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Football: Quick hitter
By Jonathan Okanes
Tuesday, November 11th, 2008 at 2:38 pm in media luncheon.
Coach Jeff Tedford already announced Kevin Riley as this week’s starting quarterback. He also said Riley would probably receive about two-thirds of the first team snaps during practice this week, rather than have Riley and Nate Longshore split reps like they have the past several weeks.
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November 11th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
A signal that Tedford is looking forward to ’09?
November 11th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
I’d like to see Sweeney or Mansion, if all hell breaks loose. Riley should play well though. He’ll have a lot of friends and family watching, and he’s finally got a chance to make up for the ginormous cluster!#$#% last year. Go Bears!
November 11th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Great News! Hopefully the added reps will improve his accuracy.
A couple of times when Riley was missing open receivers I was thinking about Mansion, too. JO, that’s gonna be one of my questions on Thursday.
November 11th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
It’s good to see Riley is getting the majority of snaps but we’re still playing for this year and the possibility of a solid bowl game. Longshore is obviously a very capable backup and we can go to Mansion if absolutely necessary. However, as suggested in another comment, burning Sweeney’s redshirt year in game 9 would be crazy.
November 11th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
I don’t think that means he is looking solely forward to next year. I think it’s playing the best guy this year WITH the added bonus of helping for next year. Very smart JT.
Hey J.O. how did the Bears come out health wise from the game?
November 11th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
I think there is a delicate balance between having a quarterback earn the respect of team mates, and giving him the position from which he can exercise that authority and respect. After all the uncertainty of this season, this may be JT’s way of (again — since it happened after Fall camp) giving KR the platform to take that leadership. I hope that he does. While it will give him a big leg up on next year, it will also give us the best chance this season. I just don’t think it is in JT’s makeup to play for next year. He is a winner, and he is driven to win now.
November 11th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Guys, stop bringing up Mansion.
Saw him at spring practice. He looked well behind Riley (this is when Nate was injured). Basically, imagine Kevin Craft.
November 11th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
If Craft could play for the Bears they would be calling for him too.
November 11th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Any talk today at the press conference about the officiating? I absolutely love the fact that Tedford is a level-headed guy, a rare coach who is almost always in full control of his emotions. But one of these days, he’s going to have to demonstrate his total commitment to winning–more for his own players’ benefit than for us the fans–by losing it.
The fact is the Bears got jobbed by the officials on Saturday. Not every play–indeed, a number of calls went their way–but on arguably the two key plays in a hard-fought, finely balanced match-up. USC was awarded a highly questionable touchdown, and Cal had one taken away on a highly questionable call. (It sure looks to me like Boateng established LOS position before the snap and that Vereen’s touchdown was thus legal. And why did the refs take so long to throw the flag? And why can’t they get their story straight?)
No, the Bears didn’t lose the game because of the officiating. That’s far too simplistic an assessment, and that’s not the message I want Tedford sending. But Pete Carroll is a master at lobbying the officials (as well as the pollsters) in shameless, unapologetic fashion. Day in, day out, he demonstrates to his team that he is going to do absolutely everything to ensure his teams are victorious, and that attitude rubs off. USC wins, and Cal walks off “moral victors”. Just once, I want to see Tedford have his own Mike Gundy moment. Sure, this would provide the nation’s media and talk-show hosts with fodder for ridicule and condemnation. But it would also show his team just how passionate about winning he is.
November 11th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
horay!horay!
Riley is the man. That is the way to go, given his ability of able to run out of pocket, and fire the bullet on long target, if he get more chance to practice. Now, the receivers need to go after the ball at all they can.
From what I saw in some occasion in the SC game. The receiver was slowing down, and the ball was 3 yards ahead. If the receivers keep runing fast, the ball should have been right at their hand.
I think Cal can win out the rest, now that Riley is the starter. Great move JT.
Go Bears! Beat OSU.
November 11th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Finally, JT is realizing that this 2 QB system does not work.
I understand JT’s position, that neither guy has stood out well enough to fully take the reins.
