I did a bit more reading on analyst roles on college football teams. It came again in another thread about Longwell and the ability for analysts to coach on the field. I read elsewhere about the role of analysts and how there isn't a limit on the number of them. Peeking at some other big name teams, I see that some of them employ a high number of analysts (and/or quality control specialists). Will this further separate programs with a ton of money vs those that don't? Is there any incentive for the NCAA to limit the number of auxiliary staff? Or are we just looking at the acceleration of a super conference of the top 25 or so teams with the biggest pockets and professionalization of CFB?

Now that I've had an opportunity to reflect on how camp has played out and get a look at how the groups have changed daily, here is my best assessment of what the first depth chart will look like by the time game week arrives. For now, I am disregarding some of the less serious injuries and looking at how the staff will release the depth chart (as to not give up much about the injury status of certain players) so there is a very good chance this depth chart won't exactly match what it looks like on the field come Aug. 31. So, this is my educated guess on what the coaches would have on their list if everyone is available.

A couple notes --


OFFENSE

QB
1) Fernando Mendoza 2) Chandler Rogers 3) CJ Harris
RB
1) Jaydn Ott 2) Kadarius Calloway 3) Byron Cardwell or Jaivian Thomas
WR
1) Tobias Merriweather 2) Jonathan Brady 3) Cole Boscia
WR
1) Kyion Grayes 2) Mason Starling 3) Jordan King
Slot
1) Trond Grizzell 2) Mikey Matthews or Mavin Anderson
TE
1) Jack Endries 2) Corey Dyches 3) Nate Rutchena
RT
1) TJ Session 2) Frederick Williams III
RG
1) Sioape Vatikani 2) Trent Ramsey
C
1) Will McDonald 2) Matthew Wykoff
LG
1) Bastian Swinney 2) Rush Reimer
LT
1) Nick Morrow 2) Victor Stoffel

DEFENSE

OLB
1) David Reese 2) Ryan McCulloch
DL
1) Ricky Correia 2) Aidan Keanaaina
DL
1) Nate Burrell 2) T.J. Bollers
OLB
1) Xavier Carlton 2) Cheikh Fall
ILB
1) Cade Uluave 2) Hunter Barth
ILB
1) Teddye Buchanan 2) Aaron Hampton
CB
1) Nohl Williams 2) Lu-Magia Hearns
Nickel
1) Matthew Littlejohn 2) Isaiah Crosby
DB
1) Craig Woodson or Cam Sidney 2) Jasiah Wagoner
DB
1) Miles Williams 2) Ryan Yaites
CB
1) Marcus Harris 2) Collin Gamble

Read that here. I want to thank @Matt Moreno for taking the time to provide me with a nice quote on Ott. That helped enhance the piece! Thank you, Matt! I've been really impressed with Matt's coverage of Cal fall camp, btw. He has been CRUSHING it!

This site has always had a feature where if you've read the most recent post in a thread, it would de-highlight the thread title. It doesn't do that for me anymore so it's not easy to see at a glance if I've seen the most recent post in a thread and I find myself opening threads multiple times a day only to find I already read the most recent post. This is especially true for me on the practice report threads since those are the ones I read the most (incidentally, great job with those, Matt). Yes, I know each thread shows when the last post in a thread was made and by who but I don't keep track of when posts are made or who made them so that doesn't help me very much unless the most recent one was a prior day or something.

Anyone else having the same issue and any recs to fix the problem?

I'm not able to make those games, so giving away the tickets. Two seats in section JJ. PM me if interested.

CARMICHAEL, Calif. — The Bears were back in action Tuesday as the final days of training camp play out this week. Tuesday was the last practice with any observation permitted, so it was the last day anyone outside of the program will get a glimpse of the team until the opener against UC Davis. It was a little warmer at Jesuit High School on Tuesday giving Justin Wilcox what he was looking for in the two days away from Berkeley.

The team has been mostly able to avoid any tempers flaring for a couple weeks now, but Tuesday was a throwback to the early days of camp. There were a couple small scuffles as the dog days of camp have arrived. There was a different energy during both days in Carmichael, and things became a bit more heated Tuesday.

The aggression seemed to again come from the defensive side, but things didn't get too out of hand and overall it felt more positive than negative at this point in camp. It is clear that the players want to see someone else though as has been the general vibe in the last two days.

There were a couple team periods in addition to the usual individual practice work on Day 17, and here's a rundown of how things went on my last day getting a look at the Bears until next Saturday.

Practice 17 notes and observations

- At this point, it is just easiest to begin with the quarterback competition. It remains unclear whether or not the staff will announce a decision this week, but the players have not made that job any easier this week. There continues to be very little separation between Fernando Mendoza and Chandler Rogers with reps still being split among those two players while CJ Harris continues to get a good amount of reps with the third unit. That could change Wednesday as the team starts to begin turning its attention to game prep.

