California Football: Golden Bears look to build off strong 2019 season

SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 30: (L-R) California Golden Bears defensive player of the game Zeandae Johnson #44 and offensive player of the game Chase Garbers #7 celebrates after California defeated the Illinois Fighting Illini 35-20 in the RedBox Bowl at Levi's Stadium on December 30, 2019 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

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BOULDER, CO – OCTOBER 28: Head coach Justin Wilcox of the California Golden Bears works on the sideline during a game against the Colorado Buffaloes at Folsom Field on October 28, 2017 in Boulder, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) /

How will California football fare in 2020?

California will be looking to finish second and potentially creep closer to Oregon in the Pac-12 North standings this fall.

Can they get the job done against a conference-only slate?

Here are game-by-game projections for the 2020 Golden Bears:

Game 1: vs. Washington (L)
Game 2: at Arizona State (L)
Game 3: at Oregon State (W)
Game 4: vs. Stanford (W)
Game 5: vs. Oregon (L)
Game 6: at Washington State (W)
Game 7: TBD

Projection: 3-3

The Golden Bears’ offense should be far better than a year ago if Chase Garbers stays healthy, which means they should be able to take down teams such as Oregon State, Washington State and Arizona with shaky defenses.

With home field, they should also be able to take down a Stanford team in a bit of a reboot and Utah who lost seven starters to the NFL draft.

However, games like USC, Oregon, Arizona State and Washington still seem out of reach meaning, Cal may fall back to third in the Pac-12 north but should still be able to collect six wins and reach a third straight bowl game.

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