Cal finished up its first weekend of practices in preparation for the Armed Forces Bowl, and it seems like the Bears have an extra bounce in their step. The past couple of days were Cal’s  most energetic practices in weeks. There was a lot of talking, hand-slapping, ooohing-and-ahhhing and energy. A couple of theories for the extra pep: These are more like training camp practices because the Bears haven’t started game planning for Air Force yet. That means there are no scout teams, and Cal’s offense goes against Cal’s defense the entire time. You can tell the players enjoy the competition for team bragging rights, etc. Also, game week practices can sometimes bog down with walking through plays, etc. This is just good ole-fashioned football.

Wide receiver DeSean Jackson appears to be moving better and better. He was back returning punts at practice today.

A lot of younger players are getting reps since it’s not like game week practices. All four quarterbacks are playing. It’s fun to watch some of the younger players who have been in scout uniforms all season with their Cal jerseys back on. Freshman running back Shane Vereen, for instance, is getting a little  chance to strut his stuff.

The Bears are off tomorrow, practice Tuesday, then don’t practice again until they go Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Finals begin Thursday.

OK, there obviously has been a lot of discussion about Nate Longshore lately. I’ve received a lot of e-mails about him and there have been a lot of comments on the blog. So I thought I would just kind of throw everything out there to hopefully answer some questions and let you know where I stand.

I haven’t felt as strongly as some of you that Longshore should be replaced. Granted, he hasn’t played as well as most expected this season, but I also don’t believe he’s been as bad as some people make him out to be.

The most frequent question I get is how Jeff Tedford can continue to play Longshore when he’s injured. First of all, some of you seem to believe the media hasn’t asked this question. But we have. His answer has been consistent. He believes although Longshore may not be 100 percent, he is moving well enough and his experience and grasp of the offense makes up for his lack of mobility. As I’ve stated before, you may not agree with this answer, but the question was asked.

So just how much has the injury affected Longshore’s play? There’s no question it’s been a factor. But it’s not always that simple in some cases. Let’s take the UCLA loss, for example. Don’t forget Longshore was 16-for-19 for 173 yards and two touchdowns at halftime of that game. Some believe the reason why he wasn’t effective in the second half was because he wore down on his ankle. That’s certainly possible. But I felt like the playcalling put Longshore in a bad position. The Bears were moving the ball through the air very effectively in the first half and even in the third quarter, but seemed to go away from it down the stretch. That resulted in too many unmanageable third downs, the last of which resulted in the interception that sealed the win.

That’s not to say Longshore is off the hook for throwing the interception. Of course, it was a very untimely turnover. But perhaps had the Bears stuck with the passing game, in which Longshore clearly had found a good rhythmn, they wouldn’t have been in that position.

Longshore also couldn’t be blamed for the Washington loss. Obviously, the defense was mostly the culprit. Yes, the Bears’ offense couldn’t get going in the second half, but that wasn’t Longshore’s fault. He threw a 42-yard pass to Robert Jordan to the 3-yard line, but Justin Forsett couldn’t punch it in. A personal foul on another possession gave Cal unmanageable second and third downs. A penalty and big loss on a running play gave the Bears a 3rd-and-22 on yet another drive.

Longshore aggravated the injury in the Arizona State loss and he clearly was affected by it. Tedford was asked after this game whether he considered taking him out, and again he felt as though Longshore was moving well enough to execute the offense. Granted, Longshore didn’t play well in this game, but nobody did. The Bears simply played poorly all across the board, on both sides of the ball, with mistakes and penalties haunting them (and yes, I realize Longshore contributed to the mistakes).

There was some question whether Longshore would play against Washington State because he aggravated the previous week against ASU. I recall him actually looking pretty healthy in practice. I’d say he played OK against the Cougars. It seemed like the Bears were really conservative on offense in that game, as they had two really long drives where they nickel-and-dimed their way downt he field.

That brings us to USC. Don’t forget that by this time, nobody really was talking about Longshore’s ankle anymore. It seems like everyone is saying Longshore has been hurt all season. But I think the couple of games before re-injuring it against Stanford, his health wasn’t really an issue. Perhaps this is a reaction to Tedford’s comment recently that Longshore has a chip in his ankle (more on that later).

There’s no question Longshore didn’t play his best against the Trojans and took all the blame for the loss after the game. Again, I’ve never said Longshore has been great. The debate is whether he has been bad as some believe, whether he should be replaced with an inexperienced backup or whether he has been healthy enough to play.

