Cal Football: Updated game-by-game predictions for 2020 season

Now that the updated 2020 Pac-12 schedule is out, an underrated Cal football team could surprise. How will the Golden Bears fare?

The California Golden Bears deserve a little more respect heading into this season.

Cal won seven regular season games last year and capped off 2019 with a 15-point win over a six-win Illinois. That doesn’t sound extremely impressive, so why exactly should they get more respect?

Chase Garbers.

Cal was 7-2 in games Garbers started last season. In those two losses, he was knocked out of the game due to injury. Essentially, when Garbers played more than half the game, Cal was undefeated.

In the five losses they suffered last season, all either without Garbers or when he played less than half the game, Cal failed to score more than 17 points. In fact, over those five games, the Golden Bears averaged just 11.6 points per game. When he was healthy, Cal averaged 27.2 points per game.

The defense was solid also, ranking 33rd in the country in points per game allowed.

So why such high optimism?

Cal returns 10 starters on offense, including a healthy Garbers and it’s entire offensive line (that needs to be better and not allow 46 sacks). On defense, eight starters are back. Keep an eye out for Elijah Hicks, a cornerback turned safety that may open some eyes this season.

With 18 returning starters from an eight-win team that now has a healthy quarterback, watch out, Pac-12.