In and out. Nate Longshore feels a little as if he is at the quarterback drive-thru, starting, not starting; in the game, out of the game.
He was once a budding national star for the California Bears. Now he bites his lip and says what's proper. He wants to start, but only if it's best for the team.
Longshore, 6 feet 5, 233 pounds, married and a fifth-year senior who was a standout at Canyon Country Canyon High, started last week in California's upset loss at Arizona. And he was pulled in the fourth quarter after a costly interception.
In his place came Kevin Riley, a 6-foot-2, 224-pound sophomore from Portland, Ore. Bears Coach Jeff Tedford has not named a starter for today's game against UCLA in Berkeley and isn't expected to until game time.
Riley has been seriously in the starting picture since his dramatic entry into last year's Armed Forces Bowl game, when the Bears trailed Air Force by 21 points after the first quarter. Riley led Cal to a 42-36 win by completing 16 of 19 passes for 269 yards.
After preseason practice this year, Riley won the starting job, but Longshore got it back for the Arizona State game, a 24-14 win. He had it for Arizona but may have lost it again.
So far this season, Riley has thrown 128 passes and completed 69 for 832 yards and seven touchdowns with two interceptions. Longshore has completed 54 of 91 passes for 631 yards and seven touchdowns with four interceptions.
Both Riley and Longshore were made available for telephone interviews this week, something that doesn't often happen for college teams who have a quarterback uncertainty.
Riley was the more assertive about how he wanted the situation to resolve itself today. "I want to start," Riley said. "Of course it's a little bit hard."
Longshore was more circumspect.
"I play football, I try to improve. I study, I watch film. I practice," he said. "There is so much more to football than just Saturdays. So I just do all the stuff you do from Sunday to Saturday and we'll see what happens Saturday."
Harry Welch, who coached Longshore at Canyon and now is at St. Margaret's, stills talks to Longshore most weeks and works with him over the summers. He said Longshore has been emotionally affected by all the football uncertainty this year.
"Ten days before the season and Coach Tedford decided to go with Riley," Welch said. "I know for a fact that hurt Nate an awful lot. His resolve was to continue to be ready, to support his teammates and school, but the decision hurt him a lot and I think it hurts him every week."
