Is It Time to Make Fernando Mendoza Cal's Starting Quarterback?
One-third of Cal’s 2023 season is over, and the Bears still don’t know who their quarterback is.
Neither Ben Finley, who started Saturday’s 59-32 loss to Washington, nor Sam Jackson V, who started two games this season, seems to be the answer in a Pac-12 conference where quarterbacking is king and 35 points a game seem to be the starting point for success.
Is it time to turn to redshirt freshman Fernando Mendoza, who showed remarkable improvement during the offseason and ran neck-and-neck with Jackson and Finley in the preseason competition to name a starting quarterback? Or is it too late to start from scratch again?
Game experience for a quarterback is like water for a plant – it enables growth. Young quarterbacks typically improve with time on the field, and would four games of learning experience be wasted by switching to Mendoza, who has never completed a pass in a collegiate game?
But something has to change soon as Cal (2-2) prepares for Saturday’s home game against Arizona State, a 1-3 squad and one of the few Pac-12 teams Cal seems capable of beating at the moment.
On Saturday night in Seattle, Washington scored 14 more points than any Cal opponent had scored against the Bears in Justin Wilcox’s seven seasons as head coach. And afterward Wilcox did know who his starting quarterback would be against the Sun Devils.
“I can’t tell you we have a starting quarterback right now,” Wilcox said after the game. “We all want somebody to take the reins there. We’ve got to help those guys perform and that’s on us as coaches. That all starts with me to make sure we’re giving them every opportunity to learn from a mistake and grow as a play, put them in good spots.
“But I can’t tell you we would have a starter for next week yet. There’s going to be a lot to discuss and a lot to dissect.”
The question could be answered by Finley’s health. He left Saturday’s game with an injury, and it was unclear whether he’ll be ready to play against Arizona State.
Finley started Saturday’s game for two reasons: 1. Cal coaches thought the Bears needed more from the quarterback position than it got from Jackson the previous week against Idaho. 2. The Bears figured they needed to throw the ball downfield against Washington to have a chance, and Finley seemed better equipped to do that than Jackson.
It backfired.
Finley threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown on Cal’s first possession, and he threw two more interceptions in the first half to take Cal out of the game.
In an undesirable way, Cal achieved the goal of taking Michael Penix Jr. out of the game early in the contest. But the pick-six on Cal’s first possession and Rome Odunze’s 83-yard punt return for a touchdown following Cal’s second possession gave the Huskies a 14-0 lead before Penix took his first snap with 5:45 left in the first quarter.
The Cal quarterback quandary is complicated by the fact that the Bears’ offense has been more productive when the starter has been replaced during a game.
The Bears were tied 14-14 in the opener against North Texas when starter Jackson had to leave the game in the second quarter with an injury. The Bears then broke the game open with Finley leading the attack for a 58-21 win. The next week against Auburn, Cal’s offense got a spark when Jackson replaced starter Finley, although it wasn’t enough to prevent a 14-10 loss to the Tigers.
Against Washington Jackson had far more success than Finley after Finley left with an injury with 2:50 left in the third quarter. Finely was 17-for-32 for 207 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions, while Jackson was 10-for-14 for 156 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. However, Cal trailed 52-12 when Jackson entered the game, so it’s difficult to place too much significance on statistics achieved with the outcome has been decided and reserves are in the game.
And then there’s Mendoza, who got into the opener for a handful of plays and threw an incompletion on his first and only collegiate pass. There were times during preseason camp that he looked like Cal’s best quarterback. But it may be too late to introduce another variable to the mix.
Cal used three starting quarterback in 2018 and still wound up with a winning record (7-6) and bowl berth. However, the Bears’ defense was better then and the Pac-12 was not nearly as good as it is this season.
Cover photo of Sam Jackson V by Joe Nicholson, USA TODAY Sports
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