10 Reasons

Every year, I give 10 reasons why the Bruins could beat the Troajans. Here's the 2009 installation!

1. Momentum

The Bruins are 3-0 in their last 3 games. USC is only 1-2. Granted, the level of competition wasn't nearly the same... but momentum can be a big thing.

2. Turnovers

We need 'em. Last week against ASU, UCLA was +6 on turnovers. We'll have to win the turnover battle at the Coliseum to come out with a victory.

3. Getting Defensive

The UCLA defense was dominant last week. The USC defense has been porous. If the Bruin defense comes to play and keeps this one a low scoring contest... then our chances of victory are much improved.

4. We're Wearing our Home Jerseys!

The game might not be at the Rose Bowl, but we'll be in our home blue. UCLA has historically done very well against USC wearing the home jersey. Maybe that streak will continue.

5. The Price is Right

Brian Price demands double teams. Brian Price still gets tackles for loss. Brian Price is sooo going to the NFL next year. But this year... he's wearing blue and gold.

6. Pick-6

Alteraun Verner and Rahim Moore have been interception machines this season. Matt Barkley has also been turnover prone this last month. A defensive touchdown for the Bruins would be a huge boost for this team.

7. The BCS is Bust

The Trojans won't be going to a BCS game this year. That's the first time that has happened in a very long while. They may not have much motivation, as in years past, to come out play. What's the difference between the Sun and Vegas bowls? Not much for the ketchup and mustard...

8. Rusty

Sometimes a bye week can help your team heal and get focused. Other times, it can let your team dwell on a poor performance. USC has been idle since the got whooped soundly by the Cardinal. They might need to shake a little rust off at the start of this game.

9. Play not to Lose

The Bruin offense and the coaching staff did a great job of sitting on a lead and riding that to victory last week. An early start to this contest would go a long way to improving our chances for a win.

10. Play to Win

Kevin Prince has been slinging the ball lately. His new found confidence to let the rock fly has been one of the key reasons this offense has been more productive. UCLA has nothing to lose today and everything to gain... play for the win!

One Step Forward...

You have to wonder. Just when it looks like UCLA has found a quarterback, he gets hurt. That pretty much sums up the last decade of Bruin football.

If Kevin Prince didn't break his jaw against Tennessee, missing the next two games, where would this offense be right now? If Prince went for a slide instead of putting his head down and getting that helmet-to-helmet hit yesterday, where would the offense have finished yesterday?

It was great to get a win yesterday. It was even better watching the offense roll on it's first two drives of the game to touchdowns.

If we could just find some consistency and health at the quarterback position, that could be the regular state of affairs on Saturday.

Let's just hope that Kevin Prince gets a clean bill of health this week and can play out the rest of the season. If he can finish strong, it will really boost the confidence of this team for next season.

If he can't get back out there then this team might be starting over at QB. Again. For like the bazillionth time.

Must Win

The month of October was a house of horrors for the Bruins. The offense was anemic, the defense couldn't tackle, and the play calling was conservative. Standing at second to last in the conference and still 3 wins away from a Bowl bid, the Bruins must win... and must win now.

The good news, if you can find that silver lining in the Oregon State game, was an offense that seemed to come alive in that 4th quarter. Nelson Rosario made some huge plays and UCLA has desperately needed a play maker like that at receiver.

Kevin Prince looked like a gunslinger as well. We finally got a glimpse of why the coaches were excited about Prince coming into the season.

The question is will that offensive juice keep flowing the rest of the season?

November lines up nicely for the Bruins with a favorable schedule. With UW, WSU, and Arizona State up next, the Bruins are hitting the bottom half of the PAC-10. None of those games are gimmes, but each are entirely winnable.

SC has definitely fallen from their pedistal atop the conference, but they are still a very talented and dangerous team. I don't see the Bruins walking into the coliseum and having a good chance to win that game.

So that leaves the next 3 games. A short 3-game season that UCLA will have to sweep if any post season dreams are going to come true.

Pressure is on the Offense

It seems like all the stories this week have been about Toby Gerhart and the Standford running game. Everyone wants to know if the Bruin's defense can stop him?

The short answer is: no. They can't.

