Cal Football: Golden Bears hope to squash TCU in Cheez-It Bowl

Cal Football heads to the great city of Phoenix, Arizona to take on a heavily wounded TCU Horned Frogs team in the Cheez-It Bowl.

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All-in-all not a bad season for the California Golden Bears. They began the season on a 4-0 run that landed them in the top 25 before a crushing loss to the Oregon Ducks on Gameday. They finished up the season with a loss to Stanford in the Big Game that had been rescheduled due to the California forest fires but managed to finish with eight wins.

Cal’s strength is on defense and it’s not even close. Justin Wilcox devised a defense that finished top 30 in scoring, passing, and rushing and finished No. 16 in total defense, allowing an average of 319.4 yards per game. Their 24 forced turnovers were the 13th most in college football and that’s largely in part due to the play of linebacker Jordan Kunaszyk who forced five fumbles this season while also recording 129 total tackles with 10 for loss.

TCU, on the other hand, has seemingly played in a free fall considering all the injuries they’ve racked up throughout this season. There are eight players who will certainly miss the bowl game and three of them are quarterbacks: Shawn Robinson, Michael Collins, and Justin Rogers.

The Horned Frogs haven’t had much luck this season in games and the fact that they were able to reach six wins with back-to-back wins to end the season against Baylor and Oklahoma State. The biggest playmaker for the Horned Frogs is Jalen Reagor who has accounted for 1,342 all-purpose yards and 11 touchdowns. Reagor carried the weight against Oklahoma State with 91 receiving yards on eight receptions with a score and 121 yards on the ground with a score.

Here’s how to watch the 2018 Cheez-It Bowl

Date: December 26, 2018
Time: 9:00 p.m. ET
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Venue: Chase Field
TV: ESPN
Live Stream: WatchESPN

Keys to Victory

Cal he relied on defense all year long and that’s exactly what they will need to take home a Cheez-It bowl victory. TCU is incredibly depleted on offense and they have depth problems at running back and wide receiver and they have virtually no depth at quarterback anymore. Smother Grayson Muehlstein and Sewo Olonilua and just don’t let Jalen Reagor beat you. Offensively, the Golden Bears just need to at least secure field goals and avoid turning the ball over as they are -2 in the turnover margin.

TCU has to keep players healthy and force turnovers. The Horned Frogs are scraping the bottom of the barrel at quarterback right now with Muehlstein and if he goes down then they virtually have no shot at winning this game so keep your man on the field and keep away this Cal defensive front that finished No. 45 in sacks this season at bay. Cal is No. 121 in total turnovers which is why they have finished so low in the Pac 12 despite having a monster defense. Force Chase Garbers to throw picks and get the ball to Jalen Reagor as much as humanly possible.

Betting Odds

Points Spread: Cal -1

Over/Under: 38.5

Bowl Gift Package

The Participants for the Cheez-It Bowl will receive…

• Fossil Watch
• JBL Bluetooth Speaker
• Corn Hole Set
• Yeti Cooler and Rambler
• Duffel Bag
• RuMe Bag
• Starter “Dollar Shave Club” Shaving Kit

Prediction

This game is Cal’s to lose. TCU is far too injured to make anything happen against a defense that is just this good. The final score will make the game appear closer than it actually is due to Cal’s ineffectiveness on offense.

Final Score: Cal 20 TCU 17