Tuesday, the quarterbacks had one of the more productive days as a group that they have had in quite some time. In all, there were six touchdowns thrown during the team periods on Day 17 led by three red zone scores for Harris. Early in practice, the staff used their "siren" period to quickly get the team inside the 10-yard line for a quick team period. The goal of the siren period is to catch the players off guard and make them think quickly to get lined up and ready to run a play.

Harris converted on three consecutive drives to finish the team period as the staff continued to let him work without rotating to end that stretch. His work did come against the third-unit defense, so that is something to keep in mind. However, he did look sharp with 3-yard touchdown passes to running back Jamaal Wiley and receiver Isaac Torres plus an 8-yard touchdown pass to Myles Reber.

Rogers accounted for two touchdown passes on the day including one during the siren period as he linked up with running back Kadarius Calloway for 3-yard score. His big play came early in the team period as he worked with the second unit. He found receiver Trond Grizzell on a pass led to a 46-yard score for the offense. Grizzell gained close to 25 yards on his own on the play with an impressive run after the catch to reach the end zone. Rogers opened the second team period with the first unit.

He had an impressive 15-yard run early in the second team period while working behind the first offensive line.

Mendoza came up empty in terms of touchdowns during the first team period, which he opened with the first unit. However, he finished up practice with a nice sequence as he found Jordan King on a tough play in the end zone that resulted in a 15-yard score.

- If you're keeping score at home, that means the first-unit defense again was able to hold the offense out of the end zone in what has become a theme throughout camp. There was a different energy about that group on Day 17, and it carried over into the team periods. A batted pass by Nate Burrell early set the tone early, and that first unit was again able to cause havoc around the line of scrimmage.

There were back-to-back sacks early in the first team period, and a few tackles for loss tacked onto that by the end of practice. Inside linebackers Teddye Buchanan and Aaron Hampton plus outside linebacker David Reese accounted for those tackles for loss.

- Someone new getting an opportunity to shine a bit on Day 17 was freshman Michael-Anthony Okwura who came up with a sack while working against Mendoza and the second offense late in the second team period.

- Defensive back Isaiah Crosby continued his strong finish to camp with a pass breakup early during the siren team period.

- Inside linebacker Cade Uluave had a strong showing on Day 17 with a pressure on Mendoza in the first team period that forced a throwaway before coming up with stop against Jaydn Ott on a screen attempt.

- The staff continues to rotate different players through the first unit at receiver. Cal is dealing with missing players at the position right now, but Tuesday's first group was led by Tobias Merriweather to go along with Mavin Anderson in the slot and Jonathan Brady at the other outside position. That group figures to see a heavy rotation, so it's not a surprise to see so many different players get their opportunity to work with the first unit in recent practices.

- The team didn't go live on kickoff returns but Ott spent some time as a return man on Tuesday. Overall, he had a solid day with his continued light workload during camp. The Cal running back had a nice 12-yard run early in the second team period that allowed him to get loose a little bit.

Post-practice interviews

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How can you watch the Bears on TV in so cal or on cox cable TV. Help

CARMICHAEL, Calif. — The Bears were on the road Monday for one of two practices in the Sacramento area. Cal is spending a couple days away from campus to wrap up training camp in the heat. The temperature wasn't too hot Monday afternoon, but it was still a departure from the sometimes chilly morning practices in Berkeley. It seems like the players appreciated the change of scenery, and the Bears were able to get in some more work on Day 16 of camp.

We were the only media outlet represented for Monday's practice, which was closed to the public, so here are some exclusive notes from the first day of the final week of camp for Justin Wilcox's team.

Practice 16 notes and observations

- The Bears have set up their operations in the Sacramento area for a couple days, and the change of scenery brought some positive news on the injury front as there was a noticeable difference in the amount of players working off to the side with the training staff. Receiver Mikey Matthews was able to get into the mix a little bit on Monday as he went through individual drills with the offense. It is the most he has done in camp, and is a positive sign as he works to get back on the field. Defensive back Craig Woodson was suited up and went through some work with the defense before finishing practice off to the side. It is a small thing, but it was the most he has done since early in camp.

Inside linebacker Cade Uluave and wide receiver Tobias Merriweather were both scratches from Saturday's scrimmage, but both were back on the field in a full capacity on Monday. Neither absence was believed to be injury related but the staff has been giving a few of the top players time off in camp.

Defensive lineman Ricky Correia was also back on the field working during the team periods after missing some time earlier in camp.

- Now, onto practice and what I saw on the field Monday. If there was any hope that the reps would be different for the quarterbacks after Saturday's scrimmage, well, that didn't change on Day 16. Fernando Mendoza and Chandler Rogers were again mostly evenly split in their opportunities to run the offense. Mendoza opened up the first team period running the first team offense while Rogers did the the same in the second team period.

The only slight change was how much CJ Harris was able to get on the field. I didn't track the reps but it felt like it was the least he (and the rest of the third unit) has been on the field in quite some time, which makes sense for where the Bears are in camp.

