Cal Bears quotes and notes from Tuesday's media luncheon

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Next up for the Golden Bears football team will be the Golden Gophers, on the road at TCF Bank Stadium on Saturday.

If past is prelude, this coming game could be looked at from two different perspectives for Cal.  One perspective could be the angle of looking at last year's visit to Maryland, while another could be from the perspective of how they've played so far this season.

While the Maryland game of 2008 is more than a valid perspective, I choose to look at the coming game from the perspective of how good Cal has played this season.  Apparently, many in the media are choosing the Maryland perspective, judging by some of the questions about it.

Again, just to be clear, it's a valid point.

The Bears are leaving for Minnesota a day earlier (Thursday) than they did against Maryland last season.  One of the questions posed to Coach Tedford was 'why' he chose to go a day earlier.  "You don't have anything to compare it to unless you try it," said Tedford.  "Our emphasis has really been, fly in there, practice, do the same thing we do at the hotel, get up and play, and that's it. That's what we've always done. There's going to be more time now."

Starting quarterback Kevin Riley was asked if leaving Thursday would make a difference on their road success (Cal was 1-4 on the road last season) from last season.  "We'll see," he said diplomatically.  "It might. I've never done it before."

Defensive lineman Derrick Hill was also asked about Maryland.  The question was whether or not he agreed with Tedford's assessment on the team being a little rushed last year.  "I kind of felt the same way as far as being rushed," he said.  He also relayed that along with the time difference, the weather was a big factor as well, saying, "When we arrived in Maryland, it was raining.  When we landed, I was like, 'Oh yeah, it's supposed to be cold.'  You step out the plane and it's still 80-degrees with the rain."  All of these factors contributed to him concluding, "I think going up there a day earlier will allow us to not only adapt to the situation and the environment, but it will also allow us to get our bodies used to being in that type of weather."

When D.J. Holt was asked if playing so early (PST) was a factor for the sluggish play last year, he bluntly stated, "Yeah, that was definitely a big factor."  He also said that he was on board with leaving early.

Eddie Young said that leaving on Friday may have been a factor for the Bears' sluggish play against Maryland.  He went on to say, "I can't say it hurt us or helped us last year, but it's [leaving Thursday] definitely going to get us ready this year."

I asked Riley what he thought about the Bears' offensive performance from Saturday after seeing the film.  "I think we performed well, not great," he replied.  While he did mention wanting to get the offense going quicker in the game, he also said that the offensive line played well--pointing out that the team ran for 342 yards for the day.  He also said that since the offense has been nearly error free so far, it's making his job much easier and he's far more comfortable in the pocket this season than last year.

In the 3-4, the defensive line plays a huge role in making other position groups look good.  Without the three linemen occupying blockers, the smaller linebackers are left to handle them instead.  So when Mychal Kendricks is being a tackle machine or Mike Mohamed is sacking quarterbacks, it's all thanks to the guys up front who don't get their name called--especially the nose guard.

So I asked Cal's nose guard Derrick Hill if the line takes pride in helping the linebackers earn their acclaim.  Hill said, "We take a lot of pride in keeping linemen off of our linebackers.  By us doing our job, it allows this defense to work, and it's not just one individual effort, it's the whole team."

Hill also said that he's been hassling linebackers' coach Kenwick Thompson, and Thompson's wife, all summer about the defensive line being thanked for their part in the linebackers' success.  Hill swayed Thompson into looking out for the defensive line by explaining to him that the offensive line, who are responsible for helping to make the rest of the skill players look good, get rewarded with food sometimes.  He said that Coach Thompson has shown his appreciation this season.

For most of the press conference transcript of both Tedford and Riley, you can click here.

Other notes:

• I'm a little late in reporting this, but Isi Sofele is at tailback and will remain there for the rest of the season.  Tedford said the decision was due to a lack of depth at running back and the improved play of the receivers.
• So far, Tedford is impressed with Sofele, a true freshman.  He said of Sofele, "He's explosive, he can do a lot of things."
• The Bears came out of the Eastern Washington game without any injuries, besides a slight concussion suffered by Brian Holley who had no symptoms on Tuesday.  Tedford said that he would be running around at practice, but wouldn't be hitting.
• Giorgio Tavecchio's kickoffs were improved, but Tedford said that they are still going to bring Vince D'Amato along so that they could create some competition for that job.
• For Cal game notes, you can click here for the pdf.
• Jahvid Best was honored by the CFPA for the second straight week.
• Cal moved up to No. 7 in the Examiner.com college football poll.  I have them at No. 4 right now.
• I'll be at practice Wednesday and will be updating more then.  If I find some time, I'll post more quotes also.