SB Nation - Mike Harris

UCLA vs. Washington Report Card

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

More photos » by Francis Specker - AP

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

Browse more photos »

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

Quarterback

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

Running Back/Fullback

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

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

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

Offensive Line

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

Defensive Line

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

Linebackers

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

Defensive Backs

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

Special Teams

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

Coaching

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

Spaulding Roundup: Shakeup In Defensive Backfield, Competition At RG & Other UCLA Practice Notes

Nestor — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:40:11 -0000

Bruins continue to prepare for their Arizona roadtrip with some tinkering with their defensive secondary. It looks like coaches are thinking about shaking up the defensive backfield a bit by trying out Glenn Love at strong safety. From the LA Times:

Strong safety Glenn Love spent most of practice with the first team. Tony Dye started all six games at strong safety.

"This week we flipped them, made sure they both got time with the ones and the twos," secondary coach Tim Hundley said. "We needed competition. We need to be more consistent and to make plays. Basically it's tackling. We're capable of doing it and we've done it, but not as consistently as we need to be."

Would be interested in hearing from the guys who might have seen the replay of Cal game on this. I am speculating here that perhaps coaches are trying out Love because of issues with clean tackling and staying within assignments from our secondary. Check out what Reggie Carter told Robert Kuwada of Bruin Report Online (article not behind subscription firewall at the time of this post):

So what did Saturday look like? They had some really big plays, but also a lot of negative yardage plays …

‘’Yeah, we watched it. Jahvid Best, he had like 108 yards and he had 93 on that one. That one was a few missed tackles, which caused that one. The other running touchdown, we were in a man coverage and the safety didn’t come over to get his man. He was supposed to be the extra fitter. That one. Then it was deep balls. They had big plays and scores, never once did they drive all the way down the field and score on us. We gave up too many big plays and we hurt our offense, we hurt our team.’’

Is there any question with the scheme, what you guys are trying to do, or is it just execution?

‘’Schematically, we were supposed to have somebody to fit every gap, to fit every run. It was just missed tackles and a guy not being where he was supposed to be. Schematically, everything was fit up to work, we just didn’t execute the scheme to perfection, how we were supposed to.’’

So perhaps sitting Dye out for a bit will allow the true sophomore to get better perspective of the defensive scheme. Another thought into this. Perhaps coaches are thinking about trying out Love at SS and then sliding over Dye to the other CB slot (Sheldon Price's slot) until Hester is fully ready.

Either way, I kind of like this move on our coaches part. It is always good to shake things up just a bit to look for potential solutions. Moreover, I don't consider this as a negative slight on Dye. Again, remember the kid is a true sophomore. The growing pains he is experiencing is a natural part of college football player's development process. I think the key is for his coaches to make sure they do what they can to give him a better understanding of their defensive schemes while also making him fight to get playing time on the field. More after the jump.

Staying with the defensive secondary, Aaron Hester was back in action in terms of getting reps against the scout team:

"It felt good getting back out there," said Hester, a 6-foot-1, 203-pound redshirt freshman. "That's what I was looking for. All I asked for was some reps so I can get a chance to prove myself."

Whether Hester will play Saturday against Arizona remains to be seen, but he said, "It is the coaches' decision. I feel I got my speed and I got my aggression, everything necessary to play."

Lake said he would watch and evaluate. Sheldon Price, a first-year freshman, has started the last three games.

"I need to see more," Lake said. "Today [Hester] got more work. He's rusty on things and we've made some adjustments. He needs to catch up in that regard."

I think some of the local reporters made a mountain out of mole hill (nothing new for these guys who are always looking for easy story lines) when Hester wasn't immediately worked into action on his first day of returning to practice. It appears that Carnell Lake was easing him into the mix and taking a "cautious approach":

"His first day was (Tuesday) for him but after being off for weeks with a broken leg, I wanted to eye him down myself to make sure that he was OK," secondary coach Carnell Lake said. "The first day back, I didn't want to do too much with him. Just do some individual drills and get off the field without setting him back."

Whether that plan was efficiently communicated to Hester might have been the reason for his displeasure Tuesday.

"Maybe I should have vocalized that for him but in my mind, a good first day was to let me evaluate him," Lake said. "I did that.

"What I really want to see is for him to keep his head in and keep working and keep competing. We've got a lot of guys out there that compete and he needs to be one of them."

I don't see what is wrong with UCLA coaches taking a cautious approach when it comes to he health of our football players. Lake's approach IMHO was perfect. It was the right thing to do on his part. It's too bad the reporters made it a big deal by playing on the quotes of a 18-19 year old sophomore. Guess not a surprise considering what we have seen from the press corp. that follows UCLA over the years.

Anyway, going back to the personnel shakeups, following Eddie Williams injury it looks like Neuheisel and Palcic are making Hasiak and Ekbatani compete for the right guard spot on our OL:

"We're competing in there," UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel said. "We've had a few guys come into my office wanting a spot. The guys want to play, want to get in there and help this team."

Hasiak particularly wants to regain the momentum he built during the summer, when he worked with the first team for much of training camp. With the emergence of sophomore Mike Harris at right guard, though, Hasiak ended up in a rotation with left guard Jeff Baca.

"Now I think I kind of got my aggressiveness back," Hasiak said. "The time in between when you're off, you kind of get too relaxed. That's what I did. I got too relaxed. But I'm getting it back. I'm real confident now; I feel I can go up against any front. I wouldn't even fret - I'm confident in my skills."

He is especially confident in his abilities lined up next to fellow true freshman Xavier Su'a-Filo, UCLA's standout left tackle.

The two behemoths played in postseason all-star games last year following their senior season, growing a friendship that has blossomed for months.

"Me and X kind of had a natural chemistry," Hasiak said. "It was something I noticed when we played in those two all-star games together. Being next to him, I'm comfortable. I know he's got my back if something's going that way; I never have to worry about him missing it."

