SB Nation - Terrence Austin

[UPDATEx2]Reggie Carter, Logan Paulsen & Bruin Seniors Let Down UCLA Football

Nestor — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:44:59 -0000

This is unreal:

The UCLA players decided not to practice today. They didn't tell anyone. Certainly not the coaches.
They jumped over the wall on the side of Spaulding Field and took off.
So, no practice update today.

If this is true Reggie Carter, Logan Paulsen - the captains of this team - and the entire senior class should be ashamed of themselves. This was a ridiculously, stupid tradition established during Donahue era, that epitomized UCLA football for being mediocre, mentally soft, and lazy. After the shenanigans from CRN's first year the senior "leaders" of this team swore it wouldn't happen again. Here is Reggie Carter in the DN last April (emphasis added):

"We were 4-8 last year. We can't afford to miss a practice," Carter said Friday. "Some guys argue it's tradition. Well, tradition started when they were winning. … Coach Neuheisel talked to me, and I said, `You don't have to worry about it. We're not going to do it.' If some guys try to slide away and organize it and do it anyway, we'll just go back in the locker room, rally them up and get back out here and practice, and deal with them after practice."

And Logan Paulsen:

When the Bruins did it last spring, the coaching staff was visible upset. Paulsen was one of the most upset about it, and has been a proponent of abolishing it this spring.

"My mentality regarding the wall is I enjoy coming out here (to practice)," Paulsen said. "Every one of these practices is special to me, and I don't want to be wasting an opportunity. I understand there's a lot of things that go into the wall, a lot of tradition, a lot of camaraderie and team building, but in my opinion these spring practices are too valuable to pass up on."

Well I'd like to hear from them what happened this time around. What changed guys? So were you guys lying back in April? Hey, here is a news flash Reggie and Logan. You are 6-6. We gave you benefit of the doubt and took encouragement as sign of progress. However, here is a news flash, you guys still haven't established any kind "winning" tradition yet and not living up to your own words is not going to help you either. This only makes you look like a total joke and full of hot air.

If I were Neuehisel I'd make sure to sneak in some two-a-days in next two weeks. This sends a pathetic message from this football team to rest of the world. It deservedly makes them look like bunch of phonies without any kind of substance.

The way it looks from outside, it doesn't look pretty and sends wrong messages from a program that is trying so desperately to get back on track. Again, Carter, Paulsen, ATV, Austin and the entire senior class should be embarrassed of themselves. This is not the way to go out and set examples for the underclassmen. Just pathetic. It will be interesting to see how Neuheisel treats this development.

GO BRUINS.

UPDATE (N): Neuheisel has made statements and frankly he sounds underwhelming:

Opening thoughts:
"A deal's a deal. When they were talking about it in spring practice, I said, 'Listen, the wall thing started in bowl practice. You get to bowl practice, then you can start to thinking about things like this.' So they did."

On the players keeping it quiet (as Kai Forbath walks by smiling):
"They did a nice job of this one, keeping it under wraps. Look at Forbath with the big grin. I do compliment them on the choice of days. When you're still in kind of the get-back-into-football mode, and young guys are getting their chances to work, I think it was a wise day to pick. I'm pleased with the leadership in terms of the choice. But obviously I would have loved to practice."

On the history of The Wall:
"This happened many years ago. Kenny Easley led the group over the wall, and it was a good thing. I enjoyed it more as a player than as a coach, though, I'll be honest with you. There's no question about that. Sometimes coaches forget what it was like as a player. I try not to do that."

If this is all we get from CRN, it will be the first strike against him as the head coach of this football program. If he and his coaches were involved in this, then they also look like total hypocrites after talking up the importance of bowl practices in public.

He needs to hold players like Carter and Paulsen accountable, who right now looks like total liars based on their actions. I don't care Kenny Easley did this back in the day. I care that Carter and Paulsen straight up lied on this issue. We shouldn't accept that and Neuheisel needs to hold them accountable for it. If he doesn't, I will lose a lot of respect for him from hereon out. GO BRUINS.

