5 things to know about Illinois' Redbox Bowl opponent: Cal
Illinois is headed to the West Coast to participate in its first bowl game since the 2014 season. It’ll be a B1G-Pac-12 matchup, as the Fighting Illini are set to take on Cal.
The Fighting Illini became bowl eligible because of a midseason surge, winning four-straight games to leap from 2-4 to 6-4 this season. Unfortunately, things ended on a bit of a sour note, falling in the final two games to Iowa and Northwestern.
Cal, on the other hand, started out hot and won the first four games of the season because of its stingy defense. But some midseason woes shattered the Bears’ hopes of winning a division title. They did finish the year strong, though, winning the final two games on the schedule to get to 7-5.
Here are five things to know about Cal before the Redbox Bowl showdown with Illinois on Dec. 30:
B1G coaching ties
These aren’t deep ties by any stretch, but Justin Wilcox did spend one season serving as Paul Chryst’s defensive coordinator at Wisconsin in 2016. That year, the Badgers won the B1G West and fell to Penn State in the B1G Championship Game. Wisconsin finished the season 11-3 and ranked in the top 10 nationally in scoring defense and run defense. It was easy to see why Wilcox was offered the head coaching job at Cal immediately after that season in Madison.
Sputtering offense
As can be the case with defensive-minded teams, there is a struggle to get much going on the offensive side of the football. That’s certainly been the case for Cal. The Bears rank last in the Pac-12 in scoring (20.1), passing offense (190.8) and total offense (323). Cal scored more than 30 points just once this season and were held under 20 points in all five losses this year.
Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year
Linebacker Evan Weaver is going to be a problem for Illinois. He collected an FBS-best 173 total tackles this season, which included 11 stops for loss and 2.5 sacks. He also defended three passes and forced three fumbles this year. For his efforts, Weaver was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. Obviously, with Cal’s offense struggling the way it did, he was on the field way too much this season, but he certainly took advantage of every snap he played.
Not-so-special teams
When two teams are comparable, special teams can often be the difference in outcome. And that doesn’t bode well for Cal. The Bears are one of the worst punting teams in the country, averaging just 38.8 yards per punt. They’re also only pinning opponents inside the 20-yard line 23 percent of the time this season, a percentage you’d like to see be a little bit higher. The field goal unit has been inconsistent as well, with Greg Thomas knocking down just 11-of-17 attempts this season. He’s also had two of those kicks blocked.
Two-game winning streak
Cal enters the Redbox Bowl having won its last two games of the season (Stanford and UCLA), but has also defeated Illinois the last two times the squads have gone head to head. The Bears defeated the Illini in 2003 and 2005. So, there’s a pair of two-game winning streaks on the line for Cal. If it makes Illinois fans feel any better, the Illini own the all-time series 7-3.