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Cal held its first spring scrimmage on Saturday, and the biggest news is that the offense executed well, and appeared to be able to move the ball. Given what we know about Cal’s defense, and what we don’t know about the offense, that’s a good thing. It should be taken with a grain of salt, but a good grain of salt.
A good number of links of write-ups and thoughts on Saturday’s practice.
QB Play
Most reports have Riley looking very sharp in the scrimmage, and very solid on the opening 70-yard drive, in which he went 3-3 for 62 yards, including a 34-yard TD strike to Marvin Jones. The “unofficial numbers” vary, but Riley appears to have finished 8-15 for 98 yards and 2 TDs.
Brock Mansion struggled a bit more going 2-11 for 23 yards. He completed his first pass, a 25-yarder to Alex Lagemann, but misthrew the rest of the way. His only other completion was a pass to Covaughn Deboskie that went for -2 yards.
Beau Sweeney fared a bit better, going 5-8 for 55 yards.
Nothing surprises me too much, but I must say that I’m a bit concerned that Mansion still appears to be a bit inaccurate. Granted, Riley had a chance to run primarily with the first team, but reports about Mansion’s progress appear to be the same types of comments I read about Mansion last year. He has all the talent to be an incredible quarterback, but he doesn’t seem to have hit his stride just yet.
I also don’t honestly expect Sweeney to see much playing time this season barring any injury, but I’m encouraged to hear nothing but positive comments about him.
Beware…
…Marvin Jones cometh. Seriously.
Tad Smith Out
One of the bigger pieces of notes is that projected starting tight end Tad Smith broke his scapula (shoulder bone) and is expected to miss anywhere from 4-6 months. Yes, months. That would mean that the earliest Smith could return would be mid August, but it’s very well possible that his return date could be pushed back until October, if not for the entire season.
Given that Cal already had enough question marks at their tight end position with last year’s starter Cameron Morrah unexpectedly leaving early to go pro, Cal will have its hands full in trying fill an important spot in their pro-style offense.
While it’s absolutely tough break for Smith who excelled as a blocker last year and was looking to really make a name for himself this year, there is a tiny bit of silver lining in that the youngins waiting in the wings have all the talent to start right away. Anthony Miller, Skyler Curran, and one last year’s scout players of the year, Spencer Ladner should all get significant reps in practice and going into the year. Also, with Smith’s injury occurring fairly early in the Spring practice process, all three should have that much more time to get acclimated to running with the first team offense. The only biggest question is how their lack of experience will affect the offense come game time.
Conte’s Chance
With Darian Hagan missing the rest of spring practice to focus on academics (again, I don’t know if I should be worried about this) along with Verran Tucker, junior Chris Conte has been making the most of his opportunity in playing the other starting CB position opposite Syd’Quan Thompson. Thus far, Conte has had a very solid spring and showed again on Saturday that he might get serious looks at a starting spot. Conte was active on defense, involved in nearly every tackle on his side of the field, and broke up a number of passes.
While I still expect Hagan to start due to his level of play that Hagan demonstrated last year (I honestly think he’s got the potential to be better than Thompson when it’s all said and done), it’s encouraging to see Conte really step up his play. I think Conte came on very strong at the end of last year, and should provide some quality minutes at the nickelback spot, and some depth at the DB position.
Bryant Nnabuife has also been looking good, along with Marc Anthony and Josh Hill.
Rushing Report
Shane Vereen had 8 carries for 56 yards, while Covaughn Deboskie rushed 4 times for 29 yards. That’s 7.0 YPC for Vereen and 7.25 for Deboskie. Me likey. It is important to note though that Vereen gained most of his yards on 22 and 30 yard gains. The defense had him locked down otherwise.
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