“Actually, we’ve been practicing so hard without them [pads] that there
wasn’t a ton of difference today, except for being able to have some
collisions,” said head coach Jeff Tedford. “They were getting after it
pretty hard, especially yesterday, so it makes me feel a little better
with the shoulder pads on today. They have been practicing very hard and
very fast. There’s no question they’re ready to get the full pads on.”
There were two installments of the 11-on-11s, including a two-minute drill
in the early going. The wide receiver corps looked strong as redshirt
freshman Michael Calvin used his size and strength to shake defenders and
haul in several passes thrown his way.
“Camp’s been going pretty well,” said Calvin. “Every day I’ve been
progressing; I’m getting a feel for everything and I’m in my comfort zone.
But even when I’m getting out of my comfort zone, I’m feeling comfortable.
I can work on everything – blocking, squaring up, sticking my routes,
running the routes right, making good reads. I am ready for full pads,
ready to get after it.”
Junior wide out Nyan Boateng displayed great concentration down the
sidelines catching a deep pass from Nate Longshore, while freshman Marvin Jones continued to impress in the early stages of camp, when he corralled
a pass with one arm falling down in the 1-on-1 drills. Sophomore Kevin Riley also hooked up with LaReylle Cunningham on a couple of occasions,
including a back of the endzone juggling grab by Cunningham in the second
11-on-11 session.
Longshore and junior Cameron Morrah both were clicking on the same page,
as the senior signal caller found the 6-4 tight end many times.
“The quarterbacks were pretty sharp today. They had a lot of zing on
their passes. They threw it with authority and they made good decisions.
It was a real good day today for them.”
Cal’s running backs have been productive thus far as sophomore Jahvid Best
continued to shake defenders, including a long scamper in the first
11-on-11 drill. “I’m real excited [to be out here practicing],” said Best.
“I was thinking a week before camp started how much I can’t wait to get
out here. I haven’t played real football in a while. It feels good to be
back.”
A new drill which has been added to the team’s rotation this fall has been
a circuit of turnover drills conducted at the start of each practice.
“When you look at the stats, we something like [28-2] when we win the
turnover battle,” said Tedford. “It’s pretty evident that when we don’t
win the turnover battle, we’re like [10-18]. So it’s very evident that we
need to win the turnover battle. We need everybody to know how to secure
footballs, how to take footballs away, how to recover footballs, how to
judge tipped balls. That’s what these drills are about.”
Defensively in fall camp, the linebackers have shown speed and strength in
several of the drills. Junior Devin Bishop, younger brother of former
linebacker and current member of the Green Bay Packers, Desmond Bishop,
has been taking advantage of his opportunity this fall.
“It feels real
good to be out here,” said Bishop. “I’ve been able to show the coaches
what I’m capable of out here. And it gives me more room to improve on a
consistent basis, and hopefully it will improve my chances of getting out
on the field and contributing any way I can. We’re a real deep unit. We’re
all competing out here, but we al get along. We’re a real close unit
[speaking about the backers] and it’s good that way.”
“We talk all the time,” said Bishop [on talking to Desmond]. “He’ll ask
how I’m doing and how I can get better.”