Giving Longshore his due

Lost in the gloating and salivating going on in the pro-Riley camp is that Nate Longshore was a damn good quarterback when he was healthy. In 2006, in his first full season starting, the guy threw for over 3000 yards (2d Cal player ever), 24 TDs (second in the Pac 10), with a rating of 141.6 (second in the Pac 10). Many have pointed to his high INT-TD ratio in the fourth quarter, which is admittedly unacceptable, but his good play has been unduly ignored ever since he took that unlucky hit in Eugene last season. Ironically, he had one heck of a great 4th quarter that day, coming from behind against a top 10 team on the road, which no one seems to mention. Remember, the guy played with a broken bone in his ankle for 6 games last season. He's had to compete for the starting job four years in a row, winning three of those competitions. And the kid lost his father his first year at Cal.

Lest we take this talented, tenacious young man for granted, here are some highlights of Nate Longshore, the undisputed number 1 backup quarterback in the country: