Cal fans, how was the debut of Davis Webb and Jake Spavital?

Berkelium97: I wish I hadn't seen that first quarter because I had a pretty poor first impression of both Spavital and Webb. We passed 18 times to 7 runs in the first quarter even though Muhammad was exposing the weakest point of their defense. Despite all that passing we could only consistently move the ball through the air on screens and curl routes; Webb overthrew most other passes. The offense seemed very one-dimensional. It looked like the kind of offense that can take advantage of a lowly team like Hawaii but would struggle against a tight press coverage against the athletic LBs/DBs of Washington and LSJU.

Fortunately things improved over the course of the game. The offense became more balanced while the passing game became more varied, especially in the second half. We saw some deeper throws towards the middle of the field and towards the sidelines while Webb demonstrated improved accuracy as the game went on. I'm hoping that first quarter was an intentionally very conservative design to help the new offense settle in during its first game.

boomtho: Starting with Webb, I'd say he was better than expected. He started a bit slow in the first quarter by taking a sack and missing some throws, but he really settled down in the second half. Part of what helped, I think, was focusing a bit more on screens and slants (what I would, as an amateur, consider easier throws) and moving away from the sideline and deep corner throws. Some of the slants he threw in the second half were right on the money.

On Spav's side, I did feel like the team grew much more comfortable as the game went on, so some of that is definitely a credit to him. Per the Calbears box score, Hawaii had only 2 sacks on 55+ dropbacks, so at least for one game the new-look OL scheme held up well. My one complaint about the playcalling was the run-pass balance. Webb threw 54 times and we only ran ~35 times (which may even include the sacks, not sure). Given the success Khalfani and Vic had on the ground, I would have liked to see a bit more running... though it's hard to really complain about that given the relative ease with which we moved the ball through the air in the second half.

LeonPowe: We know that one of the big complaints about Spav is his screen heavy offense, but I like it for two reasons. One, Hydrotech always talked about the chess game of running one play in the first half to set up scoring plays in the second. We saw Stovall and Muhammad get open for touchdowns (wait Muhammad, you need to catch the ball!!!) off fake screens.

Second, we have playmakers - guys who can make one move and make people miss. #BiletnikoffHansen, Stovall, Robertson, Bug - putting the ball in their hands with blockers in front will be a good thing.

Webb looked pretty good. It's hard to take over for the #1 overall NFL pick, but he showed a decent arm and size. I hope he'll spread the ball around a little more, but I'm not really worried about this side.

Ruey Yen: Bear Raid should again be fun to watch under the new leadership. His propensity to point at people asides, Davis Webb looks much more comfortable as the game progresses. I have faith that he will improve on his chemistry with the receivers, particularly the younger and more electric playmakers on the team.

Maybe I am being too optimistic here, but I felt like Spavital may be saving the more interesting plays of his playbook for future games. The Cal offense certainly didn't need to do much to beat Hawaii, but I find it to be a bit one dimensional for Webb to keep finding Chad Hansen. When Cal faces better defense, I am sure that the team will need to dig a bit deeper into the playbook.

KWBears: Spavital's offensive creativity is not quite there, at least not yet. Chad Hansen got a lot of calls. I'm not sure if that was to honor the veteran and give the newbies some time to come along, or maybe to throw-off future opponents' scouting reports for the Bears. But, at many times, Webb's short screen throws showed minimal creativity, certainly not that worthy of the Bear Raid name. Davis Webb is going to be a very good QB for us, not great like Goff, but very good. He's got an alpha demeanor on the field, which is great. He needs some time to get his timing right with his receivers, but I'm sure that will come with time.

Piotr Le: I hope to the high heavens this was the most vanilla game-plan we had. I was very concerned with the amount of screens that the WRs had to perform in the offense. Sure Hansen was able to break open one for a TD, however, once it becomes a tendency, defenses can key into them more causing the screens to possibly lose yardage. Furthermore, the reliance of Webb on Hansen is worrisome. We have a lot of athletes that can play in space yet often times the ball wasn’t going towards them. Not sure if it was due to the fact that Hansen was the 1st read on many of the plays and was open thus the volume, or Hansen was the 1st and 2nd option regardless of the scheme.

HydroTech: Spavital's offense is new and different. I really like the fast tempo, and all the passing makes it exciting to watch. Davis Webb seemed to be overthrowing his receivers on intermediate passes early on. Hopefully that was first-game nerves, and it doesn't become a regular occurrence throughout the season. I was very impressed with his arm strength though.