SB Nation - Aaron Ware

2009 UCLA Football Post-Camp Grades: DB's

Ryan Rosenblatt — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 19:00:17 -0000

Our unit by unit grades are winding down and will come to a finish today. With the offense's grades complete and the defensive line and linebackers done, we finish off the defense with the defensive backs. This is undoubtedly the deepest unit on the defensive side of the football and has some breathtaking talent. The only concern is a single position, strong safety, which hopefully won't be the problem it was in camp.

Defensive Backs

The UCLA defensive backfield is arguably the most talented and deep of any unit on the Bruins' roster. The physical skills of the unit are outstanding, but especially on the second unit, inexperience runs rabid. The cornerstone of the UCLA defensive backfield is at the cornerback position where Alterraun Verner waits. Waits is probably the best word to describe what Verner will be doing this year too because odds are that he won't be tested often. Verner has returned interceptions for touchdowns three times in his career. He led the nation in passes defended last year and has played in all 38 games in his college career. He's on nearly every award watch list and is a good bet to be named to the All-Pac-10 first team. Verner is the definition of a shut down corner and as a result, will be left alone while opposing teams test the other side of the field.

That other side of the field is a tempting one for opposing teams to go at because there lies a redshirt freshman who will be playing in his first collegiate games. Aaron Hester has the prototypical size and speed for a D-1 cornerback. He's 6'1'' and just over 200 lbs. and was one of California's better sprinters throughout his youth. Most impressive though is probably his length. Hester has extremely long arms and it allowed him to get his hands on a lot of balls during camp. He is also a very confident player who enjoys contact and will not shy away from contact on the line, but does have the speed to play catch up. The physical tools are there for Hester to dominate for the Bruins in coming seasons and on Sundays in the future, but the first job for him this year will be learning the intricacies of the college game because he will be tested often with teams shying away from throwing at Verner. If camp was any indication, he's more than ready for the challenge.

The free safety position is one of the two, along with Verner's cornerback spot, where the Bruins have a returning starter. Rahim Moore will man the position once again after a promising freshman campaign that saw him start every single game. Moore's play got markedly better as the season went on and that continued through spring practice and training camp. While he was caught overpersuing early in his freshman year, that is rarely the case now and simple pump fakes or double moves no longer leave him in the dust. One spot he does have trouble with is defending tight ends, but he won't be asked to do so often so it won't be too much of an issue. He showed good ball skills last year in picking up three interceptions and was even better in camp as he was quicker to the ball, giving himself more opportunities. Moore is in line for a big year so long as he doesn't spend an inordinate amount of time covering for the safety next to him.

Who that safety next to him will be is still up in the air. Both Tony Dye and Glenn Love will likely see time this year at the strong safety position and hopefully, they can do so capably. Right now, asking for anything better than passable play would be greedy. Neither Dye nor Love was good in camp and while they did improve as it went on, all that does is show the level they were at to begin. For such a big guy, it's amazing that Love isn't more of a force against the run. He doesn't read plays well and is often pushed around despite his size. Dye is more aggressive and likes to hit, but is small, overpersues and isn't disciplined in coverage. Personally, I think Dye offers more than Love both now and in the future, but I'm not overly comfortable with either in the backfield.

The nickel back spot has been a battle between Courtney Viney and the surprising Andrew Abbott. Viney's biggest problem is one out of his control. He's small and by small, I mean very small. He's only 5'8'' and that's being generous. Even in practice he was being picked upon as the offense routinely threw jump balls in his direction. He is explosive and very fast so he does close well, plus he got time as the nickel back last year so the experience isn't a major concern. Abbott had an outstanding camp to play himself into contention for the nickel back spot, although he still struggles at times because he lacks the physical tools of some of the others. He has trouble getting his hips open and running so he's susceptible to being beat deep, but he does well to cover underneath and read the quarterback's eyes.

Aaron Ware will provide depth at the safety position and while he hasn't quite lived up to the hype surrounding him when he entered UCLA, he is still a solid contributor as a back up. He is experienced enough and won't be out of his element in hostile territory, but doesn't always react quick enough regardless of the stadium so he can be beat deep. He's more more natural providing support in the running game than he is in coverage. Alex Mascarenas is the freshmen who really made an impression in camp as he was quick to the ball in all instances and strong against the run. He may end up redshirting, along with fellow freshmen Marlon Pollard, Brandon Sermons, Sheldon Price and Stan McKay, but he appeared more ready to step in and play should he be called upon.

