Coming into Saturday’s UCLA football scrimmage, the focus was undoubtedly on the Bruins’ offense, particularly the play of redshirt freshman quarterback Kevin Prince.
The UCLA coaching staff wanted to see a stellar or at least acceptable performance out of the newly appointed QB.
Did they get it? That is still to be determined.
Although Prince ended the scrimmage with a less than impressive performance statistically (9-19 passing, 1 interception, which was returned for a touchdown, and 1 rushing touchdown), it is hard to say if it was a result of his own poor play or the magnificent play of the first-team defense.
Either way, coach Rick Neuheisel still wants a greater level of consistency out of his young quarterback.
“I don’t think that (Prince) has played consistently in scrimmage opportunities yet,” Neuheisel said after the scrimmage. “We’re getting ready to play a game and we need more consistency out of him. That’s just the nature of the beast. … We’ve all seen what he’s capable on the practice field, we just have to get it out of him.”
Another possible reason for Prince’s subpar showing on Saturday could be the presence of an extremely young and inexperienced offensive line.
Within the first five plays of the scrimmage, there was significant penetration from the defensive line, particularly from junior tackle Brian Price, who looked unstoppable in his short amount of playing time.
“I think I was disappointed early,” said Norm Chow, the Bruins’ offensive coordinator. “I thought they didn’t play like they should. But they got better as the game progressed. We’ll have to see when we look at the tape.”
Neuheisel echoed the notions of his offensive coordinator, saying he believes that his offensive line is in desperate need of experience.
“They just have to play,” Neuheisel said. “They have to communicate and deal with adversity without coaches out there pushing them along. Tonight was an example of how much further we have to go. We still have a lot of work to do.”
One bright spot on the offensive side of the ball was redshirt freshman tailback Johnathan Franklin, who tallied 99 yards on just six carries, including a 60-yard run which he capped off with a touchdown. Albeit Franklin competed mainly against the second-team defense, he still showed flashes of brilliance with his cutback ability and elusiveness.
“I thought Johnathan Franklin had a nice night,” Neuheisel said. “(He) has worked his tail off.”
Redshirt junior Christian Ramirez, who earned the position of starting tailback during the offseason, left the scrimmage early due to an ankle sprain that Neuheisel said was “mild.”
As for Price and the first-team UCLA defense, they did not disappoint.
Price, an L.A. native, saw limited action but was still able to leave his mark on the scrimmage and give UCLA fans a taste of what lies ahead for him this season.
In approximately 10-15 plays, Price tallied two tackles for a loss and one pass deflection. It seemed that the UCLA offensive line had no answer for the junior tackle, as he got into the backfield almost at will.
After the scrimmage, Price was adamant about anchoring a strong UCLA defense this season and understands his role is to make big plays.
“That’s what I bank on,” Price said. “If I make plays, then the whole defense will get going, and I count on myself to make those plays and get people going.”
Although he completely ran through the Bruins’ inexperienced line, Price gave the young bunch credit for improving throughout the offseason.
“They’re pretty good,” Price said. “They took a big leap from last year. They’re working as one unit now.”
But when asked about the defense’s dominance during the scrimmage, Price was quick to remind that defense comes first.
“We like to keep this as a defensive school,” Price joked.
In addition to Price’s strong efforts, sophomore free safety Rahim Moore also showed what he was capable of, intercepting a Prince pass and returning it 37 yards for the scrimmage’s first score.
“I feel like experience won today,” Neuheisel said. “We were more experienced on defense and the first-team defense won the competition with our first-team offense.”