It was long, hot, and in the end, unrewarding.
The annual fall football scrimmage on Saturday, the first real look at the team prior to the start of the season, was once again held at Drake Stadium and once again was an exhibition of pared-down and vanilla offense.
In heat that must have been well into the 90s, the team scrimmaged for upward of two hours and more than the projected 90 plays, and, as was the case last year, the defense was obviously further ahead than the offense. The offense only managed to score touchdowns when the ball was artificially placed at the 20 yard line.
But, as quarterback Ben Olson said, the goal of the scrimmage is not to beat the defense.
“We didn’t really do a whole lot out here today; it was pretty vanilla,” Olson said. “It was just for the offense to build continuity and get some confidence out there. It’s a fall scrimmage; we just wanted to get better today. The main emphasis is not to beat our defense. We’re not playing against them on Saturdays.”
That may be a good thing for Olson and the offense. Although the offensive line had an encouraging performance, the receivers spent much of the day blanketed by the secondary, and UCLA’s defensive ends spent most of the day in the backfield.
“If I could have taken a shot (at the quarterbacks) we wouldn’t have any left,” defensive end Bruce Davis said. “That’s why they teach you to just run by, but it’s kind of hard to turn that part of you off.”
If there was one bright spot for the offense, it was the offensive line’s ability to open up holes and the play of the running backs. Although starting running back Chris Markey did not have a great day, only going for 27 yards on 10 carries, Kahlil Bell ran for 40 yards on seven carries and appeared to be running quicker and harder than he has in the past. Running-back depth is a cause for concern for the team this year, with the loss of incoming freshman Raymond Carter to a knee injury and sophomore Chane Moline to a broken hand.
“(Bell) sure did (run hard),” coach Karl Dorrell said. “He did that in the spring, if you remember. He carried that into the fall. He’s a little bit faster than he was in the spring. He’s explosive, and he’s powerful. He’s got a fine rhythm right now.”
The passing game left more to be desired, mostly because not much was shown. There was very little shotgun, and no throws were directed toward the tight ends. There was some downfield throwing, however, and that would be a welcome switch for an offense that seemed to be based almost entirely on swing passes and screen passes last season.
Olson completed 7 of 10 passes for 61 yards, with his backup Patrick Cowan completing 5 of 10 for 51 yards.
Osaar Rasshan, who has gone from quarterback to receiver in the last few weeks, once again showed why the coaches are so excited about him. Fast, strong and tall, the 6-foot-4-inch Rasshan has serious receiving potential, and on Saturday he showed that potential, but also some frustrating inconsistency.
He led the team in receiving with three catches for 37 yards, but also dropped a perfectly catchable pass from Cowan on a slant route in the end zone. If he improves his hands he could be a serious receiving option for the Bruins this season.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Kicker Kai Forbath has improved mightily since the spring and it showed in his field goal kicking. Forbath started the day off hot, knocking down his first three field goals, including one from 48 yards out. He then missed his last three, which included a blocked field goal, but it was a sure sign of improvement from the freshman kicker.
Also, the kickoff return team may have found its game breaker. Sometime cornerback Matt Slater has been a dynamic returner in practice, with two kickoff returns for touchdowns last Wednesday. Those came without pads, when he could not be hit. On Saturday, he returned the ball again and, even while getting bumped by the coverage team, still managed to generate a kick return that went 47 yards.
INJURIES?: There were no new injuries for the Bruins on Saturday, which was probably one of the goals heading into the scrimmage, and was likely one of the reasons that the team did not always appear to be going totally at game speed.