Grade: B+ The unit has plenty of talent and even some experience, although to consider what the Bruins have at defensive back experience just gives you an idea as to the lack of experience on the rest of the roster. The cornerbacks are solid with Verner and Hester, who was a force in camp, and Moore was good, but the strong safety spot has me very concerned. I'd love to get mediocre play out of the position, but I'm not so sure we will. The depth is good though all the way down and the young players likely to redshirt are awfully talented.

Poll

What would you grade the UCLA defensive backs?

A

206 votes

B

138 votes

C

13 votes

D

3 votes

F

6 votes

366 votes | Poll has closed

UCLA Secondary In 2009: Opportunity To Revive A Bruin Tradition

Nestor — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 12:31:36 -0000

So I want to use this Humpday morning to finish our roundup through both the offense and defense here on BN. We have already covered the offense by going over our notes on QBs, RBs, WRs/TEs and OL. On the defensive side we have gone over the front-7 by breaking our notes up between LBs and DEs. Let's finish it up by going through our DB position. After I am done, ryebreadaz (who attended about 8-9 practices during the first two weeks of fall camp) will do separate posts on each of the positions and give his grades based on what he has seen last few weeks. So let's get to our defensive backs, who I think will have a shot to reestablish the tradition of "Secondary U" at UCLA in 2009. If they live up to their potential, they will bring back the memories of legends such as Turner, Easley, Darby, Goodwin and of course Carnell Lake who is coaching them up at Spaulding. [Note: Lake was a legendary OLB at UCLA before being converted to SS in the NFL].

Unlike the LB an DE positions, depth is not an issue in our secondary. Through his recruiting efforts of his last two years CRN has been able to stock up this specific unit of the defense with some serious talent. Of course the leader of these guys is none other than ATV. I don't think I have to go on about what this kid can do here on BN. His body of work which we have written about for last three years speak for itself. We all know about ATV's ability as a shutdown corner. We have seen his ability to throttle opposing receivers or his ability to win a game through game breaking picks. He also happens to be an incredibly smart kid who happens to use his brain just as much as he uses his athletic ability to terrorize opposing QBs. That is why he rarely gets caught out of position and is always at the right place at the right time to make plays if the opposing QBs are foolish enough to test him.

The cool thing for Carnell Lake and Chuck Bulloug is that ATV is not the only anchor of our secondary this season. He is going to have Rahim Moore back there with him roaming the backfield as our FS. Moore lived up to the hype as a blue chip recruit when he came into the scene last season. Not only he started every game as a true freshmen, he ended up tying for the team lead with 3 picks and finished with 60 tackles (4th on the team). Moore has the lethal combination of size (6-1/197) and speed. He is the perfect centerfielder to anchor this secondary and he is absolutely fearless. I can't wait to see what Moore is going to do as a sophomore to followup his freshman season.

So with ATV and Moore anchoring our secondary, coaches are going to look to fresh talent to fill up our secondary this season (replacing Michael Norris (CB) and Bret Lockett (SS) who developed into dependable players as the season went along last year). To find out who the coaches will be looking to step up jump over the flip.

Let's start with the cornerback position. As discussed above, given ATV's history of terrorizing opposing QBs, they will probably looking to the other end of UCLA secondary. This means there will be a lot of pressure on Aaron Hester to step up and he has the athletic ability to answer the challenge. From the LA Times:

Hester's raw abilities are apparent to the casual observer. At 6 feet 1 and 203 pounds, "he is long and lean and strong," Lake said, making him a physical presence that can bring the noise at the speed of sound.

Hester excelled in track and football at Compton Dominguez High. He anchored the 1,600-meter relay team, which posted the fastest time (3 minutes 9.59 seconds) for a California high school squad since 1997.

Franklin, one of the fastest Bruins in pads, couldn't shake Hester this week. And he heard about it.

"He keeps telling me he's a stallion and no one can keep up with him," Franklin said. Yes, Hester can pester, but, "you've got to have that swag no matter what position you play," Franklin said.

