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Some notes from what transpired on Saturday.
Jared Goff is wheeling and dealing. Goff and receivers are all on the same page at this moment, and had a perfectly solid game in completing 20 and 30 yard passes to Trevor Davis. Goff threw two touchdowns in scrimmage, finding Bryce Treggs and Vic Enwere for the scores.
Goff seems to have more control of the offense as he enters his third year as Tony Franklin gains confidence in him. He looks like he'll be able to call and change plays at the line this season, and appears to already be incorporating that element in spring practice.
The evolution is here. #BearRaid3 @kodiakcgb "@RGBearTerritory: Goff changed elements of play at line 5-10 times, incl. his TD to Treggs"
— Nam Le (@AGuyNamedNam) April 4, 2015
The backup quarterbacks have done their work. Chase Forrest has thrown one interception all spring, and it happened yesterday in the two minute drill. Dykes complimented on Forrest for his consistency. Dykes also has good feelings on Ross Bowers and how he's performed so far after only being on campus for a few months. Bowers threw a passing score to Maurice Harris.
Noah Westerfield could be moving in on a defensive end spot. Westerfield has been learning a lot during spring football. He's bigger, more confident, and is starting to catch up to the speed of the game after being thrown into the fire as a true freshman.
Kyle Kragen has come on strong. Kragen has recovered fully from his mono, and appears to have come on harder than ever. Dykes has been quick to praise him regularly.
Darius White is the one defensive back who has impressed a lot so far. Expect him to be one of the favorites to start at cornerback. Darius Allensworth and Cedric Dozier are two other players who have improved.
The confidence is oozing from the offensive players. Bryce Treggs was happily trash talking the defense plenty yesterday. That's a great sign. Both sides are getting more competitive as they get comfortable in their own skin.
"They made some plays but we made more," Treggs said with a smile. "As long as we win the day I’m happy. There’s definitely talking [between the offense and defense], but it is friendly competition. At the end of the day we understand that we’re on the same team so we want each other to get as good as possible. We want everybody to get better collectively and having that competitive atmosphere really helps us with that."
Vinnie Johnson and Brian Farley are the ones battling for the open tackle spot. Steven Moore is pencilled in. Johnson and Farley have emerged as the best performers in camp, with the latter especially being singled out. Goff has confidence in both of them, and Dykes is looking to see if Aaron Cochran and Dominic Granado can make some moves as well.
Running back depth is real: Cal could have a legitimate four to five man running back rotation. In the absence of Khalfani Muhammad due to his spring commitment to track, the remaining running backs have solidified their spots in the rotation. Daniel Lasco has built his confidence to the point that he's solid as starter (he converted a two pointer), but everyone else is making moves around him. Tre Watson has been more physical in learning to run downhill. Vic Enwere has been very impressive and has gotten a lot better, scoring three touchdowns in the scrimmage. Lonny Powell has been impressive already, and it sounds like he'll get snaps too. And let's not forget Jeffrey Coprich as well. We are a deep platoon this year.
If the offense is clicking and firing, there could be a lot of running backs finding the end zone along with wide receivers.
Still no idea who the placekicker is. Keep watching this. Noah Beito has been hitting some kicks, but at the moment there's no current replacement for James Langford. Dykes is hoping someone gets better over the summer and the fall, so it sounds like this can be an ongoing concern.
Nowhere to go but. The most important thing that Sonny Dykes has noticed is continuity has improved the overall quality of the team's play. Continuity has helped in the coaching staff, particularly on defense. The Golden Bears have gotten better in all ways, and the trajectory seems to still be upward as days go by.
Team Owen!
Awesome: Owen Provencher in the house for #Cal practice today again http://t.co/AQScDLmg8R
— Cal Rivals (@CalRivals) April 4, 2015