Daily Cal: Reborn Identity

Sporting a New Jersey Number, Senior Nate Longshore is Taking the Chance to Start Anew

By Jeff Goodman

Nate Longshore's world has turned upside down-in one way, at least.   After wearing a No. 9 jersey for the past three years, the quarterback has decided to put it back on the shelf.   For the Cal football team's spring practices, which began last Monday, and for the upcoming season, Longshore will sport a No. 6 across his chest.  What's the motive behind the modification?   "There's nothing significant about it," he says. "Just wanted to change it up, do something different."   The variation in his uniform could be construed as trivial, but it's a variation nonetheless. And even if there's no reason for the change to his jersey, there seem to be many reasons why Longshore would want a fresh start.

After all, he was at the center of a Bears team that climbed as high as No. 2 in the national rankings last year before falling-and falling hard.  After opening the 2007 season with five straight wins, Cal collapsed, losing six of its last seven regular-season games. And after sustaining an ankle injury against Oregon, Longshore did not play against Oregon State, giving backup signal-caller Kevin Riley a chance to prove his worth.  Riley's performance against the Beavers-though marred by a late-game decision that dealt the Bears their first loss-and his stellar outing in the Armed Forces Bowl-where Riley was named the Most Valuable Player-were enough to make the competition for this year's starting spot much more interesting.

But Longshore, now vying for the job he has had for the past two seasons, says his relationship with Riley is a good one.  "We've been friends before, we'll be friends after," says Longshore. "We're just interested in seeing each other improve and competing."  After a one-game hiatus, Longshore returned. But his comeback wasn't pretty, and neither was the rest of the season.  On Oct. 20, Cal trailed UCLA by two points and stood on the Bruins' 30-yard line late in the fourth quarter. But Alterraun Verner intercepted a pass by Longshore and returned it for a touchdown, effectively ending the game.  It turned out to be one of several flawed fourth quarters by Longshore, who was criticized extensively for decreased mobility in the pocket and a lack of confidence down the stretch.

On Nov. 10, the Bears faced a seven-point deficit against USC. With less than three minutes left in the game, Longshore was picked off by Terrell Thomas at the Trojans' 17-yard line.  Three weeks later, Cal trailed by a touchdown against Stanford. After getting his team into the red zone, Longshore threw an interception to Nick Sanchez in the closing minutes.  Altogether, the senior, who was hailed as one of the top junior quarterbacks in the country last year, had four games in which he threw more interceptions than touchdowns.  With next season in mind, however, he doesn't have distinct memories of those games. All of that is behind him.

"It all just kind of blurred together into unacceptable," he says. "We know we've gotta improve, and that's what we're focused on everyday."  Spring ball is an opportunity for Longshore to make those improvements without thousands of fans watching and scrutinizing his every move, as they did throughout last season. And whether or not Longshore gets to spearhead the Bears offense in the fall, he knows the criticism comes with the territory.  "Playing any position in any sport, you get criticism, especially when you're quarterback," he says. "A lot of the blame goes to you. But I'm not worried about it. Life goes on. I'm just trying to focus on getting better."  Longshore says he is pleased with his team's effort in practice so far, and he knows these sessions are just the early phases of a long and grinding process.   When Cal faces Michigan State in its first game on Aug. 30, he hopes that running out of the tunnel before kickoff isn't the only running he'll do.

Bears coach Jeff Tedford, however, probably won't announce the starting quarterback until shortly before the season begins.  "It's a long ways away," says Longshore. "But at the same time, we're focused at the end of the tunnel."  With more than four months between now and the first game, Longshore can supplement his experience with each drill, each snap and each pass.   Despite suffering a pulled pectoral muscle during last Wednesday's practice, he seems to be off to a promising start.

Towards the end of Saturday afternoon's session at Memorial Stadium, Longshore crouched in the pocket during a simulation scrimmage. Wearing his new No. 6 jersey, he dropped back, stepped up and launched a perfectly timed 40-yard bomb to a streaking Jeremy Ross.  At that moment, it looked as though Longshore's world was right-side up.