SB Nation - Milton Knox

Spaulding Roundup: Owl Preparations

Nestor — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 11:00:28 -0000

Well I am on my way to LA this morning (provided that we can get out of a snow covered Washington DC in time). So I will not be around much most of the day today. I wanted to get in some practice notes from Friday and yesterday as it now looks like the Bruins are in full game preparation mode (which includes the diving stunts from Friday).

Al Balderas from the OC Register wrote about Rick Neuheisel's over all philosophy to keep his team entertained, motivated and getting them ready for the bowl game:

"Make sure it's a reward but find a way to get them to practice hard. Get ready to enjoy the game, and talk about what winning the game means so that there is a real carrot at the end of the stick."

Neuheisel does not want the Temple game plan to get stale, so he's installing the plays gradually while leaving enough room for fun.

The Bruins have three days to prepare for an opponent during the regular season but, counting Friday they have seven days to work on Temple.

"We put an install day, then we polish," Neuheisel said. "An install day, then we polish. And then an install day, and we get back there and then it's all polish.

"I also want to make sure there's also time for fun, which is the reason we're doing the bowling and high dives and Magic Mountain and all the different stuff.

"You've got to make sure there's a lot of laughing. College campuses, this time of year are ghost towns, so you have to find ways to make this a good deal."

More on Rick Neuheisel's thoughts on bowl preparations in the Daily News:

UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel waited a bit to incorporate the Temple game plan earlier this week as the coaches have taken a good, hard look at the team's up-and-coming players.

Part of it was to get an invaluable jump on next year's lineup. The other was to deliver the Temple message at the right time so that it wasn't lost.

"You don't want to do it early," Neuheisel said. "You don't want it to get stale. You want it to be where you're thinking, you're getting into it and you get it up to full speed and then perform it.

"It's like preparing for a play. You can get tired of rehearsals. You want to get with the live audience."

CRN also mentioned that he had gotten his "formula" on bowl preparation from Terry Donahue. That makes me slightly uncomfortable because the memories of the last two bowl games we collectively experienced from Donahue were not pretty. They included a listless loss against the Jayhawks in the Aloha Bowl (1996) and an unprepared and sloppy one against Wisconsin in 1994. While I definitely understand the need for our guys to have fun and engage in team-bonding, I just hope Neuheisel and his staff have the guys locked in for Temple because Golden's guys are going to be fired up.

Al Golden gave the LA Times a little glimpse on how fired up his Owls are going to be face off against a team from a BCS conference:

"No. 1, any bowl victory is a great bowl victory," Coach Al Golden said. "But when you play a team with the tradition, notoriety and brand like UCLA, it is sure to add significance in terms of perception and in terms of being accepted nationally. Don't think we don't understand for a second the magnitude of playing someone like UCLA."

Again, let's hope our guys are ready to match their intensity and passion on the 29th. More after the jump.

It looks like Kevin Prince had a decent practice on Saturday per Jon Gold's notes:

* Kevin Prince had an effective practice, throwing a couple passes with perfect zip on them. I expect him to play against Temple.

* At this point in preparation, reps are still being divided, particularly at running back.

CRN thinks he will have a "better feel" re. Prince's start by Monday. Meanwhile, more on the running back situation from the LA Times:

"Obviously, we have to create a more efficient running game," Coach Rick Neuheisel said. "We don't want to have to lean on the passing game too much and lean on our protection too much."

Moline had a plow-horse-like day against Arizona State, gaining 84 yards. He was less effective against USC, with 15 yards in seven carries.

Franklin leads the team with 597 yards and has shown the breakaway speed to get quick scores. But the fumbles have reduced his playing time. He has only 36 carries in the six games since rushing for 101 yards against California.

"I'm definitely trying to earn some trust back from the coaches," said Franklin, a redshirt freshman.

"This is the longest season I have ever had, the longest time I have ever been on the football field. I'm getting used to it, slowly but surely, but it's a long time."

Running backs coach Wayne Moses has used the week to "get back to the fundamentals and getting it back in perspective to see who needs to work on what."

Apparently Moline is expected to start per the LA Times. However, I think this could be a game where the coaches should probably also put in Coleman, Knox and Thigpen with a decent amount of reps.

Coleman's physical running style could be a good match for the Temple's tough running defense. This should also be a game where the coaches will need to mix things up and hopefully take advantage of some of the speed and athleticism we have in guys like Franklin, Knox and Thigpen. I don't think it is going to help us a lot if we keep throwing out the same looks we have shown in our last two games (ASU and Southern Cal) for a well prepared Temple Owls team.

GO BRUINS.

Some Thoughts On UCLA's Offense

Nestor — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:35:24 -0000

More photos » by Wade Payne - AP

JetSki needs to carry the ball around campus rest of school year

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The bowl picture remains cloudy for us and per the folks at the Irish Round Table (HT Magnusblitz), the news of Notre Dame players voting "no" to play in a bowl game looks very premature. Either way, I think it is time we start shifting the focus back on our team today. The defensive performance against Southern Cal was encouraging to say the least. Although the big question to ponder in the coming weeks (especially if we don't have a bowl game to play in) is how the heck we are going to replace Price, Jerzy and Carter next year in our front-7. I have no doubt CRN and his staff will put together a full court press in the coming days to find some DTs and shore up our LBs spot, but the inexperience in our front-7 heading into next year is going to be a huge challenge.

We will talk about the defense another day (unless one of you want to start the discussion in a separate fanpost today). I really want to talk about the offense today based on what we saw (or didn't see) last Saturday. Let's go back to last week and revisit a quote from CRN in which he conveyed that the Bruins needed more than Moline to beat the Trojans (emphasis added):

UCLA used a safe-and-sane offensive approach in a 23-13 victory over Arizona State on Saturday. The Bruins had fullback Chane Moline at tailback and ground out yardage.