I don't think any defense can really stop someone as talented as Gerhart. He'll get his yards and points and there really isn't anything you can do about it.

That's why I think the real story is the Bruin's offense.

Can Craft and Franklin and the young line put together enough drives to out score the Cardinal? Our defense will limit Stanford, that's for sure, but our offense will have to deliver if we're going to come out of this one with a win.

The best case senario would be some early scores on offense to put the pressure on Luck and the Stanford passing game. The best way to prevent the Gerhart from running wild on you is to keep the ball out of his hands in the first place.

That will be a tall order indeed.

The biggest weakness on the Cardinal defense is their secondary. Craft doesn't have the arm to really challenge them deep. Somehow UCLA has to find ways to get the ball out into space away form the Stanford front seven.

I think if the Bruins can play well on offense then our defense will keep the Cardinal under 20 points. That's 3 touchdowns for the Bruins to win.

Odd Bears are all Quacked Up

It must be an odd numbered year. Why? Because a top-10 ranked Cal team just embarrassed itself by losing to an inferior opponent... again. Here is their illustrious history over the last few odd-numbered seasons...

2009:

Start the preseason ranked #12. Go 3-0. In week-4, #6 Cal travels to unranked Oregon. A colossal loss of 42-3 plays out on national TV. The Bears fall to #24 in the AP poll immediately after the game.

2007:

Started preseason ranked #12. Went 5-0. In week 6, #2 Cal hosted Oregon St. Just before kickoff top ranked LSU lost, all but guaranteeing Berkley the #1 slot if they can beat the Beavers at home. Inspired, they take the field and lose 31- 28. The Bears go on an epic slide, losing to UCLA the following week, and finishing the season 6-6 and unranked.

2005:

Another preason ranking, this time #19. Another good start... going 5-0 and climbing to #10 in the polls. The Bears head south and get beat by #20 UCLA 47-40 on the amazing special teams work of Maurice Drew. Cal finishes the season 8-4 and manages to squeak back into the rankings at #25.

Sometimes history is just destined to repeat itself.

Play Within Yourself

There is an expression that you need to "play within yourself". I used to think that was just mindless coach speak. But when it comes to Kevin Craft, it's 100% appropriate.

Craft can't make long passes. He doesn't have the arm strength. But on short to medium routes, he's pretty good.

Craft can't carry the team to victory. He's a game manager. He gets into trouble when he tries to make something out of nothing. He forces passes into coverage, or just flat out makes throws he shouldn't.

When Kevin relaxes and plays calm, he's actually pretty good. He just gets worked up at times and starts making bone-headed mistakes.

This is why Prince is our future. His total numbers aren't much better than Craft, but he has the arm to throw the long ball and he doesn't try and force passes into bad situations.

I thought Craft did OK last night. I want Prince back ASAP, but Craft played decent. He was about 50-50. Half the game was good, the other half wasn't. That was better than mos of the games from last year.

Winning Ugly

It wasn't pretty but the Bruins walked out of the Rose Bowl on Saturday with a win. It wasn't anything to write home about, but UCLA is off to it's first 3-0 start since the 2005 season.

So, Kevin Craft played the entire game. With a better supporting cast around him this season, Craft rarely had to go running for his life like he did on almost every snap last year.

In the first quarter, Kevin looked down right composed. He stood tall in the pocket, connecting on the vast majority of his passes, and he had plenty of time to find the open receiver. Franklin and the running game also took pressure of the senior signal caller, as they ran through massive holes in the line.

However, Craft also slipped into the inconsistent, poor decision making play that plagued him last season. The offense as a whole struggled through most of the 2nd and 3rd quarter. Settling for field goals and 3-and-outs. A big 51-yard TD pass to Austin, on broken coverage, ended the drought and put the game into the win column.

The defense also had up-and-down moments.

They were aggressive and attacked the ball most of the night. ATV came up with two interceptions and the Bruins forced a number of fumbles, though they didn't recover any of them.

The third quarter, however, saw the defense struggle to contain the Wildcat's read option running attack. K-State put together a massive, 14 play, 8 minute drive that resulted in a touchdown.

Eventually, the Bruin defense found it's grove again in the 4th quarter as the Wild Cats were forced to pass the ball to catch up.

The real story of the night, however, was penalties.

