Not even a mother could love Noel Mazzone’s playcalling. UCLA’s offensive coordinator joked after Wednesday’s football practice that only his mom and dog currently like him at moment, presumably referring to the criticisms that figure to be leveled at the playcaller behind an offense that has scored 24 points in two weeks. Mazzone went on to specify that his mother’s admiration is closer to lukewarm, given her son’s propensity to change TV channels and dial up plays that have shied away from taking strikes down the field.
Mazzone was open with his praise for a makeshift Bruins offensive line that he said responded to a tough situation at No. 2 Oregon with an admirable effort. When asked about the performance of first-time starter Scott Quessenberry, Mazzone elaborated that the left guard displays a football IQ beyond his experience.
“He’s a football guy, he gets it … he’s making calls and adjustments during the game and I (said) ‘wow,’ pretty impressive for a kid who’s only been with us for a week.”
Formerly a center, Quessenberry could be seen pointing out looks in the Oregon defense. He said that his experience calling signals as the middle of an offensive line helped to build a trust with starting redshirt sophomore Jake Brendel, UCLA’s starting center.
Mazzone said that watching the game film against Oregon excited him and redshirt sophomore quarterback Brett Hundley, whose offensive coordinator knows the importance of feeling comfortable with blockers who, although young, are doing their jobs well.
“It’s a trust factor, trusting those guys in front. Being well-coached, understanding that you have to hang in the pocket and make some throws down the field. And if there’s a lack of trust, you see it in all levels (of football) … maybe we jump out of the pocket a little sooner than we should,” Mazzone said.
A feeling of reliability between freshman guards Caleb Benenoch and Alex Redmond has taken hold on the right side of the line. According to Benenoch, both first-year starters demonstrated similar poise in lining up in Oregon’s Autzen Stadium, which the NCAA named as the second-loudest college football venue in the country.
“We played the No. 2 team in the country last week, at Oregon, (against) some of the best players preparing for the draft, and we just go out and play,” Benenoch said. “Situations don’t get too big for us, because it doesn’t really click to us that we’re doing this … we just go out there, play our asses off, and have fun with it.”
Hundley’s blueprint for the eventful
UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley has had an October like no other. He ran for, threw and caught a touchdown against Utah, left plays on the field in a career-best with a 410-yard effort against Cal, and then suffered a brutal two-game stretch against Stanford and Oregon that saw Hundley throw half of his eight interceptions on the season and the UCLA offense produce just one touchdown drive without the aid of a turnover or blocked punt.
The October plot seemed to thicken for Hundley on Wednesday, when Jason Cole of the National Football Post reported that the signal caller’s representatives contacted Roc Nation Sports, an agency owned by rapping mogul Shawn Carter, more popularly known as Jay-Z. Alleged talks between the parties concerned the possibility of Carter serving as Hundley’s agent, if the quarterback is to leave UCLA for the NFL draft in April 2014.
Discussions, by themselves, between Hundley and Carter would not result in punishment from the NCAA. “It is not a violation of NCAA rules if a student-athlete merely talks to an agent (as long as an agreement for agent representation is not established) or socializes with an agent. For example, a student-athlete could go to dinner with an agent and no NCAA violations would result if the student-athlete provided his own transportation and paid for his meal,” the NCAA bylaws state.
Brett Hundley Sr., the father of the UCLA quarterback, denied the National Football Post report in a text message to BruinSportsReport.com.