The Cal Football Fan

Personnel updates, QB controversy?

WR Robert Jordan practiced yesterday and “he will play as long as he doesn’t suffer any ill effects on his shoulder.” He appeared to re-injure his hurt shoulder while laying out for a catch last week at Arizona State. FB Will Ta’ufo’ou is also practicing “without limitation” after missing last week due to recurring knee problems.

Sadly, DE Rulon Davis may be out for awhile with a sprained MCL. He returned from a foot injury and immediately made an impact on the pass rush in the Arizona State game. He’ll be sorely missed for the next few weeks.

What about the quarterback situation? Earlier, the CC Times’ J. Okanes observed:

After Nate Longshore took every first team rep at practice Tuesday, Kevin Riley took every first team rep on Wednesday. Longshore still got in some work, but coach Jeff Tedford said that Longshore needed a day of rest.

After Thursday’s practice, Okanes now thinks that QB Nate Longshore is clearly the starter. However, things might be a little murky:

Coach Jeff Tedford once again said it will be a gametime decision. …

Based on what I saw Thursday, it seemed fairly clear that Longshore is the starter. But based on Tedford’s comments, I’m not so sure… saying simply that he is going to continue to monitor Longshore’s condition until Saturday makes me think there might be a better chance of Riley playing than you might expect. …

For the record, Longshore seemed to be moving pretty well. The fact that he was able to practice fully on Tuesday after aggravating his ankle sprain Saturday made me think that he was in pretty good condition.

Yikes, this sounds familiar. Longshore may look normal now, but his ankle has a habit of breaking down as games go on. TBIOOF makes a good point here:

[T]he issue has not been Longshore’s ability to practice or play, but rather his ability to play an entire game. In both the UCLA and Arizona State games, he has started incredibly well, with the passing game leading the Bears. But he has faded to mediocrity in the third quarter, and has been outright awful in the fourth quarter - two interceptions against UCLA, two more against ASU, and the horrible final series against the Sun Devils.

Despite Tedford’s insistence to the contrary, Longshore’s mechanics have melted down as the game’s have gone on. He clearly has both been dropping to side-armed throws (a good indication of a bad leg) and throwing without using his legs at all.

So, the question is…if Longshore is still hampered, why would he be the starter?

We’ll probably see Longshore in the starting lineup tomorrow, but I hope that Tedford is willing to make a change if things fall apart — otherwise, we might be watching in pain as recent history repeats itself.