AYOOB TO START AGAINST WASHINGTON

QB Ayoob gets second chance with Golden Bears

By GREG BEACHAM

AP Sports Writer

September 05. 2005 11:29PM

Although Joe Ayoob's first 10 passes for California fell incomplete, the junior college star will get the chance to throw many more.  Ayoob will start Saturday for the 19th-ranked Golden Bears at Washington despite an ignominious 0-for-10 debut last weekend against Sacramento State. Coach Jeff Tedford is convinced his shaken quarterback can shake off this disappointment in time for Cal's Pac-10 opener.  "He didn't play to his potential, by any means, but that doesn't mean he can't play," Tedford said Monday night. "Everybody has a day like that from time to time, and he had it right out of the gate. He's our quarterback, and he'll be ready this week."

Ayoob expected to be the Bears' starter this season after a standout career at City College of San Francisco, but lost a competition with redshirt freshman Nate Longshore in training camp. Ayoob remained confident, remembering juco transfer Aaron Rodgers' midseason breakthrough at Cal two years earlier.  And Longshore didn't even make it to halftime of his first game, breaking his left leg on a fairly innocuous collision with a Sacramento State defender. Longshore had two pins inserted in his shin during surgery Sunday, and is expected to be out for three months.  But when Ayoob entered the game in the middle of a two-minute drill, the drive stalled with three straight incompletions. He threw three more incompletions before halftime - and after four additional misses in the second half, he was replaced by Steve Levy, who finished up the 41-3 victory over Sacramento State.   "I've never had a worse day in any kind of sport in my life," Ayoob said. "It was tough, but bad days, you get over them, and you live to fight another day."

Tedford expressed confidence in Ayoob and gave him the starting assignment in a phone call Sunday. The quarterback guru spoke again with Ayoob on Monday, comparing the conversation to a talk with Rodgers after the future first-round draft pick struggled horribly against Oregon State in 2003.  "He let me know that the coaching staff and the players all have confidence in me," Ayoob said. "They know I can do it. ... The guys are encouraging, but I don't know if they're thinking deep down inside, 'Gee, what is this guy thinking?'"  Ayoob stayed in his apartment in Berkeley after the game, replaying his overthrows and incorrect dropbacks in his mind. When he visited his family in Marin County on Sunday, he absently threw his warmup jacket at a chair - and when it missed, his father cracked, "0-for-11."  After a few similar ribbings and many more expressions of confidence from his teammates, Ayoob was eager to get back into practice at Memorial Stadium - and despite his struggles, the junior seems to be the best bet for Cal (1-0).

Levy is an eager but undersized junior who spent last season as a fullback. After returning to quarterback this fall, he relieved Ayoob and led several decent drives against Sacramento State, even throwing a touchdown pass while going 2-for-7.

The Bears' third-stringer will be walk-on freshman Bryan Van Meter, since Tedford is still hoping to keep star prep quarterback Kyle Reed in a redshirt this season.  Longshore was back at practice Monday night, standing on crutches in shorts and a T-shirt while listening intently to his teammates' instructions. Later, Longshore reclined on the turf with the cast on his left leg elevated on a blocking dummy.

Longshore broke his leg higher than originally thought, but also tore ligaments around his ankle. He laughed when he remembered his first instinct after the hit.  "I thought maybe I had just sprained my ankle and I'd be able to walk it off," Longshore said. "Then I heard my bones cracking down by my shin."  The Bears also lost backup receiver Noah Smith, who caught a touchdown pass from Levy, to a broken leg, Tedford said Monday. Smith's injury is less serious, and he could be back in six weeks.  Though Longshore and Smith will be gone, Ayoob will get to throw to Lavelle Hawkins, his CCSF teammate who was ineligible for the opener, and sophomore Robert Jordan, Cal's second-leading receiver last season. Jordan was suspended for the opener after getting arrested in February.