UNC at Cal: Here are 10 things to know about the Bears

The North Carolina Tar Heels will open up its 2018 football season on the road against California.

Here are 10 things you should know about the Cal Bears.

1. Last season

The Bears finished last season 5-7 under coach Justin Wilcox, who was in his first year with the team.

Wilcox’s first win with Cal, however, was a 35-30 win at UNC in the season opener.

The Bears led the Tar Heels by three points heading into the fourth quarter. But Cal scored two back-to-back touchdowns, including one with less than two minutes to play that put the Bears up by 11. Cal quarterback Ross Bowers, then a redshirt sophomore, passed for 363 yards and threw four touchdowns and two interceptions. He’s returning for his junior season.

Cal started the season 3-0 last year, but struggled against Pac-12 opponents. The Bears finished the season 2-7 in the conference, and didn’t reach a bowl game. Cal did, however, pick up a win against then-No. 8 Washington State in mid October.

2. Leaders

Leading passer: Bowers last season completed 272 of his 461 passes for 3,039 yards. He threw 18 touchdowns and 12 interceptions and started every game for the Bears.

Leading rusher: Redshirt senior Patrick Laird, who is 6-feet, 205 pounds, ran for 1,127 yards and eight touchdowns as a junior last season. He averaged 5.9 yards per rush. Laird only had nine rushing yards on three attempts against UNC in 2017, but he caught a 54-yard pass for a touchdown in that game.

Leading receiver: Vic Wharton III, a 5-11, 190-pound senior wide receiver, returns this season after catching 67 passes for 871 yards and five touchdowns last year. He led the team in both categories last year as a redshirt junior.

Leading tackler: Senior inside linebacker Jordan Kunaszyk, who is 6-3, 240 pounds, played in nine games last season, but led the team in tackles with 74. He is one of two team captains.

3. Key returners

Cal returns one of the most experienced offensive lines in the country. Five of its offensive lineman started at least nine games. Three started all 12 games. Combined, the five lineman started 60 games last season. Cal is one of five FBS teams to do so.

4. Key loss

Inside linebacker Devante Downs, who graduated after last season and is now a rookie with the Vikings, was second on the team last year in tackles with 65. He was tied as the team leader in interceptions, fumbles forced, and fumbles recovered with two each.

5. Breakout candidates

Laird, the running back, has the potential to be a big-time player in this game. He can run the ball and catch the ball out of the backfield. This season he will do it behind an experienced offensive line. It will be a true test for UNC’s defensive line that prides itself on stopping the run.

6. Strengths

With its quarterback, top running back, entire offensive line and top two wide receivers returning this year, Cal appears stacked offensively.

“And its their second year in the system, so they are going to be that much more comfortable with it,” Fedora said. “And then you got guys on defense that are playing really hard.”

7. Weaknesses

The Bears were not good against the pass last season, ranking 101 out of 130 FBS teams. They gave up 265 passing yards per game.

8. 2018 recruiting ranking

Cal this year ranked No. 42 in the country in team recruiting rankings, according to 247sports. It grabbed two four star-recruits — offensive tackle Will Craig (6-5, 270 pounds) and wide receiver Nikko Remigio (5-10, 170 pounds) — and 20 three-star prospects, who all enter this season as freshmen.

9. Coach

This is Wilcox’s second season as a head coach at Cal. Prior to coaching the Bears he was a defensive coordinator at Wisconsin in 2016. He served as the defensive coordinator at Southern Cal from 2014-15. Wilcox, 41, also had previous stops at Washington, Tennessee and Boise State as a defensive coordinator.

10. Schedule

Sept. 1 North Carolina

Sept. 8 at BYU

Sept. 15 Idaho State

Sept. 29 Oregon

Oct. 6 at Arizona

Oct. 13 UCLA

Oct. 20 at Oregon State

Oct. 27 Washington

Nov. 3 at Washington State

Nov. 10 at USC

Nov. 17 Stanford

Nov. 24 Colorado

UNC at Cal

When: 3:30 p.m. Saturday

TV: FOX

This story was originally published August 31, 2018 at 1:46 PM.