2023 Cal Football Predictions and Season Preview

Cal football finished the 2022 season with a disappointing 4-8 record. The team’s only wins UC Davis, UNLV, Arizona, and Stanford. The low point of the season came against Colorado when Cal lost 20-13, giving the Buffaloes their only win. This year, Cal will looks to return to their winning ways with plenty of roster movement.

DraftKings Sportsbook has the Golden Bear’s win total at 5.0 with the over juiced to -120. Cal also sits at +8000 to win the Pac-12, which ranks ahead of Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Stanford. With that said, let’s dive into Cal’s season preview.

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2023 Cal Football Predictions & Season Preview

Cal Football 2023 Season Preview: Coaching Staff

Interestingly, Cal elected to retain Justin Wilcox as head coach after his third straight losing season. In his career, Wilcox has a 30-36 record with Cal. Needless to say, he will be on the hotseat this year. At offensive coordinator, Wilcox fired former Texas State head coach Jake Spavital. Texas State ranked 23rd in pass rate and 66th in plays per game last year for reference. At defensive coordinator, Cal retains the services of Peter Sirmon, who has been with Cal in this role since 2019. Sirmon has multiple strong defenses in the past, giving him more job security.

Cal Football 2023 Season Preview: Offense

Quarterback

At quarterback, Cal added TCU transfer Sam Jackson to the roster. Jackson only has 52 snaps to his name through two years in college. He has only completed five passes, but Jackson appears to have excellent mobility. He rushed 13 times for 92 yards and two scores in his TCU career. Jackson originally came to TCU as a four-star recruit in 2021. He will now battle sophomore Fernando Mendoza, who came to Cal as a three-star recruit in 2022. Mendoza has yet to throw a pass, speaking to the inexperience of this room.

From there, Cal also added NC State transfer Ben Finley. Finley completed 65 of 123 passes (52.8%) for 741 yards (6.0 yards per attempt), three touchdowns, and three interceptions last year. He has -10 rushing yards on ten attempts to this point in his career. A low upside option under center, Finley should serve as a backup or third string option here. Ultimately, this quarterback room has almost no experience, making it volatile ahead of 2023.

Running Back

The running back position should be more secure for Cal with sophomore Jadyn Ott returning. Ott stands 6-0, 205 pounds and rushed 170 times for 890 yards and eight scores last year. He also caught 46 balls for 321 yards with only two drops. Overall, Ott registered an efficient 3.3 yards after contact per attempt and forced a missed tackle on 28.8% of his attempts.

Behind Ott, Cal hammered the transfer portal, bringing in Justin Williams-Thomas (Tennessee), Byron Cardwell (Oregon), and Isaiah Ifanse (Montana State). Williams-Thomas stands 6-1, 210 pounds and rushed just 11 times for 37 yards last year. Williams-Thomas originally came to Tennessee as a four-star recruit in the 2022 cycle. Cardwell stands 6-0, 206 pounds and rushed 72 times for 493 yards and four scores over the last two years. He also caught eight passes for 37 yards with decent efficiency. So far, he averages 3.29 yards after contact per attempt with a 22.2% forced missed tackle rate.

Ifanse stands 5-10, 202 pounds and rushed 279 times for 1,653 yards and ten scores in 2021. He also caught 15 balls for another 127 yards that season. Ifanse has never dropped a pass in college. He missed most of 2022 with an injury, but previously earned FCS All-American honors. This running back room should be deeper than 2022 and the high end talent remains.

Wide Receiver

Cal lost their second-leading receiver J. Michael Sturdivant to the transfer portal after 65 catches for 655 yards. However, they return their leading receiver Jeremiah Hunter after 60 catches for 965 yards. Hunter stands 6-2, 205 pounds and played out wide 86.1% of the time. His 2.57 yards per route ranked third in the PAC 12. Cal also returns their third leading receiver Mavin Anderson.

Anderson stands 6-0, 200 pounds and caught 37 balls for 372 yards and three scores last year. He played in the slot 88.9% of the time and his 1.05 yards per route ranked 58th. Anderson originally came to Cal as a four-star recruit in the 2021 season. Their third receiver could be a combination of a number of receivers. Monroe Young stands out among the incumbents. The 6-0, 210 pound receiver caught 23 balls for 231 yards and three scores last year. He played in the slot 62.3% of the time and his 1.49 yards per route ranked 41st. Young now enters his sixth season in college.

