IRVINE, Calif. -- The most stunning aspect to the Rams’ debut on HBO's “Hard Knocks” on Tuesday wasn’t a wide receiver getting cut for having a female visitor in his room, but prized rookie quarterback Jared Goff not knowing from which direction the sun rises.

That would be Jared Goff, who went to Cal, ranked by U.S. News as the fourth-best university on the planet.

Alas, there were apparently some things Cal assumed you already knew.

Rams rookie QB Jared Goff points ...east? Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

But the series exposed Goff’s particular bit of ignorance during a meeting with quarterbacks coach Chris Weinke. The show had its fun with it, later showing Goff in the Goodyear blimp with fellow rookie Pharoh Cooper.

Goff asked Cooper if he knew where the sun rose and the wide receiver said, “In the air?”

“East,” Goff informed him. “Apparently it’s well known.”

Yeah, maybe not. Rams linebacker Cameron Lynch was asked if he could say Wednesday and struggled like he was asked to do his Will Hunting at MIT imitation.

“Uh, I don’t know,” he said.

Special teams coach John Fassel was shown in the debut show with his toddler running into his arms. Asked if she knew yet where the sun rose, he responded, "No, but she’s always at the beach so she knows it sets in the West."

But Fassel said no one should be surprised if players are unaware that the sun rises in the East.

“No, they don’t know,” he said. “I had to think about it when you just asked me. I was like, 'Wait a second.’ We have our minds on football right now.”

Asked if it was remotely possible the players were struggling with this basic bit of knowledge because the franchise had recently arrived on the West Coast, he said: “That could be. You almost kind of have to switch. In St. Louis we don’t know, the sun is like in the middle.”

Punter Johnny Hekker, a five-year veteran, volunteered he was aware from which direction the sun rose.

“Young guys these days,” Hekker said. “As long as [he] can throw the football and move in the pocket, I don’t care what he knows about the sunrise and set.”

Informed Goff was hardly alone on the team in his confusion, Hekker shrugged.

“We’re going to be OK,” he said. “We just have to concern ourselves with football and that’s what we’re here to do. The sun will continue to do what it’s doing.”