The competition for the starting quarterback position on the UCLA football team is back open for business, according to statements made by coach Rick Neuheisel in his weekly Sunday teleconference.
After the team’s lackluster performance in Berkeley on Saturday, which resulted in a 35-7 loss to California, the head coach said he would not immediately make a decision about which quarterback will start in two weeks when UCLA travels to play No. 2 Oregon.
“I’m contemplating everything,” Neuheisel said. “I haven’t made any decision on that nor will I any time soon.”
Bruin redshirt sophomore quarterback Kevin Prince started this weekend against the Bears, but was benched for the last series in favor of true sophomore Richard Brehaut. It was the second game this season in which Prince had been pulled for his replacement; the other instance came at the end of a 35-0 home defeat to Stanford.
Prince was 13 for 31 against Cal, passing for 99 yards and a touchdown while getting sacked four times and throwing one interception. Brehaut did not fare much better however, going two for six for 19 yards and getting sacked once in his lone possession of the game.
“I could have made some better plays,” Prince said. “We all could have made some better plays. The passing game obviously starts with me as the quarterback. Put that on me, and I’m going to keep working at it.”
Two weeks ago, Brehaut played the entire game in a win over Washington State and had 128 passing yards ““ the team-high for a passer this season ““ with one rushing touchdown. Prince was sidelined for that contest against the Cougars, nursing a sore knee, though Neuheisel said afterward that he could have played “in an emergency.”
UCLA (3-3, 1-2 Pac-10) ranks last in the conference in both total offense and passing offense, having thrown for just 95.5 yards per game, almost 100 yards behind the next lowest team, Cal.
After the loss to the Bears, Prince admitted that the passing offense felt out of sync. In addition to sitting out the game against WSU, Prince also missed much of Fall Camp and a week of practice during the season with various injuries.
Redshirt freshman wide receiver Ricky Marvray had the most catches for the Bruins on Saturday with five and is now second on the team in that category, trailing only junior wideout Nelson Rosario, who missed the game with a high ankle sprain.
Marvray said after the game that it has not been easy to switch back and forth between the team’s two passers, especially in the middle of the game.
“I’m going to be honest: It is a little tough,” Marvray said.
“They’re two different quarterbacks and two different people and they throw two totally different balls. K.P. is going to take his time and deliver the perfect ball. Brehaut is just going to see it and sling that thing and hit you right now, so they vary in their styles of throwing.
“It’s a little hard to have one at the beginning of the game and one at the end.”
The Bruins now enter a bye week without a game until Oct. 21, which Neuheisel said would give him time to watch practice and make a more informed decision about the quarterback situation.
Bye week timing
The Bruins have an 11-day layoff before their Thursday night showdown with the country’s second-best team, the Ducks, in their Autzen Stadium. With the most recent loss exposing some troubling weaknesses, some of the players see this as a good week for rebuilding.
“I feel like this is perfect timing for the bye week, especially going into the Oregon game,” redshirt senior Ryan Taylor said. “I know we’re all really excited about that game.”
But the same troubles have other players eager to get back on the field.
“I want to play football all the time,” Marvray said. “Some people might say yeah, I say no. I’m down to play every weekend.”
Junior safety Rahim Moore said his heart wants to play this weekend, but his head knows the team has a lot to work on in practice.
“I want to play, but it is a great time for (the bye) because we’re getting ready to play probably the best team this whole year and a great team at that,” Moore said.
“This is probably the best I’ve seen Oregon play since I’ve been watching them. If we don’t get our stuff together, they’ll put 70 points on us. So, it’s a tough manhood test for us in two weeks.”
Injuries hit Bruin defense
Freshman cornerback Anthony Jefferson injured his foot in the game against Cal, and postgame evaluation determined that it is serious enough that Jefferson will miss the rest of the season.
Because he played less than 30 percent of the games in UCLA’s season, he may still be able to redshirt the season, according to Neuheisel.
Also, sophomore cornerback Sheldon Price sprained his right knee and was seen on crutches after the game. He will undergo an MRI this week to determine the severity of the injury.
Price is the most experienced of UCLA’s defensive backs, starting every game this season and amassing 17 total starts at the position in his two years on the team.