TUCSON, Ariz. “”mdash; Nearly six months ago, UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel settled on a starting quarterback. Well, it turns out he’s going back to the drawing board.
“From top to bottom, we have to evaluate it,” Neuheisel said following the Bruins’ 27-13 loss to Arizona on Saturday.
A woeful offensive start to the third quarter forced Neuheisel to pull redshirt freshman Kevin Prince ““ the team’s designated starter since the conclusion of spring practice in late April.
“I wasn’t surprised,” Prince said regarding the decision.
That’s because Prince had been mediocre in the first half, throwing for 58 yards on six-for-12 passing. The Bruins went into the locker room trailing 13-3 behind an anemic offensive performance.
Prince was presented with a chance to redeem himself early in the second half. The defense recovered a fumble on Arizona’s first play of the third quarter to set Prince and the offense a mere 17 yards from the end zone.
“I wasn’t putting the ball where it needed to be,” Prince said.
He completed one of his three passes ““ a short, two-yard dump off to redshirt freshman Johnathan Franklin ““ before the Bruins (3-4, 0-4 Pac-10) settled for a 33-yard field goal from redshirt junior place kicker Kai Forbath.
“Those balls weren’t close,” Neuheisel said of Prince’s incompletions. “He threw (the ball) over the top of our heads and one in the dirt.”
Similar to baseball managers who visit the mound when a pitcher labors, Neuheisel and offensive coordinator Norm Chow had seen enough and made a call to the bullpen.
“The guy in 14 didn’t play well,” Chow said.
Redshirt senior Kevin Craft lined up under center on UCLA’s next series and did not relinquish the spot until true freshman Richard Brehaut took over with less than six minutes left in the game.
Craft didn’t fare much better than Prince, connecting on just six of his 17 pass attempts for 75 yards. Brehaut was two-of-three for 11 yards.
“We need to make plays when they’re there,” Craft said. “There’s a lot of plays that were left out on the field today.”
Craft’s errant pass to Franklin on a critical 4th-and-6 midway through the fourth quarter serves as a perfect example. UCLA had been driving after converting on two consecutive fourth-down attempts.
Clearly disgusted with himself, Craft threw his hands in the air as the ball sailed well past a wide-open Franklin.
“Kevin (Craft) went in there and made some plays but still was not consistent enough to move the ball downfield,” Neuheisel said.
Neuheisel replaced Craft with Brehaut hoping to catch “a little lightning in a bottle” and give the true freshman some much-needed experience.
“Competition brings out the best in people,” Brehaut said. “Having this competition should bring out the best guy.”
It’s anyone’s guess who that best guy is. And for the first time in nearly six months, Neuheisel doesn’t have one.
“We are not throwing the ball well enough to compete in the Pac-10,” Neuheisel said. “We’ve just got to keep working to find the combinations of people that will execute what we’re trying to teach.”