What to know before Cal’s home game against Arizona

ARIZONA at CAL

Records: Cal 2-1, 0-0 in the Pac-12; Arizona 2-1, 0-0 in Pac-12

Kickoff: 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, CA

TV: Pac-12 Networks

Radio: KGO (810 AM)

Series history: Arizona leads 19-14-2 and has won six in a row, including 10-3 in Tucson last season when the Bears were without 24 players due to COVID-19 protocols. Twenty-five of the 35 meetings have been decided by seven points or fewer, including the past seven games.

Cal storylines: The Bears try to rebound after losing 24-17 at Notre Dame in the first meeting between the programs since 1967. Cal is hoping to win its conference opener for just the second time since 2015. The Bears have not assembled a winning conference record since 2009, going 4-5 three of the past four years  . . . The Bears have not scored in the fourth quarter in either of their past two games . . . Cal also needs to shore up its pass protection, which has allowed 12 sacks in three games, ranking in a tie for 127th nationally among 131 FBS teams . . . Senior inside linebacker Jackson Sirmon, a transfer from Washington, is second in the Pac-12 with 10.7 tackles per game . . . Senior Jamieson Sheahan leads the Pac-12 and is second nationally with a 48.8-yard punter average. He is far ahead of Bryan Anger’s 2010 single-season school-record average of 45.6.

Arizona storylines: The Wildcats are a vastly different squad than the one that Cal played a year ago. The Cats’ win over the Bears snapped a 20-game losing streak but was their only victory in a 1-11 campaign. Second-year coach Jedd Fisch brought in 50 new players since last season ended, starting with Washington State transfer Jayden de Laura at quarterback. A year ago, de Laura passed for 213 yards and two touchdowns in WSU’s 41-25 win over Cal. He is fourth in the Pac-12 this season with 249.3 passing yards per game. After throwing three interceptions in Arizona’s 39-17 loss at Mississippi State two weeks ago, de Laura was turnover-free in the 31-28 win over FCS power North Dakota State last week . . . Senior wide receiver Jacob Cowing, a transfer from UTEP, leads the Pac-12 with 21 receptions and five TD catches. He had 141 receptions in three seasons with the Miners.

Stats that matter: Cal has turned the ball over just twice this season and has not allowed any points off those turnovers . . . Arizona has created six turnovers in its first three games, as many as it generated in 12 games last season . . . Arizona coach Jedd Fisch’s only two Pac-12 victories have come at the expense of Cal: last year in Tucson and in 2017 when he was interim coach at UCLA.

— JEFF FARAUDO