UPDATE II (N): LAT has more on this and it's not pretty. First up, here is senior "leader" Terrence Austin:

“We kind of wanted to have a complete season and decided to get this in,” Austin said. “We promised coach we wouldn’t do it unless we got a bowl. We decided to get it out of the way early so we could get back to work for the Washington, D.C. game. We didn’t want it to interfere with business.”

That sounds as lovely as Austin's punt and kickoff returns. Way to show leadership Terrence. Not. Apparently Kevin Craft might not have been on board while Paulsen gave a "no comment":

Not all players seemed on board with the plan. Asked if he was aware of the plan, senior quarterback Kevin Craft said, “no," tersely. Senior tight end Logan Paulsen declined to comment.

Not good enough and it's reflective of their mediocre play on the field. It still looks make Paulsen look like a liar based on what he said this past spring. Meanwhile, Neuheisel sounds underwhelming and frankly weak:

“They caught us all by surprise with this one,” Neuheisel said. “I do compliment them on the choice of days, when we are still getting back into football mode. I am pleased with the leadership in terms of the choice.”

Not the kind of "leadership" we want to see around UCLA football coach. That explanation doesn't fly and will not do much to gain confidence in a football program, which at this moment looks like a total joke. Pathetic. GO BRUINS.

UCLA's Price Is Right For The Pac-10: Brian Headlines 11 Bruins Honored As All Pac-10

Nestor — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 02:13:22 -0000

hicalliber is already on it but this deserves lot more attention. This is not a surprise but still worthy of a huge celebration on Bruin Nation. Here is our Pac-10 Defensive Player:

The official announcement came out earlier this afternoon which included lot of good news for the football team. Not only Brian Price was named Pac-10's Defense POY, he was part of a group of 11 Bruins named in the All Pac-10 team. Five of them were first-team selection:

UCLA junior defensive tackle Brian Price has been named Pac-10 Pat Tillman Defensive Player of the Year by vote of the league's coaches, it was announced today.

A total of 11 Bruins were named to the All-Pac-10 teams. Joining Price on the first team were senior linebacker Reggie Carter, sophomore safety Rahim Moore, senior cornerback Alterraun Verner and junior place kicker Kai Forbath. Forbath and Price were two of the three unanimous selections to the first team.

Redshirt freshman punter Jeff Locke and senior wide receiver Terrence Austin were selected to the second team, the latter as a kickoff returner. Four Bruins were named honorable mention - sophomore linebacker Akeem Ayers, senior linebacker Kyle Bosworth, sophomore wide receiver Nelson Rosario and freshman offensive tackle Xavier Su'a-Filo.

UCLA had more first-team defensive selections (four) than any other school in the conference.

You can read more from the official press release here.

Congrats to Brian, Reggie, ATV, Austin, and Bosworth. That's a wonderful way for them to leave Westwood after what they have given us last 3-4 years. We will have to wait to see what happens with Kai, as he might be testing the waters during the off season. Meanwhile, can't wait to see how Rahim, Akeem, Nelson, XSF, and Locke build on the success from this season.

For now though let's hope the Midshipmen comes though on Saturday so that we get to see these guys for one more time to close out the year. Go Navy. Oh and don't forget to congratulate our boys in this celebratory thread.

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.

BN Gameday: Southern Cal Second Half Thread

Nestor — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 04:47:20 -0000

Well let's see what we got here. Bruins despite few frustration filled moments are right in this game. We are down 0-7 unfortunately due to an ill advised throw from Kevin Prince. Here is the box score, which has Bruin defense getting the job done and the Bruin offense despite doing a decent job of ball control, coming up short because of some tough, jittery mistakes. Prince showed his jitters in this big game as have few other underclassmen such as Rosario and Locke, who are not playing up to their usual form.

Still. We are in this game thanks to probably the best first half by our defense for this entire year. Our D at this moment thanks to Price, Carter, Moore, and ATV are manhandling McKnight and Barkley. Although we do need to make some subtle adjustments to make sure McCoy doesn't get wide open in the middle. Right now, we need to desperately find a way to take the next step on offense executing and stepping up when we get on their side of the field.

Like I said despite couple of tough mistakes we are right in this game down only by a score. We need Prince, Rosario and rest of our offense to shake it off and finish the game strong. Oh a huge return from Austin before he is done in Westwood will be nice. Let's get it done in the second half.

