Randy Gee (Oakland, CA)
I've been following the Bears ever since graduating in '85 and it always seems that when in the red zone, getting across for the TD is difficult. What are your thoughts and using a "Refrigerator" Perry play. Looks like the biggest guy on the team is Langston Walker. What about using him on short yardage plays? His size alone is good for 5 yards.
Coach Holmoe: We already have a player who is a pretty big load in Joshua White. He also gives you the experience of running with the football and finding the hole. When you really look at it, you don't find many teams going to the "Fridge" model in the NFL or college. To a large degree, it's just a gimmick. Your best odds for a power play is having a good fullback, rather than go to a guy whose never done it before.
Dave Houston (Tiburon, CA)
I am concerned about the number of penalities this season. In the BYU game there were 14 against Cal and only 3 against BYU. How are you and your Asst. Coaches approaching this situation? Do you consider it a problem?
Coach Holmoe: We work on the penalty issue a lot. On a lot of penalities, particularly the false starts or offsides, it's really just a matter of concentration. When you have a lot of young guys and they're put in pressure situations, they become a little jumpy. There's really no substitute for experience. We try to simulate pressure situations in practice, but game situations are entirely different. Penalties can definitely be a problem, but the key issue is to keep working at it and improving. You need to strike a balance between making it a big issue with your team, but not so big that it becomes an albatross and it's all that they are concentrating on. I expect we'll continue to show improvement in that area during the last month of the season as our guys get more experience.
George Roope (Alameda, CA)
Coach, I understand your desire to give Kyle Boller as much playing time as possible and to not start a "ping pong" routine with multiple quarterbacks in a game. However, isn't it possible for a young quarterback to learn something about the specific game, the opponent's defensive plan and get a feel for the flow by sitting out a series or two. Sometimes Kyle looks like he needs a couple of minutes to take a breath, see the game from the side (with a coach in his ear telling him what to look for) and then get in and try to move the team. Any chance of this happening soon?
Coach Holmoe: That's not a bad idea. It's something we've discussed and we could do that at some point. However, quarterbacks usually get best by playing and getting into the feel of the game. We did get Kyle out of the UCLA game when he got hit, was a little groggy, and we had to cool him down. We'll consider doing that in the future, but it will depend on the game and the situation. It's not something we'd do on a regular basis, but it may come into play in the future.
Rachel Armstrong (Provo, Utah)
Not a sport-related question really. Just
wondering if you remember Rachel Rollins and
Aubrey Thornburgh from the old Provo North
Stake? You and Lori were our Sunday school
teachers.
Coach Holmoe: Sure, I remember you and Aubrey and I hope you're doing great. My wife and I get back to Provo almost every summer, so maybe we'll run into you. All the best.
Michael Thomason (Santa Cruz, CA)
What advice about the NFL do you give departing Cal players who have that opportunity?
Coach Holmoe: I try to give the guys a lot of advice, since I have an NFL background. There are so many topics that are important, particularly making the transition the first year from college to the pro environment. I talk to them about the mentality of training game, advice on agents, teams and coaches. I try to give them an idea of what to expect in the pros, since it's a great unknown to the college player. I tell them the NFL is a great opportunity, but that they also need to prepare themselves with a Cal education and life after football.
From Unknown
What has happened to Joel Young (wide receiver)? Is he hurt?
Coach Holmoe: Joel suffered a third degree shoulder separation on the artificial turf at Washington State. It's serious enough that he's probably out for the season. However, he won't need surgery on the shoulder. Actually, I had the exact same injury when I was with the 49ers in 1985 or '86 and I had to sit out the whole season. It's painful, but he'll have a full recovery.