But, I think in that case, where both parties are equal, you are supposed to go with the guy who poses more problems to the defense. Who are you more “dangerous” with?
At the beginning of this year, Riley was more dangerous.
He firmly put a hold on his starting position with a very solid performance over M.S.U.
But then he is inconsistent the next few games and he’s benched?
Why would he not be allowed to “play through” those mistakes? After all, he is only a sophomore, and he’s got a whole new batch of receivers to grow and mesh with. He should have been given the time to get in sync with his receivers. Not benched and replaced by an immobile dink/dunker/choker in Longshore. That was not fair -in my opinion- of Tedford to do that to Riley. If he “earned” the starting spot, well then, unless he goes 2-4 with a really bad TD-INT ratio, he deserves to keep that spot throughout the season.
After all, that’s what JT’s stance was with Longshore LAST YEAR right??
I don’t get the inconsistencies with JT.
It’s one thing to say Riley was not good last year and not ready to contribute and we HAD to go with Longshore. But he WAS ready to contribute and played very well when given the chance. But Longshore was given EVERY OPPORTUNITY in the world to keep his job, and then some.
Why was Riley not given the same chance THIS year? That is my question.
Why did it even have to get to this? Riley was 4-1 as a starter and he was yanked!!
November 11th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
I saw this action coming, but I didn’t think it would take this long. Statistics tells us that a sample size of 6 is enough to know if something is working or not. Tedford waited for 3 more games to finally pull the plug on his experiment. Wasn’t it perfectly obvious in the Zona game that Longshore doesn’t have the ability to be a leader by example on the field? That being said, it is better to be late than never admitting an error in judgment. Riley did nothing in the $C game to earn this, but I guess Tedford finally saw the light that Longshore is a deer in headlights during game-time, as he virtually puts up a sign of where he will throw. I’d take Riley’s airmail over Longshore’s lack of deception, anyday.
The Mansion talk is utter nonsense. Update! The kid isn’t even playing with the Scout team, as Sweeney beat him out. Riley is the man this year.
Go BEARS! BEAT them beavers!
November 11th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Robert, they came out no worse than before. It looks like Noris Malele re-injured the ankle. I’d be surprised if he plays this week. No new update on Sean Cattouse, who didn’t play. I would guess he would return this week.
Jan, Sweeney didn’t “beat out” Mansion for scout team. Mansion is the third string quarterback. The scout team quarterback is almost always given to the new guy. There’s no competition to be scout team quarterback. I’m sure Mansion much prefers practicing with the players who actually play, even though he doesn’t get many reps.
November 11th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Following up on California Pete, I’d like to go back to some of the controversial calls. Not just in the Cal USC game, the dropped pass that wasn’t reviewed, but a lot of other similar calls where Tedford seems too slow and conservative in regards to forcing an official review with a time out. I can think of many times over the past hanful of seasons in close games that go down to the last possession or two, that were seemingly swung by one controversial play that could have been reviewed if Tedford were quicker to consider what the time out might be worth. There’s always a good excuse in retrospect but really the fact is that a review can be forced. The bottom line is that every play is reviewable. Isn’t it something the Cal coaches on the field and in the booth have to get more serious about and, as such, become more reactive in those situations? It should be very clear now that you can’t rely on someone else to see it for them, right? Or am I missing something here?
November 11th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
PS: Understood that penalties cannot be reviewed.
November 11th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Quarterback? Forget all the talk of looking ahead to 09. When Riley entered the second half against SC there were immediately a few openings, hope that the Bears could actually do something. At moments, like the Tucker one-hander or the Vereen TD, there was actually a feeling, however fleeting, that we had a chance to beat SC. Last time we felt that in the coliseum was with Rodgers. Not comparing the two qb’s quite yet but a glimmer still remains for this season. Maybe even a chance to build on something significant over the next 3 games.
November 12th, 2008 at 6:59 am
if we want to call timeout to get an official review, we have to have those timeouts in our pocket. too many times, really since 1991, we waste timeouts early in a half, because we can’t get our act together at the line of scrimmage. that’s unacceptable. 40 seconds is more than enough time to huddle up and get a snap off (and/or audible). The bears made way too many mistakes against SC, in that regard. Half of the time, we were moving backwards. Granted, USC has a great D, and it was likely cause for some of the confusion, but these blunders fall directly on Tedford’s shoulders. Let’s hope next week we get some creative play-calling for once, too.
