ASU Football: First look at Cal

The Arizona State Sun Devils close out the 2015 season on the road against the Cal. The Golden Bears started the season 5-0, but have since come down to earth and now sit at 6-5. Here is your first look at California.

Head Coach - Sonny Dykes (3rd Season - 12-23)

Sonny Dykes took over for Jeff Tedford in 2013 and Cal suffered through one of its worst seasons in school history. The Bears went 1-11 that year, before improving by four wins to come within a game of bowl eligibility in 2014.

This season, led by an NFL-caliber quarterback, the Golden Bears started the season 5-0 with victories over Texas, Washington and Washington State. Cal has since lost five of its last six games, including a 13-point defeat to Stanford last week. Cal's only win since October 3 came two weeks ago at home to conference bottom-feeder Oregon State.

Prior to arriving in Berkely, Dykes spent three seasons as the head coach of Louisiana Tech, where he went 17-8 in his final two seasons. Before becoming a head coach, he spent time as an assistant at Arizona (2007-2009) and Texas Tech (2000-2006).

Quarterback - Jared Goff

Goff came into the season as a candidate to be taken No. 1 overall in the 2016 NFL Draft. While he has struggled at times this season, he still has thrown for 3,710 yards and 32 touchdowns. However, one of his flaws has been turnovers as he has tossed 13 interceptions this season.

Eight of Goff's picks this year have come in Cal's five losses including a season-high five interceptions against Utah in Salt Lake City. That being said, he did throw for 453 yards against Oregon State, 329 against Oregon, 340 against Utah and 390 against Washington State.

What Todd Graham Said

On Having to Play Another Game after the Territorial Cup

I would love for our game with Arizona to be the last game of the year every year, but it is what it is. My job is to coach and get our team prepared. Obviously, we've got to get some guys healed up. It was very physical. Our guys played very physical. We dominated the game physically in all three phases. We were really, really physical. So we've got to get our guys healed up there and be smart this week in how we work.

Thoughts on Cal

But the most important thing right now, we're playing the best quarterback we've played all year long. I think we're playing the best receiving corps maybe we've played all year long, with maybe the exception of USC. I think these guys are very much in the same regard as far as their talent at receiver. So they're very, very capable of scoring points and got a lot of respect for Coach Dykes. They're a very well coached team. They've lost a lot of close games. Two very, very good football teams going at it. It's going to be their Senior Day. It's going to be their last home game. So they're going to have a lot of those emotions. And they're coming off their big rivalry game with Stanford. This is all about who wants it. We've got to want it and get back up, and I know these guys will rise to the occasion.

Quote via thesundevils.com

Cal Team Stats

Useful Links

ASU Game Notes

Cal Game Notes

Pac-12 Football Weekly Release

Cal Gameday Guide

Cal's SB Nation Site