Rick Neuheisel has repeated ad nauseum that he has two quarterbacks, so where does that leave Brett Hundley?
The Bruins’ most heralded recruit in the class of 2011 left high school early to join UCLA in spring practice and immerse himself in the playbook. But just before a three-way quarterback competition could start in the fall, the true freshman was sidelined by knee surgery required to fix an injury he suffered playing basketball, leaving only Kevin Prince and Richard Brehaut as Neuheisel’s options at the position.
A quarter of the way through the season, Hundley has had to sit and watch Prince and Brehaut both win and lose the starting quarterback spot with nary a mention of his name, apart from what Neuheisel calls “a small package” involving Hundley that has yet to be seen.
“I think I’m ready to play but it’s all up to the coaches,” Hundley said. “I trust Neuheisel as a head coach. That’s why I came here. There are still some things I’m learning but I’m coming along well so when my number’s called, I’ll be ready to get out there and show what I can do.”
Neuheisel said in his Monday press conference that Hundley not having a fall camp, “where you have the luxury of reps,” was disappointing, and that asking Hundley to play right now would be too much. So the possibility of a redshirt season remains.
But it wasn’t so long ago that Neuheisel had another highly touted freshman quarterback recruit as his third option, and decided to show him the field. That was Brehaut in 2009, and the decision to burn his redshirt year is one Neuheisel still takes heat for. Stuck behind Prince and then-senior Kevin Craft, Brehaut saw playing time sparingly starting in the season opener, and finished with 17 pass attempts in six games.
Hundley said that there wasn’t a specific point in the season where he would accept the redshirt year, but he wants to avoid wasting a year of playing time.
“You don’t want to waste a year on three or four games,” he said. “I couldn’t say an exact number of games but you get the feel of when is the right time not to play if you haven’t played yet.”
Injury notes
—Offensive lineman Sean Sheller underwent surgery on his broken left forearm Tuesday morning, and will miss the remainder of the year. Sheller, who was awarded a sixth year of eligibility in January, was injured in Saturday’s loss to Texas and the injury ends his college career.
—Redshirt freshman kicker Kip Smith (hip flexor) dressed out for Tuesday’s practice, but did not kick.
—Senior transfer cornerback Jamie Graham (knee) lightly ran, but did not dress out. Neuheisel expects him to be in pads next week.
—Senior safety Tony Dye was once again in a red no-contact jersey. Neuheisel added that Dye is nursing “stingers.”
—Neuheisel said that redshirt freshman cornerback Anthony Jefferson is now eight weeks removed from back surgery and could begin running next week.