November 12th, 2008 at 8:28 am
I agree that we need a Billy Martin/Woody Hayes meltdown by Tedford to get the attention of the officials every once in a while when they screw up. The Maryland non-safety non-review comes to mind.
November 12th, 2008 at 8:51 am
It’s unaminous!! Riley is the guy. He has been given many opportunities and he has to perform this time.
Anything less than an impressive victory at Oregon State will lead to a major re-evaluation of QBs for the future.
November 12th, 2008 at 9:48 am
Calduke, ridiculous post. “Many opportunities”-he has less than 10 career starts. That is a tremendously low amount to evaluate a position as difficult as QB. You must be a Hall of Fame talent evaluator to already have made a career judgement on the kid, with this small of a sample size.
November 12th, 2008 at 10:37 am
Tedford has a history of developing quarterbacks. I believe Riley’s errors are correctable through training. Giving him more reps is absolutely the way to go. Kudos to Tedford.
November 12th, 2008 at 11:48 am
Knowing Cal was replacing the WR corp, the passing game this season is going as expected.
I think dropped passes and miscommunication between QB/WR make most statisics worthless, but what avid football fans can see are the “intangibles”.
Watching Riley move in the pocket and the velocity on his throws tells me he has the tools. Watching the WRs the past month tells me they have the skills, now all cal needs is to get them in synch and we’ll see a team that can roll up points on anyone.
November 12th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Finally, going with the right quarterback..Riley..now give him the most reps to get in rhythm with the receivers and for once some creative play calling. Memo to Tedford….please review play calling when you first arrived at Cal…also, if Best is not 100% how come Slocum is not getting in a few plays? Cal could have beat U.S.C if the passing was working on all cylinders..Stick with Riley NOW!!! Next three games it will come together and who knows what could happen? The defense is good enough to get us to the ROSES!!!! go bears!!!!!!
November 12th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
I am calling it right now although it pains me to do so. Quizz will run all over your D. Once they establish their run then play action passes especially over the middle will kill you because your safeties will have to be run support. I also think Riley will be all hype up and come out with accuracy problems. Expect OSU to mimic our game plan on D. Take away your run and then bring the heat on Riley. Expect at least one of your punts to be blocked and expect a big return from Stroughter. I hate to say it but this game will be reminiscient of the Maryland game. Before you know if you are in a hole. It would be nice if you beat them but you won’t. OSU will be in control all the way.
November 12th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Yeah, because your ‘predictions’ for the Michigan St, Oregon, and UCLA games were so accurate, right moron? You know idiot, if you ‘predict’ a team to lose every damn time, that’s really not much of a prediction, more of mental tick you suffer from. And as much as it pains ME to say it, $C’s Dline is great. Oregon State’s aint. No way they’re shutting down our run game. With comments like these, it seems you know little about football and especially the Cal team.
November 12th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Coach Riley and the OSU team saw exactly what Antolin from Arizona did to your team. How do you say – Repeat performance.
November 13th, 2008 at 1:43 am
Hey Amy! I noticed you didn’t make it to the game. Instead, you posted a bunch of stuff on here. Have you ever supported the Trojans in anyway besides your idle rants? Give it up, sister! Our boys were lucky Cal didn’t bring their A-game, because they gave those bears plenty of opportunties to pull off the upset.
“Repeat performance”? That’s not the correct terminology, when you’re talking about different teams, lame brain. Buy a thesaurus with your food stamps.
No authentic Trojan fan would be boasting of Oregon State, as they hold the keys to us being sent to the Holiday Bowl. Anything less than a BCS bowl is a huge failure in the Carroll era, and you better be holding your breath that Cal or Oregon pulls off an upset like the rest of us.
Fact of the Day
We don’t miss you at the SCPlaybook.
