SB Nation - Brian Price

Spaulding Roundup: Owls Flooding DC, Preparing For Bruins As If Getting Ready For Penn State & Other Notes

Nestor — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:43:34 -0000

Temple's Matt "the Bug" Brown, all 5-5, 167 pounds of him is a key cog in the Owls running attack as he has rushed for 446 yards, 4 TDs

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While the Bruins continue to have a good time in their (Donahuesque) preparations to go bowling, the entire Temple Owls program is preparing for what it appears to be their Super Bowl against UCLA in Washington DC. The Temple Owls athletic program have set up a special deal with Amtrak encouraging Owl fans to flood Washington DC:

The Temple University Athletics Department and Amtrak are encouraging fans to take the train to Washington, D.C., to watch the Owls and UCLA play in the EagleBank Bowl at RFK Stadium on Dec. 29.

With approximately 100 trains between Philadelphia and Washington every day, Amtrak is the most convenient way to the game.

Amtrak offers a number of discounts that are available to Owls’ fans, including a 10 percent discount for AAA members and active duty U.S. military personnel and their spouses and dependents. Members of Student Advantage and seniors 62 and over receive a 15 percent discount, and children ages 2 through 15 travel at 50 percent off when accompanied by a full-fare paying adult. Amtrak is also offering a 25 percent discount on its Northeast Regional service for those who would prefer an extended stay in Washington.

Would be interesting to know if UCLA athletic department can do the same for all UCLA alums living in the major cities on Amtrak line for this game as well. Either way I hope the Bruins better be ready to play in a game atmosphere which might end up feeling like a road game at fired up Autzen or Husky football stadium with much colder and icier winter weather.

Perhaps the "camaraderie" the team is building through over the wall stunt, diving around at the Spieker Aquatics Center, enjoying Magic Mountain will help the team to get more loose and focused next Tuesday. However, I have to say part of me is feeling very uneasy whether our team will have the requisite fire and intensity to get it done against jacked up Owl team backed by thousands of their fans.

As for the Owls, they are preparing for UCLA as if they are getting ready of Penn State. Specifically Al Golden is seeing similarities between the Bruins and Nittany Lions:

UCLA has similar players to the Nittany Lions and runs similar schemes, Golden said Thursday. But this isn't good news for Temple (9-3), which is going to its first bowl game in 30 years. The Owls lost 31-6 to Penn State on Sept. 19.

"Offensively, they look very similar to Penn State," Golden said. "On the other side of the ball, they look like Penn State. They have probably five or six (future NFL) draft choices. They have dominant players in the front seven and linebackers that could run. It's a great challenge for us."

More on the Owls' line of thinking and notes on their team after the jump.

Golden and his coaches have specifically zeroed in on the similarities between the defensive lines of Lions and Bruins. To drill down bit further they are seeing a lot of PSU's Jared Odrick (who led the Nittany Lions with six sacks and had 10 tackles for losses totaling 56 yards) when watching the game films of Brian Price. Needless to say our big guy will have the full attention of the Owl's offensive line:

"I thought Odrick was the best, but these guys were saying he's better," Golden said. "After we played Penn State, I didn't think we would see anyone as good as him. (Price) is a heck of a football player, quick off the ball and very disruptive. He's hard to block and someone we're concerned about."

Price has seven sacks and 22½ tackles for losses this season.

Temple named its offensive line the team MVP in its recent banquet. The Owls gave up just 18 sacks all season, tied for 39th in the countrt, and had four games in which they didn't give up any.

But the line is going to have its toughest job to date. Penn State's four sacks against Temple were the second-most the Owls allowed all season. And Price is just as explosive as Odrick.

The job of blocking Price could go to any one of the offensive guards, including freshman backup Jeff Whittingham, an Atlantic City High School graduate.

"We watched film on him. He's a great player," Temple senior offensive tackle Devin Tyler said. "I will see him a couple of times, and we'll be ready. But he's a great player and dominates games."

How the Owls handle Price and what the Bruins do to anticipate and attack will be critical because the game is going to hinge on how the Bruins handle the Temples rushing attack. Sportsline.com has the following scouting report on the Owls' offense:

Temple, home to one of the best and most physical o-lines in the MAC (a jumbo-sized unit that includes a pair of first-team all-league performers in Darius Morris and Colin Madison and averages 6-foot-5 and 318 pounds from tackle to tackle), will rely on its two-headed tailback approach of freshmen Bernard Pierce and Matt "the Bug" Brown, who are now called "Bernie and the Bug" by their Owl teammates. The 6-foot, 212-pound Pierce has established himself as one the top ballcarriers in the country on his way to setting Temple freshman records with 1,308 yards rushing and 15 touchdowns. Brown, all 5-5, 167 pounds of him, has risen steadily on the depth chart to become the chief backup for Pierce.

