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Cal Football: Bears' Receivers Have Exceeded Outsiders' Expectations, but Not Beau Baldwin's

Newcomers such as Kekoa Crawford and Trevon Clark have lifted a Cal receiving corps that looked like it would be a weakness
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Cal's receivers have performed better than many in the public and the media expected, but offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin says he knew he was getting some talent at the pass-catching positions this year.

"I'm not saying it's better than I expected because I had high expectations about that group," Baldwin said in the video. "I think probably at different times may exceeded what the outside might have thought."

Let's not go overboard here. The Bears don't have the second coming of the Marvin Jones Jr.-Keenan Allen wide-receiver tandem that Cal featured in 2010 and 2011. 

But this year's group is pretty good, and, yes, better than those of us on the outside expected.

Chase Garbers got a lot of publicity for the improvement in the passing game against Mississippi and the first half half of the Arizona State game, and rightly so. However, the play of the receivers played a major role in that improvement as they made a number of tough, timely catches.

Cal's receiver corps last year was barely adequate, and with the top four pass-catchers from that squad not returning this season it seemed Garbers might not find a reliable reciever in the bunch. 

Turns out there are plenty of productive targets.

Jordan Duncan's return to health after missing six games last season and the improvement of Nikko Remigio have helped, but it is the play of new wide receivers Kekoa Crawford and Trevon Clark as well as the surprising production of tight end Jake Tonges that have made the difference.

None of them is going to be an all-conference selection, mind you, and none even ranks among the top 30 in the conference in receptions or receiving yards. But six Cal players have at least 10 receptions, and that includes running backs Christopher Brown Jr. and Marcel Dancy, who have been better than adequate receivers out of the backfield.

Clark, a junior college transfer, has been the main target recently, catching 10 passes for 137 yards and a touchdown over the past two games.

"Clark, he's been really explosive over the top," Baldwin said.

Crawford, who spent a year at junior college after transferring from Michigan, had some big catches early in the season and his absence the past two games for health reasons had an effect.

"Can't wait to get him back," Baldwin said. "He had a lot of versatility."

He remains doubtful for Saturday's home game against Oregon State.

The big surprise, though, is Tonges, a walk-on who earned a scholarship this fall. He has just five catches, but it seems like every one was an important one.

"He's defintely been one of those guys that's been overachieving," Baldwin said. "He's playing a lot more reps than he probably ever thought he would on offense."

Cal can't claim to have the best receivers in the Pac-12. In fact the Bears' group might not be among the top five receiver units in the conference. But Cal's receiving corps was projected to be among the worst -- if not THE worst -- in the Pac-12 this season, and if you grade on an expectations curve, the Bears receiver group gets high marks.