Kendrick Raphael

Frosh QB Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele shines in first career start. leading Bears to decisive victory in Corvallis

Following an offseason with no shortage of storylines and drama, Cal with a brand new offense and true Freshman Quarterback hit the road to play their former Pac-12 rivals Oregon State in Corvallis. We break down how we see the game unfolding

Muggy evening that cooled quickly. A much tighter control was put on attendance than the scrimmage the week prior as the team gets closer to game preparation.The defense held out Uluave and Keanaaina, and limited McCulloch and there are still a couple of DL nursing themselves back to health. Otherwise, the team as a whole is as sound as I've seen.The defense had the better night early with the offense coming on late, including after Sebastadog exited. It took a bit for the OL to get going opening running lanes and giving the QBs time. The air was not conducive to kicking and both the punters and the placekickers saw their distances impacted. Abram Murray looks cemented as the KO specialist as depsite the less than ideal conditions his kicks were in the back half of the end zone consistently. Chase Meyer missed a 35 yarder, made a 44 yarder and missed a 49 yarder. His first miss was barely off and I suspect he's the PK from 40 yards and in with Murray with the long distance specialist. Kern and Honore still seem to be battling for punting duties. Kern has the bigger leg but Honore may be the more consistent. DeJesus, Adams and Crosby were doing the bulk of the return work.Offensive players who flashed: Kendrick Raphael played very well, breaking off several long runs, catching the ball well and handling blitz pickup. He's pushing to be the starter at RB. Mark Hamper made several catches including a few tough ones where he got hit hard after catching the ball. Mason Mini had a nice long TD catch and several other catches along with some plus blocking. Jordan King caught a nice ball and then with some YAC work scored a long TD. EJ Caminong put on a clinic of getting the ball out on time and in rhythm and making accurate throws running with the 3s as their QB.Brown had a very nice scrimmage. He hit Mini on the long TD and showed off his scrambling and running ability. No bad mistakes either. Jaron threw a bad interception and struggled early before coming back to lead two long drives. He showed some good grit and toughness overcoming things and made at least two "wow" throws. He and Brown continue to hold the ball too long.Defensive players who flashed: The OLB room as a whole. Really nice pass rush and run support from the top five players here. Ryan McCulloch only played a handful of snaps but was very effective. Jayden Wayne. Serigne Tounkara, Chris Victor and TJ Bush all made plays. The former three as pass rushers and Bush as a run stuffer. Zae Smith had the scrimmages first sack with an inside move that was lethally quick. Brent Austin continued to impress in coverage and Harrison Taggart popped a few timesThe OL continues to show off heated position battles and that group finished strong, paving the way for some longer runs and giving the QBs more time. I think only two of the positions look settled with Braden Miller and Tyson Ruffins secured in their spots. Moko vs. Vatikani, Morow vs Bell and Harley vs Robinson may have been determined by film review of last night and are too close to call for a live observer.My guess is that Harsin and Anae will want a cohesive five to start taking all the snaps with the 1's from Monday on. The QB battle is tight as well. Parsing snaps this week will not be easy. At WR, it feels like DeJesus, Grizzell and King are the top three followed by Grayes and Hamper. Dazmin James made a nice catch last night and Jayden Dixon-Veal flashed last night as did Jaiven Plummer. Plummer and King can serve as jumbo sized receivers in the slot who can block or catch the ball given their size at 215 and 220 respectively. It appears Mini has won the job at TE with Landon Morris the primary split out TE option.Defensively, Bollers and Keanaaina are set as is McCulloch. The other starting OLB is too close to call. I'd be surprised if Taggart isn't your starter alongside Uluave. Austin, Masses, and Crosby feel locked in at the two outside CB slots and Safety. Battle to play alongside them feels open. Jasiah Wagoner played well last night but Cam Sydney will be hard to push out given his experience and consistency. Dru Polidore and Aiden Manutai look the most likely to play alongside CrosbyIs Cal's pass rush as good as it looked early last night? Will the OL gel in the next two weeks? Who will start at QB? Can the team stay healthy? Lots of questions that won't be answered until Oregon State.Last night was my last observation before Corvallis as I'll be traveling overseas.