"That remains to be seen," Coach Rick Neuheisel said when asked if a similar game plan would work against USC. "I don't think we can do it wholesale. I think we have to mix things up. I just think we're going to need more explosive plays. That's going to require more than just having our 'bigs' on the field."

Needless to say, we didn't see much of that on Saturday night. Chane had 12 carries for 15 yards (with a TD). JetSki got the ball 4 times for 28 yards (he fumbled in one of those carries), and Coleman got the ball one time picking up a single yard. So, during the game and for most of last couple of days I was pretty frustrated picturing Moline getting the ball in that "Cheetah" formation and going nowhere with it. I wasn't getting why the coaches were putting a big back in that formation who doesn't have the speed to get by defender or hasn't shown the ability to throw the ball. We didn't see any Knox or Thigpen at any point during the game. So yeah, I can see why so many of us would be so frustrated with that game plan (especially after CRN himself articulated the need for "explosive plays").

So how to explain the minimalist approach from a UCLA football program that has Neuheisel and Chow, two of the more aggressive and dynamic play callers in the game? Well we have to take in few factors into consideration.

Norm Chow was playing with the hand he was dealt with. He was going into this game with a QB who is still developing in his redshirt freshman season. His OL was completely rebuilt at the start of this season and is now just coming around in terms of pass protection. Among his running backs he has some speed in JetSki but doesn't have dependability given his fumble issues. Milton Knox from what I have seen in limited appearances hasn't show the ability to read defenses (get in the right position in blocking schemes). He did well in the Wildcat formation in the Washington game (so I can see the argument why he wasn't used in that form on Sat but then again it would have been predictable). Thigpen is still very raw as a freshman and needs to bulk up. As for Coleman, I think he is better suited to be a FB, and didn't exactly light it up when he played against faster defenses such as Tennessee and Arizona State (total 3 yards in 8 carries).

As for our receivers, Pressley has been banged up. Randall Carroll is still getting up to speed on our playbook. Austin and Embree are servicable, but they have issues with getting separation in the defensive backfield. Then we have Nelson Rosario, who simply hasn't been consistent yet. He was showing signs of coming around this season and has definitely taken a step forward, but it seemed like the stage was too big for him on Sat. Add into this mix, our senior TE, Logan Paulsen has a habit of making crushing mistakes.

So, add in all these factors into the mix, I can see why Chow and Neuheisel decided to go with a minimalist approach. For most part they had a very good chance of pulling it out. Kevin Prince didn't have a good night. Yet, we were in that game. We were driving on those guys and certainly moving the ball on the Trojan defense. It was a freshman mistake on his first throw that did us in. If we didn't get burned by Rosario's fumble we probably would have gotten at least 3 in the first half. Same story in the second half, when Prince injured himself because of the difficult long yardage situation we found ourselves in due to Paulsen's brain cramp. Yet, despite all the adversity we were within 7 with lots of nervous Trojies in the Colosseum late in the game.

Now, as I mentioned above, I guess I can see reservations about why coaches didn't use Knox in Wildcat formations. Yet as I wrote, I think given that Knox at this point can only seem to handle that formation, it would have been predictable. I would also add that IIRC we were also making mistakes in terms of penalties and fumbles with Knox and Thigpen in the game in recent weeks. So, I understand if the coaches opted to go with the dependable handles of Chane Moline. The factor was paramount considerng the fumbling issues of JetSki and also the TOs generated from our own passing game.

I also think we have reasonable grounds to be frustrated about continious use of Terrence Austin in kick and punt returns. I am not exactly sure why all season coaches didn't given Thigpen or Carroll legtimate shots in those departments. Austin is a great kid and he can be depenable (most of the times). However, it was frustrating to see us not being able to take advantage of any of the opportunities presented by our stout defense. Going forward, if there is a bowl game, I really would love to see Carroll and Thigpen getting legit opportunities to play a part in the return game. When we have that kind team speed at our disposal, I just think coaches have to find a way to leverage it on the field.

Also going forward, as encouraged as I am about the progress I have seen from Kevin Prince this season, I am really hoping Richard Brehaut is going to hit the playbook hard. I hope he got started on Sunday. I think it would be beneficial for the entire team (and Kevin Prince) if Richard can mount a ferocious competiton during spring ball (and perhaps even during December if we have practice weeks thanks to a Bowl bid). As for JetSki, Knox and Thigpen, those guys will need to hit the weightroom harder and study up on Professor Chow's playbook. They have certainly shown flashes of promise but they need to prove they can maintain it on the field. Thankfully they are going to get competition next year through Malcolm Jones and Jordon James.

Obivously, this post is just to kickstart the discussion on our offense. We are just scratching the surface in terms of issues we have to discuss around this side of the ball. We will have a lot to talk about in the coming days, weeks, and months going through (hopefully) bowl game, recruiting, spring ball, and 2010 kickoff season. I get the sense excitement level and passion around Bruin football (at least around this place) have kicked up to whole another level after last Saturday. Let's keep that fire burning.

GO BRUINS.

Spaulding Roundup: UCLA On The Brink

Nestor — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:42:49 -0000

More photos » by Francis Specker - AP

Chane Moline, Trevor Theriot, and Jeff Baca (60) find themselves on the brink (of becoming bowl eligible and possibly something more)

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About 32 hours to go till the biggest football game of the season. This has been one of those weeks when I was wishing for football game to be on Thursday night on ESPN. I was thinking when was the last time Bruins had this kind of opportunity to seize total control of momentum heading into that last regular game of the season. The game I keep thinking back to is the one against Washington Huskies in 19978?