If UCLA packs the box with defenders to slow down "Bernie and the Bug", then Temple head coach Al Golden has shown that he isn't afraid to use Pierce as a decoy -- faking handoffs to him, freezing the defense and then punishing the Zips with a nice blend of play-action passes, reverses to speedy wideouts and some option runs by mobile quarterback Chester Stewart, who will be making just his fifth college start.

Bruins will have to find a way to get to Stewart. From what I have read apparently he "could be rattled" if our guys find a way to land couple of huge shots early on and disrupt him from getting into any kind of comfort zone. Note he will be making just his fifth collegiate start and was apparently "clearly rattled" in their regular season finale against Ohio, completing just seven of his 22 passes for just 92 yards.

The other key Temple players Bruins need to keep an eye on Tuesday:

WR/KR James Nixon -- The fastest player on the team (4.3 speed in the 40), Nixon is Temple's top kick returner with 497 yards and two touchdowns on 17 returns. He became the first player in school history to score a kickoff return touchdown in consecutive games. He ranks No. 10 nationally with 29.24 yards per return.

DE Adrian Robinson -- The sophomore defensive end earned 2009 MAC Defensive Player of the Year honors after setting a school single-season record for sacks with 12. He ranks No. 10 nationally in sacks (0.92 per game). Robinson also has a team-best 12 tackles for loss and a team-best five forced fumbles.

LB Alex Joseph -- A team captain, Joseph leads all Temple defenders with 73 tackles, including a team-best 46 solo takedowns and 5.0 tackles for loss. He also has two breakups, a sack, an interception, and a fumble recovery.

Robinson and Joseph are keys to one of the best rushing defenses (108.8 yards per game allowed) in the country. The strength of the Owls' defense is its front seven, which besides Robinson and Joseph includes potential future pros such as Andre Neblett at nose tackle. Per Sportsline.com Neblett and Robinson "routinely occupy multiple blockers, allowing Jaiquawn Jarrett (70 tackles), Dominique Harris (68 tackles) and the Joseph brothers, Alex (73 tackles) and Elijah (56 stops), to make plays."

As mentioned yesterday the key for the Bruins on Tuesday will be to mix it up with a balanced offense bringing different looks. I think this Owl team will be well prepared for the base look Bruins showed against the Arizona State and Southern Cal defenses. Given Prince's shoulder status and Craft's track record, Owls will also most likely stack the box and force the Bruins to beat them with our passing game. I think the Bruins should take up that challenge (unless we have brutal wintery weather conditions via rain, sleet or snow) and go to the passing game (including looking for opportunities to go down field) to set up our running attack.

Either way I hope our guys are mentally prepared. While I am excited personally to see our guys in person for the first time in years, a big part of me is anxious about our preparations for the actual game. I don't think this is a game Rick Neuheisel can afford to lose heading into his third season in Westwood.

GO BRUINS.

We're All Americans, But We're Not All All-Americans

Oops Pow Surprise — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:51:28 -0000

by Charlie Neibergall - AP

Iowa's Pat Angerer (43) celebrates with teammates Allen Reisner and Dace Richardson, right, after Iowa blocked a Northern Iowa field goal on the final play. Iowa won 17-16. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

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As is usually the case after a 10-win season, the accolades are beginning to pour in for the Iowa Hawkeye football team. Everyone and their mom has an all-conference or All-American team, but the two that actually matter--Walter Camp and the AP--are now out. And for the 33th year in a row, the unanimous selection for player of the year is Frank Stallone*.

More importantly, the AP named three Hawkeyes to their All-American teams. While nobody made it onto the first team, thanks to Ricky Stanzi's ankle injury--come on, you know if he stays healthy and Iowa goes 11-1 and finishes at #5 or so, even the guys on defense get a little bit more of a bump--both Bryan Bulaga and Pat Angerer made it to the second team, while Tyler Sash made third-team AA as a sophomore. A fine moment for all three players (two of whom, as we insular and provincial types are quick to point out, are native Iowans).

Meanwhile, the Walter Camp Foundation agreed with the AP, naming Bulaga and Angerer to their second team as well and effectively establishing the two as the de facto MVPs of their respective sides of the ball. We have a little beef with each designation, but for wholly different reasons.

First, though Bulaga is by far the best pro prospect on the line as of right now and was utterly dominant in 2008, the reality is that even notwithstanding the 3-week absence as he recovered from thyroid issues, he struggled in 2009. Brandon Graham and O'Brien Schofield manhandled Bulaga. And while those are two very good defensive ends, so was Aaron Maybin, the 11th pick of the 2009 by the Buffalo Bills and Bryan Bulaga's personal prison bitch after Iowa-PSU 2008. There was a substantial dropoff in play by Bulaga in 2009, and voters just didn't notice it when it came time to hand out awards.

