SB Nation - Jake Dean

Spaulding Roundup: Offensive Issues Piling Up For Bruins

Nestor — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 17:45:22 -0000

How healthy is Prince's shoulder? Per the LA Times Prince is "cleared by trainers" but "[c]old weather's effect on injury is a concern"

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I don't recall so much drama around a UCLA "bowl team" like the one from this year. We have had players suspended due to academic issues. We have had a guy sent back home due to off field issues (which we hope will get resolved some time in the near future). We have had senior captain LB getting into it with defensive coordinator because he didn't want to take part in tackling drills. We have also had players ditching practices in the name of a pathetic tradition emblematic of mediocrity and classic under achievements dating back to Donahue era.

In the middle of all this our team is trying to prepare for a tough football team from Philadelphia which is coached by a protege of Joe Paterno with issues at center and a QB who is still trying to heal from a shoulder separation. Concerns remain about effectiveness of Kevin Prince and the rhythm he is developing with back up center Jake Dean, who now finds himself at the center of action due to suspension of Kai Maivava. Let's start with the latest on Prince, who per the LAT is making "progress":

One concern Coach Rick Neuheisel has is how Prince's shoulder will be affected by the cold weather in Washington. Highs are expected to be about 40 degrees during the game, according to forecasts.

"When we get there spinning around in the cold weather, you never know what it will do," said Neuheisel, who added that Prince wasn't "100% sharp" in practice Tuesday.

Still, barring unforeseen complications, Prince is set to start for the Bruins, though backup Kevin Craft could get playing time as well.

While saying the decision wasn't his to make, Prince said he was ready to play.

"I think the only thing holding me back is from a physical standpoint," Prince said. "There are still a couple throws that really bother me. I played hurt before and I have never had an issue getting over injuries."

Neuheisel is looking more than day to day progress. He is looking for sharp practices and per the Daily News our offense hasn't been as sharp as CRN wants it to be:

"We still have to have sharper days," Neuheisel said. "Kevin is better, but he's not 100 percent yet. That may be why I'm not willing to say it was a great practice. We're still not sharp yet. He's not complaining of pain, he's just not sharp yet. He's got to improve between now and game-time."

And if he doesn't?

"Well then we have another Kevin, who is dying to play again, and he has been sharp," said Neuheisel, referring to senior quarterback Kevin Craft. "I think there's reason for optimism. I just want to make sure we've got healthy, consistent players out there.

Well, I still think Neuheisel needs to make sure Craft is ready to go. Craft has shown this year than he can step in any time like he did during the Washington game without a lot of practices. However, that took place in Southern California weather conditions at the Rose Bowl. I hope when the team gets to DC later this week, Neuheisel makes sure Craft gets enough reps so that he is ready to go if needed. More on our offense after the jump.

While Prince is working to get healthy and work his way through his injury, he (and Craft) are also adjusting to a new center (Jake Dean) during these practices:

"It'll be a little different," Prince said. "You adjust to the way they snap the ball. Everybody snaps a little differently. Jake happens to snap it a little further back so you do little adjustments. (It's) nothing too big of a deal."

Everyone knows that one of the most important parts of any offensive play is the exchange between the center and the quarterback. Dean was used sparingly in games against Washington State and USC but has enough familiarity with Prince and Kevin Craft, who could see action in the bowl game.

"Kevin Craft and I took snaps together all year, last year, and Kevin Prince was working with the second team a lot last year so I was taking snaps with him," Dean said. "Spring and fall camp and all that stuff, I took snaps with all of them. Every day before practice we all rotate, taking snaps together. It's not going to be anything new. I've taken plenty of snaps with Kevin Prince. I've taken plenty of snaps with him during seven-on-sevens and in the offseason. We're fine."

Not just Prince, it sounds like rest of the offense is not "worried" about losing Kai and his leadership for this game:

"I don't feel like I need to replace that (Maiava's leadership)," Dean said. "We're a really close group this year, and we don't need to be out there yelling and doing all that stuff. We know what to do, we know what our assignments are. That intensity is going to be there every time I step on the field, but I'm not going to try to do what Kai does."

Dean's offensive teammates are not worried about the switch, particularly as this starting unit is no stranger to each other.

Dean, Ekbatani, left guard Jeff Baca and right tackle Mike Harris started against Oregon State last season.

"Our line is a pretty close-knit group," sophomore wide receiver Nelson Rosario said. "They'll pick it up without Kai. We're just going to miss someone to lead our little chant before the game. We'll find somebody."

Dean has one idea: to stand in for Maiava's pre-game rendition of the haka, a Maori tribal dance.

"(Sophomore linebacker) Steve Sloan does a pretty good impression in the locker room," Dean said with a laugh. "I'm sure he can go out there and get us going."

They will need to get it going from the kick off against a Temple team, that will be ready and is not going through anywhere close to the off field soap opera surrounding our football team.

