 |
|
|
|
|
Official Site of the Emerald Bowl
         |
July 29, 2008 The first annual Bay Area College Football Kickoff Luncheon, hosted by the Emerald Bowl and sponsored by Hewlett-Packard, featured the head coaches of the three FBS universities in the Bay Area: San Jose State, California and Stanford. The luncheon, emceed by KNBR Radio morning show host Brian Murphy, offered a multimedia presentation on each team; comments from head coaches Dick Tomey of San Jose State; Jeff Tedford of Cal and Jim Harbaugh of Stanford; plus a question/answer session with a key senior player from each squad.
Tom Hansen, Pacific-10 Commissioner, and Western Athletic Conference Commissioner Karl Benson also previewed their conferences’ upcoming season prospects.
Prior to the luncheon, the head coaches and selected players met with over 50 members of the Bay Area media in one of the largest media turnouts in recent memory.
Emerald Bowl executive director Gary Cavalli said that he was ‘very gratified’ by the public’s response to the luncheon and that he believed it would now become a late-July fixture prior to the teams reporting to camp.
“An event like this proves the San Francisco Bay Area is hungry for, and passionate for, college football,” Cavalli said. “It provided great exposure for the Emerald Bowl, our sponsors, our three local schools and college football in general.
“We now look to grow this event in subsequent years.”
This year’s Emerald Bowl, which will match teams from the Pacific-10 and Atlantic Coast Conferences, will be played Saturday, December 27 with a 5 p.m. [PST] kickoff at AT&T Park in downtown San Francisco.
Each head coach’s message, to both the media and luncheon guests, was one of optimism tinged with the need for new players to assume lead roles.
The Spartans, Tomey noted, “are the best team I’ve had since I’ve been here,” but are going to be tested by non-conference encounters at Nebraska and Stanford, then a tough Western Athletic Conference schedule that has San Jose State on the road at Hawaii and Nevada and hosting Boise State and Fresno State.
The Spartans won the 2006 New Mexico Bowl and look to rebound from a 5-7 finish a year ago.
Cal coach Tedford noted that he will not have primary play-calling responsibilities as he has in the past. That task falls to newly-hired offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti, while Tedford concentrates on the big picture of monitoring his squad as a whole.
The Bears finished last season 7-6, including a season-closing victory over Air Force in the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl.
Cal opens the season August 30 at home v Michigan State and travels to Maryland on September 13. The Bears’ attractive home schedule at Memorial Stadium includes games with Arizona State [Oct 4], UCLA [Oct 25], Oregon [Nov 1] and Washington [Dec 6], plus the annual Big Game with Stanford [Nov 22].
Stanford’s Jim Harbaugh told the full house that he’s still evaluating his team’s quarterback position and won’t name a starter until camp’s underway. Incumbent Tavita Pritchard, who led the miracle comeback last year over top-ranked USC, is battling Alex Loukas for the spot.
“I want to see how they come back from the summer,” Harbaugh said. “That’s the first thing I want to see. . .has one guy elevated his game over the others?” The two are “dead even” going into camp, Harbaugh added.
The Cardinal opens its season with defending Emerald Bowl champion Oregon State on Thursday, August 28, at Stanford Stadium. The game will be telecast nationally on ESPN. Stanford also hosts USC on Nov. 15.
Stanford’s road schedule is daunting, with contests at Arizona State, Notre Dame, UCLA, Oregon and Cal.
|
