Cal quarterback picture looks murky as Arizona State comes to town
Cal heads into a Week 5 showdown with Arizona State with perhaps a more muddled quarterback picture than the beat-up Sun Devils.
At least in Tempe, coach Kenny Dillingham knows his quarterback rotation when everyone is healthy. His guys just aren’t healthy. In Berkeley, coach Justin Wilcox and the Golden Bears’ offensive staff is still trying to figure out who to go with.
And… well, health is an issue as well.
“It’s a work in progress,” Wilcox said of his quarterback picture when he met with reporters mid-week.
Ben Finley started the Washington loss last weekend, but was knocked out of the game in the third quarter with what appeared to be a back issue. Sam Jackson V came in to replace him and completed 10 of his 14 passes for 156 yards and a touchdown.
Cal is 2-0 when Jackson starts, and o-2 when Finley starts. But it’s not as simple as that. Jackson’s performance against UW was mostly against backups in garbage time.
“Between Ben and Sam, they each have roughly two games under their belt for us to evaluate,” Wilcox said. “We’ve got to continue to get better at that position, like a lot of positions.”
Added offensive coordinator Jake Spavital: “We’re only going to be as good as our quarterback play.”
Cal ranks 99th nationally in yards per pass and 83rd in overall completion rate. Still, the offense has broken 30 points in three of Cal’s four games.
And with Finley missing some time during the week, third-string quarterback Fernando Mendoza got some practice reps, which could open up the possibility for Cal to turn to him in a pinch.
Cal (2-2, 0-1 Pac-12) hosts Arizona State (1-3, 0-1 Pac-12) Saturday at noon PT on the Pac-12 Network.