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BYU Football: Scouting the Schedule – California

By Shaun Gordon

BERKELEY, CA - NOVEMBER 29: Jordan Leslie #9 of the Brigham Young Cougars catches a touchdown pass over Michael Lowe #5 of the California Golden late in the fourth quarter at California Memorial Stadium on November 29, 2014 in Berkeley, California. The Cougars won the game 42-35. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
BERKELEY, CA - NOVEMBER 29: Jordan Leslie #9 of the Brigham Young Cougars catches a touchdown pass over Michael Lowe #5 of the California Golden late in the fourth quarter at California Memorial Stadium on November 29, 2014 in Berkeley, California. The Cougars won the game 42-35. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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This is the second in a weekly series leading up to the BYU Football season, taking an early look at each opponent. This week’s opponent: Cal.

BYU Football opens up the season with two straight PAC-12 games. First they’ll travel to Arizona, then play their home opener against Cal.

If the Cougars want to reach bowl eligibility, they’re going to need to win at least one of these first two games. Both are winnable, although neither will be easy. But with the home-field advantage, BYU should have a better shot against Cal.

Last Season

The Golden Bears have consistently been one of the worst teams in the Conference of Champions for a long while, but 2017 showed signs that the program may be improving for the long-term.

After missing out on a bowl game in 2016, Cal made a coaching change, bringing in Justin Wilcox to be the head coach. The former Wisconsin Defensive Coordinator had two jobs – improve the horrible defense and win games.

He exceeded expectations in both areas. He improved the Golden Bears’ defense to 7th in the conference, and led the team to a 5-7 record, including a surprising blowout over Washington State.

Had Cal won one of three games that they lost by three points or less (Arizona, Stanford, and UCLA), they would have earned a bowl berth.

While the defense improved, the offense didn’t. The Golden Bears finished 10th in the PAC-12 in scoring offense and 11th in total offense.

That’s the next job for Wilcox and Offensive Coordinator Beau Baldwin, to improve the offense enough to become bowl eligible and compete for a PAC-12 North title within the next few years.

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