By BRIAN BAINUM
Daily Cal Staff Writer
The dynamic play of linebacker Desmond Bishop has been the main story of the Cal defense so far in 2005. However, Bishop, who has paced the team in tackles in each of the first three games, is not the only budding star making waves in his first season with the Bears. The freshman duo of Anthony Felder and Zach Follett has not received as much attention as Bishop, a highly regarded transfer from City College of San Francisco, but the pair has made an impact all the same.
Felder started in Saturday's 35-20 victory over Illinois, and is again slated to start Friday when Cal travels to Las Cruces, N.M., to play New Mexico State at 7 p.m. Felder, who hails from Shoreline, Wash., collected eight tackles against the Illini, including one for a loss. He placed third on the team for the game, trailing only Bishop and senior rover Donnie McCleskey. "He made a lot happen and he was all over the field," Bears coach Jeff Tedford said Tuesday. "He is very athletic and very fast. He can cover sideline-to-sideline very well." Follett also had a solid game Saturday. He tallied five tackles and one sack, and while playing with the same reckless abandon of Felder. "They are both very mature and responsible," Tedford said. "They pay attention to details. Not to mention, they have the athletic ability to cover some of their mistakes." Tedford credited linebacker coach Justin Wilcox for the development of Felder and Follett. Tedford also praised the play of Mickey Pimentel, who recorded five tackles against Illinois, three of those for losses.
One specific area of Cal's play that did not please Tedford Saturday was the team's tackling. The Bears missed some opportunities-especially in the first half-to stop Illini drives when they failed to make a tackle. "We are flying to the ball and hitting people, but we aren't wrapping up," Tedford said. Tedford mentioned Bishop as someone who made a lot of big plays, but also failed to cash in on some other opportunities. "I think he had 11 tackles, but he could have had 20," Tedford said. Cal is not doing any specific drills in practice this week to address tackling, because the team traditionally does not tackle during short weeks. But Tedford said tackling has been a point of emphasis in meetings and film sessions.
"I think we were surprised how good Illinois' running back (Pierre Thomas) was," he said. "He was strong and he had good balance. They put some good licks on him, but he didn't go down. When you get into the big-time backs and they don't go down from that, you have to run your feet through them and you have to arm-wrap them."
The injury bug is still hampering the Bears, although the team's laundry list of injured players might soon be shrinking. Tedford said Tuesday that the status of sophomore tailback Marshawn Lynch will be day-to-day. Lynch practiced with the team Monday, but only participated in the conditioning drills and running. Center Marvin Philip, who played Saturday despite suffering a sprained ankle two weeks ago against Washington, practiced Monday and appears to be on the mend, Tedford said. The availability of offensive linemen Aaron Merz and Andrew Cameron, who both sustained concussions last week and missed the Illinois game, will be decided today, Tedford said. Merz and Cameron may not travel if they are not cleared to play. Wide receiver Noah Smith, who is still on crutches due to an ankle injury, will not play until after Cal's bye week October 24-28, Tedford said.
No comments:
Post a Comment