Team Runs Situationals as Riley Gets First-Team Reps
The Cal football team resumed practice in its usual length with a few welcome returns from injury, including those of tailback Shane Vereen and linebacker Anthony Felder. Quarterback Kevin Riley played as part of the first-team offense all evening, while cornerbacks Darian Hagan and Chris Conte split time with its defensive counterpart. The Bears' first 11-on-11s was a live, situational one with the offense down 23-21, 1:30 remaining in the fourth and the ball placed at the offense's own 30. Riley went first with the 1's and connected with wideout Jeremy Ross on a 10-yard toss. The drill continued despite a couple incompletions, thanks to a good-looking scamper by tailback Tracy Slocum.
During a third down later in his set, Riley found tight end Cameron Morrah, who had been splitting time on the line and in the slot, for about a 20-yard gain. Kicker Jordan Kay, however, couldn't convert a 48-yard attempt field goal, which strayed wide left. Led by Nate Longshore, the second unit's passing game proceeded a bit more smoothly as the quarterback opened his set 3-for-3, including a couple nice grabs by wideout LaReylle Cunningham. However, the pass rush got through on consecutive plays, and Longshore was later picked off by linebacker D.J. Holt on a slightly overthrown pass intended for tight end Tad Smith. Smith himself had a nice day in practice, grabbing one of two standout hook-ups of the evening, with wideout Michael Calvin claiming the other on a jump ball in the end zone over Hagan.
After practice, coach Jeff Tedford briefly touched upon the quarterback situation thus far. "Right now, it kind of goes back and forth and back and forth, so we need to see who establishes himself in the next couple weeks," Tedford said. "And if not, we'll make a decision on who's going to take the first reps and then play it from there." He also gave a quick description of what the two passers offer. “Kevin's a little more mobile, he can get out of the pocket and make some things happen," Tedford said. "Nate's experience and knowledge, while making sure everything goes smooth for all the other 10 of the offensive players, that's the difference he has. "As far as throwing the ball, they can both throw the ball adequately all over the field, so it really comes down to some of the intangibles there."
The next couple 11-on-11s were run-heavy to say the least, with the backfield trading one injured back for another. After participating in some earlier drills, Jahvid Best was reduced to an observer for the bulk of practice, but Vereen returned for the first time since suffering a light bruise on his leg last week. Vereen and Slocum switched off getting reps with the 1's, and both showed off some convincing runs on a defense that was held from full contact. Slocum had a particularly strong showing during Riley's second 11-on-11 set running the ball four times, three of which went for a dozen yards or more. Vereen, meanwhile, sprung a couple good runs during Longshore's third 11-on-11 set before taking a screen pass upfield for a 30, 40-yard gain in his final touch of the segment. The duo also got some goal-line reps as well. Enjoying the benefit of playing behind the first-team offensive line, Slocum entered the end on both feet in his first attempt, while Vereen was stuffed a few times before finding similar success with the 2's. Holt drew some attention during the end zone drill by twice delivering hits near the line of scrimmage on Vereen and Slocum.
The final 11-on-11 drill was a red-zone situational (20-yards out) with the offense down five and just 0:54 remaining on the clock. Riley's first pass attempt was picked off by safety Marcus Ezeff. Longshore then came in and led the second unit into the end zone in just a few plays, finding an open Cunningham near the far-right pylon for the touchdown. On a play that preceded the touchdown toss, linebacker Solomona Aigamaua may have sacked Longshore, but quarterbacks have generally been off-limits for tacklers throughout camp. Regardless, Longshore found Vereen on a pass down the middle just as Aigamaua arrived for a critical gain that set up the score.
Riley was given a second shot at the red zone, and he eventually found Calvin in the end zone as mentioned earlier after failing to connect with the 6-foot-2 wideout on a similar play a few snaps before. Calvin, meanwhile, had a nice day himself, posting a couple other catches that were good for about 10 yards or less in the same drive. "All the quarterback decisions were pretty good," Tedford said. "One of the receivers should've gone out of bonds with eight seconds to play. We had to burn a timeout. That was not good."
In the play mentioned by Tedford, wideout Jeremy Ross failed to run out of bounds after an out route that landed him inside the five-yard line and instead was dragged down by a gang of tacklers in the secondary.
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