Hasiak was in the trenches when Jet Ski exploded for that 74 yard TD sprint. From what I have seen it seems Ekbatani brings the experience and he also provides Palcic options because he is multidimensional. But I really like the nasty streak Stan seems to bring to our OL. When you mix him up with the X man and Kai Maivia, it gives us an OL life with an "attitude" we haven't had for years. So, would love to see more of Hasiak in there.

Lastly, as we are on the topic of attitude and offensive mindset Jon Gold from the Daily News has an nice profile on Kai Forbath. He sounds like a great kid who is working his reard end off to get better ... but really ... I hope we don't have to see his awesome kicks unless it is in a situation when we have to tie or win the game. Touchdowns not field goals will get us where we neet to go at the end of this season to call this year a successful one.

GO BRUINS.

Spaulding Roundup: More Stanford Game Prep Notes & Harbaugh's Views On UCLA

Nestor — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:26:02 -0000

Bruins continue to pound away at each other at Spaulding to get ready for Stanford this Saturday. Coaches have been using the huge freshman fullback Jayson Allmond from the scout team to play the role of Gerhart all week long to get our defense ready for Saturday. The OC Register reports on Allmond's week at Spaulding:

Fullback Jayson Allmond remembers playing against Stanford running back Toby Gerhart when the two were in high school. Allmond starred at Bloomington High while Gerhart did the same at Norco.

The Bruins' coaching staff is happy that Allmond was paying attention back then.

The 6-0, 266-pound Allmond is playing the role of Gerhart (6-1, 235) at practice this week, in an effort to help the UCLA defense prepare for the real deal when the Bruins travel to Stanford on Saturday.

"I run harder, and I run more downhill than I usually do," Allmond said of his Gerhart impression. "He comes downhill harder than most running backs I've seen in the NCAA."

Allmond has the flexibility to move laterally when he carries the ball, but he's under orders, from the UCLA coaching staff, to shelve that part of his repertoire for now.

"They tell me to run downhill more — come straight at the hole and run through everybody — because that's what he does," Allmond said. "He's very hard to bring down. He's not somebody you really want to go up high with. You have to go at least to his ankles because his legs are just as strong as his upper body. He's a big guy and a force to tackle."

I think Allmond is going to end up redshirting this season. But he sounds like the kind of fullback who is Norm Chow's dream. He is flexibile enough to stretch it out (in addition to blasting through the hole) and if he develops the ball catching ability in the coming year, he could present another matchup nightmare bowling over CBs in the coming years. For this week though it sounds like Allmond is having fun making his contribution to this week's game prep.

While our defense is getting ready for Gerhart and co. on the other side of the field our OL is hoping it will be able to continue the improvement so far this season. So far this season Xavier Su'a-Filo, Baca, Kai Maiava, Eddie Williams and Mike Harris haves started all of our games, matching the last year's total of 3 straight starts of Baca-Savage-Dean-Glicksberg-Ekbatani (starting at week 4). So the guys are little ahead this year per Jon Gold in the Daily News:

The offensive line might be the most important group that has that continuity," UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel said. "They just all have to be on the same page. The communication that's going on in the trenches is huge, and when you get good at it, you start using dummy calls, and then the defense really doesn't know what the heck's going on."

With backups including Ekbatani and freshman Stanley Hasiak in the mix — Ekbatani returns this week after suffering a knee sprain in training camp — the coaches now have to find a way to mix guys in without sacrificing permanence.

"You still want to keep competition going — that's always going to be the hallmark of a program — but you have to be able to count on guys," Neuheisel said. "When another guy comes in, it's like a badge of honor to be part of it." [...]

With the addition of freshman Su'a-Filo, redshirt sophomore Maiava and redshirt junior Williams, the talent is certainly better.

But, Harris says, it's Maiava making the most difference.

"Playing especially with Kai Maiava, he's such a good center," Harris said. "That's what we were missing — that leadership role on the line. He's been taking that role, and I'm proud of him."

The line will have a challenge against a decent Stanford defense on Saturday afternoon, that thoroughly manhandled the Washington OL and Jake Locker.

Meanwhile up in Bay Area, Jim Harbaugh is doing a solid Lou Holtz impression this week building up the UCLA defense:

"That's the way we're seeing things. This is the best defensive line we've played, there's no question about it. This is the best three linebackers we've played against and the best secondary we've played against. Without a doubt this is the best defense we've played against."

And talking up Kevin Craft:

"I always had a lot of respect for him. I always thought he was their best quarterback. I always figured that he would be the quarterback that we'd be seeing. He's resourceful. I think he's very talented. He's athletic, he's a smart guy and he made some really big plays for them last year. And I'm not just talking about our game although he did very well. He threw for two touchdowns, including the game-winner, and 200 and it seemed like 50 yards or something. But other games too. I've seen him in hanging in the pocket and he made big-time throws. Just from my perspective, I really believe he's their best quarterback."

Well what can I say here that hasn't been said already. We love Kevin's heart and committment to UCLA. I will defer to our coaches for their decision to start Craft, but let's just say I don't think anyone here will agree with Harbaugh's observations re. who is the best QB in UCLA's roster. There was a reason why Prince became the starter and it became pretty obvious in his first two starts as a redshirt freshmen at UCLA.

We are just hoping somehow someway Kevin can get the job done this week in terms of managing the game and give our team the best chance to win.

GO BRUINS.

