After taking a day off yesterday to allow players to catch up with their studies, the Cal football team continued practice today with its first scrimmage. "I thought for a first scrimmage it was pretty clean, as far as being penalty-free," coach Jeff Tedford said. "We had a couple alignment situations, but for the most part, I thought the first day handling the clock and all that type of thing, game situations, I was impressed by how that happened. "Still need to get a lot better in certain situations, so we'll continue to work with those situations. For the most part, I thought the kids were organized and did a good job."
The kicking and punting teams saw a fair share of live action, and a few new faces were given shots at kick-return duties including wideouts Michael Calvin and Verran Tucker and tailback Covaughn DeBoskie. Redshirt freshman Bryan Anger booted a few towering punts in showing off his golden leg, while kickers Jordan Kay and David Seawright went neck and neck during their respective reps.
Quarterback Nate Longshore completed eight of 17 passes for 78 yards overall, tossing a TD pass to wideout Sean Young while running the 2's and getting picked off by cornerback Chris Conte on a wobbly throw during his time with the 1's. Kevin Riley, meanwhile, went 10-for-16 overall, throwing 70 yards and two scores. He showed some nice touch floating a jump ball to wideout LaReylle Cunningham toward the upper-left pylon in the end zone; the pass was caught over Conte for a TD.
Riley's second touchdown toss came near the very end of practice. It seemed as if he'd end the drill having mismanaged the clock, but he was able to call for time following a sack with just 0:01 remaining. He then proceeded to hit wideout Marvin Jones on a quick inside slant for six at the expense of cornerback Sean Cattouse.
With no Jahvid Best for the second straight day, tailbacks Shane Vereen and Tracy Slocum displayed their abilities to carry the load out of the backfield. Vereen posted 71 yards on 11 carries, while Slocum gained 67 yards in 10 touches. DeBoskie only ran for 10 yards, but he had the runners' lone touchdown during his time with the third-team offense. The freshman, however, wasn't flawless by any means, accidentally smothering Vereen during a punt return before Vereen had fielded the punt. DeBoskie probably didn't make anyone happy by hitting -- albeit not on purpose -- a player who had just returned from a bruised leg, but Vereen, being the class act he is, bounced up after a few seconds, tapped the freshman to let him know things were OK and accompanied him off the field.
This being the first time the defense had to adjust on-the-fly, defensive coordinator Bob Gregory said the most important thing in practice was for the players to get used to life without constant instruction. "I think the biggest thing is them being able to handle it on their own," Gregory said. "In practice, we're all up there, coaching them, we're telling them. So now it's their time to recognize sets, recognize formations, call out the down and distance and all those communication kind of things, to be able to handle those type of situations on our own. "I think we did OK. I think we did. I think they were aware of the clock in clock situations, so I think all that was pretty good."
Defensive end Cameron Jordan had a nice day particularly near the end, getting to the quarterback twice in three plays during Riley's final set. He played most of the day with the 2's, flanking freshman Kendrick Payne -- who turned 18 two months ago -- opposite Ernest Owusu, and leading the team in sacks (two).
"He'll play a ton," Gregory said of Jordan. "He'll play maybe as much as Rulon (Davis), but he just isn't starting right now." Gregory also seemed high on some of the younger linemen who played alongside the second- and third-teams. "I really think Aaron Tipoti, Trevor Gutyon and also Kendrick Payne, those guys are good football players," Gregory said. "We'll have to make a decision on what we're gonna do with those guys, but I think those guys can have a chance to help us."
In giving a brief update on the secondary, Gregory said Conte and Darian Hagan are still "pretty even right now" in competition for the starting job opposite Syd'Quan Thompson, who left practice after the first few series with a bum shoulder. Sophomore Bryant Nnabuife played mostly as a safety tonight and still seems like a work in progress. Though he did have four tackles for the day, he drew consecutive penalties in attempts to prevent Tucker and tight end Tad Smith near the end zone. But for all his troubles in coverage, he did show some muscle stopping the run. Gregory said the team needs Nnabuife most at safety, then at corner. "I think he's got a lot of ability," Gregory said. "I think he's still learning the scheme, and we need to push him to learn the scheme more because we're gonna need him this year. He's a talented kid."
The younger corners -- freshmen Josh Hill and Marc Anthony -- got a good amount of reps with the 2's and 3's. While Anthony wasn't challenged too often throughout the night, Hill's performance was a bit more up-and-down. Though he showed he's able to make some 1-on-1 tackles if need be, Hill was exposed couple times in coverage. In one instance, Jones beat him badly (by five yards or so) down the left sideline, making a leaping catch before landing seven yards off a TD.
"Hopefully that was a good learning (experience)," Gregory said. "We were just in a three-deep zone, you just can't let a guy run by you. But he's playing well. I think he's going to be a really good corner for us. Marc Anthony, both those guys are two really good young corners for us."
Linebacker Worrell Williams was replaced by Mike Mohamed, who excelled with a team-high five tackles. Tackle Mika Kane was seen out of his boot, but he remained in red and sat out the entire practice. Davis dislocated his finger before practice but didn't miss time during scrimmage. After missing time in each of the past few seasons, Davis has had the look of a starving man in practice thus far. "Killer," Davis said. "That's my mentality. I'm out to get what's mine."
No comments:
Post a Comment