Quarterback change could be in offing
Is Cal considering a quarterback change?
It sure sounded like it after the Bears’ 38-7 loss at Washington on Saturday night.
“Obviously, a really disappointing performance,” first-year coach Justin Wilcox said. “We didn’t do anything on offense to give us a chance. We’re going to have to reevaluate some things.”
Once Wilcox got specific, Ross Bowers’s name came up.
“We’ve got to do a better job at the quarterback position,” Wilcox said. “Ross needs to play better. There were some things that showed up tonight that he could have done much better and then we’ll see on the tape. That will paint the clearest picture.”
Bowers, a redshirt sophomore who grew up about 15 miles north of Husky Stadium, had a rough homecoming. He finished 11 of 18 for 80 yards before Chase Forrest came in midway through the fourth quarter to mop up.
Cal’s offense netted 93 yards on 52 plays, an average of 1.8 yards per play. It produced nine first downs, one by penalty. It was outscored by its defense — specifically senior cornerback Darius Allensworth, who returned a fumble 37 yards to avert a shutout with 1:07 left in the third quarter.
After a surprising 3-0 start, the Bears have lost three games in a row, by a combined score of 11551. And next comes Washington State, which has climbed to No. 8 in The Associated Press poll with a 6-0 record.
Oh, and it’s a short week. The game is Friday night, on ESPN.
“It’s going to be a quick turnaround,” Wilcox said. “We’re going to find out a lot about our team in the next 48 hours. We just, across the board, have got to be better. Coaching starts with me, making sure we’re giving our guys the best opportunity.
“It’s hard right now. We’re sitting at 3-3, we’ve lost three in a row, we haven’t played well enough, especially (Saturday). We’ve got to be better than that.”
Bowers is hardly the only one who needs to be better. The offensive line allowed eight sacks Saturday night. That makes for 17 over the past three games.
“It’s definitely a problem and we have to address it and we have been addressing it,” left tackle Patrick Mekari said. “We know that that’s not acceptable for us.”
Cal safety Derron Brown said multiple players mentioned the need for a team meeting. Brown said that would happen sometime this week to make sure everyone is on the same page and eager to battle going forward.
“I don’t think we played well enough on either side of the ball,” Brown said. “The rest of our season can’t be determined on what’s happened these last few games.”
Cal (3-3, 0-3 Pac-12) once had nine games to win the three it needed to become bowl eligible. Now the Bears need to win three of six.
“It sucks to lose,” Allensworth said. “We’ve just got to keep practicing hard, so we don’t have this feeling anymore. I don’t want this feeling anymore.”
• K.J. Carta-Samuels, who starred at Bellarmine College Prep in San Jose, finished the game at quarterback for Washington. The junior threw two passes, both incomplete, in relief of Huskies star Jake Browning, who was 27 of 40 for 215 yards and two touchdowns.