BEAT $C. GO BRUINS.

BN Gameday Roundup: Hoping For A Special Senior Day At The Rose Bowl

Nestor — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:29:54 -0000

Well we are just hours away from finding out some answers on how our Bruins are going to respond to the biggest game of this regular season. There is nothing new to add at this point in terms of what this game means to all of us and how it can set up the long term future of our football program under Rick Neuheisel. From the comments we have read from our coaches and players this week, it seems pretty clear that they get what a big deal this game is and how they are going to need to play inspired football against a desperate opponent which also will give everything it has to keep its bowl hopes alive.

Plus there is the big emotional factor of this being our senior day. This is the last time we are going to see kids like ATV, Reggie Carter, Terrence Austin and Logan Paulsen in our home blue at the Rose Bowl. ATV and Carter of course had special careers at UCLA. However, going into today I have the same feeling towards this bunch I did towards kids like DT, CB, and RH who were able to end their careers in Howlandwood on a great note depsite starting it with a toxic one under a sleazbag posing as a head basketball coach. Here is to those kids having a great afternoon and a send off at the Rose Bowl. I would also add Brian Price into that mix because right now from what we have heard it looks like he will be in the NFL next season. So, I would be making sure to yell a little louder in appreciation when the big guy will hopefully make his presence felt in the Rose Bowl.

If the Bruins are going to get that much talked about 6th win today they will have to get it done against probably the best defense in the conference:

"I think this is a really, really talented defense that plays really well together," UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said earlier this week. "I have watched the USC game and (saw) just how they fly to the ball, how they have all the fits exactly right.

"Their corners are very aggressive. It's a good group we're playing so we're going to have to play a great game on offense and see if we can't play our last home game for our seniors and play it really well."

Kevin Prince is well aware about how everyone will need to chip in and carry out their respective assignments to move the ball against Sun Devils this afternoon:

"Everybody has got to be willing to do their job when we play," he said. "If you watch game film, and this is the same for any team I've ever been on, you always see one guy who is not doing their job right. It's that one guy that makes the difference. If you can get all 11 guys on the same page doing their jobs, that's when everything starts falling together."

Things started to click for the Bruins in the second half of their game at Oregon State on Oct. 31. The progression, which continued through victories over Washington and Washington State, has been steady, but not swift.

Prince missed two games early in the season because of a broken jaw. He's been trying to make up for the time that he missed and seems to be close to where he should be.

"He's growing by leaps and bounds," Neuheisel said. "I think you can see that it takes awhile to gain the amount of time and snaps to know how the game is played and to be looking down the field rather than at what's coming at you."

Well let's hope KP with the help of all his team-mates can stay in the same rhythm we have seen from him during last 9 quarters as he has thrown for 49 of 60 passes for 724 yards and four touchdowns since that fourth quarter comeback. More quick game day notes and links after the jump.

Going into today's game Bruins also are well aware of what took place against the Sun Devils last season:

The Bruins outgained the Sun Devils 306-122.

They had 18 first downs to Arizona State's 10, outgained the Sun Devils 89-21 on the ground and had more than 110 more passing yards. UCLA's offense even outscored Arizona State's offense, 9-3.

But, oh, that one simple fact.

Arizona State scored four defensive touchdowns, including three off interceptions, in a 34-9 win that knocked the Bruins from bowl contention.

There is no forgetting that loss, especially the cold, hard facts.

"It's fresh in my mind," said senior wide receiver Terrence Austin, who had 188 all-purpose yards in the loss last season. "We've definitely talked about it. We know we pretty much prevented ourselves from winning the game last year, had some turnovers that really broke up the opportunity to win. We realize what we did last year, and now we're trying to capitalize on their mistakes this time."

Well let's hope today it's the Bruin defense who can come out and create similar opportunities for our offense. For more on today's game here is the write up from AP and the LAT. The LAT of course couldn't but leap with this cheap shot:

UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel calls it a "barrier." Former UCLA coach Karl Dorrell would call it just another season.

Whatever Foster, who is probably bitter about getting exposed for being a shoddy reporter. Anyway, the kickoff is scheduled for 1 pm PST. We will probably also do a pre game thread starting in about an hour or sooner to take in other actions from today. Enjoy the 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.

