With Cal sophomore tailback Marshawn Lynch about ready to return to the field, coach Jeff Tedford was asked how he planned to divide time between Lynch and sophomore Justin Forsett, who has gained 422 yards rushing in two starts since Lynch broke a bone in his left hand against Washington. Tedford never hesitated. "Marshawn is our guy," he said. "It's nice to know we can keep him fresh, but we already knew we had quality backs." Although his status for Cal's home game on Saturday against Arizona won't be evaluated until Thursday, Lynch said he expects to play. "My hand is feeling good," he said. "What I haven't been able to do is switch the ball to my left hand. By game time (on Saturday) I will." Lynch explained the team's medical staff would cut down the cast on his left hand to allow him to handle the ball. Last Friday against host New Mexico State, Lynch warmed up with a huge pillow-like wrap that covered his cast. He said the wrap for this Saturday would be much smaller. Told that Tedford had said he was the starter, Lynch said he wasn't concerned about how many carries he would get. "We have too much talent to see it wasted," he said. Confined to the bench two consecutive games, Lynch said he wasn't depressed. "It was fun," he said. "(Forsett) is the man. He's awesome. It was fun watching him."
The right time
Although Tedford said he is glad his future non-conference schedule includes tough opponents such as Tennessee and Minnesota in 2006 and Tennessee and Colorado State in 2007, he believes the 2005 lineup of Sacramento State, Illinois and New Mexico State worked well for a team under construction. "I thought it was a great mixture of teams," Tedford said. "It's done a lot for us. With all our injuries, we played a lot of reserves. We got some very young guys into the lineup.
"With this young team, our schedule worked out fine. We've learned a lot." Cal (4-0) has looked sloppy at times, but Tedford said that's part of the process. "We have got to keep everything in perspective," Tedford said. "We are not going to be perfect. There will be adversity. It's just a matter of how we respond to it."
Injury report
Tedford said senior defensive end Tosh Lupoi's sprained knee has shown quite a bit of improvement but he said Lupoi, who has missed two games, would be a long shot to play against Arizona. Sophomore wide receiver Lavelle Hawkins, who was hurt against New Mexico State, has a sprained ankle and didn't practice on Monday. His status for the Arizona game is questionable, although Tedford said Hawkins was moving quite well. Bears sophomore linebacker Greg Van Hoesen, who sat out the past two games with a sprained ankle, practiced on Monday.
End run
Reports have surfaced that Cal freshman defensive back Gary Doxy, out of Long Beach Poly High School, and junior tight end David Gray of Richmond were at the scene when a 19-year-old woman was shot to death near the Cal campus in July.
Meleia Willis-Starbuck, a Dartmouth student who was visiting her home in Berkeley, was killed on July 17. Police arrested a 22-year-old man, Christopher Lester Hollis, on Friday and he was to be arraigned today in connection with the shooting that took place on College Avenue. The Times reported in July that Willis-Starbuck and her friends were arguing with a group of men on the sidewalk when a man approached and fired several shots into the crowd.
Tedford wouldn't give any information about whether or not Doxy or Gray were in any way involved with the incident, referring reporters to the university's public information office. Tedford said neither player was facing any disciplinary action from the team and both players practiced on Monday evening at Memorial Stadium. "We talk to our players every night about being at the wrong place at the wrong time," Tedford said.
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