Comments (14)

By Dave Consolazio and Sam Saig, December 4, 2009 1:27 pm

Cal Bears (8-3) vs. Washington Huskies (4-7)
Saturday, December 5, 3:30 PM PST
Las Vegas Favorite: Cal -7.0

Continue reading 'Week 14 Game Matchup: Cal Bears VS. Washington Huskies'»

Comments (322)

By Dave Consolazio, July 15, 2009 11:06 am

When a team averages 5.4 yards per carry over the course of the entire season (good for 10th best in the nation), it’s probably a safe guess that they’ve got a pretty special backfield. In the dynamic 1-2 punch of Jahvid Best and Shane Vereen, the Cal Bears certainly have that.

But while Jahvid Best receives all of the Heisman Trophy hype, and Shane Vereen is heralded as the next big thing in Berkeley (both fairly so), the offensive line will keep doing what offensive lines do best; opening up those holes and leaving the star power to the skill position players.

While the loss of center Alex Mack is a tremendous blow for the Cal Bears to withstand, Coach Jeff Tedford and Cal haven’t produced seven straight 1,000 yard rushers simply by recruiting talented tailbacks. The Bears have done a great job recruiting and developing offensive linemen over that stretch as well, and this year shouldn’t prove to be much different.

With Kevin Riley (sacked 19 times last season) likely to be asked to just run a safe offense this season and let his running backs do the work, the Bears are going to need those holes to keep opening up and Riley to have time when he is asked to throw if 2009 is going to be the year that they finally put everything together and take their spot atop the conference.

Chet Teofilo battles to hold off ASU's attack

Continue reading 'Pac-10 Position Breakdown: Offensive Line – Cal Bears'»