Monday’s UCLA spring football practice was sprinkled with a moderate amount of hitting and a whole lot of yelling.
After the coaches broke out the pads over the weekend, the tackling continued Monday afternoon at Spaulding Field and practice started to look a little more like a game.
When sophomore-to-be running back Derrick Coleman cut left, bounced to the outside and broke into the open field, his teammates broke into a round of cheers.
When a Bruin lineman tipped a pass and sophomore-to-be Glenn Love came up with the interception from his strong safety position, a roar erupted.
And anytime a Bruin made a tackle, there were whistles and repetitive shouts of “let it go” from the coaching staff trying to make sure no one got injured.
It was a much different picture from last Thursday, when players were wearing shorts and T-shirts.
“It feels good,” cornerback Alterraun Verner said of hitting again. “It’s a feeling you kind of lose a little bit. When you do off-season stuff, you don’t have gear on. But it’s all fun. The energy out here is all fun.”
In one of the Bruins’ first practices with pads and full contact, both sides executed play after play with energy according to UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel.
“I think they are doing well,” he said. “I’m excited about them wanting to be in pads, and play and be physical.”
Defensive tackle Brian Price was back to old ways clogging the holes for the group of Bruin running backs competing for the starting job. He said it felt good to really get going again and that everyone on the field is competitive despite the fact that it is only spring.
“Aw no, no brotherly love out here,” Price said. “Only on the field is where we go up against each other. But off the field we treat each other like brothers.”
QUARTERBACK UPDATE: Once again, freshman quarterback Kevin Prince got the majority of the reps in practice.
Although Neuheisel joked there were “at least 15 things he did wrong today,” he admitted that Price has been the most impressive thus far.
“He’s got the strongest arm frankly,” Neuheisel said. “The ball jumps off his hand and it gets there. And he’s as accurate as anyone on the field. We’re making plays on throws that were not automatics last year. It looks to me like they are coming with more regularity at least early in the camp.”
QUICK HITS: Rising sophomore quaterback-turned-wide receiver Chris Foricer was not at practice on Monday due to sickness. … Senior-to-be fullback Chane Moline tweaked his hamstring and will be out of practice the rest of the week according to Neuheisel. … There will be what Neuheisel called a “contextual scrimmage” near the end of tomorrow’s practice, which is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m. at Spaulding Field.