Meanwhile, Dace Richardson was actually very good in his return to the line, and he got a fair amount of media attention when mid-season awards were being handed out. Then his ankle was rolled up on against Michigan State, and he disappeared from both the depth chart and voters' attention. But why should he have been punished for an ankle injury while voters looked past Bulaga's absence of a similar length? It's all past reputation, and that's not really fair to guys who come from nowhere and work their butts off--especially in their senior year, where there's no chance for any payoff in the "rewarded in Year X for play in Year X-minus-1" system that's come to be when it comes to honoring offensive linemen.

What this comes down to is that if the AP were to select an Iowa lineman for All-American this season, we'd have preferred it be Dace--though we'll certainly "settle for" Bulaga instead. If both men are playing their last game for Iowa next month, as lots of speculation suggests, then they've both had stellar careers in the black and gold and we wish them well.

On defense, on the other hand, Pat Angerer didn't really establish himself as the most dominant player for that Iowa defense, but that's hardly through any fault of his own. After all, one usually does so by being simply better than his teammates, and the talent level on the Iowa defense this year was both so high and so consistent that it was hard to see Angerer as someone who was the best player on defense. After all, you could always come back with, "well why not Sash? Or Adrian Clayborn? Or Amari Spievey? Or A.J. Edds? Or, hell, Jeremiha Hunter?" We're not saying that Angerer was the 6th best player on the Iowa defense by any means--just that ranking the top 5 or 6 or so would be impossible, because the gaps would be so miniscule that personal preference could easily mean a 3- or 4-spot swing here or there and it wouldn't even be objectionable.

Angerer's accolades, then, come from two areas: 1) his name, which is everything you could ever hope for times infinity; 2) and his stats, which sort of sneak up on you for the same reasons mentioned in the previous paragraph. As mentioned before, he was 5th in the nation in tackles at 11.3 a game. That's pretty outstanding, especially since--as TRE noticed during the season--Angerer's real strength might have been in pass coverage, not run support.

Still, absent game-changing plays, it's somewhat difficult to notice the overall impact a player has on a game. And all of those game-changing plays seemed to happen to other players--most notably Sash and Clayborn, and to a lesser extent Spievey.

Thus we have a weird ambiguity about how we look at Angerer's standing as the most highly-lauded member of the 2009 Iowa defense. It's not that he didn't deserve it--far from it--but with a defense like Iowa's, you could basically pick a name out of a hat and feel relatively confident that you made a good choice. It was that kind of year. Effectively singling out Angerer for praise, then, seems unusual and almost a little unfair. Oh well. There are worse problems to have.

Full AP All-American teams are after the break.

