Even the dense fog rolling down through Strawberry Canyon on Tuesday evening couldn't put a damper on the Cal football team's first practice of Big Game week, as the Bears seemed a little more vocal during team drills and the usual chants of "Whose house?" during stretching lines was augmented by "Whose Axe?"
"We had a great day of practice," coach Jeff Tedford said. "A lot of bounce in everybody's step, a lot of focus, lot of intensity. I thought it was a great day." Tedford said the promise of playing Stanford had something to do with that, but that a number of factors were playing into the increased intensity. Cal has lost two straight and is trying to avoid a second-half slide akin to last season's. Meanwhile, Stanford continues its resurgence under coach Jim Harbaugh, who has the Cardinal within striking distance of its first bowl appearance since 2001. "(We're) eager to bounce back, get on track, and eager to prepare for a good team," Tedford said. "I think there's a lot of motivation, a lot of eagerness to make sure we're prepared for this game." That much started becoming clear immediately after the Bears' loss to Oregon State last Saturday. Several players spoke about the team's need to maintain focus despite sustaining consecutive defeats for the first time since 2007. "What happens to a lot of teams is that they fall apart when a certain goal seems like it can't be reached anymore," wideout Jeremy Ross said. "But like the coach was talking about, we're not going to fall."
Going into this season, there was much speculation about how Cal would rebound from last year's second-half performance. The Bears' general consensus was that the mentality of this squad is different from last season's, and the team upheld that belief after falling to the Beavers. Linebacker Zack Follett said that nobody in the 2007 Cal locker room wanted to talk to each other "when the stuff was hitting the fan," but that current players are more willing to discuss the reasons behind their current slump. Tailback Jahvid Best added that he couldn't define the team's mood, but that the difference from his freshman year is obvious.
"I don't really know the mood, but I know a lot of guys are mad, ready to work, so that's a good thing," he said. "People are yelling and screaming. Nobody likes losing, obviously, but it doesn't sit well with this team."
Keep the Cameras Rolling
Cal's final regular-season game against Washington will start at noon and be televised nationally by Fox Sports Net, it was announced on Tuesday. This means that, for the second year in a row, every Bears game will have been televised live. After Tuesday's practice, Tedford commented on the effects of that exposure on recruiting. "I think that's definitely something, you know, when you can talk to the recruit about how you're going to be on TV and your family's going to be able to see you and so on," he said. "It's a very good thing to know there's going to be exposure there."
Kickoffs in the Air Again
Kickoff duties, which plagued the Bears for the early part of the season before freshman Giorgio Tavecchio appeared to lock down the starting job before the Oregon game, could be in flux again this week after another inconsistent showing against Oregon State. Cal averaged 20.8 net yards per kickoff against the Beavers. Tavecchio bounced the opening kickoff of the second half out of bounds, after which he was replaced by senior Jordan Kay. Tedford did not confirm who would be handling kickoff duties after Tuesday's practice. "We'll compete through the week," he said. "See how the week goes."
No comments:
Post a Comment