September 2010 Archives

Hey guys,

I'll be joining Petros and Money today on AM570 KLAC at 3:30pm. Tune in.

JG

Check out the latest batch of weekly answers...

Check out the first batch of weekly answers...

Here is the second edition of the Double Feature, on The Drive

Check out the feature first: The Anatomy of a Drive

and when you're finished...

Check out my video interview with Darius Savage:

* Kevin Prince missed practice again today, with Richard Brehaut and Darius Bell getting the reps. Prince said the knee was feeling better but was still bothering him, and added that he could have it drained for a second time.

* As a result, the offense struggled mightily, and I saw at least three or four drops, and a few balls that just went sailing. For all the criticisms of Prince, he is still the most effective quarterback UCLA has, though I think Brehaut could catch up quickly again if given the reps. He had a couple really, really nice throws, but just not the consistency.

* The defensive mish-mash continues, as Chuck Bullough finds it crucial to get some of his talented young players some extra run. Dietrich Riley saw a lot of time at starting safety and Cassius Marsh got extra reps. Owamagbe Odighizuwa is also being worked into the mix more. Bullough was very quick to say, though, that the best players will play on Saturday, and that the young guys have to prove themselves.

* "Definitely we're not taking them lightly, like we're just going to put our young guys in," Bullough said. "They have to prove through practice that they can play. If they can play, we're going to play them. They're fired up, they're coming to the Rose Bowl, and it's a big game for any team coming to the Rose Bowl. This isn't a JV game for us. This is a live game, and they're coming to get after us."

* Not to beat a dead horse, but the UCLA return game is just heaps better than last year. Josh Smith had a return that was perfectly blocked, and I have little doubt he'll take one to the house soon. Could happen Saturday. Watch the special teams closely.

Hey guys,

I'm working on a long...long...feature and I'm recording the podcast today, so I won't be on here too much until after practice.

Great video interview with Darius Savage up later today, though, and the 10 questions this week should be pretty interesting...and entertaining.

Thanks for checking in,
Jon

Westwood Bruin Touchdown Club

Breakfast with the Bruins
Friday, Oct 1st--7 am
Coach Bob Palcic
Coach Tim Hundley
Key UCLA Football Players
Dalton Hilliard--#19 Free Safety
Jeff Locke--#18 Punter
Akeem Ayers--#10 Linebacker
Ryan Taylor--#66 Center
Derrick Coleman--#33 Tailback
UCLA Spirit Squad
Olympic Collection
11301 W Olympic Blvd (@ Sawtelle)
$25 includes breakfast buffet, program, and parking
For more information, contact Claudia Hart @ 310-348-UCLA or email @ claudia4UCLA@yahoo.com

* Kevin Prince sat out today's practice with a sore knee, and Neuheisel was non-committal about Prince's role for the Washington State game. He said he didn't look at it as a lost opportunity, but really, I don't know how that's true. Preparing for a Washington State team that the Bruins should handle easily, this was the week to fine-tune the passing game. Prince had an MRI on Sunday night that came out fine, and is listed as day-to-day; the decision to miss practice was made by the trainers before today's practice.

* Richard Brehaut, obviously, led the offense primarily, and he had a so-so practice. The energy level was high and the running game looked good, but Brehaut missed some throws, and he showed some rust.

* Akeem Ayers practiced but was limited at times as he bruised his shoulder in the win over Texas.

* Rick Neuheisel appeared frustrated with a radio reporter who continually asked him about the Texas win. It seems that the team has moved on from the big win into full preparation for Washington State.

* The "Filthy Five" moniker has officially taken hold, as I heard the phrase several times after practice.

UCLA's special teams have been magnificent the last two weeks, both games featuring key punt returns - Taylor Embree's 31-yard return against Houston, Josh Smith' s 45-yard return against Texas - and impeccable coverage on punts, including a forced fumble by junior linebacker Sean Westgate (Oak Park) on a punt early in the second quarter against the Longhorns that led to a quick Bruin touchdown.

