USC Football: Ranking Trojans’ 2020 opponents by toughness

An underrated rivalry in the Pac-12, Cal has not had much success against the Trojans as a whole, but under head coach Justin Wilcox, the Golden Bears have beaten USC for the first time since a guy named Aaron Rodgers was the quarterback.

Wilcox has seen steady improvement since he was named the head coach in 2017, particularly on the defensive side of the football. Cal has made two straight bowl games and will be looking to make it three in a row in 2020.

While Cal has featured one of the best defenses in the Pac-12 since Wilcox arrived, the offense has struggled, to put it nicely. Cal is accustomed to winning games in a low scoring, ugly fashion, but to make any more progress in the Pac-12 race, the Golden Bears are going to have to field a competent offense.

Chalk up another victory for the Trojans here as Cal can’t keep up on the road.

Once upon a time, the Stanford Cardinal were the class of the Pac-12 and contending for national championships. The Cardinal fell on hard times last season, finishing 4-8 and missing out on a bowl game for the first time since 2008.

A big reason that the Cardinal have struggled in recent seasons is the offense. When Stanford does not have an elite talent on offense like Andrew Luck or Christian McCaffrey, the Cardinal offense tends to look ancient and out of touch with modern college football.

Stanford will be without KJ Costello this season, as he decided to transfer to Mississippi State. Davis Mills will be back to lead the Cardinal offense that will need to be much better if Stanford wants to get back to contending in the Pac-12. The defense is going to have to step up as well, as they gave up more than 40 points in four games last year.

David Shaw is one of the most respected coaches in the game, but Stanford feels like it’s at a serious crossroads as a program.