Do you guys remember that Washington game from 978? IIRC Brock Huard was the QB for the Huskies at the time while number 18 was of course marshaling the offense on our side. Heading into that game everyone had that sense. Something special was going on with our program. Our offense was showing signs of clicking on all cylinders as Cade was in total control. Long's defense was flying around the field. I wasn't at the game but I remember when ABC's camera zoomed in with the aerial shot. There were about 80,000+ Bruins fans waving towls and going berserk making the Rose Bowl sound as loud as I have ever heard. That was the game when everything came together. Cade was flying around decking Husky LBers in his classic roll outs while Brian Willmer and co. were just demolishing Huard into the turf. Up until that game Bruins always found a way to choke whenever they had opportunities to seize momentum but they came through in a huge way, blowing out the Huskies by a score of 51-21.

Well there is no way I see the Bruins blowing out the Sun Devils. I think getting a W tomorrow is going to be a huge battle. However, I do think this year's Bruins have an opportunity to recapture some of that magic from 98 (while making a season ending run following 5 game losing streak ala 92). All season we haven't had a game in which both the offense and defense clicked together at the same time. I can't think of a better occassion than senior day at the Rose Bowl, so that kids like ATV, Carter, Austin, Bosworth brothers, and Paulsen finally getting rid of some of the pains from Dorrell years. Tomorrow's game is so huge. It will put us on the brink to make that charge we all have been hoping to see signs of. We are all thristy and desperate for it and I am praying our guys can come out and play with the ultimate urgency. Our guys - at least on paper - during this game week have sounded like having the right mindset heading into Saturday. More on that after the jump.

Brian Price and co. have been hearing a lot about the ASU defense (for good reasons). They sound anxious to playe their role in a possible defensive slugfest:

UCLA's game against Arizona State could be a defensive affair, and most are touting the Sun Devils in that department.

ASU has 24 takeaways, including 15 interceptions.

"Everyone is entitled to their opinion," UCLA junior defensive tackle Brian Price said. "It's going to be a showdown, I guess. Their defense versus our defense. It matters. It's motivation, more fuel to the fire."

The ASU defense allows opponents to gain just over 300 yards and convert just 30.7 percent of their first downs, both of which lead the Pac-10. Neuheisel hopes UCLA would win a defensive battle.

"We'd love for it to be to our advantage," Neuheisel said. "I know this: In a defensive game, you can't turn the ball over. We have to do a great job not turning the ball over, knowing what we can and can't do and not let their pass rush be a huge factor in the deal. And see if we can find a way to get this win."

It looks like Price and co. will be facing either soph. Samson Szakacsy or senior Danny Sullivan tomorrow at the Rose Bowl:

Coach Dennis Erickson narrowed his choices (for starting quarterback) to two Wednesday, opting not to start true freshman Brock Osweiler for a second consecutive game.

Sullivan started the first nine games then sat out last week against Oregon with a right biceps injury.
"I don't think he's totally healthy," Erickson said. "That's part of the decision. He's throwing it OK, but not like he can. It's still bothering him."

If Szakacsy, who played in the second quarter and the entire second half last week, gets his first start then Erickson would prefer that Sullivan back him up because of his experience.

Osweiler left the Oregon game because of a left-shoulder injury but is healthy enough to play, Erickson said.

All signs point to Szakacsy getting the start particularly because his right elbow tendinitis is not flaring up even with his extra throwing.

"He's practiced very well," Erickson said. "He's smart and he understands what's going on. He gets the ball out quick. It (his elbow) is closer to where it was in the spring than it has been because really early in the season he couldn't have played. He couldn't throw it from here to the fence."

Whoever starts tomorrow our defense cannot let him get comfortable. They need to disrupt him by making him hurry by bringing pressure on him from all over the place. I really liked how Bullough used Akeem Ayers this past weekend. He finally figured out it seems that Ayers has a lot of potential to destroy opposing QBs in number of ways, if we get him lined up as DE. I would love to see more of that along with pressure coming from other angles. Tomorrow is the day our defense needs to come out and fly around all over the field, making the same statement they made on national television in Tennessee.

Elsewhere the LAT focuses on the competition at the RB spot in Westwood. Milton Knox is embracing it:

"You can't call it crowded. I call it competition," Knox said. "We're in a program that is trying to be the best right now. We've got two more guys coming in. They will compete just like everybody else. If you don't like competition, what are you doing here?"

JetSki has the right attitude as well but he has his RBs mixed up:

"It's the big leagues," Franklin said. "They're always trying to find that guy, that Reggie Bush, that O.J. Simpson, to come in and take the position. You just have to come out here and work hard."

Uh no. Johnathan we are not looking for (alleged) double murderer and (alleged) cheaters (turned into NFL busts) in Westwood. We are looking for you to do the same thing as Skip Hicks, Karim Abdul-Jabbar, Gaston Greene and of course MJD. That means better focus and concentration on the field:

"I don't care how big you are, how fast you are, whatever, you got to hold on to the ball," running backs coach Wayne Moses said. "Your team depends on that from you. He understands it. We've got to keep working toward that end."

Hopefully JetSki, Knox, Coleman and Moline can find a way to come through and help out Kevin Prince against the best defense in the conference tomorrow. If they can play a big role in getting us a W, forget the giddiness around being bowl eligible, it will put our program on the brink of something special.

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: Cleared Up QB Picture, Wildcat Excitement & Early Thoughts On WSU Game

Nestor — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:46:32 -0000

More photos » by Francis Specker - AP

Prince waiting for the word from the training staff to get clearance for Saturday

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Let's start this week by checking in with our starter: Kevin Prince. Per the report in LAT today CRN said that Prince "was cleared pretty quickly" by the "training staff report." Prince will go through some "exertion test" tomorrow and per CRN's words the training staff thinks "he will be ready." Prince looked all right when he was walking around the sidelines after half time on Saturday. He didn't sound too worried about his status for next week after the game. From the Press Enterprise:

Prince was kept on the sideline with what he called a minor concussion.

"I was dizzy, drowsy, kind of a little sensitive to light and stuff," said Prince, who was wearing a mouth guard.

Remember, Prince's jaw was fractured when he was sacked late in a victory over Tennessee in the second game of the season. That kept him out for a couple weeks and seemed to hinder his progress.