Cal also added a pair of transfers in Brian Hightower (Illinois) and Marquez Dortch (Mississippi State). Hightower stands 6-3, 215 pounds and caught 37 balls for 449 yards and two scores last year. He played out wide 90.5% of the time and registered a solid 1.7 yards per route. Dortch stands 6-0, 165 pounds and caught just one pass in 2022. He came to Mississippi State as a four-star recruit and top 230 player in the 2022 class. Finally, Cal recruited an incoming freshman four-star recruit in Nyziah Hunter, who ranks 401st in this year’s class. While losing Sturdivant will be tough, Cal has plenty of options to piece together a replacement.

Tight End

At tight end, Cal lost Keleki Latu, but they added two transfers in JT Byrne (Oregon State) and Asher Alberding (North Texas). Byrne stands 6-5, 247 pounds and failed to catch a pass last year. He only played 18 snaps after originally coming to Oregon State as a three-star recruit. Alberding has far more experience from his days at North Texas. Alberding stands 6-3, 259 pounds and blocked on 83% of his snaps last year. He only had two catches in his three year career with North Texas. Jack Endries was listed as the third string tight end on the spring depth chart, but he has yet to play a snap in his college career. Overall, this position doesn’t look like a strength for Cal in 2023.

Offensive Line

Cal lost just left tackle/left guard Ben Coleman from last year’s starting offensive line. Brayden Rohme should slide in at left tackle after finishing the 2022 season there. He played poorly across the offensive line, but he will now enter his fifth season as a collegiate athlete. Left guard could be Ender Aguilar, who played mostly right tackle and right guard last year. He was absolutely horrific and remains a candidate to slide back in the two deep.

At center, Cal returns Brian Driscoll after 818 snaps last year. Driscroll proved to be an average player in this first season with the starting Cal offensive line. At right guard Cal returns Sioape Vatikani, who played 579 snaps last year. He played both guard positions, but closed the year at the right guard slot. Vatikani was a true freshman last year, so there should be optimism heading into year two.

Finally, Cal returns right tackle TJ Sessions, who played 599 snaps last year after transferring over from Montana State. The jump proved too much for Sessions as he struggled for a majority of the year. They also return interior offensive lineman Matthew Cindric, who played 425 snaps last year. He actually out-produced all three of the interior starters and could receive a look early in the season. Everett Johnson also returns after starting a pair of games and playing 117 snaps. He also played better than the starters, which could be useful here.

While Cal returns a ton of experience, this proved to be one of the worst groups in the country last year. To address the lack of talent, Cal added Texas A&M transfer Matthew Wykoff (52.5) and Stanford transfer Barrett Miller (66.7). Injury forced Wykoff into action last year at center for the Aggies. He played 569 snaps and played at an average level. However, an average SEC starter should immediately become one of the better linemen on this roster. Miller has 1,758 snaps of experience in his four-year college career with above average play. He should also be given a chance to start at one of the tackle spots. While the ceiling remains low with this unit, the transfers and returning experience should provide at least a mild jump for Cal’s offensive line this year.

Cal Football 2023 Season Preview: Defense

Cal ranked 125th on defense in 2022. This included the 128th-ranked run defense, 128th-ranked pass rush and 94th-ranked secondary. This defense added six transfers and will get a few players back from injury. Otherwise, they will trot out a lot of the same players that struggled in 2023.

Defensive Line

Cal will mostly use their outside linebackers as edge rushers. They return Myles Jernigan and Xavier Carlton among this group. Jernigan played 634 snaps last year, recording 51 tackles, five tackles for loss and four sacks. Carlton played 561 snaps and led the team with 6.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks last year. From there, Cal added Florida transfer David Reese. Reese has barely played after initially joining Florida as a four-star recruit in 2018.

