Why Ealey wasn't the starter

BEFORE Washaun Ealey ran into some, er, off-the-field problems, running backs coach Bryan McClendon on Thursday explained the reason that Caleb King had been given the starting nod.

“Right now it’s probably Caleb," McClendon said. "He’s just been more consistent in his pass blocking throughout camp right now. I think he’s worked hard at that, and both those guys have improved a bunch with that. But right now I would say it’s gonna be (King).”

But McClendon answered “sure” when asked if he still expected them to get a similar amount of carries.

“If everything stayed status quo with both of those guys, God forbid one of them get injured or something like that, then I think both of those guys are gonna go in and should share playing time and should split series.”

MY TAKE: Not a good 24 hours for Ealey, obviously. We're hoping to hear after Friday's practice whether, or how long, he will be suspended.

- McClendon also had this to say about true freshman Ken Malcolm:

“I think he has a few guys ahead of him. He still has a little work left to do as far as learning what to do. I think he does have a bunch of ability and can run the ball very well. But if you’re not running at the right spots, and not blocking the right people all the time that sort of hurts your chance of getting out there on the field.”

MY TAKE: Malcome may be on his way to a redshirt, unless Ealey misses a lot of time.

- Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, who was critical of quarterback Aaron Murray’s decision-making in an earlier scrimmage, was happier with his performance on Wednesday. Bobo said he “saw improvement,” particularly in his check-downs.

“There were still a couple plays I’d like to have back where we didn’t make good decisions. But that’s gonna happen, I think we’re learning from those,” Bobo said.

“He is a freshman. And sometimes as a freshman you tend to have sometimes a little tunnel vision and don’t see the whole process of everything. But I think he’s getting there. And I think he’s progression at a rate that’s a little ahead of a normal freshman, because of the time and the study that he puts into it. He’s very diligent about his work.”

MY TAKE: Early in camp, Bobo took the tack of getting on his young quarterback, pushing him to get better. Now that the season is a week away, it's time to build him back up.