Oakland Tribune: Pete Alamar out as Cal football team's special teams/tight ends coach

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Cal's football team may have been inconsistent in 2009, but there was one element about the season that was pretty regular — opponents usually started possessions with good field position.  The Bears had severe shortcomings on kick and punt coverage, and special teams/tight ends coach Pete Alamar took the fall Monday as he was not asked back for the 2010 season.  Alamar had been in charge of Cal's special teams and tight ends since 2003, but special teams coverage had suffered in recent years. With the rest of the bowl season still remaining, the Bears are ninth in the Pac-10 in kick coverage and 48th in the nation. They are 99th in punt coverage.  Last year, Cal ranked 102nd in punt coverage and 51st in kickoff coverage.

The Bears also have struggled to find a consistent place-kicker in recent years. After former Lou Groza candidate Tom Schneider suffered a season-ending injury before the 2007 season began, the Bears have cycled through Jordan Kay, David Seawright, Giorgio Tavecchio and Vince D'Amato, and all have been inconsistent.  There have been good elements about Cal's special teams as well. Punter Bryan Anger, punt returner Syd'Quan Thompson and kick returner Jahvid Best all have appeared among national leaders, and Best was an All-Pac-10 first-team special teams pick as a freshman. The Bears also blocked three kicks that were returned for touchdowns in 2008.

Alamar also has produced quality tight ends in recent years, as Craig Stevens and Cameron Morrah were NFL draft picks.  Cal coach Jeff Tedford said a national search for a replacement will begin immediately.

SF Chronicle: Cal will not bring back special teams assistant

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California will not bring back special teams coordinator and tight ends coach Pete Alamar next season.

Coach Jeff Tedford announced in a statement Monday that Alamar's contract would not be renewed. A search for his replacement will begin immediately.  Alamar finished his seventh season at Cal. The Golden Bears finished the season 8-5, losing the Poinsettia Bowl to Utah last week 37-27.

Here are some of the comments from sfgate.com:

Goodbye Pete, and good luck.  Thanks be to God!

Yea. It was obviously the special teams coach that sent Cal into oblivion.

Just don't even consider letting go the architect of that universally feared down-the-line screen. Someday that play will work.

Good luck Coach Alomar! I'm sure you'll land somewhere really good, like maybe the forty yard line of the receiving team.

I disagree with those people who think that Cal has lots of holes to fill. Here is my short list of very pressing needs:

Get rid of the special teams coach: CHECK

Get rid of the special teams: To do

Get a new offensive line coach: To do

Get an offensive line that can keep the opposition out of the QB's face for more than three seconds

Find new DB's.

Find new DB's coach

Find receivers that can catch balls that hit them in the numbers

Find receivers that can run on those few occasions that they actually catch the ball.

Ditch the 3-4 scheme. It should have gone with Desmond Bishop.

By all means keep the QB. People were screaming that He was the Savior, so save away, baby.

Please drop the "We're like Oregon!" riff. You're not, and that's generally to your credit.

Please, please please get rid of those fonky uniforms! They suck! But then, 40% of the time so do you, so maybe just wear them when you play Oregon, 'SC, UW and OSU. Otherwise, blue jerseys and gold pants work fine. Go Bears!

New York Times: Amid Budget Woes, California Coaches Are Paying a Price

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Contra Costa Times: Cal's disappointing season puts pressure on Jeff Tedford

THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL season began with Jeff Tedford making a curious confession. The man who once avoided outside estimations of Cal's program was now acknowledging them. Inventorying them, in fact, and using them to broach with his players the concepts of goal-setting and addressing expectations.

Just a hunch: Those conversations were a lot more enjoyable in September, when Cal was ranked 12th in The Associated Press preseason poll, than they are in the wake of Wednesday's Poinsettia Bowl loss to Utah.  Cal met few, if any, expectations this season. Certainly not AP's — the Bears disappeared from the Top 25 even before their bowl game beatdown. Nor did they validate the preseason forecasts of ESPN (also 12th), The Sporting News (16th), CBSsports.com (17th) or Sports Illustrated (20th).

