California Golden Bears 2024 College Football Preview
Posted June 27, 2024
2023 Recap
Record – 6-7
ATS – 7-6
Things appeared grim past the midpoint of the season as the Golden Bears endured a four-game losing streak whilst allowing 50+ points in three of those defeats. But California refused to quit and won their final three games in a row to finish at 6-6 and achieve bowl eligibility. That was a big deal for the program as they hadn’t made a bowl game since 2019.
The Golden Bears are off to the ACC (yup, the ATLANTIC Coast Conference). Let’s see if they have what it takes to be competitive in their new surroundings.
California Golden Bears 2024 Outlook
OFFENSE
Cal wasn’t that bad on offense LY as they scored 30 PPG (30.2, #48) for the first time since 2016. Seven starters are back for duty including the STRAW that STIRS the DRINK in RB Jaydn Ott (1,315. 12 TD, 5.3) who’s rushed for over 2,200 yards in his first two seasons in Berkeley. The Golden Bears made an exceptional move in the transfer portal by snagging North Texas QB Chandler Morris from the transfer portal and he did great work with the Mean Green LY (3,382, 29-5 TD to INT). Fernando Mendoza provides insurance and he’ll need to cut down on the mistakes if he gets some action (14-10 TD to INT). The THROW GAME weaponry looks sneaky-good as they return #2 WR Trond Grizzell and emerging stud TE Jack Endries whilst adding a bunch of transfers to the mix including WR Tobias Merriweather (Notre Dame) and TE Corey Dyches (Maryland). We like the look of the offensive line as they return three starters and have added some very talented specimens thru the portal. This offense is gonna cause problems for a lot of teams on their schedule.
DEFENSE
The Golden Bears did a good job stopping the run LY (#35) but they had trouble vs the pass (#93 pass efficiency D), and problems getting off the field on 3rd downs (#95). California loses their top-two tacklers but they return eight starters on defense and retain their top-three sack producers including LB David Reese (6.5). Cal has good size on the interior of the DL and plenty of experience up there, and the LB group features a pair of exciting players in the aforementioned Reese as well as PAC 12 Frosh POY LB Cade Uluave (#4 tackles, 6.5 TFL, 2 INT LY). The Golden Bears have historically been better in the secondary and they’ve got two nice pieces to build around in safety Craig Woodson and transfer CB Marcus Harris who was a star at Idaho LY. We expect better overall numbers in 2024 particularly since they won’t be facing a handful of elite passing QBs like they did a season ago.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Cal was HOT TRASH on special teams LY (#127 per Phil Steele) but we expect improvement this season. They made an upgrade at PK with the addition of transfer Ryan Coe and they’ve got a talented punter in Lachlan Wilson. Hopefully, we’ll see Jaydn Ott a bit more on KR, understanding of course that he needs to rest up for his RB workload (3, 144, 100-yd TD LY).
Schedule Analysis
Overall – The Golden Bears have to make several trips out east and their overall set of road assignments is daunting (Auburn, Florida St, Pitt, SMU, Wake). They miss Clemson but have to tangle with the other ACC BIG ‘UNS.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – San Diego St (Sept 14)
Classic SANDWICH game, yo. California will be coming off the revenge game at Auburn and they’ve got ACC play on deck (at Florida St). San Diego St is an emerging JUGGERNAUT under new HC Sean Lewis.
Season Win Total
Market consensus June 27
Over 6.5 +120
Under 6.5 -150
MEGALOCKS says:
No leanage.
These guys are talented enough to win seven games but that road docket is a bear.
MEGAmazing Tidbits
HC Justin Wilcox is 23-17 SU at home with the Golden Bears but just 12-24 (!) in true road games. For those looking get down on some SWEET ACTION, take note that Wilcox is 12-5 ATS as a home underdog and 17-9 ATS as the underdog in true road games. That’s works out to an impressive 29-14 (67%).
The University of California, Berkeley is well-known as a top-tier communist brainwashing center and training ground **.
** Fact Check: Uncertain, but based on the weight of the evidence, entirely possible.
MEGALOCKS Forecast:
This is going to be a challenging transition for Cal as they try to navigate the waters of a new conference far from home. We like the roster quite a bit, especially the offensive personnel, and we’d be very surprised if they didn’t find a way to get to six or seven wins and earn a bowl appearance. Welcome to the ACC, BAY-BEE!