It will be strength against strength on Saturday when Cal comes to Austin to play Texas. The Bears’ offense can score points in the blink of an eye, and they’ll face a stout Texas defense, but also one that needs to be virtually perfect to help carry a sagging offense.
How to watch Cal vs. Texas on TV or online, plus 3 things to know
Can the Longhorns spring the upset at home over the high-powered Bears?
Texas looked pretty good against Rice, the first game in which Jay Norvell called plays after Shawn Watson was stripped of that duty. It was also Jerrod Heard's first game as starting quarterback, replacing Tyrone Swoopes. It was only one game, but you can see small positive signs after their brutal implosion in Week 1 against Notre Dame.
Cal was expected to compete for a bowl berth and score a lot of points this year, but they’ve looked dominating in two games against overmatched competition. If they can keep rolling up points on a decent defense like Texas’, that should bode well for their fate in the Pac-12 North.
How to watch, stream and listen
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FOX, Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt, Molly McGrath
Online streaming: Fox Sports Go
Spread: Cal is favored by 6.5 points.
Make friends: Get to SB Nation’s team blog chats for this game at California Golden Blogs for Cal fans and Burnt Orange Nation for Texas fans.
Three big things to know
1. The Jerrod Heard show. Heard was named the starter instead of Tyrone Swoopes before the Rice game last week, and Heard played well as the Horns rolled up 42 points. Granted, it was against Rice, but Cal isn’t known for their ironclad defense. The game plan against Rice didn’t call for a ton of passing -- Heard ended the game 4-of-7 passing for 120 yards and two touchdowns -- and they’ll probably need Heard’s arm more to keep up with Cal’s offense.
2. Can Cal keep scoring? As expected, the Bears have been piling up points this year, averaging 54 points through two games. Texas will be the toughest defense they’ve faced this year by far, but it remains to be seen how much they’ll be slowed down.
3. Can Texas block out the distractions. New play callers. An athletic director that might be on his way out. There’s so much negative energy surrounding Texas athletics right now, and it has to affect the players on some level, no matter how hard they try to block it out. This has the feeling of a season that can spiral out of control if they let it, but the way they play in this game should be instructive as to how keyed in they are.
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