During a season in which the Pac-10 race was as wide open as ever, Cal lost its first two conference games and was never a factor. While the Bears participated in a bowl game for the seventh consecutive season, the Poinsettia qualified as a tumble down the cellar steps. And there they got spanked.  As a result, Tedford finds himself in another curious position. For the first time during his tenure at Cal, he's on the clock.  Not on the clock in the "Gentlemen, start your buyout cash call" sense. There still is a lot to like about his work, starting with the school-record streak of bowl appearances. He's also produced eight consecutive winning seasons, tying the school record set from 1918-1925.

Link to rest of article.

Deseret News: Defense shakes shaky start, finds form to stop Cal

Near the end of the first quarter of Wednesday night's Poinsettia Bowl, Cal sophomore running back Shane Vereen had six carries for 72 yards, including a touchdown scamper of 36 yards when he waltzed into the end zone with nary a Utah defender in sight.  Vereen came into the Poinsettia Bowl averaging 144 yards per contest over his three-game stint as Cal's starting running back — he entered the lineup after Jahvid Best suffered a severe concussion Nov. 7 against Oregon State.

With Vereen off to such a fast start on Wednesday night, the Golden Bears' offense had the look of a unit that was primed to run roughshod over the Utes all night long.  It looked as if Utah would have to make serious adjustments to its defensive scheme if it had any hope of holding Vereen below 200 yards rushing.  Turns out, all the Utes really needed to do was just relax and play their game.  "The first one that got out of the gate, the (36-yard) touchdown, we had a gap that we didn't fill," Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. "We had a missed assignment. That long run was a blown assignment. From that point forward, we played sound football and tackled well.

Link to rest of article.

SF Chronicle: Poinsettia Bowl: Utah 37, Cal 27

Cal's season began with grand ambitions, three consecutive wins and one heady week at No. 6 in the national rankings. It ended in a half-empty stadium two nights before Christmas, with another in a curious collection of desultory losses.  The Bears jumped ahead early in Wednesday night's Poinsettia Bowl, played dreadfully for a long stretch and fell 37-27 to Utah. The Utes won their ninth consecutive bowl game, the longest active streak in the nation, while Cal lost a bowl game for the first time since 2004.  In some ways, it was a fitting end to the Bears' utterly strange season. They put together little sustained offense - quarterback Kevin Riley faced heavy pressure, threw two interceptions, fumbled once and seemed indecisive all night - and the defense struggled to contain Utah's spread-option attack.

"This is going to sting for a while," coach Jeff Tedford said.  A crowd of 32,665 at Qualcomm Stadium watched the Utes finish their season at 10-3 and give the Mountain West Conference its second consecutive bowl victory over a Pac-10 opponent. BYU thrashed Oregon State 44-20 in the Las Vegas Bowl on Tuesday night.   Cal (8-5) made the final score respectable by scoring a late touchdown, but even that came with a semi-embarrassing moment. Tedford initially sent the kicking team onto the field to attempt an extra point, rather than try for two - with his team trailing by 10 and obviously needing to slice its deficit to eight (only 1:46 remained).  Tedford realized his gaffe and called a timeout before the kick. (Cal's subsequent two-point try failed.) He later said he mistakenly checked the laminated chart he holds during games, when he should have checked the scoreboard.

At any rate, Cal's players - and especially the seniors - struggled to digest ending their season this way. They were riding high Nov. 21, after an impressive win in the Big Game left them 8-3, gave them five wins in six games and put them on track for a strong finish.

Link to rest of article.

Utah Beats Cal 37-27

A disappointing end to a disappointing season.  The game was not as close as the score would suggest.

