SB Nation - Aaron Hester

Spaulding Roundup: The Week For Freshmen

Nestor — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:50:28 -0000

Hey thank God we still have some football to talk about this December. I cannot imagine the mood around here (and within the general Bruin Nation) if we were just left with the joy of discussing Dragovic, Anderson and no bowl game this season. Anyway, things are definitely more upbeat over at Spaulding where the freshmen are taking full advantage of the extra practices courtesy of extra couple of weeks of practice. The LAT has a report on how Richard Brehaut has been gobbling up the reps with first team:

"Reps, reps, reps," said Brehaut, a freshman. "All these extra practices, where I get to run the first team, are going to help me and get me ready for spring practice."

It has given Brehaut a chance to put a positive finish on a rocky season, even if Prince heals in time to play against Temple on Dec. 29.

"The more snaps he gets, the more he seems comfortable," Coach Rick Neuheisel said. "And the more he starts to understand the nature of the job."

Now the extra practices doesn't mean that Brehaut will be starting against the Owls. I am going to guess Prince will be getting the start and Craft will be back in the mix, when the coaces install gameplan for Temple. However, in the early going coaches are doing everything they can to get the freshmen extra reps with the first team, and getting Brehaut his time in is part of the plan. It also gets Brehaut in the right frame of mind heading into spring ball:

"I think any extra looks will benefit me when the competition gets started in spring ball," Brehaut said. "I have been able to show the coaches what I have learned thus far and how much harder I'm going to work."

Brehaut is not the only freshman taking full advantage of the bowl prep. More on that after the jump.

Remember Randall Carroll? The freshman, the LAT made a huge deal out of because of a silly tweet? Well here he was after yesterday's practices talking about the need to impress the coaches:

"I need to really prove that I know the offense and that I can play 100 percent all the time," said Carroll, a wide receiver. "That's the hardest thing to translate from high school to college. You can take plays off in high school; here they want you to go 100 percent all the time. I started to get better toward the end of the season, so I want to keep improving on that."

Gold from the Daily News had more on the importance of these practices for Carroll and other frosh:

For players such as Carroll, who averaged a handful of plays every game and is looked upon as a major potential downfield threat, these extra practice reps are incredibly important — and rare.

Unlike freshmen who play on the scout teams and get constant work against the first units in practice every day, Carroll and Co. must stand patiently and watch as their older brethren get the work. All of a sudden, this week becomes a lot more important to that select few with things to prove.

"Every day is an audition for the coaches," freshman defensive back Brandon Sermons said. "They're watching everything; after practice they watch all the film. It really is an audition."

While freshmen like Sermons, Carroll and Brehaut are working to impress the coaches now, other frosh such as XSF and Sheldon Price, who already saw a lot of action this year are looking to build a comfort zone building on their playing experiences from their first season:

Su'a-Filo arrived in fall camp hoping to become a starter on the offensive line. He started at left tackle in all 12 games.

"It's everything that I planned on accomplishing this year," he said. "I'm very fortunate to have this opportunity to do what I accomplished, and then to come and have fun to experience this bowl procedure is a lot of fun."

Price expected to spend a lot of time on the bench, watching and learning from players such as Alterraun Verner and Aaron Hester.

Circumstances thrust Price into the starting lineup by the third week. He remained there the rest of the season.

"I came in knowing that I had to work hard, and that if I did the work, the chances would increase for me to see some playing time on the field," Price said. "Once I got in against Kansas State for my first start, I wanted to make sure I didn't mess up.

"Now it's coming naturally to me. The game has kind of slowed down and I'm able to make my plays."

Well in the case of XSF it will be interesting to see if he takes his LDS mission during school. I got the impression that he had a great time in Westwood and just like Kevin Prince he might be deferring his mission until he is done with school. We will have to wait and see.

As for Sheldon Price, I think he did improve as the season went along (played great against Jake Locker in the Washington game). He needs to have a great off season this year and put on about 15-20 pounds on his frame. If he can do that and get stronger, I think he has the potential to emerge as a solid corner at UCLA, who can provide great run support while being an effective defender against some great Pac-10 QBs. I think with Price, Hester, Sermons, Pollard, Dye, Moore and the other recruits we have brought in last year and bringing in this year, we are going to be well set up in the defensive secondary for a while.

All in all, it is fun to read these updates about our freshmen. Get all of us even more excited about next season. Let's hope these guys can really focus in next couple of weeks and get us the victory over the Owls. XSF who has shown the most maturity among our freshmen with his play on the field set the tone in the OC Register piece:

"Coach Neuheisel and (special teams) coach (Frank) Gansz said the most important thing about this bowl game is to win," Su'a-Filo said.

"Bowl games are fun and everything you do is fun but you can't forget the main objective is to go and win. If you can't do that, it will spoil the whole trip."

Sounds like a future team captain to me. No?

GO BRUINS.

Spaulding Roundup: DC Thoughts, Verner's Views, Finals Week & Other Notes

Nestor — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:42:46 -0000

Can Bruins handle this (if it snows in DC)? Photo Credit: photoal (flickr)

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Well yeah. It's not snowing in DC today but it did over the weekend a bit giving us our first snow of the year. The picture above is from another year though, which I think gives a little hint of what folks could expect in late December if we get a legit snow storm in Washington DC. Will the Bruins get to play in their first legit snow bowl (don't really count the one from Washington State during the regular season because it wasn't really snowing during the game) this December? Well as everyone know by now, we are not going to know until the end of Army-Navy game this upcoming weekend.

CRN is excited about rooting for the Midshipmen:

"Although we always support the men and women fighting for our country, on this particular three-hour stint, we're going to be anchor's aweigh ~~away~~," Neuheisel said on Sunday. "We're excited about the opportunity and looking forward to getting into the ball game. We know we need a little bit of help, but we're looking forward to a chance."

Interestingly, from the LAT report today, it sounds like the Bruins did have a chance to accept an invitation to the Humanitarian Bowl. However, the payout for that game ($700,000) wasn't enough for our program:

UCLA officials received interest from other bowls, as Neuheisel said, "I know there were lots of conversations and I was also told that UCLA was a desired team."

Humanitarian Bowl officials showed particular interest, and the Bruins might have gone there if Army lost, but the bowl payoff "wasn't right," said a UCLA official not authorized to speak about the situation.

UCLA officials turned down a Humanitarian Bowl invitation in 2001 after bowl officials asked for a $300,000 sponsorship from the university, a former UCLA administrator said.

Wonder who was that former UCLA administrator talking to the LAT. Anyway, if Navy does come through for the Bruins on Saturday (you never can take an outcome for granted in an intense, emotional rivalry game), Bruins will have interesting decisions to make re. the quaterback situation. CRN seemed to indicate that Prince might be ready for the bowl game:

"He told me it was getting better when I saw him last week," Neuheisel said. Given some rest, I think he would be ready."

Prince of course is still recovering from his mild AC sprain (considered a "slight separation") of his throwing shoulder. I personally think the Bruins should start Craft and prepare Brehaut as the backup option, and let Prince fully heal for spring ball. However, I feel comfortable in having Neuheisel and Chow making the call. More bowl related and end of season notes after the jump.

Players in general sound pretty excited about the bowl game. Taylor Embree "wants it really bad":

"I saw (offensive coordinator Norm Chow) today, too, and he said it looked like we had a really good chance," sophomore wide receiver Taylor Embree said. "We had a meeting with coach Neuheisel last Tuesday, and he just said, 'Focus as if we were going to a bowl.' We're prepared. If we go to one, it won't be a shock. We're ready for a bowl. We want it really bad."

While ATV thinks Bruins could be an "exciting" team to watch during the bowl season:

"We're fortunate to be put in the position to try to get one, though, and that's all we can ask for. I think we did enough to deserve it, showed enough promise through the course of the year with our youth, and we'll be an exciting team to watch come bowl season."