"When you play in big games, your kicking game has got to put you in a position to win," special teams coach Frank Gansz said. "Josh had a big return that put us in good position, the turnovers were huge, the one in early in the game set up the touchdown. The kids take a tremendous amount of pride in special teams, and it starts at the top with Coach Neuheisel; he does a great job of emphasizing it and letting me do what I have to do to get these guys ready to play."

Fire away with questions for this week's Q&A. Please don't post new questions on the answers section, because I don't always check the comments. Save them for next week.

Thanks
Jon

From UCLA:

LOS ANGELES - The UCLA Athletic Department has announced the television coverage and game times for its 2010-11 men's basketball schedule. It is highlighted by 27 televised games on four different networks, including the possibility of two more games to be televised as wild card selections.

The Bruins will make 19 appearances as part of the Pacific-10 Conference's television package; 12 national telecasts on Fox Sports Net, two on CBS and six on ESPN. Non-conference highlights of the FSN schedule include the Dec. 18 Wooden Classic game versus BYU at Honda Center as well as 11 Pac-10 league contests. The ESPN selections include all four games of the 2010 Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off. Additionally, the Bruins' second game of the NIT Season Tip-Off on Nov. 16 (versus Pacific or Nevada) will be part of ESPN's College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon. ESPN will also showcase the UCLA at Kansas contest on Dec. 2 and the UCLA at Arizona game on Jan. 27. CBS has selected the St. John's at UCLA game on Feb. 5 and the Stanford at UCLA contest on Jan. 22. UCLA has two additional opportunities for exposure when wild card selections will be announced on Feb. 21, 2010.

In addition to the Pac-10's FSN package, seven more games will be televised locally as part of the Bruins' package on Prime Ticket and FS West in Los Angeles.

While all but one game time (excluding wild card selections) has been set, the schedule is tentative and subject to change.

Adonis Thomas
has been to Los Angeles three times, but he's never been on the UCLA campus.

He knows about the Southern California weather, he knows the food and the people. He's eaten in L.A. and he's met the people himself.

But this weekend, when he ventures to Westwood for an official visit as the No. 2-ranked small forward and No. 8-ranked overall player - one of three in the country still uncommitted - Thomas wants to really feel what UCLA is about.

"I'm familiar with the program, what they've produced, the tradition they have, but I really want to go to see the campus, see the enviornament, the players that are there," Thomas said in a phone interview on Tuesday. "It gives them a chance to really show me what they have to offer. I want to see the academic side of the school, the style of play, what I can expect if I come here.
"This is my third time in LA, first on campus, so I have to really tune in on the visit."

The Pac-10 has released it's 2010-11 TV Schedule, and UCLA will have 13 games televised at least:

12/18 UCLA v BYU, FSN 2:30
12/31 UCLA v. Washington, FSN 1 p.m.
1/9/11 UCLA at USC, FSN 7:30 p.m.
1/22/11 UCLA v. Stanford, CBS 11 a.m.
1/27/11 UCLA at Arizona, ESPN 6 p.m.
1/29/11 UCLA at ASU, FSN 12:30 p.m
2/2/11 UCLA v. USC, FSN, 8 p.m.
2/5/11 UCLA v. St. John's, CBS 10 a.m.
2/12/11 UCLA v. Oregon State, 1 p.m.
2/17/11 UCLA at Stanford, FSN 7:30 p.m.
2/20/11 UCLA at Cal, FSN 7 p.m.
2/24/11 UCLA v. ASU, FSN 8 p.m.
2/26/11, UCLA v. Arizona, FSN 1 p.m.

Here's a full list of the games

From UCLA:

NEWPORT BEACH, Ca. - UCLA's Akeem Ayers has been named the Lott
IMPACT Player of the Week.
Ayers, a 6-4, 252-pound redshirt junior from Los Angeles (Verbum Dei High), had an interception (returned for 13 yards), a forced fumble, a sack and another tackle for a loss in the Bruins' big upset win over Texas, 34-12.
Ayers has two interceptions this season and six for his career. He is third on the Bruins in tackles with 29 and leads the team with tackles for loss with 5 ½.
A history major at UCLA, Ayers has been on the Directors Honor Roll.
He plays both linebacker and defensive end in the Bruins' defensive scheme: "Playing both end and linebacker puts me more in a position where I can make plays all over the field," he says.
UCLA will receive $1,000 for its general scholarship fund in recognition of Ayers' achievement.