First team
Offense
	   Quarterback -- Colt McCoy, senior, 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, Texas.
	   Running backs -- Toby Gerhart, senior, 6-1, 235, Stanford; Mark Ingram, sophomore, 5-10, 212, Alabama.
	   Tackles -- Russell Okung, senior, 6-5, 301, Oklahoma State; Trent Williams, senior, 6-5, 318, Oklahoma.
	   Guards -- Michael Johnson, senior, 6-6, 305, Alabama; Mike Iupati, senior, 6-6, 330, Idaho.
	   Center -- J.D. Walton, senior, 6-3, 305, Baylor.
	   Tight end -- Aaron Hernandez, junior, 6-2, 250, Florida.
	   Wide receivers -- Golden Tate, junior, 5-11, 195, Notre Dame; Jordan Shipley, senior, 6-0, 190, Texas.
	   All-purpose player -- C.J. Spiller, senior, 5-11, 195, Clemson.
	   Kicker -- Leigh Tiffin, senior, 6-2, 212, Alabama.
Defense
	   Ends -- Jerry Hughes, senior, 6-3, 257, TCU; Derrick Morgan, junior, 6-4, 272, Georgia Tech.
	   Tackles -- Ndamukong Suh, senior, 6-4, 300, Nebraska; Terrence Cody, senior, 6-5, 365, Alabama.
	   Linebackers -- Rolando McClain, junior, 6-4, 258, Alabama; Greg Jones, junior, 6-1, 228, Michigan State; Eric Norwood, senior, 6-1, 252, South Carolina.
	   Cornerbacks -- Joe Haden, junior, 5-11, 190, Florida; Javier Arenas, senior, 5-9, 198, Alabama.
	   Safeties -- Eric Berry, junior, 5-11, 203, Tennessee; Earl Thomas, sophomore, 5-10, 197, Texas.
	   Punter -- Drew Butler, sophomore, 6-2, 201, Georgia.
Second team
	   Quarterback -- Tim Tebow, senior, Florida.
	   Running backs -- Ryan Mathews, junior, Fresno State; Dion Lewis, freshman, Pittsburgh.
	   Tackles -- Bryan Bulaga, junior, Iowa; Chris Marinelli, senior, Stanford.
	   Guards -- Rodney Hudson, junior, Florida State; Mike Pouncey, junior, Florida.
	   Center -- Maurkice Pouncey, junior, Florida.
	   Tight end -- Dennis Pitta, senior, BYU.
	   Wide receivers -- Mardy Gilyard, senior, Cincinnati; Danario Alexander, senior, Missouri.
	   All-purpose player -- James Rodgers, junior, Oregon State.
	   Kicker -- Kai Forbath, junior, UCLA.
Defense
	   Ends -- Von Miller, junior, Texas A&M; Brandon Graham, senior, Michigan.
	   Tackles -- Gerald McCoy, junior, Oklahoma; Jared Odrick, senior, Penn State.
	   Linebackers -- Pat Angerer, senior, Iowa; Brandon Spikes, senior, Florida; Sean Weatherspoon, senior, Missouri.
	   Cornerbacks -- Perrish Cox, senior, Oklahoma State; Kyle Wilson, senior, Boise State.
	   Safeties -- Taylor Mays, senior, Southern California; Rahim Moore, sophomore, UCLA.
	   Punter -- Zoltan Mesko, senior, Michigan.
Third team
Offense
	   Quarterback -- Kellen Moore, sophomore, Boise State
	   Running backs -- LaMichael James, redshirt freshman, Oregon; Jacquizz Rodgers, sophomore, Oregon State.
	   Tackles -- Dennis Landolt, senior, Penn State; Ciron Black, senior, LSU.
	   Guards -- Brandon Carter, senior, Texas Tech; Jeff Byers, senior, Southern California.
	   Center -- Chris Hall, senior, Texas.
	   Tight end -- Dorin Dickerson, senior, Pittsburgh.
	   Wide receivers -- Freddie Barnes, senior, Bowling Green; Demaryius Thomas, junior, Georgia Tech.
	   All-purpose player -- Dexter McCluster, senior, Mississippi.
	   Kicker -- Hunter Lawrence, senior, Texas.
Defense
	   Ends -- Jeremy Beal, junior, Oklahoma; Brandon Sharpe, senior, Texas Tech.
	   Tackles -- Brian Price, junior, UCLA; Dan Williams, senior, Tennessee.
	   Linebackers -- Sergio Kindle, senior, Texas; Cody Grimm, senior, Virginia Tech; Navorro Bowman, junior, Penn State.
	   Cornerbacks -- Brandon Harris, sophomore, Miami; Alterraun Verner, senior, UCLA.
	   Safeties -- Tyler Sash, sophomore, Iowa; Mark Barron, sophomore, Alabama.
	   Punter -- Matt Reagan, senior, Memphis.

*Did you know he was in Tombstone, a.k.a. the SINGLE GREATEST MOVIE IN HISTORY? And in a phenomenal scene, to boot.

Something Special Brewin? Malcolm Jones Honored As Gatorade National Player Of The Year

Nestor — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:08:15 -0000

Many of us have followed college athletics long enough to know that we shouldn't always get too excited about hype around big time recruits. It is especially true these days in the world of college basketball. Sometimes recruits in hoops such as JF, AA, and KL live up to all the hype. Other times, well I don't think I have to go through the details of the Ben Ball ~~warriors~~ class of 2008 (you can also read the comments in this thread which will go back much further).

Same dynamics also play out in football to a certain extent (even though in football it takes recruits traditionally a year or two to make discernible impact in the program). I think we can write post after posts on who has worked out (MJD, Brian Price, Akeem Ayers, Rahim Moore, XSF) and who hasn't (Ben Olson, Aundre Dean ) in recent years in Westwood. Yet, every once in a while we read and hear about a recruit in football or hoops, and we can't help but hope for something special when everything looks and sounds right about his arrival to Westwood. Well, if you haven't yet then meet Malcolm Jones. He just became the first UCLA football recruit ever to be honored as the Gatorade National High School Player Of The Year:

The LAT writeup provides the eye popping numbers:

Jones, a running back-linebacker, has scored 109 touchdowns in his four-year prep career. This season, he has rushed for 2,156 yards, putting him 40 yards short of tying the single-season school record held by Marc Tyler. He has 36 touchdowns and is nearing 6,000 yards rushing in his career.

Jon Gold from the Daily News had the following comment from MJ's team-mate on how emotional he was yesterday:

"You should have seen the expressions on his face when he was walking out of class," Oaks Christian quarterback Nick Montana said with a wide smile. "He was with his family, biggest smile on his face; I haven't seen him smile like that in a while. He was tearing up a little bit - it was awesome to see."

Well congrats to Malcolm from the entire BN. We have a little more on him after the jump.

Gold sheds a little more light on Malcolm as a student and person off the field:

Jones maintains a 3.46 grade-point average and announced in early October that he would play for UCLA, choosing the Bruins over expected front-runner Stanford. Additionally, Jones is a peer tutor and a youth basketball volunteer referee.

