Spring practice -- Day 8 quick notes (Scrimmage #2)

Matt Moreno · Mar 24, 2023

Cal is officially through the first half of spring ball after holding its eighth practice Friday. The Bears closed the first half with their second scrimmage, and the level of intensity was raised once again as the team heads into what will be a nearly two-week break. The team won't return to the field until April 5, so there will be some time left to recover plus time for the staff to make some evaluations about the first half of the spring.

Here's a rundown of what I noticed while watching the second scrimmage at Memorial Stadium.

• The defense remains supreme so far this spring, and that was once again clear Friday. There might have been more batted/knocked down passes and pass breakups today than in any other practice, and it wasn't limited to just one group over the other. Justin Wilcox noted that the offense was able to get some explosive plays, which the defense has been focused on limiting this spring, but there weren't nearly many as there have been and overall the defense controlled the scrimmage. Touchdowns were tough to come by for the offense. Wilcox was pleased with the limited mistakes the groups had on both sides of the ball as it was only the second time the team has had officials. It was relatively clean although a couple of they mistakes that did happen ended up eliminating some big plays, particularly for the offense.

• Nohl Williams, Julian Womack and Mayze Bryant tied each other for the team lead with two pass breakups apiece. Meanwhile, Isaiah Young, Cam Sidney and Craig Woodson also came through with pass breakups in the scrimmage. Overall, the secondary had the best day across the board and finished the first half of spring on a high note. In addition to all the pass breakups, the group also accounted for a defensive touchdown as Matthew Littlejohn scooped up a fumble (by quarterback Sam Jackson V) and took it 77 yards for a touchdown during the first team period.

• The defensive front also had some impressive plays throughout the day as it made life difficult, once again, for the quarterbacks. Ethan Saunders started off the scrimmage with a sack of Jackson — in part due to great coverage down the field — in addition to sacks for Ieremia Ieremia and outside linebacker David Reese, which came in the final team segment late in practice. Reese, Kaleb Elarms-Orr, Myles Jernigan and Nate Rutchena are all guys I had down for tackles for loss in the scrimmage. Rutchena's play came against Jackson on fourth down.

• It wasn't all bad on offense as there were some highlight plays for that group, the issue was that the negative plays tended to outshine the positive ones. Jackson's fumble is one that stands out and he was not pleased with how he performed in today's practice. It had been a while since the newcomer at QB had an issue with the snap or handoff, but it was back again today as the mishap came on an exchange with Jaydn Ott leading to the touchdown by Littlejohn. It was just a straight botched exchange without much pressure in the way. Outside of that instance, Jackson did a good job protecting the ball and he was under plenty of pressure throughout the scrimmage. Fernando Mendoza had his own issues at time during his stretch taking the snaps. The big negative one came late in the scrimmage as he was intercepted by McKyle So'oto looking for Andy Alfieri.

• Some bright spots for the quarterback group included a 65-yard touchdown connection with Mendoza and Chris Rogers, a 71-yard connection with Trond Grizzell and a 35-yard pass from Jackson to Mavin Anderson on a crossing route early in the second team segment. Jackson's best work came on the run as he was effective making throws outside the pocket. A couple key completions for Jackson came late in the second segment as he hit Anderson and Monroe Young in succession for about 16 yards each.

• Special teams wise it was a bit of a mixed bag. The Bears worked special teams for longer than they have in other practices, and that came with some miscues. The punt return drills had a number of botched or bobbled balls that drew some criticism from the coaches. Michael Luckhurst was good from 44 yards out early in practice to get the offense on the board but he later missed from 35 yards out going wide left during the second team segment.

Post-practice interviews