Cal had its plans changed by the weather, and instead of heading off site to finish up camp the Bears are staying put for the next couple days. That allowed the team to open up practices once again giving us two more opportunities to see the team before it moves into full game preparation mode for the season opener.
Here's a look at what was seen during Monday's practice as the Bears returned to the field at Memorial Stadium for the first time since Saturday's 135-play scrimmage.
Top takeaways
- After a rough couple days last week, quarterback Sam Jackson V has started to find his rhythm again over the last couple practices. Monday was one of his better days in camp, and he made plays with plenty of decisiveness and confidence. Jackson jumped off to a hot start Monday as he guided the offense to a touchdown on the first drive of the first team period. That drive started at midfield and featured a 38-yard completion from Jackson to Trond Grizzell. Jackson capped the drive with a 3-yard rushing score.
His second touchdown drive featured several impressive plays including a 29-yard completion to Jeremiah Hunter that also featured a great catch from the Cal receiver. The touchdown play came on a 4-yard throw to Monroe Young on a slant.
For what it's worth, Jackson was the only quarterback to work with the first unit Monday giving some possible insight into the quarterback race. Jake Spavital said after Monday's practice that he did not see enough Saturday to make a determination while leaving open the possibility of playing more than one quarterback, but it certainly felt different to only see one quarterback working with the first unit Monday.
- The other two quarterbacks in the race had some positive and negative moments once again Monday. Both Ben Finley and Fernando Mendoza threw interceptions on Day 16 with both coming on plays trying to go down the field. Both, coincidentally, came on passes intended for Brian Hightower. Finley took a deep shot to Hightower during the 7-on-7 period in which the quarterbacks were asked to scramble out of the pocket. Eventually, cornerback Jeremiah Earby came down with a somewhat easy interception.
Mendoza's play was a bit more contested and had a higher difficulty as he looked to find Hightower over the middle only for defensive back Raymond Woodie III to come down with it on a nice play.
The staff was ending some drives early, so neither Mendoza nor Finley came up with a scoring drive Monday. However, both quarterbacks did a good job of moving the ball and picking up big chunks of yardage throughout the practice.
- The defense came up with three interceptions overall on Day 16 with newcomer Marcus Scott II having the other pick during the DEVO team period working against Tyler Jensen, who has stepped into the fourth quarterback role now that Luke Bottari is no longer part of the team.
The defensive front did a nice job of consistently getting into the backfield on Monday. It started early with a tackle for loss by Myles Williams as Finley tried to make a play with his feet. Freshman linebacker Cade Uluave came up with a sack on the ensuing drive as he worked with the second unit against Mendoza. Fellow freshman Ryan McCulloch came up with a sack of his own during the second team period just before Woodie's interception.
Defensive back Kaylin Moore had a nice deflection late in practice working against Hightower while Cam Sidney came up with a pass breakup during the 7-on-7 period against Mavin Anderson, who was targeted by Mendoza.
- Monday's practice was one that featured running back Jaydn Ott more than any other recently as the staff seems to be ramping him up for the start of the season. He looked fresh and adds a different element to the offense than the other players at the position. He also returned kickoffs Monday, and he might have had a chance to return his first attempts for a touchdown if the play had been allowed to run all the way through.
- On the injury front, defensive back Craig Woodson was back on the field and working with the first unit again during team periods after getting some time off in recent practices. Kenden Robinson Jr. was also back on the field after missing a couple practices. Inside linebacker Nate Rutchena remains out after coming up injured in a recent practice. He worked off to the side with the training staff Monday.
Practice interviews
Practice clips
