After a comfortable 73-3 win in its season opener, Auburn football has its sights set on its first Power 4 matchup of the season against Cal.

Like Auburn, the Golden Bears faced an FCS opponent in Week 1 but weren’t as dominant. They earned a 31-13 win over UC Davis and briefly trailed 13-7 during the second quarter.

Auburn won last season’s matchup 14-10, but neither team is the exact same as it was a year ago. Head coach Hugh Freeze said Cal is the same defensively as last season, but the offense is completely new.

Offense

Cal brought a new-look offense into the 2024 season with the introduction of new offensive coordinator Mike Bloesch.

“Tempo. Spread. Empty a lot. You’ve got one game to go on with the new coordinator, but obviously we know where he came from and can use some of that too,” Freeze said Monday describing Cal’s offense.

Bloesch spent last season exclusively coaching offensive line for Cal but spent 2020-2022 as both a co-offensive coordinator and the sole offensive coordinator at North Texas.

At Cal, the focal point of the offense is running back Jaydn Ott, who rushed for over 1,200 yards in 2023. Ott left Cal’s season opener early with an injury, but head coach Justin Wilcox said he is “probable” for Saturday’s game against Auburn.

When Auburn and Cal faced off last season, Ott rushed for 78 yards and scored Cal’s only touchdown of the game.

Ott had 14 carries for 49 yards and two touchdowns against UC Davis and added another 34 yards receiving on four catches. Ott has always been a threat in the passing game for Cal, having caught 72 passes for 517 yards and five touchdowns during his first two seasons.

“He’s concerning. He is one of the better tailbacks in the country, without a doubt,” Freeze said of Ott during his time on Auburn’s Tiger Talk radio show on Monday. “We anticipate he’s playing and he is one of the best backs in the country. We’ll have to tackle really well.”

Cal’s starting quarterback is Fernando Mendoza, who despite leading the team in passing last season, didn’t play in Cal’s 2023 matchup with Auburn.

He threw for 158 yards and a touchdown on 15-for-22 passing in Cal’s season-opening win over UC Davis.

Cal’s leading receiver from last season, Jeremiah Hunter, now plays at Washington, but it returned its next two most productive pass catchers Trond Grizzell and tight end Jack Endries.

Endries didn’t record a catch in Cal’s season opener and Grizzell recorded one for 11 yards. Cal’s leading receiver in the game was redshirt freshman Nyziah Hunter.

Defense

Schematically, Cal’s defense isn’t too different from what Auburn saw last season. Wilcox is a defensive-minded head coach and defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon returns in the same role he held last season.

When addressing the biggest challenges Cal’s defense poses, the defensive ends came to mind for Freeze.

“Both those defensive ends are really, really talented — 44 and seven. You’ve got to have a plan for those guys,” Freeze said.

Those two defensive ends in question are seniors David Reese and Xavier Carlton. Reese is in his seventh season of college football and his second at Cal after spending five years at Florida.

He led Cal in sacks a season ago with six and a half, one of them coming against Auburn.

Carlton, who’s in his fifth season, was second on the team in sacks last season with four and a half.

As a team, Cal didn’t record any sacks against UC Davis but recorded three tackles for loss.

The Cal defense shut out UC Davis in the second half after only leading by one point at halftime. The biggest adjustment was more zone coverage looks in the second half, which helped force UC Davis to throw three interceptions.

Last season, Cal put an emphasis on forcing Auburn to make plays in the passing game. Auburn is more equipped to do that this season, and if Auburn can avoid turnovers, the matchup between its receivers and Cal’s secondary favors Auburn.

“They’ll have a good plan, I’m sure. And it’ll be a good challenge for us to see kind of where we are offensively now,” Freeze said.

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at [email protected]m