So, was it the right decision?
By Jonathan Okanes
Friday, August 22nd, 2008 at 12:36 pm in Training camp.
Now that Jeff Tedford has picked Kevin Riley as Cal’s starting quarterback, the question is whether it was the correct decision.
If Tedford based his decision on training camp, which he said he was going to do, then the answer is yes.
Both Riley and Nate Longshore have had their good runs and bad runs during camp, but Riley is the better quarterback right now. Riley has improved as camp has gone along and Longshore has fallen off a bit. So if Tedford’s idea was to pick the best quarterback right now, that player is Riley.
Riley has played really well in practice lately. He’s making all the throws with excellent accuracy. And when he does make a bad play, he’s handling it better. At the beginning of camp, his body language when he made a mistake was pretty bad. He’d mope around or get upset with himself. Now, he seems better equipped to simply just move along to the next play.
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August 22nd, 2008 at 1:16 pm
I mentioned this in a previous post, but I think that with Kevin at the helm, we have a chance to do something special. Nate is a good QB, but I’ve always gotten the sense that he lacked that “it” factor, that intangible that can carry a team to the next level. Granted, my reasons for thinking that Kevin has it is really based on hearsay and seeing him play significantly in all of two games, but sometimes, that’s enough.
The best example is probably the OSU game — while most people only remember the play at the end, the fact is that we wouldn’t have even been in a situation to tie the game had it not been for Kevin’s play on the last couple drives. Truth be told, I don’t think I could ever imagine Nate leading that type of comeback.
We’ll have to wait and see how it comes together this year, but I think as far as the next couple years go, this will prove to be the right decision.
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Tony Says:
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:16 pm
I mentioned this in a previous post, but I think that with Kevin at the helm, we have a chance to do something special.
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Tony I appreciate your loyalty. However can Riley improve the D from being the 8th worst in the Pac 10? Can Riley stop a patsy like UW from rushing for almost 500 yards? Can Riley stop a USC back from having a career day in the rain? Just some questions that need more pondering.
August 22nd, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Hey MoreNCsarecoming,
I appreciate your comments, however can USC keep paying its players a rate that they’re used to, now that the NCAA is investigating the Bush case? Can USC take the field without its linebacker beating up someone on campus? Just some questions that need more pondering.
August 22nd, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Larry - let’s get back on topic. Riley was the right choice, because Tedford ‘n Company deemed it. Who were besides the Clown wouldn’t want to have been a bird near the windows of that coaches meeting when this QB decision was made? Gosh, it is tough being a fan! Go Bears!
August 22nd, 2008 at 5:59 pm
the future is in the use of this team — and Kevin Riley is the heir-apparent, three years to play QB.
behind him, is another brilliant “kid” — Brock Manson.
While a great deal of sympathy can be afforded Mr. Longshore, he played hurt without letting the facts fully be evidenced, which is a sign of selfishness, not team spirit.
He is a classic, dropback quarterback, with a great accuracy (when not hurt) — just what they are still looking for in the NFL…
College football is moving on, and transitioning rapidly (?? Does the name Tebo ring a bell?)
a mobile, rapidfire Western style offense, with multiple players in the mix (as reports have it that Cal Has in its backfield, and new receivers) is the future I believe.
Kudos to Tedford and the new offensive coordinator for making a difficult decision.
August 22nd, 2008 at 6:00 pm
the future is in the youth of this team — and Kevin Riley is the heir-apparent, three years to play QB.
behind him, is another brilliant “kid” — Brock Manson.
While a great deal of sympathy can be afforded Mr. Longshore, he played hurt without letting the facts fully be evidenced, which is a sign of selfishness, not team spirit.
He is a classic, dropback quarterback, with a great accuracy (when not hurt) — just what they are still looking for in the NFL…
College football is moving on, and transitioning rapidly (?? Does the name Tebow ring a bell?)
a mobile, rapidfire Western style offense, with multiple players in the mix (as reports have it that Cal Has in its backfield, and new receivers) is the future I believe.
Kudos to Tedford and the new offensive coordinator for making a difficult decision.
