Category Archives: Football

MANHATTAN, Kan. “”mdash; Faced with a golden chance to snag a season-opening road victory in front of a packed house, the UCLA football team dropped the ball. Quite literally, in fact.

Some college football teams like to open their seasons by feasting on inferior opponents.

It’s no secret that UCLA quarterbacks haven’t been able to stay healthy in recent years, so Rick Neuheisel set out to fix that by beefing up his offensive line.

Four-star recruits Xavier Su’a-Filo and Stanley Hasiak came to Westwood in 2009 and were supposed to ensure that those lining up under center would be safe for years to come.

It’s all a numbers game for the UCLA rushing attack.

First, the sobering digits: The Bruins finished 94th in the country in rushing yards last season, and ended up tied for 106th in touchdowns on the ground.

Rarely do you see a freshman safety make an impact on a college football team in his first season ““ whether it be a physical impact on a receiver or an impact on the team as a whole ““ and UCLA freshman safety Dietrich Riley has done his best to do both during the first three weeks of fall practice.

Riley, one of many talented rookies clawing their way up the Bruins’ depth chart, flashes not only reliable cover skills but also a knack for hitting, and hitting hard.

Just don’t fall into the trap of dubbing the young safety ““ who could be seen soaking in all he could from the sidelines as far back as spring ball ““ a one-trick pony.

“I’ve always been known as a hard hitter, but I don’t want people to forget about my cover abilities,” Riley said.