"I'm not a jaw-jacker," Hester said. "I respect other players. I just say some things to let them know I'm here. First play, I want the receiver to know it's going to be a rough day."

Besides, his abilities do speak for themselves. During one game as a senior, he caught two touchdown passes and returned an interception for a touchdown.

Gotta love Hester's aggressive attitude. We have also read this off seaosn how ATV has taken Hester under his wings. So we are hoping ATV's aggressiveness and confident attitude will rub off on his understudy. One thing I am incredibly excited about is Hester's size. In recent years, we got used the images of tall, athletic opposing WRs just giving a total beatdown on our small, undersized DBs. I think Hester if he lives up to his athletic abilities will be able to make a dent in that perception.

Speaking of potential, let's talk about the competition between Dye and Love for the SS spot at UCLA. It looks like Dye right now has a very slight edge in a heated competition per Jon Gold in the Daily News:

"We both have our advantages and our disadvantages," said Love, who at 6-foot-4 has a marked size advantage over the 5-11 Dye. "I think right now it's about even. By us battling this out right now, it's helping the team out. If just one of us goes down, we'll be fine. We're not losing a step. I think we're both going to get an opportunity to play."
Right now, Dye is relishing his opportunity to work with the starting group, particularly because some did not expect it.

Switching from nickel back to safety this season, the true sophomore has had to prove his doubters wrong, those who said that 5-11 doesn't pack enough punch.

"Of course I'm happy about the opportunity; I'm ecstatic about the opportunity," Dye said. "I appreciate that I got the shot, that I actually received this chance. A lot of people didn't think, coming from the cornerback spot, that I could, that I was too small. I'm glad I got the opportunity to show myself; I'm feeling real comfortable right now."
Both are focused on limiting the bad over making the good. At this point, a blown coverage is more damaging than a quick pick-six is helpful.

And the biggest mistakes, Dye said, are in the eyes.

"Bad eyes is a real thing at the safety position," Dye said. "You're keying the tight end, and if he releases, it's a pass. If he stays in, it's to block. A lot of safeties get away from that. They won't pay attention to the tight end.

"They'll make wrong run reads and get thrown over the top. To minimize all those mistakes, you have to have great eyes."

I think in terms of raw talent whoever takes over at this position will bring more to the table than Brett Lockett. However, I do think early on we are going to have to be patient because of their lack of experience. They are going to make some mistakes and we will have to live through it. Key for them will be to roll with the punches and develop the same way Norris and Lockett did last season.

As for rest of the guys in the depth chart we need to take note of Courtney Vinney and truh freshmen Sheldon Price and Marlon Pollard. From Sam Saig at All Pac-10 Blog:

The most experienced corner besides Verner has only played for one season and it’s sophomore Courtney Viney. Last season, Viney played mostly as a nickel back and finished with 17 tackles while also contributing on special teams. Two years ago, he was the Scout Team Player of the Year.

At 5-8 160 pounds, Viney is small even by cornerback standards, but he plays with aggressive determination and never stops coming. Coaches have praised Viney for his competitiveness and work ethic. He has tremendous leaping ability, and the quickness to cover an opposing team’s speediest receiver. Viney is also a surprisingly good tackler with deceptive strength. The Fresno (CA) native was given four-star recognition from Scout.com while he was at Edison High School. [...]

The 6-2 163 pound Price has a long frame and should put on considerably more weight during his career. He has wasted little time impressing the coaches, and could become a pivotal part of the defensive backfield as the season progresses.

Price provides the Bruins with another corner (along with Hester) that can cover taller receivers. The Chino Hills (CA) product was given 4-star recognition by Rivals.com, and was a PrepStar All-American selection while at Bishop Amat High School.

The 6-0 158 pound Pollard also has a lot of physical developing to do, but he has been very impressive this fall. He is an explosive athlete with great ball skills and also possesses excellent quickness. Rivals and Scout.com rated him as a 4-star prospect, and he was also a PrepStar All-American selection. The San Bernardino (CA) native could factor in for the Bruins as a nickel back and on special teams.

Price and Pollard are building blocks for the future. Both of those guys will most likely be redshirting this Fall.

