Friday, December 19, 2008

San Francisco Chronicle: Longshore and Riley fight to the finish

By Rusty Simmons

Link.

Coach Jeff Tedford surprisingly went back to the "quarterback competition" phrase Wednesday on a conference call for Miami media.  For about the last month, sophomore Kevin Riley has gone into each week knowing he's starting over senior Nate Longshore. Apparently that is no sure thing for the Dec. 27 Emerald Bowl against Miami. "Kevin has played well at times. He's still young and we still have a quarterback competition there," Tedford said. "We'll watch for the next week or so to see how that goes."  Riley has completed 50.7 percent of his pass attempts for 1,360 yards, 14 touchdowns and six interceptions. He's connecting on just 42.4 percent and averaging 73.8 passing yards a game since his concussion in the 26-16 win over Oregon on Nov. 1. Longshore has completed 58 percent of his passes for 930 yards, nine touchdowns and four interceptions.  "They both may see action in the game," Tedford said. "We'll evaluate the situation as we go and see how it plays out."

Center of attention: Senior center Alex Mack was named the winner of the Morris Trophy as the Pac-10's best offensive lineman, becoming just the third player to receive the honor in consecutive seasons. "It's a big honor because it's not very political and it's all about what the players think," Mack said. The trophy, which was established in 1980, is voted on by the conference's linemen. USC's Roy Foster won it in 1980-81, and Washington's Lincoln Kennedy won in 1991-92.

 

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