There were mind numbing amounts of penalties last night. UCLA was fortunate to be playing an inferior opponent, because those penalties would have easily cost the game against an Oregon, Cal, or USC.

For the third consecutive week, the defense kept crucial drives alive by committing untimely penalties.

Unfortunately, the offense joined the party as well. They replaced big gains and a touchdown pass with little yellow flags. It got so bad at one point, that it seemed like every other play ended with flags being thrown.

The team ended the game with 8 penalties for 80 yards. Which brings the total this season to 22 penalties for a whopping 208 yards. Compare that to 12 penalties and 99 yards for our opponents.

Coach Neuheisel and his staff will have to work on that during the bye week.

Dawg'n it

Not a huge surprise that SC lost to the Huskies. Sark's got that program headed 180 degrees from where they were last year. Locker is also an amazing talent.

What was a surprise was that Aaron Corp and the SC passing game was bad. Down right atrocious. I think Carroll is going to have a rough season with his two inexperienced quarterbacks.

The moment that changed the outcome of that game is pictured here...

Thank you Mark Sanchez. The Trojan loss up in Seattle is dedicated to you.

The Universe Hates Us

Just when it looked like UCLA had a competent quarterback under center, the football gods decided to spit on us again. Kevin Prince has a fractured jaw and will miss 3-4 weeks.

I suppose if you're going to fracture a bone during the season, your jaw isn't the worst choice. With some healing, and a protective face mask, Prince can play with the injury. It's got to hurt like a mo fo, but it's better than a knee or an ankle.

Injuring it on the last offensive drive against Tennessee isn't the worst timing. Prince should only miss 2 games, with K-State and Stanford sandwiching the bye week. Hopefully the Bruin's offense, which struggled for most of the game against the Volunteers, can overcome this adversity and still play well in two very winnable games.

Orange Slices

What a big win for coach Neuheisel and the Bruins today.

The defense was outstanding in that 4th quarter. Just absolutely outstanding. They didn't get a break but for some 3-and-outs and still managed to come up with that huge goal line stand on 4th down.

I'm sure, when this season is all said and done, we'll look back at another sub-par season from the Vols and chalk this game up as a "should have won". But, looking at it now, it's a mighty impressive win.

I'll have more thoughts tomorrow. Need to go back and re-watch the game. Which will be very fun indeed.

A Special Team

For some strange reason, special teams numbers don't show up in the final box score. Return yards are rarely there, much less how far you punted, kicked-off, or how many kicks you blocked.

Yet those plays can make all the difference in a game.

Take Saturday's game against SDSU as case in point. UCLA dominated the special teams game, in every phase, and those plays boosted the Bruins to a rather comfortable victory.

Kai Forbath was money again. Do you realize how amazing it is to have a kicker who has never missed an attempt from beyond 50 yards?

While most fans hold their breath when their team's field goal unit takes the field... our fans head for the cooler. Oh, a 51 yard attempt from the left hash mark? That's a lock, I'm going to get another beer, you want one?

With Terrance Austin fielding kicks and punts, every play has the potential to be a big one. His 64 yard return after the 2nd SDSU touchdown was the boost in confidence our team needed. Now if he can just take one all the way back to the house, we'd be in business.

Just like last season, we had another blocked kick for a touchdown in the season opener. This time it was Jerzy Siewierski bum rushing his way though the line and getting a big paw up on a field goal attempt. Alteraun Verner, who has an uncanny knack for being in the right place at the right time, picked up the fumble and cruised into the end zone.

Those plays either directly or indirectly lead to 20 of the Bruin's 33 points. That, not so coincidentally, was basically the margin of victory.

Very special indeed.

(Photo Credit OC Register)

Glimpses of the Future

There were flashes of brilliance mixed in with freshman mistakes last night. The Bruins beat-up an over-matched Aztec squad but looked far from perfect in doing so.

It was a gorgeous day at the Rose Bowl on Saturday. That late summer sun was beaming down onto the greatest tailgating spots in the country. We had the grill going, the beer was flowing, and everyone was pumped to get the 2009 season started.

To my surprise, the air was crystal clear. You wouldn't have known that a fire ragged around the Arroyo Seco earlier in the week if it wasn't for the massive plum of smoke off in the distance.