UCLA at 3-0, U$C* at 2-1: Signs Of Clear (Bruin) Blue Sky On The Horizon

Nestor — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 18:16:20 -0000

I think it will be obvious to anyone reading through the game thread last night that we weren't feeling very warm and fuzzy about our football team right after the second half started. I don't need to go into details about the ugliness of that third quarter when Kansas State (KSU) rallied behind the inspired runs of Daniel Thomas and closed the gap by taking advantage of some sloppy play of our offense. I didn't see it here. However, there were some fairly toxic post game reactions directed towards Kevin Craft and the UCLA offensive coaching staff (for not giving Richard Brehaut a chance) around the internet. Well after chewing over the game the morning after and thinking about the big picture, I can't help but feel good about where our program is right now and where we are headed.

Yes, I know we are not perfect. Then again I said pretty straight up at the beginning of this season my expectation for this year is what my expectations were at the beginning of Coach Howland's second season at UCLA. I want us to get into a bowl game and 6-7 win season, that will set us up really well on the recruiting front this season and for future success. Well after three games it looks like we are on track and perhaps slightly ahead of schedule.

Consider some factors in play before UCLA took on KSU:

UCLA was playing without its starting quarterback, two starters at cornerback, a key tailback, and two extremely talented receivers. I won't even mention the injuries we have suffered this season early on to senior OL, RB, and DT which would have demoralized previous UCLA teams in the past.
UCLA was playing in a classic let down game, the kind of ones it has laid eggs in time after time in recent season.
Not only that UCLA was taking on one of the better teams against one of the best game tacticians in college football who has a history of pulling of mind boggling (assclowning ESPN pundits) upsets.

As Jon Gold from the Daily News noted on that Bruins went into last night's game with 80 percent of its football team. Despite all that UCLA came out with a 23-9 win against KSU in which they:

Accomplished the objection of running 4 yards per carry, racking up 173 rushing yards in 34 attempts (averaging 5.1 per attempt)
Gave up 0 (yes "ZERO") sacks against a pretty stingy KSU defense
Got 186 yards out of its backup QB who threw for a perfect TD strike, had another one called back for penalty and was averaging almost 8 yards per completion
Despite some rough defensive moments, our guys kept the opponent to single digits, and bottled them up for 69 yards on the ground and less than 270 total offensive yards

Seems like a team that did what we were hoping it would do to start last week: cowboy up.

Could we have played better? Of course, and I will go into some of our issues plaguing this young team after the jump. However, before anyone (not the regulars in this community) gets drowned by the negativity around sloppiness of one quarter, again consider the big picture. A 4-8 team from last season (which had cratered as a program) is sitting with a record of 3-0 with lot more room to improve in a bye week. All of this happened at the same week, when a certain team across town with the hype of the entire national and local media behind it, laid an egg against a team that hadn't won a single conference game in a more than a year. More after the jump.

Let's start with the supposed hot topic that caused a lot of consternation and angry rants on a certain UCLA message board on the internets. I honestly don't care about the QB situation. I am not going to get worked up over a spot which is under the jurisdiction of a legend such as Norm Chow (just like if our young Ben Ball warriors are struggling to D up this coming season, I am not going to get worried over Howland's defensive schemes). From the Daily News:

Asked if it he was disappointed he wasn't able to get Brehaut in Saturday, Bruins offensive coordinator Norm Chow said: "Yeah, he certainly deserves a chance, but so do a lot of other guys, like the backup linemen. Everyone deserves a chance to play. You have to understand the idea is to try to win and do the best you can."

Makes sense to me. I am not going to worry how much time Craft or Brehaut gets next game.

What I do like is that not only our program is showing a sign of pulse, but there is an energy and it is all going in thr right direction. Finally, I am seeing some tangible signs (record wise) of smog clearing up with appearance of (Bruin) blue in (UC) Los Angeles and I am liking it. Let's start with the LA Times coverage which actually is surreally positive. From Chris Foster in the LA Times:

Coach Rick Neuheisel had already framed its meaning this week, saying, "Last year there were 23 teams in Division I that started 3-0, out of 119 teams, and 20 of those 23 went to a bowl game."

Before the Bruins get too giddy, this is the ninth time they have entered Pacific 10 Conference play with a 3-0 record since 1971. Only twice have they gone on to win the conference title and go to the Rose Bowl.

Still, this was progress.

Similar sentiments can be read into reporting of Kevin Craft's performance. Well, I guess it helps when the kid is always gracious and humble no matter what the game result is:

Craft completed 13 of 24 passes for 186 yards. He had one pass intercepted, but also had a second touchdown pass nullified by a penalty. He said afterward he wasn’t concerned whether he’d get another chance this season.

"You know, I don’t really have that mind-set," Craft said. "I just kind of felt that I would get a chance to get back out there. I don’t ever want to see a kid go down like Kev did. I know his spirits are still high. But it was also fun to get out there too."

His coach was appreciative of his effort:

"I’m so pleased for Kevin Craft," UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel said. "He had taken a lot of abuse, none of it intended to be malicious, but when you don’t do as well as you hope at a position that is as much a focal point as quarterback, it’s a tough thing to swallow."

And his team-mates were also rooting for him:

"I just knew he was going to come out today," said offensive tackle Mike Harris, one of twoa returning starter from last season.

"This whole week of practice he just had a fire in his eye that I didn't see last year. I knew he had something to prove today."

Now Craft's third quarter performance was ugly. No way around it. However, I think Craft went off rhythm for a bit after a specific play call in second quarter. UCLA had a 3rd and 1 at its own 46 yard line with a 10-3 lead. At that point Craft had complete 5 of 7 passes in a classic ball control game. So with a 3rd and 1, coaches dialed up a long bomb, which ended up being underthrown and intercepted. I think that's when Craft got out of sync for a while and the complexion of the game changed. That's probably a call Chow (assuming he called it) will like to have back.

Obvious penalties were killers all night. If Craft's TD to Moya was called back because what appeared to be a correct call on Paulsen, the game's complexion could have been different. As usual SPTRs played their roles, however, we have to do a much better job of playing a cleaner game. Our blocking around the edges need to get much more polished while Ayers need to find a way to play smart and within control. From the Daily News:

"We have to fix that," UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said. "(Saturday), just in the urgency to try to keep things going we were lining up wrong, guys were trying to make plays and blocking below the waist.