SF Chronicle: Bears, Utes used to Winning Ways

Offensive tackle Mike Tepper counts as a unique figure on this year's Cal football team, in ways beyond his size, loquaciousness and status as a sixth-year senior. Tepper also is the only member of these Bears to lose a bowl game.   It happened here in San Diego, when Texas Tech flattened Cal in the 2004 Holiday Bowl. Tepper vividly remembers the feeling, so he gathered his teammates during practice last week in Berkeley and implored them to treat tonight's Poinsettia Bowl with urgency.

"That sour taste in your mouth is the worst thing in the world, 10 times worse than spinach or whatever vegetable you hate," Tepper said. "You lose a bowl game and your offseason is terrible. All the coaches do is rag on you."   The Bears (8-4) face a sizable challenge in avoiding the ragging, despite falling into a low-profile bowl. They meet No. 23 Utah, which sports a splashy 22-3 record over the past two seasons - 13-0 last year, capped by a Sugar Bowl thumping of Alabama, and 9-3 this year.  The Utes also arrive with the nation's longest active bowl win streak, at eight games. Cal counters with bowl wins in each of the past four years, from the Las Vegas (over BYU) and Holiday (Texas A&M) to the Armed Forces (Air Force) and Emerald (Miami).

Link to rest of article.

SF Chronicle: After walking on, Holley gets carried off

Brian Holley's final practice at Memorial Stadium ended on a note fit for Jahvid Best. Cal's running backs extended a long tradition by carrying Holley off the field Friday, a ritual reserved for seniors and accompanied by much chuckling and good-natured grief.  Holley, mindful of his improbable path to this triumphant scene, wore a wide smile as his teammates hoisted him into the air. By no means does he count as a star, not with only three carries and six catches this season. Most of the periodic media attention he commanded involved talking about Best or Shane Vereen, the swift tailbacks for whom he blocks.

But as the Bears prepare to end their season Wednesday night against Utah in the Poinsettia Bowl - and Holley and 15 other seniors prepare to end their Cal careers - it's worth remembering that not every college football player wades in scholarship offers, savors splashy headlines or eyes a tantalizing future in the NFL.   There also are players such as Holley, a squat, thick-necked fullback whose story smacks of patience and persistence. He received exactly zero scholarship offers coming out of Diamond Ranch High in Pomona. UC Davis showed the most interest, inviting him to play as a walk-on.

Holley, in filling out the universal UC application online, noticed the box for Berkeley. He clicked it. Before long, he received his acceptance letter, convinced his high-school coaches to call their counterparts at Cal and found himself nervously auditioning for a spot in the 2005 freshman class alongside future stars DeSean Jackson and Zack Follett.  "I didn't know if I was on that level or not, because everybody else doubted me," Holley said. "So when I first came here, it was definitely a learning experience. It was humbling."  Holley made the team, but he seldom made it onto the field. He redshirted in 2005, spent '06 on the scout team in practice and the next two seasons as a special-teams stalwart, stuck on the depth chart behind accomplished fullbacks Chris Manderino, Byron Storer and Will Ta'ufo'ou. (Holley earned a scholarship after the '07 season.)

Even this year, with the starting job open, running backs coach Ron Gould was skeptical. He told Holley he needed to lower his body fat and improve his athleticism - so Holley spent the summer outside Atlanta, diligently working out with former Cal player Zach Smith and his father, Chip, who owns a sports performance training company.

Link to rest of article.

Deseret News: Utah Utes football notebook: Cox has filled defensive-line vacancy

When Utah starting defensive end Derrick Shelby went down with a season-ending knee injury against TCU, it was a big blow to the Utah defense.  At least it seemed like it at the time.  However, thanks to junior walk-on Christian Cox, the Utes' defense has hardly skipped a beat.  Cox has started the past two games at left end and come up with eight tackles and two sacks. On the season, he leads the team in sacks with five and in tackles for loss with eight.  "We miss Shelby, but between Christian, Junior Tui'one and Nai Fotu, we've been able to hold down the fort," said Utah coach Kyle Whittingham. "Christian has been a valuable asset for us. He's a self-made guy. He's got to where he's at through sheer determination and hard work."

