Neither Kevin Riley nor Brock Mansion seized outright control of the Cal football team's quarterback competition and Jahvid Best headlined a number of regular starters missing from the first scrimmage of fall camp Tuesday evening.

Best was present and dressed but did not set foot on the field, still nursing a sore toe that hasn't allowed him to take a rep at tailback since Friday. In his absence, ShaneVereen, Dasarte Yarnway and Covaughn DeBoskie -Johnson split the majority of the carries as the offense and defense squared off in a series of situational drives -- and no running back found the end zone on the ground all afternoon.

Scoring instead came by the passing game in the quarterbacks' first real opportunity this season to run the offense with the coaches on the sidelines -- or as Mansion put it, without having their hands being held. Riley and Mansion shared equal time with the first and second teams and posted almost identical numbers: Riley completed 11 of his 21 passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns, while Mansion was 14-for-22 for 141 yards and three scores.

"They made some good throws, made some bad throws in certain situations, but I'd say they played average," Bears coach Jeff Tedford said.

After throwing an incomplete pass on his first attempt of the day, Mansion reeled off a string of eight consecutive completions, including five straight as part of a 70-yard touchdown drive. He connected with receiver Verran Tucker for 19 yards down the middle on a third-and-nine, and then capped the drive with a 13-yard pass to a streaking DeBoskie-Johnson down the right sideline. Mansion's eighth completion in a row was also good for a touchdown, 19 yards to fullback Will Kapp.

The sophomore cooled down a little after that, leaving several throws short, but also left a positive impression on Tedford with his command and presence in the huddle.

"I felt good -- just warming up today, when I first walked on the field, I thought today was going to be a good day," Mansion said. "The way (offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig) was calling the plays made sense to me, so I just went out there, had a nice rhythm and made some passes."

Riley's touchdown throws were a 30-yard strike to tight end Jarrett Sparks on the first play of a drive and a quick out to receiver Jeremy Ross, who shed a tackler near the sideline and danced into the end zone from 14 yards out. With the starting spot still officially up in the air, Riley said after the scrimmage that he believes he is doing what is necessary to win the job.

"I'm being consistent, missed a couple too many throws today but can't really worry about it," he said. "Just moving the ball in crucial situations, scoring in the red zone is huge and converting our third downs is big."

Both quarterbacks were particularly efficient on drives when the ball was placed on or inside the opponent's 30-yard line -- four of those six drives ended in touchdown passes. All three of Mansion's touchdowns came against the second-team unit, while Riley threw both of his against the ones.

The first-team defense, though, was missing several veterans who sat out of the scrimmage in order to get the younger players some work. Cornerback Syd'Quan Thompson, defensive end Tyson Alualu and linebacker Mike Mohamed did not play, although Mohamed appeared on the punt coverage team. Safety Marcus Ezeff, who sprained his ankle several days ago, sat out as well.

Along with Best, the first-team offense was missing center Chris Guarnero, who recently tore a ligament in his left thumb and had surgery to repair it on Tuesday morning. Redshirt freshman Dominic Galas played with the first team and was wild at times with shotgun snaps. The offense also committed two early holding penalties and several false starts, apparently somewhat affected by the crowd noise being pumped into the stadium to help simulate live play.

Tedford called the overall showing "rusty."

"Offensively, too many penalties, too many bad snaps, that type of thing that you can't have in certain situations," he said. "Defensively, I thought we did pretty well. Gave up a few touchdowns there down in the red zone, but for the most part did a pretty nice job playing on a full field."

Quick Hits

-- Guarnero will probably miss "a couple of days," according to Tedford, depending on how much the thumb is bothering him. He was at Tuesday's scrimmage in a red jersey and with his left arm in a sling.

"It's basically going to come down to pain tolerance," Tedford said regarding Guarnero's timeline for return. "He can't hurt it any more."

Guarnero has been practicing with the first team since day one of camp and, if healthy, will likely start the season opener against Maryland at center.

-- Tight end Tad Smith was injured during the scrimmage and had to be helped off the field, limping on his right leg. The senior, who missed most of the offseason after breaking his scapula during spring workouts, returned to the sideline on crutches. Tedford said that it's a problem with Smith's knee, but that he didn't have more information than that.

-- Receiver Michael Calvin could be out for a couple weeks after undergoing a scope on his right knee on Monday. Calvin missed the majority of last season when he tore the ACL in his right knee during a practice before the Arizona State game. Calvin had fluid and swelling in the right knee, Tedford said, and the scope was just to "clean some things up." Tedford said that Calvin could be back to practicing as soon as a week from now, but could also potentially be out of commission for the Maryland game, which is two and a half weeks away.

-- Beau Sweeney saw limited action Tuesday quarterbacking the third-team offense. He completed four of his nine passing attempts for 28 yards.

-- The biggest celebration of the scrimmage came at the very end, when freshman kicker Vince D'Amato nailed a 42-yard field goal to save the entire team from having to run gassers. Had he missed, the players would have had to run six.

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