Poking the Bear (Blog)
Syracuse Orange gameday is here and SU is almost ready for their final road game of the regular season. It’s their second trip to the pacific time zone and this time they’ll be facing a former PAC-12 squad, the California Golden Bears.
For an updated scouting report on the Berkeley Boys, we turned to Christopher Zheng and the rest of the Write for California staff. This is what they’ve compiled:
QB Fernando Mendoza is coming off a career day at Wake Forest – one of several impressive performances lately. How much of the passing success is on him versus his receivers?
The real answer is both QB development and better receivers. He’s simply making smarter players. Every game feels like he’s getting a better read of the defense’s positioning, especially with defensive blitzes and pass rushing. It’s weird thinking that he’s only a redshirt sophomore because he’s playing with such poise. He hasn’t been perfect, but he seems to have marginally improved in every aspect of his game – accuracy, speed, strength, release quickness, and decision-making. He’s still good for one to three “what the heck” throws per game, hopefully falling harmlessly rather than INTs. But overall, he is really solid at staying within himself and utilizing his strengths.
Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
But, that isn’t to put all of the passing success entirely on Mendoza as he has definitely been helped out by better receivers. Cal has had many seasons with guys who can’t get good separation and don’t have reliable hands. This year, we got a fresh influx of talent from the portal, some of whom are just starting to get healthy and could unlock another layer to the offense. Notre Dame transfer Tobias Merriweather, who played his first game of the season against Wake Forest, being a more reliable deep target opened some intermediate routes for Utah transfer Mikey Matthews. The passing game definitely struggles a bit with yards after catch, but with Merriweather and Ohio State transfer Kyion Graves coming back should help with extra speed, height, quickness, versatility, and steady handys. We can see two-highs needing to respect the top of the routes and a little more depth rather than press coverage, and it’s stretching the field open and giving receivers bigger windows.
Speaking of WF: that was Cal’s first conference win in the ACC. Has covering the Bears since the move been as strange to you as we think it is from the outside?
The conference move is definitely weird. Playing Miami, Wake Forest, and Syracuse is taking some getting used to, but I suppose I’ll take the ACC over the LA schools we used to hang out with but they’re not cool like that anymore. Truthfully, it’s been mostly fun and the fan bases have been pretty cool and similarly niche, which has been a good cultural fit. The Calgorithm has helped and inserted some witty banter back and forth between all our programs, and with no real hostiles, everyone has come along for the ride.
RB Jaydn Ott was such a huge part of the offense last season. Realistically, do you think he can get involved again down the stretch after missing so much time with an ankle injury?
Ott is a determined player and competitor so I don’t put it past him to bounce back. It’s definitely clear that he doesn’t have the same lateral quickness as he did last year, but the Cal running game, even with healthier backs, has been challenged all season long. Part of this stems from an OL that has improved at pass protection but has struggled with run blocking.
#44s are a big deal here in Syracuse, and it seems like they are too in Berkeley. How has LB Xavier Carlton helped revitalize a Cal defense that struggled last fall?
Cal has had injury problems in the front 7. In years past, opposing QBs had all day to throw, which really didn’t help in the Pac-12 when you had to play some prolific offenses every week. Carlton isn’t your normal OLB at 6’6” and 275 pounds. He is an absolute unit at OLB, who is also pretty fast. Now, he and the position group are seemingly healthy. Depth means that you don’t have exhausted starters taking plays off. Carlton represents a quick-running clock every passing down that will inevitably run out against opposing QBs. Cal is 3rd in the ACC in sacks, but the sacks haven’t necessarily been through trick slants, stunts, and blitzes. Often, it’s guys like Xavier Carlton who overpowers his man through mano-a-mano effort.
Any other impact players we should keep an eye out for?
On offense, WRs transfers Tobias Merriweather and Kyion Graves from Notre Dame and Ohio State, respectively. If healthy, their speed can push safeties deeper to potentially allow for more room for the running game to develop, which would help with Cal’s seeming inability to sustain long drives that would kill the clock. That inability was absolutely detrimental in Cal’s 4 losses by a combined total of 9 points.
On defense, CB Nohl Williams, the nation’s leader in interceptions with 7. He’s just 2 off from tying the school record and with Kyle McCord having shown a proclivity to throw interceptions (albeit many coming in a single unfortunate game), I’m sure he’s hunting.
Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images
What are your keys to a Cal victory – and bowl eligibility – this week? And what can SU do to shut them down?
It seems too easy to say get Ott and the running game going. But, it also seems too easy to say Mendoza continues to demonstrate success in passing attacks. But as mentioned earlier, Mendoza is still good for a couple “what the heck” moments a game, including holding onto the ball way too long, Seems like the key for both teams will be how much the front 7 can harass the opposing QBs.
Score prediction:
Cal 33, Syracuse 28.
Thank you Chris and Write for Cal for doing this Q&A with us. You can help support the #Calgorithm and check out my own set of responses over at writeforcalifornia.com.