Oregonian: Cal defense knows all about Quizz, but Tedford says trick is to stop him

By Paul Buker

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“here is some of what Cal coach Jeff Tedford said to his media on Tuesday as he addressed Saturday's crucial Pac-10 game:

Cal coach Jeff Tedford says the Bears will have a difficult time stopping the Pac-10's leading rusher, Jacquizz Rodgers.

On the atmosphere at Reser: The last time we were there, I know it was one of the more hostile places that we have played. It ranks right up there with the Coliseum (USC) and Autzen Stadium (Oregon). I hear it is going to be a record crowd, and I expect that they will be amped up and ready to go. We are going to expect a hostile environment. Last week, we had pretty good training with it as we played in a pretty wild place. Hopefully, we can take some of the lessons and experiences from playing in that atmosphere last week into this week.

On which QB he might face: I think that Moevao is a little bit better of a runner than Canfield is. I think they both run the offense efficiently. Moevao is a guy that can scramble a little bit more. I don't who is going to play. Canfield played last week, obviously. You just don't know if Moevao is going to get the work in practice this week to be ready to play.

On Cal QB Kevin Riley putting last year's game in the past: I think that was very disappointing last year when that happened, obviously. But I thought he shook that off very well. As a quarterback, you are going to run into those things. There are going to be times where you wish you had a play back here or there. That is not the first and it's not going to be the last that he is going to encounter as a quarterback of, `hey, I wish I would have done this or wish I would have done that differently.' I know there was a lot riding on that play, but I think he did a nice job of putting that behind him. I know I am going to have that question a lot this week, but I think that it is pretty much in his past as far as I know.

On OSU's Jacquizz Rodgers: He is a great player. I do think as the season goes on he continues to get better. I think he just becomes more comfortable each and every week. He does a great job of using his blockers and staying behind his blockers. He is so quick that when he hits it, he is through the hole very quick. He is strong enough to run through arm tackles and you don't bring him down very easy. Even though he is a little shorter, he weighs 190 pounds, so he is very strong. He is built very low to the ground with great balance. He has great quickness and is very elusive. He catches the ball very well and holds up in pass protection very well. He is a great player. I think the numbers speak for themselves there. He is very hard to tackle in the open field, as well.

Easier to prepare for Quizz, after seeing what he did vs. USC? You can prepare for him all you want, but you still have to stop him. You still have to tackle the guy. You simulate through the week. They are good up front. They do a good job of staying on their blocks, so you have to shed blocks. They do a good job with the play action pass, so they keep you off balance. If you try to pull everybody to the back, then they pull it out and throw a play action pass against you. They do a really nice job of mixing that up.