Today's helmets-only session is the Cal football team's last practice before it begins to split up into starters and scout teams to prepare for Maryland, and coach Jeff Tedford still has yet to name a starting quarterback.

That announcement will come Wednesday, Tedford said. The coaches are using Tuesday-the team's first day off since fall camp began on Aug. 7-to finalize the depth chart. And although Tedford said they already have a "pretty good idea" of what the depth chart is going to look like, he has given little indication of who is leading the quarterback competition.

Junior Kevin Riley has taken the majority of the first-team snaps in camp-Tedford recently guessed 70 percent-while battling sophomore Brock Mansion for the starting job. Riley has a considerable edge when it comes to experience, having started 10 games for the Bears over the past two seasons to Mansion's six career pass attempts.

After practice on Sunday, Riley said that he feels like he's in a good position to win the spot.

"It's hard to tell, but lately I've been with the (first team) in practice and I've played well throughout camp," Riley said. "Made some throws and, of course, missed some throws. Threw some picks, but those things happen. I learned from it and didn't do the same play over again."

Riley and Mansion played equal time with the first-team offense in Cal's first scrimmage of camp last Tuesday, but Riley hasn't separated much from the ones since then. Summer work with the Bears' receivers and, in particular, another year of experience have made Riley feel more at ease running the offense during camp.

"I know a lot more pre-snap about what the offense is doing," he said. "Last year, when I had guys coming at my face, instead of trying to really force the ball and make a dumb decision I'd just throw it completely away. This year, I think I'm more comfortable with the breaks and the timing of the receivers where I can just stick it on the outside shoulder when that pressure is coming."

Be it Riley or Mansion, whoever is under center with the first team Wednesday will have the luxury of lining up with a healthy Jahvid Best.

Best sat out most of the second week of fall camp nursing a sore toe that bothered him when he changed directions. Saturday marked the first time that he has taken a hit since practices started.

Who will be lead blocking for Best during the season is still an unknown, as senior Brian Holley and sophomore Will Kapp are still fighting for the starting fullback spot and may actually end up alternating. Tight end is also a battle between senior Skylar Curran and sophomore Anthony Miller after senior Tad Smith was lost for the season last week with a torn ACL.

Today's practice was scheduled to be a scrimmage, but the Bears will instead run through situations in helmets only. Nothing was going to be decided by the scrimmage anyway, Tedford said on Saturday, as the coaches have seen enough over the past two and a half weeks to determine who is starting.

"I feel really good about the work that we've gotten done throughout camp," Tedford said. "We've been pretty physical, we've banged quite a bit, and we've hit the point where everybody's pretty banged up. Now it's time to get them fresh, get their minds right as far as covering every situation, and start focusing our attention on Maryland."

Tags: JAHVID BEST, KEVIN RILEY, JEFF TEDFORD, CAL FOOTBALL