Sunday, December 18, 2005

SF Chronicle: QB roller coaster

Tedford, Cal have been in unfamiliar territory

Bruce Adams, Chronicle Staff Writer

When quarterback Aaron Rodgers came to Cal from Butte College, Bears coach Jeff Tedford planned on having him for three years.  Then last year, as Cal began preparing for the Holiday Bowl, it became clear to Tedford that Rodgers would leave school a year early for the NFL Draft.  Rodgers did leave, and was taken in the first round by the Green Bay Packers.  Backup and former starter Reggie Robertson graduated.  Then Cary Dove, a redshirt freshman who would have competed for the vacant quarterback spot, left school.  Suddenly, Tedford was down three quarterbacks, instead of one.  Going into preseason camp, Tedford was left with Nate Longshore, a redshirt freshman, Joe Ayoob, a junior transfer from City College of San Francisco, and junior Steve Levy, who had played fullback the previous season.  For the first time during Tedford's four years at Cal, there was uncertainty at quarterback. And although Tedford won't say so, there was no apparent star pupil waiting to take over the job.  In his first season, Tedford had Kyle Boller, who was taken in the first round of the 2003 draft by the Baltimore Ravens.  Robertson took over the job while Rodgers eased into Division I ball and Tedford's system. Rodgers eventually won the job and was the key man last year when the Bears were ranked in the top 10 most of the season and finished 10-2. Hopes were high for the future.

Still, Tedford didn't try to stand in Rodgers' way.  "I'd advised him that it may be the right time for him," he said.  If Rodgers had remained at Cal, the Bears very well might have been a top 10 team again, possibly competing for the national championship. Instead, they finished the regular season 7-4.  Going into the season, Longshore, who had redshirted but practiced and been part of the quarterback meetings all of 2004, was the heir apparent.  He won the starting job in preseason camp, then was lost near the end of the first half in the season-opening 41-3 win over Sacramento State with a severe ankle injury.  Ayoob, who was still making the transition from junior college ball, got the job by default.

"He was thrown into the fire right away," Tedford said.  Ayoob struggled much of the year, finally acknowledging after a 35-10 loss to USC on Nov. 12 that he had lost his confidence. His play had reached the point where fans booed him during games, a few confronted him in the tunnel after games and some students harassed him on campus.  "It was pretty harsh," Tedford said.  Levy became the starter for the 27-3 victory over Stanford on Nov. 19 and will start Thursday against BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl.  Despite the turmoil, Tedford says the Bears were competitive in most games -- except for the loss to USC.  "We were five or six plays from being 10-1," he said.  Ayoob has completed 49.2 percent of his passes for 1,707 yards with 15 touchdowns and 14 interceptions and has an efficiency rating of 114.13. Levy has completed 55.2 percent for 211 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions and an efficiency rating of 125.26. Longshore, in his brief stint, was 8-for-11 with one touchdown and one interception. His efficiency rating is 184.58.  Competition for the starter's job will begin at spring practice.  Longshore, who might be the most talented of the group, should be healthy. Ayoob will have had a chance to mend his wounded psyche, Levy will be the incumbent starter and Kyle Reed, a freshman from Oakland's McClymonds High who is redshirting this season, should be ready to offer serious competition for playing time.

 

 

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