He sounded as assured as he could that he'd be ready to play at Washington State next Saturday.

"Absolutely," Prince said when asked about that game. "I'll be fine."

In his limited time, he passed for 212 yards and a touchdown and connected on 13 of his 17 attempts.

I think UCLA staff should make sure they exercise as much caution as possible with Prince. He has taken some vicious hits this year. I want him to see out there on Saturday but I will totally understand if our training staff and coaches decide to keep him out for one week. Meanwhile, from now till the end of the season perhaps Kevin should be putting in some extra time in practice working on his slide. Running head first for extra couple of yards was not a smart move on his part, particularly now that he is emerging as the clear starter of this football team.

Even if Prince cannot go after Saturday's performance, UCLA coaches should feel pretty confident about going with Kevin Prince. Chris Foster from the LA Time reports how the senior quarterback is having a memorable season in Westwood and might stay plugged in with Chow's offense even after his graduation:

Craft's hand prints -- and hand signals -- are all over the Bruins' season. He has been a mentor to Prince and Brehaut, with the idea of remaining as a graduate assistant being discussed.

Craft is also responsible for the way the Bruins signal plays onto the field, something he and Prince were asked to develop after the San Diego State game.

"The terminology we were using was so long that the receivers were having trouble remembering it," offensive coordinator Norm Chow said. "I sent Kevin and Kevin home that Sunday to come up with a system to signal in the formations."

The two did, with Craft taking the lead. He had studied sign language as his foreign language in high school, and continued to take courses in it at San Diego State. He mixed elements of that with signals that almost mimicked the formation.

"We went through every single formation that Monday night," Craft said. "I would say, 'What about this?' and Kevin would make suggestions."

Soon after, the Bruins had a system. Whether his code could be cracked by opponents doesn't matter, Craft said: "We run 10 plays out of each formation, so it wouldn't help." The receivers still run the plays in from the sideline.

"We use a little bit of the sign language, along with some hand signals that make things easy to remember," Craft said. "It's just easier to do it this way. A lot times when they sent in receivers with the call, things got jumbled."

Ryan described the scene immediately after the game ended showing how tight the quarterbacks are with each other at UCLA:

As soon as Craft took the final knee, Prince and Crissman took off in a dead sprint for him, with Brehaut not far behind once he got all his cords off of him. They had a huge group hug out there on the field, celebrating the win. It was great to see.

It's another scene that should make you LOL next time you read some local reporter try to weave the storyline of Neuheisel losing control of this program. I don't think it's a coincidence that these guys despite what they have been through are so resilient and close together as a unit. No doubt in my mind they are taking their cues from the leader of their program.

Prince (before he went out) and Craft were not the only players having fun on offense on Saturday. Milton Knox's performance from the Wildcat formation has lot of people buzzing:

"It's fun to do that, to come out and make big plays," Knox said. "It wasn't that hard for me to adjust to it. Naturally I'm a running back, but I played a little backup quarterback in high school. When (offensive coordinator Norm Chow) asked me if I could run it, I said sure.

"It helps this team put a little swagger into the offense."

Now comes the hard part, besides the name: figuring out how to introduce the passing element into the complex offense, which was popularized in the NFL by Miami Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown, who threw a 1-yard touchdown pass out of the wildcat on Sunday in the Dolphins' 27-17 loss to New England.

"The wildcat is in vogue right now because it evens the number out," Neuheisel said. "But you have to be versatile in it to last a long time. We'll see if now we can muster up some throwing game out of it."

I think sooner or later though Milton will have to throw it. That's the only way the coaches will be able to ensure that formation keeps producing results. It was awesome to see Milton get loose though. Hopefully it will give him more confidence when lining up in regular formation. However, we'd definitely would love to see some more of it next weekend and perhaps Knox will get a chance to throw out of it.

It was definitely an interesting feeling on Saturday. Especially early on after every offensive score I had the feeling of not being able to wait till next time our offense took the feel. I hadn't felt that sense of anticipation with our offense since the 1999 (2005 doesn't count because our offense would just lollygagg for three quarters until 2LiveDrew did their thing in the 4th).

Our offense is showing the signs of its potential of turning into a machine. Right now the biggest issues around it are stupid penalties and fumbles. Think about it. I think we have had something like 8 fumbles in our last 4 games. If we hadn't fumbled the ball 4 times in firsrt half against Oregon State, the offensive production would have been much different. Same goes with the fumbles from Saturday. We have to clean up those mistakes. If we can do that the offense look even more sharper.

The game against Washington State is not going to be easy. Those guys are going to treat the UCLA game as one of their two winnable games (Washington being the other one) of the season. So they will bring everything they have on both sides of the field. Our team will need to be locked in and treat it like an elimination game. Hopefully they can put together a clean performance both on offense and defense setting up a huge senior day at the Rose Bowl. However, before we get too ahead of ourselves (even though I understand the excitement), we need to get it done on Saturday.

GO BRUINS.

Sunday Reflections: Resilient Bruins Keep Battling Away

Nestor — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:29:43 -0000

More photos » by Francis Specker - AP

Dear Coach Neuehisel: How About Sticking With Those Home Jerseys Rest Of This Season?

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Let's hit the reset button again this am. For last few weeks we have seen the UCLA beat reporters working hard to weave the storyline about how Rick Neuheisel is losing control of the UCLA football program. We have had the LA Times making a big deal out of a frustrated true freshman's twitter post. We have had Trojan alum posing as OC Register reporter running wild with unverified face book musings of a frustrated parent's as some kind of legitmate news story. Piling on top of those nonsense Rick Neuheisel and our football program have had to deal with routine classless attacks from LAT's TJ Slimers on a weekly basis.

