The second CGB college fantasy football league needs one more person to join by Tuesday. If interested, follow the link here and use the password "Tedford" to join the league [edit: league's full now!]. The second NFL league also needs more people. Click here and use the password "Berkeley" if you're interested. The pick 'em league is ongoing, so go here at any time to join.
Tedford has instituted a new way for his team to prepare for its upcoming opponents: use the second team as the scout team. We'll have to see if this better prepares the team for formidable opponents such as Oregon and USC.
The Bears aren’t going to utilize scout team players as much this season. Instead, coach Jeff Tedford wants to simulate the speed of real games more effectively, so he’s going to have his offense and defense go against the real defense and offense. So the Bears will still be going against the opponent’s schemes, they will just be doing so against presumably better players.
Tedford said the No. 2 defense will serve as the scout team for the No. 1 offense, and the No. 2 offense will do the same for the No. 1 defense. So if the Bears are going up against a good defensive end one week, the offense could see someone like Trevor Guyton on the other side, not a freshman on the scout team. Tedford believes practicing this way will have his players better prepared for games.
In the meantime, younger players who are redshirting that typically would be on the scout team are instead going to run plays against each other.
Tedford said he is making the change not only to better simulate the speed and tempo of a game, but it’s also another way to put an extra focus on competition at practice.
After the jump Tedford talks about the depth chart, the team takes UC Davis seriously, and the fall sports season officially begins!
Football
- Ted Miller examines the 'burning questions' for Cal this season.
- During Friday's practice Tedford said another true freshman--safety Michael Coley--will be in the mix to play this season.
- Tedford explains some mistakes on the depth chart as well as some details we shouldn't pay too much attention to due to ongoing competition (right guard, for example). Daily Cal gets some quotes from Tedford as he lends some insight into how he decided who would and would not be starters going into the season opener. Crumpacker has some quotes from Tedford as he compares Vereen to Best and discusses the decision to start Josh Hill at safety.
- Tedford is not letting the team overlook UC Davis, especially after its win over Stanford in 2005 and its close game against Boise State last year. Both Dave Wilkerson and Gabe King were cleared by the NCAA.
- Pitchfork Nation (ASU) predicts Cal will finish 8th in the conference with a 6-6 (3-6) record.
- Wilner previews the Pac-10. He projects Cal at sixth and has Washington, UCLA, and Arizona filling out the top-three spots and entering the NCAA tournament.
- No. 11 women's volleyball opened the season with a sweep of UCSB. They followed that up with a sweep of Manhattan College.
Field Hockey
- Women's field hockey lost a second-half lead in its eventual 4-3 loss to Miami (Ohio).