Can Cal Football Mix In Doses of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood?

Backup Chandler Rogers made two big plays as a change-of-pace QB vs. Miami - and he's likely to get more opportunity

Chandler Rogers dashes into the end zone vs. Miami / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

For five plays on Saturday against unbeaten Miami, Memorial Stadium became Mr. Rogers Neighborhood.

Chander Rogers, who came to Cal from North Texas last spring to compete for the starting quarterback role, lost that battle to incumbent Fernando Mendoza at the close of fall camp.

But when the Bears needed a boost to their offense — a change of pace to keep the Hurricanes guessing — Rogers came on and delivered.

“It felt good to be back out there, contributing to the team, trying to win a ballgame,” Rogers said. “I know I can add value to the team, open the playbook more with different types of runs. Anything to help the team win is what I want to do.”

Against Miami, Rogers ran 9 yards on a quarterback keeper for a touchdown on his first snap of the night, midway through the third quarter, boosting the Bears’ lead to 35-10.

Back on the field later, Rogers completed a 12-yard pass to Jaydn Ott for a first down, leading to a field goal that made it 38-18 early in the fourth.

Rogers concedes that the night would have felt entirely different had the Bears avoided taking a 39-38 defeat. But the time he got on the field provided him with a lift after hardly seeing action over the first four games. 

“It just reassures my confidence that I can still operate at a high level. I can go out there and be me and perform,” he said. “It’s a good feeling because Miami’s a great team.”

Offensive coordinator Mike Bloesch said Rogers was not put into the game because Mendoza was injured. 

“Fernando was fine,” Bloesch said. “That was kind of a game-plan deal for me, wanted to package Chandler in there and knew it was going to be tough sledding running the football. 

He can give us some versatility, we can do some different things in the run game and he did a great job coming in and picking up first downs, scoring a touchdown. That what I look at every week — how can I get our best players on the field?”

Bloesch said he has complete confidence in both of his quarterbacks, but that Rogers provides different options.

“I feel very strongly about Fernando and Chandler — love both of those guys. They’re both really, really good football players and they have different skillsets.” Bloesch said. “When you’re struggling in the run game, sometimes you’ve got to do whatever it takes to move the football. That’s just going to be a part of our game plan each and every week.”

Mendoza doesn’t sound threatened by the arrangement.

“It was great to see him punch it in there (on the 9-yard TD run). That was great,” Mendoza said. “I think it adds another element to the offense. As long as we’re scoring, I’m glad.”

Rogers talks in the video above about the challenge of being No. 2 when the quarterback role is primarily a one-man operation.

At both North Texas and Louisiana-Monroe, he was a productive player, passing for nearly 7,100 yards with 53 touchdowns and rushing for 900 more yards and 10 TDs. 

“First of all, I’m a quarterback and I’m able to run the entire playbook. No matter what’s called, I can run it,” he said. “Then you added my running ability . . . adding a different element to where it forces the defense to cover the field horizontally.”

Rogers says the team remains confident, but understands the urgency to execute when the game is on the line. That comes from losing consecutive games by a combined six points.

“We really believe we can end our season 10-2, possibly playing for the conference championship and make the playoffs. We firmly believe that,” he said. “We know they are a really good team. We know and understand and have shown how close we are. 

“Like coach Wilcox said after practice, we can beat anybody. We also can be beaten by anybody.”