"We have to fix all that, and this is the perfect time to do it. We were lucky to get to do it without having (a loss) in our ledger."

UCLA, which has a bye next week and plays at Stanford on Oct. 3 in the Pac-10 opener, will rest today and Monday before a revamped practice scheduled next week.

"It'll be a training camp-type atmosphere," Neuheisel said.

In addition to working on minimizing the penalties, I am hoping the coaches will also refocus on our special teams. While the kicking game was great again, the kickoff coverage reverted to the bad habits of last year, when the players were overpursuing their lanes. I think this is something that is correctible and I really hope will be improved upon in next two weeks. I did like Thigpen returining kickoffs. He clearly showed the burst of speed we were hearing about from those practice reports.

Classof66 has already laid out his concerns about our defense. I think his concerns do have merit. Specifically our defense need to be much better prepared out of the gate. However, I also think we need to give some credit Bill Snyder and the Wildcats. I loved the gameplan he had devised against UCLA. His offensive scheme was all about misdirection (via his spread option reads) and it did wonder to neutralize our speed and aggression. We did adjust by the time fourth quarter rolled around. However, I would think the tapes from last night will come in very handy when we prepare with other teams using similar schemes (cough*Oregon*cough).

Going forward, Bruins now have two weeks to prepare for a Pac-10 opener against another well coached football team, who we were lucky to beat at the Rose Bowl last season. I sure hope our defense is working over time to figure out how they will stop the running attack of Toby Gerhart and improved QB play from Stanford Cardinal. Just like Tennessee those guys will be out for revenge, and we will need to go in there with same fire and intensity we did in Tennessee. The bye week will also hopefully get some guys to heal back and return to the team and hopefully we will have kids like Viney, Knox, Carroll and Presley participated with renewed focus and determination. I am excited to read about the news coming out of Spaulding in next couple of weeks heading into Palo Alto. This is fun.

GO BRUINS.

Spaulding Roundup: UCLA Scrimmage Wrap-up & Other Football Notes

Nestor — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 18:20:49 -0000

So let's start with the scrimmage which was held at Spaulding instead of the Rose Bowl due to heat and fire related concerns in Southern California. Looks like the offense got off to a sloppy start tight after with two straight penalty calls (delay of game and then an offside by OL Eddie Williams). However, the guys recovered and ended up having a decent outing. From the LA Times:

There were improvements. "We scored a touchdown, that's an improvement," offensive coordinator Norm Chow said.

But there were enough problems to prompt Coach Rick Neuheisel to say that the offense is on schedule, but, "I think guys realize we are not game-ready yet. I think that's a call to arms over the weekend while they get a little rest."

The first-team offense had a respectable 45 yards rushing in 11 carries, with tailback Johnathan Franklin getting 34 yards. But it came against UCLA's second-team defense, which had three converted offensive linemen and a walk-on freshman as a front four.

Quarterback Kevin Prince had a wobbly day. He completed nine of 13 passes for 73 yards but was hardly sharp. He also had a screen pass intercepted.

"I thought he was better [than in last week's scrimmage], but there were still a couple balls he should have let go," Neuheisel said.

Prince directed a 50-yard scoring drive, completing all three of his passes for 48 yards. Milton Knox scored on a two-yard run

You can check out the full stats courtesy of Jon Gold in the Daily News blog. Per that post Prince was 8 of 12 for 69 yards. Also noteworthy, per LAT's blogpost, "Morrell Presley, playing on the second team, had a 15-yard touchdown reception and also had a 21-yard reception that set up Knox’s touchdown run." That's not a bad way for Morrell to come back after he had a quiet scrimmage last weekend. We are going to need him right away in the first game, especially considering Ketchum might be out due to a hamstring injury.

Another stat that stuck out to me was how at least 4 running backs got 5 carries or more (Franklin, Knox, Thigpen and Sheppard). Looks like coaches are living up to their word about trying out the tailback committee for now until someone emerges as the regular back on game days. I am hoping this means we get to see a nice rotation of Coleman, Franklin, Knox and perhaps even Thigpen against San Diego State.

Bruins still have a long way to go though. They will have to work out their kinks wrt to penalty related issues. "Communication" is going to be an issue this season, at least for a few games sicne we are going to have a brand new OL playing together first time at UCLA. More on those guys after the jump.

Seems like at OL, Mike Harris made most out of the opportunity he received this week to practice with the first team. Palcic might be going with Harris in the starting five along with Hasiak against San Diego State. From the Daily News:

After practicing with the second offensive unit for much of the preseason, redshirt sophomore offensive tackle Mike Harris is scheduled to start at right tackle, with Stanley Hasiak at left guard and now Jeff Baca backing up both.

Offensive line coach Bob Palcic, though, said he and Neuheisel still needed to review the scrimmage tape and then would decide on official starters by Monday.

"I'm going to make one final meeting with coach Neuheisel to see which direction we're going," Palcic said. "Harris or Baca at tackle and Baca or Hasiak at left guard. We'll make the decision this weekend.

"We wanted to give them all an opportunity. That was the purpose of the scrimmage, and it's whoever played best in the scrimmage. I gave them all work with the ones, and whoever played best in the scrimmage will start next Saturday."

That sounds pretty fair. For his part, Mike sounds confident:

"I feel like it's my spot, and I'm going to do whatever it takes. Last year, I was a freshman, new at things, but I feel prepared for this upcoming season. I'm excited and ready to get this offense rolling again. I think it was my whole body of work; I was injured in spring ball, but I came ready in this summer camp. Every day I went hard, and the coaches saw that they can count on me."
Harris, who started five games last season, believes his familiarity gives him the edge over some of UCLA's younger players, though he is potentially unseating Jeff Baca, who started eight games last season.
"I think my experience is a big factor. I know what to expect, especially starting against USC last year. I know what it takes to be successful. It will take a lot of hard work and a lot of limiting mental errors."