Also, per Saig other players competing for time this Fall Campu are freshmen Brandon Sermons, Stan McKay, Andrew Abbott, Alex Mascarenas, and senior Aaron Ware. I have heard great feedback on McKay who apparently has been dishing out some serious hits on Bruin receivers at Spaulding. Also, remeber ATV gave Mascarenas a shout out during his summer blogging in last few weeks. Sermons is a talented recruit and Abbott has been persistent with his fiery competitive spirit out at Spaulding. As for ware, no doubt he will be looking to go out on a great note in his last year at UCLA. I think he will be ready to step up if he is called upon this year at the Rose Bowl.

So in conclusion, this is definitely the deepest position in terms of talent in our defense. I am fired up to see what kids like Hester, Dye and (a healthy) Love can do this year to complement ATV and Moore. I think if our defenise fron-7 can stay healthy and they can gel together early on with this unit, we could be looking at a fun year for Bruin defense. I am sure these guys are going to be antsy to come out and make a statement early on against San Diego State. If the youngsters can get off to a good start, it is going to bode really well for us rest if the season.

GO BRUINS.

Going Back And Forth @ Spaulding

Nestor — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 05:00:10 -0000

In my Saturday's roundup I noted how the young UCLA OL had some good moments against the usually effective DL on Friday. It was somewhat of a rare occurrence (in the context of recent history at Spaulding) as the DL who is used to dominating their offensive counterparts got a taste of physicality from the Bruin OL. Well Brian Price felt challenged and said this after Friday's practice:

"We'll come out tomorrow with a vengeance."

Well look what happened the next day. Here is how the Saturday morning practice went out in Spaulding per Erik Bohl of the Daily News:

Price, Jerzy Siewierski, Datone Jones, Korey Bosworth, Reggie Carter, Akeem Ayers and the rest of the defense made things tough on a developing offensive line, collapsing the pocket on quarterback Kevin Prince or forcing the redshirt freshman to throw on the run on several occasions.

And most of the passes Prince completed were screens to running backs or short underneath routes to receivers Taylor Embree, Terrence Austin and Gavin Ketchum.

In the last two 10-minute offensive series in the controlled scrimmage, Aaron Ware and Sean Westgate intercepted tipped passes and Brandon Sermons recovered a fumble.

And regardless of whether it was Christian Ramirez or Johnathan Franklin there wasn't much room for the tailbacks to run against the first-string unit.

"If you let teams run on you, you can't win," said Carter, a fifth-year senior linebacker who is on the preseason watch list for the Lott Trophy. "It's disrespect as a man if someone lines up in front of you and runs all over you. We have to stop the run first."

Coach Neuheisel was more than happy about the defensive pressure Price and co. put on the Bruin offense:

"it's all part of the ebs and flows of the offense and defense," Neuheisel said. "The defense has dominated around here for a long time, but in order for us to develop offensive consistency we can't have the defense start taking days off to give the offense a false confidence."

There is also another aspect of practices out in Spaulding CRN seems to be enjoying from first week of camp.

It sounds like he is enjoying the intensity and competition during these practices:

UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel has emphasized he wants more intensity at practices.

Having center Jake Dean and defensive tackle Justin Mann rolling around in a heated wrestling match might not have been exactly what he had in mind, however. The first of two practice sessions Saturday ended with the players having to be separated.

Gotta say he sounds little more upbeat than the practices last year when he often sounded downright disgusted and disappointed with the intensity he was getting from his players.

We haven't heard coaches talking about this kind of back and forth between our offense and defense at practices in last 2-3 years as the defense has been overwhelmingly dominating our offense shutting it down on all facets of the game. It will be interesting to see how the offensive guys respond this coming week after tasting a little bit of success against Price and co. They have certainly gotten their attention and now it will be offense's turn to show whether it can come back and respond to the defense's stand out performance from the weekend.

GO BRUINS.

Right Direction

Nestor — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 17:36:05 -0000

Let’s do a quick reset before getting to extended thoughts on last night’s game. Let’s take a count on what CRN and Norm Chow were working with in one of the toughest venues in college football against one of the more talented teams in the west coast:

A 3rd string JUCO transfer (playing his first year under Chow and CRN)
A hobbled starting tailback and a true freshman in Derrick Coleman
A backup fullback (Theriot out for the season)
Backup TEs (as we lost our starting TE, one of the only players on the offensive side of the ball with experience and NFL potential in first game of the season)
Backup WRs (without our senior WR who went down in the first game of the season and TA who we lost during crunch time)
4 different starters at OL from last spring (after losing three of our most talented starters - Lanis, Sheller and Kia - to an array of injuries ranging from career/season ending to nagging kind impacting effectiveness)

Basically in a sense we were fielding what might have been a scout team from this year's spring ball. And yet after all that the Bruins gave us a game, in which our hearts were beating almost to the closing mins against a team that was favored to win by almost three touchdowns on the road? So does anyone still in their right mind want to call that performance Dorrellian?