"He's realizes I think that he's really blessed," Marshall Jones Sr. said. "He takes his blessings as something he should utilize for the good of himself and others. And that's what makes me proud of him.

"He's a better person than he is a football player."

He also has the right perspective heading into UCLA next season:

"I really wanted to go to a school where I can really make a name for myself, not just be the "next" star running back at a USC or one of those big-time colleges," Jones said. "I want to prove to everyone that I can really help turn the program around, get them back on top."

Sounds like a Bruin already. lol Here he was few weeks ago reflecting on his team's season, his commitment to UCLA, and the looming CIF playoffs:

Well, Malcolm is going to lead his 13-0 Oaks Christian team into tonight Northwest Division championship game against Gardena Serra. He has played on three consecutive section championship teams.

In terms of some previous history on this award, I should note in hoops it was KL and Jrue Holiday who were also honored as Gatorade NPOY (as I said in my opening grafs, we have mixed records). Previous honorees as Gatorade NPOY includes names such as Peyton Manning, Emmitt Smith and Jeff George. The list also includes Matt disrespected Barkely (won the award in his junior season), who hasn't really done all that much considering the talent he was surrounded with at Southern Cal.

All that said, it's still a big deal. As noted above Malcolm is the first Bruin recruit to win this award. As excited as we all are about him, what I am even more excited is listening to him, he comes as as the perfect Bruin in the mold of ATV. Keeping my fingers crossed, Malcolm experiences the same level of success as our current senior captain both on and off the field starting next year at UCLA.

GO BRUINS.

Kai Wins Groza, Bruins Rack Up More All American Honors

Nestor — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:11:59 -0000

brtishbruin and KSBruin were already on it last night. We have more major post-season awards news to share about few Bruins from the football team. Kai won the Lou Groza award last night beating out a two great kickers from amazing SEC programsn (Alabama’s Leigh Tiffin and Geogia's Blair Walsh). In addition to Kai accepting his award on ESPN, two more Bruins - Brian Price and Rahim Moore were named in the Second Team All America by the prestigious Walter Camp Foundation:

So, let's start with Kai Forbath. Here is the official release which identfied Kai as perhaps the best kicker ever to come out of UCLA:

In the long line of UCLA All-America place kickers, Forbath might just be the best ever. On the year, he has made 26 of 29 field goals and 22 of 23 PATs for 100 points. He ranks second nationally in field goals per game (2.17). He is perfect (23 of 23) from inside 50 yards and three of six from 50+ yards. His .897 percentage this year is No. 2 in the NCAA among players with 22 or more attempts.

Dating back to last year, Forbath has converted 39 of his last 42 field goals and had a string of 16 straight successes snapped at Arizona when he missed from 52 yards. He has connected on his last 35 straight field goal attempts inside 50 yards (his last such miss came on a 47-yard attempt in game six last season at Oregon).

Forbath's .864 percentage is the highest in school history among players with at least 20 career field goals (John Lee holds the current record at .850). He ranks second (tied) in school history with 70 field goals and No. 5 in career scoring with 283 points in just 37 games.

His school-record nine field goals of 50 yards or longer rank No. 1 among active FBS kickers. His 70 field goals rank second (tied) among all active players (the next junior is 20 field goals behind him) and his career percentage of .864 is No. 2 among players with at least 40 attempts.

Kai of course deserves this award. It also shouldn't be a surprise to anyone here when Kai puts his name in during the NFL draft's "testing out the water" process to see where he might fall. Although, there is a decent chance of him returning (unlike Brian Price).

I think I appreciated Kai more this season when I was watching other college footbal teams, seeing teams flail away with poor kicking and getting hancuffed during crunch time. That said, I wish Kai would come back for one more season, so that he would get to play for an offense, in which he would play an invaluable role by connecting on long game winning or game tying FGs, instead of drive settling ones he was booming in over and over again during last few years at UCLA. More on last night awards after the jump.

As mentioned in the beginning, in addition to Kai, two other Bruins - Price and Moore - were named in the Walter Camp's All America team:

Price, a true junior, has recorded 34.5 tackles for a loss in his last 21 games, including 4.0 against Arizona State and Tennessee, 3.0 at Washington State and 2.0 against Oregon and at USC. He has 22.5 tackles for loss in 12 games this season and ranks first in the Pac-10 (by 7.5 TFL) and is tied for third in the NCAA. He ranks second all-time in UCLA history with 43.5 tackles for loss, and is also second on the single season list with 22.5, trailing only Robert Thomas' 26.0 TFL in 2001.

Moore, a true sophomore, leads the nation with nine interceptions, averaging 0.75 per game. He also ranks fourth (tied) nationally, in passes defensed (1.33 per game). He tied the UCLA single-game record with three interceptions against San Diego State and also made two each versus Tennessee and Arizona. Moore has made 45 tackles on the year, including three for loss.

