With an unprecedented double-bye week, the Bruins have plenty of
time on their hands before facing No. 1 USC at the Rose Bowl on
Dec. 4. The consecutive off-weeks left coach Karl Dorrell wondering
what to do with all that time. “I’ve never had three
weeks off anywhere I’ve been,” Dorrell said.
“I’ve had to talk to some of my coaching colleagues who
have been in similar situations to this on what they’ve done
in their history. It’s a challenging task.” Taking so
much time off can potentially have adverse effects. “The
other flip side of having three weeks off is you’re not
playing. There are some timing issues. You want the production that
you’ve been doing and the level of things you’ve been
doing from a week to week basis.” However, there are definite
benefits to the layoff period. One of the advantages of the long
break will be to heal the lengthy list of injuries that have
plagued the team the past several weeks. In order to beat the
Trojans, UCLA will need to be at full strength, particularly
needing the services of a healthy Maurice Drew and Marcedes Lewis
along with several key defensive players like safety Jarrad Page.
“We’re taking it like this is a good thing,”
safety Ben Emanuel II said. “We’re getting guys healed
up. We’re taking time to get better at the small things and
also taking an extra week of preparation.” “It’s
exactly what I think we needed at this point in the season, and
we’re trying to make it work in a positive way, ” he
added. The Bruins are also utilizing this time to work on
individual fundamentals and position skills to the point where
practices are resembling training sessions. “It’s nice
to get back to the fundamental stuff,” quarterback Drew Olson
said. “It’s kind of like spring ball. We can come out
here and have a little fun, get back to basics and
fundamentals.” Still, the double-bye week offers the
challenges of keeping the intensity and momentum rolling for three
straight weeks. The team will continue focusing on fundamental work
and won’t start implementing a game plan until late this week
or early next week. “It’s a chance for us to focus on
those little things,” Dorrell said. “We were in shells
today, and when we put more pads on, the intensity goes up that
much more.”
INJURY REPORT: Page has a mild hamstring strain
and did not practice Tuesday, but he should be ready to go later
this week … Emanuel also sat out with a bruised foot that he
sustained late in the Oregon game … Tight-end Marcedes Lewis
continues to be plagued by a bruised tailbone but will be more
mobile later this week … The swelling has ceased on tailback
Maurice Drew’s ankle, but he is still sore, Dorrell said …
Linebacker Benjamin Lorier and tailback Derrick Williams were still
not cleared to practice after each sustained concussions this
weekend … Linebacker Dan Nelson will likely not be ready to play
in UCLA’s bowl game since his broken clavicle will probably
not have healed in time.