By Rob Calonge
By now I'm sure you've heard the news about Kevin Riley getting the starting nod as the Cal Bears' starting quarterback. Being Cal's starter going into the season hasn't been a guarantee, during the Tedford era, that you'll end the season that way. In 2003, Reggie Robertson started over Aaron Rodgers. But by week five Rodgers would take that spot and use it to catapult him to the NFL. Two years ago, Longshore started the season as the man behind center only to suffer a season-ending leg injury and leave Cal with a hodgepodge of players to fill in. The position played poorly until former fullback Steve Levy stepped in and played well enough to finish the season with a win in the Big Game and a bowl victory against BYU.
For those of you not excited about Riley as the starting leader of the Bears, Longshore still has the opportunity to wrestle that title away before the end of the season. The great thing about the Bears' quarterback position is that they have two guys that could easily lead the team back into the top 25 rankings and into a BCS bowl game. Getting back onto the national stage is the main focus for the program in 2008. Camp is over and from what Coach Tedford and his players are saying to reporters, it's pretty easy to figure that these guys are more than ready to begin the season. On offense, besides the lack of hype, Bears Backers can expect to see more of the same prolific play that they've grown accustomed to. On defense is where some changes may show a different type of team.
Coach Bob Gregory has switched to a 3-4 alignment and the Bears have one of the best collections of linebackers in all of college football returning to action. Zack Follet will be a pivotal leader on this defense and his high motor play can do nothing but help the Bears when the offense is not as 'prolific' as Berkeley fans would like. Tedford seems confident about the defense. When asked about the defensive front he said, "I think we have a pretty good understanding of what's going on, but you never really know until you play the game so we'll find out. I feel good about their effort; I feel good about the work that they've put in, so now it's just a matter of seeing them at game time. That's the true test."
As of now, the depth chart is still in flux, but the following is what I've been able to track down at this time:
Offense
QB - Kevin Riley
TB - Jahvid Best
FB - Will Ta'ufo'ou
LT - Chet Teofilo
LG - Chris Guarnero
C - Alex Mack
RG - Noris Malele
RT - Mitchell Schwartz
TE - Cameron Morah
WR1 - Michael Calvin
WR2 - Sean Young
WR3 - LaReylle Cunningham
Defense
DE - Rulon Davis
NT - Derrick Hill
DE - Tyson Alualu
OLB - Zack Follet
MLB - Worrell Williams
MLB - Anthony Fielder
OLB - Eddie Young
CB1 - Syd'Quan Thompson
CB2 - Chris Conte
ROV - Marcus Ezeff
FS - Bernard Hicks
The Bears begin practicing for the game today and it should be a nice change of pace for a team that has been performing very physical in camp. "It was a good camp," said Tedford,"We improved through camp. We had a physical camp; we got a lot of our new guys acclimated to all phases of the game so it was very productive. Now it's time to hone in one game-planning." One Bear admitted that the players were more than ready to get some live action under their belts. Fullback Will Ta'ufo'ou said, "Banging against each other, it gets old sometimes. We're ready to see some new faces across from us."
After Saturday, the Bears and their fans will know just how good this team is. A convincing win against another big program like Michigan State could gain them some believers, while a close match could keep them outside of the polls looking in. On the other hand, a loss could be a sign of things to come and the beginning of a very long year. As the anticipation mounts to opening kick off, we'll keep you informed.
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