Cal's 2024 Spring Showcase is in the books, and although a number of players were held out of action as a precautionary measure to preserve health, there were still a number of big plays and a lot of action to see Saturday at California Memorial Stadium. Here are some quick notes that I will expend on later plus some of the standout moments from Saturday's scrimmage.
– The Bears ran over 60 plays during Saturday's scrimmage portion and mixed in some special teams periods as well. There were a number of top absences but all four quarterbacks had an opportunity to get on the field and get some work in during the scrimmage. Fernando Mendoza and Chandler Rogers took a bulk of the snaps at quarterback but only Mendoza came away with a touchdown in the showcase. He found Tobias Merriweather for an 8-yard connection. Rogers went 4 for 10 on pass attempts and was credited with an interception after Mayze Bryant snagged the ball away from Marquez Dortch in the red zone (clip below)
Mendoza opened the scrimmage with a 60-yard connection to Trond Grizzell and a shot play call early from Mike Bloesch. It was the type of connection that has been building throughout the second half of the spring with both Grizzell and Mendoza looking sharper the last several practices.
– It was really the first opportunity for both Brady Weingart and Belay Brummel to have any kind of live action, and Brummel stepped up by guiding several strong drives to finish up the day. He eventually ended up with two passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown to close things out. He hit Dortch on a 4-yard touchdown before connecting with tight end Nate Rutchena on an impressive play on both ends from 16 yards out. The second-year walk-on signal caller capped the practice with a 7-yard rushing score.
You can see clips of each of those below.
– Though the group is banged up, the interior defensive line certainly had several key contributors again Saturday. Newcomer Aidan Keanaaina was the standout with 4 tackles in the scrimmage to close out an impressive stretch late in the spring. He started to make a noticeable impact during the team's first scrimmage last Saturday, and that continued through the final days for the Notre Dame transfer.
– With Cade Uluave held out, it was an opportunity for the young linebackers to have an opportunity and most of them stepped up in a big way. Freshmen Aaron Hampton (7), Eze Osundu (6) and Luke Ferrelli (5) all led the defense in tackles while second-year freshman BJ Jones finished the day with 4 tackles and a sack.
– In all, there were four sacks for the Bears defense on the day including Jones' takedown of Brummel late in practice. Second-year freshman Murphy Glasgow had one late in practice while interior defensive linemen Akili Calhoun and Stanley Saole-McKenzie also had a sack apiece in Saturday's showcase.
– There were two interceptions for the defense during Saturday's action including the one for Bryant against Rogers. The other came with Weingart at quarterback looking to the sideline. Defensive back Cam Sidney made a nice play on the ball to come up with the pick late in practice.
– The running back group finished out a strong spring with another impressive performance. The group ran for 150 yards collectively and was led by 61 yards for Byron Cardwell, who has looked great coming off his knee surgery last year. He continues to run with a ton of physicality and that helped him Saturday. Running backs accounted for two touchdowns in Saturday's showcase with Jaivian Thomas getting the offense on the board with a 1-yard rush before Dean-Taylor Chapman ran in a score from 2 yards out later in the afternoon. Jaydn Ott was one of the players held out of Saturday's action.
– It wasn't all positive news Saturday. Justin Williams-Thomas went down with an apparent knee injury at the end of a run about midway through Saturday's showcase. He was down in pain for a bit before being helped off the field by the medical staff. He eventually was able to walk under his own power after being worked on but Justin Wilcox did not have an update on him after the showcase. Matthew Wykoff appeared to injure his shoulder during a tackle of Bryant on the red zone interception after he collided with Cardwell on the play.
Post-game media session
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