Oh and speaking of ATV, if you haven't done it yet, I think you will want to read the last edition of Verner's views:

[F]our years have gone by way too fast for me as a UCLA Bruin. I remember the times when I used to watch the Bruins play and wearing the #1 UCLA jersey to high school and stuff to now, when I am leaving UCLA with an interception touchdown record and lasting memories to all the Bruin Nation. My experiences here have been top of the line and something I will cherish forever. From academics - competing against the top brains in the world in my math major was always fun - just walking around campus and seeing the variety of people and cultures on campus, it was beautiful to see. Through all this intermingling, you realize that everyone is basically the same and they have the same struggles as you. You can be an athlete, a pre-med student, or grad student - it didn't matter. Everyone is fighting for their education and that is what created so many bonds with people in all areas of UCLA life.

Having the pleasure of being the student representative for the library catalogue a while back to now being spotlighted on UCLA Big Moment spots are two others things that stand out. My time with this sector of UCLA has been difficult, however all the more amazing!

Football, man it's been the craziest roller coaster, but one of those that was worth the wait, but so short that you almost missed the thrills of it. Being in the Rose Bowl with our wonderful fans that were there from the beginning, to putting on the Blue and Gold was just simply amazing. I had the honor to be coached by DeWayne Walker for most of my career and finished up this year being coached by the great Carnell Lake! Many guys have helped me in numerous ways of playing the position. I appreciate their expertise on the field. I had a great time playing with my former killa bees and current ones -- Chris Horton, Rodney Van, Trey Brown, Dennis Keyes, and Bret Lockett to Tony Dye, Rahim Moore, Glenn Love, Courtney Viney, Aaron Hester, Sheldon Price, Andrew Abbott and everyone else. Each player is so good and made my job so much easier and helped contribute to my success. I will definitely miss all my teammates, I really love them all. The hard work and the grind I had to do with all of them makes them all special to me. They are all very talented and that's why I believe UCLA will be back at the top very soon and I can't wait to see that unfold.

You need to read rest of ATV's post by going here. ATV and his team-mates will be taking finals this week. Once they are done at the end of the week (per Jon Gold) they will have practices on Friday and Saturday. They are going to practice Saturday morning, have lunch and take in the Army-Navy game. Needless to say we will have an open thread here for that game cheering on Navy.

Lastly, before I end this good luck to all of your students this week. Yeah, I know we are hard on you guys sometimes. However, look at the ideas our discussions generated in last 24 hours. While we get down sometimes during the tough times, it is clear how much passion and dedication we have among a huge core of students and alums here in Bruins Nation. Often times when we call each other out, I personally think it only makes that dedication deeper forcing us to think hard about how we can make our community bigger offline. Hopefully we can keep the discussion that started yesterday going in the coming weeks/months resulting in what I truly believe will be the most rabid fanbase in the Western US. We have had two of the worst weekends in UCLA athletcs in recent history. Yet just look around this community this am. We are still here. Aren't we? Anyway, kick ass in finals and then head down to Anaheim.

GO BRUINS.

Early Defensive Reflections On 2009 Regular Season

Nestor — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:58:27 -0000

Shifting attention back to football, I want to pick up our discussion from the team's performance in the last game. We talked about offense earlier in the week, let's focus a little on our defense. I went ahead and looked up the numbers of our defense from 2009 season and compared it numbers from 2008 when Dewayne Walker was in charge. Here is how they shape up:

Got the numbers from NCAA's website (2009 and 2008).

When you look at those numbers keep few factors in mind:

We faced an Oregon team that came into Rose Bowl without Masoli (Ugh).
The game against Stanford our defense at least on scoreboard looked all right, but if you delve into boxscore a bit and watched the game, you will remember Stanford dominated the time of possession the entire game. Our defense got thoroughly manhandled in the first half and they looked a little better in the second due to a combination of Stanford letting off the gas pedal a bit and also due to some adjustments on our part
On the positive side this year the defense didn't have annual Dewayne Walker special meltdowns like the 0-59 disaster we had in Provo.

Still looking at those numbers, it appears Chuck Bullough despite all the criticisms (and I believe many of them are on point) did a servicable job of replacing Dewayne Walker. He can actually make credible arguments that his defense actually performed better under him this year than it did under Walker the previous year. Given those numbers, I would have to think he will come back for next season, when he will truly have to prove his coaching mettle without veterans such as ATV, Price, Jerzy, and Reggie Carter. That said, despite the solid performance against Southern Cal, I have some lingering concerns about our defense. More after the jump.

The performance against Southern Cal to me was essentially a replay of the performance against Oregon State. Remember we actually played pretty solid defense against an explosive Beavers offense up in Corvallis. Except for the TD we gave up in Wild-Beaver formation (which I don't understand why we weren't prepared for), our D had the Rodgers brothers bottled up for most of the day. It just all fell apart in that last drive. Yes, if ATV had executed that pick-6, the season would turn out to be even better. However, what happened to our defense after that dropped interception is disconcerting to me.

Same thing happened to our defense during that last TD drive (of course I am not referring to the cheap shot) Trojans put together a 9 play drive, when they sliced and diced right through our secondary in 4:11 long minutes, marching 73 yards for the game clinching TD. What was the common theme here which we saw in the Oregon State (and few other games this season)? It was the cushion our DBs were giving to opponent WRs. Matt Barkley had no problem completing those short, medium range passes, carving up our secondary. It's the same thing Sean Canfield did to our guys in that last drive. We saw in horror Kevin Riley beating ATV number of times at the Rose Bowl, when he was giving up 8-9 yard cushion to Cal receivers.

I didn't get what Bullough was thinking in all those instances. Particularly against the Trojans and Beavers, when our defense had solid outing through most of the game, bringing in pressure from different directions, and generally stuffing the run. I didn't understand the urge to play vanilla, conservative defensive schemes with games on the line, going away from strategy that had been working all day. I am assuming that's a question Bullough and our coaches including CRN have been reflecting on during these past few days.

Watching our defense this season, I also got the sense that Bullough's scheme as heavily crticized as they were by us and others throughout the season, could turn out to be more effective if he gets few more explosive athletes in his disposal in next couple of years, and get the current corp of underclassmen to physically develop in next two years. Sheldon Price had a rough first year (although he showed some signs of improvement). He needs to get stronger so he can provide better run support. Hopefully we will get a healthy year out of Aaron Hester next season. I think our secondary under Moore and Dye's leadership is going to be all right.

The real question right now is at our front-7. Coaches are going to count on Datone Jones to anchor a line that will deeply miss the presence of Price and Jerzy. Joining Jones will be David Carter, Luta Tepa, and Keenan Graham. Those who have been going to practices this year are very high on Graham. Coaches are also hitting the recruiting trail hard to pick up few more DLs as observers are speculating Bruins can bring in as many as 8 DLs in this LBs. As for LB, anxious to see what kids like Isiah Bowens and Todd Golper can bring to the table next year. In terms of experience, I think it will be players like Westgate and Sloane joining Ayers in the front-7, but no doubt the recruits from this past two years are going to get their shots.

My main wish next year though is for Bullough to grow some more confidence so that he has the courage to try out different things in different games. I was encoraged towards the end of the season when the tried different looks with Akeem Ayers in Washington and Arizona State games, discovering how effective he can be as a hybrid DE/LB. He needs to experiment like that a little more, doing his best to make sure we get the best possible combination of force/athleticism on the field.

Anyway, we will have more to discuss on this topic in both short and long term here on BN after we figure out our bowl prospects. If we have a bowl game that will give us an opportunity to discuss it in the context of preparation for next opponent. If not then focus will shift towards recruiting. I really hope we get to see these guys one more time on the field this year though. I get the sense that our defense is itching to get out there for one more game this season to close it out on even better note.

GO BRUINS.

