California 2021 Spring Game: The Players Who Starred

Spring is a beautiful time of year, the weather is warming up, the days get longer and college football teams hold fifteen practices usually culminating with some form of spring game. That spring game is often the first chance fans have to see their team in action. Sure, the rules vary depending on the team, players rotate in and out, and some of the big stars don’t play much, but it’s still the first look at the team. It’s dangerous to read too much into spring game performances, but that won’t stop us from highlighting a few players who impressed in California‘s spring game.

Chase Garbers

Garbers only played two drives, but was excellent during his time in the game. Both drives resulted in touchdowns for the offense. Garbers was comfortable in the offense and quickly recognized where to go with the football. He was accurate underneath and completed two big passes downfield one on each drive. One was a deep ball to Nikko Remigio who made a nice leaping catch in one on one coverage at the one yard line, the other was a deep crossing route to Monroe Young, which set the offense up in the redzone. Garbers did a good job of identifying and avoiding pressure and was able to escape the pocket and make a positive play when the defense got pressure. He was 5 of 5 passing for 71 yards and 1 touchdown in an obviously small sample, but also a nearly flawless showing.

Miles Williams

The safety popped a few times during the game and was around the football constantly. He did a good job of identifying run plays and made a few nice plays against the run. He shot the gap on the second drive of the game and made a tackle for a minimal game and then on the fifth drive fought off a block to make a nice tackle on the running back. His best sequence came at the end of the second drive of the game. First Williams closed on a flat pass and forced the receiver out of bounds just shy of the goal-line. After the defensive line stuffed a run on the next play, Williams made the defensive play of the game, on a play action pass to the flat Williams was in the passing lane and leaped up to tip the ball with his right hand then intercepted his own deflection to turn back the offense without a score. He was instinctive and fast to the football throughout the game and showed plenty of promise in the secondary.

Isaiah Young

The promising cornerback was another young player in the secondary who made several nice plays in the spring game. He was aggressive attacking plays in front of him and made a few big plays because of it. On the second drive of the game, Young closed on a pass in the flat and wrapped up the receiver for a tackle for loss. Later in the spring game, he closed on a third down pass and made a big hit to jar the ball loose and force an incomplete pass to end the possession. Young was fast to the football and was another player that was constantly around the football and making plays for the defense.

Matthew Cindric

The guard was good in all facets of the game and helped block for both scoring drives Garbers led during the game. He was good in pass protection and kept players from disrupting his quarterback’s rhythm or throwing motion. Cindric was strong at the point of attack, holding his ground in pass protection and creating push in the run game. Cindric pulled and made a nice block on the touchdown run that capped the second scoring drive that Garbers led. He looked like a reliable player at the guard spot who could be an asset in the run game and in pass protection.

Christopher Brown Jr

The powerful tailback only played one possession and had two carries but ran with power and leg drive on both runs. He broke a tackle and picked up nice yardage after contact on his second run of the game. Brown finished with two carries for 18 yards, but had the look of a powerful running back who could wear down defenses over the course of a game. He was clearly the best running back to play for the Bears in the spring game.

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Cal v Stanford image taken by Peter Alfred Hess is licensed under CC BY 2.0.