At this point the staff is going to have to split hairs to make a decision on the quarterback position, and Monday it was Mendoza who was able to break through and get the offense in the end zone. He threw both touchdown passes on the day in the team periods. He connected with tight end Nate Rutchena while working with the second unit on a pass that went for around 25 yards.

Mendoza followed that up with a 13-yard touchdown to Jordan King on the right side of the end zone on a nice looking play that featured an impressive grab from King who was going up against Collin Gamble in coverage. Both touchdowns came with Mendoza working with the second unit against the second defense.

Much like has been the case throughout camp, there has been some bad with the good for the quarterbacks, and for Mendoza that was an interception while working against Marcus Harris.

Mendoza looked for Merriweather down the field on the play and Harris flew in to make the play. It was the second time in the sequence that Harris had been around the ball with Mendoza looking for Merriweather. The first probably should have been an interception as well but was dropped by Harris.

Rogers didn't guide the offense into the end zone, but he hit on some big plays throughout practice. He hit Merriweather early in the second team period on a 25-yard play and had another couple passes that went for around 15 yards.

Harris had some of the biggest passes of the day once again during his opportunity to get in the team periods. He hit Jaiven Plummer for a play that resulted in a gain of over 30 yards and he ended the final team period with a pass to Rutchena that went for close to 40 yards.

- The ground game was working again for the offense, and it led to a highlight run for Jaydn Ott on Day 16. The star running back broke free for an easy (by his standards) 30-yard score to the right side. It didn't take much for Ott to get going downhill on the play, and it was an easy scamper into the end zone from there.

Jaivian Thomas also had a nice run as he got his opportunity to work with the second unit on a 15-yard play.

- Defensively, there was a good amount of pressure being applied once again by Peter Sirmon's group, and it led to a couple uneasy moments for the quarterbacks. Teddye Buchanan had an interception in the 7-on-7 period to go along with the pick from Harris against Mendoza during the first team period.

- Outside linebacker Cheikh Fall continues to be a revelation in camp and he continued his strong stretch with an impressive tackle for loss against Kadarius Calloway during the first team period. He followed that up with a quarterback hurry that moved the pocket while working against the second unit offensive line.

- Fellow outside linebacker Xavier Carlton has been stellar since returning to the field after missing some practice time. He shined in the scrimmage and came up with a nice stop of Calloway late in the second team period.

Post-practice interviews

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Practice 16 clips

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Derrian Brown was the #12 RB recruit in the 2019 recruiting class, out of powerhouse Buford High School in Georgia. After signing with the Texas Longhorns, he suffered a stroke that led to emergency brain surgery and a long stay in ICU. He was put on medical scholarship after the incident. In the years following, Derrian rehabbed and worked toward getting medically cleared to play football again. That proved difficult, but he did manage to graduate with honors from UT in the meantime. After several years of trying, Derrian was finally cleared to play football again in Spring of this year. But because he was on medical scholarship, he couldn’t play at Texas anymore. So he entered the transfer portal in the Spring. No schools would offer him a scholarship because he had no college film, just what he had done in High School from the last time he played in 2018, before stroke. He tried to re-join Texas this month, but was unable to do so, unfortunate for all, given they have lost 2 RBs for the season in practice this month.

By some kind of good fortunate, Derrian recently got connected with the Head Football Coach at Santa Barbara City College in the last few weeks, who told him he could play there for one year to get film on him, then transfer to a D1 school. But given Derrian has already earned an undergrad degree, if he does in fact transfer, it will be as a Graduate Student. Has anyone ever heard of transferring from a JC to a Grad School? If that wasn't enough for you, Derrian still has all 4 years of eligibility left!

If Derrian can find housing, he will play for Santa Barbara City College as a 24yo Graduate Student with the eligibility of a Freshman, in a few weeks! This means if he is able to transfer, Derrian will have three years of eligibility remaining as a 25 yo. I don't know how long he will actually want to play, I just know it is his mission to get one play in a real D1 College Football game, because that was a goal he set for himself after having the stroke.

I have no idea how good Derrian will be once he starts playing, and I don't think he knows either. What I do know is I've talked with Derrian several times after meeting him kind of by chance last month. He is a sweetheart of a young man with a very good heart, that you can tell was raised well by his parents. I want to see him rewarded for his hard work and perseverance. I suspect everyone will be rooting for him when they hear his story. Who knows, maybe someone will give Wilcox and staff a heads up to start following Santa Barbara City College. Looks like Derrian will miss the first game of the season, as it is Aug. 24, and he hasn't arrived there yet, but he should be able to play in their next game on Sept. 7. https://www.sbccvaqueros.com/sports/fball/2024-25/schedule

I read that Bama is paying their GM 825k a year? I didn’t even know this was a thing to have a literal GM. Who does this for Cal?