The success of the first few SDSU drives weren't entirely surprising, in that UCLA had no idea what to expect from this team. It was well documented that the Aztecs had closed practices and Neuheisel and his staff didn't have any film on them.

The Bruin defense really shot themselves in the foot early. Two penalties on 3rd down, including a pass interference penalty in the end zone that gave Lindley and the Aztec a fresh set of downs, kept that first drive alive. Andrew Abbott got burned deep in nickle coverage and that lead to the 2nd touchdown.

Besides those two mistakes, the defense was stout.

There were bone crushing hits by Carter and Bosworth. Yet another ATV touchdown on a blocked field goal. The record tying three picks by Rahim Moore. All of that put the exclamation point on a dominating final 3 quarters of football.

The big news of the night, however, was the offense.

Kevin Prince looked immensely poised in that first half. I was very impressed. He connected 6 of 7 times on that first drive, including a nice shuffle pass that was negated by a holding penalty. His arm strength and accuracy are huge assets for this team and something that we haven't seen in a very long time.

In the second half, Prince reminded us that he is still a red-shirt freshman.

The two interceptions were head scratches; he threw them almost directly to the defender. The confusion could be attributed to the unconventional 3-3-5 Aztec defense. A more likely answer is that he made usual freshman-in-his-first game mistakes.

The running game looked very good. Their were some great runs by Coleman, Franklin, and Knox. The 3 youngsters were explosive.

In particular, Coleman is just a beast out there. He looks like a tank rolling down the field. The last two years he hasn't had much hype compared to the other tail backs. But every Saturday, he just comes out and gains yards for this team.

The offensive line was much, much improved. There were some nice holes for the backs and Prince actually had time to go through his progression. Of course, some of that success has to be taken with a grain of salt when you consider the level of the competition.

They did look good though. Not bad considering that 3 of those guys were making their first start in the blue and gold. It's a young line with 3 sophomores, a junior, and a true freshman making up the starting unit.

In fact, it was youth all around last night. There were tons of true and redshirt freshman on the field, especially on offense. Prince, Preselly, Breuhaut, Thigpen, Carroll, Knox, Franklin, and Su'a-Filo all saw action last night.

These guys are going to be clicking as a unit in a few years.

Definitely some great moments last night. Some glimpses of the future and the possibilities it holds.

(photo credit: ESPN)

What Day Is This?

It's GAME DAY!!

It feels like an eternity since we last hit the gridiron; especially with no bowl game last year. I'm packin' up the BBQ, gathering up the peeps, and heading up to Pasadena in just a few hours.

It's going to be hot, it's going to be ashy, and I'm sure the air quality is going to be crap.

But man... I can't wait. =)

It feels like Christmas morning. It's finally here! It's GAME DAY!

Bount Force Trauma

So I was watching a football game and a boxing match broke out. Wow, I've never seen something like what happened last night during the Oregon and Boise State game:



The Ducks got whooped last night. It was embarrassing for a team that was ranked in the top-25 coming into the season. No first downs in the first half. A baffling run call back on their own 2-yard line lead to a safety. Bad coaching, ill prepared, and no heart. I'm excited to play these guys!

Not to mention the post game activities.

I'm guessing Blount gets a 3-game suspension. *

* Editor's Note: Looks like Blount got a year-long suspension. Good for Kelly. Send a message.

Fire, Fire, Go Away...

... and come again some other day. Man, these fires up in the L.A. mountains are threatening the home opener this Saturday. It looks like a decision on canceling/postponing the game will be made on Wednesday.

I don't know if I can wait another week...

2009 Preview: UCLA Offense

This will be the first of a three part series looking at the 2009 UCLA Bruins.

It's that time of year again. Arm chair analysts are out in force giving their predictions for the up coming college football season. Let me tell you, those guys don't know spit about UCLA football. They write about a hundred articles (one for every team) and I'd guess not a single one of them watched the Bruins play last year; not to mention a practice or the spring scrimmages.

That's why I like to write up my analysis of the Bruins. I may not be the most knowledgeable guy nor the best writer, but I do follow this team closely and I know how they stack up against the rest of the conference. Check in over the next month as I take an in-depth look at the Bruins and each of our opponents as well.