November 13th, 2008 at 8:18 am
Robert,
No need to be nasty.
I’m certainly not a ‘Hall of Fame’ evaluator, but, it seems 90% of the posters feel they are.
I live 100 miles east of LA, been a season ticketholder for the last 3 years and go the the games. I have sat thru the agony and frustration of the Nate and Kevin show. Neither seems to be able to take over. I really don’t have a preference for QB. My previous message was to point out that Kevin has been given his chances and is the favorite of the ‘poster’ groupies. Tedford is giving him his chance, the ‘posters’ have been strong supporters, he is in hometown territory – he has to step up – this game.
You are a ‘hall of fame’ evaluator – how many starts does Riley need to stop overthrowing the receivers and missing the open men? There is a reason he has had only ten starts and how many has he finished? Riley could have racked up 7 starts last year. Longshore was hurt last year, yet, the coaching staff felt that an injured Longshore had a better chance of winning than Riley.(I don’t know, I’m not a ‘hall of fame evaluator)
I guess Tedford isn’t either.
I hope Riley can do this thing on Saturday or else the Bears could be in a familiar meltdown. Let’s hope not
November 13th, 2008 at 11:34 am
moreNCsarecoming you say “Expect OSU to mimic our game plan on D.” Our game plan?? As in your on the team?? I doubt that. Apparently you don’t even go to the games. Quit running your mouth on here. You make some predictions like you actually know what the hell it is your talking about and everytime you look like a fool. Nobody wants to hear your idiotic predictions. Go worry about losing to Stanford this weekend. You know because YOUR game plan better do something a little diffrenet the YOU did last year against them.
Roll On!!
November 13th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Hi MoreNormChows!
You must mean a repeat performance of what OSU/Rodgers did to the Trojans! The greatest game of the year….better known as the USC CHOKE JOB of 2008!
You’re a bit light on posts this week! Did your shrink limit your online access? or just too busy rubbing yourself with oil thinking about Rey-Rey?
November 13th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
Bear fans, you can thank me for Amy’s disappearing act. Since I came onto the scene, Amy began to act like a trapped wild animal. I then put enough of other fan bases on notice that it forced the hands of sensible forum masters to end her antics on the Scout.com site. Unfortunately, the CC times doesn’t have one of those, so our attempt to silence the food stamp queen will never happen. In this situation, your best move is to give her no notice. But, I’m positive, you commies can’t restraint yourselves with idle bantor that brings this respectable blog to Amy’s level. Way to go, boys! Yes, this is a challenge to all Cal fans.
November 13th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
So we’re supposed to take somebody called “AmyFan4Life” seriously? And you insult us to boot? This is probably one of Amy’s aliases, nice try psycho.
November 13th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
CalAlum, I know you have an account on Scout.com. Check my profile and my history of post. It clearly shows I’m not Amy, as I hounded Amy with very few public replies from her. On the otherhand, IwasAlCindor, who Amy claimed to be an Furd imposter, and Amy’s other profiles are dead but went back and forth in conversation before their end. Yet, my account is still active. Why? I’m not Amy, but a hero of the Scout forums! Your quick reponse to me proves your fan base is incapable of organizing a simple collective act, even though one of the tenants of commumism is “do as you are told or else”! Go figure!
November 13th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
California Pete – I think you are right on in questioning why we never question questionable calls. If our roles were reversed in the SC game, you can bet anything PC would have been ALL OVER the Pac10 officials, all over the media, etc…and you know what — maybe it’s not perceived as the most ‘noble’ route to take, but at some point enough is enough. I am waiting for the day we STOP LETTING OURSELVES GET WALKED ALL OVER, and let the Pac10 officials know we wont stand for anything but a fair game — and accountability for mistakes.
November 13th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
AmyFan4Life = Jan K Oski
November 13th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
You all need a life around here. Why can’t you posters talk intelligently about football and stick to the topic? AmyFan4Life is a troll (and most likely JanKOski or RollinBear). Ignore them. Once again I say the Quizz runs all over you guys until it opens up their passing lanes. Oregon State is a second half team and you are anything other than that.
Who’s next?
