Weber State @ California preview

After opening the Justin Wilcox era with an impressive road victory, California looks to avoid a letdown Saturday against visiting Weber State of the Big Sky Conference. Cal looked sharp on both sides of the ball in Wilcox’s head-coaching debut last Saturday at North Carolina, forcing three turnovers and recording a 35-30 victory behind a strong effort from sophomore quarterback Ross Bowers.

Cal trailed by 10 points late in the second quarter against the Tar Heels before Bowers engineered the comeback effort, finishing 24-of-38 for 363 yards and four touchdowns in his first career start. After going 5-7 last season and ranking 125th nationally in total defense, the Bears held North Carolina to 221 passing yards and looked like a team that could surprise in the Pac-12 North Division. “The coaches have established a new culture at Cal, and it’s the players’ jobs to keep upholding it, take it as far as we can and police ourselves,” Bowers told reporters. “If you buy in, it’s a fun process.” The Bears’ new-look defense will be tested by Weber State, which broke the school record for points in a game and finished with 485 yards of total offense in last Saturday’s 76-0 win over Montana Western.

TV: 5 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network. LINE: No Line

ABOUT WEBER STATE (1-0): The Wildcats moved up to No. 20 in the FCS coaches poll after forcing five turnovers and rushing for eight touchdowns against Montana Western, including two by Bay Area native Kevin Smith. Senior quarterback Stefan Cantwell threw one of his two touchdown passes to Preseason All-American tight end Andrew Vollert, who caught 62 passes for 840 yards and seven scores last season. The Wildcats were picked to finish fifth in the Big Sky under fourth-year coach Jay Hill and boast a veteran defense led by safety Jordan Preator, who had two interceptions in the opener.


ABOUT CAL (1-1): Bowers completed passes to 10 different teammates against North Carolina - including junior Vic Wharton III, who had five catches for 156 yards and a 67-yard touchdown. Wilcox, who made a name for himself as a defensive coordinator over the past 16 seasons, had an immediate impact in the opener as senior inside linebacker Devante Downs was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week after recording a team-high 13 tackles. Quentin Tartabull, Camryn Bynum and Cameron Goode combined for 22 tackles as the defense displayed some new-found toughness under new coordinator Tim DeRuyter.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Cal owns a perfect 20-0 record against opponents from the Big Sky Conference.

2. Weber State’s last win over an FBS opponent came in 1993, when it beat Nevada 47-30 in Reno.

3. Cal had five plays from scrimmage of 20 or more yards in its season opener, including three for touchdowns.

PREDICTION: Cal 41, Weber State 17