August 22nd, 2008 at 6:25 pm
I think it’s a sound decision. The posting referring to the OSU game is right, I think. The other story of Riley in that game was his stepping out of a tackle near his own end zone, and still completing a pass. He’s a player, for sure. I think Longshore looks like a more classic Cal-style quarterback, and I think when people have trashed him it’s usually just infantile stuff. But part of the education of an athlete at this level must be the possiblity that your dreams won’t work out. Personally, I’d be surprised if he doesn’t get a good hard look by some NFL teams regardless of the upcoming season. and between he and Riley, Cal is really set at QB. Hopefully the other problems that seem to have escaped many of Longshore’s detractors (special teams, kicking weakness, suspect defense, team chemistry) have been resolved. It sounds like it. And yes, the chill is in the air and it’s almost time to walk down Euclid towards Memorial Stadium. Football season has returned.
August 22nd, 2008 at 6:39 pm
Tony - I agree, Riley gives the Bears a chance to do something special now and in the future. At worse he gets valuable playing time as a soph.
There’s risk involved but that’s life and Longshore will play and can step in. In some ways it’s a perfect opportunity now with the smallest risk given Longshore being there.
If Riley shows the dynamic play like OSU and AF Bowl…it really pumps up the offense. Think about Riley rolling out or leaving the pocket and tossing it down field or dumping it off to Best…opposing Ds would be bent.
Go Bears!
August 22nd, 2008 at 7:39 pm
Looking back at last season I think that maybe Tedford’s biggest mistake was playing Longshore in the last two games against Washington and Stanford. Here’s my reasoning: At that point, the Bears were 3-4 in conference play and 6-4 overall. The season that had started with great promise was essentially over. It was simply a matter of which lower tier bowl game we might go to. Nate was obviously hurting and wasn’t going to recuperate in a week or two. Washington and Stanford were two games we should have expected to win even with Riley playing. If Riley plays and we lose both games, oh well, at least we got him game experience and saw what his shortcomings were so they could be addressed in future practice sessions. If he does well in those games and the subsequent bowl game, now Cal has it’s starter for 2008 coming in with FOUR complete games under his belt and no QB controversy in pre-season practices.
Not playing Riley at the end of last year has had a large impact on this year’s season. If Riley has a shaky first half against MSU, we’re right back to where we were before the AF Bowl game. That wouldn’t be the case had he finished up and done well last season. A bad half wouldn’t cause so much second guessing.
I know a lot of you think Tedford should have replaced Nate much earlier on. But Nate had looked pretty good in leading Cal to a 5-0 record. UCLA was a tough loss and a loss to ASU was nothing to be embarrassed about. We were 5-3 going into the USC game and it was a little much to expect Riley to beat he Trojans on a miserable rainy day. Also, you know Tedford wanted that win in a real bad way as it would have salvaged a season gone bad. Nate won the next game against WSU so that’s a wash.
It’s at this point, with the season down to UW and Furd, that Tedford’s sticking with Nate was misguided and actually detrimental to the program. Nate predictably played poorly, the team basically gave up and quit, playing awful in both games and Riley lost his opportunity to gain valuable experience for this season.
August 23rd, 2008 at 2:38 pm
MoreSnotComing,
you make some good points, many of which we hope will be addressed by the “chemistry” emphasis. The D-fense and UW game was a result of that. I recall seeing players actually smiling at each other on the bench as we were being blown out. Pretty good evidence that the team was pretty much over it by then.
I’ve posted a couple times here about my concern over our run defense. It doesn’t really matter that one of your backs had a big day up here last year. If Longshore didn’t throw the pick we would have won that game. I’d like you to admit that Cal plays SC pretty tight ever year. And I contend that had Levy played in ‘05 we would have been close to you in that one as well–but that’s the past.
Time will tell. What’s the wager we beat MSU by more than you beat Virginia? Since you think you’re so hot pooh, it’s a pretty good comparison–our home game against your away game.
August 23rd, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Lawrence Ross Says:
August 22nd, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Hey MoreNCsarecoming,
I appreciate your comments, however can USC keep paying its players a rate that they’re used to, now that the NCAA is investigating the Bush case? Can USC take the field without its linebacker beating up someone on campus?
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I appreciate your comments Larry. Can your team be back playing in the Rose Bowl before the NCAA chooses to bust Reggie? When your team loses its first game, can it bounce back mentality knowing it went through the greatest collapse in college football history? Just some questions that need more pondering.
