Senior Nate Longshore was named Cal's starting quarterback for Saturday's Emerald Bowl against Miami, coach Jeff Tedford said Thursday, ending a run of three starts for sophomore Kevin Riley. "Nate has had a couple of really good weeks of practice, looking sharp throwing the ball and having great command of what we're doing," Tedford said. "He's had a lot of zip on the ball and has been really accurate. These are two of the better weeks I've seen Nate have here." Longshore, the second-winningest quarterback in school history, lost the job in training camp, but has been relatively efficient with his opportunities to ride the Cal quarterback merry-go-round. He has completed 55.8 percent of his passes and thrown two touchdowns with no interceptions in his last three games.
In the same time span, Riley has connected on 43.1 percent of his passes, with four touchdowns and three interceptions. Tedford says Riley, who is 6-3 as the starter, has continued to make the right reads but has missed too many throws. Tedford said Riley will be competing with redshirt freshman Brock Mansion to regain the starting gig next year. "I think coach wants one of us to establish himself as the man, and it hasn't happened," Riley said.
Heisman hopeful: The 2009 Heisman race unofficially starts with this bowl season, and tailback Jahvid Best will have one of the best showcases with a prime-time Saturday game on ESPN. "As far as I'm concerned, this is just two teams going out there and playing football," Best said. "All of the history behind you, all of the things you've done before, that doesn't matter anymore. "It's about how you prepare for this game and how you're going to win." Best has run for 512 yards in the last two games to bring his season total to 1,394 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground.
People are taking note. College Football News ranks Best as next year's No. 4 Heisman contender, behind quarterbacks Tim Tebow of Florida, Colt McCoy of Texas and Terrelle Pryor of Ohio State. "Uhhhhh, who? Non-USC Pac-10 players are normally ignored ... and no one outside of the Left Coast has any clue who Best is," CFN's Pete Fiutak wrote. "That's going to change in a big hurry as he'll be the hot under-the-radar-guy-who-suddenly-becomes-hip candidate."
Tepper update: Offensive tackle Mike Tepper said he has petitioned the NCAA for a sixth season of eligibility and thinks there's about a "50-50" chance he'll be granted his wish. Tepper, a 6-foot-7, 321-pounder, missed the entire season after offseason surgery on his pectoral muscle and a severely strained groin. He also missed the 2006 season after having his right fibula broken when he was hit by car while trying to protect a friend from harassment. The lone hiccup in his attempt to get an extra season is that he redshirted because of performance - not an injury - as a freshman. He started all 13 games at right tackle last season and was a key part of an offensive line that allowed a conference-low 11 sacks (No. 3 in the nation) and paved the way for more than 2,000 rushing yards. Tepper said he hopes to receive the NCAA's decision by Jan. 16, the deadline to declare for the NFL draft.
Miami suspensions: The Hurricanes suspended punt snapper Chris Ivory for Saturday's game because he violated an unspecified team rule. He is the fifth Hurricane suspended for the final game of the season.
Jake Byrne, who handles snaps on field goals, will take over Ivory's punt-team duties. Byrne also will be the backup quarterback behind Jacory Harris, who will start after Robert Marve was suspended for missing classes. Linebacker Jordan Futch and tight ends Richard Gordon and Tervaris Johnson also were suspended last week because of team-rule violations.
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