So apparently Cal QB Zach Maynard missed a tutoring session this June past. There were rumblings around the Internet that he might be struggling academically, but throughout the summer and into practice, the coaching staff insisted that Maynard was eligible, that he was the starter, and indeed he took almost all the first-team work leading up to the home opener.
However.
Officially, the timeline goes like this:
JUNE: Maynard misses his tutoring session. Jeff Tedford makes the decision to suspend him for the first quarter of the home opener.
LAST THURSDAY: Tedford informs Maynard that he will be suspended for the opening quarter of the game, despite his having taken all the first-team reps in practice that week.
LAST FRIDAY NIGHT: Tedford informs the rest of the team, including backup QB Allan Bridgeford, that Maynard will be suspended to open the game and Bridgeford will get the start.
LAST SATURDAY: Maynard is announced as the starter, Bridgeford comes out and plays the first 14 minutes, and in front of a bewildered crowd goes 1-for-8 passing as Nevada runs out to a 14-0 lead ahead of a 31-24 victory over Cal in the re-opening of Memorial Stadium.
It is difficult, in retrospect, to see any way Jeff Tedford could have more thoroughly mishandled the situation. Team discipline did not require keeping the team in the dark. Nor did it require keeping the backup QB in the dark and then throwing him to the wolves. Or, as I said last December:
Next year: eight wins, victory over at least one of the LA schools, and the Axe. Otherwise, he goes. Jeff Tedford has already demonstrated he is no longer fit for purpose as head coach of the Golden Bears, and is only spared this year on account of the bizarre circumstances of the season. But next year’s order is simple: win or you’re gone. Cal can flop without paying two million dollars a year for the privilege.
On balance, it looks like this should be Tedford’s last season. Based on yesterday’s performance, eight wins seems far too much to hope for.