So with that out of the way, here are some thoughts on certain aspects from last night’s game. From my jotted down notes from 2 am stream of consciousness (writing down on post-its before going to sleep):

Playing to win: I have absolutely no problem with the call re. that onside kick. I find all the second guessing and Sunday morning quarterbacking of a head coach’s willingness to go for the win, after being subjected to years of timid and playing not to lose mentality that have driven us over the wall here on BN. At least here on BN we are going to appreciate a coach being fearless and going for the win. We are going to appreciate a head showing complete faith on his entire team (including on a defense which might be finding it’s away) in the most crucial moments of the game.

I haven’t seen any specific data points re. success rates on onside kicks. The only statistics I was able to look up this am was from the wiki entry pointing the 2004 success rates in the NFL which was around 24 percent. That is not very high. But it is probably not a reach to assume that success rate is a bit higher when it on side kick comes in a situation when the opposing coaches are least expecting it (would love to see some data points on that).

[UPDATE] silverlakebruin with a solid find re data points re success rates of surprise onside kick:

[T]he success rate of a surprise onside kick, one that happens prior to the fourth quarter, is 71 percent from 1997 through 2006.

Well that certainly gives support to CRN's decision.

Also, couple of more factors to consider in what kind of risk/rewards analysis CRN might have done to make that decision. Until that point of the game (except for that last drive to end the first half and Masoli’s early success in the first quarter), UCLA’s defense was adjusting pretty well. They were throttling the passing attack. I don’t think it was unreasonable for CRN to assume that even if we didn’t recover the onside kick, our defense would be able to contain Oregon’s offense to a 3 point FG (which they did after Craft’s interception resulting from TA’s scary injury). Another factor to consider, given how we have been unable to kick it deep all season routinely giving up great field position, giving up good field possession on a surprise onside kick, wasn’t really the end of the world.

In any event, it didn’t work out due to a bad call (although the bad calls evened out in another badly officiated Pac-10 game). But I am not going to second guess CRN’s decision to be aggressive and play to win by showing his faith in his young team. I love that kind of aggression and eventually balls are going to bounce our way in the coming years. This is what makes football fun.

Sticking with Craft: Speaking of second guessing, after sleeping on it, I am not finding a lot of reason to clamor for a QB change. CRN and Chow are working with what they have right now in Kevin Craft. KC to this point of the season has completed 59 percent of his passes for 1233 yards with 5 TDs and 6 picks. Yes, he had a lot of Vinney Testeverde moments from his Tampa Bay days last night. Yes, we were holding our breath at times when he was throwing it underneath. But we have to ride this out with him (even if he can’t throw deep). The cold fact is that despite being at UCLA for one extra year and having full opportunity to compete for this job since last spring, Chris Forcier hasn’t been able to charge up the depth chart (at times falling behind true freshman Kevin Prince).

Also, I can’t fault the coaches for not wanting to burn up Prince’s redshirt season unless they are totally desperate. Even with Craft’s at times erratic throws, we have been hanging in there except for one and half football games (BYU and late second half against Zona) this season. I don’t mind that all too much.

Moreover, think out loud a little bit before getting frustrated over Craft not being able to go deep last night. The Ducks’ defensive frontline was at times pile driving our OL with a 3 men rush. Jake Dean (who is giving it all he has at center) was getting driven into the turf. Baca was getting terrorized (not too surprisingly) by all Pac-10 DE like Nick Reed. It’s not like Craft had time to settle down and pick apart the Duck’s defense. He got sacked 6 times and hurried countless others. So considering the circumstances, I think he did what he could and at this point, I am going to put my complete faith in the combination of Neuheisel and Chow in their managing of Craft and UCLA’s QB position until it gets settled in next couple of years.