Since you all seemed to enjoy the mailbag after Week 1, I will do the same this week. The Bears have a day off Monday but I'll shoot for Wednesday again to get to all the questions. In the meantime, drop anything you're wondering about below, and I'll put all my answers together once again. Looking forward to it!

Weren't any of you on the call the other day with Lyons and Knowlton? I have heard some things from my friend who was on the call, but I would rather not post second hand...

Cal returned to action Saturday for one of the most important days of camp so far. The team's second scrimmage took place on Day 15, and there is only one week left of camp before the Bears dedicate their time to preparations for UC Davis. The depth chart is feeling like it is beginning to become more solidified at this stage, but one key job remains wide open.

There was a lot of energy on Day 15, and the crowd gathered at CMS was able to get one last glimpse of the Bears before the opener two weeks from today.

Practice 15 (Scrimmage 2) notes and observations

- The defense has been building some momentum this week, and Peter Sirmon's group again controlled the action Saturday. The most tangible element of its production Saturday was the fact that the first unit kept the No. 1 offense out of the end zone for the entirety of practice. The staff decided to rotate quarterbacks with the first group on Day 15, but it didn't matter who worked with that unit, there were no touchdowns allowed. There were also several sacks and tackles for loss plus an interception for the defensive group.

The interception came by way of defensive back Isaiah Crosby who hauled in a pass from CJ Harris on a fourth-and-9 to end the final main team period Saturday.

The defense also did a nice job of controlling the run and ultimately held the running game in check. The numbers are a bit skewed because of how many sacks were allowed, but in all the defense was able to hold the offense to fewer than 10 yards rushing on the day.

The success was widespread throughout the defense, but the defensive front did a nice job overall of being disruptive and making plays against the run and pressuring the quarterbacks. Xavier Carlton and David Reese were especially impressive during the scrimmage as each came up with a sack (Carlton had 2.5) while Cheikh Fall and Nate Burrell also contributed with sacks of their own on Saturday.

That's not to say the secondary was left out of the fun either. The defensive backs were active as well with several pass breakups throughout the practice. Newcomer Ryan Yaites had particularly active hands on Day 15 with a couple pass breakups while Cam Sidney, Marcus Harris and Khamani Hudson all were in that same boat with pass breakups of their own.

- The now daily quarterback competition update yields no real new developments unfortunately for the Bears. Both Fernando Mendoza and Chandler Rogers had bright moments on Saturday but the struggles in getting the ball in the end zone continued, particularly when both worked with the first unit. Mendoza and Rogers both threw touchdown passes in the second scrimmage with Mendoza hitting Trond Grizzell on a 28-yard play to the right side of the field on his first drive of the day (working with the second unit).

Rogers didn't have his touchdown drive until later in practice when he found Nyziah Hunter on a 38-yard connection on the first play of his last drive during the team period. Like Mendoza, Rogers' touchdown came while he worked with the second unit.

If you were to give an advantage to either quarterback on Day 15, it would probably go to Mendoza who was at least able to get the first unit on the board with a field goal during the second team segment. He was sacked a couple times on the drive but did enough with a pass to Jack Endries and a short throw to Mavin Anderson to get the offense in position for a 52-yard field goal from Ryan Coe. Mendoza also guided the second unit to a field goal after linking up with Hunter on a chunk play to set up a 43-yard field goal for Coe.

- Third quarterback CJ Harris worked with the second unit for a bit on Saturday but his best work again came with the third group as he guided that unit to a touchdown during his first drive of the day. Harris found Ben Marshall on a nice play for a 14-yard score.

Walk-on Belay Brummel and freshman EJ Caminong guided the final portion of practice and Brummel led a touchdown drive during his time taking the snaps. He hit freshman Carson Perry-Smith for 27 yards on the scoring play.

- Coe was used once again quite a bit in the second scrimmage, and there were some more game-like moments for the transfer kicker. First, all three of his kickoffs went for touchbacks and his first attempt was a booming kick that had zero chance of being returned. It drew some applause from the crowd and his teammates. He eventually settled in and connected on a pair of long field goals (52, 43) but was short on a 56-yard try during the second team segment. He did connect on both of his extra point attempts.

Freshman Derek Morris had two of his three kickoffs go for touchbacks, and he was true on his one PAT try on the day. He did not attempt a field goal in the scrimmage.

- Cade Uluave was given the day off Saturday, but Teddye Buchanan more than held his own without his first-team running mate. The UC Davis transfer impacted the scrimmage in a variety of ways Saturday including having a sack and pass breakup for the defense. Hunter Barth stepped into Uluave's role with the first unit on Saturday and came up with two tackles and a sack.

- Similar to the first scrimmage, penalties were an issue Saturday once again. The offense had a handful of penalties including a costly holding on the drive that ended with a field goal for Mendoza's group. The defense had a key penalty early in practice as a pass interference call followed by an offsides penalty led to Mendoza's touchdown as it kept the drive alive and moved the offense into scoring position.