That was from the official site which also provided the data point re. only Alabama (six) and Florida (four) having more selections than UCLA's three (Texas also had three). That led the LAT to take the cheap shot about those three teams finishing with a combined record of 38-1 (in comparison to UCLA's 6-6).

Of course, anyone with a basic understanding of the personnel of UCLA football program (based on recruiting and talent flow from last 6 years) wouldn't make the basic argument about UCLA having the same talent as those three programs. But hey given what we have seen over the years, often basic coverage of UCLA football is too much to ask for from the Trojan lapdogs in charge of LAT's sports section. Whatever. The basic lesson is look everywhere else before looking to LAT for information on UCLA sports.

Congrats to all of our guys. Let's hope we get to see these guys at least one more time this season. GO NAVY.

GO BRUINS.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You can read more from the official press release here.

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

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

GO BRUINS.

Seven of 12 All-Pac-10 Beavers On First Team

AndyPanda — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 22:04:45 -0000

Twelve Oregon St. Beaver footballers received All Pac-10 honors, seven on the first team.

Four members of the Beavers' offense are on the first team, including Sean Canfield, quarterback, Jacquizz Rodgers, running back, James Rodgers, wide receiver, and Greg Peat, guard.

Joining the first team from the defense are Keaton Kristick, linebacker, and Stephen Paea, tackle. And Suaesi Tuimaunei was named the first team special teams player that is not a kicker or a return specialist.

The seven were more than any other team placed on the first team.

Placekicker Justin Kahut was named the second team kicker, behind All-American Kai Forbath of UCLA.

Center Alex Linnenkohl was one of four Beavers to receive honorable mention, as were three linebackers, including middle linebacker David Pa'aluhi, and outside linebackers Dwight Roberson and Keith Pankey. Roberson and Pankey are notable for this accomplishment, because neither were full time players, instead splitting time at the position.

The offensive player of the year was Stanford running back Toby Gerhart, while UCLA tackle Brian Price was named the Pat Tillman defensive player of the year.

First year coach Chip Kelly was named the Coach of the Year, after leading the Oregon Ducks to the Pac-10 title, and winning the conference by as much as two games for the first time since 1991.

The complete list is available on the Pac-10 site.

Remembering Those Images For Next 370 Days

Nestor — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:38:04 -0000

More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP

Chetey Petey's Trojan thugs taunting away from the other side of field

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I am throwing this up because I want to have this image and the caption underneath seared into everyone's brain for next 370 days. Again I realize people can raise genuine questions on about some aspects of our coaches' scheme from the offensive side last night (for instance, I am still trying to figure how can someone confused Chane "Train" with a "Cheetah" lol). Yet at the same time, I also believe our coaches game plan was sufficient enough for us to win the game. Watching JetSki fumble in one of his three carries hit home the point why coaches were going with Chane Moline most of the night.

If not for Prince's ill advised throw the score would have been tied at 0-0 at half time (at least 3-0 in our favor if the referees weren't persuaded by the Pom Pom's lobbying and the homer announcers egging it on television). Then in the second half it was Logan Paulsen's brain cramp that forced Prince to scramble in a second long situation leading to the shoulder injury that caused the second pick. Yet despite all that we were in the game closing within 7. If anyone doesn't think this program hasn't taken a step forward from last season and specifically from last year's game against these classless thugs, then he or she has some other agenda.

Is there reason for frustration? Of course there is. Not only were we in the game, but it was there for us to take it. We had multiple opporunities to seize the momentum and just blew it. That makes it hurt even more this am. However, is everything lost? Hardly. What Chetey and his classless thugs did yesterday was send a clear cut signal about how worried they are about the work Rick Neuheisel and his staff have done in Westwood. They are worried enough that they felt compelled to throw that unnecessary bomb and then proceeded on to jump around like animals, raising their collective middle finger not just to the entire Bruin Nation, but to the world of college athletics.

While folks here have every right to be angry and disgusted with those scumbags from cross town, I'd advise to adopt the frame proposed by BlueMe this am:

Now, the focus should be getting better. It starts with a possible bowl game and ending the season on a positive note. Then it continues in the living rooms of recruits, pitching this program and university like never before. Then it goes to the weight room. Then to Spring Ball. Then on to next season, culminating finally in the Rose Bowl next year.

EVERY WAKING MOMENT between now and kickoff at the Rose Bowl 365 days from now, the focus needs to be KICKING SCs ASS!

Well we have 370 days more to go but everyone here should get the point.

We will find out about our bowl outlook very soon. I am not all that anxious to figure it out. If someone wants to do it, go for it. If we get into one, I hope our guys can do everything they can to take advantage of those two weeks of practices and send of kids like ATV, Carter and Brian Price (after all the heartbreaks he has been through in his life he more than anyone deserves a great life thanks to the financial security in the NFL) off to a great note.

