Day 4 of Cal spring football practice is in the books. The energy was ramped up another level Wednesday as it was the second day for the Bears in full pads. Justin Wilcox had his group work a few different 11-on-11 team periods with mostly "play the game" situations although practice wrapped up with some red zone work.
Here's some of my quick notes from today's practice after getting another opportunity to see the Bears get back to work.
• One of the biggest takeaways from the day was just how much of a one-two punch the Bears are likely sitting on at running back. Oregon transfer Byron Cardwell had been building up to getting a chance to work with the first unit. That finally happened at length today, and he had his best performance during the team periods. Cardwell was given ample opportunities to work with the first-team offense early in practice and showed flashes of being able to be a physical runner to go alongside Jaydn Ott's speed. His best play, however, came late in the practice on a run to the left for about 17 yards that featured him breaking a tackle and bouncing the run outside for the gain. It sparked a nice cheer from the sideline as it is really the first time he's had a chance to break a run like that so far this spring.
• The running back unit overall probably had the best day of any group with Ott having a few strong runs including a 12-yard rush to the left side during the second team period that gave the offensive a first down. Late in the first team period when the second units had their chance to work against one another, the Bears leaned on Ashton Stredick a ton and he guided the drive with strong run after strong run. I had him down for 20 yards on the drive that started around midfield. His best run came on a short-yardage play right up the middle as he gained a yard to move the sticks.
• Defensively, there weren't any takeaways but there were a ton of disruptive plays both at the line of scrimmage and in the secondary. Isaiah Young, Kaleb Elarms-Orr and Raymond Woodie III all had pass breakups early in practice during a 7v7 segment. Lu-Magia Hearns III had another solid showing today in coverage and he came up with a pass breakup against Chris Rogers on an out route to knock down a throw from Fernando Mendoza.
• It was more of a quiet day through the air for quarterback Sam Jackson V, but he opened the first team period with a 20-yard completion to Mavin Anderson. Jackson again showcased his ability to escape with his feet and that meant a few strong runs including a 10-yard scamper for first down late int he first team period. Fernando Mendoza was again able to have some extended reps with the second unit, and he continues to make some strong plays so far this spring. His ability to gain yards on the ground has been a plus for the Bears through the first four days, and he again showed that he's capable of running similar plays to Jackson on the ground. The highlight was a 45-yard rushing score on a designed run to the left side. He gained 8 yards on a scramble the play before the big touchdown run. Mendoza also accounted for the biggest pass play on the day as he found Trond Grizzell on a screen pass that Grizzell then took 46 yards down the left sideline.
• There was a lot of excitement to end practice as the groups on both sides brought some different energy to the final team periods and end of practice. Beaux Tagaloa had an opportunity for some carries, and he made the most of those chances including wrecking a defender on a run up the middle that ended with a 10-yard gain. The defense really shined in the final minutes with Myles Williams, Muelu Iosefa and Myles Jernigan all getting pressure on a couple of the final plays forcing Jackson out of the pocket. On the play with Williams in his face Jackson was able to throw the ball out of bounds, but Iosefa and Jernigan were able to force him out of bounds for a loss on the next play.
• Mike Bloesch made a move to bring in Ender Aguilar with the first unit at left guard in Wednesday's practice, and he did a good job of holding down that spot that had belonged to Trent Ramsey through the first few days. Sioape Vatikani, Brian Driscoll, Brayden Rohme and Aguilar all had solid wins in one-on-ones Wednesday.
I'll dive into some other things in the practice writeup a little later as well as the post-practice videos and in-practice one-one-one sessions as well.
