ScoopDuck Roundtable: Opposing Player to Watch vs Cal
The Ducks are back to work with a new opponent ahead this weekend. Oregon is a heavy favorite coming into its home game with Cal. The Bears are coming off a brutal 1-point loss to USC in one of its best games this season.
Oregon meanwhile is coming off its biggest win of the season.
It’s not often but today we have a near unanimous pick for the player to watch. With a spread over 20 points, the Bears will need a hope and a prayer to get this one close. But let’s see how everyone thinks will be Cal’s best chance at winning.
Corpatty: Jaydn Ott (RB)
The former Oregon commit is having a tremendous year running the football. He is among the nation’s leaders averaging 108 yards rushing per game. He’s also chipped in 8 rushing TDs. Oregon will need to limit Ott to force Mendoza to try and beat them through the air.
Doug Scott: Jaydn Ott
Ott is the obvious choice here, having rushed for 754 yards and 8 TDs on the season. That said, much like last season, Ott has racked up the bulk of that against the worst teams and defenses on the schedule, going for 188, 165, and 153 against North Texas, ASU, and USC respectively. Those 3 games account for 67% of his yardage on 7.2 yards per carry as well as 6 of his 8 TDs. In the other 4 games he has averaged just 62 yards per game on 4.5 per rush, although he did leave the Utah game early with injury. For Cal to have any hope of keeping this game close, Ott has to have a monster game.
Joel Gunderson: Jaydn Ott
Unlike previous years from a Josh Wilcox-coached team, the player most on Oregon’s radar this season comes from the offensive side, and it’s running back Jaydn Ott. The former 4-star has lived up to his billing and is one of the lone reasons for excitement in Berkley. He’s averaging six yards a carry, has scored eight touchdowns, and is the one player capable of beating Oregon defenders 1-on-1 if given space.
Fernando Mendoza looked good this past Saturday (albeit against arguably the worst defense in the conference), but the Ducks should be licking their chops at the idea of Mendoza trying to beat them.
It’s simple: slow down Ott and get ready for USC.
Jarrid Denney: Jaydn Ott
I usually try to avoid making the obvious choice for these roundtable selections. But Cal sophomore running back Jaydn Ott is simply one of the more exciting players in the conference and is putting together another very good season in Berkeley. He ranks third among Pac-12 running backs with 756 yards on the year and is averaging 6.05 yards per carry.
Last Saturday, he nearly led the Golden Bears to an upset of USC with a 153-yard, three-touchdown performance. He’s the best running back the Ducks have faced thus far this season and will provide a big test for Tosh Lupoi’s defense.
Jhop: Jeremiah Hunter (WR)
Look the correct answer is Ott. But I wanted to add some variety. Look it’s going to rain this weekend. The field will be wet and slick. Which will impact everyone. But if Cal is going to have any chance it will be some big plays, possibly with a DB slipping and maybe Hunter can catch them deep. I’m not trying to sell you this will be a close game but that’s a valid scenario. If Oregon can stop Utah’s run game, they can stop Cal’s.
