Bridgford prepping to start
Backup ‘ confident’ to face Oregon as Maynard hobbled
BERKELEY — Zach Maynard, Cal’s starting quarterback the past two seasons, left the practice field Tuesday morning riding on a cart with a brace immobilizing his left knee.
Hardly an encouraging scenario with No. 2 Oregon, the nation’s highest- scoring team, coming to town Saturday.
Injured four days earlier against Washington, Maynard’s status for Cal’s home finale remains iffy. “I have no idea,” Cal coach Jeff Tedford said.
An MRI showed no ligament damage to Maynard’s knee, but there no timetable on when he might resume practicing. So junior Allan Bridgford is being prepped to start while Maynard rehabs.
“It’s totally dependent on how he’s moving, what he feels like,” Tedford said of Maynard. “It’s kind of out of our control.”
The Bears are saying all the right things about Bridgford, a 6- foot- 3, 220pounder from Mission Viejo. In his two signifi cant stints this season— against Nevada in the opener and Friday against Washington — Bridgford is 4 for 16 for 32 yards.
This week, he gets reps with the first team for the first time.
“That’ll defi nitely help. He’s never had that,” center Brian Schwenke said. “That first week against Nevada, we didn’t even know he was playing until the night before.”
Maynard was benched at the start of the Nevada game after missing a tutoring session early in the summer.
Against the Huskies, Bridgford entered the game with 4: 01 left and the Bears trailing 21- 13.
Bridgford does have experience against the Ducks, passing 8 for 19 for 103 yards in mop- up duty last year. “We have a lot of confidence in him,” Tedford said. “He understands what we’re trying to do.”
Asked to describe his confidence level, Bridgford said: “Very confi dent. I’ve never had a doubt in my mind I can get the job done and help us win football games.”
Winning games and winning this one might not be the same assignment. The Ducks average 54.3 points, which allows their defense to play aggressively. Oregon leads the Pac- 12 in interceptions with 17 — four of which were returned for touchdowns.
“With their offense, they don’t have much to lose,” Schwenke said.
Redshirt sophomore Austin Hinder, who has yet to play in a college game, is taking snaps as the No. 2 quarterback in practice.
Cal’s injury list extends well beyond quarterback. Star receiver Keenan Allen ( knee) remains out, and eight other players who either start or play a lot are questionable.
On offense, tackle Matt Summers- Gavin ( knee) and wideout Bryce Treggs ( ankle) are day to day.
Linebackers Jalen Jefferson and J. P. Hurrell and cornerback Marc Anthony, sidelined last week by concussions, are making progress and might be ready, Tedford said.
But defensive linemen Kendrick Payne (finger), Aaron Tipoti ( knee) and Deandre Coleman ( ankle) are questionable.
Cal, for the first time all season, devoted a section of its weekly news release to injuries. By the team’s count, 23 players have missed a total of 109 games because of injury, although that includes six who were injured before the season and have totaled 59 missed games.
Tedford said he’s never had a team with so many injuries.
“It’d be different if we were having hamstring pulls or those type of things,” he said. “But we’ve had a rash of broken hands, a lot of ankles, a lot of knees.”
Cal’s season finale Nov. 17 at Oregon State has been set for a 7: 30 p. m. kickoff. The game will be shown on the Pac- 12 Networks and will be the Bears’ sixth night game, their fourth in a row to end the season.