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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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BERKELEY, CA – OCTOBER 11: Tightend Joshua Perkins #82 of the Washington Huskies catches a 25-yard touchdown pass as safety Avery Sebastian #4 of the California Golden Bears defends during the first quarter of their game on October 11, 2014 at California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, California. (Photo by Stephen Lam/Getty Images)
BERKELEY, CA – OCTOBER 11: Tightend Joshua Perkins #82 of the Washington Huskies catches a 25-yard touchdown pass as safety Avery Sebastian #4 of the California Golden Bears defends during the first quarter of their game on October 11, 2014 at California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, California. (Photo by Stephen Lam/Getty Images) /

The Defense

Under Justin Wilcox and Defensive Coordinator Tim DeRuyter, the defense made big improvements in 2017. Going into 2018, most of the front seven from last season is gone, but the entire secondary is back, so the Golden Bears will look to avoid taking a step back.

Defensive Line

One starter is back along the offensive line, and that’s Luc Bequette (Jr.). He’ll likely start at one end position, while the other will be a battle between Rusty Becker (Sr.) and Zeandae Johnson (Jr.). Becker saw action in every game last year, while Johnson missed 2017 with an injury. He was slated to start before getting hurt, though, so he may have the inside track for that spot if he’s completely healthy.

The middle will be manned by Chris Palmer (Sr.). There’s no experience behind him, but redshirt freshman Siulagisipai Fuimaono looks poised to crack the two-deep.

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Linebackers

Both starting outside linebackers will return from 2017, Cameron Goode (So.) and Alex Funches (Sr.). Funches was second on the team last year with four sacks. Both likely backups, Malik Psalms (Jr.) and Russ Ude (Jr.) saw time last year, so the two-deep will have experience.

On the inside, there will be some position battle in the fall, but Jordan Kunaszyk (Sr.) and Gerran Brown (Jr.) are the likely starters. Both saw the field a lot in 2017 and have the most experience. Derron Brown (Sr.) also has experience and can compete for the starting spot, and Evan Weaver (Jr.) is switching positions from defensive end to compete for an inside linebacker spot as well.

Secondary

Every starter in the secondary is back for Cal – Ashtyn Davis (Jr.) and Jaylinn Hawkins (Jr.) at the safeties and Camryn Bynum (So.) and Elijah Hicks (So.) at the corners. All four were serviceable last year, but the Golden Bears finished 10th in the PAC-12 in passing defense. They’ll need to improve on that this year.

There’s not much experience at the corners. Behind Bynum and Hicks, only Josh Drayden (So.) saw time last year.

Things are a little better at safety. Both Quentin Tartabull (Sr.) and Trey Turner III (Jr.) gained experience last season, although Turner saw limited action.

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