Cal aims to showcase new-look pass rush against Hawaii

Defensive end Kyle Kragen, who led Cal with seven sacks last season and is now with the Denver Broncos, relied on his signature double-hand swipe to elude blockers.

Throughout training camp, sophomore Cameron Saffle — the player poised to replace Kragen in the starting lineup — worked on replicating that move.

[...] confident is defensive coordinator Art Kaufman in his pass rush that he added a host of blitz packages to the playbook.

In training camp, with his chief competition for the starting job — junior Noah Westerfield — limited by an ankle injury, Saffle excelled at jumping off the line of scrimmage.

Said defensive tackle Tony Mekari: We always knew that he was very promising, and he had some really good potential.

Wilson, in his first year out of junior college, had modest numbers last season — 25 tackles and one sack — for someone who started eight games.

Cal’s pass rush struggled at times in training camp against a first-team offensive line that returns four of five starters.

In three seasons in Honolulu, he has thrown more interceptions (22) than touchdown passes (18).