Sunday, April 15, 2007

SF Chronicle: As spring drills end, offense gets flak from Tedford

Rusty Simmons

Cal coach Jeff Tedford sent a lasting message Saturday that should motivate the offensive players for the four months between the final spring practice and the fall training camp.  "It was a pretty poor day offensively," he said. "We're nowhere close to where we need to be right now."  The Bears return eight starters from an offense that averaged 32.8 points and 415.6 yards a game last season. Added to the starters (three play-making receivers, quarterback Nate Longshore, tight end Craig Stevens and three offensive linemen), Justin Forsett, whose 6.39 yards a carry is the best in the nation among returnees, will be promoted from his backup role.  "With all of the guys we have coming back on offense, we should have looked a lot better than we did," said receiver Lavelle Hawkins, who had two catches for 51 yards. "We're going to go into the summer and get rid of all of the little mistakes before camp."

They're being a little tough on themselves.  Longshore was 9-of-13 for 130 yards and two touchdowns during 11-on-11s, and he connected with Stevens for a score during the red-zone drill. DeSean Jackson had two catches for 49 yards, including a receiver screen that he turned into a 30-yard touchdown.  Tedford admitted that some of his frustration was with the second and third units.  Tailback tandem: Tedford said he has no doubt that Forsett can handle the load of an every-down back, but he's also confident that redshirt freshman James Montgomery has emerged into something more than a solid backup.  "It's nice to see that James Montgomery is a real player," Tedford said. "We expected it, but we know that we have some depth at tailback."  Montgomery had a couple of impressive runs. Working with the first unit, he ran over defensive back Marcus Ezeff on a 9-yard run that set up his short touchdown dive two plays later. He also broke a 30-yard touchdown scamper with a quick cutback as part of the second team offense.

Put me in coach: With Tracy Slocum (hamstring) and Bryan Schutte (concussion) out, Hawkins got some snaps at tailback. Although he needed only three carries to rack up 30 yards and a score, Tedford said he isn't a serious contender at the position.  "That was just to pacify him," Tedford said.  Hawkins is noted for consistently chirping about his big-play capabilities.  "I'm always in the coaches' ears about playing running back, corner, safety and quarterback," he said. "If it's possible, I want to play everything; I want to play guard if I can."  What's your line? Tedford singled out guard Brian De La Puente and interior lineman Chris Guarnero as having stepped up in the spring, but he didn't rule out the possibility of moving all-conference center Alex Mack to tackle as the team tries to replace Andrew Cameron and Erik Robertson.

Mack "does a good job out there," Tedford said. "It's not a longshot that he could play there, and it helps that our other centers are good players."  Guarnero and Mark Gray are the reserve centers, and Tedford said Gibson, an all-conference right tackle, will move to the left side, leaving Mike Tepper as the front-runner at right tackle. Briefly: Brandon Hampton and Brandon Jones each had about 70-yard punt returns for touchdowns. ... After being run over by fullback Brian Holley, redshirt freshman cornerback Darian Hagan, who worked with the No. 1 defense, bounced back with a strong tackle and a pass breakup on the next two plays.

 

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