Cal has a real QB controversy

[Freak]

[b]Cal already dips into QB reserves

Sept. 7, 2005 12:00 AM

When this season kicked off, California coach Jeff Tedford had to worry about replacing Aaron Rodgers, the gifted quarterback who led the Golden Bears to 10 wins a year ago.

Now Tedford has to find a replacement for Rodgers' replacement. Matt Longshore, who won the starting job in camp, broke his left ankle late in the first half of Cal's 41-3 victory over Division I-AA Sacramento State Saturday and is expected to miss the rest of the season.

Tedford has named Joseph Ayoob, a junior college transfer, to start the Golden Bears' Pac-10 opener at Washington Saturday. This hasn't fired up fans who watched Ayoob go 0 for 10 in his major-college debut last weekend.

"We've got to give him a chance," Tedford said Tuesday on the Pac-10's weekly media teleconference. "We had Kyle Boller here and we had Aaron Rodgers, so people get used to almost perfection. When our people have come to expect perfection out of that position, of course when you miss some (passes) they're going to be saying, 'What's going on?' But we need to have patience."

Tedford chose Ayoob over Steve Levy, who completed 2 of 7 passes for 52 yards and a touchdown last weekend. Levy is a junior who lettered at fullback a year ago but switched to quarterback last spring, just in case.


• Southern California coach Pete Carroll reacted sharply to a report in the Los Angeles Daily News that tailback LenDale White is unhappy about his role. The newspaper reported that White was "angry and upset . . . because he clearly took a back seat to tailback Reggie Bush" in USC's 63-17 victory at Hawaii.

The Daily News said White, who has been a stalwart short-yardage back, was peeved that he didn't get the call when Bush scored from a yard out in the third quarter.

"That's what happens when you've got the Heisman Trophy tailback on the team," White told the newspaper, referring to Bush, a Heisman finalist last year. "I don't worry about it. I don't talk to Pete (Carroll) and I don't talk to (running backs coach Todd McNair) about my carries ever. I have no clue at all what's going on. You've got Bush on the team, and that's what happens."

Bush finished with 12 carries and White with 13.

Carroll dismissed the notion that there's trouble in Troy.

"It was a great effort on the part of the media to try to get them to say something they wanted them to say, and they wouldn't do it," Carroll said.


• Oregon State place-kicker Alexis Serna had a little better opener this year. A year ago, Serna missed three extra points in the Beavers' 22-21 overtime loss at Louisiana State. On Saturday, he nailed all five extra points and a pair of field goals in a 41-14 win over Division I-AA Portland State.

[milohimself]

First of all, this article didn't even get Cal's QB's name right. It's Nate Longshore. And for some reason, Tedford's quarterbacks always seem to flourish. He's already produced two of the country's best QB's in this millenium, and I expect him to do the same with Ayoob. Then he's got Kevin Riley from Beaverton, Oregon coming in next year who is a tremendous talent.

[Volstorm]

Tedford has proven to be a hellava coach at Cal. Can't wait to play them next year.

[milohimself]

Should be a great game. Assuming he does well... The turnaround he has managed there is nothing short of miraculous.

[Jmxvol]

We are gonna slap Cal around like the stepchild of the Pac10 they are

[Freak]

I should have known I could get milo riled up. Milo, you are the only one that could put a positive spin on a new QB that has yet to complete his first pass in ten tries on the major college level.

[TRIVol]

In the Pac-10, ten incompletes is only .000001 percent of your passes.

They don't know what it's like to run the ball like MEN!

[Jmxvol]

sounds like AJ suggs-type stats

[milohimself]

Originally posted by vol_freak@Sep 7, 2005 7:47 PM
[b]I should* have known I could get milo riled up. Milo, you are the only one that could put a positive spin on a new QB that has yet to complete his first pass in ten tries on the major college level.

[snapback]138889[/snapback]

Well... I know Ayoob was supposed to show a lot of upside, and I think Tedford can bring out the upside in a QB better than most coaches in the game. I know it's a dire situation but Tedford's fixed worse problems than that.

At least they still have Lynch to take some pressure off the passing game if it's needed. He had like 150 yards in three quarters or some such number.

[milohimself]

Originally posted by TRIVol@Sep 7, 2005 8:04 PM
[b]In the Pac-10, ten incompletes is only .000001 percent of your passes.

They don't know what it's like to run the ball like MEN!*

[snapback]138920[/snapback]

That's because our superiority in the passing game has rendered the run less effective, unlike conferences with archaic offenses such as the SEC.

[Jmxvol]

USC should run the T-formation

[milohimself]

With Reggie Bush and LenDale White in at the same time?

[milohimself]

Ayoob:
13/20 226yds. 4 TD's 1 INT

And that INT was the receiver's fault

This is still early in the 3rd quarter against Washington

You were saying, freak?