By Brant Daughtry
Week 1 told us a little. Clearly, Auburn wanted to show off its new-look receiver room, and it definitely did. Over 300 yards passing in the first half alone, and an offensive explosion we haven’t seen from Auburn in a long time. It’s nice to be able to do that.
The rain on the parade though, is that Alabama A&M was hopelessly outmatched. They played man coverage pretty much the whole game, and simply didn’t have the secondary to keep up with Auburn’s athletes. You or I, dear reader, could’ve been calling plays and probably come away with a decently easy win. It was that hopeless for A&M.
It’s often said that you do the most improving in a football season from week 1 to week 2. I don’t think that’ll be the case for Auburn. That usually comes as a result from learning what your strengths and weaknesses are when you’re challenged by something new. Auburn’s starters weren’t challenged in this game. And while Auburn is still better than Cal on paper, the gap is significantly narrower.
The Golden Bears are coached by Oregon Alum Justin Wilcox, who’s beginning his eighth year at the helm. He’s been less than successful, but not terrible either, making a bowl game three times since he became head coach. By Cal standards, that’s not bad. He’s a capable defensive mind who’s proven he can be successful as a DC, but hasn’t been able to get the talent needed to replicate that at Cal.
His defense is an interesting one, and one that Auburn fans should be semi-familiar with. It looks like the 4-2-5 scheme that Auburn ran under Kevin Steele, but it’s closer to a 2-4-5, with two stand-up EDGE defenders, what I usually refer to as a 9-technique. These guys are extremely good athletes, and how Cal does defensively is largely dependent on what those guys are able to do. Auburn has some unanswered questions at tackle, especially in pass protection, and they’ll be tested this week.
The quarterback for Cal is the guy who took over for them a few weeks into last season and dramatically improved their offense. Fernando Mendoza went 4-4 in his eight regular season starts, and none some of those losses were very close. Putting on you “what if” glasses, Cal probably beats Auburn last year if Mendoza starts that game. Instead Cal went with a doomed two-QB system, with one of those guys transferring and now playing wide receiver at Auburn. Funny how things work out. Mendoza is a big, traditional, field general QB. 6’5″ 225 lbs. He’s not much of a runner, but he can and will in the redzone if you stop thinking about him. But he’s not the biggest threat Cal has.
Players to Watch For:
#1 Jaydn Ott- Running Back- Ott made some headlines with his pregame comments last year, and while he didn’t have a fantastic game (remember the Eugene Asante coming out party?), he still managed to have an effect, gaining 78 yards on 20 carries and scoring once. Cal will almost definitely have a more balanced attack this year, but Ott is still the focus. It’s worth noting that he did get a little banged up in the Bears’ season opener, leaving in the third quarter and not returning. Auburn’s preparing for him to be available though. If he is, Cal is a lot more dangerous.
#7 David Reese- EDGE- One of those two stand-up EDGE defenders I was talking about earlier. Reese is an older guy in his 7th year of college football due to some bad injury luck. He didn’t record any stats in Cal’s first contest, but he put together a very strong end of the year last season, and looks to continue that in what his coaches will probably tell him is an opportunity to put on a show.
Auburn should win this game. Even if Cal is better than they were last year, Auburn is too, and by a wider margin. But I can’t shake the feeling Cal is just a little dangerous. I’m predicting Auburn to win this game. But if they come out flat, and Cal is able to string a little offense together, Auburn could be in for an unnecessary dogfight.
