Uncle Ted has his eye on the QB competition at Cal. The top candidates for the starting role already speak positively about Dykes' Bear Raid offense.

The initial impressions from Allan Bridgford, Zach Kline,Austin Hinder, Kyle Boehm and Jared Goff? Dykes' up-tempo, spread offense is easier to learn than the pro style offense Cal ran under Jeff Tedford. Bridgford termed it "very simple."

And the pace in practice is much quicker.

"Last year, I felt like I was standing around for 30 minutes before I'd be up again," Bridgford said. "I'd have to get warmed up. Now we're bang, bang, bang with each getting their reps. It's good."

Zach Kline appreciates the simplicity of the new offense.

There are more than a few observers who believe Kline has the inside track. With practices now open -- they were locked down under Tedford -- those observers can arrive at more educated opinions. At this early juncture, it's probably too early to provide much of a stagger, and the quarterbacks themselves are offering no inside information.

Said Kline, "All these guys are studs. I have no idea. I'm just trying to compete."

Kline, who has rethought the "I play guitar for Guns & Roses look," called the offensive transition "smooth." That's not surprising, of course. He's not likely to say, "This new offense is horrible." But he was willing to gently contrast his newfound enthusiasm to what preceded it.

"It wasn't that we weren't hard workers before," he said. "We were hard workers. It just wasn't clicking, you know what I mean?"

Who will stand out this weekend at practice?

Football

• Sonny Dykes was pleasantly surprised with Jared Goff's performance during Wednesday's practice. All five QBs had reps during the session.
• Dykes talks about a variety of topics, including QBs, kickers, and defense.
• Grant Marek provides his notes on Wednesday's practice, including an update on the sledgehammer-tire station (you read that correctly). He also mentions that Goff turned in a strong performance, although he was less effective in 11-on-11s against the first-team defense. Kyle Boehm struggled and Allan Bridgford only threw about 10 passes. Mustafa Jalil was the most effective player on defense as he registered several sacks. Fellow lineman Kyle Kragen was also impressive. Bryce Treggs took over kickoff return duties on special teams. Apparently players were really fired up during practice--enough that there were several "extracurricular activities" following plays. It sounds like nothing malicious happened, however.
• CalBears.com has a Q&A with kicker Vince D'Amato.

Basketball

• No. 6 Cal topped Washington State 73-60. The Bears are now one conference win away from their first ever conference championship.
• The Bears struggled for a few minutes before taking over en route to a 64-46 win over Utah.
• Monty says the Bears have to be smoother on offense to defeat Colorado on Sunday.
• Coach Gottlieb was awarded a four-year term with the USA Basketball Women's Junior National Team Committee.
• Layshia Clarendon was named as one the 30 finalists for the Naismith Award.
• Gennifer Brandon was selected to the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award watch list.

Water Polo

• Four-time Olympian Heather Petri will have her cap retired at Spieker on Saturday at 1pm.

Golf

• For the first time in school history Cal has the top-two collegiate golfers: Joel Stalter and Michael Kim.
• The women's team finished 8th overall at the Cal Classic.

Tennis

• The Bears lost 4-3 at SDSU.

Swimming and Diving

• The women's team is fourth after day one of the Pac-12 Championships.
• Elizabeth Pelton finished first in the 200 IM. Teammate Caitlyn Leverenz finished second.