Right now I am hoping all the drama that has gone on last few days will have a reverse effect of firing up our team. UCLA is still a 5 point favorite over the Owls. However, given the coverage we have read in recent days it sure appears the Owls are lot more prepared and focused (at least according to the news reports we have been blogging about in recent days), while the Bruins have their mind somewhere else. After it's all said and done, I hope it will be the Bruins who will come out with a chip on their shoulder and prove to a national TV audience that they were as deserving as any other team to appear in this year's bowl season. Well that's the best case scenario I am hoping for as I am getting ready for a freezing cold afternoon at RFK. :-)

GO BRUINS.

Two Bruins Fail To Climb Academic Wall Becoming Ineligibile For EagleBank Bowl

Nestor — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:36:33 -0000

Wow. This sounds like so much fun:

UCLA sophomore center Kai Maiava and freshman wide receiver Morrell Presley are academically ineligible for the EagleBank Bowl. Jake Dean will start at center for the Bruins, with Nick Ekbatani sliding to right guard. [...]

"It's tough - I don't think anybody's taking it harder than he is," redshirt freshman quarterback Kevin Prince said. "He apologized to the team on Saturday, and it's a blow to not only the offense but the whole team. He's the leader of that offensive line - he brings that fire and passion that I think helped the line play a lot better this year. I know he'll be punching himself for not being in the game."

That was from Jon Gold. Remember it was just days ago we read about Reggie Carter barely being eligible to practice after having to sit out couple of practices for not taking care his schoolwork.

Losing Kai is a huge blow to our patchwork OL which was already having to make do without a hobble Ryan Taylor at RG. With Kai at C our OL made marginal improvement this season and now he is out (will not even make the trip to DC or participate in any bowl related activities). While Kai and others have a responsibility, the blame for this falls on the UCLA academic advisers and coaching staff including of course Rick Neuheisel.

We now have had three players with academic issues this quarter during bowl preparation season and it's inexcusable that these guys didn't see it coming. To add to that they have been projecting the image (not us) of just goofing off the field for the sake of team-building.

Again at this point we will see how this team shows up next Tuesday. While Temple Owls are preparing as if we are getting ready for the Super Bowl, I am not exactly sure what we is going on with Rick Neuheisel's UCLA Bruins. Last week, I wrote Neuheisel was following Pete Carroll's model of discipline. Unfortunately right now Neuheisel's football team is starting to resemble a little bit like Carroll's Trojans off the field. Not a pretty picture.

Let's hope the Bruins actually learn from this and come out with a sense of purpose on December 29th and for rest of the offseason both on and off the field. This kind of shenanigans may be acceptable somewhere else but not at UCLA. Hope Rick Neuheisel is listening. The heat is on him to win in D.C.

GO BRUINS.

Spaulding Roundup: Thankful Bruins & Big Picture Thoughts On Saturday

Nestor — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 18:27:56 -0000

More photos » by Jae C. Hong - AP

CRN and Prince have lot to be thankful about today

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Back in day (like when we were attending UCLA or before then) Thanksgiving was special for a very specific reason. Back then the last regular game of the season was usually scheduled for the third Saturday in November. The way it would work out was Ohio State and Michigan would start our morning brunch (on the West Coast) at 9:30 and then carry us over to UCLA-U$C.* We never lost to U$C* when many of us were students and it was something truly awesome going back home to see all the Trojans (fans and students) over the Holidays. Guess now with BCS, TV Ks, things are a little different. Things have been specially painful last 10 years of a dark and gloomy stretch when except for one aberration (and it was a sweet one), we have had nothing to gloat about.

Are things going to turn this year? I don't know. I always consider Bruins having a chance to win everyone of these games because I don't think it's a contest you ever concede (no matter what the situations are). It's not one of those games which you use to find silver linings and moral victories when the scoreboard doesn't come out in our favor. Yet what we want to see from our guys this year is to make sure when they enter the Mosoleum on Saturday, they don't get caught with the deer in headlights look we found our Bruins in during Toledo's last two years (staring with that 0-27 disgrace in 2001) and Dorrell's first two trips. We want our guys to come out there on Saturday and emerge as the aggressor. Trojans are going to come out and attack like rabid, hurt, desperate dogs on their end. I have no doubt Pom Pom will have them fired up and ready to go for our throats from the first snap. We are going to have not only match their fire, but one up them. We not only don't want them to give an inch, we want them to throw that first punch on both sides of the field.

Thankfully it sounds like we have a football team that is approaching the game with right perspective. It's clear from reading the stories this am about our players and coach, they have the big picture in mind heading into Saturday. Reggie Carter doesn't sound all that upset about the Trojan attack on the Bruin:

"You feel disrespected, but I'm positive whoever did it wouldn't come up to me and tell me they did it," Carter said. "It's fine. As long as I get to suit up and play this game, I could care less what an aluminum bear's doing right now. He's not hurting; it's OK.

"(USC) will feel some hurt on Saturday, though."

