Answers, Part I

Brian, if you had your choice to see any college football game this year at any venue (all expenses paid) which game would you choose and why?
Wow, I like this question. A fun way to start off the Q&A this week. I'll rule out anything involving Rutgers and UCLA. I've thought about Oklahoma-Nebraska, Michigan-Ohio State and Tennessee-Florida, but given my druthers, I would take Army-Navy. Being from the Northeast and knowing the tradition and pageantry associated with the game, and knowing some of those kids will be leading the country in the future, I vote for that game.

After Sept 1st hits , who do you think UCLA will tender football offers too ? I know a few kids are waiting to hear from the coaching staff .
From my understanding, it may not be when Sept. 1 hits. The coaching staff wants to evaluate a few kids during the first half of the prep season before getting more offers out there. I'm not saying some won't get offers quickly, but I know the staff wants to wait to evaluate a lot of other players.

Get new shoes yet? I heard Coach Neuheisel called you out on your Rutgers ones.
Not yet. But it's one of the things that is fun about dealing with Neuheisel. He doesn't mind giving you jabs once in a while, and he has the personality where you can go back at him. To be honest, he is really a joy to deal with on a daily basis.

Which Bruin is badder than old King Kong and meaner than a junkyard dog?
It's bad, bad Reggie Carter ...at least on the field. Off the field, he is a great kid who I really enjoying talking to.

If we had landed Donnovan Edwards, would he be starting right now?
I don't know because I am not familiar with his playing ability. I heard he was struggling in Cal's camp. But I do know Edwards would have been given a chance to start with the way the offensive line is shaking out.

I don't remember it well but in 2005 a few of our opponents' coaches weren't happy with the blocking technique our OL was using. They said we were basically chop blocking and getting away with it. Cable claimed that it was a legal technique and very effective. Was that the case? If so, can a similar technique be used now to compensate our inexperience on the OL?
Yes, Cable was teaching his guys to do that because the thing defensive linemen hate the most is players diving at their feet. It was a legal block. I remember doing a story (which could be found here) about it after Maurice Drew ran for a zillion yards at Washington. As far as using it now, it is something that I believe will be employed, but I'm not sure how frequently. The danger is if an offensive lineman misses a cut block, it's a free shot at the ball carrier.

If Hale ends up beating Ayers for the last LB spot how much do you think Ayers would play? Would they still share time or would Hale take most all the snaps?
According to defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker, that happened. I wrote about it today. That said, Ayers will still get plenty of plays, and will play in nickel packages. And remember, Walker likes playing in the nickel.

Not much was written about Aaron Hester during fall camp? How did he perform and is he likely to see playing time against UT even w/o injuries to Norris /Viney?
I know coach Neuheisel said Hester will be available for Tennessee, but I continue to hear UCLA wants to red-shirt him. Hester is a great talent, but he wasn't coached on technique much in high school, so he was behind the other corners. UCLA still thinks he will be a great player, but he struggled a bit in training camp.