Clock Management at the end of the second quarter: So that brings me to the issue of clock management particularly concerning our second to last possession at the end of the first half. Here is how it went with 1:08 left in the first half and UCLA down 0-7 courtesy of WWL’s playchart:

1st and 10 at UCLA 11Derrick Coleman rush for no gain to the UCLA 11.
2nd and 10 at UCLA 11Timeout OREGON, clock 01:08.
2nd and 10 at UCLA 11Kevin Craft pass incomplete to Taylor Embree.
3rd and 10 at UCLA 11Kevin Craft rush for 1 yard to the UCLA 12.
4th and 9 at UCLA 12Timeout OREGON, clock 00:50.
4th and 9 at UCLA 12Aaron Perez punt for 40 yards out-of-bounds.
DRIVE TOTALS: UCLA drive: 3 plays 1 yards, 00:24 UCLA PUNT

I think the key here was the play on 2nd and 10.

IIRC (haven’t reviewed the tape) KC rolled out to his right and had a little bit of real estate to gain perhaps 3-5 yards. Instead he rolled it and flinged it for an incomplete pass. I think that is where it went wrong. If KC had just tucked it in (similar to a decision he didn’t make against Zona and couple of other occasions last night) and gained 3-5 yards using his feet in that play, he would have made the situation much more manageable on 3rd down. I understand even if he ran, Oregon would have taken a time out, but it still would have made the situation manageable. And I think the roll out is designed to give him the option to make the decision between going up for positive yardage and completing to an open receiver. He made the wrong call in that split second. It happens for a first year QB (Cade made lot more bonehead mistakes in his first two season, not just his first season). But those play calls by no means were bad clock management on the part of UCLA’s coaching staff.

Running back rotation: I think this is where we have some rooms for raising questions re. personnel decisions. No doubt Kahlil Bell is a warrior. The kid is giving everything he has out there but at some point the coaches need to ask the question whether it would be more productive to go with Coleman and even Dean. The only explanation I can think of coaches not trying out Dean as much is probably because he is still learning to pick up blitzes (which right now is essential given the precarious state of protection our QB is getting from the OL). Kevin and his OL need all the help they can get and if that means going with the experience of Bell (despite being wobbly) or Coleman (due to his size) over Dean, that is understandable. But in terms of getting reps, I wouldn’t mind if I see more of Coleman over Bell.

The kid runs with aggression:

Photo Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer / US Presswire (via the LA Times)

Also Moline is really coming into his own at FB and at least to this 49er fan bringing up fond memories of Tom Rathman.

Defensive adjustments: The final score doesn’t show it. The rushing totals for Oregon is cringe worthy. Still, I thought Walker coached one of his better games as UCLA DC last night. I was very impressed with the way our defense adjusted after getting stomped early on by Masoli’s read option play. Ayers finally had his much anticipated coming out party as a starter. I love this kid’s game and I think the way Walker has slowly worked him into the starting rotation is a very encouraging sign.

The question remains around the issue of tackling. Brett Lockett once again had a glaringly tough night (no hiding from the highlights on what Masoli did to him). But what can Walker really do? Replace him with Ware who was not all that effective against Tennessee? There is not a lot of options he has right now except to burn the red shirt years of E.J. Woods or try out someone like Love. But I rather have those kids red shirt and get physically ready for next season, instead of exposing them to D-1 speed and ferocity as a true freshman. Ask any Washington fans about how Willingham has ravaged his depth chart by burning through his freshmen’s redshirt seasons. Again, I don’t really have any answers here except for hoping that somehow Lockett will be able to get it together rest of this season.

Still, give all the adversity this team has gone through (outlined at the very top of this post), I am feeling pretty good about where we are as a team. After the massacre in Provo, I am seeing unmistakable progression on both sides of the ball from game to game. The game to game improvement will still likely not result in a winning season, but now more than ever I am confident we are headed towards the right direction.

Now the challenge remains is to build on the positives. One of the more encouraging aspects from last night’s game was Watson’s sideliner report that the offense was upset even after scoring the final TD to make the game close in the waning mins. I like the fact that the team wasn’t smiling or hamming it up after a moral victory, instead showing the same kind of angst and frustration we kept seeing in the faces of AA and JF in their first season at UCLA. This is going to take a long time but now after few weeks, the signs are there that this team is taking one positive steps after another. Hopefully they will have a chance to take another a big one by flipping the scoreboard in our favor next Saturday.