Bruins BLAST Washington State, Gaining Confidence Down The Stretch

Nestor — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 01:19:31 -0000

More photos » by Dean Hare - AP

Kevin Prince becomes the only second freshman UCLA QB to pass for 3 300+ yard game (following Tommy Maddox)

Browse more photos »

What an amazing Saturday. Bruins get a confidence building blow out win on the road, while the Trojies across town get humiliated and see their "empire" come crumbling down.

So the Bruins are now 2-0 in November (which could potentially become a month to remember) keeping their post-season hopes alive heading into a crucial last home game of the season. The final score was 43-7. Here is the box score. The Bruins went up by a score of 29-0 at half time but they could have been up by higher margin if not for some sloppy penalties and couple of fumbles.

The MVP of this evening's game was none other than Kevin Prince. He had a spectacular day throwing for 330 yards and 1 TD, completing 26 of his 39 attempts. Oh he also had 68 yard TD run in the first half making him the leading rusher for the team. Kevin Prince's third 300-yard game, made him the only other Bruin freshman QB besides Tommy Maddox with three 300-yard games. If he hadn't gotten knocked out by Donald Butler last weekend, he would have probably done that last weekend. So, suffice to say he might be entering some kind of "zone." Let's keep our fingers crossed. While Prince gets the game ball and was the topline performer for this game, there were many other spectacular Bruin performances today.

Akeem Ayers helped set the tone on defense with 2 interceptions and a sack early. That helped them squash the Wazzu offense from the getgo, grabbing a chokhold of the momentum and not letting it go. Taylor Embree and Nelso Rosario had solid games each piling up over 70 yards in reception. Chane Moline did his part running for 3 TDs, and also leading the team with 7 receptions and 101 yards. Bruins racked up over 550 yards in total offense while holding the Cougars to 180 yards of total offense. So I'd say they did what they had to hold on to the momentum and setting them up for a huge game against Arizona State next weekend with a bowl eligibility on the line.

Now we know Washington State has been struggling mightily this season. Nothing has gone right for them in a tough season for Cougars up in Palouse. You have to give props to their fans who are sticking with their team in such incredibly difficult circumstances. So a UCLA victory over them was pretty much expected heading into this game. That said however, Washington State has been one of those football teams that have given us repeated nightmares up in Palouse. So, you can understand why many of us were a little worried about how the Bruins were going to respond today. Well our guys made a pretty emphatic statement today by blasting them out early. Right now our team - specifically our starting QB - is playing with a lot of confidence and it's a big deal.

All that said we have to remember Washington State is a struggling football program. This was expected. We still have lot of cleaning up to do. We racked up a lot of penalties and had some problems holding on to the ball. JetSki needs to get it together. He has a great future ahead of him but he can't fumble. Period. Same with Terrence Austin who is giving a hard effort but can't fumble on his returns. Despite the dominating numbers by our defense, I think Reggie Carter's health continues to be a concern because he seemed to be missing from most of the action. So we still have lot of work to do and remain a hungry team heading into next weekend.

With that out of the way, let's celebrate a little tonight. As I said up top, this has been a perfect Saturday. Fire away.

GO BRUINS.

Keep (Bowl) Hope Alive: Resilient UCLA Beats Washington In A Heart Pounding Win

Nestor — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:03:17 -0000

More photos » by Francis Specker - AP

The next JJ? Another spectacular day for Nelson Rosario, who led UCLA with 7 catches for 111 yards in a huge win over Washington

Browse more photos »

Well it's over. The head scratching, heart breaking, suffocating, and frustrating losing streak is over. Bruins, thanks to a heart stopping interception from Rahim Moore (aided in part by Sheldon Price's great effort) pulled out a huge win over Washington Huskies, and kept their post-season hopes alive.

Bruins win by a score of 24-23. Here is the box score. Lot of things didn't go our way today. We turned the ball over 5 times. We lost our starting QB (who was on fire until he went out) to an injury in the first half. Our bend don't break defense looked as if it was going to break our hearts again. However, our boys just kept fighting and clawing throughout the whole game and got us a huge win.

