As the Pac-12 portion of ASU football's schedule approaches, The State Press plans to connect with student publications around the conference to discuss ASU's opponents each week.
We caught up with Daily Cal sports editor Hooman Yazdanian to ask him some burning questions about this week's matchup between ASU and California, a rematch of the 2015 regular season finale for both teams.
The State Press: The similarities between the Cal and Texas Tech offenses have been noted by the ASU coaching staff quite frequently as of late. What are some unique wrinkles of the Cal offense, especially under new coordinator Jake Spavital?
The Daily Californian: On its surface, the Cal offense is a high-powered machine. But that's not to say it should be impossible to stop. Cal's offense has the bad habit of becoming predictable for long spans of the game — Davis Webb will hand the ball off for a run up the middle, throw a screen pass and then throw an out to Chad Hansen. These aren't easy to stop, but when you know they're coming, it can be easy to slow down.
The most important aspects of the offense are its tempo and the big-play ability. This team is explosive. Webb has a cannon and there are plenty of receivers on the team who can beat defensive backs and break the top off the defense.
SP: The Golden Bears have six receivers with 100+ yards thus far. What makes that group so dynamic, and who are some of the under-the-radar skill position players that could make an impact against ASU?
DC: Other than Hansen, there is no clear featured receiver in the Cal offense. The Bears rely on Webb to get the best out of a group of inexperienced but talented receivers. Although they can be sloppy at times — route running is often less than crisp — these other receivers are good. There are players like Melquise Stovall who are just impossible to tackle. Then you have your Demetris Robertson and Vic Wharton III types, who might be faster than anyone else on the field Saturday. Robertson, who came in as a five-star recruit this offseason, is especially impressive. I don't think I've ever seen someone faster.
The guy I'd look out for is Jordan Veasy. He's one of my favorite receivers on the team, and he's become a bigger part of the offense in recent weeks. I'd expect six catches and 80 yards out of him.
SP: How does Cal plan to slow down ASU running backs Demario Richard and Kalen Ballage?
DC: Honestly, this one's tough. The offense is great and the pass defense is okay, but Cal's efforts at stopping the run have been bad. The back seven can't tackle — at all. If either of the ASU running backs break through the line, they're probably going to go at least 30 yards. This is where Cal really misses Damariay Drew, who's going to miss the season because of an injury in spring. Drew was the guy who turned all those big plays into gains of just 10 or 12. Without him, ASU will probably put up a nice 300 yards on the ground.
SP: Which team do you think will have the advantage on special teams and why?
DC: I can't say I know all there is to know about Arizona State's special teams at this point, but Cal's got a decent squad there. Matt Anderson's a really solid kicker, even though there's not much asked of him. He's really accurate, but his leg strength is merely adequate. As for Dylan Klumph, the punter, he had a great game last week against Texas, including a 64-yard punt. But he also got blocked once, so that unit is more of a question mark. The kick returning duties mainly fall to Khalfani Muhammad, who's on the track team, and he does a good job of getting to his own 30-yard line just about every time. The punt returning job cycles through a few guys but they're all about average.
SP: Last year's meeting came down to the wire thanks to field goal as time expired to close out the regular season. Cal has played in several games decided by a touchdown or less over the last two seasons and won quite a few of them, particularly on the road. What gives Cal the edge in these high-leverage moments, and has head coach Sonny Dykes addressed that success at all?
DC: Those close games are a coin flip more often than not. A lot of it is left up to luck — there's no real skill in forcing kickers to miss chip shots at the end of the game. But a good thing Cal has had under Dykes is a great set of quarterbacks, and that's often thought of as one of the most important factors in deciding games like this. Jared Goff just tore up Arizona State last year in the fourth quarter, and it ended up deciding the game, and Webb has potential to do the same. But, at the end of the day, that won't matter if a lucky break goes the other team's way.
SP: And finally, your prediction?
DC: I think Cal pulls out a close one, where neither team comes close to stopping the other.
55-48, Cal.
You can follow Hooman on Twitter @hoomanyazdanian and The Daily Cal's coverage here or @dailycalsports.
Reach the reporter at smodrich@asu.edu or follow @StefanJModrich on Twitter.
Like State Press Sports on Facebook and follow @statepressport on Twitter.
