I expected too much from the Spring Game

Vince Moraga (15) is the most experienced of Cal Poly’s four quarterbacks competing for the starting role in 2013. By Owen Main

I should have known better. The actual quarterback battle couldn’t have lived up to the anticipation. I built up the hype in my mind and in my posts, only to be let-down.

On Saturday afternoon, Cal Poly’s football team capped off five weeks of spring practice with its annual Spring Game at Alex G. Spanos Stadium. The game was supposed to be a chance for four quarterbacks to show head coach Tim Walsh what they could do. It was going to be a high-level battle, and someone was supposed to come out the clear favorite. At least we’d have a little more of an idea.

Instead, only three of the four played and the offense looked generally sloppy throughout. Cal Poly’s top seven offensive linemen did not play, and the game left more questions than it gave answers.

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Sam Holquin catches the first touchdown of the Spring Game from Tanner Trosin. By Owen Main

So, who did impress at quarterback?

Three guys got time on Saturday. Vince Moraga started the game. The Junior from Oxnard is clearly the most comfortable when it comes to hiding the ball, footwork on misdirection running plays, and general knowledge of the offense. Moraga’s early drives stalled relatively quickly. Moraga did manage a touchdown drive ending in a 16 yard pass to Carson McMurtrey in the “second half,” one of only two touchdown drives Cal Poly managed all day.

“I’m really comfortable with our offense as a whole,” said Moraga. “I know what we’re trying to do when we’re out there on the field. I’m really poised and there’s nothing really that I’m going to see that I don’t know when it comes to defenses, so I feel like that’s my upside.”

The second quarterback on the field was Tanner Trosin. Trosin, a redshirt freshman from Folsom High School, came into the game as the team’s best pure passer. Trosin did not disappoint in this regard, moving the pocket, showing poise, and finding open receivers. Trosin found Sam Holquin for the game’s first touchdown, the only one of the first half. His drives seemed to offer the most dynamic attack, though a guy who can scramble and find open guys down-field doing well makes sense for a team with a limited offensive line.

The third quarterback who played on Saturday was Dano Graves. Graves, a transfer from Air Force, might be the best pure runner out of the three who competed. He doesn’t have a lot of height to pass over linemen, but he showed shiftiness and proved difficult to bring down with the first hit. His ability to get to and turn the corner was by far the best. I don’t think Graves will be able to be judged properly until he plays with first-string linemen in front of him. That being said, I could see him getting some snaps as both a slotback and quarterback. Cal Poly has a need for probably an additional slotback to get 10-15 carries per game and having him at either position would definitely put the opposition on their heels.

To see a successful version of a split between Graves and one of the other three quarterbacks, you can look at Sam Houston State last season. The Bearkats split two quarterbacks successfully during the season and ended up in the FCS Championship. Other teams like Eastern Washington also had success in a two-quarterback system. It may not be Walsh’s ideal, but with the talent he has, Cal Poly’s head coach may not have a choice.

In high school, Trosin and Graves played on the same team. Now, they find themselves competing for the same quarterback position in college.

“We’re cool,” said Trosin. “I’ve known him for a long time… we like competition, especially with each other… . “This is a first for me. It’s cool to experience a four-man battle so I don’t know how to view it, just go out there and play your best and see where that takes you.”

Walsh talked about getting spoiled by his senior quarterback last year.

“I was telling somebody that you have Andre Broadous for three years and you start taking things that he does for granted,” said head coach Tim Walsh. “This made for some eye opening for our coaches that we have some things that we really need to tighten down on as far as the fundamentals and how to play the triple option part of the game… We have a lot of things that we still need to clean up, but when you get an opportunity to play 110 plays, you’re going to learn a lot.”

Walsh had some good things to say about each candidate after the game too.

“Tanner improved,” he said. “Dano showed that he’s kind of a tough, honery little guy in there too, and I think Vince moved around real well and I think Vince made some good throws that ended up not being touchdowns that probably should have been… . Again, I think if we combined them all we have a great player.”

Kevin Porsche (34) and Kori Garcia are competing for playing time at slot back. By Owen Main

Is there a frontrunner?

Walsh started to say Trosin won the day, though he would not commit to anything being set at this point. He talked about needing to settle things probably during the first week of practice in the Fall.

There are lots of problems with that strategy, but I don’t think Walsh has any choice in the matter at this point. Nobody separated themselves enough to be the clear favorite going into Fall camp. Trosin was the closest, but Walsh wasn’t ready to crown him yet.

As for the quarterback competition itself, the players are putting being teammates first.

“Behind the scenes, we’re all brothers, so we have each others’ back,” said Moraga. “When we’re out there on the practice field it’s not too much of a competition. We’re correcting each other and we’re picking each other up, so I’m getting used to it.”

Offensive lineman matter. Especially in large groups.

Holy cow. The sloppiness of this game was baffling to me at first. I thought with so much on the line for each quarterback, everyone would be at their best. Then I realized that the second or third-team offensive linemen were going up against the first team defense at the beginning. Then I was told that the top-seven offensive linemen were all out. Then it all made sense.

“We all know we were limited up front with the O-Line, but they played their hearts out and we rallied,” said Moraga. “We had a couple great drives, but there’s definitely a lot we can go back and check out in the film room and fix.”

An injured Chris Brown could do nothing but cheer his teammates on as the other three quarterbacks competed for the starting spot on Saturday. By Owen Main

Maybe the Defense is just really good?

This is actually a valid point. While Sullivan Grosz has been “non-contact” throughout the spring, Cal Poly’s defense proved itself a physical match-up for a juggernaut Sam Houston State team in last season’s playoff loss. They return most of their starters and played like they were the most experienced of the two sides of the ball.

Would one of the quarterbacks move to a different position?

Cal Poly does have some great athletes at quarterback. Graves looks like he could be a legitimate slot back, Chris Brown is probably athletic enough to play any number of positions, and they had conversations last year with Vince Moraga about changing positions. The only guy I don’t really see playing in a different place is Trosin, but I could be wrong about that too.

Here’s a pretty long Tim Walsh quote on the subject:

“Part of the beauty of the position of quarterback here is that you probably are a good enough player to play another position,” said Walsh, addressing the possibility of someone changing positions. “All four of the guys probably are. We even toyed last year with Vince playing slot. So, yeah, that goes through our mind if they want to play because they are four really good athletes and three of them are going to be standing next to me. So that’s something that would be talked about but the one thing about a quarterback’s mentality: they all think they’re the best. So therefore none of them are going to be happy if we go to them and say ‘Hey, you’re going to have to go play slot.’… . They’d probably do it, but the reality of the situation is they believe they’re the best quarterback and that’s a mentality that you don’t want to break  on a quarterback because you want them to have it.”

What will the 2013 team actually look like?

Last year’s Spring Game seemed crisp. Whether it was Andre Broadous or Chris Brown under center, Cal Poly’s offense moved and competed. Their defense was opportunistic and held its ground, but the offensive seasoning of Broadous and Company ruled the day.

With that in my head, this year’s game seemed helter-skelter and not fantastically-played. Blocks were missed, passes were barely dropped, and quarterbacks almost broke big plays. In a game that was supposed to crown a frontrunner at quarterback, there were virtually no signature moments.

As I walked away from Spanos on Saturday afternoon, I pondered exactly what this team will look like next year. With new coaches, a new quarterback, and continually higher expectations, they better have a clear plan. I would hate to be talking about a great defensive team that just couldn’t find its offensive identity in December.