Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl California Vs. #24 Texas Preview

The Bears and Longhorns face off on the 28th in the Holiday bowl with contrasting styles of offense. For Texas, much of their offensive firepower comes from a powerful rushing attack. Conversely on the other side of the ball, the Cal Golden Bears feature more of a passing game with some run mixed in.

That's not to say that the Longhorns can't pass the ball. In respect to yards, they are pretty close to even, rushing for 210 yards a game and throwing for 193. Where they get in trouble is with their tandem of young quarterbacks. Between Case McCoy and David Ash, the two have combined for only 10 touchdowns against 12 interceptions on the year. Texas would rather run the ball with their bruising freshman pair of running backs Malcom Brown and Joe Bergeron. Brown and Bergeron have been a strong one two punch out of the backfield.

The two run with power and rarely go down after first contact. Combined they have put the ball in the end zone 10 times on the ground and have ran for 1161 yards on the ground. As was mentioned before, both of these running backs are hard to bring down and have a good burst through the hole to boot. California's defensive line and line backing team are going to have to be ready to square up and make sure tackles or they could be watching Brown and Bergeron from their backs.

When they do throw, Ash and McCoy tend to spread the ball around to their receivers. Their favorite targets so far on the year have been Mike Davis and Jaxon Shipley who have 45 and 40 catches respectively on the season. The pair provide balance to the offense which will most likely look to soften up to Cal defense with Brown and Bergeron.

On the other side of the ball, the offense is run through Buffalo transfer Zach Maynard. He quarterbacks a unit that features one of the more dynamic receiving duos in the Pac-12. The Bears like to throw a lot more than the Longhorns do, and it shows. Their leading receiver, Keenan Allen has 89 receptions on the year and is a big play threat whenever he gets his hands on the ball. Complimenting him is the sure handed Marvin Jones. Jones has reeled in 54 passes and three touch down receptions and has benefited from the attention that Keenan Allen draws from defensive backs.

Coming into the season California had a big question mark at the running back position. Fortunately for the Bears Isi Sofele has filled in nicely. Sofele has already ecliped the 1200 yard mark on the year and has been the picture of consistency late in the season. Sofele has scored 5 times in the last six games and has averaged 121.2 yards in those games. He provides a much needed balance to an offense that has been up and down through out the year. He is going to be tasked with going up against a Texas defense that ranks 11th in the country against the run game. How he and the offensive line preforms will go a long way in deciding this one's outcome.

The quarter backing has been a roller coaster ride this season for California. When the Bears win, Maynard plays quite well. In their 7 wins his touchdown to interception ratio is better than 3 to 1, whereas in the losses the Bears have suffered his numbers dropped to nearly 2 INT's for every touch down he throws. If the secondary for Texas can prove a challenge for the signal caller, it could be a long day for Bears fans in San Diego.

However, if the Golden Bears can put it all together against a solid Texas defense, it could be a solid momentum jump into the next season as California looks be be competitive in next season's Pac-12. Texas will be looking at a very similar picture. With youth in the skill positions, they could make some noise next season in the Big XII having that all important first year of experience under their belt.