If the UCLA football program were truly "falling apart", it would have quit a long time ago and got blown apart in Arizona or in Oregon, and walk around like zombies at the Rose Bowl during their home coming game yesterday. Yet game after game, we see these guys battling away. While the defensive tentativeness, silly penalties often make me want to throw my remote into the TV screen, these guys keep fighting back every game. They almost pulled it out last weekend when ATV had a chance to put the Bruins ahead in a heart pumping win. They got it done yesterday when Sheldon Price, who has been deservedly criticized all season long, played a huge part in the game clinching interception. Price and Moore's efforts yesterday were the hallmark of a football team, that not only appear resilient, but united under Neuheisel's leadership in Westwood:

"It's called teamwork, man, and teamwork makes the dream work," Moore said. "That two-minute drill, we do that in practice all the time. That's the camaraderie we have with one another. I mean, Sheldon ran up to me and was like, `I love you, man. I love you, Rahim.' As a team, we've been through so much, to pull out this win is a blessing."

CRN offered up the following comment on UCLA's comeback after falling behind by a score of 14-23 without our starting QB:

"To keep coming back, to keep fighting like that, is easy to preach, it's harder to get done."

And than brings me to CRN's comments on Kevin Craft:

"He's been maligned," Coach Rick Neuheisel said of Craft in a television interview afterward, "but he keeps coming back, and that's what sports is all about."

Let's get something straight first. UCLA is now Kevin Prince's team (when he is healthy). Prince showed in the first half yesterday why Ryan and others were so hyped up about him coming into this season. Moreover, Brehaut's performance during that firs half series (more on that below) also vindicated Norm Chow and other observers who were steadfast in their conviction that Brehaut isn't ready to step up this season.

As fro Craft he had a solid day as a backup. He managed the game really well and allowed Chow to stick with his regular offense. However, at the same time there were spots when Craft showed why Prince is the starting QB for this football team. He missed an open Moya on 3rd and goal. His pass to Austin was slightly under thrown. Still it felt really good to see him get the win. Just like Sheldon Prince Kevin Craft is the picture of resiliency of this football program and proof how the players in this team have bought into CRN's leadership, despite some of nonsense the local reporters have tried to blow up out of proportion this season. More after the jump.

Going back to Brehaut it CRN is making sure the kid keeps his chin up:

"I got to hold onto the ball," said Brehaut, who also fumbled in his last play against Oregon State in the previous game. "I got to have a better thought in my mind. I have to take off running, I just can't hold onto the ball like that. Coach Neuheisel told me to keep my chin up, that he is still behind me."

Neuheisel, while not blaming Brehaut entirely, said, "Competition at this level requires a great deal of concentration and a great deal of preparation. . . . I told him I still had high hopes for him, and was still going to get him more playing time, but this is harder than he thinks it is right now in terms of preparing."

Brehaut will have his time before he is done in Westwood. I think the key for him right now is to take his cues from Craft and stay plugged in with the offense every which way he can. This means total concentration not just during practices but during every film sessions and meeting with Chow and Neuheisel when they are going over the offense.

As for other positives from yesterday let's start with the offense. Ryan laid out below how Nelson Rosario has emerged as a go to receiver in our rotation. Let's hope takes advantage of his confidence to maintain his concentration and focus. His emergence is also important for another reason. CRN can also offer him up as the clear example of what happens when a young player locks in with focus to kids such as Pressley and Carroll.

We now need a RB to step up. JetSki has fumbling issues. I wonder if some of this has to do with health. He hasn't been the same since he screwed up his ankle against Cal few weeks ago. Perhaps he is thinking too much when he is out there. He still does a solid job in terms of blitz pickup but he has to protect the ball. Obviously loved watching the Wildcat package with Milton Knox. Hopefully he gets into the mix even more in the remaining games. He looks a little unsure as a RB during regular formation but perhaps that will change if he gets more carries. Oh and welcome back Mr. Coleman.

I am not going to spend more time giving credit to the OL. They are clearly coming along and point to obvious sign of improvement from this past season. Anyone out there who wants to blather about this team not improving from last season, just has to look at our OL and the kind of time it is providing our QBs. They need to get better at run blocking but I am not too worried about it. Under Palcic's coaching it is going to happen over time.

My big complaint from the offense is unfortunately the seniors. We need Logan Paulsen to wisen up. He had a huge play yesterday but once again he committed stupid penalties that hurt the team. Seems like he has hurt the team with one dumb penalty for 3 straight weeks. It just shouldn't happen from someone who is looked up as one of the senior leaders in this team.

Moving over to the defense. While Price and Moore were the obvious stars from the defensive side, lot of issues remain. Washington's offense racked up 5.95 yards per play against Bullough's defense. While Bullough did mix in some blitzes later in the game (which yielded results) they looked throughly confused and on their heels at the outset. Chis Polk ran for 132 yards in 15 carries against our front 7 tearing them up every time he was touching the ball. Polk almost made it look too easy and I have to wonder why Sarkasian (the so called young offensive genius) didn't stick with the running game to bloody up our defense.

The huge problem right now with our base 4-3 is that our front-4 is not generating much pressure on their own. Brian Price is a monster but he is not getting much help from the other three guys. So it's a matter of deciding when to bring in our LBs or SS to rattle the opposing QB. That depends on Bullough thoroughly scouting the offensive schemes and the tendencies of the opposing QBs. Once again I was surprised why we waited long to bring pressure on Locker who clearly looked uncomfortable when he got a little heat. In fact one of his "sacks" was pretty much Jim Evertesque when he went down sensing Datone Jones around him.

As for ATV he got burned couple of times yesterday. I think that has to do with his health. He has been dealing with a dislocated toe he suffered few weeks ago. While he is all right, he is clearly not 100 percent. Same goes for Reggie Carter who even though played a decent game yesterday doesn't look 100 percent either. So, I think it goes back to Chuck Bullough making sure his defense doesn't look predictable when they come out of the game.

