SB Nation - Nick Ekbatani

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

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

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: Back To Practice

Nestor — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:47:28 -0000

Let's start with more info. on the news of Kevin Prince possibly returning (or being "available") for the Oregon game. Chris Foster from the LA Times reports:

"Oregon is the plan," Prince said through clinched jaw, wired shut the last week. "I can do everything but eat."

Prince, who suffered a fractured jaw against Tennessee, will sit out the Stanford game Oct. 3 but said that doctors are sure he will be ready to practice before the Oct. 10 game against Oregon.

"If he's cleared, he has obviously got to play," offensive coordinator Norm Chow said. "He's been throwing the ball. He's been in all the meetings. He's our starting quarterback."

Prince limbered up his arm during practice Tuesday, throwing passes in non-contact drills. He has been running and participating in other off-the-field workouts as well. [...]

"If his cardiovascular stays up, there is no reason to think he won't be ready by Oregon," Coach Rick Neuheisel said.

Neuheisel as always sounds optimistic. However, I am sure he and Chow will defer to the doctors at UCLA wrt to the final decision on when Kevin will make his return. In the meantime, it is great to have him back at Spaulding. In addition to running and throwing, I am assuming he is also taking part in all necessary meetings involving game planning leading up to the Stanford game.

Speaking of practice CRN was pretty happy about what went on at Spaulding after couple of days off:

"Very happy with this practice. Two days off, usually you're a little sluggish. It's like pulling teeth to get kids to run around, and it was anything but today. Not all perfect, but certainly things we can work with. We're excited as a program about where we are, and frankly, we're hungry for more. We've just got to keep pinning down the details."

He was probably in a good mood because he was getting a number of his players back in the fold:

With three straight games to start the season, what worked in Week 1 essentially remained into Week 2, and Week 2 into Week 3. Now, with players returning all over the field - the Bruins expect no fewer than seven players who missed the Kansas State game to return for Stanford on Oct. 3 - there is a little chance for some reversals of fortune.

"You have to get comfortable in competition. Is it good to be challenged in the fourth quarter? Sure, I'd love to win them all handily, but you're going to get tested. Rather than react like something you're not used to, you have to accept it. It brings out the best in all players."

It also means more heated competition (just like Fall) at a number of positions. More after the jump.

I wrote yesterday about competition heating up at the CB position between Viney and Price. As of yesterday Price was hanging on to the number 1 spot (with Viney pushing him hard). And it will likely get even more intense when Aaron Hester (who is on his way to a full recovery) is ready to dive right back into it:

Redshirt freshman cornerback Aaron Hester has shed the crutches after suffering a fractured fibula against San Diego State in Week 1.

"I'm just happy to be walking again without pain," Hester said. "I lost the crutches yesterday; as soon as I got my X-ray results back, they texted me and said there were really good results. I just left my crutches right where they were.

"Wherever they are, I just left them and started walking."

In addition to Hester, Coach Palcic is excited about the possibility of reincorporating Ekbatani back into his rotation:

[R]eturning starter Nick Ekbatani was back in action, albeit on a somewhat limited basis, and offensive line coach Bob Palcic expects him back fully for Stanford.
"Nick coming back will only make us better," Palcic said. "I'm used to having a seven- or eight-man rotation. You want a backup center, a backup guard, and a swing tackle. If I have eight guys, I usually feel pretty comfortable in that situation."

In addition to Ekbatani and Hester, Christian Ramirez is also working hard to getting himself back into the coach's rotation:

The crowded backfield, which also includes Knox, Derrick Coleman, Johnathan Franklin and sometimes Damien Thigpen, is making it difficult for everyone involved to get an ample numbers of reps.

"We have a four-back rotation right now, four or five," Ramirez said. "It makes me work harder on every play that I go out there.

"I've still got to take mental reps. You watch what everybody else does right and you watch what everybody else does wrong, and learn from it."