Spaulding Roundup: Arizona State Corner Back: "[W]e Will Beat UCLA" (And Other Game Week Notes)

Nestor — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:00:33 -0000

We have talked a lot about how big this Saturday's game is for UCLA. On the other side ASU is treating the game with same sense of urgency. They are also getting a little fired up about rest of their season starting with UCLA:

"To take the fall that we have been taking for the last couple of weeks, we are doing pretty good," the redshirt freshman cornerback (Devon Carr) said Tuesday. "I still haven't seen anyone walking around the halls moping. … I still see positive energy within my team. I believe we will beat UCLA."

Carr is not the only one who thinks so. ASU players came off the practice field Tuesday giddy after coach Dennis Erickson's we-have-something-to-play-for speech.

"We got a two-game season," Erickson said, referring to Saturday's game in Pasadena, Calif., and the next week against Arizona. "Our kids have a lot of pride."

Good for the Sun Devils. I have no doubt those guys are going to be breathing fire when they come out on the field on Saturday. At the same time I also think our guys are going to remember what took place last time UCLA took on ASU:

UCLA held Arizona State to 122 yards last season but lost, 34-9, when the Sun Devils returned three interceptions and one fumble for touchdowns at Tempe. "It was a hard film to watch this week," Neuheisel said.

Painful indeed. It will be awesome if our defense can match the performance from last year's effort against ASU. This time the Sun Devils will have a different QB though and right now even though Erickson is being coy about it signs point to Sam Szakacsy as the starter for Saturday. Again, I said it yesterday and I will reinforce it again this am. This is a huge game for Chuck Bullough. We need his defense to come through and make a statement on Saturday with a strong performance from start to finish.

The numbers we put up against Washington State were nice. However, we also have to be realistic about putting up "good" numbers against a team like the Cougars. Doesn't really count for much except for gaiining some measure of confidence and sense of momentum. To hold on to that momentum, we need our defense to play with the same sense of aggression they did during the second half against Jake Locker and the Huskies when they were bringing pressure from different directions. More after the jump.

Aaron Hester is one of the defensive players who is looking to make a contribution on Sat. He has been woofing it up a bit during practice this week:

UCLA defensive back Aaron Hester locked down wide receiver Nelson Rosario in practice Wednesday, then let the world know.

"Oh no, no sir, I'm all over that," Hester screamed.

Standing on the sidelines, tailback Damien Thigpen chuckled and said, "He thinks he's Deion Sanders."

There may be no better way to judge whether Hester is ready to play than to hear him at practice. His season has been one of disappointment, first a fractured fibula in the season opener and the waiting for a chance upon his return.

But Hester appeared fit and ready in practice.

"I feel just like I felt in training camp, exactly the same" said Hester, a redshirt freshman. "No pain. My confidence is back. I'm just out here trying to make some plays."

Hester is once again getting antsy about mixing it up on the field:

"I've been showing them this week in practice," Hester said. "I've been flying around making plays, making big hits. It's up to the coaches now. All I can do is play football and all they can do is put me in or not. I was the original starter here; I haven't forgot how to play football."

I like the kid's passion and enthusiasm but I am also going to trust the coaches on this one. The coaches were clearly making the right decision when they held out Hester and taking extra precaution to make sure he was completely healthy. I am pretty sure Hester will make his mark before he is done in Westwood but I am willing to be patient to make sure when he gets in, he is not only confident but fully healed and healthy. Either way, whoever is in at CB on Saturday will need to be physical. Especially if we have a QB like Samson Szakacsy, who can gain yards through scrambling, we are going to need our defensive backs not only provide tight coverage but also provide also recover and provide solid run support.

Speaking of QBs, Kevin Prince and the Bruin offense are showing lot of (deserved) respect for ASU defense:

"They just play real sound football," Prince said of the Sun Devils. "They don't do anything too crazy, or anything. They have their share of blitzes and all that but they just play really sound and fundamental football."

Prince's backfield team-mate called them the "best defense" in the Pac:

"They're the best defense in the Pac-10 right now, and their run defense is outstanding," said Chane Moline, who ran for three touchdowns last week. "Being a running back and fullback, it's a big challenge for us to go out there and start running the ball so the passing game will open up. We've got to go out there and execute, not shoot ourselves in the foot. Hopefully the running backs can break a couple of tackles and the wide receivers can make some big plays for us."

The key here will be not killing ourselves with self inflicted mistakes (Hello Mr. Paulsen, it's your last home game!).

Our offense a lot of fun to watch last two weekends (since didn't really get to watch that fourth quarter against Oregon State LIVE). This Saturday we will find out what kind of progression this offense has made against a legt defense from this conference. I think they also know the opportunity they have to gain a measure of validation to finish the season and also set themselves up for a great future. That will have to start with not just making solid plays but also emhasizing execution of little details on all facets of our offense.

Right now I am anxious to see how our offense performs against ASU. I haven't had this kind of excited (can't wait to watch them again) feeling about our offense in years. Hopefully they will take another significant step forward by getting us a victory on Saturday.

GO BRUINS.

Spaulding Rounup: Early Thoughts On Arizona State

Nestor — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:47:54 -0000

More photos » by Rick Bowmer - AP

Samson Szakacsy (10) gave the Sun Devils a little spark last Saturday in Eugene

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Let's start this Monday with an announcement of a simple rule for this game week. We don't want to see any discussion here on BN on any game other than the one coming up this weekend at the Rose Bowl. Period. If we see any more fanposts, fanshots or comments that talk about UCLA's last regular season game of the year overlooking a solid Arizona State football team with one of the best defenses in the conference, we will be hitting the delete button. So if you want to waste your keystrokes on our game against Chetey's bunch, you will have to do it somewhere else. It doesn't mean that we have to stop making fun of Petey or his lapdogs in the traditional media because that's an evergreen topic on BN. We just don't want to think about that game right now because we have a bigger one looming against Arizona State

Dennis Erickson's team is coming off a 21-44 loss against the Ducks. Looks like the Sun Devils might have found a young QB in that game who helped them make a little bit of run or at least make the score respectable in Eugene:

True freshman Brock Osweiler, who played the second half of the loss to USC on Nov. 7, got the start in place of Danny Sullivan. But he was ineffective Saturday, going 5-for-10 for 14 yards with one interception before leaving halfway through the second quarter with an apparent forearm injury.

But it wasn't Sullivan who came in. He had been limited during the week because of a biceps injury.

Coach Dennis Erickson sent in sophomore Samson Szakacsy, who entered the game with the Devils down 31-7. The Ducks would go on to win 44-21.

Szakacsy had been expected to the primary backup this season, but his elbow injury opened the door for Osweiler. Szakacsy, in his first extended playing time of the year, went 13-for-22 for 113 yards, with one touchdown and no interceptions.

He is the most mobile of the Arizona State's quarterbacks, and he rushed five times for 9 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown.

With the help of an Oregon fumble on a kickoff, Arizona State got within 31-21 in the third quarter.

ASU now has a record of 4-6 (2-5 in the conference) which puts them on the same boat as us heading into Saturday's matchup. So they will be approaching Saturday with the same sense of desperation making it for all intent and purpose an elimination game.

Looking through ASU's season statistics the number that obvious jumps out right away is their defense. The Sun Devils are coming into the Rose Bowl with a defense which is ranked number 1 in Pac-10 (alsi in top-15 in all of college football). It's a stingy bunch that gives up 105.5 yards on ground and 195.9 yards through passing game. So Kevin Prince and co., who are probably feeling pretty good about themselves after what they have done in last 9 quarters, will have a game in their hands which will serve as a real measuring stick for the 2009 season. More after the jump.

Right now it looks like if the Bruins want to take control of this game, we are going to need Kevin Prince to be in rhythm early on. Thanks to Kevin's numbers our passing game's numbers are starting to look respectable (ranked 4th in the conference). Prince will have to keep spraying passes all over the field to loosen up the Sun Devils defense opening up some space for our running attack.

