As Peter Sirmon mentioned Wednesday, the Bears are beginning to see some separation and true development of the team at this point in the spring. Day 9 was one of the most competitive practices of the spring so far, and there were some big plays made on both sides of the ball.
Here's a rundown of the top takeaways and notes from Wednesday's practice inside California Memorial Stadium.
– The big story of the day was the three interceptions for the defense over the course of Wednesday's practice. Two of them came from players who look likely to lead Cal in that area as cornerbacks Marcus Harris and Nohl Williams accounted for two of the takeaways. Harris, who has made a habit of intercepting passes through his first nine days with the Bears, started off the strong day for the defense with an interception working against Fernando Mendoza. That was followed up by a beautiful play by Williams early in the second team period as he jumped a screen pass from Chandler Rogers intended for Mikey Matthews.
Rogers was picked off again late in the practice as freshman linebacker Aaron Hampton came up with a clean play with the offense backed up inside its own 20-yard line. It would have been returned for a touchdown in a normal situation. Miles Williams dropped what would have been an interception thrown by Rogers on the final play of practice as well.
The turnovers have become an issue for Rogers at this stage of the game, but he is still getting used to his new surroundings so maybe he gets some leeway there. Still, it is deep enough into the spring and it is happening often enough that it could be cause for some concern.
– The rest of the defense had some positive moments as well with Craig Woodson getting a little aggressive on a play along the sideline to knock the ball loose from Jack Endries during the first team period just before the interception from Harris. Inside linebacker BJ Jones had a pass berakup working against Isaac Torres during the 7-on-7 period while Ja'ir Smith batted another pass on a blitz working against Mendoza, who spent a good amount of time with the second unit Wednesday.
A defensive lineman who came up with a good play Wednesday was Derek Wilkins, who made an impressive stop against Kadarius Calloway early on in the first team period.
– Offensively it felt like one of the most productive days for the offense despite the turnover issues. The offensive reached the end zone three times during the two team periods highlighted by a 70-yard run for Jaydn Ott during the second team session. Ott was quick to find a hole and then used his breakaway speed to eventually get in the end zone. There was another gear he hit in the open field that left all the defenders in the dust.
Rogers guided the first touchdown drive of the day during the first team period as he used his arm to move the offense down the field in big chunks. He found Marquez Dortch on back-to-back plays of 16 and 19 yards to put the offense in position to reach the end zone. The scoring play came on a 12-yard screen pass to running back Justin Williams-Thomas.
Mendoza's best work Wednesday came on the ground as he continually was able to make pick up yards on the run throughout Wednesday's practice. That included a nice 15-yard run on fourth down during the first team period and a 23-yard run during the second. He guided a touchdown drive late in practice that was capped by a 13-yard touchdown throw to tight end Nate Rutchena. Earlier on that drive, Mendoza hit freshman Josiah Martin for 16-yard connection to move the chains.
– The receiver group overall was impressive throughout the day. It began in the one-on-one portion of practice, which you can see highlights of below, but it carried over into the team periods as well. Trond Grizzell has not had the best spring but he erased much of that with his play Wednesday. He was a star in the one-on-one period and he shined working with both quarterbacks.
Martin was another player who stood out throughout the practice and came away with some big catches. Newcomers Tobias Merriweather and Matthews continue to showcase their talent as top transfers, and both had impressive plays throughout Wednesday's practice. Both had impressive touchdown catches during the one-on-one drills.
– Inside linebacker Cade Uluave remains out of team periods in practice, but he has been able to stay on the field through all the other parts since returning. During team periods he has worked off to the side with the training staff. Defensive lineman Zurich Ashford has been out since last week and has not been able to participate.
– Personnel wise, the Bears continue to have Matthew Wykoff working at center with the first unit while Bastian Swinney is at left guard. That has been the alignment the last couple practices. BJ Canady briefly worked with the outside linebacker group but was back with the interior defensive line unit Wednesday.
Post-practice interviews and practice clips
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