Sounds like Reggie. I think it will be interesting to see how he and his team-mates handle McKnight on Barkely on Saturday. I have already written how worried I am about our LBers being able to contain McKnight and Bradford. Whenever I think of the Trojan RBs, I have nightmares of Jahvid Best (best wishes to him on this day) and Shane Vareen slicing through our defense. I wonder if our defense has gotten its grove back since that ugly afternoon in the Rose Bowl. From what we have seen in recent weeks, it looks like our defensive front-7 still has rough time in the early going against opposing RBs. They were manhandled along the edge by Arizona. Chris Polk had a great day against them early on at the Rose Bowl and then they were gashed last weekend in first half by the ASU running attack (before our D stiffened up).

So what is going to happen this Saturday? Here is what the Trojan OC Jeremy Bates had to say to the LA Times:

"We're going to be aggressive, but were going to be smart about it," Bates said. "They're ball hawks back there."

Bates said he was encouraged by the sight -- and the sound -- of the offense this week during practices that followed last weekend's open date.

Interestingly Bates team has not scored more than 21 points in its last 3 games. However, as mentioned before they are getting Damien Williams back for this Sat (which should help them a lot). The Stanford team that bottled them up doesn't exactly have the best defense in the conference. So, the Bruin defense are going into this weekend's game with a mixed bag of factors going for and against them. I really can't tell which way things are going to break right now. However, if we can keep those guys contained (on the scoreboard) in the first half, and hold our own on offense, I think I like our chances. Speaking of our offenses, few great stories around them to pass on this Thursday. Come with me after the jump.

So on the offensive side, it will be a huge game for our OL. This is their final test (before heading into finals week on campus) and Jake Dean is as excited about it as anyone else on the team. Jake is going to start at RG, as Ryan Taylor is still questionable with his ankle injury. From the LA Times:

"This means a lot," Dean said. "Growing up, you want to play in this kind of big rivalry game. I'm getting a shot to finally go out and do it, and not just watch. You come here to play this game. All that matters is how you perform in this one."

Dean started seven games at center a year ago, but with the influx of offensive line talent this season, he was relegated to a backup role. He has practiced at center, guard and tackle before getting his first start of the season against Arizona State last week.

"It helps to have played already this season, but this is SC," Dean said. "They're the best. This is the one that matters."

Dean continued to work even though his future as a lineman was in doubt, given the younger players in the starting lineup. The Bruins have started three sophomores and a freshman on the line all season.

But "my dad always tells me you never know when it will be the last you get to play, you have to go out and have fun with it."

Speaking of having fun, Marcia Smith actually has a decent article on Kevin Prince. The Bruin QB is getting ready for a big day - TODAY:

Last year, Prince missed having Thanksgiving at home for the first time. The Bruins were on the road at Arizona State and he had to say grace over a hotel ballroom Butterball. He had been stewing through the end of a redshirt and losing season and awaiting spring football and a promotion.

"This Thanksgiving," said the tall, funny but soft-spoken player with a fuzzy, reddish beard, "I have a lot of reasons to be thankful."

Now Prince is a starter who has been improving every game. His newly bowl-eligible Bruins (6-5, 3-5 Pac-10) are running high from three consecutive victories. He's healthy, feeling no lingering wooziness from the concussion he got from a Washington Husky, no ache in the jaw fractured by a Tennessee Volunteer.

He's chasing the football dream his older brother, Austin, 22, wanted but couldn't have because of battered, surgically repaired knees. He's playing a game that his East Coast cousin, Madison, born 22 hours after Kevin, loves but can't fully grasp because of autism.

Most of all, Prince is grateful to be home for the holiday, in the oven-warm company of the people and the place that shaped this young man whom Rose Bowl spectators have only known beneath a golden helmet and No. 14 jersey.

Someone correct me if we are wrong. One of our readers have sent in a tip saying this Saturday also happens to be the Birthday of none other than Number 14. Is that true? Either way, UCLA has to feel good about how the season has developed for Prince, given the challenges he faced after a solid start in his first two games.

I cannot wait to see how he comes on Saturday. I am getting goosebumps thinking about. I will not be surprised if he struggles a little. He is a freshman after all. However, at the same time remembering how he handled himself in the pressure packed situation in Neyland stadium, I also get a sense of real hope (I haven't felt in more than a decade before our team heading over to South Central).

Lastly, the one guy who will do everything in his power to get these guys in the right mindset on Saturday is none other than CRN. Great article by Jon Gold in the Daily News today on his reflections on the trip he took this summer to Iraq. This was my favorite part of the story on CRN's trip:

Eight days into the May 28-June 4 trip to visit U.S. soldiers along with six other prominent college football coaches, a trip that has brought him to hospitals and war zones, to dirt lots that have gone from battlefields to ballfields, Neuheisel meets the captain of a naval base in Rhoda.

Throughout the trip, all he'd seen was orange and red - orange for Texas' Mack Brown, red for OhioState's Jim Tressel, two other coaches on the trip - and he needed to see some blue and gold.

