With Cal kicking off the 2013 season Saturday night, new head coach Sonny Dykes’ Bear Raid offense will finally be unveiled in front of a nationally televised audience.
After an offseason spent attempting to master Dykes’ offensive system, the players enter the season with a different feeling from that of previous seasons under former coach Jeff Tedford.
“It’s not a better energy — it’s just a different energy,” said Chris Adcock. “It’s a different feel coming out of it.”
Dykes’ offensive attack will be led by true freshman quarterback Jared Goff, who won a marathon of a quarterback competition against redshirt freshman Zach Kline that began in spring practices and concluded on Aug. 16th, when Dykes announced his intentions to start Goff. The decision solidified Goff’s place in the history books regardless of how he performs this season, as it marks the first time in school history that a true freshman will be under center on opening day.
“I wouldn’t say I’m nervous — I’m just more anxious to get out there,” Goff said. “I’m just ready to go. All this waiting around is building up anxiety.”
The freshman from Kentfield, Calif., along with the remainder of the offensive unit, will be thrown into the fire from the get-go, considering Cal’s first four games features three opponents ranked in the top-25, No. 22 Northwestern, No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Oregon. In total, Cal’s schedule consists of seven games against top 25 opponents.
While the difficult early-season schedule presents a sizable challenge for the Bears, it also gives them a chance to demonstrate the prowess and explosive nature that Dyke’s offense is known for.
“The schedule is set,” Dykes said. “We can’t do anything to change it. Our guys are looking at this as a great opportunity to get on the map.”
On the defensive side of the ball, the Bears hope that Khairi Fortt can improve a porous defensive unit that gave up 31 points per game.
With many of the same personnel from last season, the Bears will rely on a potent offensive attack to lead the way. After all, Dykes’ higher-powered offense at Louisiana Tech was why he was hired back in December.
Although the roster is composed of more big-play threats than Dykes can recall having back at Louisiana Tech, it’s also a team without much experience. In order for the offense to reach its potential, home-run hitters like running backs Brendan Bigelow, Daniel Lasco, Khalfani Muhammad and receivers Bryce Treggs and Chris Harper can’t afford to strike out.
“The experience factor is probably the biggest concern that we have,” Dykes said. “We just don’t have a lot of guys that have logged a lot of hours.”
With one of those inexperienced players being Goff, Dykes will attempt to alleviate some of the pressure off his quarterback by delegating more responsibilities to his starting center, junior Chris Adcock.
While in traditional offenses, the quarterback is responsible for identifying the defensive front, pointing out the linebackers and then setting the protection for his offensive line, those duties, along with the cadence, have been passed to Adcock. Without those responsibilities, Goff will be able to simply focus on the matchups, the coverage, down and distance and the other aspects of quarterbacking.
“In a lot of ways, it allows you to play a freshman quarterback,” Dykes said. “When you can take a little bit of the protection responsibilities off of him and put it to the group that’s really worried about it, which is the offensive line and running backs, then I think it takes the heat off of him.”
Key to Goff’s success will be how Cal fares in the trenches. Last season, the offensive line was ranked as the second-worst in the country, allowing a staggering 41 sacks. But that number should decline this season due to a quicker release of the football and the high tempo of the offense, which should tire out opposing defenses.
Entering the season, new offensive line coach Zach Yenser’s No. 1 priority was making sure his unit could keep up.
“When we had our first meeting with the group, I said we’re going to be the best conditioned offensive line in the Pac-12,” Yenser said. “And they’re kind of looking at me like, ‘Yeah, whatever.’ Fifteen practices later, they’re like, ‘Okay, Coach, I understand now.’”
It’s clear the players have bought into Dykes’ approach, but when Memorial Stadium ushers in the era of Sonny Dykes on Saturday night, their words won’t matter anymore — only their play will.
Sean Wagner-McGough covers football. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @seanjwagner.