With the 2019 season on the horizon, BeaversEdge.com is introducing all 12 of Oregon State's 2019 opponents in July.
Today we arrive at Oregon State's seventh game of the season, a road matchup with Justin Wilcox's Cal Bears in Berkeley.
The Game
Date: Saturday, October 19th
Time: TBA
Location: Corvallis, Oregon
TV: TBA
Betting Line: N/A
Oddshark Prediction: N/A
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Oregon State 2018 record: 2-10 (1-8 Pac-12)
Cal 2018 record: 7-6 (4-5 Pac-12, Lost Cheez-It Bowl 10-7 vs TCU)
Cal 2018 Recap
The second year of the Justn Wilcox regime in Berkeley exceeded expectations as the Bears returned to a bowl game for the first time since 2015.
After going 5-7 in Wilcox's first season, it was reasonable to think that the Bears would return to a bowl game in 2018, but even still, it's impressive that Wilcox was able to make the Bears relevant and competitive after the end of the Sonny Dikes regime.
While Cal's 2018 season could have been better as the Bears had puzzling losses to UCLA and TCU, they were within arms reach of beating some of the upper-echelon teams in the conference and very well could have had more wins.
They lost by six to Washington State in Pullman, and fell to Stanford by 10 in the Big Game. Cal's 0-3 start to Pac-12 play put them behind the eight ball from the start, but everything started to click for the Bears following the 49-7 romp of the Beavers in Corvallis.
The following week, Cal secured one of the biggest wins of the Wilcox tenure, knocking off defending Pac-12 champ Washington and essentially taking the Huskies out out of the running for CFP running.
In terms of the big picture, I'd say that Cal was quite pleased with their 2018 campaign. The Bears proved that they were a new look team under Wilcox and that they'd be a strong presence in the north division for years to come.
Best win: October 27th - vs Washington - 12-10
Worst loss: October 13th - vs UCLA - 37-7
2019 Outlook
Following a successful 2018 season, look for the Bears to continue their upward climb in the Pac-12 north hierarchy this season.
While the improved progress might not show in increased win totals as Cal's schedule is significantly more difficult this season than last, the Bears have proven that they're going to be competitive and in a position to win nearly every time they take the field thanks to terrific team defense.
With Cal returning eight defensive starters and having eight of their top-10 tacklers returning from a defense that was 11th in country in total yards allowed a season ago, the Bears will once again yield a strong defensive unit.
Offensively, the Bears are in need of a major uptick in production to match the defense's intensity and balance the scales. While Cal has yielded a very good defense in the first two seasons under Wilcox and defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter, the offense hasn't been what Cal fans expected two years ago when Wilcox hired the offensive-minded Beau Baldwin.
Beaver fans know Baldwin well as he was a potential candidate for the Oregon State job prior to the Beavers hiring Smith thanks to his accolades at Eastern Washington, but during his first two seasons in Berkeley, the Bears have struggled with offensive efficiency.
Given that Baldwin is held in high regard for his offensive mindset and recruiting prowess, I believe it's just a matter of time before he gets the offense on the same level as the defense efficiency wise. Despite not having a ton of established weapons around sophomore quarterback Chase Garbers thanks to offseason graduations, there's still potential here, and it will be interesting to see how things shake out.
Cal Season Prediction: 7-5
Early Prediction
While Oregon State figures to be plenty motivated to avenge last seasons 49-7 loss to the Golden Bears, Cal is further ahead in their rebuild and could be on the door of something special in year three of the Wilcox era.
With the Beavers coming off what figures to be one of the more physical games of the year against Utah in the week prior and Cal having a bye week prior to the matchup, it's another game where the edge doesn't favor the Beavs.
There's plenty of wiggle room in this prediction as I think Oregon State's motivation to play Cal really well will be on full display and could be enough to lead them to the road upset.
However, given that Cal is the home team and have an extra week to prepare, I've got the Golden Bears in a close one.
Cal 31, Oregon State 28
