Kevin Riley was efficient, accurate and comfortable quarterbacking the Cal football team's offense on Wednesday. Which, he says, considering his experience, is the way it should be.

"I know that much more about the system, I feel that much more comfortable and every call I go with I'm 100 percent with it," Riley said after practice. "I've been working on my form and in this camp I've been a lot more consistent than I have in the past."

The junior strengthened his case for the starting role on a warm Wednesday evening at Memorial Stadium, putting together his best practice of the Bears' fall camp. He worked primarily with the first-team offense, opening Cal's team session with back-to-back completions to Marvin Jones andNyan Boateng, and overall outplayed Brock Mansion, who threw several nice balls but couldn't match Riley's consistency.

Riley showed quick decision-making on one play where he rolled out of the pocket to find a linebacker in his face and zipped a pass to tight end Anthony Miller in the flat. He showed nice touch several plays later, floating a pass to a streakingJahvid Best up the far sideline that hit Best in stride but bounced off his fingertips. Working with the second team during the third team session of the afternoon, Riley again put just the right amount of air under a screen pass forCovaughn DeBoskie -Johnson, who caught the ball in a full sprint near midfield and probably would have scored had the team been running a live situation.

His one questionable decision was on an option to his left, when he elected to keep the ball rather than pitch to Best and wound up face to face with linebacker D.J. Holt. Two plays later, he ran option again, this time pitching to Best for a gain of about 20 yards. Put him down as a fast learner, as well.

As the first week of camp winds down, Riley appears to be warming up.

"I'm just progressing as camp goes on," he said. "My feet are getting better with the routes so I'm not half-hitching trying to throw.

"Yesterday and today I've just been playing smart, making my reads and completing passes."

Part of that he attributes to a newfound confidence in his receivers, with whom he said he "wasn't on the same page" last year.

"To compare with last year, I think both of us had confidence issues with each other," Riley said. "One of them probably felt more comfortable with Nate (Longshore), one of them felt more comfortable with me. And this year is completely different. We're just comfortable with each other."

The receivers and quarterbacks worked on establishing a rhythm together over the summer, and both groups are benefiting from it in practice. Coach JeffTedford said Wednesday that he has been very pleased with the quarterback play as a whole so far in camp, noting that they are "much more improved even from the spring with their accuracy."

Riley knows, though, that being accurate for two days is one thing, while maintaining it over the course of the next few weeks could be the key to claiming sole possession of that starting spot. He stays neutral on the subject -- "I'm not worried about it right now ... That's up to the coaches to make that decision" -- but he does believe that, as of now, the first snaps against Maryland are his to lose.

"I've been consistent on our third downs, red-zone drills, making smart plays, converting first downs, not making very many mistakes, and that's what it takes," Riley said.

"Done a lot of good things, last year did some bad things, but I just learned from that and it's made me a better player."

Quick Look at the Kickers

The Bears ran through a quick session with the kickoff team on Wednesday, designed to allow the coverage team to work on their get-offs. But it also gave the kickers a chance to let loose for the first time this fall.

Giorgio Tavecchio took three reps, landing his kicks at about the 4-, the 10- and the 3-yard lines. His last kick, which also had some hang time, drew a few sounds of appreciation from players. DavidSeawright reached the end zone on his first try and squibbed his second. Freshman Vince D'Amato kicked once, landing inside the 5-yard line.

One of Wednesday's funnier moments also came courtesy of Tavecchio, who was practicing kickoffs while the offensive linemen ran a drill in the end zone. Tavecchio nailed a line drive that hit guard Matt Summers-Gavin square in the face mask from about 60 yards. Tavecchio appeared apologetic, Summers-Gavin indifferent.

Dressing Down

Defensive starters Eddie Young and Syd'Quan Thompson did not participate in Wednesday's practice, appearing on the field in T-shirts and shorts. Both spent much of the afternoon doing push-ups on the sidelines.Tedford was adamant that they missed practice for team reasons, and that those reasons had no business outside of the team.

"If there's something wrong with them and they can't practice and it's newsworthy, then it's newsworthy," Tedford said. "If it's something that we're doing in-house here, nobody needs to know about it."

Tight end Spencer Ladner, who suffered an injury to his hamstring several days ago, was wearing a red jersey but already moving around without crutches. Second-team center Richard Fisher appeared to injure himself during a team drill and lay motionless on the turf for several minutes before being helped off the field. He was worked on by trainers and returned to the offensive line group before the end of practice.

Personnel

With Young out, Charles Johnson took first-team reps at strong side outside linebacker. Cornerbacks Josh Hill and Bryant Nnabuife took a good number of the reps with the first-team defense. Freshman wideout Spencer Hagan made the catch of the day with an extended one-handed grab for a touchdown. Nyan Boateng had one of his own, reaching up for a pass from Riley after slipping during his route. Justin Cheadle continued to play right guard with the first-team offense.

Tags: FALL CAMP, KEVIN RILEY, JEFF TEDFORD, CAL, CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS, CAL FOOTBALL