By CHRIS NGUON
Contributing Writer
At least for one day, the redshirt freshmen on the No. 24 Cal football team were able to take the spotlight away from the regular starters. Bears coach Jeff Tedford scheduled a 20-minute scrimmage for the team's 28 redshirt freshmen at the end of Thursday's practice, giving the Cal youngsters some much-needed time to take live snaps on the field. Considering Tedford nabbed such a highly ranked recruiting class in the offseason, it's no surprise the full-contact scrimmage provided numerous standout performances. The player leading the way was tailback Will Ta'ufo'ou, a 6-foot, 250-pound walk-on from Saint Francis High School in Mountain View, Calif. Ta'ufo'ou looked extremely impressive running up the middle, finding and hitting holes hard, on many occasions pulling one or two defenders before going down. Maybe the most anticipated performance, however, was that of quarterback Kyle Reed from McClymonds High School in Oakland. Ranked as one of the elite gunslingers in the nation last year, Reed showed some of the skills that garnered him that recognition. Reed scored the first touchdown of the scrimmage on a three-yard quarterback sneak. He also showed off accuracy on his throws to complement his already well-publicized strong arm. "It was really fun just being able to get out there," Reed said. "I'm really starting to get used to the speed of the game now. The only thing I still have a little trouble with is having to absorb all the mental aspects of the playbook right now." With Ta'ufo'ou and Reed in the backfield, the Bears' redshirts on the offensive side of the ball moved the chains on a consistent basis. Cal's young offensive line, which features former prep stud Kevin Bemoll from Mission Viejo High School, seemed to open up solid running lanes and give Reed plenty of pass protection. Though the Bears' defense was outplayed for much of the afternoon, it did stand out in several instances.
On one occasion, Reed took the snap from center and rolled right. After avoiding two pass rushers, Reed set up his feet to throw, only to have defensive end Tad Smith crush the former Elite 11 quarterback into the Memorial Stadium turf.
"That one hurt a little bit," Reed said. "I'm not trippin' though-it was just good to get out there."
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