GO BRUINS.

Spaulding Roundup: Getting Ready For Mighty BYU

Nestor — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 17:19:40 -0000

Well it looks like some BYU fans are already looking beyond next weekend’s game against UCLA. They are obviously riding high after yesterday afternoon’s heart stopping win against UDub at Seattle. Notwithstanding the questionable call at the end of the game, they pulled off an impressive victory at a tough Pac-10 venue and we have to give them credit for it.

One of the biggest concerns for UCLA heading into next weekend’s game is to figure out a way to stop Max Hall. He was deadly against the Huskies. He completed 30 of 41 pass attempts for 338 yards, 3 TDs and 1 interception. His job was made easier by the running game of a beastly Unga who punished the Husky defensive line for 136 yards in 23 carries. Unga was setting up Hall with short yardage situations all day and he made the Husky defense pay. The BYU offensive converted on 3^rd downs 12 out of 14 times (full box score here). So needless to say there is going to be a lot of pressure on our secondary next Saturday and with that in mind Walker opened up the FS position for competition between Ware and Moore:

"That's good that he's doing that so we can both stay on our toes and continue to work hard, rather than get comfortable and feel good that you're starting," Moore said. "It's a good thing. May the best man win. I don't want anything given to me, and I'm sure (Ware) feels the same."

Both players made their first career starts in last week's win against Tennessee, but Ware did so at strong safety, filling in for Lockett.

Now, Ware is back at a more familiar position.

"You're never promised a position no matter who you are," Ware said. "That's fine."

Settling down the secondary is a key as the Bruins travel to No. 15 BYU on Saturday.

When UCLA beat the Cougars early last season, BYU ran for 44 yards and quarterback Max Hall threw for 391 yards. In the rematch at the Las Vegas Bowl, which the Cougars won, BYU mustered 34 rushing yards, and Hall threw for 231 yards.

Hopefully Lockett can provide a more steady effort at SS and Ware be more comfortable at FS. He didn’t do much to make himself stand out last weekend against Tennessee. In addition to Ware, we will need better efforts from Courtney Viney who found himself out of position a number of times against the Volunteers’ mediocre passing attack. Viney and his team-mates will not be able to get away with the same level of play against the Cougars’ more precise and efficient passing attack.

Meanwhile, on the offensive side in addition to putting together some clock chewing drives, CRN has been trying to get his team to play smart ball keeping field position in mind. As a result Aaron Perez has become a pivotal part of our overall game plan:

You punt. You win.

As coaching rhetoric goes, this hardly ranks with "win one for the Gipper." Still, UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel has gone about convincing his team that sending punter Aaron Perez onto the field is not crying uncle.

When Perez casts his punts against blue-gray October sky, victory is at hand . . . really.

"People hear 'punt' and the first thought is, 'Oh we didn't score.' Or, 'we didn't get a first down,' " said Perez, a senior. "But if you have a punter who can help you in the field-position game, you put the defense on the field where it can create some turnovers or back the other team up and make them punt. The field keeps getting shorter and shorter, and you win."

This is a necessary philosophy for the Bruins this season. With an offense going through on-the-job training and a defense that has a hefty resume from the last two seasons, the best option sometimes is to have Perez give things a swift kick. […]

"It's imperative that we make it a long field," Neuheisel said. "With Aaron Perez and his leg, we can do that. As we grow in terms of our explosiveness and our ability to run the ball, we've got to be mindful of field position. So punting is not a bad thing."

Hopefully that lesson now has been totally planted into everyone’s brain after those 4 interceptions in the first half against Tennessee.

Speaking of ball control, Mark Saxon from the OC Register has a write up on WR Taylor Embree, who has the potential to emerge as the next money receiver in a Bruin uniform. We heard during both spring and fall camp, how Taylor catches everything thrown his way. We saw what that meant during the second half against Tennessee. The offense is going to need Taylor and his team-mates to step up the same way next weekend in Provo and keep racking up first downs so that they can keep the BYU offense off the field.

We will have more on the BYU game. The Cougar fans can keep discussing their team’s rankings after its victory over UCLA, but here on BN we just need to focus on how we can remain competitive against the mighty BYU.

