Combined feed (RSS)Football: Season review — quarterbacks
By Jonathan Okanes
Monday, January 5th, 2009 at 3:41 pm in off-season stuff.
Ah, yes. I’m sure just reading the word “quarterbacks” already has many of you worked into a tizzy. Let’s all settle down and work through this. Deep breath, everyone. Think pleasant thoughts.
The quarterback position got almost as much attention at the end of the year as it did in the beginning — albeit, for a substantially different reason. We all know why the focus was there in the preseason — to see who would win the starting job. Would Jeff Tedford stick with embattled incumbent Nate Longshore or tantalizingly talented redshirt sophomore Kevin Riley? We all know how that played out. Of course, it didn’t stick.
The attention at the end of the season was mostly because how ineffective both players were. Tedford went back and forth all season trying to find an answer. We’re one week into the offseason now and he still doesn’t have one.
After the Michigan State game, it appeared Riley was firmly entrenched as the quarterback. He played fairly well in the win; Longshore did not. The Bears won the game. Case closed.
But although Cal won three of its next four games, it wasn’t because of Riley. He wasn’t really needed to do anything in the Washington State win. He piled up huge numbers in the fourth quarter during the Maryland loss, but much of that came during a furious comeback bid where the Terps weren’t exactly playing the tightest coverage.
Then there was Colorado State. Although the Bears won in a blowout, Riley again struggled. He was replaced by Longshore, who got off to a fast start in the Arizona State game then simply guided the Bears as they held on.
Longshore started the next game, against Arizona, but was gone by halftime. At that point, it appeared as though Riley was going to be the man the rest of the season. And he pretty much was, except for a concussion suffered against Oregon that led to Longshore starting the USC game.
Riley may have started five of the final six regular season games, but it wasn’t because his performance was so overwhelmingly good that he clearly should have been the top guy on the depth chart. The Bears went 4-1 in his last five starts, but Cal was carried by its defense and running attack. Riley didn’t throw for more than 153 yards in any game during that span and failed to break the century mark in yardage twice. He averaged 93.8 yards per game during his final five starts.
Clearly, the Bears didn’t need huge production from their passing game during the wins because — well, they were wins.
In Longshore’s four starts this season, he averaged 154 yards passing. He threw six touchdown passes and had two intercepted.
After getting his starting job back then losing it again, Longshore was named the starter for the Emerald Bowl against Miami and struggled. He was 10-for-21 for 121 yards, which included missing a handful of open receivers.
Overall, Riley and Longshore combined to give Cal just the 83rd-ranked passing offense in the nation (189.8 yards per game).
Where that leaves Cal is — well — where it started. The Bears enter the offseason without a No. 1 quarterback — just like last season. Riley will battle Brock Mansion for the controls of the offense. Of course, Riley will have an edge in experience, but with experience also comes a bigger sample size. For all the excitement Riley generated with his performance in last year’s Armed Forces Bowl, perhaps some lost sight of the fact that it was just the second game he had ever played extensively in.
Mansion is talented. He came to Cal with some major accolades — just like Longshore and Riley. How he has developed during his two years in the program is hard to say. He spent the first year on scout team, where he looked excellent. As the third-stringer last season, he rarely got reps in practice, so it’s more difficult to get an accurate measuring stick.
Let’s not complete this analysis without mentioning that of course some of the inconsistency at quarterback wasn’t wholly the fault of the player. The Bears had an incredibly green group of receivers and their offensive line was beat up (never was that more apparent in the Oregon State game, where it’s hard to remember a single pass play in which Riley wasn’t under pressure).
Spring practice will be compelling. We will get to see much more of Mansion and see how he stacks up against Riley. And Riley will have had a few months to digest the past season, figure out what happened during the down times, and start fresh. Riley’s confidence could use a boost, too. By the end of the season, he certainly didn’t seem to be the confident — almost brash — quarterback he was when he had his chances last year.
2008 QUARTERBACK GRADE: C-
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January 5th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
And the incomming Fresman, Allen Bridgford, seem very promissing, and will be included in the loop. Hope one of them will sent us to the promise land of Rose.
Go Bears!
January 5th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
Beau Sweeney too
January 5th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
JO -
Is Sweeney too far behind to realistically challenge for the job? How has he looked in practice? From his play in HS, he just seemed to throw the intermediate ball more accurately and with more zip and confidence than Mansion. Mansion’s accuracy seems off, and his throwing motion seems a bit elongated (as does Riley’s). What are Sweeney’s chances, and what are your impressions of him?
January 5th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
The only time I saw Allen Bridgeford on television this fall, he got dismantled by Tesoro High School, a school from Rancho Santa Margarita that did very well in the SoCal playoffs. Dare I say that Tedford explore the JC route to find somebody? He plucked Aaron Rodgers out of Butte JC by accident, and look at Oregon did this year with their JC quarterback from SFCC. I say we throw a talented JC quarterback into the mix and see what happens with the competition in spring ball and beyond.
January 5th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
J.O.
Has Tedford mentioned Sweeney being in the mix for next year? Any inside info on Sweeney?
