Riley McAtee/File

The race may be down to two.

On the fourth day of practice, quarterback Austin Hinder seemed limited in number of reps, while Jared Goff and Zach Kline got the majority.

And in the reps he did get, he didn’t look that impressive. Hinder overthrew a couple of passes and was sacked at least twice.

Coach Sonny Dykes, however, did not confirm that the race may now be down to just Goff and Kline.

“Yeah, it was just kind of what we did today,” Dykes said about Hinder’s limited reps. “We’ll evaluate it tomorrow and come out with a plan tomorrow.”

Kline and Goff, meanwhile made the most of their fourth day. Kline had a pass that should have been intercepted by Damariay Drew, but overall, he did not look off of his game. He also had a scramble in 11-on-11s that went for nearly 20 yards.

And Goff got the most action. He had a few beautiful deep passes that showed off his touch and sense of timing. Goff also rolled out on a few plays and was able to complete passes while throwing on the run.

“They’re both anticipating throws better,” Dykes said. “The more reps they get, the more they see things clearly.”

Right now, it looks like Goff and Kline are in a tight, two-horse race. But Hinder is still getting reps and is not out for the count just yet.

Today was also the first day that the players competed in “shells,” or shoulder pads and helmets while still wearing shorts. In previous practices, the players had only worn helmets, and the increased padding immediately led to an increased physicality in the practice. Though tackling was still not allowed, there were a few big hits. One in particular, between Kameron Jackson and Jonah Hodges, stood out.

In a typical 11-on-11 drill, Hodges caught a short pass and immediately collided with Jackson. The hit featured an audible boom that was heard throughout the stadium. Fans gasped, but neither was injured on the play.

Dykes plans on using those kind of big hits as an opportunity to teach his players how to hit properly. New NCAA rules have placed greater restrictions on how a defensive player can hit an opponent.

“We’ll look at it and see, but based on what I saw, it could have been targeting,” Dykes said. “We’ll pull it off tape, show it to our players and use it to teach.”

Speaking of Kameron Jackson, the junior cornerback has received high praise from his colleagues. Wide receivers Bryce Treggs and Jack Austin both called him the best cornerback they have had to go against.

“He isn’t a big guy, but he’s very quick, he has great hands, he gets up in your face when he needs to and, even when he’s off the ball, he’s pretty hard to fight with,” Austin said. “But I feel confident going against him.”

With the physicality heightened, defensive players were able to finally show their teeth. Things will only get more aggressive when fully padded practices begin on Sunday.

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Twenty-two. That’s the number of positions Cal coach Sonny Dykes said are unsettled after the third day of practice. The entire roster is up in the air.

And nowhere is the position more up in the air than quarterback.

Austin Hinder began the day and immediately threw an interception to Jalen Jefferson. Ouch.

“Very first play — I loved it,” Jefferson said of his interception. “I almost had three today.”

Hinder probably didn’t love it quite as much.

The interception didn’t rattle Hinder, as he came back to make some tough throws later in the practice. Unfortunately, he threw another pick later in the day. Though his performance wasn’t bad by any stretch outside of those two interceptions, they put a damper on his day and definitely did not help him in the race.

Zach Kline also had two picks throughout the day, breaking his goal of having no turnovers throughout camp on just the third day. But Kline was able to make some other big throws, including several that were threaded between tight defensive coverage.

“Kline is showing off his arm strength, and he’s also showing touch on his pass,” said wide receiver Bryce Treggs. “That’s something I feel he didn’t have in the spring.”

Jared Goff, meanwhile, easily had his best day of camp and hit Chris Harper and Bryce Treggs on some downfield throws. The true freshman also showed off his running ability when he scrambled for about a 10-yard gain during 11-on-11s.

“Today was probably Goff’s best day,” Dykes said. “He looked more comfortable today than he did the other two days.”

Dykes also had words of praise for Hinder and Kline too, so don’t think that the race is any closer to its conclusion because of Goff’s performance.

Meanwhile, on defensive, it was Jalen Jefferson’s turn to shine. He had the aforementioned pick from Hinder and generally seemed to be in the right place at the right time.

“He is just playing so fast right now,” Dykes said about Jefferson, whom he named as one of the players that stood out to him.

On the offensive side of the ball, it was Bryce Treggs’ show. The sophomore receiver caught several deep balls and was constantly breaking away from defensive backs.

“I’m always looking for ways to improve,” Treggs said. “I do want to be a game changer.”

Chris Harper, the other star receiver on the squad, also made some big plays. He had a one-handed diving catch in the corner of the end zone that drew cheers from the crowd of about 50 people at the practice.

Meanwhile, two skirmishes that broke out between the offense and the defense put a damper on the practice. One happened during offensive and defensive line drills, and the other occurred during 11-on-11s. This is the third in three days — including one that broke out on Monday.

It’s unclear who started both, but Dykes is not worried about them yet, because the skirmishes — which haven’t been serious enough to call full-blown fights — prove that the players care.

“I’ve been places where I was begging them to fight,” he said. “No one was competitive enough to fight.”

Contact Riley McAtee at rmcatee@dailycal.org

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Riley McAtee/File

“It’s time. It’s the second day. Expectations are tripled!”

Those are the words that defensive backs coach Randy Stewart used to fire up his players as day two of Cal’s training camp got under way. Those words may even have embodied the mentality of the entire Cal roster — even if tripled expectations were not the reality.

The quarterback battle was under way once again. Zach Kline got the most reps today, as it is the coaching staff’s plan to rotate who gets the spotlight each day. Kline looked good when he threw a couple of pretty passes for touchdowns, but no quarterback has separated himself enough yet to allow the race to become any clearer.

“Hopefully someone will set themselves apart from the others and make the decision easy,” said coach Sonny Dykes after the practice.

No one has done that so far.

With that battle still raging, the attention turns to other areas of the field.

On defense, Chris McCain looked as explosive as ever. McCain is making the move from linebacker to defensive end, and he didn’t seem out of place for a minute. The junior was constantly in the backfield as the defensive and offensive lines squared off near the south end zone. The story was the same in 11-on-11 drills when McCain put pressure on Hinder.

Meanwhile, the linebackers worked on drills that tested their lateral movement. They were without Nick Forbes, who skipped this practice with a nagging, but ultimately not serious, back injury. Dykes says that he should be back in limited action tomorrow.

Brennan Scarlett, the defensive end opposite McCain, also was injured. He had a red jersey on that indicated he was not to take contact from any player, but he did still participate in formations and basic drills.

Khairi Fortt, who was required to sit last year after transferring from Penn State, was the star linebacker on the field. But without pads on, the linebackers were unable to truly shine.

“Khairi is one of those guys that will show up a lot more once he gets the pads on, because he’s a physical guy,” Dykes said.

Regardless, Fortt was excited to finally be back on the field.

“I’m just elated,” he said after the practice. “I’m glad I made the change.”

On the offensive side of the ball, Brendan Bigelow was taking full reps again in practice. He caught a few balls and generally looked about the same as yesterday — like a back who isn’t quite at full speed but still looks like one of the top talents on the field. However, the two practices have started to catch up with him.

“I’m sore — really, really sore,” he said. “But it’s my second day. I can’t expect too much from myself.”

Those words aren’t just true for Bigelow — we can’t expect too much from anyone. Though Randy Stewart’s expectations may have been tripled, it’s unreasonable to hope for too much on just the second day. Ultimately, what was on show was exactly what one would expect — some promising signs, but nothing definitive enough to blow anyone away.

Contact Riley McAtee at rmcatee@dailycal.org

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