Ramirez would have liked to have been a part of the Bruins' three victories but isn't going to brood over what could have been. His goal is to be back on the field when the Bruins play at Stanford on Oct. 3.

"I'd be selfish to say I was down," he said. "I'm excited to see our team go 3-0. It's fun in the locker room now. Everybody is upbeat. It makes the environment better."

Those are comments from a mature senior. I think Christian knows as well as anyone that the coaches will not just hand him back his starting spot. Given the success Franklin, Coleman, and Knox (before he was suspended) has experienced in these first few games, Christian will have to turn up his focus and intensity to another level to push for playing time, which in turn will ensure the other guys are not getting too comfortable in their respective spots.

This is a very producitve situation for all parties involved, because it benefits the entire team through healthy competition. As Neuheisel has said number of times this kind of situation is the kind of "nice problems" every coaches want to have at their respective programs. It is good to see UCLA in this spot in CRN's second year in Westwood.

Lastly, Stanly Hasiak didn't get to play on Saturday. CRN provided the following explanation:

Freshman guard Stanley Hasiak did not play Saturday because "I wanted to slow him down," Neuheisel said. [...]

Said Neuheisel: "I want him to be a freshman, and enjoy being a freshman and stop trying to make it all happen so fast."

Tackle Xavier Su'a-Filo, also a freshman, did not get the same stop-and-smell-the-roses talk. Hasiak has had a handful of tense confrontations with defensive players after plays during practice in recent weeks.

Neuheisel said "that was not the reason" Hasiak didn't play. But he did say, "Stan is a very, very proud person, who wants desperately to compete and be as good as anybody in the country. You got to embrace that, cherish that."

Makes sense to me.

It's weird (in a very pleasent way) to read about all the heated competition going on at Spaulding. Don't remember reading about skill positions being 3-5 spot deep back during previous regime. Certainly don't remember a lot about talented freshman OL mixing it up with defensive linemen (who always seemed to have their way with the inept Dorrellian offenses). In two years we have come a long way from the days of "disciplining resources" at Spaulding Field.

GO BRUINS.

Spaulding Roundup: Good Timing For Our Bye Week As School Starts At UCLA

Nestor — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:26:50 -0000

Well the good news from the bye week is our team will have chance to heal up, work on addressing issues around penalties, and have extra time to game plan for a tough opponent, who will be looking for revenge (just like Tennessee was) in Palo Alto. The bad news is for rest of the us we are going to have deal with a weekend without Bruin football. The waiting around during bye week (at least for me) sometimes feel like the endless wait we often feel around summer training camp when I am left counting the hours till kickoff. Actually we can live with that because the benefits far outweigh our selfish reasons as fans.

This bye week couldn't have come at a better time for UCLA, as it will allow the team to regroup and hopefully improve (which they need to badly following this past weekend's game) heading into Stanford.

Jon Gold from the Daily News wrote about how the "little things" are eating at Neuheisel:

His offense is ranked No. 105 in the country in total offense, able to move the ball in chunks at times but ineffective at others.

It is the little things that eat at Neuheisel - the blown assignment, the bonehead penalty, the missed opportunity.

"Just the little details, formationing," Neuheisel said. "Making sure guys are lining up where they need to be. We need to get that cleaned up. There is just a host of things that we can be better at. I'm looking forward to ironing it out. I don't want to lose a play that could cost us the game."

As Neuheisel said yesterday this week the coaches will have a "training camp" like atmosphere at Spaulding, where I am assuming he and his staff will spend a good chunk of time focusing on fundamentals heading into game week. It's clear that play of our OL and DL have improved since week 1. Now if we can clean up the peformance in terms of penalties, we will be able to take another step.

As mentioned above, in addition giving them an opportunity to work on the basics, the bye week will also allow the Bruins to get back some of our injured players. CRN is hiping to get Gavin Ketchum, Nick Ekbatani and Christian Ramirez back for the Stanford game. In addition, we will have Viney, Knox, Carroll and Presley back in the fold as well. The infusion of those guys back in practices for game prep hopefully will provide a boost to the team.