Rahim Moore clinched the game. Terrence Austin had the spectacular TD catch which gave us life in the second half. Okay it is debatable whether it was a catch but prior to that play we got screwed in Franklin's fumble call, which led to a Husky TD. So they can't really complain. However, the game ball today IMHO goes to the Bruin OL, that did a spectacular job of providing both of our QBs time, who picked apart the Husky defense for 370 passing yards.

Of course we still have lot of issues with our team. While Terrence Austin had some great catches he cost us with a fumble. We also suffered from some really dumb penalties, which included costly mistakes from seniors such as Logal Paulsen. Still what I really like is how our boys haven't quit. They keep fighting and fighting. They are resilience and that speaks volumes in terms how they feel about CRN's leadership at UCLA.

Let's hope Kevin Prince is all right. He was being treated for concussion like syndrome after that hit. He looked ok in the sidelines and seemed completely plugged into the game. Let's hope he can come back. Meanwhile, despite couple of tough throws and bad snap, I though Craft did a great job of managing the game. Other notable mentions from today are Nelson Rosario, Derick Coleman, Milton Knox, Brian Price and Akeem Ayers. Rosario has now emerged as the go to guy among our receiving corps. Coleman was just solid and Knox showed how he can be a special player. On the defensive side Price and Ayers did their part in making Locker uncomfortable.

We will have lot more reflecting on this game. Hopefully we can build on the resiliencey we showed today (and actually through the whole season) and get a different kind of streak going for rest of this season. Oh, a quick note to the coaching staff. Those jerseys and gold heldmets are pretty freaking sweet. Can we stick with them for rest of the season?

Fire away with your post game thoughts (and use the fanposts if you want to throw up extensive reflections and analysis). Let's get the homecoming party started.

GO BRUINS.

Spaulding Roundup: Locker Showing Off "Blazing Speed," Prince Sounds Confident & Other Notes

Nestor — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:46:27 -0000

Well the drama around whether or not Jake Locker will get the start tomorrow afternoon is officially over. Steve Sarkasian officially announced yesterday that Locker will be starting tomorrow. Per report in the Seattle Times not only does Locker look ready to go but he has been displaying his "trademark blazing speed" during practices leading up tomorrow game:

Maybe it was watching Jake Locker sprinting out of the pocket and darting across the Dempsey Indoor field that convinced Steve Sarkisian.

Or maybe it was the way Locker bounced between drills while high-fiving teammates and chest-bumping assistants when Sarkisian knew his quarterback, who had been hampered by a right deep thigh bruise, was ready to go Saturday at UCLA.

"He ran really well," Sarkisian said. "I was really, really impressed. He was a little sore earlier today from yesterday's practice, but he looked good today. I expect him to play." [...]

"I wanted to see him run full speed," Sarkisian said. "I wanted to see him really open up and go full speed, and he was able to do that."

Locker, who wore a protective sleeve around his right calf, displayed his trademark blazing speed and agility while taking the majority of the snaps with the No. 1 offense. He showed no ill effects from the injury suffered Oct. 24 against Oregon.

"It's great to have your starting quarterback," Sarkisian said. "Just from an execution standpoint, being in the huddle, all the things that he brings. There are some obvious leadership skills that he brings that I know the team feeds off of."

None of this should be a surprise to anyone. The question is how will the Bruin defense come out and attack Locker tomorrow. They are not going to be able to stop him by playing the basic 4-3 look they have been showing the whole season. Locker will just sit back and pick apart the Bruin defense or blast through any open spaces. The Bruin defense must mix it up tomorrow to get Locker off rhythm early and get him uncomfortable.

Locker is an amazing athlete and one of the best QB prospects in the country. However, when he gets pressure or at least feels it in terms of having to put the entire Husky offense on his back he can make mistakes. We will have to force the issue with our defense tomorrow and not wait to react and adjust like we have been painfully doing all season.

Meanwhile, speaking of forcing the issue, the special teams might have an opportunity against the Huskies tomorrow. The Huskies have been struggling on special teams:

Steve Sarkisian didn't try to sugarcoat the problem.

