Cal football coach Jeff Tedford has been pretty revealing about depth chart decisions throughout fall camp, which meant that yesterday’s official announcement was mostly confirmation of previous information. Maybe the only real bombshell, though, was that when Matt Summers-Gavin returns from his knee injury, he won’t be playing left guard. He’s moving to the right side.
The pre-camp plans had Summers-Gavin on the left side with Mitchell Schwartz to create an experienced blind side for quarterback Kevin Riley. But when Summers-Gavin went down on day two of camp, the offensive line developed without him. Luckily for the Bears, that may turn out to be a positive sign.
“We have more depth inside,” Tedford said to succinctly explain why Summers-Gavin will be moved.
Summers-Gavin was supposed to practice this weekend, but now it seems as if he’ll be held out until early next week. If he doesn’t practice in the week leading up to the Sept. 4 game against UC Davis, he won’t play.
“We’re just going to prepare without (Summers-Gavin). If he comes back, that’s great,” right guard Justin Cheadle said. “He’s a great player, but there’s a lot of competition and the offensive line will be just fine.”
As of today, the offensive line – from left to right – is Schwartz, Brian Schwenke or Dominic Galas, center Chris Guarnero, Cheadle and Donovan Edwards. Between them, they have 112 games of experience.
“It’s awesome. (The game) went from being extremely fast to now. We’re experienced so everything is slowing down,” Cheadle said.
Good Things in Small Packages
At 5-foot-7, Isi Sofele is the shortest player on the Cal roster – shorter even than kicker Giorgio Tavecchio. That hasn’t stopped the tailback from wrapping up one starting and one backup spot on the opening day roster, though.
Sofele will receive kickoffs and back up starter Shane Vereen, adding a spark of incredible speed to special teams and the offense. He’s also put on more muscle to increase his durability. Tedford said that the coaching staff has no plans of going easy on Sofele because of his slight stature; he’ll have the usual amount of carries for a backup.
It’s already evident that he’s got all the makings of a fan favorite, and the offensive linemen are already members of the Isi Sofele fan club.
“It’s awesome for us,” Cheadle said. “He’s so fast so we don’t have to hold our blocks for so long. It’s ‘whoosh’ and he’s through.”
Quick Hits
-If the season started today, Tavecchio would handle both field goals and kickoffs. But Tedford did indicate that true freshman punter Jed Barnett has been showing promise in kickoffs.
“Coming in, I definitely wanted to compete for both,” Barnett said. “Being under Bryan (Anger), I knew this year was going to be a learning situation … I’m definitely working hard to be the best punter and kicker I can be.”