The plane touches down, the coaches deboard, they climb some stairs to get into the base, and the captain greets him in a UCLA hat.

"It turns out, he was the guy who, in our first game against the Trojans at the Rose Bowl in 1982, got up on the crossbar," Neuheisel says, breaking into a wide smile. "There's a picture of when Karl Morgan sacked Scott Tinsley - no time on the clock, they're going for two to win the game - the crowd rushes the field and one guy gets on the goal post. That was this guy."

It took Neuheisel eight days, seven countries and thousands of miles to find him.

Well, not sure if this is going to happen BUT what if those UCLA students, who have taken so much heat (from us) last few days, are also hanging on the goal post this Saturday. Can you guys picture that? Envision that for a bit.

Happy thanksgiving to you again.

GO BRUINS.

Spaulding Roundup: Are We Ready For A "Cold" Palouse?

Nestor — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:12:23 -0000

If you haven't had the chance to do it you should listen to the podcast Ryan and Josh did last night going over UCLA's game against Washington State. They also hosted Nuss from CougCenter to preview the Cougars, who graciously offered his perspectives on what can expect tomorrow. There is no sugar coating the kind of dismal season Cougars have had in recent years. Given the circumstances it is pretty damn admirable how Nuss and his colleagues are sticking with the program through their darkest of hours. While he is being realistic about the Cougars' chances tomorrow, on our end I can't help but feel worried about our mindset heading into Palouse.

We have talked all week about how Palouse hasn't been a great place for UCLA football. Yes, we did experience a sort of miracle in 2005 when we won the game despite the "leadership" of Karl Dorrell. Except for that game though Martin Stadium has been a house of horrors. In the back of my mind I can't help but be worried about the mindset of a UCLA program which seems to have a tendency to read too much of its press clippings, when news/momentum breaks its way. There is also the weather factor for a Southern California based football team. Ted Miller from WWL writes:

If there were any arguments in favor of the Cougars notching the upset, weather would be a major factor -- particularly against a warm-weather team like UCLA.

"It depends on how cold it is on the day you play," Wulff said. "It could. No question it could."

The Cougars are just glad to be home. They've played five of their last six games on the road against five ranked teams.

As pointed out earlier this week Cougars also have Dwight Tardy who tore up the UCLA defense last time we visited Pullman couple of years ago. Our rush defense has been abysmal in recent weeks. It will be imperative for our front-7 to step up and make a statement early on against a Cougar team, which will try to build on any signs of life it can muster up in the early stages of the game. We just can't afford to give those guys any sense of hope or momentum in the first quarter. More after the jump.

Nuss noted last night that it looks like Cougars will be indeed with our freshman QB Jeff Tuel tomorrow. Tuel has given them a spark this season. The Spokesman Review wrote about how the Cougars (kind of like the Bruins) have gone through their own QB carousel this year:

The Cougars (1-8, 0-6 Pac-10) have used three starting quarterbacks this season: senior Kevin Lopina, who was the opening day quarterback; sophomore Marshall Lobbestael, who took over in the third game; and freshman Jeff Tuel, who earned the job in the fifth game and has kept it since.

But Tuel was sidelined in last week’s defeat to Arizona with a slight dislocation of his kneecap and probably will not be available against UCLA (4-5, 1-5) Saturday.

Lobbestael relieved and hooked up with Karstetter on a 64-yard, fourth-quarter touchdown that was a direct result of both being "on the same page."

A play was called. Lobbestael changed it. Karstetter studied the coverage and signaled a new route. Reading the change, Lobbestael lofted the ball out front, Karstetter snatched it with one hand, shed the defender and scored.

It was Karstetter’s sixth touchdown reception – he’s tied with James Rodgers of Oregon State for the Pac-10 lead – and third in three games.

"It was a great play, but I have complete confidence, Jeff and I and any of the quarterbacks, we all have complete trust in all the receivers," Lobbestael said.

Again it's worth repeating: Bruins are not in position to get comfortable against any team at this point of their rebuilding process. Lobbestale and Karstetter, I am sure have taken note of how opposing QBs have gone directly after ATV (who has been dealing with some injury issues) and Sheldon Price. So our guys better be locked in and ready.

Lastly, I will end with a quick note on the offensive side. It looks like Junior offensive lineman Jake Dean will get the start at right guard, with junior Darius Savage rotating in, in place of junior Ryan Taylor. Hopefully Jake can step up the same way Taylor did in last two weeks. We will need our OL to give Prince the same protection they have provided in last two weeks. It has played a huge role in Prince's emergence has a productive passer. Let's hope they can all stay in rhythm tomorrow afternoon in the Palouse.

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.