And, speaking of our running attack, the coaches will have to find a way to get JetSki back in a groove. I think it's pretty clear that he is our best all around back. I watched most of the replay of our game against the Cougars last night. When I was zeroing on the RB spot, to me it looked like JetSki was doing the best job in terms of providing extra pass protection for Prinice. Given the pressure we are going to face from ASU and the team speed of their defense, I think the Bruins will need JetSki to make a meaningful contribution this weekend. So hopefully he has erased the memories of those sloppy fumbles and locked in at Spaulding.

As for personnel news, Bruins might get some reinforcements this weekend:

Neuheisel said he hopes to get senior defensive tackle Jerzy Siewierski (foot) and junior offensive guard Ryan Taylor (foot) back this week. ... Redshirt freshman cornerback Aaron Hester is expected to return to full-speed action this week. He has been hampered by a fractured leg suffered in Week 1. ... Senior tight end Logan Paulsen suffered a calf cramp that kept him down on the field for a few minutes against Washington State, but Neuheisel said he was fine.

CRN also is focused on the most important objective for this game week:

"I'm just focused on us getting to 6-5 this week," Neuheisel said.

For those who are coming on to BN to talk up UCLA football this week, we'd love to hear your takes on Arizona State. We'd love to read and here more about how our guys match up against Erickson's Sun Devils team which is also going to be fighting and clawing for a post-season bowl bid.

Don't forget it is also senior day. So it's going to be a pretty emotional day for kids such as ATV, Reggie Carter, and Terrence Austin who have collectively been through a lot during their four years in Westwood. Kevin Prince mentioned right after the Washington State game what a special day it is going to be at the Rose Bowl and how he wants to do his part to make sure seniors can be sent off on a great note from the Rose Bowl. So once again let's lock in and keep all of our focus on the Sun Devils till kickoff at 1 pm PST this Saturday at the Rose Bowl.

GO BRUINS.

Moving Forward: Bruins Need One More Win (And Focus On Arizona State)

Nestor — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:36:07 -0000

More photos » by Dean Hare - AP

about 1 month ago: UCLA tailback Derick Coleman (33) runs the ball as Washington State linebacker Alex Hoffman-Ellis, right, defends during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009 at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Wash. UCLA won 43-7. (AP Photo/Dean Hare)

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I know lot of us are dying to think about that last regular game of the season (especially after what transpired yesterday) but this is not the time for any of us to look ahead. It looks like we did have a good reason to feel slightly better after that fourth quarter against Oregon State, when we got the sense that it was time to rally around our Bruins. Well something is clearly working right now and it feels good.

Yes, last night's blowout win was only against lowly Washington State. We could have looked lot better than we did against Paul Wulff's demoralized bunch. Yet, I still think there is something little encouraging about that performance because it was one of those games we have seen UCLA football team either choke away or make it unnecessarily hard on themselves to win over the years. We now hope our team can keep it going by locking in on the next opponent which is capable of ruining senior day at the Rose Bowl.

Let's start with something CRN did to get his players in the right mindset to deal with the elements. From the LA Times:

Neuheisel's cold-weather preparation included holding Friday night's team meeting outside in a snow storm.

"I was amazed how many of our guys had never been in snow before," Neuheisel said. "It gave us the right mind-set."

Still, it was cold.

He also made his players get a little taste of snowball fights so that they could "get used to the weather":

UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel had his players throw snowballs, while his kid threw touchdown passes.

UCLA players hardly seemed uptight heading into today’s game at Washington State. A snowstorm Friday night had a handful of Bruins outside throwing snowballs at each other for a half hour.

The frolicking was the result of Neuheisel’s instructions to go outside and get used to the weather.

Yeah, his son - Jerry Neuheisel - threw a 45-yard touchdown pass on a fourth-and-11 play with 31 seconds left to give Loyola a 41-37 victory over Crespi (which I guess was a good omen for the weekend). Anyway, going back to the game, what I liked about iur guys was how they looked confident. They weren't cocky as team leaders like Reggie Carter struck all the right notes before the game as he was gracious towards a struggling team. Our guys had the look of a locked in football team that knew exactly what was at stake and what they needed to hold on to the momentum Rahim Moore and co grabbed to end the Washington game on our home coming weekend. It is going to be a challenge for us to hold on to that momentum next weekend against a very good defensive team. However, if we can continue to build on the successes of last 9 quarters, this will truly turn out to be a Novermbet to remember.

As noted in the post game thread, Kevin Prince was the head line grabber. He had a great game by all accounts. Yet CRN (as he mentioned during half time) though Prince could have played even better:

"When you're enjoying this kind of success, it's almost like going down the cafeteria line and trying to grab everything," Neuheisel said. "You have to maintain your patience. I thought Kevin tried to make throws down the field instead of taking what they were giving him underneath."

Prince completed 27 of 40 passes, as Neuheisel, said, "I thought he did a nice job getting back to the scheme." Practice-like corrections made possible by the scout-team-like defense Washington State offered.

I thought we saw that in Prince during the second half, especially after the Cougars scored a TD. Prince drove the team down for our own TD drive during when he was methodically looking of his primary and secondary targets. He also did a great job during the two min drill to end the first half when he was finding Moline for little check downs:

Prince hit Moline four times on the ensuing drive for 35 yards, meticulously going through his reads until settling short, and the Bruins chopped their way down the field to set up a 38-yard field goal by junior kicker Kai Forbath.

"All week in practice we knew the check-downs were going to be a big factor in the game," said Moline, who finished with three carries for 25 yards and seven catches for 60 yards. "We check-released, we checked down from linebackers, and especially in that two-minute drive when I got all those catches, Prince was checking down the field and no one was there."

Moline had himself a great game which you can read more about here and here.

However, the fact that Moline was our most productive running back is a cause for concern. Derrick Coleman had a decent game yesterday rushing for 50 yards in 12 carries. Our entire team (thanks largely due to Prince's 68 yard rumble down the sidelines) rushed for 232 yards which is not too bad against a bad Washington State defense. However, Coleman to me appears more as a servicable full back than a feature tailback. He did a better job of falling forward yesterday though which is a positive but I think he will have tougher times against team with average or better defensive speed (like the one we are going to face next weekend at home).

JetSki's fumbling issue is a real problem now. Not sure what else the coaches can do. They have sent every message they possibly can. It's a matter of him playing with focus and concentration on every down. Milton Knox picked up some decent chunk of yardage during garbage time. Yet he looked unsure in the fact of Coguar blitzes and failed to hit the hole with authority on a key 3rd and 1 in third quarters. Thigpen has a lot of promise but he doesn't have the frame to be a every down back. Christian Ramirez is just too brittle and inconsistent to have a discernible impact. So, you can see why getting both Malcolm Jones and Jordon James were big deal for this year's recruiting class. It looks like we have a QB of the future slowly emerging in Chow's offense. We now need a back or two, who can costar with the Prince.

Our OL did a decent job of providing pass protection. However, there were moments of sloppiness that needs to be cleaned up. Darius Savage didn't look totally comfortable at RG stepping for Ryan Taylor. I thought our OL's overall run blocking performance was pretty mediocre against an atrocious defensive line. Also, our OL looked somewhat unprepared for WSU blitzes when it seemed like opposing LBers was getting to Prince untouched. Again, it's something we really have to work on this game week to prepare for a solid Arizona State defense.

Moving on to the other side Akeem and Brian Price were the two big stars in last night's defense. From Jon Gold in the Daily News here are Kyle Bosworth's comments on what BP did to the Cougars' offense:

"BP has always had his name out on the leaderboard, but with Akeem, it's really good to see him kind of shine today," Bosworth said. "Two picks is huge for anybody, and it's good to see him with those two sacks.

"I'm happier for him, but BP did great - I know he'll be in the league one of these days, and this is one of the games that's going to help him do that."

Price racked up three tackles for loss, which makes him Pacific-10 leader with 16.5 for the season. He also has 5 sacks to go along with those stats. There is not much I can add to make him sound more incredible than he already is. I cherish watching this kid play just like I enjoyed recent great Ben Ball warriors such as KL, RW, LRMAM, AA, and DC. I am keeping my fingers crossed that he can add to his legend on a week by week basis (because I won't blame him if he decides to jump provided he gets positive feedback from NFL draft whizes during the off season).

