Tedford was asked the by now-standard question about this being a revenge game,
but he shifted the focus immediately to the realities of the team's preparation
for the game. "The game is not about revenge - maybe redemption - but
it's really more about us. We need to keep the focus on ourselves."
"I don't really have any concerns going into this game except
that we stay healthy." He explained that with full speed
drills there's an increased risk of injury. He said that it's hard to adequately simulate game speed
in practice in spite of running full-speed drills yesterday and more today ... "with
the first unit offense against the first unit defense."
Even while saying he had no "concerns", he readily acknowledged that this is an important game with two ranked
teams playing each other. He added that he has never had a loss come under
so much scrutiny as the opening game loss did last year. "Even after the season
was over," he said, "it was like, 'How about that loss to
Tennessee? And, oh, by the way, nice bowl game.' "
"I think that was the worst game we've ever played, I don't
remember ever being down 35-0." It wasn't a happy loss either,
if there ever is one. Tedford said that the loss last year wasn't so
much about the loss, it was the way Cal lost.
"Playing a top twenty team in the first game is very high risk - high
reward situation, especially against a team like Tennessee - they are very
physical and come at you at high speed. They are about as good as it gets."
Playing last year in a stadium with 110,000 fans and a wall of sound was an
eye opener for many on the team. Tedford took the positives from it, now
saying that "It was a great learning experience for us. We went in feeling
pretty good but ran into a hostile environment and a good team. We took a lot
of lessons away from it - I took a lot of lessons from it. I learned that
maybe we went in to it a bit too wound up - I learned that we need to
keep the focus on ourselves."
"I wouldn't say that Tennessee is more physical than some teams
in the Pac-10 - some of the teams in the Pac-10 are just as physical.
But that first kickoff at the Tennessee game was like a train wreck. Big fast
people were colliding with each other all over the field. I don't think
it was our preparation that was the problem going into that game, it was more
our execution."
He was asked if it was hard for him the night before the game - and whether
it would be a rough night before this upcoming game. With a bit of wry humor
Tedford responded that isn't any different before any game, saying, "I'm
a wreck the night before them all. It doesn't matter who the opponent
is, it doesn't matter if it's on national TV - we just always
want to do our best."
He addressed the issue of crowd noise, and made it a point of emphasis to
say he wanted to "challenge Cal fans right now to bring a huge effort
to the game."
Tedford was asked about the current mood of the team, and whether he has been
able to learn to "read" his team before a game to see whether they
are ready to play. He said that it's been hard for him to do that. "Sometimes
I have thought they were on fire, but then they came out flat. Then other times
I was worried that the team was flat and they came out on fire. The team has
been practicing well this fall, they understand what has to be done, and I
have a lot of confidence in the team leadership.'
Commenting on the wide receivers, Tedford first singled out DeSean Jackson; "He
has matured, he's handling all the media attention very well - maybe
all the attention has forced him to do that. He knows the offense better, he
understands now that the ball is going to go different places on the field,
but that's also true of all our wide receivers.' In response to a follow-up
question, he acknowledged that his starting corps of wide receivers "has
to be one of the best in the country."
"Yes, it helps that everyone in the defensive backfield has game experience."
Tedford used that subject to once again comment on Syd'Quan Thompson's
experience last year playing as a true freshman, again pointing out that Thompson
missed two big plays against Tennessee because he was being aggressive, going
for the ball - and that he didn't fault Thompson for that. As Thompson
proved through the remainder of the season, eventually being named a Pac-10
freshman of the year, it's game experience that is the best cure for
those lapses.
Continuing the theme of comparing last year's game to this, Tedford
was asked about Nate Longshore's improvement. "He's
as different as night and day," said Tedford. "He's seen
it all, he knows the offense, and it's not even close comparing him then
to now. He had a very solid year and now he's very comfortable out there."
Coach Tedford talked about kicking off from the 30 instead of the 35 - saying
that it would certainly result in more and deeper runbacks. He said he would
be interested to see whether the new rule resulted in real changes in field
position - and whether more total points would be scored during the season. "It
will be even more important to avoid penalties on kickoff coverage and returns - you
wouldn't want to see a touchdown called back because of a penalty,
and you don't want to start out from your own 5-yard line - that would
be a lot of field in front of you."
Several questions were asked about scheduling strong opponents, particularly for the first game.
"We would like to play a top-20 out-of-conference team every year because doing
that helps us understand where we are as a team - but maybe not in the
opener."
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