Rest of the Bruin athletes, students, alums and fans, we all need to ready for next season. We have 370 days. We need to make sure those images like the one above in closing mins is burnt into our collective Bruin conscious for rest of our lives.

GO BRUINS.

Not Our Night: Bruins Come Up Short Against (SPTR Blessed) Classless Trojans

Nestor — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 06:53:02 -0000

More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP

24 days ago: USC running back Allen Bradford, left, dives just short of the end zone as UCLA safety Tony Dye knocks him out of bounds during the second half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009, in Los Angeles. Bradford scored one play later. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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The final score was ~~21-7~~ 28-7 in favor of the bad guys tonight. Not surprisingly Chetey Petey being the hypocritical, SCumbag that he is poured it on when the game was already decided with a long bomb to the endzone (I wonder if Pom Pom's lapdogs - Bill Splashme or the TJ Slimers - will be crying about sportsmanship tomorrow). There is not much to say about that TD at this point because we know Chetey's true colors and what a classless jerk throughout his stained, corruption tainted career in South Central. What goes around, comes around and we will leave it that

Anway, as for the game, here is the box score from tonight's ball game in which the Bruins got killed by two crushing turnover that turned out to be the difference makers. The Bruin defense came out inspired playing their best half of the season and then continued it throughout the game gutting out a performance in which they held the Trojan offense to 14 points. I am not going to count the last 7 given at that point our defense didn't think the Trojies would be that classless even by their standards.

Mad props to Brian Price, Reggie Carter, Akeem Ayers, ATV, Kevin Craft, Chane Moline who gave everything they had today. The defense held the Trojies to less than 300 yards (not going to count that BS 48 yard bomb) and kept us in the game. While Kevin Craft came in and gave it everything he had to give us a legit chance when we closed it within 7. More after the jump.

The difference tonight was turnovers and mistakes. Bruins turned over the ball 4 times leading to 14 Trojan points and also killing a promising drive at the end of the first half. Prince came out looking erratic, overthrowing his receivers and then throwing a pick-6. Then in the second half he was undone by costly mistakes by his senior team-mate - Logan Paulsen (who has been making those mistakes all year) - that completely killed any sense of offensive momentum early on. He then got banged up by the Trojan defense, which led to his second pick (throwing with a bad shoulder).

Of course Bruins also got hosed (which seems to be a tradition against us in this particular game) by clueless refs that missed Mays' late hit, managed to get lobbied by Pom Pom to turn over a Rosario catch, and then completely blow a call on lateral which Jet Ski advanced for 26 yards. Depsite all the TOs and the surreal SPTRing, somehow the Bruins kept gutting it out thanks to gutsy peformance by the Bruin offense which under Kevin Craft closed it with 7 (7-14) with about 5 mins left in the game.

Still it just wasn't enough at the end. Our defense played prevent in the drive that really mattered and the Trojans used the cushion our DBs gave them to drive it down for a TD and put the game out of reach. As I mentioned up top, the Trojies went on to probably make the most classless move in this series, and a hypocrtical one given all the crying they did with Harbaugh's 2 point coversion just 2 weeks.

Obviously, there are strateiges on our coaches' part we can question. Off the top of my head, I don't get why we keep seeing Moline in Cheetah formation, and why we didn't see more speed from our side in the form of Jet Ski, Knox and Thigpen (although JetSki's fumble kined of answer that question).

Anyway, at the end this wasn't our night. As for the immediate future, I am not losing sleep tonight over whether we will make a bowl game. I hope we will but will let it all playout. However, I can definitely sense tonight how the team has taken a legit step forward, improving upon the season from last year. That much was clear otherwise the Trojies wouldn't have felt compelled to make that classless move at the end. They are clearly a little worried. The way those SCumbags behaved at the end of the game, you've got to believe karma will have a way of evening up the scores in the long run.

That said ... I will leave it to you to thread the night away. Post your quick fire takes in the comment threads. If you have extensive reflections to share, fire them up in the FanPosts. Thanks again for a great regular season. Let's do it again.

GO BRUINS.

BN Gameday: Southern Cal Second Half Thread

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

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

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

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

BEAT $C. GO BRUINS.

Spaulding Roundup: A Long Wait Till Tomorrow Night

Nestor — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 17:21:32 -0000

More photos » by Jae C. Hong - AP

Prince has a mohawk?

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Guess we will have to go to football related news feel good about UCLA athletics this am. My how things have changed in just two years (although we still have a long way to go where we need to be with our football program). Anyway we have little more than 24 hours left till the biggest game of the season (it is going to be a looooong day tomorrow to wait for that 7:00 pm PST kickoff).