In addition to Price, Akeem had a great game as he benefited from a new look Bullough through at the Cougs:

For the first time this year, UCLA defensive coordinator Chuck Bullough lined up Ayers on the defensive line in a three-point stance, allowing Ayers to burst off the ball at the point of contact. He said both of his sacks were from the formation.

That is sure to catch the eye of those in the NFL, as well, as hybrid pass-rushers - those who can play both in coverage and on the line of scrimmage - have become in vogue in 3-4 defenses.

"It wasn't anything really new to me," said Ayers, who played his sophomore and junior seasons in high school at defensive end. "I'm used to being in a three-point and getting a pass rush. I definitely can see myself doing something like that - I'm athletic enough to stand up and drop into coverage, but I'm also able to rush the passer."

Hope Akeem can build on this weekend's performance to put together another consistent outing next against Arizona State.

While Akeem and BP had great games, I am getting worried about Reggie Carter's contribution to our defense. Reggie Carter is a great Bruin and solid leader for this football team. He is definitely the emotional heart and soul of our defense. However, the more I have watched him in recent weeks, the more its becoming clear to me that he is not the same Reggie we have seen over the years. It looks like his injury is really bothering him. He doesn't have the same ability to move around from MLB spot and he routined finds himself away from the action. Just look at the game tape from Tennessee and compare it what we saw yesterday. It's not even close.

Apparently Reggie is trying to will himself through these last few games of his Bruin career. The coaches tried to take him out during early in the fourth quarter but he wouldn't come out. So per the LA Times the coaches had to take a time out to get Reggie out of the game:

"That was the first time since I have been at UCLA that we have been ahead by so much that they were taking me out of the game," Carter said. "I told them, 'No, let me stay.' Then coach told me he didn't want me to get hurt. So I apologize, but I just wanted to enjoy the moment."

I think Reggie needs to rest up a bit. I think it could potentialy be worth it to use him as sparingly as possible next weekend against Arizona State and perhaps use Steve Sloan at the MLB spot, who did a servicable job last year when he took over for Christian Taylor. Guess, this is an issue we will have to defer to the coaches who have shown pretty good judgment wrt to injury issues this season (See the cautioun they showed with Aaron Hester).

Our punt return performance continues to be a concern. Terrence Austin had another fumble yesterday, which luckily for us went out bounce. He also had a fumble against Washington State during kick return the previous weekend. Terrence has to clean this up. He is running out of time in his last few games as a Bruin.

On the flip side, Sean Westgate came out with a huge punt block. It's not the first time he has made big plays a special teamer (remember the punt block he had against Tennessee last season at the Rose Bowl). I also liked the intensity Damien Thigpen showed during punt coverage even when we were up by a huge margin late in second half. Damien sprinted down the field during Locke punt and dove to down the ball at 2 yard line even when we were up by a score of 43-7. That kind of little details tells us something about the character of the team under its head coach.

Going back to big picture as good as we feel this Sunday, it is important that we don't get carried away. Tracy Pierson from Bruin Report Online had a solid breakdown of the game, in which he rightfully warns UCLA fans to not get too carried away. However, Tracy ended with the following encouraging notes (not behind a subscription firewall at the time of this post):

UCLA’s 556 total offensive yards were better than Arizona (471), Arizona State (410), and Stanford (481).

In fact, it was better than what USC did in the Coliseum against WSU (403), or even Oregon in Eugene (514).

UCLA’s defense held WSU to 180 yards, compared to the 185 yards WSU gained against Arizona, 206 against Notre Dame, 440 against Cal (what the heck?), 181 against Arizona State, 229 against USC, and 351 against Stanford.

Yeah, WSU was without its starting quarterback when it played UCLA, but Jeff Tuel didn’t even play in some of those other games.

So let’s overlook the actual play on the field and go with that. It’s so much more fun to look at it that way, huh?

Regardless if you’re the type who watched that game and came away satisfied (Blue), or came away thinking there wasn’t much you could take away from it and it didn’t give you great expectations for facing ASU and USC (Crank) – or a little bit of both (most of us) – it was good to see UCLA have an easy, blow-out win for the first time in a while. It clearly kept Prince and Co. in the same productive, offensive rhythm established in the OSU 4th quarter and against Washington last week, which is a good thing. It’s also good that the defense maintained its bottom-line successful M.O. – looking vulnerable but doing enough to put UCLA in a position to win.

In other words, at this late stage of this season the team under CRN's leadership continues to move forward. We now have 5 wins which on paper at least is clear step forward from last season. We now need our boys to take lock in and focus for another game week to get that much talked about 6th win next weekend at the Rose Bowl. That's all we should be thinking and talking about till next Saturday. If we can accomplish the objective of getting our 6th win, we will have our program in a pretty decent spot heading into last regular game of 2009 season. So, let's just all focus on Arizona State just like we have been taking it game by game since Oregon State.

GO BRUINS.

Spaulding Roundup: Prince Update, Curing Fumbilitis & Staying In Offensive Rhythm

Nestor — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:53:14 -0000

More photos » by Wily Low - AP

Got to hold on to the football.

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Bruins continue to prepare for Washington State with an eye on the health of Kevin Prince. The LAT reported Prince looked "sharp" in his return to practice yesterday while the OC Register described him as "alert." Prince still has to go through a "series of tests" this week before the UCLA medical staff clears him for Saturday's game in Pullman. Al Balderas has more on various tests Prince has to pass before taking a snap against Washington State:

Prince said he felt good after Tuesday's practice but understood the protocol that he's required to go through when coming off such an injury.

"I can tell them all I want that I feel normal but they won't believe me," Prince said of the medical staff. "I've got to prove it."

The tests are fairly simple and seem to be more time consuming than anything. A lot of them are geared toward testing Prince's memory skills.

"I'm sure she'll do the same stuff like make me count backward by sevens from 100 and stuff like that," Prince said.

"There is little crazy stuff like that. She'll tell you five words and you have to tell them back to her five minutes later.

"They take good care of us."

We expect nothing less. Prince's OL will also be looking to take good care of him (or Craft) on Saturday. Those guys have been a clear marker of improvement for our offense this season in the form of providing better protection for our quarterbacks. That was evident against the Huskies last weekend when our OL made both Prince and Craft comfortable as both of them were finding time to look for their second and third options. From the Daily News:

"We're all on the same level now," freshman left tackle Xavier Su'a-Filo said. "Communication is excellent, right where it's supposed to be. We did notice on film that there were some broken plays and we still made them. As long as we keep doing our jobs, that can happen, even if the route isn't there."

Both Prince and Craft made plays outside the pocket after the Huskies' coverage broke down, and both quarterbacks were able to bide extra time to let plays develop.

The offensive line allowed two sacks, but one came under intense pressure, while the other was considered a coverage sack.

"When everyone talks about protection, they always just think it's with the offensive line," offensive line coach Bob Palcic said. "It's the receivers running the right routes at the right depth, it's the quarterback reading the right coverage and knowing where to go with the ball, and it's the offensive line holding up and preventing penetration."

"It's a three-pronged attack that has to work together."

Bruins will count on the OL to help stay in the rhythm they got in during the fourth quarter against Oregon State and continued through the Washington game. However, they will need to really cut down on their fumble issues.More on that issue and other notes after the jump.

Offense coughed up the ball 10 times in its last two games (recovering 7 of those fumbles). In Corvallis some of those fumbles stunted promising offensive drives while last weekend two of them led to Washington touch downs. So coaches are giving extra emphasis on ball security during practices this week:

"We definitely need to institute ball security back in practice," Coach Rick Neuheisel said. "Compared to what took place a year ago, the turnover rate has been good for us. But it has reared its ugly head and we have to go back to making it a huge point of emphasis."