It's not like Cox has come out of nowhere, this year at least. He played in every game, and got a lot of reps at both defensive end positions and ranks 13th on the team in tackles.  "I've been able to play all season," he said. "(Starting) has given me more opportunities to make plays. I credit it to my coaching. It's been a great transition."

Link to rest of article.

Deseret News: Pair of Utahns are thriving on Cal's roster

Isi Sofele and Keni Kaufusi both grew up in Salt Lake City and used to attend football camps at the University of Utah.  However, the two former Cottonwood High standouts will find themselves on the opposite sideline at the Poinsettia Bowl Wednesday night when the Utes take on Cal.  Sofele is a 5-foot-7, 170-pound running back who is one of three true freshmen to play this year for Cal and has played in every game. He's returned six kicks for 127 yards, has rushed for 82 yards on 12 carries and has nine tackles on special teams. Kaufusi is a defensive lineman who is redshirting this year.  "They are hard workers, quality guys," said coach Jeff Tedford. "Isi is a guy who has contributed for us. He's a great kid. Kaufusi has a bright future here. He's done a great job on the scout team this year."

Kaufusi committed to play for Utah in early 2008, but his offer was rescinded when he was arrested on a weapons and alcohol charge a couple of months later. The following January, he signed with Cal along with Sofele.  Whittingham acknowledged the Utes recruited both players, but said the Utes had filled their scholarships at Sofele's position and that "it didn't work out" with Kaufusi.   Former Utah offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig, who has the same job for Cal, says he works with Sofele on a daily basis and calls him a "super person" and "a very good football player."

Ludwig said he doesn't work with Kaufusi, but of the two, he said, "Both are doing very well in terms of academics and socially and adapting to Division I football."  Sofele says he loves it at Cal.   "It's different, but you've got to explore the world," he said.

SECOND-BEST: At the start of the year, Cal running back Jahvid Best was considered a Heisman Trophy and all-American candidate. However, after gaining 867 yards rushing, he went down with a head injury in the Oregon State game last month and is out for the season.  However, the Bears aren't sweating much about Best's absence because they have a guy named Shane Vereen who has stepped up and hardly missed a beat.  Kind of like Eddie Wide stepping up for Matt Asiata.  In three games, Vereen has run for 444 yards on 88 carries, an average of 148 yards per game.  "In my mind, he's always been considered a starter," Cal running backs coach Ron Gould told the San Diego Union-Tribune. "I'm not surprised by the performances he's produced the past few weeks."

Link to rest of article.

Sporting News: Utah's Robert Johnson: Coaches tell me to be the human eraser

Senior Robert Johnson knows a thing or two about stepping up when the spotlight is turned on him. He intercepted three passes in the fourth quarter this season and picked off two in the Utes' victory against Alabama in the BCS Sugar Bowl last season. Johnson talked with Sporting News' Ken Bradley about Thursday's Poinsettia Bowl matchup against Cal.

Utah relishes a chance to play a big-time school like Cal, Robert Johnson says.Sporting News: You had two picks in last year's BCS bowl win against Alabama. You enjoy the big games like this?

Robert Johnson: I love playing all the games. It seems like when a team really doesn't know that you're a good player, they kind of throw the ball toward you and I just try to try my hardest to make teams pay whenever they do throw the ball anywhere by me. Some of the big games we've played in this year like TCU and BYU, they didn't really have anybody throwing the ball by me. So I guess it was respect wise, I'm happy with it but sometimes it's more fun to do what I'm supposed to be doing. The coaches just tell me to be the human eraser.

SN: How big is it for Utah when it plays bowl games against BCS conference schools?

RJ: It's very big. Right now it's hard for certain Mountain West teams to even play against some of the big-time Pac-10 schools. The only time you run into them is around bowl games. Cal was ranked No. 4 early in the season. Cal is a real good team and has some real good players. Just to get the chance to play against them, that's one of the biggest things that makes this game even more special. It's a bowl game, but you're playing against an elite team so you want to get out there and really show you can play against them and give you the chance to really show that you can play.

