The Rites (and wrongs) of Spring: Quarterback

For the first installment of my UCLA post-spring ball wrap up, we’ll start with quarterbacks…


It is difficult to adequately judge the quarterback position after 15 days of a new offense. Rick Neuheisel and Norm Chow have said consistently that the Revolver will make Kevin Prince a threat in the running game, but because he was down on the first touch, it was difficult to truly gauge what he’ll do.

Prince solidified what I consider his already solid status as UCLA starting quarterback with an impressive spring, albeit a less-than-impressive performance in the Spring Game. Considering the Bruin defense knew what it was facing and it wasn’t really live action, I don’t know how much you can take out of it.

Likes: His long ball was much improved during spring, and Fauria and Harkey will provide two important weapons for him in the short passing game. His chemistry with Fauria is fantastic.
Dislikes: He is still too indecisive, and that will be the next big step for him as a quarterback, just being able to react quickly at the line of scrimmage. Prince would tell you himself that most of his poor throws last season were because of misreads, rather than misthrows, and that is related to experience.
The Big IF: IF Prince can stay healthy and continue his progression, UCLA’s passing game will be much improved. The only IF for me is the health factor. Too many weapons for the passing game not to be improved.
The Backups: Richard Brehaut and Nick Crissman are still works in progress for me. Brehaut has a very nice arm – he had a couple of PERFECT throws this spring – but isn’t always hitting receivers out of breaks and in stride. Crissman’s throwing motion is a bit unorthodox, and he’ll need to take a big leap if he’s to push Brehaut for No. 2.