The biggest culprits are the team’s leading passer and leading rusher. Quarterback Kevin Prince has nine fumbles, losing four. Tailback Johnathan Franklin has five, losing two. The two are also responsible for 10 of the Bruins' 14 offensive touchdowns.

Still, Franklin, who has been nursing a sore ankle, did not return to the game after fumbling at the start of the third quarter against Washington. He has been the most consistent running back this season, with 510 yards rushing and five touchdowns

That leads Neuheisel, when asked if there will be changes in personnel, to say, "I’m not sure we're ready to make that decision."

"Most of [Franklin’s] fumbles have been when he was close to the ground," Neuheisel said. "But the last one against Washington, he got the ball yanked out of his hands. We have to make sure he treats that thing like it’s sacred."

The answer this week will be more drills. Neuheisel said he had eliminated the ball-handling drills earlier in an effort to shorten practice, but he will re-introduce them this week.

"We’ll have guys run the gauntlet machine and other drills," Neuheisel said. "We’ll also make sure the scout team is involved. They have to try to get the ball out. There will be great concentration on this during the week. We can’t lose the ball. It’s too important."

Well it will be interesting to see how Prince, JetSki and rest of their team-mates hang on to the ball on Saturday. One of the reasons I thought we struggled holding on to the ball in Oregon State was because the conditions might have been a little slick (I thought it had rained in Corvallis earlier in the day, but I could be wrong on that count). The fumbles last week were inexcusable though. JetSki (he is not the only RB who has had fumble issues this year either) has to focus and concentrate with the rock. Hopefully the extra drills during practices will get the guys more game ready for Saturday.

Going back to the offensive line the LAT reports of a little shuffle due to an ankle sprain by Ryan Taylor:

Guard Ryan Taylor is not expected to play this week after suffering what Neuheisel called a sprained right foot against Washington.

Taylor, who was wearing a walking boot while watching practice, said that X-rays showed no broken bones but that "two of the bones by my toe have separated a little."

Darius Savage and Jake Dean will compete for the starting guard spot and both may play against Washington State on Saturday.

Savage started seven games at left guard last season. He has spent most of this season on the field-goal and kickoff-return units.

"I was a little rusty today because I have been playing tackle the last two or three weeks," Savage said. "I have to get my steps more compact and playing inside is more physical, which I prefer."

Offensive line coach Bob Palcic said, "I had Darius and Jake alternating with the first team, giving them equal time. I need to make sure they understand the proper techniques and assignments."

I thought Taylor did a great job last two weeks stepping in for injured Eddie Williams. Ekbatani really struggled when he was asked to step in during the Arizona game. When Ryan took over the spot he seemed to stablize it. Hopefully Savage or Dean make most of this opportunity.And, no I am not going to offer any commentary on Stan Hasiak (who is back in LA) except to wish him luck and root for him to get it together in a tough freshman season (away from parents and family in Hawaii).

On other injury news it sounds like Jerzy Siewierski suited up and went through half of practice yesterday. He might be ready to contribute on Saturday. If that's the case it's great news for our D. We can definitely use his motor in front-7. Although, I am sure if he gets in on Saturday, it will be for limited amount of time. Also, the coaches are slowly working Aaron Hester back into practice:

Redshirt freshman cornerback Aaron Hester was back at practice Tuesday after missing much of last week with discomfort following his return from a broken tibia. His status for the week is still undetermined after he worked mostly with the scout team in practice.

"Hester was back working today, getting acclimated with the scout team," UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said. "We're seeing if he can gain confidence. It's really a confidence issue with him."

Again I don't think there is any need to rush him back. It looks like Sheldon Price is slowly developing confidence at the corner spot. This weekend presents another huge opportunity for the freshman CB to take another step. My preference at this point is to let Price keep gaining his confidence and take as much time as possible so that Hester gets completely healthy. Also, note I though Andrew Abbott did a pretty good job from the nickle spot last weekend against the Husky offense.

To wrap this up I think the key for the entire team will be to zero in on execution on Saturday. I think the game is going to present a huge opportunity for the entire team to show what kind of composure it can exhibit as an obvious favorite. While Washington State no doubt will have some intangibles on its side as it will try to take advantage of its best opportunity to pick up a conference victory, our guys should be able to come in and take control of this game from the outset if it wants to keep charging towards a possible post season. If our gus on offense can eliminate the fumbling mistakes, continue to protect our QBs, and stay on a rhythm it found itself in back in Corvallis, we will have a great shot to keep the MO on our side during our flight back from Pullman.

GO BRUINS.

UCLA Preview

John Berkowitz — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:22:37 -0000

More photos » by Reed Saxon - AP

UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel faces is old team for the second time on Saturday in Pasadena. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

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The Washington football team (3-5 overall, 2-3 in the Pac-10) returns to action this Saturday at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena when the Huskies take on UCLA (3-5 overall, 0-5 in the Pac-10) in a 12:30 p.m. game boroadcast on FSN. The Dawgs, who have faced the nation’s second-toughest schedule to this point, come into the game after a weekend off while the Bruins’ comeback fell short in a 26-19 loss at Oregon State last weekend. UCLA went 3-0 in non-conference play to open the season, but have lost five straight, all against Pac-10 opposition, since then.

Washington was in desperate need of a bye week after the Oregon game and that rest after facing the nation's toughest schedule over the last eight weeks may be just what the doctor ordered to get this team ready for the last quarter of the season.

Postion Matchups

Quarterback....Washington....Jake Locker was declared ready to go on Thursday night and was seen zipping around practice with no visible lingering effects of his quad bruise. With Jake healthy Washington has a serious advanatage at the throttle. Kevin Prince will start for the Bruins and he is coming off a good fourth quarter against Oregon State.

Running Back....Washington....The Bruins and the Huskies are near the bottom of the Pac 10 in overall rushing totals this season. UW is led by Chris Polk who is averaging over 80 yards per game. Polk is a physical runner who breaks tackles and gets a lot of yards on his own. UCLA's Jonathan Franklin is a good looking back who doesn't get as many carries on average as Polk does.

Wide Receivers....Washington...The trio of Devin Aguilar, Jermaine Kearse, and Jermaine Johnson have performed well all season. UCLA has sports the dangerous 6'5 Nelosn Rosario and 6'3 Tylor Embree. That height just may be the reason UW started experimenting with Anthony Boyles at CB during the bye week. From a productivity standpoint this season the Washington receivers have better numbers. The UCLA receivers while talented have not benefitted fromt he stability at QB the UW receivers have.

Tight End...UCLA...Ryan Moya and Logan Paulsen are a couple of TE's who have the tane tto play on Sunday's. UW's Kavario Middleton also has that type of talent but you give the nod in this one to the experience and blocking ability of the Bruin duo.

Offensive Line...Washington...What we have here are two bottom division Pac 10 lines. The Washington offense has been more productive this season when it comes to protecting the QB and opening up holes for the rushing game so they get a slight nod going in.

Defensive Line...UCLA....Brian Price would get my vote as the top defensive lineman in the conference this season. He is a difference maker inside that is impossible to block which free's up his team mates to wreak a little havoc. Korey Bosworth and Datone do a nice job out on the ends.

Linebacker...UCLA....I really like UCLA's Reggie Carter , Akeem Meyers, and Kyle Bosworth. Washington counters with Mason, Butler, and Dennison. Dennison will be starting in place of EJ Savannah who is taking the week off with a thumb injury.

Secondary....UCLA...I would put UCLA's Rahim Moore, Alterraun Verner and Aaron Hester up against anyone in the conference. Moore leads the conference in interceptions this season. Hester is a little banged up and expected to play.

Special Teams...UCLA....UW has had a lot of problems with special teams over the past month. UCLA even though less than perfect has had less problems so I give them the nod going in. This is really a part of the game that will be up for grabs.