Earlier this am ucla13_usc9 posted a pretty cool picture of the seniors being carried off Spaulding for their last practice. Looking at the picture you can kind of get the sense how close and tight this team has become over the year. I sensed that especially in these last few closing games. When Donald Butler hit Kevin Prince with that nasty shot during the first half against Washington, you will see how Chane Moline when after Butler with some wicked hits later in the game. It left Butler a little shaken and whining to the refs. Same thing happened during the last game too when Vontaze Burfict was trying get in his cheap shots against Prince. Again, it was Moline coming in the following plays and laying an extra pop on Burfict. Moline being the savvy senior he is (Paulsen should take note!) can get his shots in within the flow of the game.

Anyway, the point I am trying to make is, it has been fun watching scrap and fight together all season. They have had their tough moments especially during that 5 game losing skid. However, the way they have battled through it has been refreshing to watch and now I am getting really anxious to see how they finish up the final chapter of this fun season (with hopefully a bowl game in December).

While football is a team game, there are few actors tomorrow, who have the potential to play memorable roles in our home blue. As we talk about final chapter, perhaps it will be Brian Price, leaving Westwood with a special. The LAT's Chris Foster probably scanned around BN and read hicalliber's post to get the idea for his story about this possibly being Price's last regular season game in Westwood. We will know the facts (about Price moving on to the NFL) soon enough. For now we are hoping he can continue being on the same tear he has been on in our last three games:

"The way to look at it is it's a team sport," Price said. "If I'm taking up two guys, somebody else is not getting blocked and they will make the play."

But Price has found ways to beat the double teams.

"You drop to one knee and one of the guys will leave you," Price said. "You get up and make the play. Sometimes I do that. Sometimes I don't."

However he goes about the job, his play has exceeded his expectations. Price has 8.5 tackles for a loss in the last three games, all UCLA victories

"It's a team sport, so you want a better record," Price said. "We're turning that around. My own personal goals, I'm doing more than I thought I would do this year. I didn't think I'd get 20 tackles for a loss. I was just hoping for two or three more than last year."

Of course, Price would love to have more.

"I'd like about 10 on Saturday," he said.

I am sure the Trojans will have something extra planned for the big guy. It will be up to his team-mates to take advantage of the extra attention he will get, Also, it will be up to Bullough and his staff to mix in schemes that might have Price move around and also bring pressure from different directions. We will need our guys flying around all over the Mosoleum. More on that point after the jump.

Bullough talked to Jon Gold about his team having fun with flying around all over the field:

"We're playing and we're having fun out there," Bullough said. "Guys are flying around, flying to the ball. We've always done that. But they're realizing it's getting close to the end, and they really like each other. They know to keep playing, they have to have fun."

But he also mentioned the need for customizing game plans depending on the opponent (which is obvious of course);

"Every game is different, every game is a different scenario," UCLA defensive coordinator Chuck Bullough said. "How the offense is doing, how the defense is doing. You can't really go into one game and say we need to put all three games together into one. Each game is its own separate deal."

I don't believe Bullough needs to have his team blitzing Barkley in every play. Yet when we write about the need to disrupt this rhythm, we are talking about making sure we dont' get him comfortable with our same base look early on. Nothing is more important to an young quarterback than getting in rhythm and getting confidence early. I just think while Bullough might not need to bring pressure in every down, he will need to bring it early on (in not so obvious situations) to give Barkley something to think about for rest of the game. Oh and our guys need to get Barkley's jersey dirty. Apparently there is a 40 percent chance of rain on Saturday (in LA!). If that is the case, I hope Barkley's jersey is lot muddier than the one belonging to Kevin Prince.

And, speaking of Kevin Prince, how about this? The dude apparently has been sporting a "mohawk" during practice this week (what's up with these kids?). He also sounds pretty calm heading into Saturday:

If UCLA quarterback Kevin Prince is feeling the pressure of playing in his first UCLA-USC showdown, it's not showing.

The redshirt freshman arrived at practice on Tuesday sporting a new hairstyle – a Mohawk – and took the same business-as-usual approach that he's been showing since the start of fall camp.

It stands to reason. Prince has played this rivalry over and over in his head, since he used to attend UCLA games as a season-ticket holder. Now it's just a matter of going out there and living the dream.

"It's a unique opportunity," he said of his current position. "Not too many guys get to play quarterback for UCLA and get to play SC, especially under the circumstances where it's pretty much a must-win for us and they're probably thinking it's a must-win for them too.

"It's going to be a crazy game and we're just preparing for it like any other game."

Sounds like CRN and Chow have coached up the kid pretty good in terms of getting out the right bites. Without diminishing the reverence of this football game (unlike Taylor Mays), he is treating it like any other game week. Now let's hope he can execute the game plan the same way he did against defenses such as Tennessee and Arizona State.

Again, it is going to be a looong way till 7 pm tomorrow night.

GO BRUINS.