Cal and Hawaii square off in Australia to start the 2016 college football season. California has their three leading rushers returning in 2016, with running backs Khalfani Muhammad, Vic Enwere, and Tre Watson all looking to make an impact in their team’s season opener. The Oregon Duck have plenty of hype and still some questions entering the season, but the California Golden Bears will begin the process of answering on Friday evening. ESPN Pick Center gives Cal only a 45 percent chance of covering the spread.
Advertisement
It would be between Cal and Arizona, but probably lean toward the Bears just because it is the season opener, Hawaii has a new look and also the location will cause both teams to be off, at least for a little bit. Webb played in 23 games during his time in Lubbock, starting 14 games and throwing for better than 5,550 yards and 46 touchdowns.
The Golden Bears’ 2015 season got off to such a surprisingly great 5-0 start before stumbling to a 2-5 finish. Webb also rushed for a score. Any Cal fans at ANZ Stadium should be able to explain the unique significance of Cal’s 55-36 win over Air Force last December 29 in the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas, even if such matters can prove inexplicable to non-Americans.
Cal will have an opportunity to make a big move with Texas in a few weeks in the eyes of the National Media.
Former Cal Bear Marshawn Lynch showed up, training with one of Australia’s rugby teams.
Freshman wide receiver Kumoku Noa’s older brother Kanawai is a sophomore wide receiver at Cal. Kumoku was a first-team all-state receiver at Kamehameha in 2015, while Kanawai was a two-time all-state receiver for Punahou before appearing in all 13 games for Cal in 2015 as a true freshman at receiver and on special teams.
Moore is a preseason candidate for the 2016 Outland Trophy and Vince Lombardi Award.
While UH has a number of Bay Area players, three are specifically East Bay products near Berkeley and all project to start versus Cal – senior quarterback Ikaika Woolsey (Rodeo; Salesian HS), senior cornerback Jamal Mayo (Oakland; Skyline HS) and junior defensive end David Manoa (Hayward).
Sanchez, Hawaii K/P – The 6-foot-1 senior led the Rainbows with 47 points as he made 8-of-11 field goals (72.73%) with a long of 50-yards. He recorded 89 tackles in 10 games with 3.5 tackles for losses and 1.5 sacks in 2015.
Advertisement
No one expects the first game of a season to be pretty – and though Cal’s 51-31 win over Hawaii looked good on the scoreboard in Sydney, Australia, there will be plenty for Sonny Dykes and crew to work on before the trip to San Diego State on September 10. Harris tallied six rushing touchdowns and grabbed 14 passes a year ago.