Also, I think this past Satruday made it clear how much emphasis coaches put in practices. I think it is worth noting that if you go back through our Spaulding roundups last week, you will find how the coaches gave Richard Brehaut majority of the reps this past Tuesday. In other words, if one wants to read into the tea-leaves, it is pretty clear that Neuheisel and Chow gave Brehaut a serious opportunity to win the starting position against Kansas State. However, when Craft looked better with the reps he got, he ended up earning more reps on Wednesday and held on to it through rest of the week, earning the starting spot on Saturday.

If I read Chow and Neuehisel correctly, I think they were planning to put Brehaut in the game. However, they didn't want to take the chance when the game got too close with a true freshman. My hunch is if we didn't have those penalties in the first half, and had a more comfortable lead heading into third quarter, we would have seen Brehaut for a series or two. So, I hope for next two weeks, Richard Brehaut gives everything he has in these practices to push Kevin Craft, and consequently make the team better. Based on what I have read about him, heard from him, and from close program officers, I think he is going to stay persistent, committed, and give everything he has. This is a very different situation than the one Dorrell had with Matt Moore, when both sides were guilty of awful communication (or total lack thereof). I am not going to rehash that nightmare scenario all over again.

Lastly, another reason the bye week is very good for the team this week: school starts this week. That's right UCLA's fall quarter starts this week, which means it will allow the true freshman some breathing room to adjust between classes and practice schedules, so that they are in well adjusted rhythm next week juggling classes and practices during a full fledged game week. Of course unlike their fellow freshmen who are getting their first full taste of being on campus this week, I imagine the football players (and other student athletes who have already been for a campus a bit this summer) will not be walking around the campus with maps in their bookpacks. lol

GO BRUINS.

Game Day Roundup: Getting Ready For The Debut Of A Bruin Prince & Other Notes

Nestor — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 16:23:28 -0000

Here we go guys. I am so fired up today that I feel like I want to put up the game thread and get going right away. It is going to be awesome to take in football games all am/pm before settling down for our kickoff at 4:30 pm PST. I will put up a pre game thread around 12:00 pm PST to get us going. Before we start firing off let's check in a bit with the reports in today's papers.

There aren't any big breaking news heading into kickoff this evening. However, I loved reading about how Kevin Prince became a Bruin. From the Press Enterprise:

Prince grew up on Thursday nights at Pauley Pavilion and Saturday afternoons at the Rose Bowl. A UCLA wall clock and banner adorn the walls of his childhood bedroom, as does an autographed Cade McNown jersey. He even briefly served as a ball boy for the football team.

What kept Prince from snapping up UCLA's initial scholarship offer the summer before his senior year was that he never believed the coaching staff considered him its quarterback of the future. Then-coach Karl Dorrell already had secured a commitment from fellow senior Nick Crissman of Huntington Beach Edison, and Prince's scholarship offer was contingent on him taking a two-year religious mission and not enrolling until 2010.

With contact from Dorrell's staff waning as it became clear UCLA would make a coaching change, Prince accepted a scholarship from Washington in December 2007. The only reason Neuheisel was even aware of Prince when he visited Crespi two months later was that his teenage son had raved about Prince's performance at a recent camp.

As Neuheisel sat in the Crespi football office waiting to speak with linebacker E.J. Woods after class, he asked Coach Jeremiah Ross to show him film of Prince.

He learned that Prince had an arm so strong that his father had to buy receiver's gloves to catch him. He learned that Prince was the hardest worker Ross has ever coached. And he learned that Prince suffered a season-ending knee injury in the opening game of his senior season, but served as a quarterbacks coach for the next three months, offering the advice and encouragement sophomore Bryan Bennett needed to pilot Crespi to an 11-3 record.

