Three Quarterbacks the Focus of Cal's Scrimmage Sunday

The Bears' defenders won't be allowed to tackle the QBs competing for the starting spot

All eyes will be on three quarterbacks in Cal’s intrasquad scrimmage on Sunday, and it would be nice to see how they would fare against defenders trying to tackle them.

That won’t happen, of course.

Cal defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon would like to see how effectively his defenders can tackle, and they will get that chance Sunday, just not against the quarterback. And Sirmon knows that’s just the way things are done.

“Not many schools in America are ever going to let you tackle the quarterback [in practice],” he said Saturday.

It would be instructive in Cal’s case. Three players – redshirt freshman Sam Jackson V, redshirt freshman Fernando Mendoza and junior Ben Finley – are vying for the starting job in what has developed into a tight competition. And they have different talents. Mendoza worked quite a bit with the first-team offense on Saturday and he continues to demonstrate that he is probably the best passer of the three. Finley has the most experience, having started two games at North Carolina State. Jackson is the speedy, elusive quarterback who can make something out of nothing with his feet, which might be significant if Cal's offensive line is no better than it was last season..

And it would be instructive to see how Mendoza, who is said to be faster than he looks, and Jackson would do against defenders trying to bring them to the ground. Presumably that would be where Jackson would shine, although coaches won’t get to evaluate that Sunday when Jackson will sprint through openings without the threat of getting hit.

It’s unclear how much hitting will take place Sunday, but there will certainly be some tackling on running backs and wide receivers. Whether key players such as running back Jaydn Ott, inside linebacker Jackson Sirmon or wide receiver Jeremiah Hunter will play much, if at all, remains to be seen. Cal coaches already know what they can do and don’t want to risk serious injuries to those important players.

Sirmon wants to see good execution from his defense, but with tackling allowed for one of the few times in preseason practice, he also wants to see whether his defenders can complete plays.

“Ultimately, ultimately, ultimately, can we finish?” Sirmon said. “Finish when the ball’s in the air and finish when the ball goes live.”

Execution is all well and good, but if you can’t bring the ball-carrier down or break up a pass, it doesn’t matter how well a player performed his duties to that point.

Defensively the most interesting aspect of Sunday’s scrimmage will be the play of the defensive backs. The Bears have a lot of defensive backs who are challenging for playing time: Craig Woodson, Raymond Woodie III, Patrick McMorris, Nohl Wiliams, Jeremiah Earby, Kaylin Moore, Miles Williams, Matthew Littlejohn, Isaiah Young and Lu-Magia Hearns III all are vying for major playing time, with Woodson and Nohl Williams the only ones that seem to have starting jobs locked down.

“I think the guys in the back end are competing when the ball’s in the air, which is good to see,” Sirmon said.

Hearns wants to show physicality on Sunday.

“They say DBs don’t like to tackle, but we do,” he says in the video below.

Hearns to show

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.