Rusty Simmons
When wide receivers coach Kevin Daft spliced together a video of the Cal wideouts' top plays from training camp, he thought seeing the highlights would build confidence among his corps for the season opener. It did way more than that. Hours after watching the 68-play video of their one-handed catches, wake-leaving routes and crushing blocks from practices, the receivers were motivated to create a highlight reel of their own that was filmed in a game environment and aired live on ESPN2.
They combined for 10 catches, 215 yards and two touchdowns in a 52-13 trouncing of Maryland, and are hoping the sequel gets recorded today against Championship Subdivision-opponent Eastern Washington.
"After we saw that tape, it was obvious that we had so much potential that we had been wasting," said Nyan Boateng, Cal's returning leading receiver. "We knew the sky was the limit for us, but we had to go out and do it, build on it and get better." The Bears' passing game ranked No. 83 in the nation last season, down 34 spots and nearly 50 yards a game from 2007. Boateng, Verran Tucker and Marvin Jones got somewhat of a pass, because they had limited or no experience and were saddled with replacing DeSean Jackson, Lavelle Hawkins and Robert Jordan.
No comments:
Post a Comment