I am assuming we will see the official depth chart sometime early next week after the coaches have gone over the tapes from yesterday's scrimmage. We will get a better idea on starting line up and rotation as we really start focusing on the Aztecs.

Lastly, have to end this round up with a sad note. From Jon Gold in the DN:

Foster Louis Bosworth Jr., the grandfather of Korey and Kyle Bosworth, passed away yesterday in Texas. The Bosworths will remain with the family for a few days, and are expected to return for practice on Sunday.

Their GrandDad was "instrumental" in Korey and Kyle's lives (per Gold's post). Obviously thoughts and prayers from the entire BN goes out to Kyle, Korey and their family.

GO BRUINS.

2009 UCLA Football Post-Camp Grades: OL

Ryan Rosenblatt — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 19:00:11 -0000

All eyes are on the big uglies who could take a MASSIVE step forward and be average. Photo Credit: E. Corpuz

View full size photo »

We've taken a look at three positions so far. There was the quarterbacks, the receivers/tight ends and the running backs, but now it's time for the most interesting of the units by far. The offensive line was the worst unit last year, probably has the biggest upgrade in talent this year and is just as inexperienced as the rest of the offense. That inexperienced is then magnified ten fold because experience is paramount on the offensive line. I still believe though that it's always talent over experience, although I wouldn't mind both.

Offensive Line

Our hopes, our dreams, our nightmares. All three three can adequately describe a UCLA fan's thoughts about this offensive line. One thing I will guarantee you is that the line will be much improved. The other thing I can guarantee you is that there is little depth so praying to whatever god, inanimate object or reality TV star you choose wouldn't be the worst idea. I've begun to sense a common theme with this UCLA team and it is never more present than with the offensive line. There is inexperience to go around. Let's consider our starters. At left tackle, we have Xavuer Su'a-Filo, a true freshman. At left guard we have Stanley Hasiak, another true freshman. At least there's some experience at center with Kai Maiva, who's a redshirt sophomore. Uh oh. If redshirt sophomore is experience is experience then we're in trouble. It's okay though because at right guard we have a junior. Sure, it's Eddie Williams, a JC transfer who has never played a down of D-1 football, but this is 2009 UCLA football where we take any "experience" we can get. Plus, next to him we have Jeff Baca who is a sophomore, but did get significant playing time last year.

The best part about this offensive line is that there are really low expectations. I mean, it would take true talent to be worse than last year's offensive line and just in training camp you can already tell that this offensive line is better. I'm not even going to get into physical talent, maturity or potential to get into this offensive line's improvement. This offense line has an attitude that surpasses anything the Bruins had last year. Going against a good defensive line and a monster in Brian Price each day in practice is a solid excuse to struggle, but struggling was not acceptable for this group of offensive linemen. They expected to put a hat on hat and push the defensive line back. They expected Kevin Prince to have a nice pocket each and every time he stepped back to throw. When that didn't happen, there was never an excuse, but rather anger at themselves. This offensive line expects excellence and they expect it this year, even if it virtually unattainable. The fact is that this offensive line is built for the future, but they believe the future is now and that is as good of an attitude as they can have. They're mean, they're tough and they're going to knock you around. Well, maybe not, but they sure believe so.

Now getting into the physical tools and you're amazed at what you see on the left side of the line. Su'a-Filo is an absolute monster of a man, but moves gracefully. He has such quick feet that he isn't even beaten off the edge by blitzing linebackers much. his technique and balance needs to get better as he was beaten by spin moves and twists at times, but that will come with reps. The tools are there in spades and you can see the smile on offensive line coach Bob Palcic's face when he puts it together for a play. He knows he's got something special in Su'a-Filo. For all his skills though, he may not be better than the man next to him, Hasiak. Hasiak is a more astute run blocker who gets good drive and can deal defensive tackles pretty well. His use of leverage is superior to any offensive lineman that UCLA has recruited in at least five years. He also struggled with twists and blitz pick ups, but it will come with reps, just like Su'a-Filo.

Williams is far more developed than either freshman. His JC coaches taught him well and while he had some issues dealing with the speed of a D-1 defense, he did better dealing with it as camp went on. For a guy with his type of feet I expected better pass blocking, but he was adequate. He did well run blocking though and was exceptional when asked to pull or get his hat on a linebacker. To his right will be the uber-versatile Baca who has played all over the line despite having not even begun his sophomore year yet. Baca was arguably the sole bright spot on the offensive line last year and he has put on some muscle since his freshman campaign. He has quick feet and does well dealing with ends trying to come off the end, but is not yet as strong as he needs to be so power moves give him trouble, as does getting any drive in the running game.

The Bruins have little depth on the offensive line. Losing Micah Kia for the year is a real killer, not just from a playing perspective, but he has established himself as an emotional leader for the unit. Mike Harris will have to show the ability to play multiple positions to deal with the lack of depth, as will Nick Ekbatani when he gets healthy. While it would be best if Nick Abele could redshirt, the freshman who caught Palcic's eye early on could be forced into action with an early season injury.

Grade: C- There is a serious chance that this unit could be average this year, which would be a remarkable step forward. It's closer to a D+ then it is a C, but I always lean towards talent over experience. The putridity of last year's offensive line cannot be overstated, but the same could be said for the potential of this year's offensive line. The line has serious depth problems though and is ripe with inexperience, but that's the state of UCLA football in 2009. Inexperience reigns so at least we're consistent.

Poll

What would you grade the UCLA offensive line?

