Cal Football: 3 Shock-the-World Scenarios for the Bears in 2011

The California Golden Bears started the 2011 season on the right foot, defeating the Fresno State Bulldogs 36-21.

The Bears weren’t expected to really compete for the inaugural Pac-12 title, but maybe it’s time to reconsider.

They have some issues at quarterback, but their linebackers are great behind senior Mychal Kendricks.

Here are three ways in which the Cal Golden Bears can shock the world in 2011.

Finish in the Bottom Half of the Country in Rushing

This is incredibly surprising to me.

Here’s a list of some of the former Cal tailbacks earning paychecks playing on Sunday:

Jahvid Best, Justin Forsett, Marshawn Lynch and Shane Vereen

That’s a solid list of backs who have seen great success in Jeff Tedford’s offense. Cal’s Isi Sofele is the top guy in the backfield, but Sofele isn’t in the same league (literally) as those other backs.

The Bears currently rank 64th out of 120 teams in rushing at 147 yards per game. If the Bears finished bellow the halfway mark, that would shock me and many other football fans.

Beat Stanford

This might be the biggest shocker of the three. The Golden Bears have sat by and watched their rival across the bay find BCS success over the past couple of seasons. The Cardinals have questions on the offensive line, they have to replace their starting fullback/linebacker and they lost their head coach to the NFL. The Bears play at Palo Alto for “The Big Game,” but that doesn’t mean the Bears have no chance.

Stanford’s home-field advantage is one of the weakest in the Pac-12, and Cal will be very used to playing away from home this season (they’ll play their home games at AT&T Park). Can the Bears pull the upset and ruin their rivals’ BCS dreams? We’ll see.

Win 10 Games

The past half-decade has seen the Golden Bears have great starts to the season, but crumble midway and finish in mediocre fashion. Is this the year the Bears right the ship?

Their schedule is favorable, and they should be favorites in seven or so of their remaining 11 games. If the Bears pull a few strings and come away with some upsets, the Bears might have double digit wins.