Best "Coming Along Well"

As expected, the first question posed to Cal coach Jeff Tedford at Tuesday's media luncheon was about the status of tailback Jahvid Best. And while he didn't have many new details, Tedford sounded optimistic about the recovery of the sophomore sensation.

"Jahvid is coming along very well," Tedford said. "A lot of encouraging news with him.

"After the MRI they saw that there were some capsule issues, of course, when you dislocate anything. But nothing is torn so there's no surgical procedure needs to be done. We feel like by the Arizona game, there's the possibility he might be back. No guarantee, but the possibility."

While Best is down, redshirt freshman Shane Vereen and sophomore Tracy Slocum will hold things down in the backfield. Best is typically regarded as the most explosive of the Bears' running backs, but Vereen has shown his playmaking abilities with an 81-yard touchdown run against Michigan State and a 39-yard scamper to the end zone against Washington State that featured a highlight-reel spin move.

All-America center Alex Mack, for one, doesn't expect to see much of a dropoff in production.

"I think Shane's done a really good job and Tracy's a real hard-nosed runner," Mack said. "I'm confident in all our running backs."

He went on to say that the differences between Best and Vereen are almost negligible.

"They're both really fast," Mack said. "They're both explosive backs with a lot of speed and in my mind they're pretty similar."

Tedford also expounded on Vereen's abilities in the backfield, highlighting his speed in the open field and his physicality, which allows him to compete well in pass protection.

Freshman Covaughn DeBoskie will dress for Saturday's game against Arizona State and be ready to play, but Tedford said that he has no desire to break DeBoskie's redshirt unless it's absolutely necessary.

"We will bring Covaughn down at our end and have him prepared to play, and only use him if need be, knowing Jahvid's going to be back as soon as he is," Tedford said. "It may be only one week that he's out as far as games are concerned, so you don't want to burn a redshirt for Covaughn if not need be."

Tedford: Quarterbacks Will Take Equal Reps in Practice

Just over a month since Tedford named Kevin Riley as his starting quarterback, it looks like the competition is open again.

Tedford all but made it official on Tuesday by saying that Riley and senior Nate Longshore will take equal repetitions with the first-team offense during practice this week, and that he will name a starter--again--before Saturday.

"I feel like we need to start a little bit faster," Tedford said. "I think offensively we started kinda slow in our games and we need a little boost in there. We cannot afford to continue to wait and wait and wait for things to happen, and so we need to find out who's the guy that puts us in the best situation to start a little bit faster."

Riley struggled to get going against Colorado State last Saturday, throwing for just 59 yards on 13 attempts and badly missing several open receivers. He was removed from the game halfway through the third quarter in favor of Longshore, who went on to complete nine of 13 attempts for 100 yards and two touchdowns.

Tedford said that he has talked to Riley about his decision to reopen the competition, and that Riley "understands."

"He understands that we've started a little bit slow and he's missed a couple balls," Tedford said. "But I told him that you don't get down about it, you compete and continue to do what you're doing.

"Kevin's young. Nate's an experienced guy. Nate's had good, he's had bad, back and forth. Nate's a very strong guy and puts it all in perspective and is very mature about it. Kevin's a little bit younger, so he's going to have to learn that everything isn't always going to be good. With that position, there's going to be some bad days, there's going to be some rough days. So I think it's important that you respond."

As in fall camp, members of the Cal offense maintained that they are comfortable with either quarterback, and that the attention swirling around the renewed competition isn't much of a distraction.

"I mean, it really doesn't affect us too much," wideout Jeremy Ross said. "At the end of the day, the ball's still coming out of somebody's hands and we've got to catch it."

Ross Still Coming Down From Saturday

Last Saturday's win was a landmark game for Ross, who recorded his first career touchdown on his first career catch with 9:17 left in the fourth quarter.

"That was one of the best moments of my life, man," Ross said on Tuesday. "I was in there, but I couldn't believe it. I was like, 'Wow.'"

Ross was the beneficiary of a snap decision by Longshore, who checked out of his original play at the line of scrimmage. Longshore instead hit Ross on a 14-yard slant-the quarterback's first touchdown pass of the season.

"Yeah, I seen it," Ross said. "There was a backer slightly inside of me and there was a safety kinda deep in the end zone, so I felt like I was just wide open right there when he called the audible. As soon as he called it, I was like, 'Okay, I got a good chance to get this ball.'"

Hagan's Role Continues to Expand

Cornerback Darian Hagan is seeing his role with the Bears continue to grow as a result of Best's injury.

Best is Cal's No. 1 kickoff returner, and currently leads the Pac-10 with an average of 31.6 yards per return.

But with Best sidelined for Saturday against the Sun Devils, Hagan will take over as the No. 1 returner, alongside running back Tracy Slocum.

Tedford also took some time to laud Hagan's play at cornerback against the Rams. The redshirt sophomore recorded seven tackles and his first career interception playing opposite No. 1 corner Syd'Quan Thompson.

"For Darian to come up and tackle and make plays, for Brett Johnson to run the alleys and make plays, I thought they both really responded well," Tedford said. "Darian is not only playing the pass very well, but I thought he made some excellent tackles in the open field last week.

"The more experience he gets, I think we have two pretty solid cornerbacks."

Tags: NATE LONGSHORE, KEVIN RILEY, SHANE VEREEN, JAHVID BEST, JEFF TEDFORD, CAL FOOTBALL