This brings us to the crux of the matter. Should Longshore been benched in favor of Kevin Riley? If Longshore was not healthy enough to execute the offense, then yes. Some might argue that Longshore hasn’t executed the offense well enough, healthy or not. The question is whether Riley would have given Cal a better chance to win. Let’s not forget that Riley has played in one college game and played well for about a quarter-and-a-half. His fourth quarter comeback efforts certainly were impressive, especially for a rookie, but in general he is an uncertainty.

Some may believe that Riley should have been given a chance once the losses started piling up. I can see that a little bit more once the BCS and Rose Bowl were out of the picture. But Tedford still was trying to win every game, and he still felt Longshore gave him the best chance to do so.

Perhaps Tedford was doing what I think I’ve been doing: Giving Longshore a little bit of the benefit of the doubt. This is my first year around the program and all I can base it on is observation, but Longshore had a good year last year. Perhaps Tedford believes that game is still in Longshore somewhere, and each week he believes it’s going to come out.

There is still much more that can be discussed on this topic, and I welcome your comments and questions. I will have more to say about Longshore and other issues with the team as we work our way up to the bowl game.

Hi, folks. As you can see, we have a new look here at Bear Talk. Hope you enjoy it. It caused a little delay in getting posts up yesterday, but we’re back in business and new and improved. So without further ado…

One of the bigger questions at practice this week was the status of DeSean Jackson. After not practicing Tuesday, he did in limited fashion Wednesday and Thursday. Thursday night, he took first team reps for the first half of practice then shut it down. Coach Jeff Tedford said Jackson will play Saturday, but said “expect him to play throughout the game.” That implies Jackson may be limited. Brandon Hampton and Robert Jordan returned punts during special teams practice, so Jackson may not be doing that on Saturday. Tedford said he hasn’t made that determination yet, rightly pointing out that Jackson still has two days for his thigh contusion to heal further.

I failed to report this earlier in the week, but tight end Cameron Morrah hasn’t practiced all week and Tedford said he will miss the Big Game with a knee injury. No word on the severity.

Expect to see redshirt freshman Mark Boskovich to see some time at right guard. Boskovich has spent more and more time taking first team reps late in the season, and with starter Noris Malele missing some practice this week to tend to a family emergency, Tedford said both players should see action against Stanford.

Starting defensive tackle Matt Malele will miss his second straight game. The knee injury that has plagued him on and off all year has been flaring up and he’s unable to go. I know defensive coordinator Bob Gregory is disappointed for Malele, who is a fifth-year senior and will have to miss his final Big Game. Gregory thinks highly of Malele for his leadership and the example he sets for teammates in practice.

Speaking of Gregory, he dodged a couple of questions again Thursday night about the Washington State job. I jokingly asked him when his flight was (to Pullman), and he said “we’re driving down to Palo Alto.” Gregory wouldn’t say if he has been contacted yet by the school, but expect him to get a serious look by the Cougars.

Gregory said the defensive end Rulon Davis will play “a lot” against Stanford. Davis has missed the past three games with a sprained knee, and missed four games earlier this season with a foot injury. Davis has been practicing fiercely this week. He looks like a player who hasn’t been on the field much this season. He’s hungry.

One other note: Tight end Craig Stevens has been invited to play in the East-West Shrine Game. So far, Stevens, left tackle Mike Gibson, wide receiver Lavelle Hawkins, running back Justin Forsett and free safety Thomas DeCoud have received invitations to play in the game. Hawkins, Forsett and DeCoud also have been invited to participate in the Senior Bowl.
 

It was the first real practice of Big Game week Tuesday and there was a lot going on. One of the hot topics of discussion was the emergence of defensive coordinator Bob Gregory as a candidate for the Washington State head coaching opening. Gregory played at WSU and is from nearby Spokane. You could tell Gregory was prepared to be questioned about it because he didn’t even let the first question finish when he pulled a fake script out of his pocket and said “It’s flattering to be considered. I appreciate it. Let’s talk about Stanford now.”

It was a funny moment, but it certainly also wasn’t a denial that Gregory is a candidate and is interested in the job. When I told him that saying “it’s flattering to be considered” implies he feels he is a candidate, he didn’t disagree with me.

Offensive coordinator Jim Michalczik also is being mentioned as a candidate, but probably not as strongly as Gregory. Michalczik also acknowledged that “it’s kind of nice to be thought of in those terms,” but like Gregory, preferred to only talk about Saturday’s game. He did admit that he’d be interested in becoming a head coach someday.

As for coach Jeff Tedford, he said he completely supports both coaches as candidates for the job, and he would never get in the way of an opportunity like that, even if it was before the season ended. He admitted that sometimes timing is everything with a head coaching job and he’d want his coaches to have every opportunity to pursue the opportunity.