That brings me up to the topic of James Washington, the commentator. I am kind of sick and tired of the cheap shots that I often see hurled towards James here on BN and other places. People need to cut that nonsense out. I understand that James's voice, words choice are often not perfect for TV. I think he knows that too. Well many would say that about the Big Red during his early years of broadcasting career.

I can sense in listening to James that he is making an effort to get better. If you listen to him very closely, he offers some incredibly valuable insights based on his observations from practice. Particularly he is frank and candid. Multiple times yesterday he called out Chuck Bullough for not scheming aggressively and not bringing pressure to rattle Jake Locker. That doesn't happen from vanilla, boiler plate commentators who are afraid to offer up criticisms of coaches because of fear of losing access.

Listening to him, I get to hear an impassioned Bruin who loves everything about blue and gold, and who is offering his exact words he would offer up to young defensive back in blue and gold. James is doing all right and in many ways I find him as enjoyable as listening as Petros Papadakis when commenting on Pac-10 football games. So let's cut the cheap shots out against James Washington and reserve them for morons like David Norrie who is somehow ashamed to let out his UCLA colors while offering up commentary.

Anyway, back to our game. The season is clearly alive. However, right now on BN we need to make this week all about Washington State. We can't afford to get caught up in bowl projections because all of that will be moot if we don't get it done in Palouse which has always been a brutal place for our Bruins. I hope our fanbase and our team will be locked into next weekend's game like it's an NCAA tourney game. We need it badly. We will have to wait to see the word on Kevin Prince. The word from yesterday was that he was being treated for concussion like syndrome. Prince was feeling all right and was gracious towards Donald Butler:

Prince, who sat out four weeks this season because of a fractured jaw, said, "I remember diving and then I was on the ground and not feeling too good. I'm feeling all right now. As far as I know, it was a perfectly legal hit."

Hopefully he will be ready to go at practices and pick up on the same rhythm and total command he was in of our offense. It looked like things have slowed down for him a little as he was going to his secondary receivers.

Lastly, speaking of gracious, CRN had this to say after the game:

UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel stepped to the microphone as he does after every home game, and for the first time in weeks, he was welcomed with cheers.

His voice cracked, his hair messed, Neuheisel made a plea to all those who have jumped ship as one loss became five.

"For those of you who jumped off the bandwagon, I understand," Neuheisel yelled to UCLA's embattled fans. "I'm just asking you to get back on."

I think he is being too kind. I don't really want bandwagoning losers supporting our team, especially those who are openly talking about "throwing ... away" that last regular season game. We don't need those kind of "Bruins" here on BN.

If we can get Prince to come out in the same form and take care of business, we are going to find ourselves in pretty good shape on the eve of our last home game of the season. For now though, we just need to worry about Washington State and hope the team keeps building on the resilient spirit they have shown the entire season. Meanwhile, let's enjoy the ride.

GO BRUINS.

UCLA vs. Washington Report Card

Ryan Rosenblatt — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 06:14:43 -0000

More photos » by Francis Specker - AP

Kevin Craft sure didn't have this much room to throw last season. The offensive line played their best game in the CRN era.

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Let's be honest now. UCLA was far from flawless. While the effort, courage and heart that the Bruins displayed was admirable, you're not going to win many games with five giveaways. Two weeks ago, Arizona was kind enough to keep UCLA in the game before eventually winning. Today, it was UCLA who was kind enough to keep Washington in the game, but the Bruins did do enough to win and a team coming off of five straight losses isn't going to complain about the manner in which they get a W. Here are the grades for each unit, with A being exceptional, C being average and F last season's offensive line.

Quarterback

The Bruin quarterbacks were fantastic from the first toss of the game to the last. Kevin Prince put together a performance that justified all of the pre-season hype I was giving him as he put the ball in all of the right places, used his hot routes to perfection and even an audible. If he could just learn to slide, he'd be in great shape. With Prince on the bench due to injury, Kevin Craft got a shot and showed why he is a capable backup, making just about every throw. He wasn't perfect, but he was good enough and especially good when you consider the lack of snaps he's gotten of late. In his one series, Richard Brehaut proved that he still does have a ways to go. According to CRN in his post-game interview, Brehaut not only took a sack, but he also forgot to bring a guy in motion and was responsible for the illegal formation penalty when the Bruins were in the Wildcat and he did not get on the line. Overall, great day from the QB's, although the two interceptions were ill advised throws. Grade: A-

Running Back/Fullback

You have to hold onto the ball. Jonathan Franklin still hasn't figured that one out. Franklin has had a great freshman season, but fumbling the ball is the number one sin for a back and today was an example of that. Franklin made three great blitz pickups so he did some things right, but hanging onto the ball is number one. Derrick Coleman had a couple nice runs and while he still doesn't have the speed to break one, he picks up solid chunks of yards on just about every carry. Milton Knox was very good with the ball in his hands again, but that was mostly out of the Wildcat. When asked to work as a back in the base offense, he was hesitant, exhibiting why he's had issues getting on the field. Chane Moline is still an adequate blocker at best from the fullback spot, but he was tough running the ball. It was a sub-par performance overall, especially running the ball, but the blitz pickups were great all the way around. Grade: C-

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

It sure is nice to have a go-to receiver and it looks like the Bruins have one in Nelson Rosario. When a guy is 6'5'' and you know that all you have to do is get it up high, it makes things a heck of a lot easier on the quarterback so it's no surprise that Rosario has become a go-to guy. He's showing the focus and confidence he lacked earlier in the year and his second consecutive 100+ yard game is a product of that. Some excellent route running doesn't hurt either and his second quarter deep in that made the DB fall because he was caught by surprise when Rosario cut in is a perfect example of it. Terrance Austin showed some dependability and he's reading defenses better than any of the receivers, becoming a real weapon against zone defenses. Embree had a solid game, while Ketchum made an appearance. Ryan Moya made a good catch and Logan Paulsen had a big 56 yard catch, but for how much longer is the senior going to lead the team in freshman mistakes? Grade: A-

