“Points and Shoot” had the day off last week because of Veterans Day, but don’t you worry — the sports photo of the week is back better than ever!

This week’s image, taken by Daily Cal staff photographer Nathan Yan, features punter Bryan Anger following through on a kick in the Cal football team’s game against Arizona on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

Field position was an important facet of the game, and it wasn’t a strong point for coach Jeff Tedford’s team in the first half (notice that Anger is punting out of the Bears’ own end zone).

In any case, Cal emerged with a 24-16 victory featuring an impressive fourth-quarter performance by its defense.

Shane Vereen was excellent in his role as starting tailback, and kicker Giorgio Tavecchio might have saved the game for the Bears with an important tackle.

Cal (7-3, 4-3 in the Pac-10) takes on Stanford in the Big Game on the Farm this weekend. Check out Extra Points, the football-only blog, and the Daily Cal website for more coverage.

Also, look at a slideshow of photos from the week in Bears athletics at This Week in Cal Sports.

And make sure to check back next week for another awesome sports photo!

Welcome back to “Points and Shoot,” where great photography meets Cal athletics each week on the sports blog.

Daily Cal photographer Skyler Reid captured Bears defensive lineman Cameron Jordan taking down Washington State quarterback Jeff Tuel.

Jordan finished the game with 2.5 sacks and six tackles as Cal defeated the Cougars, 49-17, on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

The Bears improved to 2-2 in the Pac-10, although their last two games came against what could be the two worst teams in the conference in UCLA and WSU. Their next test takes place on Halloween against Arizona State at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz.

For more coverage of the Cal football team, click here and here. To see more of Skyler Reid’s work, check this out. For more photos from the world of Bears athletics, head over to the This Week in Cal Sports slideshow.

You probably watched the Cal football team win its first road game of the season against Minnesota.

If you did, you saw an extremely talented (and very tough) receiver in Eric Decker. He was the Gophers’ go-to target all game, even though the Bears were well aware that Decker was Minnesota’s No. 1 (read: only) threat.

Anyway, Daily Cal staff photographer Nathan Yan traveled to Minneapolis and brought back a few eye-pleasing photos to share with us.

This week’s “Points and Shoot” image, in which Mike Mohamed and Brett Johnson attempt to take Decker down, is one of them.

Cal opens Pac-10 play against Oregon this Saturday in Eugene, Ore.

For more coverage of the gridiron, head over to the Daily Cal football blog, Extra Points.

For more photos from this week in Bears athletics, check out our weekly slideshow.

Enjoy!

Emma Lantos/ staff

The Daily Cal photo department takes hundreds of photos each week, but only a small fraction of those see daylight in the print edition of the newspaper.

That’s why we’re introducing “Points and Shoot,” a weekly series highlighting the best sports photo from the world of Cal athletics.

The inaugural edition features Bears freshman Josh Hill missing a tackle during Tuesday’s football practice at Memorial Stadium.

It’s not exactly the epitome of style and grace, but it sure makes for an awesome freeze frame.

Oh, and by the way, the Cal football team begins its season at home against Maryland on Saturday, Sept. 5, at 7 p.m.

Pac-10 Football Media Day was held in Los Angeles earlier today, and there weren’t any huge surprises other than Stanford running back Toby Gerhart’s decision to forego a suit and rock a Stanford polo shirt casual Friday-style. Pretty standard coach-speak from all parties involved, but here are some of my preliminary reactions to Thursday afternoon’s goings-on:

Everyone is gunning for USC: For the first time in a while, the Trojans (although picked to finish first in the conference by the media) feel a little vulnerable. After junior Mark Sanchez jumped ship early for the NFL Draft, USC’s probable starter is Aaron Corp who only has 28 career passing yards. And although they bring back the beastly safety Taylor Mays, they also lost three of the best defensive players in the country to the Draft.

Several coaches were asked what it would take to beat the Trojan juggernaut. Arizona coach Mike Stoops gave a wildly roundabout answer that in no way addressed how to beat USC but only acknowledged how good the Trojans are and how it isn’t “easy.” (Click here to read more…)

Yesterday the San Francisco Chronicle ran an article of interest for Cal football fans. What about?

The $225,000 tickets at Memorial Stadium.

“Whaaaaaaaat?!” you might ask. And you would be correct in your reaction.

In this economy, doesn’t it seem a bit … insane to ask that of any ticket-holders this side of Yankee Stadium? Granted, this is the very top of the ticket price scale. You get your seat for 50 years, (But it seems to me that for those who can afford this deal, it’s doubtful that they’ll live the 50 years to enjoy it. No recent alum is shelling out 200,000 big ones. Just the old, very, very rich ones.) and you get free food, parking, etc. (Click here to read more…)

Here’s a quick gem from Tuesday’s football press conference.

We were asking coach Jeff Tedford about his hiring Andy Ludwig, and I think in some ways Tedford answered a few of his critics with the following respnse. To quote:

“I don’t think it would be wise to bring someone in here with such a wealth of knowledge and then to put a stranglehold on him,” Tedford said. “I think it’s important to give people the ability to share their ideas and see how it fits us.”

Cal fans had to be wondering why the Bears program seems to lose offensive coordinators nearly every year. Well, judging from the quote, maybe it’s not because Tedford forces them to throw out any bit of their own philosophy that doesn’t match Tedford’s.

I mean, the quote came from Tedford himself, and nobody really knows what goes on behind closed doors, so by no means the above quote is 100 percent proof that past coordinators didn’t leave due to having another certain QB guru looming over their work. It’s possible, but at least according to Tedford’s account, he doesn’t believe working that way. At least now.

Just got off the phone with graduated senior linebacker Worrell Williams, one of five Cal players that were invited to the 2009 NFL Combine.

Talked a little about his brother, what it was like playing at the East-West game, and a topic that seems to be the favorite amongst Williams and Follett, Bears linebacker coach Kenwick Thompson.

He also told me that Anthony Felder, whose whereabouts had been much of a mystery to the media, is in Arizona training in a small facility that hosts “only about nine people.”

The story will run early next week, but here’s an interesting snippet:

I asked Worrell to name his prediction for next year’s starting four, and he named Mikey-Mo(hamed), Devin Biship, Eddie Young and the young Mychal Kendricks.

(Click here to read more…)

As part of our recent coverage of NFL Combine participants, today’s paper includes the story of psychotic linebacker Zack Follett.

Just kidding. Zack is actually a very nice guy, and he told me today that he’s surprised a lot of people he met for the first time since the end of the 2008 season.

Best of luck to Follett, and hopefully I’ll be in touch with Alex Mack and Worrell Williams over the weekend, if not, early in the coming week. Anthony Felder’s whereabouts are currently unknown.

Tony, if you’re out there, give me a call. Or e-mail.

Spoke to Rulon Davis today, and I’m speaking to Zack Follett tomorrow (Thursday), so expect a story soon about that, too.

Just as a reminder, the NFL Combine starts next Wednesday, and five Cal players — Davis, Follett, Worrell Williams, Anthony Felder and Alex Mack — will participate.