Know Your Enemy: What Texas Football Must Do To Beat California

By Adam Sweeney

It seems a bit premature to call Saturday’s contest against California a must-win game, but here we are. The Texas Longhorns are 1-1, and it feels like the program is in a period of transition from the top down. Mike Perrin replaced Steve Patterson this week as athletic director, Jay Norvell took over for Shawn Watson a week ago as the team’s play caller and Jerrod Heard stepped in to the starting quarterback spot, unseating Tyrone Swoopes.

Luckily for UT, all of these appear to be positive changes. But change brings trepidation, especially for a fan base that is used to 10-win seasons. Texas doesn’t figure to end the season with double digits in the “W” category this year, but the Longhorns can prove they are a team on the rise. The best way to do that is by beating teams on their current level and improve week to week. Enter the Cal Golden Bears, who possess their fair share of uncertainty.

What must Texas do to win and move to 2-1? Let’s take a look:

Meet Aaron Rodgers 2.0

You won’t find a quarterback in college who is receiving more praise than Cal’s Jared Goff, and for good reason. The 6-foot-4-inch, 215-pound junior owns [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] 19 school records already, beat out competition as a true freshman and fits the mold of a pro quarterback, uses his masterful understanding of the game to pick apart defenses, and has the arm strength and timing to hit on every pass, short, intermediate, or deep down the field.

But don’t take my word for it. Texas defensive coordinator Vance Bedford called the Bears’ quarterback one of the best college quarterbacks he has ever seen. “This is Aaron Rodgers,” Bedford said. “He’s the real deal. This young man is exceptional.” Goff was recruited by former Cal head coach and quarterback guru Jeff Tedford, who also groomed Rodgers while he was at Cal, so the comparison makes sense.

Goff has an uncanny understanding of the offense and his mechanics are Peyton Manning-esque (thank God that he doesn’t go overboard with audible calls or shout “Omaha” on every down). He also is getting praise from NFL draft experts in the same vein as Manning. Mel Kiper has ranked Goff as the top quarterback prospect in the 2016 NFL Draft and he’s not alone in that opinion.

Watch this video of Jared Goff highlights and what makes him so good is readily apparent. Focus on the second clip in particular at the :14 mark. Goff keeps his cool and uses his mobility to extend a play and fire the pass downfield.

The junior quarterback will be looking at this game as a chance to throw a coming out party in front of a national audience. The Texas defense isn’t currently being confused with world beaters, but when a quarterback picks apart the Texas defense, people are going to take notice. Goff strikes with pinpoint accuracy and loves picking apart the middle of opposing defenses … and he also is a fan of throwing fade patterns to Kenny Lawler, the 6-foot-3 junior receiver. The Texas defensive backs have their work cut out for them against a quarterback with the ability to show off both strength and touch on any pass.

Don’t Feed the Bears

The Cal offense operates in a scheme known as the “Bear Raid,” a no-huddle offense that often leaves defenses gassed. The system relies on slight adjustments to a short number of plays, allowing for Goff to make adjustments on the fly. This confuses opponents who are looking for any tell they can gain to indicate a play call. How can that be done when rushing and passing plays look the exact same at the line of scrimmage? Great question.

“We run a lot of run/pass stuff, where we have a run play and a pass play on at the same time — screens or outs on the backside of run plays,” Goff said. “The most difficult part for me was deciding when to run and when to pass, because I had never done that before.”

It it not unreasonable to think that the Cal offense, which returns eight starters, including all but one wideout, may run more than 80 plays Saturday, especially since each Notre Dame and Rice already did so against Texas this year.

Under Pressure

It will be a challenge to slow down the Bear Raid offense, which is predicated on quick strikes and exploiting a team’s overaggressiveness, but the Texas Longhorns must get pressure on Goff to have a chance at stopping him. No defensive end has registered a sack this season, an alarming stat. The only defender that has consistently caused problems for opposing quarterbacks so far this season is freshman linebacker Malik Jefferson, and even he has experienced difficulty at times bringing the quarterback down. Shiro Davis and friends, now is the time to show your merit.

I Heard That

We have stated that this game is a chance for Goff to vault himself into the conversation of who will be picked first in the 2016 NFL Draft. Well, Heard also has a golden opportunity of his own in this match-up. If Heard can outplay Goff, he will cement himself as the legitimate starter for Texas and also improve his early draft stock. Yes, this is only his second game starting but a player never can turn NFL scouts’ heads too soon.

Cal’s defense is weaker than a Kanye West cover of Bohemian Rhapsody, so Heard is going to get his chances to show off his breakaway speed. Norvell has said that he wants and expects Heard to use his legs to beat teams. What I want to see is Heard show progression as a passer. Can he continue to beat teams over the top with deep throws to John Burt? We hope so, but we also want to see him hit Johnathan Gray on screen passes and prove that he is comfortable attacking the heart of defenses. We’re not asking for Heard to be brilliant — just …ahem … BEAR-able.

Coming Up Roses

Believe it or not, the Cal football team is still upset over being passed by Rose Bowl selection committee in 2005, when the higher-ups chose Texas to play against Michigan. At the time Mack Brown received criticism from the Bears for allegedly campaigning to get the bowl spot. Then-starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers called Brown out, saying, “I thought it was a little classless how Coach Brown was begging for votes after the (Texas A&M) game.”

Of course, the Bears didn’t do themselves any favors by going out to the Holiday Bowl and getting trounced by 7-4 Texas Tech, 45-31. That said, the entire university is using this as fuel to upend the Texas Longhorns. What can we say? Football players and fans are crazy at times, and will look for any edge.

The Third Degree

The Rice Owls converted 14-of-21 times on 3rd down last week. Notre Dame converted 8-of-14 times on third down. That adds up to teams converting on 22 of 35 third downs, a category in which Texas ranks dead last in the entire nation. No, that is not a joke. Well, it is a joke, but not in a way that will leave any Texas fan laughing. Cal currently ranks 100th in the nation in third down conversion percentage, at 36.4 percent, so we will be looking at what happens when a stoppable force meets a movable object.

Isn’t That Special?

The one area in whichTexas has a clear advantage is special teams. Cal ranked No. 90 and No. 95, respectively, in the nation by FEI in this facet of the game, so don’t be shocked to see Daje Johnson break the game open with a few long returns. Field position can be everything in a game so this is something to look for. Let’s hope the Texas special teams unit can give the ‘Horns an edge and plenty of short fields with which to work.

Chew Up the Pasture

How does a defense stop a top-rated offense like Cal’s? As cliché as it is, sometimes the best defense is a good offense, and this is definitely true Saturday for Texas. The Longhorn offense can do the defensive players a favor by spelling them with running plays that chew up the clock. Keeping Goff and the Cal offense off the field is half the battle. If the Texas offense needs a blueprint for how to extend drives, the Longhorns should watch tape of what Rice did last week against the UT defense. Quarterback Driphus Jackson and the Owls ran the ball 55 times in the game. While they only averaged 3.9 yards per carry, the end result was impressive: Rice possessed the ball for 44:02. The Owls may not have won the game, but keeping the ball that long is still a winning strategy. If Heard and the ‘Horns can limit turnovers and wear down Cal’s question mark of a defense with punishing runs by D’onta Foreman, who is staking his claim as the bell cow of the running back stable, they will have gone a long way toward lighting up the Clock Tower orange Saturday.

[/s2If] [s2If !current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] [article-offer] [/s2If]