Offense

UCLA has an unproven quarterback. Again. The offensive line is full of inexperienced and undersized players. Again. There aren't any guys in the skill positions who can take over a game. Again. On paper, this offense isn't a whole lot different from other squads over the last three years and it is very unlikely they will take this team to the top of the conference.

What is different this season is that we have some young, skilled guys in key positions.

Most notably red shirt freshman Kevin Prince. Repeat after me: Prince is the key to the season, Prince is the key to the season, Prince is the key to the season. It really can't be stated too many times. Prince's development will go hand-in-hand with the team's ability to win.

Even though Prince is playing his first football game in nearly 3 years (he missed his entire senior season at Crespi due to injury) he brings a lot to the table. Most importantly, he is a smart player who has a firm grasp on Chow's offense. If Prince can avoid the mind-numbingly horrible decisions that Craft made last season then he'll be a huge improvement. He also seems to be a capable game manager, accurate, and mature for his age.

Of course, he's still a freshman who will make freshman mistakes. In particular, an early season game at Neyland Stadium will test his mental toughness. I'm not expecting miracles from this kid, but I do think we'll be pleased with his progress by year end.

The offensive line will also be getting some fresh faces. I fully expect talented freshman Xavier Su'a-Filo and junior college transfer Ryan Taylor to be starting on the line by the end of the season. Sophomore Jeff Baca looks to have locked up a position with his determined play last year; the staff wants him at guard but he could play tackle again if other guys don't pan out.

The center position will be anchored by Kai Maiava, who should be back from an ankle sprain sustained at the end of spring ball. Maiava had rave reviews from the bleacher bums who watched him while he sat out last season. He's reportedly tough, angry, and aggressive ... everything you want in a center.

The rest of the line, in particular the 2-deep, isn't going to scare opponents. The best I think we could hope for is to find a consistent starting 5 players. Last season, the line was shuffled so many times I lost count. They won't be a particularly good squad, especially at the start of the season, but I think we'll again be pleased with the progress come December.

The running game is still a work in progress.

The staff really likes Christian Ramirez. So much so that he sat our all of the spring with an injury and still hung onto the #1 spot. Either Ramirez is that good or the rest of the guys are just that bad. I'm going to go with the former, as I watched all the backs in the spring and came away impressed. Especially freshman Jonathan Franklin, I think he could take over the starting slot with his speed and ability to find the hole.

Chane Moline is moving to fullback to complement Trevor Theriot. Chow likes using his backs as receiving targets, so I think both could see more action this year.

The receiving corps has the most depth and consistency on the team, which is good because almost every other position lacks those characteristics.

The star, if you could call him that, will be Terrance Austin. Back from a record setting performance last year in all-around yards, Austin should take on more of a role in the passing game. His speed has always been there, but he doesn't seem to get great separation. Of course, it would help if he could team up with a quarterback who could throw him a deep ball.

I like our big, tall targets. Nelson Rosario and Gavin Ketchum are both 6'4" and give Prince some jump ball opportunities in the end zone. Taylor Embree will again be the bastion of consistency. His super sticky hands are turning him into a go-to guy on 3rd down situations. Freshman Randol Carroll could end up being the fastest player on the team.

One guy I'm really excited about is Morrell Presley. He was probably one of the hardest workers on offense this spring. He went 100 miles an hour every play, even when he was making mistakes. I looks like a combo of J.J. Stokes and Marcedes Lewis. Not a true tight end, he'll line up as an H-back this season. I'm expecting big things from him.

The rest of the tight end picture is unclear right now. If Moya and Paulsen can stay healthy then they'll be huge additions to this team. If not then we could lack some depth with only Harkey having any playing experience.

The Bottom Line

Let's face it, this is part 2 of Neuheisel's rebuilding process. This team isn't going to win a ton of games this year, even with a more favorable schedule (I'll get to that in future articles about our opponents), and the offense will struggle again.

But the good news is that we've got a lot young guys who will be racking up a ton of experience this season. It wouldn't surprise me if the offense was staring as many as 6 underclassman by the end of the season. All of that is great for the future of the program.

