Cal Football: Bears' Opening Opponent, Washington, Is a Mystery

Washington has a new head coach. It has a new offensive coordinator. One of four players could be the Huskies' quarterback. They will have a new starting tailback, and their offensive line will have three new starters. Their top two receivers from last year are gone. Only four offensive starters from last year return. And to top it off, this pandemic era of isolation and remote reporting provides little intelligence about what the Huskies might be planning.

It leaves Cal defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon in the dark when considering what to focus on while preparing for Washington in Cal's Nov. 7 opener in Berkeley.

His only familiarity with the Washington offense is a familial one, as his nephew, Jacob Sirmon, is one of the players vying for the Huskies' starting quarterback job.

"It goes without saying I'm pretty interested in it, for my work life and my personal life" Sirmon said regarding the Huskies' quarterback competition. "Got a good bead on trying to follow on what's going on. Unfortunately Jacob is my brother's son, so when we do talk, that's off limits. If football is off limits when I talk to my brother the conversation is usually pretty short."

**Jacob Sirmon, photo by Darren Yamashita, USA Today

If Jacob Sirmon, who was the backup to Jacob Eason last year, wins the job over redshirt freshman Dylan Morris, freshman Ethan Garbers (Chase's brother) and senior transfer Kevin Thomson, Peter Sirmon's job will be to make his brother's son look bad.

"I'm rooting for him, because I love him," Cal's Sirmon said, "and I'm interested in who's going to play, so when the Cal Bears play them we play our best football and give our team an opportunity to win."

Jimmy Lake, whose first game as a head coach will be against the Bears next month, is unlikely to publicly announce a starting quarterback until at least the week of the game, and there's a pretty good chance Cal won't know who the Huskies' quarterback is until Washington takes the field for its first offensive play.

More adjustments typically are necessary in season openers because knowledge of the opponent is limited, and information is in even shorter supply this season because of the restricted first-hand media coverage and communication during the pandemic.

"I don't think it's going to be halftime adjustments; I think it's going to be first-quarter, second-quarter adjustments," Sirmon said. "This is as unique of a preparation that I've ever been a part of. I mean, there's no spring ball, There's no media there. There's nothing. I'm watching film from -- goodness gracious, the years back that we've gone to try to get a bead on what might happen or what could happen . . . I mean, it is the width and the breadth of what we're watching right now and what's in our system is pretty extensive."

Cal's defense no doubt has studied film of what the Jacksonville Jaguars did on offense last season because first-year Washington offensive coordinator John Donovan was an offensive assistant with the Jaguars the past four years. The Bears probably watched even more film of what Penn State did in 2014 and 2015 and what Vanderbilt's attack looked like from 2011 through 2013 because that's when Donovan was the offensive coordinator at those schools.

Cal cannot discard film of Washington's team the past few years under Chris Petersen because Lake and Donovan may be reluctant to change too much from what the current players have learned and had success with.

The Bears' coaches and defenders have to watch film of Jacob Sirmon's limited action last year (three pass attempts) as well as film of Thomson 2019 season when he was the Big Sky offensive player of the year at Sacramento State. Maybe they need to view high school film of Garbers and Morris too.

"We're prepared for a lot of different scenarios," Cal's Sirmon said. "Fortunately we feel very comfortable with understanding who their skill players are and have an idea of the matchups they present and the ways that they can be used, so we're going to have to play some good-old-fashioned rules football and kind of let this thing unfold. and be ready to adjust afer the first series."

Everybody likes a good mystery . . . everybody except defensive coordinators, that is.

Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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