Rick Neuheisel’s job as head football coach requires him to pace the sidelines, headset on, playbook in hand.
But as the second quarter wound down Sept. 11, Neuheisel was five yards onto the field with his headset ripped off, clutching the playbook in the air with his left fist and sprinting toward the hash marks to greet his quarterback, redshirt sophomore Kevin Prince.
What followed wasn’t pretty ““ reminiscent of the tongue lashings Neuheisel used to administer to another quarterback named Kevin ““ the oft-criticized Kevin Craft.
Back then, the Bruin’s offense was abysmal, partially because Craft made so many critical mistakes.
Two years later on Sept. 11, Neuheisel called his team’s performance an “offensive disaster” exemplified by Prince throwing a wobbly, off-balance and unnecessary long ball that killed what was arguably the Bruins’ best chance to score.
“That’s just a bad play by me as a quarterback,” Prince said. “I don’t think I’m pushing or anything. It’s just a matter of poor decision-making.”
Such poor decision-making led to the tongue lashing and would contribute to Neuheisel later yanking the quarterback he stood behind through all of fall camp. Prince suffered a blow to his already hurt shoulder ““ the main impetus for the substitution ““ but his poor play made Neuheisel say, “I was going to look to give Richard (Brehaut) some chances anyway.”
Which would lead one to believe that it’s back to the drawing board once again.
“We gotta find something we’re capable of doing ““ that’s for sure,” offensive coordinator Norm Chow said. “They are our guys, they’re what we have.”
Neuheisel wouldn’t commit to a starting quarterback for Sept. 18 against Houston and Prince acknowledged the uncertain status of his starting job.
Prince finished the night having gone 6-for-12 for 39 yards.
“Obviously, I didn’t play up to a starter’s role tonight,” he said. Â
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Running game promising, again
Players and coaches seemed pleased with at least one facet of the offense: the running game.
Against the Cardinal, the Bruins rushed collectively for 152 yards on 33 carries, suggesting that the switch to the pistol offense has effectively fixed what it was intended to fix.
Particularly impressive was freshman running back Malcolm Jones, who showed mature patience, the ability to break tackles and a tendency to fall forward, resulting in 52 yards on seven carries.
“Our running game isn’t far away,” Neuheisel said.
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After exploding for 193 yards on the ground last week against Kansas State, the Bruins are averaging 172.5 yards rushing on the year.
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Odds and Ends
UCLA junior running back Derrick Coleman left the game on a stretcher in the start of the third quarter and was taken to the hospital for precautionary x-rays, which came back normal. He suffered a concussion and a neck sprain. No timetable has been set for his return. “¦ Redshirt senior kicker Kai Forbath snapped his streak of 40 consecutive field goals made from within 50 yards when he missed his only chance of the game from 49 yards out. “¦ UCLA Athletics commemorated 9/11 by having members of the coaching staff wear a stitch of red on their sideline apparel. “¦ Redshirt sophomore linebacker David Allen left the game with a broken pinky finger.