Renaissance Man

Remember when Brian Price lined up at full back last season? The results weren't always pretty, but one thing was evident: Brian Price is a dynamic football player. It looks like the coaches are trying to capitalize on Price's NFL talent by giving him some reps at another position as well.

According to the OC Register, Brian Price will see some action at defensive end. He is so quick and strong, I could see Price really creating some havock doing that. It will also run afoul the plans of offensive coordinators who will undoubtedly being looking to double team the Bruins best defensive player.

Rivalry Recession

Remember the good old days? You know, way back in 2008, when cars were still made in Detroit and Rick Neuheisel was the newly minted head coach in Westwood. People were excited back then and, dare I say it, optimistic.

Even though the Bruins had lost eight of their last nine games against the Trojans, there was talk that things would be changing. Some even had the audacity to believe that the days of Pete Carroll's football empire were numbered. The once dead rivalry between UCLA and USC was about to be resurrected and Neuheisel was poised to put the Bruins back on top.

Then the season started.

After watching eight losses, a school-record twenty interceptions, and a parade of overwhelmed offensive lineman, one thing became perfectly clear... Neuheisel and the Bruins were a long way from challenging USC for conference supremacy. A very long way.

The other truth was that Karl Dorrell had left the cupboard bare. UCLA was short on size, speed, and athleticism and even a dream team of assistant coaches wasn't going to turn the ship around in one season.

Not that any of this should surprise anyone who has been paying attention the last few years.

Pete Carroll has been not-so-quietly amassing a collection of all star players over at USC. When you land a top-5 recruiting class year after year, it's kind of hard not to dominate everyone in your path.

During that same time, the football program in Westwood was content to let Carroll pick the creme of the crop from southland high schools, hoping to scoop up the leftovers.

The complete trouncing that the Bruins received this past December at the hands of the Trojans pretty much sums up the state of the rivalry at that point. Outmatched, under sized, and overwhelmed, the boys in blue never really had a chance to win.

If that wasn't bad enough, the exclamation point came a few months later when eleven USC players were taken in the NFL draft. Not a single UCLA player was chosen... not even the punter.

Amidst all of this doom and gloom, there are some signs of recovery. The Bruins last two recruiting classes have been head-and-shoulders above their predecessors.

Last year's freshman and the new arrivals this fall should inject some much needed talent into the program. Impact players like Rahim Moore, Derrick Coleman, and Jeff Baca have already claimed starting roles. Redshirt freshman Kevin Prince has been named the starting quarterback and some very talented offensive lineman will be arriving this August.

In fact, I expect over half of UCLA's starters on offense to be underclassman this year.

Neuheisel has finally brought a little competition back to the recruiting trail as well. He managed to steal some of Carroll's thunder this past February when he convinced two highly regarded USC recruits to switch their allegiance to UCLA.

Wide receiver Randall Carroll and H-back Morrell Presley were much needed additions to the latest Bruins class. Presley has already impressed the coaches this spring with his intensity and Carroll is one of the fastest high school seniors in the state. Both have the potential to be big time play makers.

The Bruins will continue to rebuild this season while the Trojans reload with another round of Parade All Americans. The results on the gridiron may not be markedly different from last year but give it some time. Like declining global economies, football programs take a while to turn around.

If anyone is going to bring life back to this rivalry it is Rick Neuheisel and all he needs is a few more stocked recruiting classes. Well, that or an NFL program with lots of money, no head coach, and Pete Carroll's cell phone number. Whichever comes first.

More Transfers Coming?

Message boards were chattering yesterday with rumors of more transfers coming. According to one poster:

Another top running back--will surprise a lot of people, several linemen, and a top young linebacker [will transfer].

it's not a group defection so each player will announce as he finalizes details. There are seven guys that I have names for--but I got this information from some active FB guys and they asked me not to mention any names until the young men decide to make it public--I'm guessing they need to tell their relatives and such--and perhaps in a couple of the cases determine final destinations. What was stunning to me was not the bulk of them--these made perfect sense when you look at the most talented new recruits and the guys who most struggled--what stunned was that two of the guys "seemed" to have bright futures-

Hard to say if there is any validity to this information, but we do know that at least a few more players must be off of scholarship for UCLA to be within the NCAA mandated 85 scholarship limit. So some guys will likely be encouraged to transfer.

