SALT LAKE CITY — When California visits Rice-Eccles Stadium to face the 12th-ranked Utah Utes on Saturday, the Bears will do so with the leading tackler in the nation. Senior linebacker Evan Weaver comes to town with 105 stops on the season, including 21 last week against Oregon State.
“Great player. We have a lot of respect for him and have been watching him all season long when we turn games on in the weekend,” said Utah coach Kyle Whittingham. “He’s a big, physical and tough linebacker and he makes a lot of plays. We think he is a tremendous player.”
The 6-foot-3, 235-pound senior has reached double-digits in tackles six times this season, including wins at Washington (18) and Mississippi (22). Weaver’s efforts have helped Cal rank fourth in the Pac-12 in scoring defense (18.7 points) and total defense (359.6 yards).
Whittingham attributes much of Cal’s consistency on defense to head coach Justin Wilcox.
“He has had a lot of success in his career as a defensive coordinator and he is just a really outstanding defensive mind. You can see his influence and feel his influence on the defense,” Whittingham said. “They just take a lot of pride in what they are doing. When you have a team that is united, you don’t really get down on one side of the ball or the other. You just keep playing hard and that seems to be what they do there.”
“Cal has had some ups and downs this season, started the season 4-0 with a big win against the Huskies and as of late, have not been able to continue that success. We know they’re a good football team and we know that they play outstanding defense. So they will have all of our attention.” — Utah coach Kyle Whittingham
Cal’s offense — beset by injuries — ranks last in the conference in scoring offense (19.9 points) and total offense (324 yards). The Bears used freshman quarterback Spencer Brasch late in last week’s 21-17 loss to Oregon State. He stepped in for Devon Modster, who left the game with a head injury. Modster replaced Chase Garber (upper body injury) as the starter earlier this month.
The Bears have scored just 41 points over consecutive setbacks to Arizona State, Oregon and Oregon State. Besides the quarterbacks, injuries have also kept starting center Michael Saffell out of action. Offensive lineman Will Craig and wide receiver Kekoa Crawford have also been sidelined. Cal’s injury report includes a pair of defenders in cornerback Trevon Beck and linebacker Chinedu Udeogu.
“They are just going to play hard and keep doing what they are doing,” Whittingham said of a Cal squad that opened the season with victories over UC Davis, No. 12 Washington, North Texas and Ole Miss. The three losses suffered by the Bears have come by a combined 21 points.
“Cal has had some ups and downs this season, started the season 4-0 with a big win against the Huskies and as of late, have not been able to continue that success,” Whittingham said. “We know they’re a good football team and we know that they play outstanding defense. So they will have all of our attention.”
The Utes (6-1, 3-1), he continued, vow not to look past Cal (4-3, 1-3).
“There is no being distracted about what is going on elsewhere in the league as far as who is positioned where,” Whittingham said. “It is all completely focused on the Bears.”
A primary area of emphasis will be Cal’s pass protection, or lack thereof. The Bears gave up nine sacks to Oregon State last week.
“It’s severe issues in protection,” Wilcox said. “Some of those were O-line, protection calls, some of them were on the quarterback, and some were running back.”
The Bears, he emphasized, have just got to perform better in every phase of the game this week.
Reigning Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week Bradlee Anae had three sacks for the Utes Saturday against Arizona State.
Utes on the air
California (4-3, 1-3) at No. 12 Utah (6-1, 3-1)
Rice-Eccles Stadium
Saturday, 8 p.m.
TV: FS1
Radio: ESPN 700 AM