The Novel: Spring Game 2026
In this edition of Cal vs Cal, Cal wins.
I. The Intro
At one point on Saturday, I found myself wondering the last time it was like this.
I mean, there were spring games -- I’d written about a lot of those over the last fourteen years and three coaches -- but a lot of the time, they were offense versus defense scrimmages, not true split-roster, intra-squad affairs.
Sometimes we just didn’t have the depth. Sometimes there was a disdain for the whole thing in general, in the way these “showcases” (read: practices) went. On one occasion, there wasn’t even traditional football of any kind -- in Dykes’ first year, the media release afterward reported that “the Cal defense was a 28-24 winner over the offense”, when a “44-yard field goal attempt on the game’s final play that Benjamin Calder sailed wide, [giving] the defense its final three points in a contest that was scored using a modified scoring system that awarded points to the defense.”
So, that no one could recall previous spring games with any confidence, is because time has grown a strange fruit in Strawberry Canyon. The new coach is an old one, and around him on Saturday were the unmistakable reminders of that past: Jeff Tedford, Marshawn Lynch, and Lorenzo Alexander. In whatever the Cal Bears do going forward in this era, their DNA will be unmistakably born from out of that one, in some form.
And then, what is new: everything else. There isn’t just optimism around the program right now for optimism’s sake. Even if the game attendance suggested it is nascent at this stage, there’s real reason to believe something is happening, with every major indicator right now flashing Yale Blue and Gold. Fundraising. Recruiting. Socials. Visibility.
It’s not always going to go smoothly – and it didn’t on Saturday – but when you are led by those who have already seen the glory and splendor themselves, stuff like your quarterback throwing a pick-six to open the game, or the field mic cutting out all afternoon, matters a little less. They aimed for 10,000 in attendance and overshot the estimates by a good number.
That’s fine. This is a journey.
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II. Interpretive Framework
In which your writer explains some principles that underlie these observations, which are the result of having sat through a lot of spring practices, games, scrimmages, showcases and otherwise, with the intention of contextualizing everything below.
1. It is best to approach the results of any practice looking for trends, and to avoid overreactions. This is not zero sum.
2. We are seeing only a little bit, and by design. Focus on personnel; who is flashing in these settings. Those will lead you to finding the impact players for the fall.
3. Defenses are normally ahead in camp; offense takes a little more time to gel. I focused more on the offense at this practice, because a) I expect the defense to be good under Tosh, and b) it’s an easier thing to form conclusions about live.
4. Saturday’s game was apparently not broadcast at large, so there may be some errors, omissions below, or things I’m not able to speak as confidently on without rewatching or did not form real insight into. Those have been noted accordingly, where possible. At the time of writing (mostly, the godless hours of Sunday morning), official stats have not been released.
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III. Cal 21, Cal 15
Gold Team: 21 (Marques Groves-Killebrew pick six, Dominic Ingrassia rushing touchdown, Adam Mohammed rushing touchdown)
Blue Team: 15 (Cooper Perry from Brousseau, Trevor Rogers from Jaron, 2-point conversion good from Xander Jones)
As part of the agreed-upon terms of competition, the winning staff and roster will be eating steak and lobster at some point, while the losing staff and roster will have hot dogs and beans.
Quarterbacks: You already know.
Jaron (Blue): If you knew that his first drive ended with a tipped ball that Marques Groves-Killebrew turned into a pick-six, and read the statline only, you might worry. But it should go without saying that Jaron is the least of our concerns, and particularly in this context, when he was without most of the (presumed) first-team skill players that he’ll line up with in the fall: Adam Mohammed, Ian Strong and Chase Hendricks were all Gold Team members. He still flashed the same ridiculous arm talent we’ve known already, best seen in the extra two-minute drive for the Blue Team at the end, when Jaron accounted for the game’s final score with a gorgeous fade to Trevor Rogers in the right end zone. (”You can do things like that when it’s spring ball,” was the PA quip.) Besides a notably larger frame he’s growing into, he did look to be processing the field a lot faster, working through progressions and to the back side more decisively than he did a year ago. There were a few missed throws that were audacious to even attempt, only possible to miss closely because of his talent.
If you’re judging based on the spring game alone, QB2 is probably Dominic Ingrassia (Gold), who in my opinion, played the best out of the remaining guys, taking a long keeper touchdown among a solid and productive couple of drives.
Running Backs: We got a real one, and it’s not just him.
Adam Mohammed (Gold): Whatever the reasons are as to why he and Washington didn’t work out, we should thank our lucky stars -- #24 is not only as advertised, but worthy of the old running back tradition. Fast, strong, explosive, versatile – he broke off a kickoff return, lined up out wide on offense, ran wheel routes, ran in tight alleys to the short side of the field, ran between the tackles, and punctuated his day with a long run down the left sideline and an eventual touchdown. For my money, the player who left the strongest impression all afternoon, showcasing as a complete back, ready for a full load of carries -- he had only 148 total at Washington over two years -- and without any hyperbole, I think Justin Forsett is his floor. His ceiling…
Carter Vargas (Blue) played only one or two drives to open the day with Jaron and flashed some solid burst in that stint. Anthony League (Blue) took most of the carries behind him and made a strong case to be a part of what I think will be a three-to-four-back rotation, headed by Mohammed. The last piece of that is likely to be Ashton Emory (Gold), who ran hard and made some solid headway when he got time.
