Tuesday, September 05, 2006

San Jose Mercury: Cal fades to No. 22, but no change at QB

Coach Jeff Tedford is second-guessing himself after Cal's 35-18 loss Saturday at Tennessee, and his team took a tumble in the latest college football poll. But he said Tuesday that he's sticking with Nate Longshore as starting quarterback. ``No change,'' Tedford said of the situation. ``We're going the same way. Nate did some good things. Sometimes he didn't have a chance. We had guys open, but he got hit as he was throwing.'' The Golden Bears, who fell from ninth to 22nd in the Associated Press poll released Tuesday, host Minnesota (1-0) in their home opener Saturday.  Longshore didn't post horrible numbers (11 for 20 for 85 yards, one interception) but looked like a deer in the headlights at times against the Volunteers.

``There were a lot of expectations and a lot of hype on the game, but our guys understand it's a long season,'' Tedford said. ``It's about getting one at a time. That's the big message now.''  Although Longshore appeared to hold the ball too long on two first-half sacks, Tedford said he was pleased with the sophomore's decision-making. ``I don't know that he held it too long,'' Tedford said.  Longshore said Saturday's game was much different from his debut against Sacramento State a year ago. ``I was impressed by Tennessee's team speed,'' he said. ``I thought we had them beaten around the edge, and they would catch us from behind. We had so many plays where we were half a second away from a big play, we just needed one cut.''

Read the entire article here.

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