Coach Rick Neuheisel held his weekly press conference today. As expected, Neuheisel continued to repeat his mantra of being "relentlessly positive" and that he is excited about the improvement he has seen from game to game.
"We certainly have things to improve upon, but we’re eager to have the opportunity to do just that, improve," Neuheisel said. "There was improvement from last week. The effort in practice last week we saw improvement, during the game. And while it didn’t result in victory, the effort was such that it easily could have been victory, and now we just need to kind of punch the door down and find ways to win. We’re not into moral victories at UCLA; don’t mean to intimate that. I do see us going in the right direction and I more importantly see great effort from the young men in terms of coming to work, being attentive, giving the effort and the intensity that you need to improve."
Here are some more highlights from the press conference:
– Neuheisel likened Washington State to his program here at UCLA. Like the Bruins, the Cougars have a new coach in Paul Wulff, and have had to overcome injuries, especially at the quarterback position. Yet Neuheisel was quick to point out that despite what thus far has been a disappointing season for the Cougars (1-4, 0-2 Pac-10), they will come into the Rose Bowl ready to play.
"They’ll come in here and fight, and sometimes when things are stuggling, it’s sometimes an advantage to go on the road, frankly, just because you can kind of circle the wagons with your team," Neuheisel said. "So we expect a great effort from them and it’ll take a great effort from us to try and like I said kick in the door and find victory. But that’s what we’re excited about to go on out and getting done."
– Neuheisel was impressed with the Bruins’ ability to run the ball on Saturday. The Bruins gained 234 yards on 38 attempts. The leading rusher for the Bruins was freshman Derrick Coleman, who had 86 yards on 10 carries. Senior Kahlil Bell returned from an ankle injury and carried the ball 20 times for 73 yards, including two touchdowns.
– Another player who received praise from Neuheisel was quarterback Kevin Craft. In Saturday’s game, Craft completed 11-of-20 passes for 150 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions. He also was able to make some plays with his legs, gaining 46 yards on the ground.
"I thought that he played within himself, he made good decisions leaving the pocket, when to tuck it and when to look for somebody down field."
– The defense has received a lot of criticism for its inability to get the Fresno State offense off the field on the final drive of the game. Neuheisel said that the unit needs to improve getting the opponent off the field on third down and to avoid giving up the big play.
– Center Micah Reed suffered an MCL sprain in his left knee. Neuheisel hopes to gave him back too. Reed can also play left guard, as he played the position last season.
– Wide receiver Marcus Everett will return to practice this week.
– Linebacker Kyle Bosworth is still "a ways away" according to Neuheisel. Kyle’s brother, defensive end Korey, suffered a hyper-extended elbow but will practice this week and should play Saturday.
– Chane Moline will play fullback in place of Trevor Theriot, who is out for the season with a torn ACL.
– Neuheisel has been impressed with the play of center Jake Dean. Dean replaced Reed during the BYU game, and has started the past two games.
"I don’t like to say surprise because we have confidence in all these kids, but it’s been a relief for us because when you get pushed into a second center, there’s always the concern are we going to be able to handle the snaps, going to be able to handle all that stuff," Neuheisel said. "For him to go in there and play like he’s been able to play since the point in the BYU game where Micah went down, I couldn’t say enough good things about him."