SF Chronicle: Bears battling combination of finals and practice

Bruce Adams

The Bears -- most of them, anyway -- held their first Las Vegas Bowl practice at UNLV on Monday. Several players, most notably wide receiver DeSean Jackson and cornerback Tim Mixon, were back in Berkeley taking finals, and not expected in Las Vegas until later Monday night. Several more took finals Monday morning at the team hotel, the Hard Rock.  "It's been very difficult to manage the schedules of the players because this is such an early game," Cal coach Jeff Tedford said. "This has been particularly challenging." Plus, coaches are coming off an intense recruiting period that began after the regular season. On the plus side, some players are healthy again. Guard Erik Robertson and tackle Scott Smith are back at their starting positions after missing the Big Game because of injuries. Wide receiver Noah Smith, who has battled an ankle injury most of the season, is back at practice. Two players definitely ruled out of the game were on crutches at Monday's practice, offensive lineman Noris Malele (ankle) and his cousin, defensive tackle Matt Malele (knee). Right tackle Ryan O'Callaghan was on the sideline Monday, wearing sweats and limping noticeably. Tedford said O'Callaghan had turned an ankle, but should be able to play Thursday. "We wanted to completely rest him," the coach said.

Academic measures: The NCAA released graduation figures for football players who enrolled in school between 1995 and '98. Cal's graduation rate was 47 percent, compared with a national average of 64 percent.  The figures predate the current coaching staff.  Foti Mellis, associate athletic director for compliance, said the soon-to-be-released Academic Performance Rate (APR), which is in "live" time, reflects much more favorably on Cal. Football players at Cal earn a cumulative 945, out of a possible rating of 1,000. The index gives points to players who maintain their eligibility and stay in school, or graduate.  The Bears scored 924 last year, second in the Pac-10 to Stanford's 994.  The NCAA now uses both measures.