Hideki Maemoto (Chino, CA)
How are the players reacting/responding to the disappointing loss of last week in practice? Is Joe Igber going to play?
Coach Holmoe: One of the traits of this team and the teams we've had at Cal in recent years has been a resiliency and ability to respond to adversity. Our team has always played hard and I think we'll play hard again this week, despite last Saturday's disappointment in a game we all felt like we could have and maybe should have won. We've had a very good week of practice and our guys will be ready to play. Right now (Thursday), we're still uncertain about Joe Igber's status. There's still some time before Saturday afternoon and we'll see how he continues to recover. It may be a game time decision.
Dennis Abreu (Mt. Shasta, CA)
Kyle Boller's problems at QB seem to be more than just inexperience. He's having problems with mechanics - particularly with throwing on the run to his right. When he drops back or rolls to the left, he plants his feet and throws. When he rolls right, he throws on the run without planting his feet and consistently throws the ball into the ground short of wide open receivers. What can be done to correct this? Is it because he doesn't seem to have a quick delivery and has to wind up to throw? If so, shouldn't rollouts to the right be shortened which would tend to force him to plant his feet before throwing?
Coach Holmoe: Kyle has had some mechanical difficulties throwing the football on the run. It's not something that he did a lot of in high school. Also, remember he only started one year at quarterback in high school, so his experience quotient isn't real high. But that also means he'll improve at a faster pace. Athough his balance isn't always what it should be throwing on the run, he is doing the right thing in not setting up most of the time. We design the plays for him to throw on the run, because our protection is in front of him and we don't block the back side. If he sets up, there's a strong chance he's going to get drilled from back-side pursuit. We don have a half-roll , set-up and throw where we'll commit some blockers to the back side, but much of the time, it's designed for him to throw on the run.
George Skofis (Sacramento, CA)
Given USC's problems coming into Saturday's game, how do you get the team ready for what will be a "down", but also "angry" SC team?
Coach Holmoe: We're aware of the psychology issue, but we have a similar situation where our team felt down and angry after losing a lead against Washington. Any way you look at this game, the stakes are high for both teams, with the winner still in the hunt for a major bowl game. Both teams should be ready to play.
Cheryl Logan (Berkeley, CA)
I noticed today that the receiving corps made great strides. My question is about sophomore Sean Currin. While you have converted DBs (Powell and Harris) and RBs (Echema and Filds) to WR, you have neglected to insert Currin regularly into the lineup. My sentiment is that one cannot learn to play receiver in such a short period. While Echema and Fields have good speed, they simply dont make crisp cuts necessary to be a great receiver. As a true WR that knows that position, do you plan to use him more often? Between him and Ainsworth, defenses will have a lot to worry about. Good job coach!!!
Coach Holmoe: Sean was in an early-season slump this season, and that included his performance at practice. He was dropping a lot of balls and missing a lot of his routes. That's the time when we made some of those changes to insert some new life into that position. The good news is how Sean hung in there and started improving his performance. He's had a very good last two weeks of practice and that's shown in the games. He's a true-sophomore, so he's still very young and just learning what it takes. As he continues to improve, he'll continue to get more playing time.
Jack Baker (Burlingame, CA)
First of all, I'd like to state that Cal played very well yesterday against UW, but 12 offensive plays by the Huskies appeared to be the diffence in the game. My question is, given the long losing tradition that Cal has had against them, why wouldn't you roll the dice on 4th & 1 on their 4-yard line and go for the first down and hopefully the go ahead TD? As a loyal Cal fan, I have seen many games lost by Cal due to this type of conservative call. Though it is true that occasionally a field goal would be enough to pull out a victory, the defense had been on the field a lot in the second half and you had to be concerned with a possible breakdown in coverage (which happened and which put UW in at least field goal range with the clock on their side).
Coach Holmoe: It was a hard decision to make, but it really boiled down to whether to put the pressure on a young, evolving offense or a veteran, proven defense. Also, the length was a lot closer to two yards than one yard. Still, we made the decision to take what we felt were sure points and put the game in the hands of our defense. It didn't work out, because our defense gave up some big plays at the end, but we feel comfortable that we made the right decision.
Gary Ludwig (Richmond, CA)
Tom, our family has been a long time Cal Bear football fan and we see much improvement each year in your program. My question to you is do you see a decline in the quality of players beening attracted to the Pac-10? And secondly, do you feel that because of the over changing coaching staffs within the Pac-10 on a regular basis that many quality players feel continuity in the conference's systems has suffered?
Coach Holmoe: No, I really don't see a major decline in talent. In terms of recruiting, the Pac-10 gets a load of talent every year. I see it as a youth thing. The conference has lost some unbelievable players such as Cade McNown, Jake Plummer, Ryan Leaf, Akili Smith and others to the pros. Their replacements have been mainly young players and so there's been some dropoff. We have a lot of young quarterbacks in the league right now and as they mature, I think we'll have the Pc-10 back on top. There's a definite advantage to continuity, but I'm not sure that the Pac-10 has had that big a changeover in recent years.
Melanie Rhinehart (Berkeley, CA)
From newspaper reports, I understand that Cal has recently secured commitments from a number of recruits for next season. How do you make time for recruiting for next year while still focusing on the current season? Furthermore, is the majority of Cal's recruiting done during the regular season or during the off-season? Thank you for your time and good luck with the rest of the season! Go Bears!
Coach Holmoe: Recruiting is a 365 days-a-year enterprise and it's a critically important part of the success of your football program. I think we've had good success in this area, because we emphasize its importance. You just have to designate a part of your day to devote to recruiting. A lot of the evaluation happens during the spring, but the real push comes during November, December and January.
