Every team starts the year with a few burning questions that will make or break the season.
The Cal Bears found some very important answers in Friday night’s 51-31 victory over Hawaii.
Make no mistake about it: offense is the key to the Bears’ success. Cal had one of the most explosive offenses in the country last season, ranking eighth nationally in yards per game. However, the Bears lost a lot of firepower from last year’s squad. Quarterback Jared Goff departs, along with his top six targets from last fall. In order for the team to make it to consecutive bowl games for the first time since 2008-09, it had to find some answers at both quarterback and wide receiver.
That’s exactly what happened on Friday night.
Texas Tech transfer Davis Webb showed that there would be no drop-off in production at quarterback this fall. Playing against a Hawaii defense that returned eight starters from a unit that ranked 42nd against the pass last season, Webb turned in a solid outing. He completed 38 of 54 passes for 441 yards and four touchdowns. He threw a near-perfect pass for a potential fifth score, but the wide-open receiver couldn’t come up with the catch. Webb also added a rushing touchdown at the end of the first half.
In other words: his strong performance should remove any doubts as to whether the Bears will struggle at the quarterback position. The only real question that remains is whether he’ll post better numbers than Goff.
Of course, the answer to that question depends on the play of the receivers. With the top six targets from last year’s team departing, Cal had to wonder who would emerge as the team’s go-to guy coming into this contest.
After Friday night’s game, it’s clear that the answer is Chad Hansen. The Bears got the ball to Hansen early and often, as he caught 14 passes for 160 yards and 2 touchdowns. His 34-yard TD reception in the second quarter put Cal up by two scores and pretty much ended any hope Hawaii had of posting a victory in this contest (which is why Mike Bellotti repeatedly questioned why Webb was in the game in the fourth quarter).
Although Hansen stole the show, Sonny Dykes has to be pleased with what he saw out of the other receivers, especially Melquise Stovall and Jordan Veasy, who both scored on long touchdown passes.
The strong performances by both the receiving corps and Webb should remove all doubts about whether the Cal offense will be as explosive this year as it was in 2015. Based on how well it played tonight, it’s safe to say that the Bears will return to the postseason this year, and they could surprise a few teams in the ultracompetitive Pac-12 North.
