Vance Bedford Variety Hour - Coming for Cal

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AUSTIN — Up next for Vance Bedford’s defense is a California team that boasts the nation’s No. 2 passing offense but does little else well. Should we expect more of the 3-3-5 that Bedford unveiled against UTEP? And who gets the start at SS?

It’s a misnomer to label the alignment as a three-man front, however.

“It was an opportunity to get five defensive linemen out there,” Bedford said Wednesday. “It was a 3-3-5, but, it wasn’t. You look at (FOX ends Breckyn) Hager and you look at (Malcolm) Roach, they were playing as the outside (linebacker). We brought Hager 25 times and we dropped him (into coverage) seven times. We knew if he was out there, he was going to go hit somebody. We were concerned about him in pass coverage, to be honest. It was more of a 3-4 look than a 3-5. A lot of times you saw Hager on the line of scrimmage because of the type of offense (UTEP) ran. They were in 21- and 22-personnel. Those are bigger, more physical football guys.”

Bedford wants backup interior linemen to log about 15 quality snaps each game to give starters a breather. But the combination of Hager or Roach, along with SLB/FOX Naashon Hughes, infuses the front six with an added dose of speed and athleticism.

“In certain situations, we’re going to go with a speed package as far as pass-rush. You’re going to see guys like Hager, Roach, and Naashon playing in a three-technique. We need to find a way to get pressure with our down (linemen) more than blitzing. And those guys have the attitude. When you see Roach get in his stance, he’s like ‘I’m going to go get this quarterback.’ It’s a mindset. If we can get them to get the quarterback to step up (into the pocket), and (our interior linemen) are pushing the pocket, we can get a lot of benefits out of that.”

If Bedford’s plan is to make Cal’s offense one-dimensional, then the Golden Bears are doing a good job of that on its own. Cal lost its top six receivers from last season and, of course, NFL 1st round QB, Jared Goff.

So far, Cal’s passing offense (481.5 ypg) trails only Texas Tech nationally, but its air raid is markedly hampered by college football’s No. 94 rushing offense (135.5 ypg).

“They want to run the ball a little bit more to try to balance their offense,” Bedford said. “We expect them to run the football a little bit more, so we’ve been working on stopping the run. At the end of the day, if you can’t stop the run, they can throw the ball all that they want to. They can also throw a hitch out there. People call that YAC yards (Yards After Catch). Anyone of those of five-yard catches can go 50 yards, and it’s still a run. We have to do a great job of tackling, whether it’s a true handoff or a hitch.”

The Berkeley school features a pair of RBs (Vic Enwere, Muhammad Khalfani) who are both averaging more than seven ypc, but coach Sonny Dykes is determined to head ‘em off at the pass. Case-in-point: Cal’s recent 45-40 loss at San Diego State. In that one, Cal ran 22 times while QB Davis Webb put the ball in the air 72 times.

“When you’re playing this type of offense, you need to help the quarterback make some mistakes. If you can’t, it can be a long evening for us.”

Webb made plenty of mistakes against SDSU to offset his gaudy stats. The former Texas Tech QB completed 41 attempts for 522 yards last Saturday but threw three INTs, including a pick-six. During the final minute, he misfired to open WR Chad Hanson on what could have been the game-winning TD.

“We just need to confuse the quarterback with different looks and trying to get pressure on him as best as we can,” Bedford said.

SS Dylan Haines is fully recovered from the concussion that sidelined him against UTEP, but hard-charging backup Kevin Vaccaro has notched seven tackles (including two TFL) the past two outings.

“We’re going to rotate those two guys,” Bedford said. “(Haines) will probably start the game for us. He’ll definitely be out there playing.”