Wake Forest Coach Has High Praise for Cal's Defense

Football coaches always embellish the capabilities of their next opponent, and Jake Dickert, head coach of 21st-ranked Wake Forest, lived up to that tradition with his Monday comments about Cal’s defense.

“Through six games, they’ve really lately found their identity,” Dickert said, “and it starts with an extremely aggressive defense. Period. They’re aggressive at all three levels, they’ve got nine takeaways. They’re extremely long.

“This is the best defensive team by far that we’ve played since Miami [in Wake Forest’s third game], and I mean by far. They’ve been really, really good on that side of the ball.”

Dickert’s Demon Deacon (5-1, 3-1 ACC) face Cal in Berkeley Saturday night, so it’s not surprising that he is overselling the Bears’ defense, which ranks 12th in the ACC in both scoring defense and total defense. And there are questions whether the blitzing Cal defense that worked so well against Virginia Tech will be as effective against 21st-ranked Wake Forest quarterback Gio Lopez.

Dickert was no doubt basing his comments on Cal’s defensive efforts against Syracuse and Virginia Tech.

After using a fairly conservative game plan in the 45-24 loss to UCLA in the opener, defensive coordinator Michael Hutchings got far more aggressive in the second game against Syracuse. The blitzing and pressure on Orange quarterback Steve Angeli caused him to throw three interceptions, all by Kingstone Lopa, while limiting Syracuse to just 18 points in the Bears’ 21-18 win.

Cal did even more blitzing against Virginia Tech this past Saturday, and it resulted in a 25-20 Cal victory, by far the Bears' best win of the season.

Although the Bears allowed 401 yards, they held the Hokies to their lowest point total of the season, and their defensive pressure on Virginia Tech quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer limited his effectiveness. Grunkemeyer padded his numbers with a drive in the final 18 seconds when Cal was playing a soft defense, nearly costing the Bears a victory.

What is significant about the wins against Syracuse and Virginia Tech is that they came against teams with dropback quarterbacks who are not a threat to run.

UNLV quarterback Jackson Arnold passed for only 177 yards but ruined Cal with his running ability, rushing for 110 yards in the 39-31 victory over Cal.

Wake Forest quarterback Lopez is probably the most mobile quarterback Cal has faced, the kind of quarterback that has given the Bears’ defense the most trouble. Whether a blitzing strategy will work against Lopez is a big question, and one Hutchings will wrestle with.

Generally speaking Cal’s defense has been much better against the pass than the run.

Asked to assess his team’s defense, Cal head coach Tosh Lupoi ran through a number of reasons the Bears have done well on that side of the ball. But he concluded his appraisal with this:

“Pass defense as well,” he said, “obviously doing a great job there.”

Cal’s defensive backs have been the team’s biggest strength this season, particularly safeties Lopa and Isaiah Crosby.

However, what makes the Bears defense under Hutchings stand out is that it was expected to be considerably weaker than the Bears’ offense this season. Instead it is the defense, manned by a number of transfers who had limited playing time at their previous school last season, that is mainly responsible for whatever success Cal (3-3, 2-1 ACC) has had this season. And Cal uses a lot of players on defense, running players in and out all the time.

The defense scored the Bears’ only touchdown in Cal’s 24-10 loss to Clemson, and the winning touchdown in the victory over Syracuse came by way of Lopa’s interception return for a touchdown.

“It is an attacking group,” Lupoi said. “They attack the ball to a very high standard.”

The defense’s biggest shortcoming, as Lupoi pointed out, has been its inability to contain a scrambling or rushing quarterback. That will be an issue in Saturday night’s game against Wake Forest and Lopez, who is proficient at making plays with his feet, either for rushing yardage or scrambling to extend a play and complete a pass.

The Bears’ best player this season has been Lopa, who played sparingly last year at Oregon as a redshirt freshman. He has missed the past two games (he played just one defensive snap two weeks ago against UNLV), and the Bears are hoping he will be sufficiently recovered from his concussion to play against the Demon Deacons.

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