Offensive Line

The unit of the game, bar none. The growth from last season and even the beginning of this season is startling. Last season against a win-less Washington team, the Bruins gave up three sacks. Today, it was just two sacks despite 50% more pass attempts. Kai Maiava was a stud, getting side to side quickly to give the quarterbacks plenty of room to step up, while both tackles, Xavier Sua-Filo and Mike Harris, showed great feet, especially against the blitz. The guards were solid on passing plays, but the lack of surge on running plays has to be a concern for Jeff Baca and Ryan Taylor. The unit gets an A for pass blocking, but they need to be better on the run. The pass was the key to today's win though. Grade: B+

Defensive Line

A poor performance from the defensive line was the low light of the game for UCLA. It's concerning that the front four can't pressure the quarterback on their own, even occasionally and while they've done well to bottle up dive plays, they're not moving well enough side to side to stuff the runs off tackle. A lack of discipline on misdirection plays is also concerning, although they do a good job maintaining their position on the pass rush so even if they did not hit Jake Locker very often, they did keep him from getting the edge too often. At some point, someone needs to make a big play, especially if teams continually double Brian Prince. Two sacks and over six yards a rush for UW points to the defensive line. Grade: D+

Linebackers

The linebackers are fast, but sometimes too fast for their own good, especially Akeem Ayers. Over-pursuit has been a problem for the UCLA linebackers all year and reared its ugly head again today. Luckily, Reggie Carter looked to be in better health than he was last week and he was able to make up for some of the over-pursuit. Carter did a fantastic job holding the point and keeping big holes from opening up in the second level. The run defense of the UCLA linebackers was adequate at best, but they were fantastic in pass defense. They dropped back quickly to get into their space, were very quick coming up to make tackles and got to Locker when they were actually asked to blitz. Their ability to come up and make tackles after dropping into coverage showed just how much speed they have and their tackling was sure. Grade: B

Defensive Backs

Rahim Moore just manages to be in the right place at the right time. Some may call it lucky, but at some point, with how frequently he does it, Moore needs to get credit for it. Moor has eight interceptions now after picking one off the seal the win for the Bruins and he was very active all game, playing centerfield and making tackles against the run when the front seven didn't get it done. Alterraun Verner is still having issues that nobody was expected, but he's still the surest of corners for the Bruins, even if Sheldon Price made a singular great play on Moore's interception. One player who went largely unnoticed was Andrew Abbott, who did a fantastic job at nickle back. The safety position opposite Moore continues to be a trouble though as neither Tony Dye nor Glenn Love was better than mediocre. Grade: B

Special Teams

Kai Forbath is still automatic and while Jeff Locke has not showed the booming leg he did earlier on in the year, he's still be good. Austin's fumble on the kick is a concern for a guy who had been holding onto the ball, while the other candidates for the job haven't. Austin did have one big return to make up for some of his fumble. Kick coverage is still awful on a good day. Grade: C-

Coaching

Norm Chow called a great game and to the surprise of many, didn't take the foot off the pedal when Prince went down. It proved to be very successful and landed the Bruins a win. CRN's decision to go with Brehaut is questionable at best and his vow to get the freshman some meaningful snaps almost cost the Bruins a win, but the sack that took UCLA out of field goal range did not come back to haunt the team. Chuck Bullough's defense is doing just enough, but not as much as it should. He did show some more creativity and aggressiveness at the end of the game and we can only hope that he's turned a corner. The personal fouls are traced back to discipline and the coaching staff. Grade: B-

BN Gameday: Washington Second Half Thread

Nestor — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:14:51 -0000

Bruins are down by a score of 14-16.

Let's get the bad news out of the way. Bruin defense once again looked atrocious to start the game. Chuck Bullough stayed with his horrid base 4-3 scheme which had our guys back peddling most of the half. Except for some blitzes here and there (that actually had some results) the defensed looked unsure, tentative, and somewhat confused like it has in recent weeks.

Also, our seniors have cost us in the first half with turnovers and stupid mistakes (Austin and Paulsen). We all have to hold our breath night to find out what is the latest with Kevin Prince who went down after taking a vicious headshot in a good liking drive. Hopefully Prince is all right and come back to start the second.

That brings us to good news. Before he went down Prince (except for one bad throw) looked absolutely fantastic. He was in total command of our offense spraying passes all over the field. He complete 13 of 17 passes for 212 yards and a sweet TD on 4th and goal. Also, Rosario looks solid with 4 catches and 60 yards. Milton Knox was in for couple of plays in which he looked pretty solid. That included a great run from Wildcat formation. Full box score here.

We can win this game. Washington is up by 2 points but they got 6 of them due to our dumb mistakes. Our seniors and the entire team needs to get it together in the second to end the streak right here. Let's get this done.

GO BRUINS.

Spaulding Roundup: Locker's Status, Neuheisel's Thoughts On Washington & Other Notes

Nestor — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:54:00 -0000

Let's start our Humpday roundup with the latest on Jake Locker. Before yesterday's practice Steve Sarkasian called Jake Locker "a game time decision." After practice he didn't change that outlook although he did mentioned Locked looked lot better yesterday than earlier in the week. From Bob Condotta in the Seattle Times:

Sarkisian said that Locker "looked better today than yesterday'' and that he is "optimistic'' that Locker will be able to play Saturday against UCLA.

However, he said again no decision has been made and that he will need to see how Locker makes it through the week.

Locker took part in practice today and Sarkisian said Locker was able to handle what the team asked him to do, but he noted that "we didn't ask him to move around a whole lot.''

He said a key will be "how he looks tomorrow.'' He said again that "I don't want to put him out there and cause further injury down the road.''

He said Locker is in rehab sessions three times a day.

"We're very optimistic,'' Sarkisian said. "He's getting better every day.''