In other significant news, wide receiver DeSean Jackson didn’t practice. He is trying to rest the thigh contusion he suffered against Washington. Jackson didn’t practice at all last week and he said the injury has stiffened up and he still feels a bit of pain. Both he and Tedford seemed about 50-50 on Jackson’s chances of playing against Stanford.

Back to Gregory, expect some changes in his defense Saturday. Gregory is replacing linebackers Worrell Williams and Anthony Felder with Greg Van Hoesen and Justin Moye in the starting lineup, and cornerback Brandon Hampton is getting his starting job back from Chris Conte. Van Hoesen, Moye and Hampton practiced with the first team on Sunday and Tuesday, and at first I just figured Gregory was giving the seniors the start in the regular season finale. But Gregory said Tuesday that the changes are performance-based, and it’s just a coincidence that it’s the last game. He said some major changes were needed after the performance against Washington. Felder and Williams both are in the top five in the Pac-10 in tackles, but each struggled against the Huskies.

A couple of other notes: Defensive tackle Matt Malele and right guard Noris Malele are away from the team to deal with a family emergency. Their status is up in the air for Saturday, and Matt Malele may not be able to play anyway because of a lingering knee injury. Also, left tackle Mike Gibson has been practicing in limited fashion because he is recovering from a concussion, but Tedford expects him to play against Stanford.

Apparently, a post I submitted last night never made it up here, so I’m taking another crack at it.

Monday marked the unofficial beginning of Big Game week with the annual luncheon to promote the event. The Bears seemed to really focus on the importance of the Big Game. That’s good for Cal, which needs something to help keep it motivated as its season has unraveled. The Big Game probably comes at the right time. No matter what’s going on in the season, players always are motivated to play this game. The Bears could use the extra bounce in their step.

After doing some more research and hearing more scuttlebutt, it seems more and more likely that Cal could indeed be headed to the Emerald Bowl. It’s predicated on Arizona State going to the Fiesta Bowl. That would move all the bowl-eligible teams in the Pac-10 up a notch, essentially moving Cal from sixth to fifth. If the Sun Devils beat Arizona on Saturday, many feel they will get the Fiesta Bowl bid because they are the local team. It won’t make a difference if Cal wins or loses Saturday. Since Arizona will have lost, the Bears still will be the sixth bowl-eligible team in the conference, then move up to fifth because of Arizona State’s inclusion in a BCS game.

If Arizona and Cal both win, the Bears would be headed to the Armed Forces Bowl. If Arizona wins and Cal loses, the Bears season likely would be over.

I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. I’ll be taking a few days off over the holiday so I won’t be posting for a couple of days. I’m looking forward to getting back to business when I return.

Jonathan

Well, the Bears are batting .500 on the injury front. Defensive back Marcus Ezeff will make the trip to Seattle. Ezeff has missed most of the past five games with a quad injury. He practiced Thursday and if fit enough to play. How much he plays is up in the air. The Bears thought they had him back a few weeks ago against UCLA, but after a few reps, he couldn’t go any longer and sat out the rest of the game. He’s been out ever since. Defensive coordinator Bob Gregory said he will give Ezeff a look, see how he responds, and then determine how much he plays. Ezeff’s presence, if nothing else, gives Cal more depth in the secondary. Before he got injured, Ezeff and Bernard HIcks were having a pretty good competition at rover.

After practicing in limited fashion Wednesday, defensive end Rulon Davis did not practice Thursday and will not make the trip. It’s another disappointment for Davis, who has missed six games this year with foot and knee injuries. Davis earned a starting role with a strong training camp and the Bears were counting on him as a pass rusher, but he just hasn’t been able to stay healthy.

Coach Jeff Tedford said tailback Jahvid Best has undergone a few tests during the past few days, including an MRI on Thursday, to diagnose his injured hip. Best definitely is out for Saturday’s game. The question is how much more. All things being equal, it’s never a good sign when a player is subjected to multiple tests to determine the extent of an injury.

The Seattle papers are reporting that it’s unlikely Washington quarterback Jake Locker will play. Locker suffered a neck stinger last Saturday against Oregon State. According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Locker wore a helmet and pads for the first time in practice this week. But coach Tyrone Willingham said it’s unlikely Locker would play. However, Willingham wouldn’t go so far as to rule him out completely. That being said, expect Carl Bonnell to start. Bonnell threw five interceptions against Cal last season.

