calumnus said:
concernedparent said:
Big C said:
In general, I don't think Goff gets quite the appreciation that he deserves from many folks here, with 71Bear just being the most egregious example. He was an outstanding Cal quarterback and owns most of our passing records. First pick in the NFL draft, played in multiple Pro Bowls and a Super Bowl and is currently an NFL starter. He is also a Golden Bear through and through. What's not to love? (I do recognize that most Cal fans do love Jared Goff.)
Imagine if Goff (even at his college sophomore level of play) were on our roster for next season, how many games we would win!
I think we really underrate the recent QB play. We had so many years in the QB wilderness post-Longshore injury. Riley was average, Maynard and Bowers below that. Goff, Webb, sophomore and senior year Garbers were anywhere from elite to above average p5 QBs. The rest were disasters
Cal QB Career Passing Ratings (min 100 attempts)
1. Rodgers 150.3
2. Goff 144.0
3. Barr 140.9
4. Webb 135.6
5. Robertson 135.5
6. Barnes 134.9
7. Campbell 132.7
8. Pawlawski 132.4'
9. Garbers 132.3
10. Longshore 131.8
11. Riley 131.6
12. Maynard 128.4
13. Grauman 126.3
14. Taylor 124.1
15. Morton 123.2
16. Young 122.9
17. Bowers 120.4
18. Roth 116.6
19. Vedder 116.3
20. Ayoob 114.1
21. Gilbert 112.7
22. Bartkowski 112.7
23. Besana 110.4
24. Penhall 108.8
25. Boller 108.2
26. Balliett 108.1
27. Brown 104.8
28. McIlwain 104.4
29. Modster 103.8
30. Ferragamo 102.9
31. Cruze 101.9
32. Kapp 95.2
33. Torchio 84.3
34. Humphries 91.7
35. Bedford 85.5
36. Mansion 85.3
37. Bronk 84.9
38. McGonigal 84.3
39. Bridgford 80.0
People tend to attribute wins to good QB play and losses to bad QB play, but there are 21+ other positions. People undervalue Barr, Garbers, Goff and Webb because their teams did not win much, or they played for coaches with losing records or just ones we didn't like.. Maynard was essentially the same as Longshore and Riley as a passer but was a better runner (OTOH Riley's stats suffered from not having as good of receivers as Longshore and Maynard).
Garbers was better than Longshore and just behind Pawlawski overall as a passer, but is also the Cal QB career rushing leader with 1,174 yards and 11 rushing TDs.
Paul Larson was the greatest Cal quarterback I ever saw in person, and he didn't make your list. In 1951 and 1952 , Cal had 4 QBs on the roster, Billy Mais, the starter, plus Cal's first Black QB, Sam Williams, along with Paul Larson, and Ray Willsey, who would later become a Cal Head Coach. Mais was a good QB, and probably had over 100 attempts to qualify for your list. Williams and Willsey were probably better defenders than QBs, but I really thought Williams might have a chance to be the starter in 1953. I believe he got injured, and Larson turned out to be spectacular. Larson may not have been Cal's best passer ever, but then again, I don't know who would have been a better passer than him.
Larson played in the days when players had to play both ways, offense and defense. He did everything on the field, run, pass, intercept passes, and run back punts and kickoffs. Larson led the entire nation in total offense in 1953. Then in 1954, Larson led the entire nation in passing yardage, and set the NCAA record with a completion rate of 64%, setting the NCAA record for completion percentage in a single season, which stood until 1963, when it was broken by Roger Staubach. Larson had a passer rating of 139.0. As a safety on defense, he had 12 interceptions in his career. He returned both kickoffs and punts, averaging 28.5 yards on kickoff returns, and 10.7 yards on punt returns. In the 1953 Big Game, Stanford was heavily favored, led by All-American QB Bobby Garrett, who had himself set NCAA records, and with the game tied at 21-21, and time running short, Larson intercepted a pass to keep Stanford from winning the game. Then with seconds left, Larson lined up to attempt a Hail Mary field goal from near midfield, but Stanford students stormed the field and tore down the goal posts, before Larson could get the kick away, and the game ended.
That passer rating is only for one season, because I could not find enough stats for Larson's earlier seasons. If his other 3 seasons' numbers were close to this rating, then he would be in 4th place on your list. I would expect his junior year 1953 numbers would be fairly close to this, as he led the nation in total offense that year. As a freshman, I only remember him returning kicks, so I'm not sure how much he played QB in 1951 or 1952. Still, this one season, 1954 would place Larson at 8th place, behind Roth, but ahead of Garbers, in your significant season list, which you presented in a subsequent post.
Another not so famous quarterback, Randy Gold, also qualified for your list with 100 attempts, but did not make the list. Larry Balliett, who was Gold's backup for most of his career did make your list. Gold and Balliett played at Cal from 1960-1962. Gold had 118 completions in 220 career pass attempts, and a passer rating of 104.3. In 1960, Balliett was injured in an early season practice, and sat out most of that sophomore year, but gradually supplanted Gold as the starter by the time they were seniors. Balliett had 90 completions out of 172 attempts, and a passer rating of 108.1.
SFCityBear