Tight Ends: Buy your Taimane Purcell stock now.
Taimane Purcell (Gold): It’s pronounced Ty-mah-nee, I learned. Given the way the true freshman played above his years, I think we’ll all know it before long. He’s carrying ~240 pretty effortlessly, flashed reliable hands and run after catch ability, and validated some of the whispered praise I’d been hearing in a big way. Whoever is in charge of 808 area recruiting internally is crushing at evaluation. Lock him in the two deep immediately.
John Tofi (Gold) has also forced his way into the tight end conversation by consistently being in the right place, blocking hard. Between him, Purcell, Mini, Dorian Thomas, and Rico Walker, Cal has one of the legitimately deepest tight end rooms in the time I’ve written about the Bears. The rest of the group, for brevity’s sake, had a pretty workmanlike day at the office (Dorian Thomas did catch an in-breaker for 19 yards and a first down on Jaron’s first drive), but the freshman was the one raising eyebrows.
Receivers: Massively improved from last year.
Cooper Perry (Blue): Among a bunch of receptions on the day was an early crossing route and run after the catch for 32 yards when playing with Jaron, and a later 34-yard touchdown pass from Brousseau, with consistent effort after the catch, even if it was just a few extra yards. Will be a front-line option for the offense this fall.
Ian Strong and Chase Hendricks (Gold): The former was pretty quiet playing with the other QBs, but did have a contested pass he ripped out of the air in front of the DB and ran after the catch for 23 yards, and that will become quite familiar to the wider audience in the fall. The latter was definitely more productive on the day, but didn’t hit any explosive plays of his own. A part of why both came to Cal was to catch balls from Jaron, so I expect they’ll make more noise when he’s the one throwing to them specifically.
Trevor Rogers (Blue): Showed up with a strong afternoon – multiple catches for the Blue team and the aforementioned closing touchdown, capping off a spring where he needed to really start making moves, and did. All of this bodes well for his odds of contributing this fall. Whoever coached him in high school is probably beaming right now.
Cole Boscia (Gold): Rob shared that from his time watching fall camp in 2025, he felt Boscia was ready to be a contributor before an untimely injury. Boscia started living up to that late last year – SMU most memorably – and looks on track to continue as a rotation player. By my unofficial tally, he led the Gold team in receptions and has remained reliable, sure-handed, and productive, even among an improved wide receiver room.
Quaron Adams (Blue): His usage – crosses, gadgets, etc – last year was particularly important in a skill position group that lacked explosiveness, and he looks like he’ll continue getting on the field in that capacity, based on his usage on Saturday. The good news is they’ll be able to be more intentional about how they get to feature him.
Mark Hamper (Blue): A guy I was hoping would show out in more force on Saturday, but did make a couple of catches. What most people in attendance will probably remember is the ones he did not come down with, which were often tough situations to be in in the first place. My opinion is that having him back was a solid, sensible decision, with the idea he may thrive more in a contributor role than as a star, and that may still be the case. Struggles acknowledged, I’m not selling the stock yet.
Offensive Line: Hard to evaluate at live speed, but a higher floor than last year to start
This post could have been twice as long, if we had the film available to watch – what gives, ACC Network? In any case, only a couple of pressures given up and a relatively clean day of work on penalties; generally, I think the floor of the group has risen in Anae’s second year. It will still take more time for them to really peak, because the transfer portal class was built around young guys who they plan on developing anyway (Jimothy Lewis, Jacob Arop, etc), supplementing the couple of veterans they’ll build around (Tyson Ruffins, Sioape Vatikani, etc). The good news is compared to last year, nobody stood out in a way anyone sitting on their couch could be upset about, let alone consistently, as it was at times.
Defensive Line: Deep enough to be flexible, with something you ain’t seen yet
Generally played well in generating some pressure and disruption – run and pass game both – with some particular standouts coming from the terrifying quick Jericho Johnson (Blue) and Jayden Wayne (Gold) off the edge. There’s a lot of veteran depth here as a group, with a special helmet sticker for the returning Nate Burrell (Gold), who picked off a pass and got to live that elusive dream of all big men, rumbling for a few yards the other way.
It’s #44 who’s the real key to this thing, though. Cal has not had the luxury of a lineman that fast and athletic since BRETT JOHNSON, and he wasn’t 345 (listed).
Defensive Backs: Worthy of the tradition.
