Jared Goff and Chris Harper are entering a season in which fans and experts alike are expecting great performances.
While Goff, as a freshman, enjoyed throwing for more than a record breaking 3,500 yards and 18 touchdowns, Harper as a sophomore caught 70 receptions for over 850 yards and 5 touchdowns, the California Golden Bears still struggled mightily ending up with a 1-11 record.
As a lot of college football fans already know, the Bears were struck with injuries.
Almost half of the starting line-up had a season ending terror.
In a season in which Head Coach Sonny Dykes siad, “I’ve never seen anything like it before,” the Blue and Gold could only find a few bright spots to celebrate. Most notably are the names of Jared Goff and Chris Harper.
Through Goff’s ups and downs his first season, he remained relatively calm. It’s like he has short-term memory loss, and whatever happens the play before he forgets about.
From a preseason story by Jeff Faraudo of the Mercury News, Goff’s dad (a Cal grad who played a few years in MLB) claimed his son was always that way.
“He’s wired completely differently than I was,” said Jerry Goff, who spent time with the Expos, Pirates and Astros organizations. “He’s able to have a short memory and have fun. There were times in my career that weren’t fun. If I wasn’t playing well, I got concerned, ‘Am I going back to Triple-A?’
“He’s not like that. He came out of the womb differently. He has a calm demeanor, and that goes a long way to what he has been able to accomplish, particularly at the position he plays.”
Goff has a strong arm, unique and very fast throwing motion, and the ideal size to play quarterback. This is a true freshman that was asked to learn a new system by Dykes. Coming into his sophomore season, the sky is the limit for Jared Goff.
Chris Harper was Goff’s number one receiver last year, and the two formed a special chemistry that will continue into next season.
Harper was asked what his expectations were coming into the 2013-2014 season.
“I have high expectations of myself and for this offense,” he said. “I definitely feel like making moves in open space is my strength, and I will be able to do that more this year.”
“Do that” he did. People who watched the Cal games would often see number six making tough catches in stride for long gains.
Harper is a “Keenan Allen” type of player. He finds open spaces on the field and when gets a hold of the ball, another ten to twenty yards were usually collected.
I had the chance to speak with Chris Harper, and I asked him how the offense looked to him.
“The offense looks a lot more fluid as opposed to last year, so I’m happy with the progress that we’ve made in a year, but we have a lot to work on in order to become a team that wins games.” Harper replied.
All in all, both Goff and Harper set themselves up to have a huge breakthrough next season. The talent is there, and they are ready to make a splash.
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