- New Cal chancellor Rich Lyons was at practice on Saturday and spoke with the team briefly afterward before getting the opportunity to break down the team to end the day. It was a nice moment, and Justin Wilcox made sure his players understood the importance of having the chancellor out there with the Bears. Mendoza spoke about it afterward as well.

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To wrap things up, here are the scoring plays from Saturday's scrimmage ...

- The Bears will head up to Jesuit HS in Carmichael early next week for a couple offsite practices. It will be closed to the public, but media is going to be allowed to attend. After that, the Bears go into game mode and things will be shut down.

Post-practice interviews

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He's #73 in ESPNs top 100. Anyone have any info on how we look for him?

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Just as a heads up, I will not be doing any extended notes for today's practice since it was almost exclusively a walk through for the team. The Bears have their second camp scrimmage set for Saturday morning, so Justin Wilcox decided go with a shorter practice that didn't feature any full-speed team periods. The two team periods were all done at walk-through speed.

- Fernando Mendoza was with the first unit during the walk-through periods, but that doesn't say much about the team will do at the position since Mike Bloesch and Sterlin Gilbert have rotated the top two guys for the entirety of camp up to this point.

The only time the quarterbacks were really making any passes was during the individual drills when they linked up with the receivers and tight ends, and I thought Mendoza made some strong passes during that portion but they all come against air since there are no defensive backs on the field during that period.

- There were still some issues handling kicks and punts on Friday, so that is something that is going to have to get squared away by the time the season arrives. The staff has tried using some different techniques to improve that aspect, but the issues are still popping up during special teams work.

- There is a definite emphasis on tomorrow's scrimmage. Wilcox and the staff sound like they are going to take into account a lot of what tomorrow looks like when evaluating the roster and eventual depth chart, so it's an important day. Bloesch downplayed it a little bit when I asked if it will be a "make or break" day for some players, but it sounds like there will be some added importance to what tomorrow's scrimmage looks like.

Post-practice interviews

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…. Is today. And only 14 days from Cal football. The most exciting time of year. Pumped for this season with all the new factors despite all the uncertainty.

Hope we surprise the country. Go Bears!

The intensity continues to ramp up in training camp for the Bears as they head toward their second scrimmage coming up Saturday. The last two days of practice have been two of the more entertaining and eventual to watch so far with a ton of energy on both sides of the ball. It feels like the players understand the importance of the current stretch, and that has brought some big plays for both the offense and defense.

Day 13 was another one of those days for the Bears, and here's a look at the top takeaways from Thursday. As a note, it was a planned "no interview" day so there wasn't post-practice availability, but we will get both coordinators and select players tomorrow before getting Justin Wilcox again on Saturday.

Practice 13 notes and observations

- It felt this way on Wednesday, and today it was clear. Practice belonged to the defense. Led by some continued high energy from David Reese, the defense did a good job of putting the clamps down on the offense Thursday. There were highlight plays at all three levels on Day 13, but it was the secondary that again shined for the Bears. In all there were two interceptions, four sacks plus three additional tackles for loss, and seven pass breakups by the defense.

The defense allowed just two touchdowns on the day, but both came during the portion of practice with the third units on the field. So, the top two defensive groups kept the top two offensive groups out of the end zone on Day 13.

Seven different players either had a sack or tackle for loss for the defense Thursday, so the success was wide spread.

- Nohl Williams has raised his game over the last couple practices, and he came up with multiple impressive plays during Thursday's action. It started early as he intercepted Fernando Mendoza during the 7-on-7 period on a play where Mendoza was looking for Kyion Grayes. He followed that up with a pair of pass breakups during the team periods. That comes just a day after he had two interceptions during the 12th practice of camp.

- Neither of the top two quarterbacks had a particularly impressive performance on Day 13. The reality is that the competition feels like it is in the same place it has been with no clear leader as the end of the third week of camp approaches. Chandler Rogers got the first crack at working with the first unit during the initial team period Thursday but could get the offense in position to score. He was intercepted by nickel Matthew Littlejohn early in the final team period as he looked for tight end Corey Dyches.

It wasn't all bad for Rogers as he had one of the bigger throws of the day on a 41-yard connection with Trond Grizzell during the second team period.

Mendoza had a couple mishaps take place during his drives leading the offense. The team briefly went live for its "siren period" that has been installed the last couple days to keep the team alert. It takes place during the middle of a non-team period and forces the players to have to rush to get lined up in a more high-pressure situation. Thursday, the situation was fourth-and-1 from the 39-yard line.

Both Rogers and Mendoza were unsuccessful during that stretch, but it was Mendoza who had the bigger snafu as he fumbled after being sacked by Curlee Thomas IV. The quarterbacks have not been live outside of this one instance. Jaydn Ott was stonewalled for a loss by TJ Bollers during Rogers' sequence.