With most of my attention gravitating to the offense, I’d say my impressions of this group are generally good. The whisperings out of camp have been positive on defense overall, and while it’s become a legacy to have to scout, plug, and then play new DBs at Cal – something they were definitely cognizant of this spring, as our Thomas Dunn shared:
I don’t see a dropoff coming either. The major highlight was the Marques Groves-Killebrew (Gold) interception, but a really solid day overall for a unit that didn’t really even run all their normal coverage playbook or full personnel (a few guys were in no-contact jerseys, including Aiden Manutai (Gold)). Niles Davis (Blue) jumped with a long return on special teams and hustled down the field to stop Adam Mohammed from getting into the end zone. The depth guys at corner were competitive in their one-on-one situations, too.
One last note here: I’ve described a lot of running after the catch made by our skill position players, but I want to be clear that was not due to some zero-sum of bad tackling. Credit it to an improvement in skill talent, rather than a deficiency in the secondary, where there were no major busts, and notably, consistent effort in impacting the run game.
Linebackers: Okay, hot take?
If you want someone who raised his profile dramatically at the spring game on defense, it’s AJ Tuitele (Blue) – still adding weight, I would assume – who played fast and disruptive, shooting gaps and being a terror to all sides of the field. Aaron Hampton (Gold - stuffed League on 4th and 2 early) and Kamar Mothudi (Gold - at least one TFL) also grabbed a couple flash plays, and while the rawness of the unit still shows at times – both Tuitele and Mothudi are stepping into their first major playing time – the athletic ceiling, length, and general ranginess is much higher. If you want to buy stock in an agenda that you’ll look smart about for saying early, I think…I’d buy some and say we upgraded.
Specialists: Don’t look yet.
Chase Meyer missed two field goals from 42 and 52 for the Blue team, which were the only two attempted on the day.
My apologies to the punt units, which I missed while taking notes and chatting.
Practice closed with a designed 2-point conversion ran in by Xander Jones (Blue), the younger brother of BJ Jones (Gold). Joaquin Ruiz has more on their story here.
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V. Uhh, we made a book.
Avi, Rob – it was just both their birthdays, by the way. If you’re actually reading, make sure you wish them a happy birthday in the comments – and I spent a good chunk of last summer compiling, editing, and putting together stories from the community’s experience around College GameDay, which we knew needed to be preserved in some form.
What that became was Calgorithm, Vol. 1: A People’s Anthology of the 2024 season, a 297-page hardcover book that we are immensely proud of, because it really represents this community in its totality, memes and all. We have a story from the guy who stormed the field after the Auburn game and spent the night in an Alabama jail cell. We have a story from a Calgorithm member who found himself on the phone with ESPN, pitching #FightForCalGameDay. We have an overarching narrative that spans decades of our fandom, from the days of California Golden Blogs, til today. We have a foreword written by five national level college football voices: Bill Connelly, Kyle Bonagura, Ashley Adamson, Ryan Nanni, and Jessica Smetana. We have given copies to Rich Lyons, Ron Rivera, and Tosh Lupoi with the confirmation at least one has really read it, and an acceptance into the Bancroft archives (and allegedly, the Library of Congress, but that’s a story for later).
In our first run, we were only able to make 200 of them, and those copies are all accounted for.
Because managing this project isn’t our day jobs, we’re finally ready to collect interest from the W4C community around this project, so we can potentially, shop it out to publishers in some form, or something else. You can register your interest here, to receive further updates.
Besides – with the way things are going, I’m pretty sure we’re not done yet.
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VI. Conclusion
Ron said a few days ago in a press conference, about feeling good that this team was better than last year.
And I find it easy to agree, now that I’ve gotten to see it myself. A really good team is being built here, one that aims to compete now – because it has to – but there’s the sense that the peak is really going to be 2027 for this core, of which Jaron is at the center. With Tosh working another job and preparing for the College Football Playoffs, they built a smart framework for a roster from the increased NIL funding, without the depth being quite where they’d want it to be yet. Given that constraint, the evaluation and assembly has not missed at all, and watching nearly impact player brought in hitting immediately, showed what happens when we’re able to access the next tier of talent.
And it is just beginning – win, and there will be a lot more.
 | A guest post by
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When I saw your name at the head of this column, I pushed aside my cereal and settled in for a great read. Thank you so much for continuing to write and publish. It may be homer bias, but no one writes about Cal football as well as you do in my opinion.
If the floor for Mohammed is Forsett...wow.
Purcell and Mini, imagine having them both on the field? Mini gave me the most exciting plays of 25, besides JKS.
Things slowing down for JKS is scary for other teams. He had preternatural calm as a freshman.
Seeing Marshawn mentor running backs at Cal makes something deep inside my heart very, very happy.
Thank you Nam for this wonderful tome. While I've tried to piece together coverage from X and other sources to get of sense of the big picture, you pulled it all together for us. It seems we indeed have reason to be hopeful at this juncture, with clear progress on nearly all fronts (...2 missed field goals??). Re the lack of streaming or ACC coverage, in another comment I hypothesized this may have been intentional on Ron's part to encourage maximum attendance. But who knows... As to your second tome, The Calgorithm, sign me up!!! Go Bears Forever baby!