Link to rest of article.

New York Times Picks No. 23 Utah to Defeat Cal in Poinsettia Bowl

This year’s Poinsettia Bowl may not carry the cachet of last season’s high-profile matchup (Boise State vs. T.C.U.), but the game will feature one team coming off of a B.C.S. bowl appearance and another whose preseason expectations included hopes of a B.C.S. spot of its own. Utah, as we know, rolled through the 2008 season undefeated before routing a talented Alabama squad in the Sugar Bowl. While the Utes slipped to 9-3 this regular season, Utah remains among the top 25 teams in the nation. California, on the other hand, has seen itself slide from a trendy pick for the best team in the Pac-10 in the preseason to a disappointing 8-4, sixth in the conference.

San Diego Country Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl

Wednesday, 8 p.m., ESPN

Utah

Like its more staid neighbors in Provo, Utah is in the midst of one of the great periods in program history. The Utes may not be playing in another B.C.S. bowl, but even after dropping one to rival B.Y.U. to end the season, they find themselves ranked and with a shot at a second consecutive double-digit win season. Such a finish was far from a certainty early in the season. The Utes have missed the consistency at quarterback of year’s past, though that position seems to be more settled following the promotion of the freshman Jordan Wynn, who replaced the JUCO transfer Terrance Cain in the starting lineup with five games left in the regular season. The defense has done its part (again), limiting opponents to less than 20 points and 175 yards passing per game. Cal quarterback Kevin Riley would be wise to keep an eye on free safety Robert Johnson, who leads the Utes with five interceptions; that total gives him 12 over his three seasons with the program. Utah did drop its early-season Pac-10 matchup, losing by 31-24 at Oregon in September.

California

Yes, losing star running back Jahvid Best could serve as a valid excuse for a significant decline in offensive productivity. (Shane Vereen, a sophomore, has actually picked up the slack in the running game quite well.) Nevertheless, there is no excuse for scoring 5 less points per game this regular season compared to last, and there is certainly no excuse for the pitiful performance Cal put forth against premier Pac-10 competion: 3 points each against Oregon and U.S.C. and 14 against Oregon State. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the Golden Bears scored only 10 points in a disheartening 32-point loss to underdog Washington in the season finale. Suffice to say, this is a team heading into postseason play with confidence issues, in dire need of a win over a top 25 opponent in order to propel itself into the off-season with some semblance of momentum. The good news? Despite periods of inconsistency, Cal’s 3-4 defense has had its moments, especially against the run. Getting to the quarterback has been an issue — linemen Tyson Alualu (an all-conference pick) and Cameron Jordan are the only players with more than two sacks — limiting the defense’s ability to stop the pass.

Link to rest of article.

LA Times: Having missed out on Roses, Cal faces a thorn in Pac-10's side

The Bears' erratic season ends Wednesday night at the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego. Their opponent will be Utah, which has had a lot of success lately against Pacific 10 Conference teams.

Followers of Pacific 10 Conference football hold these truths to be self-evident:

USC will go to a bowl every year under Pete Carroll.

Stanford's Jim Harbaugh will say or do something to irk one of his coaching colleagues.

And Utah will be a cactus-sized thorn in the side.

The Utes are 6-3 against Pac-10 teams since the start of the 2003 season, with two of the victories coming against ranked opponents.

No. 23 Utah (9-3) hopes to pull rank for a change Wednesday evening at Qualcomm Stadium against California (8-4) in the Poinsettia Bowl. The Bears will play without star tailback Jahvid Best, who continues to be held out because of the concussion he suffered last month against Oregon State.

Back in August, Cal was hoping for a trip to Pasadena instead of San Diego. Then the season started, and the Bears looked alternately horrid in losses to USC and Oregon and unstoppable in victories over Washington State and UCLA. The inconsistency continued to the end of the regular season -- an upset of Stanford in the Big Game, followed by a 42-10 loss to Washington.