A

10 votes

B

80 votes

C

207 votes

D

78 votes

F

14 votes

389 votes | Poll has closed

Spaulding Roundup: Youth Movement In Bruin Offense

Nestor — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:32:20 -0000

We will start our roundup today with a little update on our OL. As mentioned in my fanpost yesterday, Stan Hasiak (who is not contemplating a mission) has been sitting out practices last two days with a sore shoulder, allowing coaches to experiment with the starting OL. Per the LAT's report "Jeff Baca, the starting left tackle alternated with Brandon Bennett at right guard with the first team," while "Mike Harris played Baca's tackle spot." Hasiak is supposed to be back today, which will allow coaches to reset to the starting lineup announced after Saturday's scrimmage. Obviously the fate of our season hinges on how these young guys - four of whom were not in UCLA uniform last season - perform this year.

Ted Miller on ESPN's Pac-10 blog made the astute observation that CRN and his staff are going along with a youth movement not because of necessity, but becayse they think "it's the best way to win":

Two things: 1. These guys aren't stiffs; 2. Wonder what these guys will look like in 2011, when quarterback Kevin Prince is a junior?

The two true freshmen on the left side, tackle Xavier Su'a-Filo and guard Stanley Hasiak, certainly pass the sight test and were both among the nation's highest-rated offensive linemen last year. Right guard Eddie Williams is a 331 pound powerhouse from Mt. San Antonio Junior College in Walnut, CA.

Sophomore center Kai Maiava started nine games as a true freshman at Colorado. True sophomore right tackle Jeff Baca started eight games for the Bruins last year.

They are the only two players from the post-spring depth chart who remain No. 1 at their line positions.

While the season-ending knee injury to senior Micah Kia and the sprained knee that will sideline senior Nick Ekbatani four to six weeks certainly aren't good things, neither was a sure-thing to start. Ekbatani was running second-team at center, while Kia was expected to split time with Hasiak.

So starting inexperienced players is not move motivated by necessity. It's a choice.

Now the key will be for the coaches to figure out how they can get some continuity with their key players so they can grow through this season:

"By definition, continuity requires people all being there," Neuheisel said. "You can't have continuity if you don't have everybody learning the steps, learning the dance. You have to spend time with one another, not only so the footwork is choreographed, but the calls and the dummy calls. Those things all take a little while, and we've got to grow with that."

Most importantly, they need to grow together.

There is nothing more frustrating for an offensive line coach than when one lineman lags behind, causing a crack in the wall.

Offensive line coach Bob Palcic must ensure that as freshman Stanley Hasiak improves, so does redshirt sophomore center Kai Maiava. As Maiava improves, so does sophomore Jeff Baca. And so on.

"That's Bob's job," Neuheisel said. "The offensive line coach has to make sure we're all staying on task. If there needs to be extra, there needs to be extra for everybody, so that we're all coming along together. One for all and all for one."

I think the minor setback (well it sounds minor at least according to the reports) of Hasiak's injury could be a silver lining because it is allowing Mike Harris to get familiar with rest of the starting unit. While it is ideal that we can have as much continuity as possible with a new core of starting unit, it doesn't hurt to have the guys behind in the depth chart also gain some familiarity with the starting unit, in case they are called upon during the season.

Speaking of getting called on (and youth movement), the LAT led their report today with a quick profile on Damien Thigpen. Many of you know the story. Thigpen originally committed to Tennessee this past season. However, after they went through their coaching change, he was off their new coaching staff's radar. Here is how Thigpen ended up in Westwood:

"Their plans seemed to be going a different way, so I decide to look around," Thigpen said.

Eldridge Armstrong, the uncle of UCLA linebacker Isaiah Bowens, called Neuheisel and asked whether the Bruins were interested. Armstrong and Doug Thigpen, Damien's father, are secret service agents.

Neuheisel was interested, and now he has a freshman running back who lately has taken turns with the first-team offense.

He certainly has gotten Neuheisel and Chow's attention:

"He has too much lighting in his bottle not to use him," Coach Rick Neuheisel said.

Thigpen's performance in Saturday's scrimmage put him on the fast track for playing time. He returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown and had a kickoff return of 61 yards. He also had 31 yards in seven carries.

"We have to have a plan for him," offensive coordinator Norm Chow said.

I can't wait to see him. However, here is my one thought about burning his redshirt season. I hope if the coaches burn his redshirt situation, they will use him more than just sparingly in special teams situation. It would be awesome if Chow can use his speed to create mismatches around the field. When I read about this kid I have visions of Dexter Carter (not as a FAIL in Niners uniform but the way he lit up Bobby Bowden's Seminoles offense back in the day).

It sounds like Thigpen is relishing his early experience as a Bruin and eagerly "learning the assigments." Another team-mate of his, who has embraced a new role with the team is Chane Moline. Balderas from the OC Register blogged yesterday about how the former TB is fired up to play FB (and hit LBs) this season:

"It’s a beating. It’s a lot different," Moline said of the fullback position. "As a tailback, you’re running the ball, so you’re obviously going to try to put a beating on the guy that’s trying to tackle you, or avoid him. I’m not a running back that’s going to be juking and jiving. I’m going to put my shoulder down and hit you."

He’ll hit if it means picking up an extra yard or two. He’ll hit to protect his quarterback. He’ll hit to give his teammates some running room. He’ll hit because that’s what fullbacks do.

"As a fullback, you’re hitting linebackers every play you’re in," he said. "That’s the biggest difference. I learned that last year."

Moline got a chance to reacquaint himself with the fullback position when Trevor Theriot hurt his knee prior to the Fresno State game last season. Moline was moved out of the tailback position and back to fullback.

With the depth that the Bruins have at the tailback position this season, it was clear that Moline would not be returning to his previous spot.

"Going into this year, I knew what I was going for," he said. "I bulked up over the offseason."