"A big reason we were able to do that was because of Kevin's leadership," Ross said. "There have been other kids who get injured and fade off. He was like, 'Anything I can do to help this team off the field, I'm going to do.' "

Neuheisel was so impressed by Prince that he put on an immediate full-court press, calling his parents, putting him in touch with Offensive Coordinator Norm Chow and inviting him to visit campus. Less than a week later, Prince was a Bruin.

I can't get enough of stories like that. Obviously we are all anxious to see Kevin's debut in the best looking home uniforms in college football. However, as we have discussed over and over again this off-season the key tonight is going to our completely revamped OL. If they can stay patient and focused against the chaotic Aztec's 3-3-5 defense, and get our running game going early on, it will be a huge assist to Kevin Prince. More after the jump.

Getting the running game going will be key for both teams (not just Bruins):

Defensive coordinator Rocky Long thinks both teams will try to establish the run "because neither team did it all that well last season." The left side of SDSU's offensive line has zero career starts and is facing a physical defensive line, anchored by defensive tackle Brian Price and defensive end Korey Bosworth (7.5 sacks last year) . Offensively, the Bruins have a young backfield with redshirt freshman Kevin Prince at quarterback and redshirt freshman Johnathan Franklin at tailback. UCLA's front five averages about 6-3, 316 pounds. SDSU coach Brady Hoke said he plans to substitute liberally on defense, and as many as 22 players could see action today. The Aztecs were winless on the road last year; their last win away from Qualcomm was Nov. 10, 2007 against UNLV.

Well Brady Hoke's team is going to be a mystery since they have been locked up and away from the press during the preseason camp. From Kevin Gimmell in the San Diego Union Tribune:

Today, we'll see.

We'll see what the man behind the curtain — new San Diego State football coach Brady Hoke — has been doing since coming over from Ball State.

He's kept his Aztecs closely guarded since the start of training camp. He's shaping the message at Montezuma Mesa his way and dishing out a heavy volume of coaching buzzwords.

He's created a buzz by being buzz-less.

Well he has also created a lot of buzz because he is bringing in two fairly accomplished coordinators in Al Borges and Rocky Long. We have talked about them all week but if you need to still catch up on them you can do so reading rest of Gimmell's game preview here.

On the local front today Jon Golden has a profile of Taylor Embree in the Daily News and LAT's Chris Foster has a generic overview (which doesn't really tell us anything new). For those who haven't been keeping track here are the latest injury notes:

UCLA will be without tailback Christian Ramirez (ankle), wide receiver Gavin Ketchum (hamstring), offensive lineman Micah Kia (knee surgery), offensive lineman Nick Ekbatani (sprained knee) and defensive end Reginald Stokes (knee surgery). Defensive tackle Jess Ward (sprained knee) is expected to play.

Beside Henderson, San Diego State will be without safety Romeo Horn (foot), and tight end Tony DeMartinis (retired, knee). Cornerback Davion Maudlin (knee) is expected to play.

While we are all wishing speedy and healthy recovery to the guys, let's hope there any more additions to that list from either side after tonight.

As mentioned above, we will have a pre-game thread up around 12:00 pm PST and then the game thread will go up around 4:00 PST. See you then.

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: Slugging Through Two A Days (With Energy)

Nestor — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:20:35 -0000

Bruins are hitting the time of the preseason camp when bumps and bruises start taking toll over football teams. Not too surprisingly we are starting to see more reports of players getting injured at practices or coming back from injuries. On Wednesday another lineman - Micah Kia - went down with a knee injury. From the OC Register:

Kia hurt his right knee with about 10 minutes remaining in Wednesday's practice at Spaulding Field.

"Right now it's a right knee sprain," UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said.

By today it could be something worse.

Kia was scheduled to undergo an MRI – either Wednesday night or this morning – to determine the severity of the injury.