Guess the reporters will frett over Locker's status for another day or two. At this point though we can not only expect Locker to play this Saturday, we can safely assume that Locker will be attacking the Bruin defense with everything he has under his arsenal. Rick Neuhiesel is certainly expecting Locker to play:

As has every coach UW has faced this season, Neuheisel heaped praise on UW QB Jake Locker and said he fully expects Locker to play despite having a deep thigh bruise.

"I'm sure he will be in the game, and what a fabulous player he is,'' Neuheisel said. "He's a truly remarkable guy. I know there are a lot of QBs who get the accolades and because of the programs they are in. But I don't think there's a finer quarterback in the country. I would be shocked if very many would be picked ahead of Locker if he were available.''

Neuheisel as he has been whenever Washington has come up was gracious in his remarks:

"I always have a feeling when we play Washington,'' he said. "I have great memories there. There's no animosity there, if that's what you're asking. I just remember the good times that I had while I was there.'' [...]

As for what he's seen of the Huskies, Neuheisel said that "Sark (Steve Sarkisian) is off to agreat start and they've had a couple of signature-type performances, and it's fun to see Husky Stadium jumping around again.I watched bits and pieces of the USC game and when the camera starts shaking you start harkening back to some very fond memories.''

I wonder when the reporters will get tired of asking him about the same old questions on playing Washington. I am assuming we will have to endure it for at least another year or two. Hopefully in couple of years the reporters will spend their weekly conference calls asking him questions on the actual game and their strategies around it, then the off field drama that has been hashed over millions of times. More notes on the game after the jump.

The LA Times reports that Milton Knox received more reps at practice on Tuesday. He is excited about it:

"Hopefully, that's coming," said Knox, a redshirt freshman.

"I've been fighting all this time to get an opportunity to show what I can do. I just want to help the team."

Neuehisel has confidence in Knox's running ability but he also wants to make sure Knox and his other RBs are aware of their full responsibilites as RBs in Chow's offensvie scheme:

"There is no question he can run the ball, that's why he got recruited," Coach Rick Neuheisel said. "But knowing what to do and where to be and when to be there are all important things."

I am guessing Neuheisel is referring to his RBs (not necessarily just Knox) ability to help out in pass protection scheme. Among the RBs it seems like Knox and Thigpen have the best ability in terms of catching out of backfield. They probably still have to work on their pass protection skills, which I think takes time. Both of them are still 18-19 year old kids often going up against huge upperclassmen. So Knox needs to remain patient and chip away. Still we definitely would love to see our coaches make the best effort to get him and Thigpen in because they seem to have the ability to electrify an offense.

BTW I am curious why we haven't seen Coleman as much in recent weeks. He did struggle against Tennessee's speed and during the dreadful goal line series against Oregon. What I like to see from him is make an effort to fall forward. It seems like everytime he gets hit at the LOS he gets knock backward. Given his huge frame, I think he can gain extra yards by simply powering through and make an effort to fall forward. I think lot of the mixing and matching of our available running backs will work well if our QB and OL develops a consistent rhythm. We saw a hint of it against Oregon State last weekend. The question is whether we can pick it up right where we left off last Sat.

Speaking of the offensive line for those who are following Hasiak story here is the latest from LAT:

The mystery injury to freshman guard Stanley Hasiak remained just that Tuesday . . . a mystery.

Hasiak did not travel to the Oregon State game, because of a "personal health issue" given as the reason. Hasiak went through the entire practice Tuesday, participating on the scout team.

Asked whether Hasiak was going to play again this season, Neuheisel said, "We'll wait and see. I just want to do what's right by Stan and our ballclub. I want him to be fully healthy before getting back in there."

Asked what was wrong with Hasiak, Neuheisel said, "It's a personal issue."

I would strongly recommend everyone refrain from speculating on him until there are facts and he wants to share them with rest of the media. Given we have seen the kind of nonsense from UCLA beat reporters this year, I wouldn't jump to conclusions based on fragmented stories from the daily reports. We should respect the kid's privacy here on BN.

Staying with the offensive line Ryan Taylor might hold on to right guard spot after last weekend's performance:

Guard Ryan Taylor did well enough against Oregon State to warrant continued work with the first offensive unit this week, coach Rick Neuheisel said.

"Ryan was good; there were a couple of times when he didn't anchor down on some bull rushes," Neuheisel said. "But he'll be that much better after a game under his belt, and we'll see how it goes during practice."

I thought the OL did a better job in terms of not killing themselves with penalties last week. Ryan Talor was pretty good in terms of showing poise on the road in his first start. Now we need our OL to come through for Chow and Prince, and help provide some balance by opening up some holes from Jet Ski, Knox and co. Hopefully they can get started on that with an balanced effort this Saturday.

GO BRUINS.

Pregame Guesses: Oregon State

Achilles — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:43:26 -0000

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Apologies in advance: As I noted in this Fan Post, I'm swamped at work trying to sell caskets to college students. These kids never want to plan ahead.

So, this week's guesses post will be short and sweet.

And that's not a reference to Jacquizz Rodgers.

For the first time all season, I don't feel good about a game.

I wasn't necessarily sure that we would win any other game on the schedule, but I felt we had a pretty good shot.

This one is bugging me a bit.

Oregon State seems tailor made to give us fits, especially with the running of Jacquizz. They routed us last season. They're coming off a loss. We're on the road. It's their homecoming.

That said, we need the win, especially if we're going to reach the 6-6 mark. (At some point, I'd like to bring the "progress" idea up to the top for discussion. I was going to do it in this post, but I realized that I didn't want to miss the discussion with the guesses. So, next week ... )

Score aside, I'm hoping for some small things. I want to see us tackle well. I'd like to see us throw a touchdown pass to a wide receiver. I'd like to see us force some turnovers.

Again, sorry for the brevity -- we'll do more for Washington next week.

Here are the Pregame Guesses for Oregon State:

How many passes will Richard Brehaut attempt?
True or False ... Milton Knox gets more than three carries.
Who will be winning the game after three quarters or will it be tied?