I've written about this a lot, but CJ Harris was the most productive quarterback of the practice. He accounted for the lone passing touchdown of the day as he hit Jonathan Brady for 55 yards during the second team period. He also had a couple pass plays that went for more than 15 yards.

Outside of the touchdown by Harris, Rogers put together the best looking drive. He hit Grizzell on a 41-yard play that set the offense up in prime position to score. The drive was called dead when the offense failed to get in the end zone on three downs. Still, it was a great looking play from Rogers.

- Neither Rogers nor Mendoza had a clean pocket to work with for most of practice. That has become a growing theme in camp as the offensive line still has some work to do before the opener against UC Davis arrives. The left side was a bit more of a concern Thursday as Nick Morrow and Rush Reimer continue to work at left tackle and left guard. A lot of the pressure on Day 13 came from that side including a batted pass from Reese against Mendoza and a sack of Rogers from Cheikh Fall late in the final team period.

- The biggest positive for the offense came on the ground as the running backs supplied the explosive plays on Thursday. Jaivian Thomas hit the first big one with a 40-yard run during the second team period. The second-year back has been seeing ample opportunities with the first (Ott has not been used in every first-team situation) and second units throughout camp. Kadarius Calloway has also been coming on strong making a case for the No. 2 spot on the depth chart behind Ott. He had a big touchdown run Wednesday and put together an impressive 23-yard gain during Thursday's practice.

The most notable run came by way of freshman Jamaal Wiley, who looks like a future home run threat, as he scored on a 41-yard run to end the second team period. He has worked with the third unit throughout camp but has supplied some explosive plays on the ground.

- The lone "live" field goal came up short for Ryan Coe. He's been consistently hitting from deep with his opportunities in camp, but he was not able to connect on a 53-yard attempt Thursday. He was short and right on the kick, but there was miscue with the operation that seemed to throw things off.

- There was a mixed bag of results elsewhere on special teams. Both Grayes and Marcus Harris had mishandled punts resulting in the ball being on the ground. Grayes' bobble was recovered by the kicking team. Isaac Torres also came up with a blocked punt during the same segment of practice.

Practice 13 clips

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Cal and San Diego State will square off for the second year in a row when they meet at SAP Center on Dec. 21 as part of the San Jose Tip-Off. it will be the 15th meeting between the two teams. The Aztecs hold the all-time series lead 8-6.

In what was probably the best looking practice on both sides of the ball in camp, the Bears were able to have some big moments on both sides of the ball as Day 12 rolled around. There were highlight moments on offense and defense Wednesday with Cal hitting the midweek point of an important stretch of camp. Many of the top position battles feel like they are reaching a decision point, and Day 12 provided another opportunity for evaluation.

Here's a rundown of the top observations and notes from my time watching the Bears go through their 12th day of camp.

Practice 12 notes and observations

- Chandler Rogers had been trending toward looking like the clear leader for the starting quarterback role as of late, but that quickly took a turn Wednesday. And, that was not real fault of Rogers as Fernando Mendoza looked like the player he was early in camp as Day 12 rolled around. The returning starter had faded a bit in recent practices, but he looked like a different player Wednesday. He was as vocal as I have seen him calling out orders and alignments during the early portion of practice, and the renewed energy showed itself once the team got into the team periods.

He opened practice with an impressive 7-on-7 showing by racking up three touchdowns working against air, but that continued as the team periods rolled around. Mendoza began the first team period working with the second unit, and eventually he hit Jordan King on a nice pass in the end zone on an 8-yard play as the Bears worked in the red zone for the first team period. The drive, which started at the 27-yard line, featured a 19-yard completion to King as well setting up the eventual score. Mendoza later found Trond Grizzell open in the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown.

His big pass play came to open the second team period as he worked with the first unit. Mendoza linked up with Mavin Anderson on a 37-yard pass play that eventually put the offense back in the red zone. A couple strong defensive plays kept the offense out of the end zone ultimately.

It wasn't necessarily a bad day for Rogers as he tossed three touchdowns during the 7-on-7 period and followed that up with some decent drives during the team periods. The big negative was an interception he threw during the first team period in the red zone as he looked for Kyion Grayes. Rogers was under duress on the play as David Reese made a quick move to reach the backfield in a hurry and it eventually ended up in the hands of Nohl Williams.

Each of the three top quarterbacks tossed an interception during the team periods on Day 12. Rogers was also picked off by Hunter Barth during the 7-on-7 period early in practice.

Wednesday marked the first day in maybe all of camp that CJ Harris didn't look like the most consistent quarterback of the bunch. His late interception came on a play that he has typically made in camp, and he was not able to get in the end zone while leading a drive during the team period. He did have a 9-yard touchdown pass to Jonathan Brady during the 7-on-7 period but mostly did not make a big impact Wednesday.