November 13th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
LOL! Amy is giving orders, now! Unreal! Wrong again!Take another wild guess, Amy. Be careful, though. Your last post is going down the same road which brought your exile status. Hacking Forums and Blogs for information on other posters is against the rules, Amy. Haven’t you learned anything? The cage is getting small, tiger.
November 14th, 2008 at 5:45 am
Idiot just shut up!
November 14th, 2008 at 8:36 am
Did Amy really just tell someone to get a life? A “USC fan” who spends every hour of the day posting on every website criticizing Cal football is telling people to get a life. Look in the mirror Amy.
November 14th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Hi MoreNormChows!
The Bears are nothing like the Trojans, right? So seeing Quizz running all over someone would be a repeat of the USC choke and not applicable to Cal. Oregon State is not a 2nd half team, but since your predictions are mostly wrong, it shows you don’t really watch games — you just stare at your full sized Trojan love dolls on saturdays, don’t you?
So Sorry! you again prove you know jack squat about football! No wonder Mark, Rey-Rey and Joe don’t really like you grabbing their jocks!
November 14th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Moron the troll says we ‘all need to get a life around here.’ Coming from a complete loser who hasn’t had a life for the entire time he/she has been posting to this blog, that’s pretty hilarious, not to mention absurd. This so-called person is, once again, making predictions about the outcome of a Cal football game; notwithstanding an abysmal track record of doing so up to this point in the season. Why even legitimize and glorify these troll droppings with a response?
November 14th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
See — Moron is back. He tried being nice for a day or two, but he can’t sustain it.
You should have seen him beg to be allowed to stay on the new Cal board at the end of the summer. He whined how he had been sick and wanted to turn over a new leaf and once his pleas were rejected, he went into jerk-mode again. And that just ended up with him being banned at all Scout boards and the Cal board and the WeAreSC board.
He never learns.
November 14th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Now we got psycho #1 – MoroNisComing and psycho #2 – AmySavedMyLife, two twits in a pod. Have fun being the ‘hero’ of the forums there ‘tard #2!
November 15th, 2008 at 6:49 am
Golden Bear Says:
November 14th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
See — Moron is back. >>>>>>>>> When have I left?.
You should have seen him beg to be allowed to stay on the new Cal board at the end of the summer. >>>>>> That wasn’t me.
And that just ended up with him being banned at all Scout boards and the Cal board and the WeAreSC board.>>>>> Nope I continue to post on all of those venues except for the Cal board where I have posted since 2004.
He never learns.>>>>>> Any more lies from you?
November 15th, 2008 at 8:52 am
Quizz will test your D and you won’t have any answers to pass the test today. You flunk and get sent on your way to Las Vegas again to face BYU.
November 15th, 2008 at 10:59 am
Hey Amy, A group of us are going to Stanford. We’re leaving in a hour. Since you’re on here, I assume you’re doing nothing as usual. I’m sure you could pick up a ticket with your daddy’s pocket change, so why don’t you join us? That’s assuming you have any SC clothing. Never mind! We wouldn’t have room for you unless you wanted to be tied to the top of the car or dragged from behind.
Cal fans, real SC fans are rooting for you, today. You hold the keys to our Rose Bowl berth. Beat those Beavers!
November 15th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
What did I say? Stroughter would have a big return against you guys, Riley would be all over the place, Quizz will run on you. OSU in control of this game.
November 15th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Poor moron.
This forum is all he’s got left. BANNED at the boards.
And he’s still an axehole.
You just love being all alone, don’t you moron? Is that why you had that mental breakdown and left law school?
November 15th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
And oh yeah, the morons are the same. Idiot — you don’t think the blog people and the Cal boards dont exchange ip info?
We all know it’s you, mental breakdown boy.
And remember — be careful what you ask for. Bwahahahahahahahahaha.
November 15th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
Yo moron.
If you are not banned — then just go and post one post under morencsarecoming on either the sc scout board or the WeAreSc board. Then link us.
You says lies, Amy? Here’s you way to prove it one way or the other. And if you evade this challenge, then we do know you are the liar.