Daily Cal: Fall Camp Notebook: Day 18

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By Matt Kawahara
Even though the Cal football team practiced for a solid two and a half hours Thursday afternoon, most of the major happenings occurred off the field. "Today was kind of the day of guys going to scout team, redshirting, that type of thing," coach Jeff Tedford said. "There were a lot of meetings today, a lot of talking." Following the final scrimmage of fall camp on Tuesday and personnel meetings yesterday afternoon, Tedford came to practice today full of news. Of course, his biggest announcement was that sophomore Kevin Riley will start for the Bears in their season opener against Michigan State. Nate Longshore will also see playing time during the game, and Tedford said that the competition would continue to be evaluated as the season progresses.
Depth chart announcements didn't stop there. Tedford also said that walk-on freshman David Seawright will be the team's starting field goal kicker, edging senior Jordan Kay for the job. The competition between Seawright and Kay heated up over the last two weeks of fall camp as the freshman showed a powerful leg to rival Kay's improved range and accuracy. Seawright converted all of his field goals in the first scrimmage, while Kay was perfect in the second. The two seemed to be in a dead heat, but Tedford had all but promised that a decision on the kickers would be finalized by today. "We felt like Seawright's got a great upside," Tedford said. "We're going to continue to evaluate, it's going to be a day-to-day thing, but as of today Seawright's the number one kicker. He struggled early in camp, but once he got his bearings he was very consistent, gives us a little bit more range." Tedford said that kickoff responsibilities are still up in the air.
Nothing definitive was decided about the receiving corps, although that might be because the receivers run so deep that a depth chart is unnecessary. "There's going to be probably a broader rotation than we've ever had at receiver," Tedford said. He added that there are "six or seven" wideouts who could be in the mix for playing time. LaReyelle Cunningham and Sean Young have had a majority of the reps with the first-team offense. Michael Calvin, who was back on the field today for the first time after being sidelined last week with a sprained toe, returned to work with the 1's. Jeremy Ross and Nyan Boateng have also seen regular playing time in fall camp, and Tedford confirmed today that Verran Tucker will play for Cal this season.
With so many options, Tedford said that he is currently unsure about who will be in for the opening plays against the Spartans. "We probably won't know that until game time," he said. "See how they practice with game planning and that type of thing, and see what the game plan turns out to be on how to use them."
Along with Calvin, a few other notable players returned today from injuries. Tailback Tracy Slocum was back in his white practice jersey after missing multiple days with turf toe. Mika Kane also practiced, having recovered from an ankle injury. Kane's return bolsters the nose tackle position, which will be a necessity during the season. On top of having to adjust to a new position, Cal's nose tackles will have to battle constant double teams as part of the new 3-4 defense.
"We're going to need to have some depth at nose to keep those guys fresh," Tedford said. "With Derrick (Hill), (Kendrick) Payne, (Mike) Costanzo, those four guys are all going to get into the rotation." Syd'Quan Thompson remained sidelined with a sprained shoulder, although he did do some one-on-one work with Tedford during practice. Tedford threw a few balls simulating kickoffs and punts to Thompson, who is a probable kick returner for the Bears.
Jahvid Best did not participate in seven-on-seven or team drills today as part of his designated rest plan. Shane Vereen handled the first-team duties in his absence and, afterward, drew some praise from the head coach. "He's gone through camp banged up, he's been hobbled through camp, and he's really kind of sucked it up and done a nice job," Tedford said. "Hopefully in the next couple days when they get a chance to rest a little bit, he'll be 100 percent." Vereen suffered a lower leg bruise early in camp, but he was cleared to participate in the team's first scrimmage and carried the ball 11 times for 71 yards. He has said recently that he still feels about a step slower than he would like to during the season, but it hasn't slowed his production in practice. As a result, Vereen will play the same role to Best that Best played to Justin Forsett in 2007. "They'll spell each other like we've always done with our tailbacks," Tedford said. "We've had the luxury of having two backs for a long time, be it J.J. (Arrington) and Marshawn (Lynch), Marshawn and Justin, Justin and Jahvid. Now it's Jahvid and Shane."