I'd like to see McIlwain.
Laird is most certainly an every down back. Very good patience and vision, with adequate speed and quickness, and sneaky elusiveness and power. The dude ran for 1200 yards in like 8 starts against P12 competition. He is making the most of his blocking, which hasn't been great for these first two games against defenses geeked up to stop the run. Catches the ball well, and his blocking is OK, I think, though he had a bad miss on a 3rd down running play today.Uthaithani said:
I'd go with the current rotations, Garbers starts with McIlwain coming in about 1/4 of the time. Mc brings some skills and athleticism but Garbers seems to have a better handle at running the offense. He also has a lot more upside IMO and giving him more snaps helps the team long term.
I want to see Bowers continue to hold the clipboard. He is not the future of the offense frankly giving him snaps is a waste of everyone's time.
I'll add Laird is showing he is not an every down back. Cal needs to find another go-to RB and transition Laird to more of a receiver back or back up. Losing Tre Watson was a big loss - I said it would cost Cal one potential win, still sounds about right. Basically the team needs to move completely away from any semblance of last year's offense and find its true offensive identity.
Not sure who I like to start, but McIlwain has quite an arm from the fastball he threw on one first down -- I think to Kanawai.FuzzyWuzzy said:
McIlwain should start. He's an electric runner and gives defenses fits. Garbers is pretty nifty too but not elite like McIlwain.
And I'm not convinced Garbers is a better passer. He had a bad pick and he continues to miss a bunch of throws, including a couple of wide open long balls (Wharton in the first half, and the PI on Duncan in the second). Even his TD to Not was under thrown. He has not shown much accuracy. McIlwain pretty much made every throw he was asked to make. His one miss while I was watching was the drop by Jerry Hawkins on 4th down.
So yeah I vote for McIlwain.
That was a great throw -- but he should not have thrown it. It was dangerous into double coverage and Noah took a big hit. I'm glad he got away with it, though.KoreAmBear said:Not sure who I like to start, but McIlwain has quite an arm from the fastball he threw on one first down -- I think to Kanawai.FuzzyWuzzy said:
McIlwain should start. He's an electric runner and gives defenses fits. Garbers is pretty nifty too but not elite like McIlwain.
And I'm not convinced Garbers is a better passer. He had a bad pick and he continues to miss a bunch of throws, including a couple of wide open long balls (Wharton in the first half, and the PI on Duncan in the second). Even his TD to Not was under thrown. He has not shown much accuracy. McIlwain pretty much made every throw he was asked to make. His one miss while I was watching was the drop by Jerry Hawkins on 4th down.
So yeah I vote for McIlwain.
Neither am I. As a runner or scrambler, he's definitely better at that.Big C said:
I'm not sure Garbers is any better than Bowers was last year, at least not as a passer.
Yogi Bear said:Neither am I. As a runner or scrambler, he's definitely better at that.Big C said:
I'm not sure Garbers is any better than Bowers was last year, at least not as a passer.
They did pick a favorite. They picked Bowers consistently all the way until Game 1, after which they decided he shouldn't start anymore.oskirules said:
I can see how the coaches couldn't pick a favorite during spring ball. All 3 QB's bring something different to the table.
gpost17 said:
I'm apparently the only person here who likes Bowers over Garbers. Im not impressed by Chase. I could've thrown both those TD's they were so easy. He missed a few passes badly and almost underthrew Noa on the 52 yard score. I'd like to see McIlwain start next week with Bowers coming in instead of Garbers. He has more experience and accuracy. I think Garbers is just a mediocre combination of McIlwain and Bowers; worse at running than Brandon, worse at throwing than Ross. Maybe I have too much faith but I think discarding Bowers is foolish. We forget he threw for over 3,000 yards last year...
calumnus said:
Garbers pretty clearly has a stronger arm than Bowers, if not better accuracy,
Unhappily, I suspect you're right. What we seem to have is a collection of overachievers who will always give us effort that exceeds their physical abilities. The 49'ers of yore had a modicum of success with a QB troika (Billy Kilmer et al) but I doubt this approach will get us much more than a mid-December bowl game at best. Unless/until we can present a credible downfield passing threat, we're likely to be only as successful as our defense and a plus TO margin will allow. And while I've been pleased with defensive play (Weaver, in particular, has been magnificent) so far, we are not deep, especially at LB and we haven't played a really good offense yet. After all the dry spells of the past half century it's hard to be patient but I remain optimistic about the direction of the program. Go Bears.dajo9 said:
We don't have a good Pac 12 quarterback but I guess I'd take Garbers to start. I wouldn't opine for McIlwain until I saw accuracy downfield.
Both of them flashed last night, good decision making and they showed poise in the pocket. The ability to pick up 3rd and mediums with their legs is huge. Garbers' deep ball needs a little work and you're right, McIllwain didn't show us he can make the longer throws... yet. I'm excited to see what they can do with a little more experience and they'll get that with Idaho St. The ceiling seems high. They both could be good Pac 12 QBs very soon.dajo9 said:
We don't have a good Pac 12 quarterback but I guess I'd take Garbers to start. I wouldn't opine for McIlwain until I saw accuracy downfield.