After a three-game stint of nonconference play, the Bears are finally ready to take on their first Pac-12 opponent with Washington awaiting its chance to play host to Cal this weekend in Seattle. Coming off an impressive comeback win against Idaho, in which Cal held the Vandals scoreless in the second half to win 31-17, this weekend’s opponent is of a very different caliber.
Cal’s head coach Justin Wilcox, offensive coordinator Jake Spavital and defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon, as well as former Huskies linebacker Jackson Sirmon and receiver Taj Davis, spoke during Tuesday’s media availability about the upcoming Washington matchup and the state of this Cal team through three games.
Cal quarterback competition open once again
Somehow it feels like the Bears are back at square one when it comes to who will start at quarterback despite seemingly having that decision made by the end of Saturday’s game. Something Spavital said repeatedly throughout fall camp was that he was waiting for someone — out of Sam Jackson V, Ben Finley and Fernando Mendoza — to “separate themselves.” This was once again the phrase that was used this week, but now the team is into Week 4 of the college football season.
“All these quarterbacks are young in terms of experience … Both of these guys are improving daily, but we need to see consistency with the decision making and the ability to stretch the ball vertically and go score,” said Spavital. “In the long run, we wish we had someone separate themselves completely and be like, ‘this is our guy’ and go from there. But right now there’s just the inconsistent play of everybody and we’ve got to be more stable in that room.”
On the depth chart, Jackson and Finley are again listed as potential starters after the former was given the firm starting role ahead of the matchup with Idaho. Wilcox said that the program has to be “more efficient” at the quarterback position, and the staff will evaluate this every day throughout the week.
While Jackson shone against Idaho last week, especially in the latter part of the game, securing one rushing and two passing touchdowns. Finley, on the other hand, performed well against North Texas after Jackson left the game with an injury, throwing for 289 yards.
Heading into the first week of conference play, Cal is still — or again, depending on how you look at things – without a starting quarterback. If both should play this weekend, their performance will be key to determine the depth chart going forward.
