Consider these ingredients for what seemed like a fascinating storyline.
---Quarterback Will Plummer started the final six games of the 2021 season for Arizona as a redshirt freshman, including the Wildcats’ only victory of the season, a 10-3 win over Cal.
---Quarterback Jack Plummer, Will’s older brother, transferred from Purdue to Cal in December 2021 to become the Golden Bears starting quarterback in 2022.
---Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022, the date Cal hosts Arizona in the Pac-12 season opener for both teams.
Quarterback brother vs. quarterback brother in a Pac-12 college football game between two 2-1 teams with no clear favorite. What a story.
“I don’t know if it’s ever happened before where two quarterbacks two quarterbacks are playing against each other that are brothers,” Jack Plummer said this week. “I think it’s a cool thing.”
Peyton and Eli Manning were starting quarterbacks against each other three times in the NFL, but never faced each other in college. Luke and Josh McCown opposed each other as starting quarterbacks as pros, but not in college. (They missed facing each other by one season: Josh played his first three college seasons at SMU, but played his final season in 2001 at Sam Houston State. Luke’s Louisiana Tech squad played SMU in 2001.) Derek and David Carr both played at Fresno State and did not face each other in the NFL.
Maybe brothers have faced each other as starting quarterbacks in a college football game, but no such situation comes to mind. So the collision of the two Plummer brothers from Gilbert, Ariz., would be a big deal.
Unfortunately reality got in the way.
Both Jack and Will Plummer are expected to be present at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley on Saturday, but only one of them will be a starter.
Jayden de Laura transferred from Washington State to Arizona in the offseason, and he will be the Wildcats’ starting quarterback in Saturday’s game at Cal, whose starting quarterback will be Jack Plummer. Even if de Laura is forced to leave the game, Will Plummer is unlikely to take the field because he is now fifth on the depth chart at the quarterback position.
Nonetheless Will Plummer is likely to be present. Arizona took five quarterbacks to its road game against San Diego State, and Will Plummer and Gunner Cruz signaled in the plays from the sidelines.
So the quarterbacking brothers will be on opposite sidelines, each hoping his brother is on the losing team.
“I think it’s going to be cool just to get out there on the same field as my brother,” said Jack, who is two years older than Will. “I’m sure I’ll see him pregame and postgame. It’s going to be cool for my family to come and see us on the field together. It’s kind of a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”
Jack Plummer said the brothers spoke to each other by phone on Sunday, but obviously did not talk about the upcoming game.
The brothers are not mirror images of each other on the field, starting with the fact that Jack is 6-foot-5, 215 pounds while Will is 6-foot-1, 205 pounds.
“I think we’re a little different,” Jack said. “He’s a little shorter than me, he’s a little stockier. He’s a good runner. I think he’s more like a gunslinger back there. He kind of drops back and it’s just like, ‘All right, I’m just going to let this thing rip.’ He’s smart, but he’s not afraid to take a risk, throwing the ball down the field, which is a good quality to have.”
Jack was particularly pleased with Will’s performance in Arizona’s 10-3 victory over Cal last year, ending the Wildcats’ 20-game losing streak.
Will was 16-for-28 for 129 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions, and also ran for 68 yards. He also played through some injuries that day. Cal was playing without quarterback Chase Garbers and several other starters because of COVID protocols that day, but it was still a significant win for the Wildcats.
“Obviously it was awesome to see him win a game, especially since it was the first win they’d had in a while,” Jack said. “It was good to talk to him about it and seeing all the stuff on social media, him getting the game ball, them rushing the field, seemed like a cool experience for him."
Of course, losing to Arizona again this year would not be a cool experience for Jack Plummer.
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