Cal Is Considering Playing Two Quarterbacks in Opener
Cal might use two quarterbacks in the September 2 season opener at North Texas.
Head coach Justin Wilcox hinted after Saturday’s scrimmage that the Bears might consider using two quarterback in the opener, and offensive coordinator Jake Spavital confirmed on Monday a two-quarterback plan is possible.
“That’s up for discussion,” Spavital said Monday, noting the competition remains close. “That might be the discussion we have over the next few days.”
Part of the reason Cal might use more than one quarterback in the opener is that the Bears coaches don’t know how their quarterbacks will do under game pressure. Ben Finley started two games for North Carolina State, but redshirt sophomore Sam Jackson V and redshirt freshman Fernando Mendoza have never started a game, and Jackson did not get any playing time with the game on the line last year at TCU.
“You’ve got to make evaluations on them pretty quickly and how they react in a live situation,” Spavital said. “If you’re going to play with two quarterbacks, you’re going to have an idea . . . maybe two drives and then the next one in, and whoever catches the hot hand you kind of go from there.”
Jackson was the most efficient quarterback in Monday’s practice.
“I thought Sam had a really good day today,” Spavital said.
He seems to be the unofficial frontrunner in the quarterback competition, partly because he operated with the first-team defense, partly because he performed well on Monday and partly because he might be the most productive quarterback behind Cal’s offensive line.
The personnel on Cal’s first-team offensive line is not likely to be much different from last year, when the Bears’ offensive line struggled. If that is the case this season, Jackson may be the best option because he can scramble.
“It’s a unique quarterback room with dual-threat guys [Jackson] and pocket passers [Mendoza and Finley],” Spavital said. “You like dual-threat guys if you have protection issues because they can get you out of bad plays, but there’s also the element of when we need to stay in the pocket, not scramble and deliver the ball on time.”
The first team offensive line seems to consist of left tackle Barrett Miller, left guard Brian Driscoll, center Matthew Cindric, right guard Sioape Vatikani and right tackle T.J. Session. Driscoll, Cindric, Vatikani and Sessions all started for Cal last season, and Miller started 30 games for Stanford before transferring to Cal in the offseason.
How they perform may determine which player becomes Cal’s starting quarterback.
In any case, Spavital is not going to play a quarterback who commits turnovers.
“That’s kind of going to be the short leash for whoever’s going to be in the game -- you got to take care of the football,” Spavital said. “If not we got other guys coming in."
The Alfieri Project
Andy Alfieri came to Cal as a linebacker, but he played tight end last year and has now been switched to running back. The 6-foot-3, 245-pound Alfieri is not going to make many defenders miss, but the Bears might use him to get the tough inside yards in short-yardage situations.
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