"Some weeks they really light it up and play exceptionally well and other weeks they're not as consistent," Utah Coach Kyle Whittingham said.

The Utes have been surprisingly consistent despite some key personnel losses. After finishing 13-0 last season with a victory over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, Utah lost senior quarterback Brian Johnson, a few other players who departed early for the NFL and both coordinators. Offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig took the same post at Cal.

Link to rest of article.

Sporting News: Utah's Beadles: 'Leaving is going to be very bittersweet for me'

Utah's Zane Beadles is a 6-4, 304-pound tackle who has been projected to be drafted this spring in the first four rounds. The Utes will play California in Wednesday's Poinsettia Bowl — Beadles' last game for the Utes after four years of starting.

 

Zane Beadles: "I never thought I'd be starting in the Sugar Bowl, a BCS game."

Utah-Cal is a really good matchup and we're definitely looking forward to this game. Our season didn't end up like we would have liked it to with the loss to BYU in OT. We've had a bad taste in our mouths for a while now, so we want to finish our season right. We have an eight-game bowl winning streak on the line and we want to extend it to nine — and our senior class is the winningest in school history, so we want to close that out on a good note too.

 

Cal is very talented, and they've also had their ups and downs. Their losses are big losses and their big wins were really big wins. They're sort of an unpredictable team. I'm personally looking forward to the matchup with their two defensive ends — Cameron Jordan and Tyson Alualu. They're both very good, very talented. I wouldn't want this any other way for my last college game.

Link to rest of article.

 

Contra Costa Times: Cal Lands Top Recruit

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Excerpt:

Action: Cal receives a commitment from Chris Martin, the No. 3 defensive end in the country. (The Oakland native, who now lives in Colorado, had offers from Oklahoma, Florida and USC.)
Reaction I: Given his rating and his position — top-tier defensive linemen are so hard to find — Martin is arguably the biggest recruit of the Jeff Tedford era.
Reaction II: Then again, ratings don’t mean everything. (Kyle Reed was the No. 6 quarterback. Darian Hagan, awful for most of ‘09, was the No. 5 cornerback.)
Reaction III: But if Martin is merely half as good as the projections, then Cal will have one of the best DEs in the Pac-10 for several years. And if he’s as good as the projections … Andre Carter?

SF Examiner: Strength of Pac-10 kept Cal from more victories

Glenn Dickey

For Cal supporters who wonder what happened to the Bears this season, I’d suggest an answer: the Pac-10 Conference.  For a number of reasons — geographical alignment, concentration of population and media east of the Mississippi, biased perceptions — the Pac-10 conference is underrated nationally, but top to almost bottom, it’s very strong.

The one exception is Washington State, which has fallen so far behind it may suffer the same fate as Idaho, which was once part of the conference but was expelled because it wasn’t competitive. With the resurgence of Washington under Steve Sarkisian, not to mention non-conference Boise State nearby, the Cougars will have even more trouble recruiting in the northwest. And geographically, Washington State is the least attractive location of the conference schools.  Otherwise, though, the conference is solid and will be even more so as UCLA improves. Every week is an adventure. The Pac-10 is the only major conference which plays a round-robin schedule, which makes it difficult to produce a national champion.

Link to rest of article.

Salt Lake Tribune: Cal coach says Utes good enough for Pac-10

Some critics might discount the No. 23 Utes because they don't hail from a BCS conference, but don't count Cal coach Jeff Tedford among those who underestimate the Utes.  In his assessment, Utah is good enough to play in the Pac-10, Tedford said during Tuesday's Poinsettia Bowl press conference.

"Utah I don't think is any different than any other Pac-10 team," he said. "Utah can play in the Pac-10 very easily and could be competitive. Playing tough competition all year long, even our non-conference games were pretty tough competition, so I think our team understands what we are up against here as far as Utah is concerned. They are a great football team and our kids have a lot of respect for them and it's going to be like another Pac-10 team for us."   Utah coach Kyle Whittingham also attended the press conference and said Tedford's comments were a "nice compliment."  The Utes are 2-2 against the Pac-10 in bowl games, 2-4 against Cal and are 18-11 against BCS teams since the BCS began in 1998. "We are competitive," Whittingham said. "Our track record speaks for itself, the win-loss record in those situations. Good football is good football whether it's in the Pac-10 or MWC or whatever the case might be."  Despite their recent success and ranking, the Utes are three-point underdogs going into tonight's game against the Bears.