August 23rd, 2008 at 4:01 pm
N8Bear Says:
August 23rd, 2008 at 2:38 pm
MoreSnotComing,
Time will tell. What’s the wager we beat MSU by more than you beat Virginia?
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The bigger question is why are you even playing a patsy like MSU followed by another OCC patsy like CSU? I will bet you that we play OSU this year better than we you do…if you do.
August 23rd, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Don’t feed the Troll…
August 23rd, 2008 at 9:52 pm
Big D–
I wasn’t able to make it to the Fan Day event but I have a pretty strong hunch that Tedford excused Longshore from participating in the activities. It would have been a rough day for him with Riley holding court with his own table and all. It wouldn’t have been fair to subject Nate to hundreds of people asking him “so how does it feel to lose the starting job?” He sounded pretty upbeat in the feature that J.O. wrote about him, but I doubt that Saturday was a very good day for him.
I don’t think transferring is an option at this point and it didn’t sound like Nate was considering it.
August 24th, 2008 at 10:28 am
I laugh hard every time I read a post from the troll referring to the univ. of sports corruption as “us” or “we”; as though this person actually had some connection to the school or its football program! A student? Alumnus? On the faculty or staff? What do you mean “we”, troll-meister?
I have to believe there is a reason this person spends so much time hanging around this blog instead of being on the u$c boards. Can anyone say ‘reject’?
August 24th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
The troll probably buys a copy of the U$C media guide every year, thus becoming “we”. Does the troll also do it’s taunting at the Useless L.A. boards or is Cal the sole object of it’s attention? U$C’s cross-town rival would certainly be a deserving victim.
August 24th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Let’s all try not to forget that the last time we saw Riley play, he was working with three very good, experienced receivers. This is an entirely new group he will be throwing to. Possibly Tedford is going with LaReylle Cunningham and Sean Young in the opener because they both have some actual game experience. Cunningham performed well against WSU (OSU?) a couple years ago. But then again, maybe experience is somewhat over-rated. DeSean Jackson and Robert Jordan both started as true freshman and did great from the get-go.
August 24th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
I was disappointed not to see Nate at FAD,as I’m sure he’ll be playing and needs support - if Riley gets injured, he’ll be in there. How many teams needed two QB’s last year? A bunch, including the conference champ (yeah I know this risks a post from the gloating trolling trojan snow-baller)
It seems like this trend will continue, as it has so far..the LB’s and DE’s are bigger, faster, ect.
Cameron Jones packed on a bunch, and Rulon seems to have become bigger, which I didn’t think was possible.
August 24th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
Now I don’t post on this blog but I am an avid lurker here and on cyberbears. How can MoreNCs come here and talk trash and then go on cyberbears and try to make peace? Im sure this question has been pondered many times. Just wondering. Its getting annoying as hell.
August 24th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
Teff-
You’re the second person to mention that Nate wasn’t at the Fan Day event. He must have been given an excused absence by Tedford due to the circumstances. If not, we may be reading that Nate has been suspended for the opening game. Isn’t that how Tedford does things?
Did you get a chance to talk to any of the players? What would you have asked Nate if you had the chance?
I approached Joe Ayoob at the event three years ago and asked him how many people came to the S.F.C.C. games. About 2,000?, I guessed. More like 200, he answered.
A week later against Sacramento State and in front of 60,000+ Cal fans, Joe got his big chance when Nate had his leg broken in the 2nd quarter. I don’t know if Joe was nervous about playing in front of that large a crowd for the first time, but he certainly wasn’t up to the task that day. He threw 10 incomplete passes in a row before Tedford had to replace him with Steve Levy, who led the Bears to a win.
In retrospect, that opening game was pretty much the story of the season…Ayoob playing poorly and Levy finishing the season on a successful note.
August 24th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Steve in Concord Says:
August 24th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Does the troll also do it’s taunting at the Useless L.A. boards or is Cal the sole object of it’s attention? U$C’s cross-town rival would certainly be a deserving victim.
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Until you can beat our crosstown rival on a consistent basis (3-3 against Radio) I would rather engage in football related and Pac 10 matters with you. Afterall you claim to be nipping at our heels. It’s time to prove it boys.