Cal Opponent Review: Stanford has a losing record

With the momentum of this weekend’s victory and Cal’s perfect non-conference play, let’s go ahead and take a look at how our opponents stacked up this week.

USC 27, Texas 24

In the much-anticipated sequel to the 2006 Rose Bowl, USC managed to come from behind with less than a minute and push the game into overtime. The game eventually ended in the 2^nd OT with a 43-yard field goal. If this game revealed anything in particular about a strong USC team it’s that defense is going to be incredibly important next week.

Oregon 49, Wyoming 13

Surprising no one, the Ducks beat down the Wyoming Cowboys by 36. Some of the more striking stats from this matchup were that the Ducks defense held Wyoming to 64 passing yards and converted 100 percent of their red zone appearances.

Washington 48, Fresno State 16

Not only did Washington easily beat the Bulldogs, but Dante Pettis returned another punt for a touchdown, tying the NCAA record with his eighth punt return TD. Using Fresno State’s example of holding Washington to 92 rushing yards, one area Cal should be able to capitalize on is holding Washington’s run game back.

Washington State 52, Oregon State 23

It seemed like Washington State’s QB Luke Falk couldn’t miss on Saturday. Falk threw for 396 yards, completing 37 of 49 attempts. On the flipside, Oregon State’s defense has allowed an average of 46 points per game before this matchup. While Washington State looks like it will be a difficult matchup, Oregon State could help Cal tack on another W late in the season.

Arizona 63, UTEP 16

After a tough loss last week it looks like the Wildcats took their disappointment out on the Miners. Arizona’s QB Brandon Dawkins managed three rushing TDs and three passing TDs to easily lead the Wildcats to victory.

Colorado 41, Northern Colorado 21

The Buff’s QB Steven Montez career-high game, throwing four TDs and 357 yards, led them to victory over Northern Colorado. Despite two turnovers, and the 202 passing yards the Buff’s defense managed to give up, Colorado’s offense was able to safely put this one away.

Stanford 17, San Diego State 20

Ahh, nothing feels better than watching Furd lose, right?? After a bizarre moment when the power went out, causing the stadium to pitch black, San Diego scored an eight-yard TD to put them ahead with 54 seconds left. That leaves Stanford 1-2 heading into conference play where they face off against UCLA at home.

UCLA 45, Memphis 48

A straight-up shooting match. Although UCLA’s Josh Rosen threw for 463 yards on 34 of 56 attempts and four TDs, he also had two bad interceptions. One of which ended up a 65-yard pick six. On the other side, Memphis’s Riley Ferguson put up 398 yards and six TDs, on 23 of 38. Seeing as Rosen’s mistakes really hurt UCLA in the end, hopefully as the season progresses our defense will continue to roll on and really present a problem for him.