Cal Football: Secret Weapons to Help Cal Shock Stanford

This weekend, the California Golden Bears (6-4) are going to be looking to pull a huge road upset against the Stanford Cardinal (9-1).

Following two wins over the Washington State Cougars and Oregon State Beavers, Cal is going to have its hands full against Andrew Luck and the Cardinal to make it three consecutive wins. Anything is possible, and following a huge loss to the Oregon Ducks last week, it will be interesting to see how Stanford will respond.

If Cal is planning on upsetting the Cardinal this weekend, they will need to use some of their secret weapons to claim a win in this Pac-12 North matchup.

The California Golden Bears' wide receiver Marvin Jones has been silenced in the last three weeks being held under 30 yards, but he has shown spurts of excellence throughout the season.

Against Fresno State in Week 1, Jones caught five receptions for 118 yards and two touchdowns. That game was his highest scoring of the season, as he only has three touchdowns on the year. The other touchdown came in Week 3 where he caught seven passes for 123 yards.

Jones may not come off as a huge threat, but with five games of having at least one reception over 20 yards, he has shown that he could make a huge play at any moment.

Not quite so much a secret, but the California Golden Bears' sophomore wide receiver Keenan Allen could single-handedly destroy the Stanford Cardinal secondary.

So far this season, he has three games with over 150 yards. Most impressively, one of those games was against the Oregon Ducks where he broke out for 170 yards and a touchdown to burn the Ducks' defense. He also has five touchdowns this season, but hasn't scored in the last three weeks.

The Golden Bears will need Allen to pick things back up this week against Stanford, and if he can he may give them a real shot to make a game out of this.

While running back Isi Sofele has been a stud for the California Golden Bears this season, the Stanford Cardinal are also going to have their hands full with C.J. Anderson.

On the season, Anderson has run for 293 yards on 53 carries with five touchdowns. There is no doubt that Anderson could make things happen just as well as Sofele when he is given his touches.

In his previous game against the Oregon State Beavers, Anderson was given the ball 14 times and took advantage by running for a season high of 96 yards.

When Sofele takes a breather, the Cardinal shouldn't feel that they are getting a break in stopping the run because Anderson will tear them up with any opening.

Senior linebacker Trevor Guyton has been a beast for the California Golden Bears this season.

On the season, he has 36 tackles, 10 of which have been for a loss. He also has a fumble return in Week 1 of the season against Fresno State. The Cal defense has been relatively quiet this season, but they will be looking for their senior linebacker to step up in this game.

It will be important for Guyton to continue to get into the backfield, as the key to stopping the Stanford Cardinal is taking down star quarterback Andrew Luck.

Guyton will not be alone either, as it will also take great efforts from D.J. Campbell and D.J. Holt who have 56 and 71 total tackles respectively.

Josh Hill has 40 tackles on the season, and also has an interception. That interception came against the Utah Utes back in October and it was for a touchdown, but interceptions are not what he is key for in this game.

Hill is third on the team in passes broken up with five, so he is going to be needed in stopping the pass against Andrew Luck and the Stanford Cardinal.

Cal already knows they have reliable backs in Steve Wiliams and Marc Anthony. It will be important for Hill to show up because Cal is going to need all the help they can get.

If Hill, Williams and Anthony can all be effective in stopping the pass, they could at least eliminate Luck from being effective in this game. If they can do that, they could help open the door for a Cal upset.