Cal-UCLA Football Preview: A Rare Friday Afternoon Game

Cal plays its final game of the regular season when its hosts 18th-ranked UCLA on Friday afternoon, the day after Thanksgiving.

This will be Joe Starkey’s final game as the radio voice of Cal football. The 81-year-old Starkey will retire after Friday’s game.

This could be the final time the Bears play a home game against UCLA, which is scheduled to join the Big Ten prior to the 2024 season. The teams will meet for the last time next year in Pasadena.

Friday’s game is dubbed the Joe Roth Game by Cal in honor of the former Cal quarterback who died of cancer three months after he played his final game at Cal in 1976.

The facts for Friday’s game

CAL (4-7, 2-6 Pac-12) vs. NO. 18 UCLA (8-3, 5-3 Pac-12)

SITE: Memorial Stadium, Berkeley, Calif.

WHEN: Friday, 1:30 p.m.

TV: FOX -- Dan Hellie (Play-By-Play), Petros Papadakis (Analyst)

RADIO: KGO 810 AM -- Joe Starkey (Play-By-Play), Mike Pawlawski (Analyst), Todd McKim (sideline reporter). This will be Joe Starkey’s final game as Cal’s radio voice. He is retiring after this game.

BETTING LINE: UCLA is favored by 10 points (with some betting sites having the spread at 10.5 points). Over/under: 60.5

WEATHER FORECAST: Saturday afternoon will be partly cloudy in Berkeley with a temperature of about 64 degrees at kickoff. The temperature is expected to rise to about 67 degrees in the second half. There is only a 2% chance of rain.

CAL-UCLA HISTORY: UCLA leads the alltime series 57-34-1. UCLA has won the past two matchups against Cal and four of the past five. The Bruins beat Cal last year 42-14 in Pasadena, and past three Cal-UCLA games have been played in Pasadena. (The 2020 game was affected by the pandemic and arranged at the last minute.) Cal’s most recent win over UCLA was a 28-18 victory in 2019. The Bears’ last home win against the Bruins was in 2016, a 36-10 victory. Friday’s game is likely to be UCLA’s last game in Berkeley for a long time, as the Bruins are scheduled to join the Big Ten prior to the 2024 season.

---UCLA beat writer answers five questions about Bruins football---

CAL PLAYER AVAILABILITY: Cornerback Lu-Magia Hearns III is unlikely to play, and several other players who missed last week's game are questionable, including cornerback Collin Gamble, outside linebacker Braxten Croteau and inside linebackers Ryan Puskas and Kaleb Higgins.

CAL STORYLINES: Cal is coming off a 27-20 victory over Stanford, which ended the Bears’ six-game losing streak. . . . The Bears need to win Friday’s regular-season game to avoid becoming the first Cal team since 2013 to lose more than seven games in a season. . . . Cal cannot officially become bowl eligible but there is a long-shot chance for the Bears to earn a bowl bid if they win Friday’s game and a series of other events fall into place . . . Cal running back Jaydn Ott has already set the school record for rushing yards by a true freshman, and he needs 156 yards on Friday to reach 1,000 yards for the season. He is currently sixth in the conference in rushing after running for 97 yards, all in the second half, against Stanford . . . This will be Cal’s second game since the firing of offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave and offensive line coach Angus McClure. In the first game without them, Cal’s offense scored 20 points, and seven of those points came on a 9-yard touchdown drive. Head coach Justin Wilcox has not revealed which assistant coach is calling the offensive plays . . . Against Stanford, which has one of the worst run defenses in the country, the Bears passed on their first 14 offensive plays.

Cal defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon discusses Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Zach Charbonnet

UCLA STORYLINES: The Bruins have lost their last two games, including last week’s 48-45 loss to USC, which knocked UCLA out of the running for a Pac-12 championship . . . UCLA could finish as high as tied for third in the conference with a win Friday, or it could finish as low as tied for sixth with a loss. . . . UCLA is sixth nationally in rushing offense (236.7) and has rushed for 200 yards or more in each of the past four games. Zach Charbonnet ranks first in the Pac-12 and fourth in the country in rushing, averaging 137.8 yards per game . . . . QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson is now UCLA’s career record-holder in touchdowns accounted for with 110. He threw three interceptions last week against USC, doubling his season interception total. He ran for 81 yards in that game . . . UCLA ranks sixth in the Pac-12 in total defense but gave up 649 yards to USC last week . . . The Bruins were ranked No. 9 in the country after starting the season 6-0 . . . This is Chip Kelly’s fifth season as UCLA’s coach. A win would give the Bruins a 9-3 record, and the Bruins have not won nine regular-season games since 2014. . . . A loss would drop them to 8-4, matching last year’s finish (UCLA’s bowl game was canceled last year). . . . If UCLA beats Cal and wins a bowl game it would match the school record for wins in a season (10). . . . Chip Kelly’s first win as UCLA’s head coach was a 37-7 victory over Cal in Berkeley in 2018.

CAL PLAYERS TO WATCH: QB Jack Plummer (17 TD passes, 9 interceptions); RB Jaydn Ott (842 rushing yards, 38 receptions); WR J.Michael Studivant (60 catches, 6 TDs); ILB Jackson Sirmon (91 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 1 interception, 1 TD on a scoop-and-score vs. Stanford); WR Jeremiah Hunter (52 catches, 812 receiving yards); S Daniel Scott (69 tackles, 3 interceptions).

---Cal still has a chance to land a bowl berth---

UCLA PLAYERS TO WATCH: QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson (24 passing TDs, 544 rushing yards); RB Zach Charbonnet (1,240 rushing yards, 7.3 yards per carry); WR Jake Bobo (47 catches, 6 TDs); DL Laiatu Latu (9.5 sacks); LB Darius Muasau (75 tackles, 2 interceptions, 1 forced fumble); WR Kazmeir Allen (203 yards rushing, 403 yards receiving, 400 yards on kickoff returns).

CAL STATISTICS: Click here

CAL NOTES, DEPTH CHART: Click here

UCLA STATISTICS: Click here

UCLA NOTES, DEPTH CHART: Click here

JAKE'S PICK: UCLA 32, Cal 25

JEFF'S PICK: UCLA 35, Cal 24

SAM CONNON’S PICK (All Bruins): UCLA 38, Cal 24

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Cover photo of Chip Kelly by Jayne Kamin-Oncea, USA TODAY Sports

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