"I think Kia will be back," Neuheisel said. "He's that kind of guy. He's worked hard for this."

Kia is the second senior OL to go down with a knee injury during this camp:

"It's sad to see two seniors, Ekbatani and Kia, fall to injury but this game does that," Neuheisel said. "It gives an opportunity to somebody else and whoever it is has to pick up the flag and carry on."

Ekbatani is going to be out 4-6 weeks. Kia's injury means Hasiak will probably get an opportunity to step up right away. Honestly, I don't see any reason to freak out over these injuries. I don't have specific data available to me in terms of ratio of players who go down with these injuries to the entire team every practice. However, the amount of bumps and bruises we are seeing at Spaulding, seems to me fairly normal occurrence at least for this time of the year.

We have to keep in mind what a violent sport this really is. You have 280-310 lb athletes exploding out of their three point stances and gong right at each other in warp speed in down after downs, often leaving them vulnerable. When you put it in perspective, these kinds of injuries shouldn't be all that surprising. That is why it is so incredibly important to have depth in the team and that plays a direct role in whether a team can contend for championships. We don't have that depth yet and it will take another year or two build it up. But then again we knew that as we were going through various positions (well we still have the DB position to go through). If you had that perspective, then you wouldn't freak out over these injuries. Anyway, let's hope CRN is right and Kia gets to come back soon. More after the jump.

In addition to Kia, Maiava was also banged up. Per the LA Times he "sat out the end of practice with a sore left shoulder." It was a preautionary step:

Neuheisel was less concerned about Maiava, who watched from the sideline the last part of practice. Ryan Taylor took over center on the first team and Jake Dean was center on the second team.

"It was precautionary," Neuheisel said. "He just has a sore shoulder, which is the nature of the beast when you're in the trenches."

Now the good news is accorting to practice observers the offense continues to look decent. According to Jeff_is_smiling who has been posting detailed practice reports on BruinGold and other UCLA boards for years, there was a lot of "positive energy" by the offense throughout the practice:

On the good side, and it was VERY good (at least to me) was the swagger the offense seems to have at this point. There was a very good, positive energy by the offense throughout the practice. The defense played well, so they didn't make every play, but the offense definitely made plays. between this morning and this afternoons practices, I saw more athletic plays out of the offense than I saw all last year in all the practices I saw. Throws made to the only spot where the defender cannot get to. Routes run well and excellent grabs made to snag the rock. More time given to the QB to get the throw off.

In past years, I always felt that ANY success by the offense against the defense was noteworthy. Now, even successful plays are not good enough for the offensive coaches. We have come a LONG way in a short period of time.

You can read more specifics from Jeff over here. No doubt the energy level is up due the infusion of new talent. And we can see that in the WR spot. Jill Painter reports how Ketchum, Rosario, Carroll and Marvray are in the thick of competing for three of top five recivers post (Austin and Embree has the other two locked up):

Gavin Ketchum and Rosario Nelson have the inside track on two of the others, although Ketchum is out with a tight hamstring.

Freshmen Randall Carroll and Ricky Marvray have been impressive and taken a lot of reps in practice.

"I don't want to say we were lacking last year, but we're more complete now, if that makes sense," Austin said.

"I think both Ricky and Carroll complete us. Carroll adds a deep aspect, and we can stretch the field on one side.

Ricky runs pretty good routes for him to be a freshman. He can help out with the stuff underneath and the intermediate routes."

These guys are getting everything they can handle from their defensive team-mates. To get a sense of how charged up our DBs are read the following comment from walkon CB Andrew Abbott in the LAT (emphasis added):

Andrew Abbott, a walk-on cornerback, reestablished himself quickly in full-contact drills after returning from a concussion Wednesday.

He spent most of both practices on the first team as the nickel back.

"Working with the first team as the nickel is a good way for me to get on the field right now," Abbott said. "I'll do special teams, I'll do anything. I just want to play."