The Wait Is Over For Bruin Football: Practice Starts Today

Nestor — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 11:00:14 -0000

So it all starts today. As mentioned over the weekend the season gets started today with a "Media Day" in the morning and then first practice (which is open to public) at 3:30 pm PST. I am sure we are going to be reading stories from the Media Day and first practice starting tomorrow starting later this evening and with our usual roundup in the AM. Already there are few notes up on the official site that should get all of us ready for the camp.

Following the tweeter feed yesterday it was pretty clear the players were coming back to Westwood yesterday. Everyone of them sound excited and fired up (Case in point here is Taylor Embree). Here are the details from the official site:

On Sunday afternoon, the veteran UCLA football players reported to camp. The first team meeting is scheduled for tonight. On Saturday afternoon, the newcomers reported to camp and went through a series of orientation meetings on Sunday.

Monday's schedule includes position meetings in the morning and a short walkthrough. The players will participate in Media Day at noon and at the same time shoot portrait photos for television broadcasts and other material for the Rose Bowl video board.

The first practice is scheduled for 3:00 pm. For the first few days, head coach Rick Neuheisel and the coaches will split the team into two groups so the players can receive more one-on-one coaching from the staff. The first group will begin practice at 3:00 pm. The entire team will work on special teams for 20 minutes at 4:20 pm and then the second group will practice from 4:40 - 6:00 pm.

I hope some of you get to make it out there either today or sometime in the coming weeks. Just reading through the position overviews it becomes clear how intense the competition is going to be this year. We just need to have the players stay healthy. More details after the jump.

Note "several" of the walkons are not reporting for camp until after the first game or the start of school. Also, it looks like Jayson Allmond is another scholarship freshman who is not going to report because he is waiting for issues related to NCAA Clearinghouse issues to be resolved. Perhaps Brian Price can give him a call and tell the kid to hang in there.

The official site also posted whole bunch of pre-season notes. There were few details I found to be interesting and worth sharing. First here are the players we are going to have this season who missed entire if not most of last season due to injury and other issues:

WHO WAS MISSING -- The following players, who will return to the team for 2009, were listed in the 2008 pre-season two-deep or figured to play a prominent role, if available for action last season: Offense --- TE Logan Paulsen - missed 11 g to injury; OL Jeff Baca - missed 3 g to injury; OL Darius Savage - missed 2 g to injury; OL - Sean Sheller - missed all 12 g to injury; OL - Mike Harris - missed 7 g to injury; RB - Christian Ramirez - missed all 12 g due to academic eligibility issues; FB Trevor Theriot - missed 9 g to injury; Defense --- Kyle Bosworth - missed 10g to injury; DL - Jess Ward - missed 5 g due to injury; DL Reginald Stokes - missed 1 g due to injury.

So here is these guys staying healthy in 2009. All those injuries meant UCLA had a lot of cubbies getting action this past season:

YOUTH AND EXPERIENCE -- UCLA played a total of 22 freshmen (11 redshirt and 11 true freshmen) in the 2008 season. Sixteen of the twenty scholarship players included in that group are scheduled to return in 2009. Of that group of sixteen returning players, 11 have starting experience (Defense --- So. Rahim Moore, S - 12 g; So.R Steve Sloan, LB - 9 g; So. R Akeem Ayers, LB - 3 g; So. Datone Jones, DL - 2 g; So. Tony Dye, S - 1g; Offense --- So. Cory Harkey, TE - 7 g; So. Taylor Embree, WR - 8 g; So. Jeff Baca, OL - 8 g; So.R Nate Chandler, TE - 2 g; So. Derrick Coleman, RB - 1 g; So.R Mike Harris, OL - 5 g).

Needless to say it will be exciting to see how these guys can improve on this year. Also, a total of 29 players saw action for the first time in 2009:

FIRST ACTION -- A total of 29 players (17 offensive and 12 defensive) saw their first action as a Bruin during the 2008 season (11 true freshmen - seven offensive and four defensive players (LB Sean Westgate, S Rahim Moore, TE Cory Harkey, WR Taylor Embree, S Tony Dye, WR Antwan Moutra, WR Nelson Rosario, RB Aundre Dean, RB Derrick Coleman, OL Jeff Baca, DL Datone Jones); 11 redshirt freshmen - five defensive and six offensive players (DB Courtney Viney, LB Steve Sloan, LB Akeem Ayers, DB Glenn Love, OL/TE Nate Chandler, RB Raymond Carter, DL Justin Edison, WR Ryal Jagd, QB Chris Forcier, TE Glenn Rauscher, OT Mike Harris), six redshirt sophomores - three offensive and three defensive players (OL Brandon Bennett, LB Mike Schmitt, DL Reginald Stokes, OL Sonny Tevaga, OL Jake Dean, DB Garrett Rubio), one redshirt junior (QB Kevin Craft).

Of course some of those guys such as Carter, Dean and Craft are either no longer with us or will probably not get much action this coming year. However, I think those numbers show how Neuheisel will not hesitate to put in his young guys in there if they are competing hard out at Spaulding and doing what the coaches are asking them to do.

