Cal football: 14 predictions for the 2014 season

Still, I'm writing anyway because I'm not afraid to be wrong, even if I probably will be. Below are some things I think heading into the start of practice next week, mostly related to the offense...supported with why I think them.

Sound off, disagree, counterargue below.

1. Jared Goff will break his own program record for season passing yards and touchdowns. Starting this column with what seems like a gimme. Although the recent trend in college football has been quarterbacks playing earlier and earlier, where these young signalcallers really begin to take off is that redshirt freshman year, or their sophomore ones, if they played right away. You no doubt remember the likes of Johnny Manziel, or Jameis Winston, the Marcus Mariotas and the Brett Hundleys, all of who became household names their -- you guessed it -- 2nd years. Throw in possibly the best set of receivers in the Pac-12 flanking Goff on the outside, and this might be the easiest call on the list.

This prediction also operates with the luxury of those program marks not being particularly high in the first place. Yay, me!

2. He will also complete over 65% of his passes. Another gimme, one that I've apparently been calling since last year, according to some of my past Monday columns, so I'm going to keep it here, too. And why not? Goff hit 60% behind a line that was shuffled more often than John Cena's five knuckles -- yeah! a pro wrestling reference in this space! Bet you weren't expecting that! -- last season. Now, he's healthy from his December shoulder surgery, and should be ready to take at least this minimal jump in efficiency. A much higher figure wouldn't surprise me, since we throw so much short game, but this seems like a reasonable minimum yielding huge results for the offense as a whole.

3. Barring some injury to Jared Goff, Luke Rubenzer will not take a snap this season. In other words, I think Goff hangs onto his starting spot, no matter what else happens, losing spells or not.

And to those people hopping in and insisting for The Skywalker to debut as a freshman, I would remind you that people much smarter than us are convinced of #16's talent, both on the staff and outside of it. True, Rubenzer arrived a month earlier than most freshman and took place in extra workouts, but he's still playing from a significant disadvantage in trying to beat out an already entrenched starter. This isn't the same situation as last year, where no guy had any accumulated playing time whosoever.

I just don't see them burning Rubenzer's redshirt, and would kind of prefer it doesn't, especially because there's still the long term to think about it with him.

4. The Bear Raid will finally, finally #drop50 this season. In a win. It will be glorious. Sac State, we comin for you.

5. ...but they still won't be anywhere close to a finished product. They will, however, average at least 33 points a game. Again, reasonably speaking at this point and time, with any form of improvement on defense, the offense should have the ball more often, moving it at a much better clip and efficiency than last year. Look north for further proof of how a year of reps works in the Air Raid family of offenses -- Washington State, perhaps our closest analogue in philosophy and situation, went from a paltry 20.4 in 2012 to 31.0 a season later. It's not a stretch to think we have the personnel to match that, if not outright exceed it.

(33 points per game would be the 70th percentile in 2013. For reference, we averaged 23.0, which was the 22nd percentile.)

6. If healthy, Daniel Lasco, not Khalfani Muhammad, will lead the team in rushing. Call it a gut instinct, but I say this thinking that Lasco has a more natural body type to take top back carries. Coach Likens said about the same in our pre-fall meeting, and while the freshmen will certainly play, until I see them hit the field at camp, I'm not quite ready to make any kind of claim about them or their number of touches.

7. A Cal receiver will make the All Pac 12 team. Although it could be any one of the four big name wideouts, the best bet is probably on Chris Harper, who cracked third team in Phil Steele/Athlon's previews. He's another If Healthy guy.

Just for fun, I think they break down like this, in terms of statistical production this season: Harper, Lawler, Treggs, Davis.

8. Two Cal receivers will crack a thousand yards. YEAH I'M GOING OUT ON A LIMB YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT I SAID IT

For perspective:

• There were 44 guys to reach that mark last season.
• Ball State (Willie Snead, Jordan Williams), Fresno State (Davante Adams, Isaiah Burse, Josh Harper), Florida State (Kelvin Benjamin, Rashad Greene), LSU (Odell Beckham, Jarvis Landry) were the only ones to place multiple 1000 yard receivers.

Combine that with the last comment, and I guess I'm saying Harper and Lawler both crack a thousand yards.