Tale of two practices:
It started out as a fairly energized practice for UCLA with most players doing a solid job staying active and disciplined. But as the day wore on, mental errors started compounding, leading to poor results and several substitutions. In coach Rick Neuheisel’s post-practice pep talk, he ripped the team for their effort and eventually exclaimed, “I can’t be the only one who cares!”
“I don’t know if it was the heat, or we were tired, or we’re not eating during the day, but we were not as sharp as they needed to be,” Neuheisel said. “They need to know that we need better than that if we’re going to be a good football team.”
For the drills, most players looked hungry and energetic. Redshirt sophomore middle linebacker Isaiah Bowens stuck out, showing good lateral movement and athleticism. He may be the best pure athlete in the linebacking corps.
Quarterback update:
Junior quarterback Richard Brehaut had a great day throwing the ball in drills and he was perfect on deep balls. Freshman quarterback Brett Hundley, who earned the majority of the second team throws, showed that he probably has the strongest arm on the team. This hurt him on a few balls that were overthrown, but there’s no question he has a cannon.
Redshirt junior quarterback Kevin Prince made his return to practice and was off on a lot of his throws. He missed on four consecutive passes on 20-yard post routes, and later on in 11-on-11 red zone drills, Prince threw a ball into double coverage and was intercepted by sophomore safety Dietrich Riley. Neuheisel was still pleased with his performance after practice though.
“He did fine and he’ll be much better tomorrow,” Neuheisel said of Prince. “He’ll be ready to go ““ he’ll be available. I’m not sure how much he’ll play yet, but there’s no question he’ll be available.”
Neuheisel would not say if Brehaut would be the starter, but it would be a surprise if he wasn’t.
Receivers catching on:
In the drills, the wide receivers caught pretty much every catchable ball including some that were not great throws. Freshman wide receiver Devin Lucien had one great route in 11-on-11 drills in the red zone where Brehaut fit a ball between three defenders to find Lucien in the back of the end zone ““ screaming from defensive coordinator Joe Tresey ensued.
Redshirt junior tight end Joseph Fauria saw a lot of balls thrown his way, which would be expected coming off a six catch, 110-yard receiving day against Houston.
Holding down the line:
The offensive line had a good first half of practice with the return of redshirt junior tackle Jeff Baca. Baca is arguably UCLA’s best lineman and he could see some action this week against San Jose State.
“Baca looks good and we’ll see if he’s ready to go at game time,” Neuheisel said. “I think he can play but I don’t think we could ask him to play the whole game ““ he hasn’t had the conditioning for that ““ but he can play some.”
As the practice wore on, there were more false starts and missed assignments that Neuheisel stressed needed to be fixed by game time. Redshirt sophomore guard Greg Capella took over for suspended center Kai Maiava and did okay in his stead. There was one bad snap and Neuheisel immediately removed him and put in freshman center Jake Brendel.