GO BRUINS.

Opening Up Our Notebook On BYU

Nestor — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:00:07 -0000

Thanks to our BYU-Washington game this weekend can go ahead and get started with compiling our notes on BYU. UCLA as a team of course very familiar with the Cougars given what took place last year in Vegas and at the Rose Bowl. Bronco Mendenhall’s team are now on a 12 game winning streak, which is the longest in the nation. They have been thinking about BCS Bowl games this off season and for them to get there they will have to get it done starting this weekend against the beleaguered Huskies in Seattle and then against our Bruins at Provo.

We will start by taking an initial look at the Cougars’ offense. As noted by Molly Yanity of the Seattle Press Intelligence the number 15 ranked Cougars are rolling into Seattle with an offense that is “a jumble of pro-style and West Coast with a dash of spread all rolled into one.” Actually that reminds us a little bit of Joel’s impression of Tennessee’s clawfense but the difference here is these guys have an experienced quarterback unlike Crompton. More from Molly:

In 2007, BYU quarterback Max Hall completed 60.1 percent of his pass attempts, and his 3,848 passing yards led all sophomores. He also posted a solid efficiency rate of 137.7.

"We're more methodical and just run routes that are very difficult to cover, (use) possession-oriented passing and, I think, a physical running game to just methodically move the chains," Mendenhall said.

Over the past two-plus seasons, which have produced a 23-4 record, the approach has worked for BYU.

Last season, the Cougars' 442.8 yards per game ranked 25th in the nation in total offense. Running back Harvey Unga averaged 94.4 yards per game to earn Freshman All-America and Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year honors.

Last week in a 41-17 win over Northern Iowa, the Cougars racked up 563 yards that included 486 passing, but they also fumbled five times, losing four.

The BYU offense is led by Max Hall who had a good debut season as the starting quarterback for the Cougars, throwing for 3,848 yards, 26 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. If he makes the progress that many signal callers make heading into their second year running the show, the BYU offense will be very hard to stop.

Receiver Austin Collie returned from his mission last year and immediately became Hall’s favorite target. This year should be even better for Collie, but Hall will have plenty of other options. Tight end Dennis Pitta is a superb pass catcher and a nice target in the redzone and Luke Ashworth and Spencer Hafoka both had great springs after coming back from their missions and should compliment Collie at the wide out spots quite well.

As concerned as I was about Tennessee’s talent and speed in their offense, I am more worried about our defense’s ability to handle BYU’s offense on their home turf.

In terms of numbers our defense had mixed results against BYU last season. They were able to shut down the Cougars in Vegas but had a tough time (especially during second half) at the Rose Bowl.

Specifically our defense was effective in shutting down the running attack during both games last season. As the Cougars rushed for a total of 78 yards in 53 carries averaging a measly 1.47 yards per carry. However, in two games Hall passed for 622 yards, completing 51 of 88 passes (58% completion rate) with 4 TDs and 1 pick. While our defense was able to shut down their running attack they were able to nickel and dime us pretty effectively (kind of like what Chow did to Tennessee last Monday night at the Rose Bowl).

If not for some key turnovers at the Rose Bowl, we would have probably lost that game early in the season. So, going into this game our defense has enough issues to worry about. One of the issues that worried me from the Tennessee game was that while Price and Harwell were able to seal off the middle of the DL, Tennessee was picking up chunks of yardage rushing from the outside. It will be imperative for defensive ends to make sure Unaga and co don’t do damage by going outside.

Also, it’s a good thing that we are getting Lockett back for this game. Hopefully Lockett will give Aaron Ware a sense of urgency to hold on to his FS position. Those guys along with ATV and Norris (who had a solid game as noted by Bruin Roar) will need to be in top form to make sure Hall doesn’t get to carve up the defense like he did at the Rose Bowl. Moreover, it will be very important for the offense to get off to a good start in the first half. We have seen now how Craft can be a streaky QB (to put it mildly). It will be a huge help if the offense can come out of the gate and settle the whole team down by getting some first downs. Otherwise the team will probably not be able to survive in a hostile environment on the road if it has another first half (offensively) like it did on Monday night.

More on the BYU defense later. Meanwhile, would love to get more feedback from rest of you on how our defense can contain Hall and his weapons on their home turf.

GO BRUINS.