Washington State Football: 3 bold predictions vs. Cal in Week 7

2. Can Cal get anything going on either side of the ball?

It’s been a tough year to be a Cal fan.

After losing Jared Goff to the NFL and fourth-year head coach Sonny Dykes to TCU in 2016, expectations for a Golden Bears resurgence behind first-year head coach Justin Wilcox were shaky, at best.

And somehow, these shaky expectations have not been met.

The Golden Bears currently sit at 3-3 after their first six games and trail Washington, Washington State, Stanford and Oregon for the Pac-12 North.

And let’s be honest, the team would be lucky to reach a bowl game in 2017, let alone truly challenge for a place atop the Pac-12 standings. Things could get even worse down the stretch.

The Golden Bears will host Mike Leach’s Washington State Cougars in Week 7 in a game that could get out of hand in a hurry.

Currently ranked the eighth-best team in the nation by the AP Poll, Washington State boasts both a top-flight offense and an uber-athletic defense, and loads of veteran leadership on either side of the ball.

Cal, on the other hand, does not have a unit that ranks higher than 100th nationally, with Wilcox’s offense currently ranking in at 103rd and their defense not looking much better at 102nd.

And they’re not only bad from a statistical stand point, they’re also equally as bad from a point spread stand point.

Cal, which has now lost three consecutive games by double digits, has actually scored fewer points on offense, 146, then they have given up on defense, 179.

Simply put, Cal needs to find an identity fast, and reload in the loaded Pac-12 North, and a trend that won’t start in Week 7.