Cal’s Quarterback Quandary: Sam Jackson V or Ben Finley or Both

Bears need more from that key position in a Pac-12 conference that has big-time quarterbacks and high-scoring offenses

Cal’s quarterback play has not been productive enough to be competitive in a Pac-12 conference that features some of the best quarterbacks in the country and some of the best offenses in the country.

That’s the bottom line, and everybody knew that would be the issue before the season started. Through three games, it’s become obvious. 

Cal coaches are trying to figure out how to coax more out their quarterbacks as they head into Pac-12 play starting with Saturday night’s game at No. 8 Washington, one of the seven Pac-12 teams Cal will face that are ranked and have an elite quarterback. Six of those seven teams are averaging better than 40 points a game, and the other one is Utah, which figures to have quarterback Cam Rising back by the time Cal faces the Utes on October 14.

“We’ve got to be able to match the firepower of those other schools,” Cal offensive coordinator Jake Spavital said this week.

Cal is averaging 33 points against three unranked opponents, so how many points can it expect to average if it works out its problems?

“To be honest, 50 points a game,” said quarterback Sam Jackson V.

Neither Jackson, who has started two games, nor Ben Finley, who started one, has played an entire game, and interestingly the Bears’ offense has performed better when one came off the bench to replace the starter. It suggests Cal may use both quarterbacks against the Huskies, depending on the situation.

“It’s possible we could play more than one,” Spavital said.

It appeared Cal was willing to go with Jackson when he was on the field for all but four offensive plays in the 31-17 victory over Idaho, but both Spavital and head coach Justin Wilcox said this week either Jackson or Finley could be the starter on Saturday night.

“Last game we averaged 5.4 yards per play,” Spavital said of the Bears’ performance against FCS opponent Idaho. “We need to get to 6.5 yards per play to get into the top half of the conference.”

Cal’s running game has been productive. The Bears rank second in the Pac-12 in rushing yards per game, and their 5.2 yards per carry is praiseworthy, especially with Jaydn Ott expected to return to action this week.

However, Spavital’s Air Raid offense is basically a passing offense, with the quarterback as the centerpiece. And Cal ranks ninth in the conference in passing yards per game and last in yards per passing attempt (5.8). Neither Jackson nor Finley ranks among the top 10 in the conference in passer rating (if Utah’s Nate Johnson is included despite not having enough passes to qualify officially).

“Neither one of us has truly earned the right to say we’re the guy,” Jackson said this week.

Jackson has completed 53.7% of his passes for 270 yards, three touchdowns, two interceptions and a 106.63 passer rating, while Finley has completed 68.1% of his passes for 326 yards, one touchdown, one interception and a 129.11 passer rating. The speedy Jackson has run for 65 net yards and Finley has run for 4.

Wilcox has said they have different styles, so their playing time might be based on the quarterbacking style that is needed in a given game or a given situation.

“As you all can see on tape I’m pretty elusive and I can make plays with my legs,” Jackson said. “I think that’s the biggest difference between me and Ben . . . We just play completely different.”

Jackson said he was not surprised that he was not declared the starter this week.

“It’s not really because they’re falling away from me,” he said. “It’s just that I didn’t really play the way I should have played against Idaho. I just got to become better poised when I get in the game and make better decisions.”

Spavital said Jackson’s decision-making “was a little off” against Idaho, noting that some big-play opportunities were missed both in the passing game and the run game.

Jackson’s decision-making issues arose in run-pass-option (RPO) plays.

“Choosing when to throw the ball, choosing when to hand it, and choosing when to run it,” Jackson said.

The implication is that Jackson should have run himself on several occasions instead of handing off to a back.

He or Finley needs to be able to produce more big plays; 5.8 yards per pass attempt is not going to cut it when Washington is averaging more than twice that at 12.2 yards per pass attempt.

“Obviously we need to score a lot more and have to be more explosive,” Spavital said.

Expecting Jackson or Finley to play at the level of Washington’s Michael Penix Jr or USC’s Caleb Williams or Oregon’s Bo Nix or Washington State’s Cameron Ward or Utah’s Cam Rising or any of the other top-notch Pac-12 quarterbacks would be asking a lot. Jackson and Finley have made just five college starts between them. However, UCLA freshman quarterback Dante Moore and Utah freshman quarterback Nate Johnson have performed well, so inexperience is not an insurmountable obstacle.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who was part of Cal’s tight three-man quarterback competition in preseason, is lurking in the background, and you wonder whether he might get a look with the game on the line at some point.

“In the long run we wish we had somebody [who would] just separate themselves completely and be like ‘This is our guy’ and go from there,” Spavital said.

Cal is still looking for “the guy” and may use two quarterbacks (maybe three?) until one of them demonstrates he can produce big plays in a conference where scoring a lot of points is a necessity. Cal’s next opponent, Washington, is averaging 46.7 point per game, and that’s only fourth-best in the Pac-12. USC (59.3 points per game) an Oregon (58.0) are the two highest-scoring teams in the country, and both have Heisman Trophy-candidate quarterbacks. And they play Cal in consecutive weeks, Oct. 28 and Nov. 4.

"I'm pretty sure if we go out there and play to best of our ability we can beat any team in the Pac-12, no question at all, especially with the defense we have," Jackson said.

Follow Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

Find Cal Sports Report on Facebook by going to https://www.facebook.com/si.calsportsreport