Mailbag 179: What Auburn should expect from Cal in Week 2

This week: Tempo, Saturday's weather, FCS games, true depth at WR, Week 1 takeaways, basketball schedules and the best month

(Austin Perryman/Auburn Tigers)

Welcome back to another football game weekend edition of The Observer Mailbag.

We’ve got a lot to get to this week, as Substack gave me the “you’re near the length limit for an actual email” notification rather early in the process of writing this intro.

So we’ll skip the formalities and jump right in with a pair of questions about what to expect as Cal comes to Auburn for the big rematch in Week 2.

Cal didn’t have two potential starting offensive linemen and their two big-time wide receiver transfers in Week 1. Any chance those guys pose a threat that the rest of the not-Ott roster didn’t against UC Davis?

James

It’s pretty tough to figure out what to expect from Cal, particularly on offense, after what happened in Week 1.

Cal revamped its offensive staff this past offseason and played with more tempo and spread-out sets than we’ve seen in years past. Sterlin Gilbert has brought a Veer-and-Shoot-ish style to Berkeley, and it looks like it’s going to be a work in progress after the Golden Bears put up just 281 yards against an FCS team.

Fernando Mendoza went a solid 15-22 through the air, but most of that came on short stuff. He was 4-9 on passes of 10 or more air yards, and only one completion went for a truly explosive play. A pair of bigger-name wide receiver transfers, Kyion Grayes (Ohio State) and Tobias Merriweather (Notre Dame), didn’t play. Jonathan Brady (New Mexico State) left the game early with an injury as well.

Grayes was a former top-100 recruit who only had one catch in his two years at Ohio State. Merriweather had 14 catches for 189 yards and two touchdowns last season at Notre Dame, with most of his production coming in blowout victories. It’s clear that Cal is banking on potential with them, and they’re not quite proven commodities yet. Brady was NMSU’s top receiver last year, although he didn’t do much against Auburn.

Cal also tried rotating drives between Mendoza and North Texas transfer Chandler Morris, who is more of a rushing threat. Morris’ possessions didn’t go very well, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a little less of him against Auburn. It feels like Cal is going to need to get Mendoza in a rhythm with quick throws against Auburn’s work-in-progress secondary, and Morris just didn’t get much done against UC Davis.

Cal’s offensive line couldn’t get much of a consistent push against UC Davis’ defensive front, and the Golden Bears didn’t even break 3 yards per carry as a team. UC Davis got a sack and six tackles for loss, too. Cal’s offensive line was dealing with a couple of injuries to expected starters, and the changes seemed to have an impact on their communication. If they’re less than 100% against Auburn, the Tigers could really prey on that with the crowd noise in Jordan-Hare Stadium.

I would expect Cal star running back Jaydn Ott to make the trip to Auburn and at least give it a go Saturday. Justin Wilcox doesn’t give out much injury information, making things even tougher to predict for Saturday. What we saw against UC Davis wasn’t encouraging at all for Cal, but it’s a new system that had to deal with plenty of injuries. Cal is going to hope that the old adage of “the most improvement comes between Week 1 and Week 2” holds true for that side of the ball.

If Merriweather is able to go, he would be the one I would highlight the most from Cal in the non-Ott department. He’s 6-foot-4 and spent two seasons in the rotation at Notre Dame. Grayes is a complete wild card, as we just haven’t seen much of him at the collegiate level. On the offensive line, interior veteran Sioape Vatikani is the one to watch. It sounds like Cal is banking on him to lead a revamped line, and he didn’t play at all against UC Davis.

To me, a lot of this matchup hinges on what happens in the trenches. For Auburn’s defense, helping out the secondary against an offense that is likely going to want to spread the field and nickel-and-dime will be critical. The Cal offensive line looks susceptible. Slowing down a less-than-100% Ott and getting after Mendoza are attainable goals for an Auburn defensive front that played well in Week 1.

It’s been a year, so my memory is fuzzy, but doesn’t Cal run some sort of funky defensive scheme? How do you think this new RPO offense matches up against it?

Chris