Cal coach Justin Wilcox has reiterated several times that he will not rush a starting quarterback decision, allowing veteran transfer Jack Plummer and redshirt freshman Kai Millner to continue competing into fall camp.

But it was hard to ignore the takeaways from the Golden Bears' Spring Showcase Saturday -- namely that Plummer worked behind the first-team offensive line (vs. the second-team defense) and opened the day with a touchdown pass to Mavin Anderson on the first series of the scrimmage, while Millner worked with the second-team OL vs. the first-team defense and threw an interception on a bad overthrow during an uneven performance.

Overall, Plummer was an efficient 6-of-8 passing for 59 yards and that touchdown in limited action, while Millner finished 6 of 15 for 54 yards and that pick.

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"Jack started out strong, very much in control. It's been impressive to watch how quickly he's picked up the system, and then I think you see the ability, his accuracy down the field, throwing intermediate routes, and even the quick game, throwing on-time stuff, I thought he did a nice job," Wilcox said.

"And then Kai and Zach [Johnson], all of them made some good plays. Kai's made some unscheduled and on-schedule plays, some fourth-down conversions that were impressive. It's good. Unfortunately, sometimes in the games it goes that way [with early struggles]. Obviously, we always want to come out and start fast, have everything go our way early in a game. It doesn't always happen like that, so you've got to be able to battle through that, gather yourself and then finish, and I thought he did a really good job of that today."

It would figure that Millner would have had to clearly outplay Plummer this spring to offset the value of his collegiate experience, as Plummer passed for 3,405 yards, 26 touchdowns and 10 interceptions over three seasons at Purdue.

By all accounts, there wasn't a great deal of separation between the two quarterbacks this spring, with each taking turns having their moments, but it's hard not to see this as Plummer's job to lose at this point -- especially after Saturday.

Plummer, who led a short field goal drive on his second series, was asked in what area he thought he developed the most through his first spring at Cal.

"I would say taking control of the offense and knowing what guys are going to do on their routes and knowing where to put it for certain guys and just building the chemistry with receivers," he said.

"We've got guys all over the place that can get open outside, inside, guys can you can throw the ball in the air and they'll go get it, and guys you can throw the ball at the line of scrimmage and they'll get you yards. We've got good weapons. I'm excited about them."

(Indeed, the receivers became the story of the spring with offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave saying earlier that this could become the "Golden Era" for Cal receivers if the group reaches its full potential. In the spring showcase, the redshirt freshman Anderson capped his breakout spring with 2 catches for 40 yards, including that TD; junior Justin Richard Baker had 2 catches for 14 yards and a TD from Johnson; fellow emerging redshirt freshman J.Michael Sturdivant caught 1 ball for 9 yards; and established junior Jeremiah Hunter had 1 catch for 5 yards in the limited scrimmage action.)

As for Millner, he too was upbeat coming out of the spring showcase despite the early struggles and then the interception.

"We came out and we had a couple bumps, which is normal. We come out here for the first time, coming out in the spring game everybody's juiced, everybody's hyped up, but we were able to find a rhythm in the end," he said. "I was just glad that the whole offense, we kind of stuck to it once we took a deep breath and kept moving forward and bounced back, which was really important, I thought."

Millner emphasized how valuable the experience has been for him this spring while he and Plummer split the majority of QB reps. From building chemistry with the receivers to significantly expanding his comfort in the offense, Millner expounded on his own progress.

"I feel like I've gotten so much better. I feel like getting turns and being able to go out and execute the offense, I feel like I've just really, really gotten better since last fall, just being out there, have fun with it, enjoy the guys around me," he said.

"Definitely just leading and getting guys where they need to be and just understanding the offense. There's kind of knowing the playbook and really understanding it and feeling it and getting the turns at it. I feel like that's really where I started to get really better since the fall."

There's equal optimism for the rushing attack, but there was only so much to take away from it during the spring showcase with projected primary backs Damien Moore (4 carries for 23 yards), freshman Jaydn Ott (6 for 21) and DeCarlos Brooks (2-7) only getting so many opportunities, while Ashton Stredick led the way with 5 carries for 56 yards.

Meanwhile, Wilcox also talked a little bout Williams, the redshirt junior safety who had the big defensive player of the day with that interception as well as a sack on Millner to end the QB's first series.

"He's had a really good spring, made another big play today. Miles, last year if you remember in the spring game he had a one-handed, tipped the ball to himself interception right down here, and I think he's taken a step," Wilcox said. "He has been here a while now. I think Miles is setting himself up for a really strong preseason. He's got to continue to grow, but really pleased with his spring along with some of those other safeties -- Ray [Woodie] and Hunter [Barth] have done a good job as well."

Overall, Wilcox echoed a sentiment his offensive coordinator shared earlier in the week about bringing a largely inexperienced roster at many spots along this spring.

"We still could use as many practices as they'll allow us to have, but I am pleased with the way the guys have progressed across the board," he said.