Sunday Contra Costa Times
BERKELEY — There is no nickname yet for Marshawn Lynch. There is only possibility. And speculation. And fascination.
"I get in trouble sometimes," said the man who handed Lynch the ball, Cal quarterback Nate Longshore, "because I stand around and watch him instead of carrying out my fakes."
It was late Thursday afternoon, and the fog was thick and cold. November in August. Full pads for the Golden Bears. The first scrimmage of late summer. The chance to learn whether Longshore or JC transfer Joe Ayoob will be the man to replace Aaron Rodgers.
The chance to realize why Marshawn Lynch is the man to replace J.J. Arrington.
A juke, a cut, and there went Lynch for 43 yards. Not a single person up on Tightwad Hill to watch. A few in Memorial Stadium. This wasn't the real thing. But in two weeks it will be.
Jeff Tedford, in shorts and sweatshirt, stood resolutely in back of the offense. "We still have a lot of work to do," the head coach will say later, "but we did a lot of good things, though."
He and Cal have a good thing in Marshawn Lynch, the sophomore running back from Oakland Tech. A very good thing. But this is Berkeley, not Norman or South Bend, and so Lynch and the Bears must struggle for attention with the Raiders and Niners, with the Giants and A's, with the Sharks and Stanford and San Jose State.
Marshawn Lynch at Auburn or USC or Miami would be all over ESPN, all over the headlines in the local dailies. The hype might be too much, not that this ever will be a worry in the Bay Area, where gossip from Barry Bonds' Web site takes precedence over genuine news.
Cal and Tedford contribute somewhat to the problem. A Thursday scrimmage in which Lynch rolls up the yardage is great visually but not conversationally. Marshawn talks only on Tuesdays. So you watch and wonder and ask others.
Particularly the two QBs, who must love having Lynch behind them and that offensive line, The Great Wall of Berkeley, in front.
Whether it's Longshore or Ayoob who eventually gets the call, and at the moment Longshore is No.1, is less the issue than the simple fact Lynch would make any quarterback look better.
"Oh, definitely," said Longshore, the 6-foot-5 redshirt freshman. "The defenders have to account for him. I'm excited for our team in general, and to have a back like him and offensive line to go with it, it's going to be pretty interesting."
It will be no less interesting to see who starts at quarterback, Longshore, who was around last year, or Ayoob, who came over from City College of San Francisco. The scrimmage didn't offer much insight.
"I'm sure they learned a lot," Tedford said, "and they'll improve from it. I think they could have been bothered a little bit by nerves.
"We had some open receivers they kind of floated the ball to and didn't quite get it there. But that's why you get in these game-type situations, to get them more comfortable and throwing the ball with authority."
Longshore looked comfortable enough on a long touchdown pass to DeSean Jackson, the freshman from Long Beach Poly, who outmaneuvered cornerback Tim Mixon, a junior. "Some of the young guys stepped up," Tedford pointed out. "DeSean caught a great ball in the end zone."
Ayoob, who also had his moments, conceded he occasionally puts himself in difficult situations. "You kind of put a little pressure on yourself. thinking, 'I've got to have a good day every day,' but really you can't think about it. If you do think, 'I've got to beat the other guy out,' you end up psyching yourself out and blowing the whole thing."
That's not a problem when he gives the ball to Lynch. "Except sometimes you kind of peek to see what kinds of things he's doing," Ayoob said. "It's amazing just to see him in practice, when he's not running the way he would in a game, and still breaking 30-, 40-yard runs almost every time.
"He's just an amazing athlete, almost like a robot."
Tedford was more restrained, but then he's the coach. You don't let anyone on the squad believe he's as good as he truly is.
"Marshawn made a couple of nice runs," Tedford agreed. "He ran hard, and he put his pads down a couple of times and went in there." A good thing going and never stopping.
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