On the interior, Cal returns a number of players with snaps. Ricky Correia played 385 snaps, logging 37 tackles. Ethan Saunders played 461 snaps and logged 36 tackles. Even Nate Burrell played 362 snaps last year. However, he played some horrific football on those snaps. Luckily, Cal returns Brett Johnson from injury. Johnson last played in 2020 after a car accident. However, he would be the best defensive lineman on this roster, if he can return to full health. Overall, it is almost impossible to this defensive line to be any worse in 2023.

Linebacker

Cal’s strongest defensive position might be linebacker with the return of Jackson Sirmon. Sirmon played 869 snaps last year and led the team with 104 tackles. He also broke up four passes and logged six tackles for loss. The team does lose Oluwafemi Oladejo, but they added Sergio Allen from Clemson in the transfer portal. Allen only has 36 snaps in his three college seasons. However, he originally came to Clemson as a four-star recruit in 2020. This unit does not have the best depth, so Cal will rely on Sirmon and Allen to stay healthy in order to live up to last year’s numbers.

Defensive Back

At corner, the Golden Bears actually return a lot of production. They do lose Jeremiah Earby, who led the team with 11 pass breakups. However, Lu-Magia Hearns III should lead this group after 339 snaps in six games last year. Despite his limited snaps, he still broke up four passes last year. They also have incumbents Collin Gamble and Isaiah Young on the roster after 475 and 472 snaps last year. Gamble broke up three passes and logged 32 tackles. Young had two interceptions, but failed to defend any passes. Ultimately, both were right around league average in terms of production.

With average play here, Cal could rely on a slew of transfers. The team brought in Nohl Williams (UNLV), Kaylin Moore (Colorado), and Marcus Scott II (Missouri). Williams has three years of starting experience and played 712 snaps for UNLV last year. Moore played 626 snaps for Colorado last year and played decently on those. This group doesn’t even include JUCO transfer Matthew Littlejohn, who comes over from Citrus College and has a solid chance to start as Cal’s nickel. With almost everyone back and so many transfers, Cal’s corner room should make a slight jump.

At safety, Cal lost Daniel Scott, but they return Craig Woodson. Woodson played 858 snaps last year and ranked third on the team with 75 tackles. Woodson also played well in coverage with three pass breakups and a pair of interceptions. The other safety looks like converted corner Myles Williams. Williams played 312 snaps last year and broke up two passes in the process. If Williams cannot handle the position switch, Cal also added San Diego State transfer Patrick McMorris. McMorris has two years of strong starting experience in the Mountain West and should immediately push for a starting position. Like defensive line, it would be hard for this unit to get any worse in 2023.

2023 Cal Football Schedule & Predictions

Cal Football 2023 Schedule

The Golden Bears play a non-conference schedule consisting of North Texas, Auburn, and Idaho. This should give Cal a decent chance to go 2-1 in non-conference. From there, they play Washington, Oregon State, Utah, USC, Oregon, and UCLA from the top half of the conference. This means Cal needs to pick up at least three wins against Arizona State, Washington, and Stanford in order to just push.

Cal Football Futures Bet & Prediction

The Golden Bears over/under 5.0 wins is juiced to -120 towards the over. With a 2-1 start likely, Cal still has their work cut out for them to even reach five wins. With an opportunity to push and an even better chance to fall short, under 5.0 wins looks like one of the best preseason bets in all of College Football.

Best Cal Football Futures Bet: Under 5.0 Wins (+100 at DraftKings)

You can read the rest of Matt Gajewski’s 2023 college football season previews and predictions below!

2023 Cal Football Predictions and Season Preview

2023 Cal Football Predictions & Season Preview

Cal Football 2023 Season Preview: Coaching Staff

Cal Football 2023 Season Preview: Offense

Cal Football 2023 Season Preview: Defense

2023 Cal Football Schedule & Predictions

Best Cal Football Futures Bet: Under 5.0 Wins (+100 at DraftKings)

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2023 Cal Football Predictions & Season Preview

Cal Football 2023 Season Preview: Coaching Staff

Cal Football 2023 Season Preview: Offense

Cal Football 2023 Season Preview: Defense

2023 Cal Football Schedule & Predictions

Best Cal Football Futures Bet: Under 5.0 Wins (+100 at DraftKings)

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