Utes spotted Texas A&M 21 points heading into the third quarter and then decided to make a game of it on Saturday. Elliott, who will be replaced by either sophomore Alex Smith or senior Lance Rice this week following his injury, completed 18-of-40 passes for 210 yards and found John Madsen for a 45-yard touchdown with eight seconds remaining in the contest. In an effort to tie the game Elliott called his own number on the ensuing two-point conversion attempt, only to be forced out of bounds and out of the lineup for the immediate future. Running back Brandon Warfield, named the MWC Offensive Player of the Week for the second straight time, compiled 181 yards on 36 carries and also found the end zone on three occasions. Warfield, tops in the Mountain West with an average of 177 yards per game on the ground, ranking him fourth in the nation, will be forced to carry even more of the load now that Utah is being forced to go with a backup at quarterback. Utah, which is posting just under 400 yards in total offense in two games, has been very successful on fourth down thus far, converting seven of 10 chances, while opponents are still looking for their first set of new downs after three tries.
Utah's defense held the Aggies to 368 yards on Saturday, but Texas A&M did all its damage on just 56 offensive plays, compared to 415 yards on 97 plays for the Utes. A&M had little opportunity to run more plays because it controlled the ball for less than 23 minutes and converted just one of its nine attempts on third down. Dave Revill had a strong game for the Utes, making 11 stops and forcing a fumble, while Arnold Parker made all seven of his tackles by himself. The Utes may be allowing in excess of 212 yards a game through the air, but opponents have found the end zone just twice passing the ball. That probably has a lot to do with why Utah has been able to limit teams to barely 23 minutes of ball possession to this point. Revill is one of five players to have produced double-digit tackles after a couple of contests, posting a team- best 15 stops overall. Corey Dodds, who has 2.5 TFLs, has already recovered a pair of fumbles and forced another. Lewis Powell is tied with Dodds for the team lead in TFLs, but he has done so with a mere four tackles overall.
The Bears might very well be golden this week, catching a Utah squad that is having to revamp its offense following the loss of Elliott. As long as Cal can keep Warfield in check and to a respectable number of yards, the game should lean in it's favor on the road and in front of a national audience.
Predicted Outcome: California 28, Utah 13
GAME NOTES: For the first time in four decades the Golden Bears of California make their way to Salt Lake City to do battle with the Runnin' Utes of Utah Thursday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Last Saturday, the Bears were at home in Berkeley and were forced to try and come from behind versus the Colorado State Rams, another member of the Mountain West Conference, but it was too much too ask as Cal fell for the second time in three outings by a final of 23-21. The Bears were involved in one of the only two Division I-A games played during the first official weekend of the college football season, dropping a 42-28 decision to the nationally-ranked Kansas State Wildcats. The team followed that up with a 34-2 win over Southern Mississippi, marking its only win so far. As for the Utes, they lost more than just a game on Saturday to Texas A&M (28-26), they also lost starting quarterback Brett Elliott for an undetermined amount of time after he broke his left wrist trying to tie the contest with a two-point conversion in the closing moments. Utah comes into this game having split the first two outings of 2003, beating an overwhelmed Utah State team at home in the season opener, 40-20. The last meeting between Cal and Utah, which took place during the 2000 campaign, ended in a 24-21 victory for the Golden Bears, giving them four wins in five all-time meetings with the Utes.
California actually held a lead versus the Rams, late in the first quarter, but that was before the offense went cold and sputtered for the better part of half the game. Quarterback Reggie Robertson had an up and down contest, completing a solid 23-of-35 pass attempts for 248 yards and three touchdowns, but was also picked off twice. Receiver Geoff McArthur reeled in a pair of scoring strikes and finished the day with four catches for 79 yards overall.
The rushing game is what derailed the Bears, as they produced a mere 51 yards on 31 attempts. In three games thus far, Cal is averaging 124.3 yards on the ground, but only three and a half yards per attempt. The squad has converted 38 percent of its third-down attempts but has missed on all three tries on fourth down. Robertson has completed 61.5 percent of his passes, leading to 647 yards and eight scores, against just three picks. McArthur has established himself as the favorite target down field, pulling down 17 balls for 340 yards and three scores, making his 113.3 yards per game average one of the highest in the Pac-10.
The Bears could do little to stop CSU from putting 17 points on the board before halftime, making it that much more difficult to battle back in the second half. California surrendered 448 yards of total offense, 317 of which came on just 15 completed passes by Ram quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt. The Bears did well to limit Colorado State to just 4-of-15 on third down, but once the Rams entered the red zone they were 3-for-3 against Cal. Donnie McCleskey tied for the team high with nine stops and accounted for two sacks and a forced fumble in the defeat. While the Cal offense is producing a modest number of yards on the ground, the defense is allowing opponents too much latitude coming out of the backfield, giving up better than 175 yards per contest. Although, when it comes to clamping down on third down, California has found its strength by stopping offenses 75 percent of the time. The defense also appears to get a kick start at half time, permitting just 21 points after the break in three games, compared to 46 during the first 30 minutes of play. McCleskey has been a one-man wrecking crew for the Bears, posting 21 solo tackles, 29 overall, with seven and a half TFLs, which include four and a half sacks.
The Utes spotted Texas A&M 21 points heading into the third quarter and then decided to make a game of it on Saturday. Elliott, who will be replaced by either sophomore Alex Smith or senior Lance Rice this week following his injury, completed 18-of-40 passes for 210 yards and found John Madsen for a 45-yard touchdown with eight seconds remaining in the contest. In an effort to tie the game Elliott called his own number on the ensuing two-point conversion attempt, only to be forced out of bounds and out of the lineup for the immediate future. Running back Brandon Warfield, named the MWC Offensive Player of the Week for the second straight time, compiled 181 yards on 36 carries and also found the end zone on three occasions. Warfield, tops in the Mountain West with an average of 177 yards per game on the ground, ranking him fourth in the nation, will be forced to carry even more of the load now that Utah is being forced to go with a backup at quarterback. Utah, which is posting just under 400 yards in total offense in two games, has been very successful on fourth down thus far, converting seven of 10 chances, while opponents are still looking for their first set of new downs after three tries.
Utah's defense held the Aggies to 368 yards on Saturday, but Texas A&M did all its damage on just 56 offensive plays, compared to 415 yards on 97 plays for the Utes. A&M had little opportunity to run more plays because it controlled the ball for less than 23 minutes and converted just one of its nine attempts on third down. Dave Revill had a strong game for the Utes, making 11 stops and forcing a fumble, while Arnold Parker made all seven of his tackles by himself. The Utes may be allowing in excess of 212 yards a game through the air, but opponents have found the end zone just twice passing the ball. That probably has a lot to do with why Utah has been able to limit teams to barely 23 minutes of ball possession to this point. Revill is one of five players to have produced double-digit tackles after a couple of contests, posting a team- best 15 stops overall. Corey Dodds, who has 2.5 TFLs, has already recovered a pair of fumbles and forced another. Lewis Powell is tied with Dodds for the team lead in TFLs, but he has done so with a mere four tackles overall.
The Bears might very well be golden this week, catching a Utah squad that is having to revamp its offense following the loss of Elliott. As long as Cal can keep Warfield in check and to a respectable number of yards, the game should lean in it's favor on the road and in front of a national audience.
Predicted Outcome: California 28, Utah 13