January 5th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
Memorial Stadium now has 4 backhoes and 1 bulldozer between Kleeberger/Maxwell field and the stadium. There were a few workers there and there were some big metal road plates leading from the stadium, across Piedmont Ave, and leading toward Haas. So I can only guess that the work being done so far is the sewer lines.
There is work being done at the Hotchkis Courtyard next to Boalt Hall. The middle of the courtyard is now a 15-20 ft pile of dirt. There were 2 backhoes digging next to the Boalt Hall wall. The sign for the project reads, “Boalt Hall Southern Addition” I believe this construction is related to the whole SAHPC, although I’m not positive. It seems like they are going gangbusters at this site.
January 5th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
[...] Football: Season review — quarterbacks – BearTalk – Cal Sports … [...]
January 5th, 2009 at 9:27 pm
Steve, don’t forget that Joe Ayoob was a CC QB too….as was Kevin Craft. CC QB’s don’t always work out, just as how HS QB’s don’t always work out. I think we have three well recruited QB’s on our team, and it’s up to them to work their rear ends off this summer and become a legitimate starter. They’re all physically gifted.
January 5th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
And let’s not forget the importance of play calling. To me that has been the one biggest weakness for Tedford the last few years. He calls the plays when CAL plays Arizona 2 years ago, then we most likely go to the Rose Bowl. How do you not get in the endzone with 1st and goal with Marshawn Lynch, Desean Jackson, etc.
And last year, we get into the endzone against Oregon State, and the ending may be different.
Yes, we can always argue execution and hindsight is 20-20.
But here are some things that I think are important:
1) CAL has to learn to go with their strengths- next year, that is Jahvid Best, period.
2) Knowing what your strengths are, don’t make your QB do too much. Call plays to get the ball out of their hands into your playmakers- Best, Vereen, Morrah, Ross, Tucker.
3) Screw the balanced offensive attack- How many yards rushing did USC have or Utah have in their BCS victories? Balance is overrated. If you see a weakness in your opponent, exploit the heck out of it. We should have blown out Miami if we didn’t worry so much about the passing game. (Someone already wrote about this).
4) Get better at making 2nd half adjustments. I rarely see CAL come from behind and especially don’t see them eeking out 4th quarter wins. Tedford is successful at whomping on teams, but I remember many games where CAL is ahead at halftime, only to lose the game in the second half.
It’s nice to see JT getting the respect for bringing CAL out of the pits into some consistency (minus last year), but I certainly hope he can get CAL out of these second tier bowls into the BCS. Last year was a disappointment, this year was decent, so I’ll just have to wait and see what next year holds.
January 5th, 2009 at 11:37 pm
Watching Colt McCoy tonight reminded me of what is missing with our QBs. They rarely hit receivers in stride let alone find the open man. What excited me about Riley last year was when he played he hit receivers like Jackson and Hawkins in stride. Nate rarely did that even when he was well. He showed he could do it against Air Force and Michigan State but then he lost his edge against Colorado State and his confidence was screwed up for the rest of the year. He needs to learn how to deal with pressure and improve his field vision. He needs to spend a lot of practice time regaining his edge.
January 6th, 2009 at 3:35 am
Here, Here! I agree with Jake!
I’ve made a few rants about poor play calling from Tedford. Tedford is so focused on having a “balanced” attack that does not adjust his approach even when there is clear evidence that running is far more effective than passing in a particular game.
I thought a great example of adjusting your play calls based on what is working in a game was USC during the Rose Bowl. In the 1st quarter USC ran 9 times and threw 5 times….the running game was actually having some success with about +50 yards during those 9 rushing attempts, but USC had gained +60 yards with the 5 passing attempts and it appeared the 15-30 yard pass plays were wide open. So, USC shifted it approach in the decisive 2nd quarter and threw the ball 19 times and only ran the ball 6 times, when USC exploited what was working well in the air. Of course USC scored 24 points and effectively won the game at that point. This is a perfect example of analyzing what is working and continuing to exploit this. In comparison, Cal was just annihiliating Miami with running plays with Best, but for some reason Cal never had a series where they ran the ball 5 or 6 straight times until the 4th quarter when they were trying to run out the clock.
My problem with Tedford is that this playcalling trend is not just a 1 game phenomenon…he’s done this many times. He seems so focused on having a “balanced” atack that he misses opportunities when Cal is dominating with one aspect of the game. The Holiday Bowl for the 2004 season is another great example of this.
Anyway, I hope he eventually figures this out.
January 6th, 2009 at 4:08 am
[...] Football: Season review — quarterbacks – BearTalk – Cal Sports … [...]
January 6th, 2009 at 8:52 am
I think you need to re-watch the Colorado State game. Riley did NOTHING to justify losing his starting job. Best and Vereen both fumbled to kill drives and Cal was scoring on STs and D, thereby limiting offensive possessions.
The decision to replace Riley at that point basically killed any chance that Cal had for a great season.
January 6th, 2009 at 11:18 am
Guys,
If you just keep doing something over and over, teams are going to shut it down. The reason Best ripped off all those runs vs. Miami was because each time, they came out of different looks, on different down/distances, at different times.
