It’s on.
Coach Jim Mora confirmed Monday that UCLA football will play a live game during Saturday’s Spring Showcase, with players dressed in game uniforms and full contact allowed on every play besides special teams.
Mora said Thursday that the Bruins would play a live game, but added that it was subject to change. He removed that doubt Monday.
“It’s a game, baby – it’s live,” Mora said. “It should be a really great way for us to end a really productive spring.”
UCLA gymnastics coach Valorie Kondos Field, a six-time national champion, and UCLA women’s soccer coach Amanda Cromwell, who won the national championship in 2014, will serve as honorary coaches during the game.
“They’re national champs,” Mora said. “Female national champs that have shown the ability to inspire their teams and their players. … They’ve just got great personalities and I think our players will love being around them.”
The football staff has already split up the Bruins into two evenly-matched squads, Mora said. Though the players have not yet been informed of the teams, they’re excited to cap off the three weeks of spring practice with a full-contact game.
“Being able to have a live game, with the fans out, it gives us a chance to show them what we’ve been working at during spring ball,” said sophomore running back Brandon Stephens.
Heading to the draft
Mora and defensive line coach Angus McClure will accompany possible first-round pick Takkarist McKinley at the NFL Draft in Philadelphia on Thursday.
“It’s going to be awesome,” Mora said. “To see the culmination of a dream, knowing the hardships that (McKinley) has had to overcome in his life and since he’s been here. The way he’s handled himself and matured, kept his focus and done things right, (has) become an inspiration to a lot of these guys that are still playing on our team.”
Mora was at last year’s draft, too, when former Bruin Myles Jack slipped out of the first round.
“Hopefully it’s different than last year,” Mora said. “That was a tough few hours there.”
McKinley is projected as a first-round pick in both of the latest mock drafts from ESPN draft experts Mel Kiper, Jr. and Todd McShay. Kiper projects McKinley as the No. 16 pick by the Baltimore Ravens, and McShay projects him as the No. 21 pick by the Detroit Lions.
NFL.com analysts Daniel Jeremiah, Bucky Brooks, Lance Zierlein and Charley Casserly all also project McKinley as a first-rounder, but NFL.com’s Chad Reuter and Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller both list the pass-rusher as a second-round pick.
“The draft, it’s a beast,” Mora said. “You don’t have any idea – it’s a crapshoot where you’re going to get picked. Hopefully, things work out right for Takk.”
Mora said Monday that he expected cornerback Fabian Moreau to be a second- or third-round pick rather than a first-rounder, based off his conversations with NFL executives.
Sturdy Starks
Sophomore running back Jalen Starks has added around 10 pounds of muscle during the offseason, he said, bringing him up to 265 pounds. He said he plans to get leaner before the season and hopes to enter fall camp at around 255 pounds.
I would caution Mora to curb his enthusiasm on making the spring game a live thing. We cannot afford injuries at this stage and any injury as a result of a live hit can and will be blamed on this decision. If he hasn’t had enough practice time this spring to evaluate players then he’s been wasting the opportunity. The guys across town and across the conference are be cautious about their final games. Let’s go into the fall with a new attitude, an upbeat future and a healthy team.