No wonder there is a sense of energy in practices we haven't felt in years. The fun gets started again today at 3:00 pm PST. There is only an afternoon practice today. Coaches will have two practices tomorrow before putting together the scrimmage at Drake (5:00 pm) on Saturday. I know I would get out there to check out these guys if I lived near LA. Hope many of you can do the same and can share the stories with rest of us.

GO BRUINS.

Spaulding Roundup: UCLA's Offensive Line Making Some News

Nestor — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 14:01:10 -0000

Bruins had their first scrimmage in practice yesterday. It looks something went a little different out at Spaulding compared to last two seasons. Apparently the offensive line held up and had their moments against Price and the defensive frontline. From Chris Foster in the LA Times:

There was actually offense in the UCLA offense Friday, the first day the team was in full pads.

On the fourth play of the first 11-on-11 scrimmage, the offensive line opened up a hole that you could drive a truck through and tailback Derrick Coleman blew through it on his way to a long touchdown run.

This was just one day, and defensive tackle Brian Price said, "We'll come out tomorrow with a vengeance."

But Friday the offensive line did what it could not do a year ago -- open holes and pass-protect.

I love it. Not sure when was the last time I heard our defensive guys sounding frustrated (in a good way) after practice. Price's comments give us (especially those of us who can't get out to Spaulding) how fiery these practices have been this year. More from Foster's report:

"They are trying get their swagger back as a unit," Price said.

Price has already tasted that swagger. He had a post-play exchange with guard Stanley Hasiak earlier in the week, with the freshman getting in an elbow at the end.

"You like to see that," defensive end Korey Bosworth said. "They have some fight." He then smiled, and added, "you can do that . . . once."

Love hearing about the freshmen not backing down. More on the OL after the jump.

One of the reasons freshmen are not backing down is because the coaches are giving them every opportunity to compete. From the OC Register:

The Bruins’ coaching staff opted to have the younger players on the No. 1 line, affording them more reps.

"When you’ve got a bunch of youngsters, you want to give them as many chances as you can so that you can learn as much as you can about them and then make the choices on what you think is best for the football team," UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel said.

Though it was the second line, the one with the experienced players, that created the gap for Coleman, the efforts of the incoming freshmen were worthy of praise.

"The ones and twos looked really good," said Nick Ekbatani, the only lineman who started in all of the Bruins’ games last season. "Most of the starters are new guys right now. If they mess up, we can step up just fine, no biggie.

"That’s what’s encouraging because last year if the first-team guys were messing up, there was no one to replace them. Now we’ve got a full arsenal."

While the freshmen linemen – Xavier Su’a-Filo, Stanley Hasiak, Greg Capella, Eddie Williams and Nik Abele – are doing a good job of learning the plays and the footwork, they have to get rid of their bad habits to make the transition complete.

XSF and Hasiak's assignments are especially pivotal given they are being tasked with protecting Prince's blindside. They are taking the whole process in stride and are having fun with it:

"Of course, there's a little bit of pressure because you can't let your quarterback get hit at all costs," Su'a-Filo said. "He's it. If he goes down, the offense suffers. There's a little pressure that way. No doubt there's a lot of responsibility."

Said Hasiak: "It's not really stressful. Basically, it's just work and fun at the same time. There might be a lot of changes with the first string. Everybody is working hard and trying to get better and competing."

Again the word that keeps coming out from all these guys is all about "competition." I can't recall a training camp when the offensive line had so many options competing for five starting spots. Yes, right now we don't know how some of the new guys will be responding to actual game situation. However, from the reports it's clear they are pushing their own team-mates, and making the veterans fight for their starting spots. I am guessing that kind of competition creates a sense of desperation (again in a good way) at these practices that elevates everyone's performance. Perhaps that's why we are actually reading reports of the offensive line having their moments against the defensive one.

Should be fun to hear about how the defense responds. Look forward to hearing back from folks who are taking in the show out at Spaulding.