Washington running game versus the UCLA defense

This is where the game is going to be won on Saturday. UCLA is giving up over 157 yards per game this season and the Huskies goal going into this game is to pick up around 200 yards. That might be easier said than done because UW averages a shade under 120 yards per game on the ground and Sarkisan probably doesn't want to put too much of a load on Jake Locker who is recovering from a quad bruise. The staff is however treating this as the the must win that it truly is. If Locker can run they are going to unleash him if that what it takes to win this game. We all know what tye of running back Chris polk is. He gets the tough yards inside but is very capable of breaking some big one's. He needs to do that this week and have a career day.

Success rushing the football and winning go hand-in-hand for the Huskies. Since 1990, UW has rushed for 200 yards in a game 72 times. The Huskies’ record stands at 59-12-1 (.826) in those contests. Since the1995 season, Washington is 34-9-1 (.784) when rushing for 200 yards.

Washington Passing Game versus the UCLA defense

Jake has looked good so far in practice this week. What he needs to do this week is improve his decision making. He is going up against a ballhawking secondary and will face some pressure from the UCLA line. If he makes mistakes against the UCLA corners they are going to pick him off. He needs to get outside more on the rollout to buy a little more time. Washington has a very good group of receivers and the hope is a strong running game will open up opportunities down field.

UCLA passing game versus the Washington Defense

UCLA has had trouble all season putting this part of the game together. Washington is a great team to work out those problems against. The Bruins have a big advantage in size when it comes to their WR's. Washington is countering by bringing in two guys that haven't played this season in Jason Wells and Anthony Boyles. Wells may start at safety but I am not sure how much Boyles will play even though his height matches up well with these huge WRs. UCLA is not going to go deep much against Washington. They are going to be throwin a lot of quick outs and high percentage passses to get some rythm going early and give Price some confidence. Chow has a reputation of taking what a defense will give him and Washington will do wht they ahve done all season and that is keep theball in front of them.

Game Notes

UCLA will be the Huskies’ first opponent this season with a sub-.500 record.

Rick Neuheisel was the Husky head coach from 1999 through 2002. Also on the Bruins staff are three former UW assistant coaches: Tim Hundley, Wayne Moses and Reggie Moore (who was a GA at Washington).

Defensive tackle Cameron Elisara (neck stinger) will not travel with the Huskies, marking his second consecutive missed game and prompting the question whether the team has seen the last of his services this season. Also, linebackers E.J. Savannah (broken left wrist) and Jordan Wallace (left knee), who tweaked his knee during a tackle in practice Wednesday, will stay in Seattle.

WR Jordan Polk (knee surgery) has been cleared to play.

Five safeties – Nate Williams, Nathan Fellner, Jason Wells, Victor Aiweya and Greg Walker – will likely see action Saturday, the first-year UW coach said. Williams and Fellner are expected to start.

The Huskies could have as many as three new starters on defense this week. Cort Dennison will start in place of Savannah, and freshman Andru Pulu looks ready to start at defensive end while Daniel T’eo-Nesheim moves inside. Senior Jason Wells could get his first start of the season at safety, although Sarkisian said he had yet to decide whether Wells or true freshman Nate Fellner would start.

An X-ray on UCLA cornerback Aaron Hester's right leg was negative for a fracture, but he has calcium deposits and loose cartilage. Hester, who suffered a broken fibula in the same leg in the season opener, was not in uniform for practice and is questionable for Saturday. Receiver Morrell Presley will be out at least one week because of a sprained left shoulder. . . . Randall Carroll, who has a groin injury, is doubtful for Saturday's game.

UCLA quarterback Kevin Prince threw for 198 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter while rallying the Bruins back from a 16-point deficit this past Saturday against Oregon State. Prince finished with a season-high 323 yards and 22 completions against the Beavers and nearly drove UCLA down the field for another game-tying drive in the closing seconds.

Washington has not beaten UCLA in Pasadena since 1995.

UW is 29-37-2 in the overall series with UCLA.

This Saturday, the Huskies will face a former UW head coach for the 14th time in history, and for the second time since 1975 (the other in that span was a loss last year vs. UCLA, coached by Rick Neuheisel). In ‘75, the Dawgs played the second of two games vs. Texas, coached by Darrell Royal, who was the Husky head man for one season (1956). The Huskies lost to Texas in both 1974 and 1975. In 1946 and 1947, the Huskies face a St. Mary’s team coached by James Phelan, who was the UW head man from 1930 to 1941. UW lost the first of those two, 24-20, but won the ‘47 meeting, 26-6. Lastly,the Huskies faced Cal teams coached by Leonard Allison (UW coach in 1920) nine times between 1935 and 1944, going 5-3-1. The UW is therefore 6-7-1 in games against teams led by former Washington head coaches.

Spaulding Roundup: Jumpstarting The Ground Game, Locker's Readiness & Other Notes

Nestor — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:52:22 -0000

Let's start today's roundup with a focus on our offense. We have talked a lot about Kevin Prince and our passing game getting it going in the fourth quarter of Oregon State game. While we are all anxious to see whether or not Prince can pick up where he left off, we hope the ground game gets back in the groove after having a big day against Cal two weekend ago at the Rose Bowl. For Norm Chow's offense to really get going in Westwood, we will desperately need balance. So far this season we haven't had a game during which both the running and passing game are clicking on all cylinders.

Bruin offense will get that opportunity against the Huskies, who are bringing a defense that is second worst in the conference in stopping the rush and 7th in pass defense. JetSki and his team-mates know that they need to show more consistency. From the Daily News:

"Definitely we need to establish the run; it tires down the (opposing) team, it opens up the pass, it makes the holes a lot bigger in the third and fourth quarter," Franklin said. "Just moving the ball positively is always a good thing, whether it's a long run, short run, whatever."

The problem with the running game hasn't been the long runs.

Last season, behind a shoddy offensive line, the Bruins had just two long runs, one for 44 yards by leading rusher Kahlil Bell and a 40-yard gain by then-freshman Derrick Coleman.

UCLA has four long bursts this year, with Franklin's 74-yard dash against the Bears being the benchmark.

What hurts the Bruins are the difficult short gains, articularly the inability to convert the crucial third-and-short.
"We just have to produce more," senior fullback Chane Moline said. "When our number is called, we have to put confidence in our coaches to call more, especially on third downs and fourth and inches. We can definitely improve on it week to week."

The running game has been an emphasis in practice throughout the week, with coaches trying to get the team to be more physical.

As Neuheisel noted in the same piece it will take a total team effort for our offense to kick start the running game on Saturday:

"Part of it is because of the good defenses we're playing, part is because we've been behind in games and haven't had as many opportunities to run the ball," Neuheisel said. "But also, we have to face the facts that we have to block better and set up the run better. It's a total team effort to correct the running game."

In terms of blocking keep a close eye on our recievers. I don't believe they have given us a consistent effort this season in that department. I am hoping this area will get better in our last four games.

The best thing that can happen for our offense on Saturday is if Prince and co. can come out and get a get in a rhythm early. I think that will soften up the defense, allowing Chow to try stretching them out with the speed of JetSki, Knox and Thigpen. The hopeful part of me thinks that we will be able to pick up where we left off on Sat. We will have to wait and see. More after the jump.

Meanwhile, up in Seattle it looks all but official that Locker is going to be ready on Saturday. From Bob Condotta in the Seattle Times reported that the Washingotn QB "looked just fine" as he "took every snap" during Wednesday's practice. For some reason Sarkasian is still trying to be coy about who is going to start:

UW coach Steve Sarkisian said he was still not ready to say Locker will start or play against UCLA Saturday.

Said Sarkisian: "I thought he moved better today. My big thing with all injuries, especially with something like this, is how they respond. We asked him to move a little more today than we did yesterday. The key for me is how he responds tomorrow. I'll be able to make a better assessment Thursday in how he responded from today.''

Asked about Locker's workload, he said it was "pretty much'' the same as normal. "We put Ronnie in for a few more plays than normal, but for the most part, it was about the same.''

