Opposite ends of spectrum Cal: Goff is hoping hard work, study have Bears ready for '14 tests

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It always went right for Jared Goff.

Whether it was Little League or pingpong, he won. At Marin Catholic, he won 91 percent of his games, and when he followed in his baseball-playing father's footsteps at Cal, he won the starting quarterback job as a freshman.

"I'll be running down the field and look around," Goff said. "You kind of think about everything that's had to go right for this to happen."

And then it went wrong. The first freshman in Cal history to quarterback the team for a full season lost and lost and lost, 11 times in 12 games. And he wants to make sure he never goes through such travails again.

So Goff went to work in the summer, organizing a group of receivers and running backs to go out and throw as often as possible. They would work on route running, throw location and, most importantly, trust.

"There were times last year when I would throw a ball and it wouldn't even be near them," Goff said. "That shouldn't happen this year at all. It's just a completely different thing now."

As both begin their second season with the Bears, head coach Sonny Dykes compared Goff to a baseball player whose every at-bat is a little cleaner than the one before it. Only in football, the at-bat includes pre-snap reads, picking up the blitz, the dropback and the throw.

Dykes said it takes hundreds of throws between a quarterback and receiver before they start to figure it out, and more than a thousand before it really gets crisp.

Cal quarterback Jared Goff, (16) looks to throw as the California Golden Bears take on the Ohio State Buckeyes at Memorial Stadium on Saturday Sept. 14, 2013 in Berkeley, Calif. Cal quarterback Jared Goff, (16) looks to throw as the California Golden Bears take on the Ohio State Buckeyes at Memorial Stadium on Saturday Sept. 14, 2013 in Berkeley, Calif. Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Opposite ends of spectrum 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

"That's the way this stuff works," Dykes said. "Everything's a little sharper every time they do it."

The repetition is boring, but Goff is learning the value of consistency. In seven of Cal's 12 games last year, Goff threw at least one completion of 45 or more yards. Ridding himself of the desire to go deep is just part of his maturation.

"He understands that he doesn't have to be greedy on every down," junior receiver Bryce Treggs said. "Last year he tried to be a home run hitter and throw a 40-yard touchdown on every play."

Beyond that, Goff has gained 15 pounds this offseason and committed himself to film study, whether it's of himself and his receivers or of NFL teams Cal would like to emulate.

This helps the pre-snap part of the at-bat. Goff said he felt like a million things were happening before the snap last year. He's learning to read defenses and decipher the complex coverage schemes opponents throw at pass-happy offenses.

"Last year it wasn't like that," Goff said, "at all."

Last year, Goff broke school records with 3,508 passing yards and 320 completions, but he said the stats felt empty amid the misery of a season without a win against an FBS team.

And that's the point of the repetition, the weight room, the film study. He wants those who believe Cal will go 1-11 again to be proved wrong.

"That's all I've thought about," Goff said, "is how sweet it's going to feel."