Oregon’s loss to Arizona tonight could have some bowl implications for Cal. Had the Ducks won out and advanced to the BCS national title game, it would have moved every other team in the Pac-10 up a notch in terms of fielding teams in the arrangement the conference has with the bowls. Right now, the most realistic outcome for the Bears is a tie for fourth place with Oregon State. In that case, Cal almost assuredly would be headed to the Emerald Bowl. But had Oregon made it to the BCS title game, OSU and the Bears would have been tied for third as far as the bowl arrangements are concerned. That would have put one of the teams in the Sun Bowl, and it likely would be Cal since Oregon St. played there last year and the Bears probably are considered a more attractive participant.

That’s not to say Oregon’s loss completely rules out that possibility. There’s a good chance the Pac-10 now could end in a three-way tie for the title between Oregon, USC and Arizona State. No matter which of those three teams ends up in the Rose Bowl, there’s a chance one of the other two could get a bid to another BCS game. That would result in the same effect, and probably place Cal in the Sun Bowl.

Things are kind of sleepy at practice these days. Maybe it’s because we’re back to standard time and it’s dark during practice now. There used to be a handful of “friends of the program” that would come and watch practice every night. Now there’s only a few. Lots of empty bleachers. Seems like some people have jumped off the bandwagon.

Actually, things got a little lively during the beginning of practice when several police officers were called in because apparently a man was sitting on the ledge just on the other side of the rim of the stadium. It took awhile, but the man eventually was escorted down through the bleachers in handcuffs. Don’t worry. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t anybody from Washington’s coaching staff.

Rulon Davis and Marcus Ezeff have returned to practice, but are still limited. Davis seemed to be working hard during one set of individual drills, then had to be stretched out by a trainer. Jeff Tedford said they are still day-to-day.

Tedford also said he was waiting further information on the hip injury to Jahvid Best. He underwent an MRI and the results aren’t available yet. I asked Tedford if he thought the injury was serious, and he simply said the tests were to make sure they aren’t.

Best’s presence will be missed most on special teams. He has become one of the most impressive gunners you will ever see on kick and punt coverage. At one point Wednesday, the Bears were using Zack Follett at gunner. Not sure if that was just an experiment, but that would be intriguing to see.

There was a brief scare during scout work when wide receiver Michael Calvin went down, clutching his leg. A couple of trainers rushed to him, and after a few minutes he got up on his own power and appeared to be fine. May have been a cramp. Calvin is the future at wide receiver for Cal.

I talked with Nate Longshore tonight for a story I will have in Friday’s paper. I won’t disclose too much of what he said here (don’t want to scoop my own story), but he was forthcoming and candid, as he always is. You can tell he wants to make things right, and admitted Saturday’s game is big for him to demonstrate he can lead the team to a win. He said his family has helped him get through some tough times during the past month, while Cal has been losing and his play has been uneven.

For the record, there are some out there who wonder why Tedford hasn’t addressed his reluctance to replace Longshore with Kevin Riley. There’s a very simple reason for that. I don’t think Tedford has seriouisly considered it. He doesn’t see Longshore’s shortcomings as dramatic as some of the harsh critics out there.

I tend to agree with him. Yes, Longshore has thrown some crucial interceptions, but he’s had his productive times as well. To suggest that he’s suddenly become a bad quarterback doesn’t make sense to me. I certainly don’t think his overall play warrants replacing him with a guy who has played in one college game and played well for about half of it.

Longshore also addressed some of his problems late in games and that will be in Friday’s story. Speaking of this Saturday’s game, it could be messy again like last week. Last weather report I saw calls for a 70 percent chance of showers. Not exactly breaking news in Seattle.

The thing that struck me the most about Tuesday’s weekly press luncheon is that players were talking about simply winning a game, not what bowl game they want to get to or how they can finish overall. It just illustrated how much the season has changed in the past month. Players don’t want to look ahead to the …Emerald Bowl. Before it was they didn’t want to look ahead to the BCS title game or Rose Bowl.

Much of the discourse Tuesday was about Nate Longshore, about his comments following Saturday’s game how he’s holding up generally. I will have a story about this in tomorrow’s paper, but in general coach Jeff Tedford and the assorted players on hand were staunch in their support for the quarterback.

Many of the players said it was unfair that Longshore has been the target of so much criticism, that everyone makes mistakes and that it is only magnified when you are the quarterback. Tedford reiterated that he thought Longshore did some good things against USC, especially considering the strength of the Trojans’ defense as well as the poor weather conditions, but admitted Longshore would “like to have back” the interception near the end of the game. Tedford said all of the top-notch quarterbacks he has coached have gone through “tough times” like Longshore is experiencing right now.

(For the record, Longshore has class during the press luncheon on Tuesdays; that is why he is unable to make it each week).