Moline sat out practice yesterday with a hip-flexor but he should be back today. I have always enjoyed watching this kid play. Again I will bring up a Niners reference (can't help it). But I do have visions of Rathman-Craig with Moline-Coleman/Franklin/Knox in the backfield. Mix in all the speed element with Carroll and Thigpen, and the experiences of Austin, Paulsen, and Moya, well my mouth is watering for some Bruin offense.

It will be up the coaches to mix in the noticable youth movement all over our offense with the veteran experiences of Moline, Austin and Paulsen. If those guys can develop the right chemisrty around a new quarterback and young but talented OL through the season getting us to a bowl game, it will set us up perfectly heading into CRN's third season.

GO BRUINS.

Spaulding Roundup: Scrimmage Storylines

Nestor — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 16:06:42 -0000

It's scrimmage Saturday. As mentioned in my previous post normally this type of scrimmage is lot more about the festivities leading up to it and after it than the actual plays during the scrimmage. I think it is reasonable to expect that the coaching staff will keep everything fairly basic on both sides of the ball. However, it will be exciting for those who haven't been able to make it down for practices because they will get to see a number of talented kids for the first time in a Bruin uniform. As captainqtp noted Randall Carroll - Number 1 - is going to get the start on offense as Austin is away for a wedding reception (who scheduled it this weekend?!). It should be fun to watch our two number 1s - ATV and Carroll - going right at each other.

There will be an interesting subplot in today's scrimmage thought. It will be around our RBs. Christian Ramirez, who has been nicked up a little this fall camp (and he also sat out a big part of spring camp) will be in the spotlight. Per the LA Times, CRN is expecting Ramirez to step up today:

"He’s got to play tomorrow," Coach Rick Neuheisel said. "He has to play and play a significant amount." That means "with four backs, if we get 80-90 plays, I hope he can get somewhere around 10 carries." [...]

"Johnathan Franklin has had an unbelievable camp, and Milton Knox has been unbelievable," Neuheisel said. "What’s the pecking order? Everyone deserves a chance to show something."

Ramirez's chance needs to be Saturday.

"We can’t stir around and put a blind eye the way the other kids are running," Neuheisel said. "I think he is eager to get going and hopefully Chris gets rolling tomorrow night."

One of the advantages Ramirez has is coaches know he can provide pass protection. It’s the main area of concern about Franklin and Knox.

"They’re improving, but it is still work in progress," Neuheisel said. "Until they do it without coaches standing right behind them, not against a blocking bag but a thing that is actually moving, we won’t be sure."

Well Christian has been facing a lot of heat on the message boards. Lot of people are anxious to see what Coleman, Frankling and Knox can do on a regular basis without caring too much about the coachs's concerns about their blocking abilities (which they might have improved upon since this past spring). Christian for his part realizes that at this point he does need to prove himself on the field:

"It's one thing to know what you're doing, it's another thing to do it," Ramirez said.

Those are very mature comments on the part of Christian. I am hoping he will be able to step up and validate coach's belief that he was the top RB coming out of spring camp. If not I am sure coaches will end up going with backs who have been productive during practices. More practice related notes after the jump.

Kevin Prince sat out yesterday's practice because of a sore arm. From the Daily News:

Neuheisel shut down redshirt freshman quarterback Kevin Prince's workload in Friday's morning practice, and Prince didn't do much in the afternoon practice because of a sore right arm. Prince is expected to play in today's scrimmage.

"I'm not worried at all," Prince said.

Said Neuheisel: "That's to be expected on Day 13 of camp, and you're throwing as much as he's been throwing, you're arm gets a little dead. We've got to monitor that and keep him on a pitch count."

That makes sense to me. Also, speaking of bumps and bruises, the LAT has an update on the OL shuffle following Kia's injury:

Mike Harris worked at right tackle Friday morning.

"Mike is my third tackle, so he has to know both spots," offensive line coach Bob Palcic said. That was part of the fallout after senior offensive lineman Micah Kia suffered a season-ending knee injury Wednesday.

UCLA's current starting line -- tackle Xavier Su'a-Filo, guard Stanley Hasiak, center Kai Maiava, guard Eddie Williams and tackle Jeff Baca -- is close to being set in stone. Coaches will also explore other options at guard in case Hasiak struggles.

One move available to them is putting Maiava at guard, where he started nine games for Colorado in 2007, and play community college transfer Ryan Taylor at center.

If folks are wondering, whether coaches will bring Sheller or Chandler back to OL, think again. From the OC Register:

"Sheller will stay over with the defense," Palcic said. "They really need some depth over there and I’m comfortable with the guys I have left."

From that comment I am going to assume Chandler will be stay at TE as well. Also, think it's noteworthy how Palcic sounds "comfortable" with the group he has at OL. Don't recall hearing that kind of comment from him last season. I can see why that kind of comment will make many of us hopefuly to the point of delusional. :-)

BTW big ups to Sheller for being a team player (much like Chandler from last season) and accomdating the coach's needs even if it the position shift might be a little bewildering:

Neuheisel attributed Sheller’s demotion to the influx of new players on the offensive line, which includes two true freshmen and a JC transfer. They then seem to beat out Sheller, seeing that Neuheisel approached him at the beginning of this week and asked him to switch to defensive tackle.

"He’s a total team player," Neuheisel said. "From fighting back from the injuries he’s sustained to now being of use on the defense. If need be he’d come back over and have the right attitude."

Sheller, who has not played on defense since 2005, struggled while working with the second string Thursday. He is still very much learning his new position but has welcomed the move thus far.

"I’m pretty excited about it," he said. "I really wasn’t doing much with the offense. Whatever the team needs me to do, I’m here for the team. I’m not disappointed at all."

That kind of story makes us root for kids like Sheller even harder. It will be hell of a story if he ends up contributing from that position this season.

