Marcus Reese thought tight ends, kickoff and punt team coach
Gary Bernardi was kidding when he said he was going to put Reese in
to the punt team at the Cal game.
“Next thing you know I blocked a punt,” the senior
middle linebacker said.
No joke.
Reese played on the punt team last year, but had not been on it
this year prior to the Cal game because of injuries. He is
currently leading the team with 52 tackles.
“Call it luck, I don’t know what it is. I just hit
the hole and try to beat the guy with speed. Anytime somebody
blocks a kick it is blown coverage,” said Reese, who has been
blocking punts since high school.
Bernardi repeated his success later in the same game, getting
sophomore free safety Matt Ware in to block yet another punt. Both
big plays gave the UCLA offense a short field, on which they could
not capitalize either time.
While UCLA is blocking kicks regularly, it is ninth in the
Pac-10 in kickoff coverage, giving up 23.1 yards per return. The
Bruins’ punt and kickoff returns have improved from last
year. Redshirt freshman Tyler Ebell is fourth in the Pac-10 in punt
returns with a 12.4 average while junior wide receiver Tab Perry is
second in the conference with a 24.1 kickoff return average.
“I was pleased with some returns, but I wasn’t
pleased with a couple penalties we had,” UCLA head coach Bob
Toledo said. “I think Nate (Fikse) is trying to pooch punt
and it is getting him out of his rhythm a little bit.”
UCLA’s performance on field goals is no laughing matter,
however.
Their struggles may have started with the blocked field goal
returned for a touchdown at Oregon State. The problem became even
more obvious when UCLA lost to Oregon 31-30 after the Ducks blocked
a low extra point kick and the Bruins missed a 46-yard field goal
attempt at the end of the game.
Griffith missed a 21-yard field goal attempt at Cal.
UCLA ranks last in the Pac-10 in field goals, making 53.3
percent of its attempts.
Only Fikse kicked field goals with the whole unit on Monday and
Tuesday, and Toledo is leading towards Fikse as Saturday’s
contest with Stanford approaches.
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Freshman quarterback Matt Moore took the majority of snaps in
practice yesterday, but Toledo said freshman Drew Olson could start
Saturday against Stanford if Olson is 100 percent healthy.
Olson, the Bruins’ backup quarterback when the season
began, left last Saturday’s game against Cal with a separated
shoulder. Moore has not seen any game action this season.
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In the Bruins’ three losses this season the defense forced
no turnovers and the offense committed seven. Against Cal the three
turnovers came off of two quarterback fumbles, both of which Cal
scored off of on the ensuing drive, and an interception.
“In the Oregon game we knocked it out twice and they
landed on it, and that happened again in the Cal game,” said
Ware, who has one interception on the season.
“Part of that is luck and part of it is being in the right
position, doing the things you’re taught.”
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Matt Ware practiced free safety with the second team Monday
because sophomore safety Jibril Raymo is out with a separated
shoulder. Ware expects to start at corner this weekend. Sophomore
wide receiver Craig Bragg did not practice due to a sore leg.
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Stanford QB Chris Lewis, who left last week’s game with
Arizona because of an injury, will start on Saturday.