Whittingham acknowledged that often being the underdogs gave the Utes a "chip on their shoulder and an us against the world mentality." "Those guys who are making the point spreads get paid to get it correct most of the time, but I hope it's not correct this time," Whittingham said.

In the stands

A crowd of 30,000 to 33,000 is anticipated for the Poinsettia Bowl, with Cal and Utah both hoping to sell between 3,000 to 4,000 tickets, organizers said. To help bump up the ticket sales, Utah is working with former Ute Eric Weddle , who plays for the San Diego Chargers, to distribute tickets to local charities.

Weddle has spent some time hanging out with the Utes, but will miss the Poinsettia Bowl because the Chargers leave Wednesday for their game at Tennessee on Friday.

Recruiting ties

The Utes and Bears often cross paths in recruiting since California is a priority state for the Utes, who have 27 players with California ties on their roster.   Among those is Utah defensive back Kamaron Yancy , who originally signed with Cal but couldn't attend because he was a class short of meeting the academic requirements. During the year he was taking the class, Yancy decided Utah was a better fit for him.  Cal has two players from Utah on its roster, both of whom prepped at Cottonwood High. One is Keni Kaufusi , whose scholarship offer was rescinded by the Utes after he was involved in an altercation in Salt Lake City. He is now a freshman for the Bears.   The other is freshman running back Isi Sofele , who has 12 carries for 82 yards and a touchdown this season.  Whittingham said playing in San Diego would be helpful for the Utes' recruiting.  "Any time you can get a recruiting footprint and play a game, the exposure you get on national TV is very positive for recruiting," he said.

Clock watch

Many of Utah's players have used their free time to wander the Gaslamp section of San Diego, where numerous hotspots and hip bars are located. Just to make sure the players don't get caught up in the nightlife, Whittingham instituted a midnight curfew earlier in the week and one for 10:30 p.m. Tuesday night to make sure players get plenty of rest. "Nothing good happens after midnight," he said.

 

San Diego Union-Tribune: Vereen could be better than next-Best for Cal on Wednesday

The Best player on either team will not play in Wednesday’s San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl.  Cal football coach Jeff Tedford announced last week that Jahvid Best, Cal’s NFL-caliber running back, has been ruled out as he continues to rehabilitate from a terrifying concussion suffered Nov. 7.

As a result, Cal again will revert to its next-Best plan, otherwise known as better than Best, at least according to statistics in the past three games. His name is Shane Vereen. He’s a humble aspiring broadcaster from Valencia with at least two particular traits working in his favor lately: 1. He’s getting 70 percent of his team’s carries in the past three games (compared to 23 percent in the first nine). 2. He’s showing almost no signs of fatigue in consequence.

“There’s not a big drop-off,” said Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham, whose team faces Cal Wednesday at Qualcomm Stadium.   Some might say there’s no drop-off at all. Best and Vereen are the same height (5-feet-10), weight (about 195), age (20) and roughly the same speed. Vereen is considered a more physical, straight-ahead running back than Best. But Best is the one who has gotten most of the attention in Berkeley until Nov. 7, when the future of Cal’s offense may have permanently changed.

Best, a junior, is considering turning pro and is projected as a first-round NFL draft pick in April. If he leaves, Cal (8-4) already has seen a preview of what life could be like without him. Call it crazy, but some signs show it could be better. In the first game since Best’s injury, Vereen, a sophomore, carried 30 times for 159 yards against Arizona Nov. 14. In the next game, Vereen carried 42 times for 193 yards against Stanford.  When Vereen has at least 17 carries, Cal is 3-0, including Oct. 17 against UCLA, when he rushed 17 times for 154 yards. All three of those wins came against bowl-bound teams.