Lastly, the pre-season notes also has some interesting numbers on freshman QBs record at UCLA during last 20 years:

*2002 (8-5, T 4th Pac-10) -- Matt Moore (Fr.) game 8 win over Stanford; Drew Olson (Fr.) game 9 win at Washington; game 10 win at Arizona; game 11 loss to USC; game 12 loss to Wash. State; game 13 bowl win over New Mexico.
*1999 (4-7, 9th Pac-10) -- Cory Paus (Fr.R) game 3 win over Fresno St.; game 5 loss at Ariz. State; game 6 win over Oregon; game 7 loss to Cal; game 8 loss at Ore. State; game 9 loss to Arizona; game 10 win over Washington; Ryan McCann (Fr. R) game 11 loss at USC.
*1995 (7-5, T 5th Pac-10) -- Cade McNown (Fr.) game 3 loss to Oregon; game 5 win over Fresno St.; game 6 win over Arizona; game 7 win at Stanford; game 8 win over Cal; game 9 loss at Ariz. State; game 10 loss to Washington; game 11 win at USC; game 12 bowl loss to Kansas.
*1992 (6-5, 8th Pac-10) -- Rob Walker (Fr. R) game 2 win at BYU; game 3 win over San Diego State; game 4 loss at Arizona; game 5 loss to Stanford; game 10 win at Oregon; Ryan Fien (Fr.) game 7 loss to Arizona State.
*1990 (5-6, T 6th Pac-10) -- Tommy Maddox (Fr. R) game 3 loss at Michigan; game 4 win at Wash. State; game 5 loss to Arizona; game 6 win over San Diego State; game 7 loss at Cal; game 8 win over Oregon State; game 9 loss at Oregon; game 10 win at Washington; game 11 loss to USC.
*1989 (3-7-1, 9th Pac-10) -- Bret Johnson (Fr. R) started all 11 games. game 1 loss to Tenn.; game 2 win over San Diego State; game 3 loss to Michigan; game 4 win over Cal; game 5 win over Ariz. State; game 6 loss at Arizona; game 7 loss at Oregon State; game 8 loss to Washington; game 9 loss at Stanford; game 10 loss to Oregon; game 11 tie at USC.

You can sense that Cade McNown was kind of an anomaly and even he had a roller coaster first two years. Bret Johnson, Rob Walker, and Ryan Fien were total disasters (well Johnson was just a disgrace).

Anyway, those numbers above are fairly sobering and should be datapoints we all take into account before deluding ourselves with visions of grandeur that takes over average college football fans around this time of the year. I still think Prince will be an upgrade from what we saw last year. However, given how legends like McNown struggled during their first year in college we should keep our expectations in check.

GO BRUINS.

Spaulding Roundup: ATV Aces It & More Notes On Our Frontlines

Nestor — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 12:20:22 -0000

Well it's kind of tough to pivot back to football after my previous post. But I have in pretty good authority is that is exactly what EZ would do (and I know he was reading this blog religiously every am especially during those brutal Dorrell years). We will start with someone who has reminded all of us what Bruin student athletes are all about: ATV. I guess I thought ATV was done with blogging this past week since school was winding down but I was wrong. He has one more update from his 2009 summer with the following note on how did in that Romanian class he took. He aced it:

Today I found out I received an A in the class. That means all the five hour days every day for six weeks paid off. I am done with my foreign language requirement now and have just nine more classes until I have earned my BA from UCLA

What else did you expect right? Well while his chances of success on the football field is pretty good as well this year, there is one game in which he has been coming out on the losing end. Apparently his girlfiend has been running laps around him in pool. You will have to read the full details here.

Moving on let's talk about ATV's team-mates on both sides of the line. More after the jump.

We will pick up where we left off yesterday: the OL. Al Balderas from the OC Register posted few interesting comments from our OL about why they are expecting a better season this year:

"We were pretty light up front last year as a whole, so that created mismatches for us," lineman Nick Ekbatani said in an e-mail. "I don’t believe that will be a problem for us this season. Guys have worked hard and coach Linn has done a tremendous job helping us get stronger.

"It was as if there was a new culture created this offseason in the weight room and on the field. I know these gains will allow us to create some mismatches this year, as opposed to being mismatched."

That’s not all.

Sophomore Jeff Baca and senior Micah Kia gained experience from last season, and redshirt sophomore (and transfer from Colorado) Kai Maiava should compete for a starting spot on the O-line.

"I thought guys like (redshirt juniors) Jake Dean and Brandon Bennett showed some noticeable improvement (at spring camp), Ekbatani added.

Well I know everyone is feeling optimistic. So am I. When the new depth chart comes out we will have to match up the weights from this past spring with August. We will probably see some gains. However, I am still going to remain a bit skeptical because I feel like I have read this kind of feel good off-season story every year. My biggest question right now around this unit is toughness and it will be interesting to see how they come out in the first few games.

