California Golden Bears 2016 NCAA Football Preview
CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS
PAC-12 Conference – North Division
2015 Record – 8-5
ATS – 6-7
2016 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating Rank
North Division #5
Conference #10
2015 Recap
Just a couple of seasons removed from a 2-win season, the Golden Bears rode the arm of Jared Goff to an 8-5 mark and a bowl victory over Air Force. They manged to beat Texas and Washington in back to back road games early in the season, but shortly after that, they began a skid in which they lost five of six games. They still managed their highest win total since the 2009 season.
2016 Preview
OFFENSE
It was fun while it lasted. Jared Goff was the #1 NFL draft pick this spring and the Golden Bears must find a new starting QB. The tall task of replacing the school’s #1 all-time leading passer will fall on the shoulders of Texas Tech transfer Davis Webb who was named the starter early in August.
California returns three RBs from last season’s squad that each tallied 500 yards rushing. They also have a good and experienced offensive line which paved the way for 4.5 yards per carry last season while allowing only 27 sacks on well over 500 passing attempts.
Check this out. California loses their top SIX receivers from last season. The alarm bells initially went off at MEGALOCKS HQ, but upon further review, it seems they are stocked with talent, and HC Sonny Dykes has put them in a position to remain lethal in the passing game.
DEFENSE
The Golden Bears have some work to do. The top six tacklers from the 2015 unit are gone including the surprise departure of leading tackler LB Hardy Nickerson. Nobody who had more than two sacks last season returns in 2016. This feels like an impending struggle. The offense is gonna have to put up a lot of points for the Golden Bears to stay in many games. Or so it appears.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Matt Anderson returns at PK and he did a nice job last season (18/21) but it is a reload almost all across the board. They will introduce a new punter and need to find a threat in the return game that was pretty dismal last year.
MEGALOCKS ATS Value Rating (10) 3.0
MEGALOCKS says:
California starts things off in one of our favorite cities in the world, Sydney, Australia. After that match-up, the Golden Bears face one of the toughest schedules in the FBS including a couple of tough non-conference games against San Diego St and Texas, followed by a PAC 12 slate that has all the heavy hitters on board.
Overall, we give the GOLDEN BEARS a 3.0 ATS Value Rating (Below Average) this season. It is not just about losing star QB Jared Goff. The defense concerns us particularly after losing LB Hardy Nickerson and SS Demariay Drew. That defense is very inexperienced compared to last season’s unit and we feel that the offense will have trouble scoring enough points to allow for a winning record ATS.
Want more Golden Bears Football ?
Website
http://www.calbears.com/index.aspx?path=football
Forum
http://bearinsider.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?7-Football
http://www.scout.com/college/california/forums/1419-football
News
http://www.californiagoldenblogs.com/
http://www.mercurynews.com/cal-bears
http://bleacherreport.com/cal-bears-football
http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/teams/california-golden-bears
https://twitter.com/CalFootball @CalFootball
https://twitter.com/rob11hwang @rob11hwang Rob Hwang