BearTalk

What was heard in the interview room following Saturday’s game:

 

CAL COACH JEFF TEDFORD

 

On Keenan Allen:

He’s a joy to be around. You saw today that he’s a very good football player, but I think he’s a better person. He’s bright-eyed, he has a great attitude always. He’s just a joy to be around. He made some big plays today. He can do almost anything. He’s a great athlete.

 

More on Allen:

“He has great size and the speed to go with it. The body control, his hands are excellent. For a guy that big, he can make people miss in the open field. That’s a great combination. The one he laid out for, he almost caught that one. It was an amazing effort for that ball. He’s not going to come down with many arm tackles. He has strong legs and excellent hands. He’s a well-rounded player.

 

On Allen’s unsportsmanlike conduct penalty:
”You can’t touch anyone in the stands. He gave somebody a high five in the stands. He’s a great kid to be around. After the penalty, he came up and said he was sorry.”

 

On whether Allen’s skills can translate against better competition:

“I believe it will. There are going to be athletes with more speed on the field when we get to Pac-10 play, but in practice he shows the same type of ability. He’s going to be able to compete in any stage.”

 

On how he thought Allen would perform for his first time on the big stage:

“He’s unflappable. I don’t’ think he’s caught up in the big stage. He has a lot of confidence in his ability, but he’s very low-key about it. He loves playing the game.

 

On Allen pairing up with fellow WR Marvin Jones:

“It’s nice having him on the other side with Marv because you have two 6-3 receivers. You have two 6-3 guys that can run. It makes it pretty solid there.

 

On becoming Cal’s all-time modern era wins leader:

“It’s an honor, no doubt about it. You hear so many stories about Pappy Waldorf and I have huge respect for Pappy’s boys and the tradition that they set for Cal football. There are so many stories about that. It’s everyone, players from day one since we’ve been here, the coaches. It’s an honor, it really is because of the company that you keep.

 

 

LINEBACKER MIKE MOHAMED

 

On Keenan Allen:

“He’s unreal. He was making big play after big play. He’s going to be really good for us this year. Everything he did today, we saw in camp. To us, it’s no surprise. We expect to see a lot more of that this year.

 

On the first game under new defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast:

“It’s kind of hard to tell this early in the season, but I thought we jelled real nicely. There is lot of good communication out there. Everybody was on point. We made a lot of three and outs and held them to a limited amount of yards.

There are still a lot of things we can do. It’s just going to take time to get 100 percent comfortable with everything and everybody.”

 

 

QUARTERBACK KEVIN RILEY

 

On Keenan Allen:

“He’s just a natural with the ball in his hands and has great vision of the field. You just have to give him a chance to make a play and he will.

 

On recognizing Allen’s skills immediately:

“It was just something you could see. He was a football player. You could just tell he was going to be good. He showed up today and proved it. It’s only going to get harder after this.”

 

On Allen’s transition to college football:

“It’s a pretty difficult offense to really get down quickly and he’s done a fantastic job. He knows where he’s going, he knows what he’s doing. It’s impressive for a true freshman.

 

On having Allen and Jones on the field together:

“It makes you look good. It just gives you more confidence to give them a chance to make a play.

 

On whether Allen can keep it up against better competition:

“He’s doing to make plays but you have to think we’re going to be playing better competition so it’s not going to be as easy. You can just tell he’s a football player and he’s going to make plays. He can do that against any team but it’s going to get more difficult from here.”

 

On Allen’s demeanor before the game:

“He seemed anxious. He wasn’t nervous, but excited to go out there. He was excited to play. That first game is always a long time to wait.”

 

 

OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR ANDY LUDWIG

 

On Keenan Allen:

“He’s a special player, a special person. He carries himself very well. His rushing touchdown, that speaks not only to his athletic ability but his intelligence as a football player. He will be a fun guy to work with.”

 

On getting Allen involved as much as possible in the offense:

“You want to make sure he’s getting his touches because something exciting is going to happen. A player like him, you want to make sure there are some guaranteed hands-on plays. I’m sure he’ll do a great job with that.”

 

On Kevin Riley:

Kevin has had a tremendous offseason of preparation. He’s been through a lot of ups and downs in his career. The guy is a mentally tough, physically tough player. He’s responded to every challenge that’s been placed in front of him. We’re just looking forward to him playing his best football. He’s a veteran player and carries himself like a veteran.”

 

 

WIDE RECEIVER MARVIN JONES

 

On Keenan Allen:

“I definitely wasn’t surprised. He does it every day in practice, throughout camp. I definitely wasn’t surprised that he did what he did.”

 

On how Allen handled his first game:

“He came in as a big recruit so he had that exposure. He has a good head on his shoulders. I already knew he was going to handle it well and he did.

 

On having Allen opposite him:

“I loved it. He established himself early. Having that guy on the other side of me is glorious. I can’t put it into words how appreciative and happy I am to have somebody like that on the other side.”

 

On thinking about the tandem he could form with Allen:

“We’ve talked about it since we met. When we do those things out there, we expect to do it. I’m just happy to see what the future brings for us.”