In his opening comments to the media after Oregon's 43-19 win over the Huskies Oct. 24, Sarkisian said that the Ducks "destroyed us on special teams."

The Huskies had a punt blocked for a touchdown, gave up a first down on a fake field goal that led to an Oregon touchdown and allowed a two-point conversion during a critical stretch that turned the game.

Well UCLA knows a thing or two about breakdown of special teams against Oregon. But apparently Huskies have been having problems in that department throughout the season:

Indeed, UW's problems on special teams have extended deeper than just the Oregon game. A week after the landmark win against USC, the Huskies allowed the opening kickoff to be returned for a touchdown at Stanford. And the Huskies had a flurry of special-teams issues in the third quarter against Arizona that helped dig a hole that only a miracle interception could rescue.

Hopefully our guys can extend their woes for at least one more Saturday tomorrow afternoon. More after the jump.

Locker is not the only one having good practices this week. Down in Westwood, apparently Kevin Prince enjoyed his "best week of practice" (something rye and Josh discussed during last night's podcast):

If Kevin Prince plays like he practices, the UCLA quarterback and the offense could be much improved against Washington on Saturday.

That's Rick Neuheisel's thinking, anyway.

"I thought it's been his best week of practice, I really do," Neuheisel said Thursday. "I think he's raring to go. I'll be disappointed if he doesn't keep up that momentum. I think he will, I really do."

Prince led UCLA's fourth-quarter rally against Oregon State last week, completing 9 of 13 passes for 198yards and two touchdown passes in the final quarter, but the Bruins (3-5) still lost their fifth consecutive game. Neuheisel is hopeful Prince will build on that.

"There's nothing like a little shot of confidence," Neuheisel said. "You can talk it until you're blue in the face, but you have to experience it. Even though it didn't result in a victory, the effort in the fourth quarter and the ability to make plays when you have to make plays, and all that went along with that, I think is hugely beneficial.

"Hopefully, we'll start where we left off."

Prince sounds confident heading into tomorrow:

"The more time you get out there and play, the more relaxed you are and the better you will play," Prince said. "That mattered in the fourth quarter. We were moving the ball, scoring. It builds team morale and confidence."

Prince found his confidence two days before the Oregon State game, after Coach Rick Neuheisel asked him to take more risks during games. Prince got wide receiver Terrence Austin and tight end Ryan Moya and went out to the practice field to throw the ball.

"Coach Neuheisel said something needed to be done," Prince said. "We couldn't be afraid to try to make plays. So I did what I've always done, went out and did some passing. I felt like my old self again."

Prince completed 22 of 34 passes against the Beavers. Now comes the tricky part, duplicating that fourth quarter, expanding on it . . . and winning.

Here is to Kevin picking up on his strong finish and do it wire to wire tomorrow afternoon at the Rose Bowl. Chow had some interesting comments about tomorrow's matchup:

Prince completed five passes of 20 yards or more against Oregon State and is itching to get more, saying, "We need to be able to take great chances downfield."

That might not be possible against Washington, offensive coordinator Norm Chow said.

"You have to do what the defense allows you to take," Chow said. "Oregon State was pressing corners all afternoon. Washington is not going to do that. Yeah, we'd like to go downfield, but if they aren't going to let us, we can't. So you manufacture it another way."

Reading between the lines I think we will see the UCLA offense come out and try to stretch the field and get the Washington defense to loosen up a bit. I don't think Chow's comments mean we are not going to take any downfield shots. They are going to come but he sounds like he wants to get Kevin in rhythm first. Going back to last week, Chow's calls were pretty good in the first half. The offensive production would have looked different if we were actually holding on to the ball.

We are going to be short handed a bit on offense as Pressley is going to sit out with a shoulder sprain and Carroll is also questionable. However, we still have enough ammo. on our team to put together a good performance tomorrow afternoon.

Earlier this week, CRN talked about how the entire team was "starving" for a win. That goes for everyone in this place and all over the greater Bruin Nation. We need a pick me up badly after a dreary October and the near heart attack we collectively experience inside Pauley Pavillion on Wednesday night. lol

I really believe a win tomorrow is not only going to boost the morale of our program but it has the potential to change the outlook for rest of the season.

GO BRUINS.