In other significant news, Tedford said backup tailback Jahvid Best is out this week. Best suffered a hip injury late in Saturday’s game. Tedford didn’t quite know the severity of injury and said Best will undergo further evaluation. This probably hurts Cal most on special teams, where Best has been the Bears’ best coverage guy on punts and kickoffs.

Tedford also said there’s a chance defensive end Rulon Davis and defensive back Marcus Ezeff could return this week. Tedford said it’s too late in the season to hold players out with a bye week looming. If they can play, they will play.

Offensive lineman Mike Tepper came by and was asked if Oregon will win the national championship. “Yes they will,” he said immediately. “They are going to rock whoever they play. They’re a great football team.” He said it would be a little sense of pride if the Ducks win it all because the Bears are the only team to beat them this season.

Tailback Justin Forsett is a regular on Tuesdays and always worthwhile to say. He talked about running well in the rain Saturday, and looks forward to the possibility of it raining again up in Seattle on this Saturday. Forsett said the USC game reminded him of his time playing youth football back in Florida, where it rained often. “I played in a lot of muddy games, sliding around. Saturday reminded me of being a kid, going back home with all the mud all over my jersey.”

This is a little bit bigger week for linebacker Anthony Felder, who is from Seattle. Felder played at Husky Stadium in 2005, but only for a few snaps near the end of the game. He said he grew up about 10 minutes from Husky Stadium and attended games there as a kid. He also said that USC’s Chauncey Washington has been one of the “few backs that have stuck out in my mind,” since he’s been at Cal.

Felder has quietly been one of the Bears’ best success stories this season. He ranks second in the Pac-10 in tackles with 95.

Backup cornerback Brandon Jones was a teammate of Felder’s at O’Dea High School in Seattle and said he is trying to track down about 30-40 tickets for friends and family on Saturday. Jones’ father, Lyndall, was an NFL defensive back for the Eagles and Falcons. One of the good offbeat stories from last summer was that Jones allegedly ran the 40 in 4.19 seconds. That’s according to Forsett, who was one of a handful of guys holding a stopwatch during conditioning workouts. Strength coach John Krasinski clocked Jones at 4.25, so that’s what goes down in the books. Jones said the fastest he had been clocked in the 40 before that was at the Nike Combine before his senior year of high school, when he ran a 4.43.

On the Washington front, coach Tyrone Willingham said Tuesday that quarterback Jake Locker was day-to-day. Locker had to be taken off the field in a stretcher against Oregon State on Saturday after a helmet-to-helmet hit left him on the field for 15 minutes. But it looked worse than it was. Locker was diagnosed with a neck stinger and strained trapezius. Of course, a neck stinger is what kept Cal linebacker Zack Follett out of a couple games and limited in a couple of others, but it’s hard to compare unless the severity of the injury is known to be similar as well. But Willingham said he was going to be cautious with Locker. A neck stinger is the kind of injury that can create more problems if a player returns prematurely and does more damage.

There wasn’t a whole lot to report from Thursday’s practice, and maybe that’s the biggest news. It was hard to tell that it was USC week this week. That’s not to say the Bears didn’t have a good and spirited week of practice, it just didn’t seem that different than another week. And it certainly didn’t seem to have the buzz as Tennessee week or Oregon week. That being said, I know the players all regard this as a big game, despite the fact that the stakes aren’t as high as some may have anticipated before the season.

Nate Longshore looked good again Thursday. He’s throwing confidently and moving well. Although coach Jeff Tedford said Longshore’s ankle injury likely will linger for the rest of the seaosn, he said the quarterback is learning to manage it better and acknowledged that he seems to be getting healthier.

We usually talk to defensive coordinator Bob Gregory on Thursday nights. He talked about the size of USC’s receivers and the problems that tight end Fred Davis presents. Like Tedford said, Gregory also acknowledged that it’s a boost for USC to have quarterback John David Booty back in the lineup. Gregory said he thought backup Mark Sanchez did some good things in the three weeks that Booty sat out with a broken finger, but admitted that you can’t replace Booty’s experience.

Gregory said he hadn’t decided if true freshman Chris Conte would start again. Conte got his first career start last week against Washington State. It would seem Conte would be a good fit for this game because he is the Bears’ biggest cornerback and the Trojans have size at wide receiver.

Here a few links to stories that have appeared in Southern California this week:

–The Orange County Register discusses DeSean Jackson’s reluctance to get into a war of words with the Trojans.

–The OCR also had a notebook that among other things, reported that All-American left tackle Sam Baker, who is expected to be an NFL first-round draft pick, won’t play against the Bears.

–From the L.A. Daily News: Pete Carroll yelled at DeSean Jackson during last year’s game.