- The other big story, outside of Mendoza returning to form, was the play of the defense from front to back. The secondary has had a rough go of it trying to create turnovers, and that changed during Wednesday's practice. There were a total of four interceptions for the defense on Day 12 and the secondary was close to another one on a busted play late in the first team period. Nohl Williams was the big playmaker Wednesday as he came up with two of the interceptions, and neither play was an easy one.

The veteran cornerback has been close to pulling in a number of interceptions throughout camp, and he was making the right plays Wednesday. His interception of Rogers came on a strong play all the way around before he hauled in the ball from Mendoza during the second team period as the Cal quarterback looked for receiver Cole Boscia.

Cornerback Marcus Scott II came up with the other top interception as he hauled in a pass from Harris meant for Nyziah Hunter late in the second team period.

The back end of the defense shined quite a bit Wednesday with several pass breakups in addition to the interceptions. Williams accounted for one of them while defensive back Nate Escalada had a pair of pass breakups working with the third unit against Harris and the third offense. Lu-Magia Hearns, who has been working at nickel in recent practices, came up with a pass breakup against Trond Grizzell and Mendoza in the first team period.

Marcus Harris joined in the party as well with a pass breakup against Grayes in the end zone as the Bears had their first groups squaring off with one another. Harris later came up with a big tackle for loss as he came up to make a great play on Jaydn Ott.

Reese had the other notable tackle for loss with a stop on Jaivian Thomas during the midway point of the red zone team period.

- The highlight play of practice came late in the second team period as Kadarius Calloway, who has missed some days of practice, made his most notable play of camp. Right after Harris stopped Ott in the backfield, the offense brought in Calloway who broke off a 70-yard touchdown run. It was a perfect play with the blocking working to open up a hole, and Calloway just had to outrun the defense. It was the best play I can remember from Calloway in practice since he arrived for the spring. He didn't look as fast as Ott, but the Old Dominion transfer displayed some speed that he hasn't quite been able to show up until this point.

It was one of two rushing touchdowns on the day as freshman Jamaal Wiley added another on a 5-yard score during the red zone team period earlier in practice.

- The Bears wrapped up practice with another "DEVO" period that gets the younger players on the field for some team reps. EJ Caminong and Belay Brummel were able to get some work in at quarterback during that time, but it was the defense that stood out. Redshirt freshman defensive lineman R.J. Stephens came up with a forced fumble against Wiley while freshman linebacker Eze Osundu sacked Brummel late in practice.

- The staff mixed up the receiver groups on Wednesday, but the first unit on Day 12 at the position was Grayes, Anderson and Boscia. Nate Burrell was able to get some work in with the first unit defensive line as he works back after missing some time. Cheikh Fall has been continuing to make his presence felt as camp has rolled on and he worked with the first unit at outside linebacker opposite Reese.

The offensive line remained the same as it was Tuesday with newcomer Will McDonald at center and Bastian Swinney at right guard.

Post-practice interviews

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Practice 12 clips
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Practice 12 photo gallery

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The California Legends Collective has been hard at work spreading the word of the Bears through ACC territory as of late. Here's a few of the Cal billboards that have gone up in some key cities around the region.

Cal was back on the field Tuesday for its 11th day of practice in training camp. The Bears were given the day off Monday after the first scrimmage of camp took place Sunday. There was a renewed energy about Day 11 that really showed itself early, I thought. It is getting to the point in camp where some decisions will have to soon be made, and there are several spots where the pecking order still needs to be solidified.

These next few practices will ultimately tell a lot about how this year's team is going to come together, but there was still some more movement on Day 11 with the staff continuing to try and find the right pieces for a successful season.

Here is an overview of what stood out during Tuesday's work for the Bears on a day when the team went with a 10-period practice (fewer than most of the other days).

Practice 11 notes and observations

- There was some positive injury news for the Bears on Day 11 as defensive lineman Ricky Correia and freshman defensive back Dayday Aupiu were able to get back on the field. Correia has been banged up for a few days but suited up and went through some of the drills with his teammates, Aupiu has been on the mend since early in camp, and he was able to get in some work with the secondary Tuesday.

- The offensive line continues to change shape as camp rolls on with Mike Bloesch looking for his right compliment of players to roll out with the first unit. The latest change that took place Tuesday was moving Bastian Swinney once again. The redshirt junior has become a Swiss Army Knife for Bloesch up front, and he was moved to right guard on Day 11. Swinney began camp as the left guard but was moved to center with the first unit pretty early in camp. Tuesday he lined up at right guard to go along with a corresponding move that pushed Coastal Carolina transfer Will McDonald inside to center.

Swinney also took a right tackle rep during Tuesday's practice, so he has technically now lined up at four of the five offensive line positions in camp. On appearance, McDonald looks like a center at just 6-foot-2 and 295 pounds, and his technical skill set certainly lends itself to being at the position. There were a couple snapping issues on Day 11, so it will be interesting to see if the alignment stays as it was Tuesday for the coming days or if Swinney ends up back at center.

