BERKELEY – The California football team returns to Berkeley for the Pac-12 Conference home opener Saturday vs. Arizona State. Kickoff between the Golden Bears (2-2, 0-1 Pac-12) and Sun Devils (1-3, 0-1 Pac-12) is set for noon PT as the two teams meet for the 36th time in history.  

SATURDAY LINEUP
Venue: California Memorial Stadium
Time: Noon PT
Television (Pac-12 Network): J.B. Long (play-by-play), Shane Vereen (analyst)
Cal Bears Sports Network Powered By Northern California Auto Dealers: 810 AM
Justin Allegri (play-by-play), Mike Pawlawski (analyst), Kevin Danna (sideline reporter);
SiriusXM Ch. 104 or 197 SXM App 959, The Varsity App

ABOUT THE SERIES
– Saturday will be the 36th all-time meeting between California and Arizona State
– The Bears lead the series 18-17
– This will be the first matchup since 2019 and only the second since 2016 after the 2020 game was canceled due to COVID-19 and the two teams missed each other in the schedule rotation in 2021-22 and 2017-18
– Cal won nine of 11 in the series from 2002-15, but ASU has taken three of the last four games. The last Golden Bear win came in a back-and-forth 48-46 home victory in the 2015 regular-season finale

GROUND GAINS
– The Bears are averaging 216.8 yards per game rushing, Cal's highest since the 2005 team averaged 235.3 ypg
– Cal is outrushing its opponents 867-424 (216.8 ypg to 106.0 ypg) which is fourth-best in the Pac-12 and 21st nationally
– The Bears rank third in the conference and 13th nationally in rushing offense (216.8 ypg)
– Three Bears are averaging at least 45 yards per game rushing in the first four weeks of the season, led by Jaydn Ott (102.7), Isaiah Ifanse (59.0) and Ashton Stredick (45.5)
– Ott (308), Ifanse (236) and Stredick (182) have combined for 726 yards through four games. The last time Cal had three rushers with 500+ yards in a season was 2015 (Khalfani Muhammad, Tre Watson and Vic Enwere)
– Ifanse has 3,978 career rushing yards (3742 at Montana State, 236 at Cal), only 22 yards shy of 4,000 for his collegiate career

DEFENSIVE STANCE
– Cal co-leads the Pac-12 and is tied for second nationally in turnovers gained (11)
– The Bears top the Pac-12 and are tied for sixth in the NCAA in fumbles recovered (5), while sitting tied for third in the conference and knotted at 12th nationally in interceptions (6)
– The defense has been taking the ball away while the offense has been protecting it as Cal sits fifth in the Pac-12 and 22nd nationally in turnover margin (1.67)
– Cal shares the Pac-12 lead and is tied for 17th nationally in fourth-down conversion percentage defense (.333)
– Third down defense has been stout as Cal is holding opposing offenses to just a 17-49 (34.7%) conversion rate, fourth-best in the Pac-12 and 36th nationally
– Nohl Williams is tied for the conference lead and tied for 17th nationally in total interceptions (2), while he is tied for second in the Pac-12 and tied for 21st nationally in interceptions per game (0.50)

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