It seems like Coach Todd Howard is striking the same note with regards to cautious optimis while talking about his students - linemen from other side of the ball. He gave a very interesting interview to Robert Kuwada from Bruin Report Online (formerly the UCLA beat writer for the OC Register) sounding off about this year's DL. Since the article is not behind a subscription firewall here is an excerpt on Howard's cautious optimism:

"I’m always optimistic and I always think the new group is going to do better than the group previously, though that remains to be seen."

That does remain to be seen, but, for the record, Howard believes this defensive line can be very good, the ends just as productive as Bruce Davis and Justin Hickman were in his first year in Westwood when they tied for fourth in the nation in sacks and earned All-American honors.

"The guys that I have this year I think have a chance to be as good as those two guys," Howard said, of Bosworth and sophomore Datone Jones.

"I think both of them will have a shot at double-digit sacks. If they can stay healthy throughout the 12 games and hopefully a bowl game, they will get double-digit sacks. You’ve got Datone, who is bigger than Hickman and faster the Hickman. He’s a sophomore, so that’s the only thing – you have to see if it clicks for him, but he’s working hard.

"Then you have Korey Boz, who is every bit as fast as Bruce Davis was. He’s stronger than Bruce Davis. He might not be as flexible as Bruce Davis, but that was something I told him at the end of the spring that he needed to work on. I felt like had he not had a few misses here and there, he would have had double-digit sacks last year …as it was, he had 7 ½.

"I think a guy like Brian Price should get seven or eight inside. And Jerzy (Siewierski) has a better finesse game than Brigham Harwell, and he might be the best athlete of all them."

You can read rest of the interview with Howard here.

It is going to be a treat to see these guys go up against each other for few weeks starting next Monday. While I am going to wait for now to get completely optimistic about this coming soon, I am looking forward to reading about the competiton that is going to take place in Spaulding. It is going to be fierce for the first time in a very long time in Westwood.

GO BRUINS.

2009 Expectations: The NY Times Joins The Emerging Consensus Re. Upcoming UCLA Season

Nestor — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 17:32:25 -0000

Looks like there is not going to be much of a debate concerning the expectations for the upcoming UCLA football season. So far this season we have seen the following expectations/predictions (we have debated and discussed the nuances of those points endlessly over last few years) for the 2009 UCLA football season:

Adam Maya from the OC Register predicted UCLA's "best/worst-case scenario" ranged from"5-7 to 7-5." He concluded UCLA will finish "finish .500 (6-6) and earn a bowl bid."
Ted Miller of WWL also thinks UCLA could be the "surprise" team of the Pac. However, he is being lot more realistic listing UCLA as the 7th best team in the conference. Miller also went on to project a 6-6 regular season.
As noted previously, Lindy's has UCLA ranked No. 48 nationally and No. 6 in the Pac-10. Athlon has the Bruins No. 51 overall and No. 6 in the Pac-10.

In terms of upside, WWL's Bruce Feldman is bullish on the Bruins pegging UCLA as one of the potential most improved teams of 2009. Similarly, Phill Steele has an optmisitic projection of UCLA as one of the potential "most improved team" of 2009 that could "return to the post season." Still the consenseus right now is that realistically UCLA should be looking at 6-6/bowl season for this upcoming year, which would be a step up from this past season.

It looks the New York Times agrees with that emerging consensus expectations of a 6 win regular season:

Season breakdown & prediction: I believe U.C.L.A. will reach bowl eligibility, but I don’t think this team has any chance of cracking the top half of the Pac-10. Not that the Bruins won’t get there eventually, but this team would have to make a radical improvement on offense to be taken as a serious contender in the conference, and all signs entering the summer pointed towards U.C.L.A. still needing some work on this side of the ball. One fact in the team’s favor: the roster is positively littered with young talent. This is especially the case on offense, where a plethora of underclassmen will have ample opportunity to make their presence felt at the skill positions. Still, the offense has me concerned. Will the defense be good enough to propel U.C.L.A. to, say, eight wins? It’ll be good, but not that good. Neuheisel is building a program here, and if the past two recruiting classes are any indication, help is on the way. But I’m crazy about this team’s chances at cracking the top four in the Pac-10. Instead, I’ve got the Bruins just about tied with Arizona and Stanford for fifth in the conference: 6-6, 4-5.

That was from Paul Meyerberg on the New York Times's blog - "the Quad" - where he has UCLA checking in at number 52 (which is consistent with the discussions we have seen above). For more on the preview come along after the jump.

