Sophomore linebacker John Hale and redshirt freshman defensive
tackle Jess Ward were suspended from the first game of the season
against Utah on Sept. 2, UCLA football coach Karl Dorrell announced
on Tuesday. Hale and Ward were suspended after they pled no contest
to charges of misdemeanor assault stemming from an altercation at
the home of Ward’s parents. Both players received 36 months
of informal probation and were forced to pay a $130 fine. Hale and
Ward are suspended from the game, but not the team. They will
continue to participate in fall camp and practice with the team,
according to Dorrell. Hale was projected to be a starter for the
opener, while Ward was expected to help back up at defensive
tackle. How much this will affect the team remains to be seen.
Already, the linebacker corps was one of the more inexperienced and
questionable units on the team. With the loss of Hale for the
opener, someone from the second unit of redshirt junior Aaron
Whittington, redshirt freshman Reggie Carter and sophomore Kyle
Bosworth will have to step up. Dorrell is confident that one of
them will. “We will have a definite player in there when
it’s time to play,” Dorrell said. “We’re
not gonna play with 10, we’ll find that 11th guy.”
LINEBACKER DEPTH: The other projected starters
at linebacker are redshirt senior Eric McNeal and redshirt junior
Christian Taylor. McNeal is a converted safety and Taylor came into
the UCLA program as a walk-on before winning a scholarship, but
along with Hale, it appears they have the starting spots locked up.
Behind them, however, is a lot of inexperience. “Reggie
Carter looks good, looks like he’s grasping things pretty
well,” Dorrell said. “We’ve got a lot of good
young prospects there. There’s so much inexperience there in
general. “The competitions’s pretty close. It’s a
good young position, it just doesn’t have a whole lot of
experience.” Carter is one of those talented, inexperienced
players. He has wowed the coaches with his overall ability, but has
not shown the consistency needed of a starting linebacker. “I
think I’m progressing as far as knowing my playbook and
knowing my assignment and knowing what I need to do out
there,” Carter said. “(To improve) I’ve got to
just stay in my playbook and stay aggressive.” Taylor, for
one, feels that any reports of this linebacking unit being weak are
premature. “We’re really excited about the
defense,” Taylor said. “We’re gonna be good. We
did have a lot of game experience. We definitely learned (last
year).Skills we learned with the old coaches are helping us with
the new coaches.”
INJURY REPORT: Senior wide receiver Joe Cowan
suffered a left knee injury during practice on Tuesday. Dorrell
defined it as a “sprain” and Cowan went to the hospital
to get an MRI. Dorrell said it did not appear to be serious. Cowan
is expected to be one of the starters at wide receiver this year,
along with junior Marcus Everett. Redshirt junior fullback Jimmy
Stephens’ knee injury will continue to keep him out until at
least next week.