No. 23 California has ridden an aggressive defense to its highest national ranking in four seasons.
The question now facing the Bears is this: Can they generate enough offense to improve to 4-0 for the first time in five years when they play at Ole Miss on Saturday in Oxford?
“Our guys play hard, the effort is really good, and we’ve set a standard for how hard and tough we have to play,” said California coach Justin Wilcox, in his third season. “Now the level of execution has to match that for us to do what we want to do.
“That’s the biggest thing, because we are not there yet.”
Cal has played its best against the best this season, scoring 17 points in the second half of a 20-19 victory over then-No. 14 Washington in Seattle two weeks ago, a win that could have a big impact when sorting out the Pac-12 North.
The Bears rank 14th in the FBS passing efficiency defense with a group that includes linebacker Evan Weaver and a secondary that returned four starters from a defense that had 21 interceptions — second in the nation — a year ago. Weaver has double-digit tackles in each of the past 10 games.
The offense has yet to take off, however. The Bears are averaging 23.3 points a game, which ranks 95th among the 130 FBS programs. Their 350.7 yards of total offense ranks 99th.
“We have to play a lot better. It starts with me,” said Cal quarterback Chase Garbers. “I have to put balls in the right spot.”
Garbers completed 9 of 22 passes for 129 yards and a touchdown and rushed for a team-high 70 yards in a 23-17 victory over North Texas last week, when Cal scored the first 20 points and held on. Christopher Brown Jr. had a career-high 197 rushing yards in the season opener against UC Davis, but he was unavailable in the fourth quarter last week.
Ole Miss (2-1) has scored 71 points while winning two in a row after a season-opening 15-10 loss to Memphis, and it might have found another weapon to go with quarterback Matt Corral and running back Scottie Phillips.
That would be freshman halfback Jerrion Ealy, who had 95 rushing yards and a touchdown on nine carries and also returned a kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown in last week’s 40-29 victory over Southeastern Louisiana.
“He showed up on returns. He showed up running the football,” said Ole Miss coach Matt Luke.
Corral has completed 46 of 73 passes for 578 yards, with four touchdowns and an interception. Phillips has 308 yards rushing and four touchdowns.
“Excited about this opportunity, a chance to have a Top 25 team come in,” Luke said. “When you watch them on tape, the first thing that jumps out is how good and physical they are on defense.”
The game will have a somewhat familiar feel. Luke hired a pair of Pac-12 veterans in former Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez and former Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre after last season to coordinate the offense and defense, respectively.
Ole Miss has gone back to basics on offense and has run the ball 65 percent of the time under Rodriguez, and the defense is allowing 16 fewer points and 117 fewer yards per game than last season.