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.

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.

Spaulding Roundup: ATV's Offseason Notes & Thoughts On OL

Nestor — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:43:19 -0000

So let's end the week with a football exclusive roundup (can you get the sense the season is closing in!). Friday means we get to to start by reading the latest update from ATV. It's another good one as ATV posted some really interesting takes from on going off season workouts in Westwood. May be ATV was reading captainqtp's upgrade/downgrade posts on our CB because he gave a specific props to Aaron Hester:

This week the upcoming star for us is Aaron Hester. He had an interception and a break up. He has been productive the whole summer, with the offense hardly throwing at him. He has been good in coverage and has been physical on the receivers. He's calling our guys out and really stepping up to make our team better. I have been really impressed with his progress!

Apparently Hester and ATV (at least according to his count) were holding their own against DeSean Jackson:

Outside of school, I had the pleasure to watch Tom Brady and Matt Cassel throw a little bit with Wes Welker and DeSean Jackson. Their routes, speed and accuracy was very impressive. I was just excited to know I'll hopefully get a chance to play with these guys in the near future. I actually got a chance to go against DeSean in some drills and he is very talented and definitely made me better. Aaron Hester also guarded him and held his own. You can see the potential starting to show from him.

I wonder if they were throwing around in Spaulding because if that's the case Matt Cassel becomes the second former Trojan quartertback to loiter around in Westwood this off season. More from ATV including a "shout out" to Nick Ekbatani and our OL:

This week in the weight room we had more emphasis on conditioning. Everyone is still pulling each other through and getting everyone amped to get ready for the season. We are maintaining our progress in the weight room and getting techniques down so we can perform better in the lifts. On Friday, we had a hard workout and competed on tire flips for time! I saw the previous week that punter Jeff Locke did exceptionally well so I challenged him. We battled hard, but he ended up getting the better time by 1.5 sec. This week, I will try again! By the way, we were the 1st and 2nd fastest times in our group at our weight. A "shout out" goes to Nick Ekbatani .....He is working hard out there in the lifts and getting ready to contribute on the O-line this yr!

Well needless to say all eyes are going to be on our OL this coming season. More on that topic after the flip.

Ted Miller in his "Hope and concern" series on ESPN's Pac-10 blog lists UCLA's OL as the "biggest reason for concern" this coming season:

The O-line returns six players who started at least five games a year ago, but it's hard to say that's good news when the unit surrendered 35 sacks and led the nation's 116th-ranked running game (83 yards per game). Incoming players are expected to help, and it's not unreasonable to assume that the line can't get any worse. But significant improvement is necessary if the offense isn't going to let the defense down again.

Here is a thought though. And it comes from this article from the Wall Street Journal discussing how "offensive-line experience can predict success":

Offensive-line experience is one of the telltale predictors of success in college football. Last season, eight of the top 10 teams in the final Associated Press poll began the season with at least 65 combined career starts by their offensive linemen, including title-game participants Florida and Oklahoma. Two of 2008's biggest surprises, Utah and Ole Miss, had more than 80 starts of experience, enabling them to improve dramatically on offense. Conversely, Georgia, Missouri and Clemson -- three preseason top-10 teams that disappointed -- were green up front, with fewer than 40 starts each.

Hmm. If you go back to our last season's before the year OL depth chart discussions, you will find how we were all worried about coping with disaster as 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 though. At the end of the spring, (if I have my quick math ride) we had around 46 (not counting the 2 starts from Sonnt Tevaga) starts in that roster. That is not as dire.

However, before we get too excited, we also have to be realistic about the talent level of our team as well. There is a chance by the time this coming season settles in kids like XSF, Hasiak and Williams might beat out some of the kids from last year. The key though will be that we will have a OL group that will have one season of Palcic coaching under its belt. So, hopefully that would mean more intense competition between experience and raw talent this August. Can't wait.

GO BRUINS.