The balance you criticize is precisely the reason we run the ball so well every year. If we abandoned the pass completely, it would take teams about 10 plays to figure it out – remember Maryland?
You run the screens, the slants, and the play actions just enough to keep the defense honest, and then you kill them with the plays that you run best. This year, our best plays were zone rushes by Best. Some other year, it might be something else.
The play calling hasn’t been the problem. It’s the execution.
January 6th, 2009 at 11:43 am
I agree with SDGB. You have to have the threat of a pass to succeed with the run. Otherwise opponents will stack the box, shut down the run, and force you to pass. The teams that performed well against Cal did that. They took away the run, blitzed and there was not offensive response. It is critical that QB play improve in order for the running game to be successful.
If you look at Tedford’s record, Cal has been a more run-oriented program than past years. He’s had Adimchenobe, Arrington, Lynch, Forsett, and now Best. It’s pretty hard to argue with the results.
January 6th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Adding to SDGB and Go Bears, Cal isn’t set up to run the ball every down. If we ran the triple-option, sure. But we don’t, instead we rely on the strategy SDGB and Go Bears have laid out. Furthermore, I certainly doubt Best can take the sort of beating.
Citing USC in the Rose Bowl is also a poor example. You open up the passing game by having a strong running game. If SC’s rushing attack weren’t as strong, Penn State would be able to drop more defenders back to defend against the passing attack. As it was, they had to respect USC’s running game. Once the passing game was opened for SC and it was obvious that Penn State’s secondary wouldn’t be able to defend it, there was no reason to go back.
January 6th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
JO
I am also surprised that you did not mention Sweeney. I have heard that he is the most accurate passer that Cal has on the roster. I attended some practices and watched Mansion several times. In my opinion he has a strong arm but is not an accurate passer.
Sweeney is also a capable runner which is going to be very important this year unless the offensive line improves over last year.
January 6th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
It’s hard to believe Sweeney has as equal a shot as Mansion. Sweeney is athletic and might be Cal’s most mobile quarterback, but don’t forget he’s been on the scout team all year so he’s way behind as far as being comfortable with Cal’s system. That’s not to say he couldn’t catch up, but at least Mansion has worked with the offense all year and has been involved in every rep at practice.
Mansion has been inaccurate at times, but so has everyone else. He’s probably not in a very good rhythm because as the third team quarterback he rarely gets reps at practice. But Mansion still is talented and has a bright future.
Tedford did say the job was open and both Mansion and Sweeney would be in the mix. But my gut tells me said that just to stress the competition is wide open. Tedford said the same thing about Mansion last year, when in reality we all knew it was between Longshore and Riley.
January 6th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
C’mon guys- Did you really think we were talking about running on every down and not needing a passing game?
I agree that you have to keep the defense honest and make them stay back on their heels. But the disappointment this year was the way the offense ran with NL and KR. You know you don’t have a good QB, so why are you having them look down the field all the time to try to establish your mid-range passing game?
Get the ball out of your QB’s hands into those of your playmakers. How cool was the hook and ladder that Tucker and Best executed against Stanford? Or how about the trick pass against OSU? How involved was the QB in those 2 plays? Exactly!!
With Best as our strength, you obviously don’t run him up the gut every down (which by the way is what Tedford did with Lynch against Arizona 2 years ago and with Forsett against Oregon State last year). Line Best up as a WR, have him go out on a wheel route, just get him the ball. Who cares how many touches your other WR’s have or your TE. Then when the D locks on to Best, hopefully your QB will be able to figure it out and go to one of your other options.
The point you have to know what you have and don’t have, then structure your offense around it. I think this year he was trying much too hard to establish the QB, and as a result neither one got comfortable. Hopefully he gets things figured out for next year. We do play USC early and would love to see that coming out party for us if we hit on all cylinders from the get go!!!
January 7th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
I am getting tired of TV announcers always playing up Tedford’s success with turning quarterbacks into NFL busts. Except for Longshore’s sophmore year, that’s all ancient history.
January 9th, 2009 at 9:48 am
No one talked about Michael Calvin getting injured 1st w his Toe Injury then the season ending Knee Injury. Then Marvin Jones got hurt and before that Tepper went down on the line and Chet Teofilo is not a very good lineman..he tries hard but he just didn’t have it last year! New Receivers last year and the best two got hurt right of the bat one’s a true freshman the other is a redshirt freshman…Next year Cal’s WR (Verran Tucker, Michael Calvin, Marvin Jones, Nyan Boateng, Jeremy Ross) are going to be night and day different this next year!!! And the line even without Alex Mack overall will be a better unit! Without question Kevin Riley has an amazing year next year! Cal is going to win the Pac Ten and go to the Rose Bowl. The leagues best DLine and Secondary, Also the league’s best RB in Best. An Improved OLine and WR’s…Cal is looking Good!! Cal will Miss dearly Will T at FB, All the senior LB’s (I’m worried about our ILB Positions), Alex Mack. We’re loaded with the most talent we’ve had in all of Tedford’s era..it’s a big year folks!!!
January 12th, 2009 at 11:50 pm
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