Lastly, before heading out to Drake, note some players will be sitting out due to minor bumps and bruises. Kai Forbath (sore right leg), Jerzy Siewierski (back) and Gavin Ketchum (hamstring) are going to sit out today. I rather have those guys healthy than aggravate minor injuries at a Fall scrimmage.

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.

Offensive Line Thoughts: No Rootcanal In 2009?

Nestor — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:29:19 -0000

If you haven't done it yet I would highly recommend letting captainqtp know how much we have all appreciated his posts during this past few weeks going over every position with new starters in 2009. He has put up some great posts and all of us are even better informed and prepared for this upcoming football season because of his tremendous efforts. I wanted to build on captain's post from yesterday which wrapped up his look through UCLA's offensive line.

Again this is a topic we have discussed over and over all through this off-season. As Ted Miller noted earlier this summer UCLA's OL is the "biggest reason for concern" this coming season. We don't have to go over the gory stats concening number of sacks allowed and rushing avg. from this past year. We know them all too well. But here is one number that gives me a modicum of hope. I have written about it before and it is worth mentioning again. If you go back to our last season, when were all bracing for a disaster our OL featured only 16 starts. It was unreal and gave us a good reason to be gloomy about 2008 season (couple with the fact we were going in without our two top QBs). This year the situation is a little different. At the end of the spring, (if I have my math right) we have around 46 (not counting the 2 starts from Sonny Tevaga) starts in that roster. That is not as dire.

So with that let's get the over view from Chris Foster in the LA Times:

Kai Maiava, a transfer from Colorado, will start at center, giving line coach Bob Palcic a 6-foot-1, 309-pound rock to build around.

Stanley Hasiak and Xavier Su’a-Filo are the jewels of the freshmen class. One or both could earn a starting spot.

Eddie Williams, a transfer from Mt. San Antonio College, and Nik Abele, a freshman from Irvine, both cleared academic hurdles this summer and will be admitted.

Jeff Baca started eight games at left tackle as a freshman, but could get moved around.

"We’ll see where everyone fits," Palcic said.

Returners Nick Ekbatani, Darius Savage and Mike Harris are other returners who will get a long look.

Willams and Abele clearing the academic hurdles was a huge relief. Although I think coaches might end up moving Abele over to the defense. We are all waiting on pins and needles to see how Hasiak and XSF perform during this August camp. The guy I am most intrigued about (and I am sure I am not the only one) is Kai Maiava. More on him and the OL after the jump.

Baxter Holmes (new reporter?) from the LA Times did a wonderful story on Kai Maivava yesterday. The story tells us all about Kai's emergence as a freshman All American lineman in Colorado only to be asked to convert over to TE/FB. He decided to come back to Cali and home to UCLA. What I really liked was this part of the story about coaches riding on our OL all off season:

The Bruins averaged only 82.75 rushing yards a game -- 2.62 yards a carry -- and gave up 35 sacks. The rankings indicate the worst: of 119 major-college teams, UCLA ranked 110th in allowing sacks, 111th in total offense and 116th in yards rushing per game.

The players seem to know these numbers by heart. In conversation, they recite them as if they are written on the inside of their helmets.

"The coaches are always reminding us, 'What was it, 116th in the country?' " says redshirt senior guard Nick Ekbatani, noting the rushing offense's ranking.

I like that. I know people are feeling good and our team might have some reasons for optimism. But I also like to hear directly from the players how they are well aware of what took place this past season was understandable given how the program was left by the previous regime, will never be acceptable at UCLA.

And Kai seems to have the kind of fiery leadership qualities that can get this much maligned OL going. From the same article (emphasis added):

"I don't like to be pushed around," Maiava says. "And I don't like negative plays."

He attributes his mean streak to having older brothers and also from a childhood that included eight years spent living in shipping containers while the family tried to get its finances in order so it could build a house.

There was no running water, no electricity.

"He had it tough growing up," his dad says.

This season, Maiava says he wants to pound the ball the first few games, run straight up the middle again and again so teams know last year was an aberration.

"Pound the rock," he says.

His desire is in line with the plans of Coach Rick Neuheisel, who at Pacific 10 Conference media day said, "We're going to be able to run the ball or die trying this year."

I think there is no quesiton that the kids this year have potential. I got that sense when I read and reread captain's posts on the changes at right tackle, center, left guard and left tackle [Nick Ekbatani started all the games at right guard so its a good bet he will be back there again]. However, the biggest question mark for me right now is the toughness of this group. How will they respond after the demoralizing season from this past year. From Dave Consolazio in the All Pac-10 blog:

With an extremely talented young core featuring guys like Jeff Baca, Kai Maiava, Mike Harris, and Sean Sheller (not to mention a few four-star 2009 OL recruits in Stanley Hasiak and Xavier Su’a Filo), there is no question that the future is bright for this offensive line.

That said, I think the future is probably still a year away. With so many young players on the line likely to go through the growing pains that young lineman often do and without a truly shut-down kind of veteran on the line, this will very likely be a unit that has some great games and some very bad games.

Last year’s experience should help the line be a bit better than it was last year, but I’m expecting this year’s step forward to be a small one, with a potentially huge one coming in 2010. Credit Neuheisal for getting so many good pieces in place so quickly, and remember that successful football programs aren’t built overnight; but the future looks promising.

I think that is right. I do believe we are at least an year away. However, I can tell you this much. When I go through our OL depth chart this season, I don't get the same feeling of preparing for a root canal like I was experiencing this past year.

More than anything I am excited to see how these kids respond to the challenge and humilation of this past season. And in Kia it seems like they have the right attitutude and leadership in place. For the first time in a while, I am excited to see how a UCLA OL will perform heading into pre-season. By no means I am expecting a smooth ride. However, I am expecting the same kind of roller coast fun ride we experienced via JF/AA in Howland's second season at UCLA.

GO BRUINS.