- The quarterback battle has turned into a situation of "who wants it?" with Fernando Mendoza and Chandler Rogers still not taking hold of the job up to this point. Both have had their moments throughout camp, but neither player has been impactful enough consistently enough to truly outshine the other. The issue in camp has been the inability to get into the end zone with any kind of regularity. Neither Mendoza nor Chandler led a touchdown drive during the two team periods on Tuesday. Both players have been good about moving the ball down the field and hitting on chunk plays, but getting the ball into the end zone has been lacking for most of camp.

CJ Harris, on the other hand, has not had that issue. He again accounted for both of the passing touchdowns for the offense on Day 11 with a 10-yard play to Nyziah Hunter to end the first team period. He later found Jordan King on an impressive play that resulted in a 40-yard score for the offense. Harris, who spent one drive with the first unit offense for the first time on Tuesday, has been the most consistent and productive quarterback in camp.

Mendoza had the biggest pass play of the day on a 67-yard connection with Kyion Grayes to open the second team period. That drive took the offense close the red zone but again it failed to score a touchdown. He also had a couple chunk plays during the 7-on-7 portion of practice with completions of 33 and 24 yards to Jonathan Brady and Mavin Anderson, respectively.

- Running back Byron Cardwell continues to make positive steps forward as he returns from his injury last year. It has been tough to gauge who will ultimately be the top backup to Jaydn Ott, but Cardwell has certainly positioned himself to be part of the conversation and could eventually win that role. Tuesday, he worked with the second unit and finished the day strong with an 18-yard touchdown late in the second team period. That was set up by a nice 15-yard run as Cardwell worked through some contact.

- The defense came up with several near interceptions on Day 11 as the secondary got back to its stingy ways Tuesday. It was unclear if it was actually credited as an interception (the ball ended up coming back) but Marcus Harris made an impressive play to haul in a deep pass from Rogers looking for Brady down the field. Harris had to really stretch to make the catch, and he hauled it in late during the first team period.

Cornerback Nohl Williams and defensive back Isaiah Crosby both came up with nice pass breakups during the early portion of practice. Williams' play came while working against Tobias Merriweather while Crosby worked against tight end Corey Dyches. Miles Williams also nearly came up with an interception working against Rogers during the second team period.

- The defensive front continues to be a focus in camp, and the group had a solid finish on Day 11. The highlight play came during the second team period when David Reese was jawing with the offense a bit and nearly got caught on a hard count before coming up with a sack of Mendoza. It got the defensive sideline going and was indicative of a lot of how the second half of the practice went before Cardwell's big touchdown. Crosby also came up with a sack on a safety blitz late in practice, and Peter Sirmon bringing pressure from the secondary has been pretty common throughout camp up to this point.

- Freshman EJ Caminong was used again late in practice as he has seen his reps go up in recent days. He was able to work during the last part of practice, and he had success once again. He didn't get the offense in the end zone, but he had a couple big chunk plays highlighted by a 30-yard connection to freshman tight end Camden Jones. Caminong also found freshman running back Jamaal Wiley for a 15-yard gain on a screen play to end practice. Wiley shined in that segment as well as he had a 33-yard run early in the drive.

Post-practice interviews

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Practice 11 clips

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Practice 11 photo gallery

I'll go into this when I get to the mailbag questions this week, but the competition at quarterback is very much real right now. Anyone who has watched practice can see that Chandler Rogers has closed whatever gap there was between he and Fernando Mendoza. So, right now, if I were to give you the option of taking Fernando Mendoza as the starting quarterback or the field (Rogers, CJ Harris) who would you pick? I will say the skill sets are not all that different. Rogers showing his big-play ability with the 75-yard TD throw to Tobias Merriweather yesterday checked another thing off his list that Mendoza seemed to have the advantage with previously.

It's going to make for an interesting stretch here in practice. What do you all think?

You taking Mendoza or the field if pressed to make a choice?

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The Rivals rankings have been updated this week, and the new Rivals250 was released Tuesday morning. Cal quarterback commit Jaron Sagapolutele has received a huge bump after his impressive showing at Elite 11 this summer and a nice start to his senior season. Sagapolutele has gone from a high three-star prospect to a four-star recruit ranked No. 169 overall.

If his ranking holds, he'd be the highest-rated quarterback to sign with the Bears since Jared Goff (No. 140) in the 2013 cycle.

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Cal has been picked to finish 10th in the ACC this season by conference media in the preseason football poll. The Bears picked up two first-place votes with 170 voters total. Stanford was picked to finish last.

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Cal's men's basketball program has announced the first Cal Classic multi-team event that will be hosted by the Bears at Haas Pavilion. Air Force, Sacramento State and Mercyhurst will be the other teams taking part in the event on Cal's campus. The Bears will open up with a matchup against Air Force on Nov. 21 followed by games against Sac State on Nov. 24 and the first ever meeting with Mercyhurst on Nov. 27.