The Bears held their second "developmental practice" Saturday, one of their 15 permitted sessions leading up to the Cheez-It Bowl. [Wow, another extra day to practice for those who won't play for a season that won't start for another nine months. Hmm, could it be that not having this extra practice time is why Cal hasn't played in the Rose Bowl for almost 60 years?]
"We were a little rusty," said offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin said after the 90-minute morning session in Memorial Stadium. [Oh wait, I see what the extra practice is like; it's like WD-40 that will keep the Bears rust-free over the summer! Someone should tell Beau to squirt a little extra WD-40 on his offensive unit.] "You are coming off six days (of not practicing). [Zowey! Can you imagine what the players will be like after eight or so months of not practicing let alone six days...get your shovels out!] And you've got guys who have been running a lot of scout team all year, and all of a sudden they're hearing the terminology that some of them haven't done a lot of that since fall camp." [It sounds like a lot of scout team guys would be a lot more help to those teams that they represented while on the scout team, don't you think? I mean, like they sound ready to go!]
As linebacker Evan Weaver said after watching the youngsters in Friday's first session, "You can tell who has studied the playbook." [This observation should also help Santa's list as to who has been naughty or nice. I bet that Weaver is trying to get a lot of presents!]
One player who definitely studied the playbook is quarterback Chase Garbers, who despite having been the main QB during the second half of the season, has taken a good share of the "developmental" snaps the last two days. [Guess who is going to start against UC Davis.] And even though he will be the man under center against TCU Dec. 26, Garbers is not game-planning yet. [Garbers game-plans?]
"He is development. He's developing," Baldwin said of the redshirt freshman. [Say no more. I think most of us fans realize this pretty clearly.] "We are not doing anything scout team wise, so everything he's doing is against our defense. Not one time out there are we talking about TCU, we are talking about getting ourselves better.
"But ultimately if you are going to have a better shot to win a game against a great team like TCU, you're more concerned with yourself anyway, especially early on. [Wait, TCU is a "great" team at 6-6?] You've got to be great at what you do before you worry about what they're doing. He's working to be better and better each day in just what he needs to do what within this offense. [So, you expect Garbers "to be great" before he starts "game-planning" for TCU? Isn't that cutting it a little close?]
Even though the focus of the "developmental" phase is the future, Baldwin won't anoint Garbers the starter beyond the bowl game. [Why give him all the "developmental" snaps then, unless you're hoping to bring in someone else maybe?]
"I never talk about that," he said. [Sure..wink, wink, we got ya I that you might get lucky and bring in a grad-transfer or you might not be coaching at Cal next season. Hey, I don't blame you. You've got to keep your options open!]
Baldwin said no one has really "jumped out" during the first two days. [Give them time. According to you, you'll have "greatness" all over the place.] "But you are excited seeing them, knowing what this means compared to last year when we weren't practicing at this time. [Yeah, now I know why I didn't see any real greatness on offense.] What this can do for those guys going into next fall knowing that we lose a lot of seniors. These reps are all big.
"It is definitely something they're excited about. They're embracing it and they earned it. It's tough to go through this conference, and half the teams lose every week. People have these expectations but people forget half these teams lose very week. [Umm, I don't think that I forgot this but maybe someone like chazzed, or LunchTime, or aUNbear89 do, but not me!] They've earned it and found a way to put themselves in this spot and they're definitely embracing it and excited about this opportunity. Because there's no guarantee you're going to be in another bowl game or win X amount of Pac-12 games, so you've got appreciate it when you're here." [I'm not sure the Sunshine-pumpers will agree with this belief.]
Baldwin and the rest of the staff have a group of eager new assistant coaches during these early days. Once they finish their work in the weight room, the first and second unit players come onto the field and offer their advice. [Yeah, I bet. I can just hear the advice McIlwain gave to Bowers, "Transfer, dude."]
"They do a great job," Baldwin said. "They care, they're involved in it. They're smart, they're focused people, they're driven people. That's why they're here at Cal. They get into situations like this, they're not floating. Their eyes are on it, they're seeing what's going on. They are coaching up young guys, that's just how they're wired. You see that great leadership, coming out once they're done with the program they're doing." [I'm glad.]
With bowl game preparations, final exams and helping with recruiting, these are crazy times for all the players. "It's like drinking out of a fire hose," Baldwin said. [Ugh! I'm not sure what "drinking out of a fire hose" means, but I never thought of it as being that much "fun."] ""It's just constantly things are happening. But it's kind of fun that way. As coaches we're used to that and the players are used to that. They've always got demands in school, demands in the weight room. They're used to it, and usually in the football world we're at our best when we're the busiest. So it's a good thing, it's challenging but it's what you want." [So, get busy!]
As a coach in the lower tier FBS division at Eastern Washington, Baldwin has postseason experience. But those playoffs are different from a bowl game. Preparation is limited to a week in FBS and the focus is strictly on the game.
"It's night and day," Baldwin said. "The playoffs are the playoffs. You wouldn't have Addie (Ooms) not suited or Malik (McMorris) not suited. ... This is closer to spring ball with maybe some of your older guys injured or out. Those are playoffs, it's win or go home. You are doing what you did all year."
The Bears hold their third practice Sunday afternoon, then take four days off and get back on the field Friday afternoon. [The team gets "four days off?" Aren't the coaches afraid that they might gather some more rust?]