So this is the column where I predict the Bruin football team’s record this season and I’ll do it immediately: seven wins, five losses, and a victory in a lower-level bowl game.
But don’t get so hung up on that.
I realize, things tend to move fast at UCLA. Maybe its the 10-week quarter system; students are always switching schedules and activities and jobs. The pace is hectic. Students want to see a winner now ““ not down the road.
The problem is that college football is a different thing altogether. Teams do not improve quickly. The regional hierarchies shift slowly if at all, and the national hierarchy barely shifts ever. As such, it’s a little naive to demand dramatic success from UCLA this year. It is a team with a second-year coaching staff, a redshirt freshman quarterback and possibly the most inexperienced offensive line in the Pac-10 conference.
Rick Neuheisel, the team’s second-year coach, thinks things are on the right track. That’s mostly based on the recruits he has signed to play here, the faith he has in his coordinators and assistants, and on his own optimism. If he is right, his team should be a legitimate contender in 2010 or 2011.
For the Bruins to get to that point, however, certain things need to happen this season. Those key areas are specific ways to gauge the success UCLA football this year and determine if the Bruins are indeed on the right track, as Neuheisel has said.
First and foremost is the play of Kevin Prince.
Neuheisel and offensive coordinator Norm Chow have chosen to take a calculated risk and hand the starting quarterback job to Prince, a 19-year-old redshirt freshman. Like any first-time starter, Prince could flounder. The UCLA coaches, however, say they have seen flashes of excellence from Prince and haven’t wavered since naming him starter this spring.
Prince should be considered as a long-term investment; the coaches’ risk in starting him now could bring a great reward later. If Prince can pilot the offense and limit costly turnovers, he’ll have ample opportunity to learn. And with three years of eligibility remaining after this season, that means the Bruins will be more or less solidified at the quarterback position for the near future.
The same type of long-term logic applies to the Bruins’ offensive line, where the question is pretty simple: can UCLA develop an offensive lineman?
Former head coach Karl Dorrell and his staff struggled in this facet. It’s blatantly clear now ““ there are no former UCLA offensive linemen playing for NFL teams and none has been drafted since 1999. That’s pretty astonishing for UCLA, which produced Outland Trophy-winners Kris Farris and Jonathan Ogden in the 1990s.
Offensive line coach Bob Palcic has a new chance; the freshmen class is stocked with talented linemen, especially Stanley Hasiak and Xavier Su’a-Filo. UCLA needs these young linemen to improve throughout the year; their play will be an indicator of UCLA’s trajectory as a football program.
Development really is the theme here, if we’re talking about the long-term. For the first time in several years, there is an abundance of potential NFL-talent on this campus. The key is whether the staff can coach the talent quickly and efficiently and produce a winning team next year or the year after, a team that contends for Pac-10 titles and maintains a spot in the BCS conversation.
It’s a good idea to keep an eye on these NFL-talents. Like Prince, Hasiak and Su’a-Filo, they are very significant to the bigger picture of UCLA football. Here are a few more:
““ Sophomore outside linebacker Akeem Ayers
““ True freshman wide receiver Randall Carroll
““ Sophomore wide receiver Taylor Embree
““ Sophomore safety Rahim Moore
Those standouts are central to the Bruins’ rebuilding process. Obviously, the true stars of this year’s team will be upperclassmen like cornerback Alterruan Verner, defensive tackle Brian Price, linebacker Reggie Carter, and wide receiver Terrence Austin. With that core of leadership, the Bruins could be a factor in this year’s Pac-10. I wouldn’t rule it out.
Still, I think the best way to evaluate the Bruins this year is to consider both their overall record and those pieces of the puzzle that will be especially important to the team’s future.
E-mail Allen at sallen@media.ucla.edu.