Paul's UCLA breakdown is fairly detailed as he has the following on players to watch for this upcoming season:

Players to watch: The Bruins will have a new starting quarterback in 2009, as the redshirt freshman Kevin Prince beat out the incumbent starter, the senior Kevin Craft, with a solid, though unspectacular spring. Craft will likely be the backup, though he’ll battle the true freshman Richard Brehaut for that position. Craft struggled last fall, throwing a school-record 20 interceptions against seven touchdowns; six of his interceptions were returned for touchdowns. I gained a lot of respect for the way Craft dealt with his ineffectiveness, but for U.C.L.A. to become a capable offensive unit, the team must get much better play from its quarterback. The Bruins have a nice mix of experience and young talent on its receiving corps, a group led by the senior Terrance Austin. His breakout junior campaign included a team-best 53 receptions for 460 yards, as well as a school-record 1,878 all-purpose yards. Most of this yardage came on kick returns (1,109 yards), but Austin also added 90 yards rushing on only 13 attempts for a team-leading 9.0 yards per carry. Joining him at receiver are the sophomores Tyler Embree, who set school freshman records for receptions (40) and receiving yards (531, best on the team) and Nelson Rosario, the junior Dominique Johnson (34 for 373 yards) and the senior Gavin Ketchum. The Bruins also go two-deep at tight end, as the 2008 second-team all-conference senior Ryan Moya (38 receptions for 364 yards and 3 scores) will be joined by Logan Paulsen, the 2006-7 starter who missed all but one game last fall. The offensive line is due for an improvement, if only because the wide majority of the group returns with a year’s experience in the system. The senior right guard Nick Ekbaktani, the only lineman to start all 12 games last fall, leads the way. The unit also receives a nice boost from the sophomore center Kai Maiava, a transfer from Colorado who earned freshman all-American honors in 2007. He sat out last fall and will compete with the junior Jake Dean (seven starts in 2008) for the starting spot in the middle. The sophomore Jeff Baca will move inside to guard after making seven starts at left tackle as a rookie, likely leaving the left tackle job in the hands of the junior Sean Sheller, who missed all of last season due to a knee injury.

If there is any optimism regarding U.C.L.A.’s chances at reaching a solid bowl game in 2009, it is because of a talented defense. This group will do a lot of the heavy lifting for the Bruins, especially in the early going. It’s a good thing, therefore, that U.C.L.A. has talent at every level of the defense, from the line through the secondary. The front four will feature one of the nation’s best interior linemen in the junior tackle Brian Price, a first-team all-conference selection last fall after notching 35 tackles (a team-leading 14 for loss) and 4.5 sacks. Price has been a stalwart in the middle since early in his freshman season, and will be even better as a junior. He’s terrific. Lining up next to Price, and replacing Harwell, is the junior Reginald Stokes, who started five of the last seven games down the stretch last fall. Also competing for the starting role, though certainly at worst a part of the tackle rotation, is the sophomore Datone Jones. At end, the senior Korey Bosworth’s first season as a full-time starter saw him lead the team with seven sacks; he finished second to Price with 11 tackles for loss. The team will welcome back his twin brother, the senior weakside linebacker Kyle Bosworth, back to full health after missing all but two games a season ago. In 2007, Bosworth finished fifth on the team with 74 tackles. (Quick aside: My favorite movie featuring their uncle Brian Bosworth is "Stone Cold," where he plays a loose-cannon police officer who infiltrates a biker gang.) The leader of the linebacker corps is the senior Reggie Carter, who paced the team with 83 stops a season ago. Twenty of those tackles came against B.Y.U., the most by a Bruin in a single game since 1989. Rounding out the starting group is the sophomore Akeem Ayers, who had 40 tackles and 4 sacks as a freshman. One area where Neuheisel and his staff have done a very good job in recruiting is in the secondary. U.C.L.A. has surrounded the senior cornerback Alterraun Verner — one of the nation’s best — with a number of athletic freshmen and sophomores, giving this unit the potential to be the second-best in the Pac-10. Any group that has a player of Verner’s caliber is bound to be pretty good. As a junior, he ranked second on the team in tackles with 73 and led the nation with 18 pass breakups. Much like Price, Verner will challenge for all-American honors in 2009. The other returning starter in the secondary is the sophomore free safety Rahim Moore, who last fall became the first true freshman to start every game on defense for the Bruins since 2001. On the season, Moore tied Norris for the team lead with three interceptions. The second starting corner spot will come down to the redshirt freshman Aaron Hester and the sophomore Courtney Viney. As mentioned, this group is very talented, thanks largely to the solid job U.C.L.A. has done in bringing in young playmakers over the past two recruiting cycles.

He lists RB as the "position battle to watch" which is right. However, as we have said over and over again the difference this year between a 4-8/5-7 season and a bowl one will be how much improved our OL is from the disastrous effort of this past season. You can read the whole preview over here.

Reading the season previews this year, I think this is probably as close to consensus narrative I have seen around UCLA football pre-season expectations as the one we saw heading into Dorrell's (mercifully) final season when after four years of excuse making we were all expecting a Pac-10 championship season.

As we have said over and over again, this year in many ways will be like Howland's second season at UCLA when we all considering just getting into the NCAA dance a positive marker for the program, after it completely tanked under the previous regime. Similarly this year, if we can somehow scrap and claw into a bowl game, we will see it as a turnaround after the cratering the program experience last year from the listless leadership from previous regime(s).

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.