We should hear some announcement soon.

Second Scrimmage of the Spring

So I finally got out to Spaulding field today. I was standing in the south parking lot with a number of other Bruin fans and we had a front-and-center view of the action. It was a tough evening for the offense and probably our best lineman went down with injury. A sign of things to come or merely growing pains for a young team? I sure hope it is the later.

I saw Kevin Prince for the first time tonight and came away impressed. During the warm-ups and 7-7's he definitely had the most "zip" to his passes. His passes got to the receiver fast, were accurate, and he has the best throwing motion of all the guys out there. He can throw the ball down field too as his arm strength is better than any UCLA quarterback in recent memory.

Brehaut looks like he has a lot of potential as well. He isn't as polished as Prince, but I think he can scramble better and is a bit more athletic. He was mainly running with the second team during the scrimmage so it is hard to judge how well he would preform against a tougher defense. But I liked the way he played and he's a real competitor.

Kevin Craft had a tough day. After Prince and Breahaut took the first two series, Craft was given a chance to run the offense. His first throw was picked off. This of course elicited a round of groans from us fans standing on the parking structure. He was immediately yanked from the field but got back out there later in the scrimmage. Right away, his second pass was almost picked off and would have been intercepted if the defender had hung onto the ball. I think Kevin pretty much confirmed that he won't be seeing the field this season.

The passing game was not good today. Not good at all. There were three or four balls batted down. Receivers were dropping passes. The quarterbacks, as a group, were really struggling. Prince, who looked really sharp in the warm-ups and 7-7's, ended up throwing two late interceptions. The pass protection was poor and that surely didn't help. I counted at least 5 sacks.

On the other side was the running game. Which I thought was pretty good. What really impressed me was the three freshman: Knox, Dean, and Franklin.

Franklin, who got reps with the 1st and 2nd string offense, is a quick dude. He cranked out a couple of really nice runs and he looked explosive getting through the holes. He really fights hard for those extra yards and I like him a lot. I think he could see some significant minutes this season.

Dean really showed some of that raw talent that intrigued us fans during his recruitment. He was a tough runner tonight as he bulldozed his way through the line. He carried the team forward during one of his series and punched the ball into the end zone for touch down. It was good to see him get some success on the field.

I finally got to see Knox play in a UCLA uniform. Man, it is hard not to think of Mo Drew when you see him. He looks so much like him. He even runs like Maurice, and he pin-balled out of a pile on one play and bounced it to the outside for a gain instead of a loss. He was tough to bring down, all be it with the 3rd string defense, and he had probably the flashiest runs of the day.

The receivers didn't have too many great plays tonight. Seeing Presely for the first time was fun. That guy is skinny as a rake but you can see that he has huge upside. He was running with the 1st string for much of the practice and had some nice receptions during the 7-on7's. Chris Forcier got out there a bit and even caught a TD pass from Craft; he made a nice move and juked the defender out of his socks. He has great speed and it would be great to see him out on the field in some way. The players must feel the same way as everyone went out of their way to congratulate him after the TD reception.

I have to say I didn't focus much on the defense. They played well, as you would expect. One interesting thing was Andrew Abbott(#26) ended up getting two late interceptions on Prince. I had to go look him up because I didn't recognize his number. He played well today as I think he broke up at least one other play. Maybe he'll see the field this season?

Another interesting play was on a run by Knox. He ran into a pile, bounced around, and ran back a few yards and to his left. He had nothing but open field in the flat and some blockers to guide the way. Knox is a fast dude and I thought for sure he was going to take it to the house. But he was caught from behind, after just a few yards, by Courtney Viney. It was a really nice defensive play.

The biggest news of the day was Kai Maiava getting injured. He went down on a run near the end of the scrimmage. He was in a lot of pain and the trainers came out to check on him. He sat on the ground for a long time, grimacing. He was helped off the field and didn't put any weight on his left foot. It looked like an ankle sprain. Not good.

So, all in all, it was a fun time out at Spaulding. The running game looked better than I expected but I left disappointed about how the quarterbacks played. I'm sure it is a combination of a lot of things, including the defense being familiar with our play book, but this offense still has a long ways to go before the start of the season.

Can't wait for the spring game next Saturday!