Asked if he was surprised by Jake's ability to move around, he said "No. Like everything, I don't try and make expectations based on hope. I just go with what I see and the facts. I don't try and expect things in hoping for them. I kind of wait and see what they look like.''

Asked how his recovery is going, Sarkisian said: "He got through yesterday fine with a little bit of movement. He came back today and moved better, which was encouraging. We asked him to move more, he moved better. Now the key is going to be tomorrow to see how he responds.''

Asked if he still intends for it to be a game-time decision, he said: "I'd rather it not be. I'd rather, for the sake of our football team, to be able to make that decision so everyone know where we're at, one way or another. If it comes to that, it comes to that.''

Yeah, Ok. Whatever. Obvious no one is going to buy those public comments. I think we can reasonable expect UCLA coaches to totally disregard that kind of coachspeak.

As for other injury related knows Morrell Presley suffered a shoulder sprin after getting lit up free safety Dalton Hillard. Randal Carroll also left the practice with a groin injury. No updates on those guys. It looks like Aaron Hester is going to be out for a while after making his attempt to come back last weekend. From the LA Times:

Hester is expected to have an X-ray today.

"It doesn't feel broken, it's just real tender," Hester said. "I can't do anything explosive off it.

"They told me if I didn't practice [Wednesday] that I wouldn't play this week. It stinks, but I don't want to shatter my leg."

Well at this point I rather have the coaches use as much caution as possible with Hester. They were doing it to begin with yet the beat reporters were playing up the stories about Hester's frustrations from being out and how the coaches were not working him back into the mix. It sure looks like coaches in this case were doing the right thing by taking the cautious route all along.

Lastly, Jon Gold has a a huge story on ATV missing out on a potential game winning interception (potential pick 6) last weekend in Corvallis. Not sure I want to dwell over it. ATV is a great Bruin. I really believe he will have more chances to do something special during the last 4 regular season games of his great Bruin career. He is just one of many reasons to stick with our team during this month of Novermber. Hopefully it will be one we remember (for all the right reason) for a long time.

GO BRUINS.

Spaulding Roundup: Throwback Jerseys On Homecoming Weekend & Other Notes

Nestor — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:20:32 -0000

Let's start with a very quick housekeeping note again. As noted last night things look a little different here on BN (and all around SBN) starting this am. Basically what you are seeing today is SBN's tech gurus doing a little "visual refresh" of our communities, which includes a refresh of the current visual design across all blogs. It's part of SBN's unending efforts to make posts more readable and push text higher above the fold, and a first step in a project to improve load time. I think you guys will enjoy BN's cleaner look. Definitely would love to hear what you guys think about this new tweaks. Chime in the fanshot thread posted last night or here in this comment thread.

The timing on this "visiaul refresh" of BN works out well because now I can segway into the topic of the much anticipated throwback jerseys UCLA is going to bust out this Saturday. From the official site:

THROWBACK JERSEYS -- For Saturday's Homecoming Game against the Huskies, the Bruins will wear "throwback" jerseys similar to the UCLA jerseys worn in 1967, when Gary Beban won the Heisman Trophy. The Bruins will also wear gold helmets without the UCLA logo and black shoes in the style of the 1967 team. Facsimilie jerseys with Beban's No. 16, are on sale at the UCLA Store and online.

I am assuming some of you have already stocked up on those number 16s. Moving on to the game notes Bob Condotta from the Seattle Times posted another update on Jake Locker. It looks like as of right now Locker is a go:

Jake Locker basically split the reps at QB with Ronnie Fouch --- appeared to be about the normal division --- working with the No. 1 offense. Frankly, if you didn't know Locker was hurt you wouldn't have known he was hurt from watching this workout. The caveats to that are that it was a no-contact practice --- the team was in just helmets and shoulder pads and sweats/shorts --- and he didn't do any real running, just throwing and handing off.

But considering this is Monday, seemed like the kind of start to the week for a guy who will play on Saturday, though as noted earlier, some of this is also seeing how his leg reacts each day to work the day before. Keith Price worked with the scout team as Locker and Fouch handled all the duties with the main offense, as is the norm.

While the Bruin defense no doubt will work on their game prep with Locker on their minds, as Jon Gold notes they will also have to work on improving themselves:

Neuheisel realizes, though, the Bruins need to focus on improving themselves this week, instead of looking just at Locker. For the fifth consecutive week - all losses - the UCLA defense often found itself out of position and scrambling to right its wrongs, but to no avail.

"We've played some pretty darn good offenses, but yes we have to play better on defense," Neuheisel said. "I don't know that you can point at one thing. Assignments, tackling, just being where we need to be and making plays when they're there to be made."

The Bruins have faced a tough slate of opponents, attempting to shut down one star after the next.

Most have been in the running game though, where UCLA has failed to contain Stanford's Toby Gerhart, Oregon's LaMichael James, Cal's Jahvid Best and Oregon State's Jacquizz Rodgers. But what concerns Neuheisel has been the failure to shut down opportunistic pass offenses, who have taken advantage of freshman cornerback Sheldon Price's inexperience and slight build.

"Until we stop them, we're going to have to face the facts there," Neuheisel said. "Sheldon's going to have to continue to improve and we'll have to try to create competition there. We're going to play the guy who plays the best in practice. We're not down on Sheldon, he's a young player trying to help the team and he's playing hard. ... But we certainly understand we have to play better and not give up the easy yards."

So this gives me an opportunity to ask a question I haven't really zeroed in on enough the last few weeks (or especially since the Cal game). Does anyone have an idea re. why our CBs given so much cushion to opposing WRs? Sometimes when I am watching out defense on television I can't even see our corners. They are off the screen and playing almost 7-8 yards off the opposing receiver. This is not happening just with Sheldon Price. This has been happening even with ATV (who was giving up chunks of yardage in the Cal game). I would love to hear a cogent explanation for this tactic because it is just another one of those attributes that makes Bullough's defense appear very vanilla and always seem to keep them off balance. I don't think they are going to be able to get away by doing the same against Washington. Jake Locker -hurt or not - will take advantage of any open spaces he can find to run through and make huge plays. More after the jump.

Speaking of cornerbacks Aaron Hester will probably not be available this week:

Cornerback Aaron Hester reinjured his right leg Saturday, though not as bad as when he cracked his fibula in the season opener. X-rays did not reveal any major damage.

Neuheisel was unsure Monday if Hester will play Saturday.

Hester returned from the initial injury Saturday at Oregon State but saw limited action. His continued absence would hurt the secondary because opposing teams have been able to take advantage of freshman Sheldon Price.

With Hester out, Price and Courtney Viney will continue to battle it out for the remaining cornerback spot.

This really explains why coaches like Carnell Lake were beinge extra cautious with putting Hester back in. Of course that didn't stop the local beat writers to breathlessly write up on Hester's frustration of not being able to come back early enough baseleslly playing up the angle of a player getting upset with coaches. It looks like all along the coaches were doing the exact right thing by taking their time on Hester. I hope they continue to do the same although I'd like to see a little bit more of Viney in the game.

Lastly, Nelson Rosario is excited after last weekend (the kid was retweeting Tele's video post over the weekend celebrating his first college TD). More importantly he also knows he needs to focus so that he can also be consistent and catch the easy balls in addition to making those spectacular plays (which he has done multiple times this year):

Rosario, 6 feet 5 and 211 pounds, possesses tremendous leaping ability and deceptive speed.

However, there are times his concentration seems to lag, such as during the California game when he dropped a sure touchdown pass.

"There is no reason for that," Rosario said. "It's all about focus. I tell myself, 'Make sure you catch the ball, then run.'"

After the Cal game, quarterback Kevin Prince went to Rosario and told him the ball was still coming his way.

"It brings your confidence up to know that he trusts you, knowing the ball could come your way any time," Rosario said.

Hope it comes his way early and often during this throwback Saturday.

GO BRUINS.