“In my mind, he’s always been considered a starter,” Cal running backs coach Ron Gould said. “I’m not surprised by the performances he’s produced the past few weeks.”   There were signs in high school but not as many since, mostly because Vereen was Best’s backup. Best, out of Salesian High in Richmond, was rated the ninth-best running back recruit in the nation by Rivals.com. Meanwhile, Vereen had been ranked as the nation’s fifth-best running back prospect at Valencia High.  When both senior prospects signed with Cal in 2007, questions were raised about how the ball would be shared between them and another top recruit. A year earlier, Cal had signed the nation’s 14th-best running back prospect: James Montgomery from Rancho Cordova.  The logjam was broken up somewhat when Vereen redshirted as a true freshman while Best started eight games and rushed for 867 yards.

Then Montgomery transferred to Washington State in 2008, right before Best burst out nationally with 132 rushing yards per game last season, good for third-best in the country. Vereen ranked second on the team with 55 yards per game as the backup.  The same pecking order continued this year with Best getting almost twice as many carries (141) in the first nine games as Vereen (75) until Best leapt into the end zone Nov. 7 against Oregon State, flipped over a defender and landed on the back of his head. He lost consciousness and was removed from the field on a stretcher before being taken to the emergency room with a concussion.

“It was tough, seeing what he went through,” Vereen said after a recent bowl practice at USD. “My heart goes out to him. I wish he could play with us and finish the season. But I’m glad he’s OK, and I think he’ll be OK.”  Best, who finished the season with 867 yards on 141 carries, made the trip to San Diego with his team but may have played his last game for the Bears.  By turning pro, he would be the latest running back off the assembly line from Cal since 2004, including J.J. Arrington (Arizona Cardinals), Marshawn Lynch (Buffalo Bills) and Justin Forsett (Seattle Seahawks).  Next up is Vereen, who has 444 yards on 88 carries in the past three games. He’s majoring in media studies in hopes it will help him toward a future in broadcasting. In the meantime, his media studies are expected to increase outside of class with an expected rush of interview requests from reporters. It’s what happens when you suddenly become a star at Cal. “It’s fun,” Vereen said. “It’s a different role for me, but all in all, it’s the same preparation every week. The coaches have faith in all the backs and not just me.”

SF Chronicle: Utah, Bears' assistant no strangers

Ron Kroichick

 

Many times over many college football seasons, Andy Ludwig has planted himself in front of a screen to analyze an upcoming opponent. It often becomes a blur of faceless jersey numbers and nameless defenders.  Not this time. Ludwig, as Cal's offensive coordinator, finds himself poring over video of Utah, the Bears' opponent in Wednesday night's Poinsettia Bowl. Ludwig worked as the offensive coordinator at Utah the past four seasons, helping the Utes win 13 games (including the Sugar Bowl) in the 2008 season.

"Usually, you're just looking at positions and numbers," he said. "Now when I look at tape, I look at positions and numbers, but I also know every guy's name and every guy's story. So it's a little bit different."   Ludwig fills a curious role as the Bears (8-4) try to end their topsy-turvy season on a positive note. He obviously knows Utah's personnel well, so he can offer insight on playing styles and tendencies. Then again, Utah's coaches know Ludwig well, probably giving them some insight into Cal's offense.  Even so, Ludwig really hasn't tinkered much with head coach Jeff Tedford's system - though Tedford gives him more freedom than previous Cal coordinators had. The Bears frequently run the two-back set Tedford favors, but Ludwig has added spread-formation elements and introduced more plays in the so-called Wildcat, with a snap to the tailback.  The Wildcat produced some nice gains earlier in the season, but it became less effective as Cal's opponents came to expect it.  "Some of those things can dry up, and I think you'll see defenses are catching up with it a little bit throughout football," Ludwig said. "You saw some of that with us. Early on, it was hot, then it got a little less so."

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