After a hiatus that lasted nearly four months, the UCLA football team is back on the gridiron.
The eager Bruins returned to Spaulding Field on Monday to begin their preparation for the 2009 season.
And although trees around campus have yet to start shedding leaves, the sound of helmets banging against one another gives a clear indication that fall is just around the corner.
“There’s no better feeling than being on a football field,” senior cornerback Alterraun Verner said. “It’s been a long time coming.”
In an effort to create more reps for his relatively young squad, coach Rick Neuheisel turned to something he used to do while he coached at Washington ““ splitting Monday’s three-hour practice session in two groups. The first group took the field at around 3 p.m., while the second group arrived about an hour and a half later.
“When you split your roster up, you’re never going to look as sharp as you probably would like to,” Neuheisel said. “When you’re dealing with as many young players and inexperienced players as we have, then it’s worth the sacrifice of tempo and having everybody out there with experience.”
The two separate sessions allow the coaches to give younger players the attention they need in order to learn quickly, Neuheisel added.
“To me, it’s the right way to do it,” he said.
Neuheisel plans on doing the same in the next few days. Players will practice in full pads beginning on Friday afternoon.
“I’m just ready to put the helmet back on and get after it,” Verner said.
SPEED IS IN: A pair of highly touted speedsters took the field for the first time on Monday.
If their first practice was any indication, Neuheisel has two more viable options to choose from.
The two speedy freshmen ““ wide receiver Randall Carroll and running back Damien Thigpen ““ had the opportunity to showcase their running abilities during the second practice session.
“I was very impressed with Randall Carroll as a pass-catcher,” Neuheisel said. “There was a knock that maybe he didn’t have the great hands. I thought he caught the ball really well.”
Carroll believed that proved that there is more to him than just his legs.
“I’ve improved (my catching) a lot,” Carroll said. “My catching ability never was low, but people just thought I was a fast receiver and didn’t really catch much.”
Perhaps Carroll’s vast array of accomplishments made people overlook other aspects of his game. The 18-year-old Carroll is mostly known for his game-breaking speed. Three months ago, he ran a blazing 10.30 in the 100-meter event ““ the fastest time in California in 17 years. Carroll won the 100m and 200m CIF state track titles in both 2008 and 2009.
But Carroll, who was clocked at a blistering 4.31 seconds in the 40m dash earlier in the day, said that practice was faster than he anticipated.
“The game speed in high school is slower,” he said. “I was a lot faster and didn’t have to work as hard. Now I have to run full-speed every play to do something.”
Thigpen, a Virginia native who was named a track All-American in the 300m hurdles last season, also noticed the difference.
“I was a little nervous to begin with,” Thigpen said. “It’s faster, but it has a lot more to do with than just speed. It’s about technique and knowing your plays.”
BACK TO THE FUTURE: Fans attending this season’s homecoming game Nov. 7 against Washington will revert more than 40 years because the UCLA football team plans to wear throwback jerseys for the first time. Neuheisel unveiled the powder blue jerseys from 1967 at the team’s annual Football Media Day on Monday.
QUICK HITS: Neuheisel said that he liked the way freshman offensive linemen Xavier Su’a-Filo and Stanley Hasiak, along with other linemen, moved. The duo, which is expected to compete for starting positions, practiced with the first-team offense for parts of Monday’s first session.
“They’re dying to be good,” Neuheisel said. “¦ Freshman tight end Morrell Presley limped his way through a few catching drills, but he said it was a nonissue. He acknowledged that he should have stretched longer before practice. “¦ After being named the starting quarterback at the conclusion of Spring Practice, redshirt freshman Kevin Prince said that he is focused on leaving no doubt during Fall Camp.
Neuheisel said, “He’s got to show that he’s the guy.”