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Cal opponent news: Texas rebuilding, Grambling State band coming, SDSU & Utah new uniforms

Just a quick trip through opposing camps.

By Avinash Kunnath
Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Filling in for cldpc, a special Golden Nuggets themed look at Cal opponents! Let's take a look at each squad.

Grambling State (check out our opponent preview!)

It's official, the band will be coming to Berkeley. This might be one FCS opponent you need to do your booking for!

This will be one tough battle for the great Cal band. Can they outduel one of the best drumlines in the nation?


San Diego State (check out our opponent preview!)

The Aztecs will be debuting some pretty cool helmets this season. Ever wanted to see an Aztec calendar in person? San Diego State will indulge you.

Here is the matching uniform.

If you could change the Cal helmet to make it look even better than what San Diego State has put out, how would you change it and why?

San Diego State was picked to win the MWC West by the media (and lose to Boise in the title game). They will be doing without one starting offensive linemen and a few backups, who were suspended for half their season for a violation of team rules.

Texas (check out our opponent preview!)

The Longhorns just sound like they're in a big rebuild this year.

"I'm not going to play musical chairs with them," Strong said. "They both are going to play. When we line up in South Bend, whoever is going to start, the other guy is going to play also."

  • They are running out of offensive linemen.

More:

With the departure of Hughes, the Longhorns have had five offensive lineman leave the program in the last year. So Hughes is now part of a list that includes Rami Hammad, Desmond Harrison, Curtis Riser, and Darius James. All five were ranked as four-star prospects or higher.

They are giving freshmen the chance to win starting jobs away from incumbent starters.

If this game is 17-14 in the 4th quarter, there's a very good chance I'm going to lose parts of my soul.

Washington (check out our opponent preview!)

The Huskies are running out of cornerbacks. Naijel Hale, son of Nate Dogg, was dismissed from the program. Rough days. More from UW Dawg Pound.

Washington has a quarterback battle of their own to resolve, with four capable candidates! Is it the incumbent starter Jeff Lindquist? Is it the impressive transfer K.J. Carter-Samuels? Is it the JUCO transfer and potential action director Tony Rodriguez? Or can true freshman Jake Browning make his mark?

Washington State (check out our opponent preview!)

This is a twist. The defense looked better than the offense to start out camp. But Wazzu has to figure out their Connor Halliday replacement.

Also, if you want to learn more about the Cougs this season, click here!

Utah (opponent preview coming this week, rest coming soon)

Utah will be debuting their throwback uniforms against Cal. Look at the sweet UU helmets!

I always get worried when a team puts out cool uniforms for a home game. They always play a little bit better in them it feels. Or maybe it's just because we've been bad for awhile and the opposing team could've gone cosplay and still gotten away with it.

It's still the same old story with the Utes in practice. Defense shining, Devantae Booker looks like the best running back in the Pac-12, and we have no idea how functional the passing game will be.

UCLA

The Bruins just kicked off practice, so there's no real news or change we can inform you of with most of the starters already penciled in. The biggest thing is and will continue to be the quarterback battle, which true freshman Josh Rosen is expected to win over Jerry Neuheisel. Both are currently splitting snaps.

USC

Gross. Just gross. Everyone is so good and they're replacing all their NFL draft ready talent with more NFL draft ready talent.

Gross.

Oregon

Oregon lost Thomas Tyner for the season, meaning some other super running back is going to come off their bench and explode for 200 yards against us (Tony James or Taj Griffin, come on down!). With Royce Freeman and Byron Marshall leading the way, they should be okay on that front.

More vital: The Ducks are still waiting on Vernon Adams to figure out his eligibility.

Also, glow in the dark uniforms?

Oregon State

Starting to see a trend here with quarterback competitions. Cal will be facing a half-dozen teams on their schedule who still don't have a starting quarterback, and the Beavers are the last one.

Stanford

They close practices and no one cares enough to report about them.

Arizona State

Camp is mostly closed here. ASU seems to be feeling comfortable in replacing both of their tackles. A freshman defensive lineman got suspended for the season for using an airsoft gun. And they have new Adidas jerseys.


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