DALLAS (FWAA) - With their 34-12 win at No. 7 Texas, the UCLA Bruins (2-2) are the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week for games of the weekend of Sept. 25.

The Bruins forced four first-half turnovers and Johnathan Franklin ran for 118 yards and a touchdown for UCLA. On the day, the Bruins ran for 264 yards against the nation's No. 2 rush defense.

In winning their second straight game after an 0-2 start, the Bruins registered their first road win against a ranked opponent since 2001. It was Texas' first home loss since 2007 and its worst home loss under coach Mack Brown.

"It is a huge thrill for our program to come in and play in this environment and play the way we did, and to go in there and feel like now we are maybe getting closer to being a program where we can be counted on and get back to our roots as a top program in the country," UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said after the game.

Other Tostitos Fiesta Bowl Bowl National Team of the Week nominees for the weekend of Sept. 25 included:

· Toledo (3-1): The Rockets won their third straight road game, upsetting Purdue, 31-20, in West Lafayette, Ind. Austin Dantin threw two touchdown passes and ran for two other scores for the Rockets.

The Football Writers Association of America has named a national team of the week since the 2002 season. This is the seventh season that the award has been sponsored by the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

Members of the FWAA All-America Committee decide the weekly honor. Each remaining Monday during the 2010 college football regular season, the FWAA will name the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week.

Founded in 1971, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl has hosted six games that have decided the college football national championship, including three Bowl Championship Series title games. This season, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl will host the Tostitos BCS National Championship Game on Jan. 10, 2011 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. The Tostitos Fiesta Bowl will be played on Jan. 1, 2011 in Glendale and the Insight Bowl will be played on Dec. 28, 2010 at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz.

Sean Westgate was named Pac-10 defensive player of the week, and Ryan Taylor was named the conference's Pac-10 offensive player of the week. It's the first time an offensive lineman has won the award since an Oregon lineman won the award in 2003.

UCLA will play Cal at 12:30 p.m. Oct. 9 on Fox Sports Net.

Rick Neuheisel will try to guard against cockiness as it heads into its matchup with hapless Washington State on Saturday following its win over Texas.
``If we think we're good enough to relax and enjoy the backslapping, we're out of our minds,'' Neueheisel said. ``I think we have bright enough kids to understand that. I know we have bright enough coaches.''

UCLA REPORT CARD

RESULT: UCLA 34, No. 7 Texas 12
RECORD: 2-2
WEEK 4 GPA: A

QUARTERBACK
The throwing game needs work, but really, does it? Kevin Prince's ability to read the zone-run and take it himself - 38-yard TD run - was brilliant.
A-

RUNNING BACKS
Johnathan Franklin and Derrick Coleman formed an incredible one-two punch (35 carries, 212 yards, two scores) against lofty Longhorns D.
A

WIDE RECEIVERS
Yet another dropped pass, but Nelson Rosario's two late receptions were promising, and Ricky Marvray is a blast.
B

OFFENSIVE LINE
Can't say enough about the job the newly dubbed "Filthy Five" has done the last two weeks.
A-

DEFENSIVE LINE
Big uglies filled gaps, let defenders roam, and Keenan Graham looks like a budding star.
B+

LINERBACKERS
Forget current superstar Akeem Ayers and future star Patrick Larimore; Sean Westgate (11 tackles) was pivotal.
A

DEFENSIVE BACKS
Chuck Bullough must have a blast scheming up UCLA DBs, especially with emergence of safety Dalton Hilliard.
A-

SPECIAL TEAMS
Much written about UCLA's two legs - Kai Forbath and Jeff Locke - but coverage and return game vastly improved.
A-

COACHING
The job that offensive staff has done with running game is nothing short of miraculous. An extra plus.
A++

Scout.com's Greg Hicks is reporting that shooting guard Norman Powell - Profile Here - has committed to UCLA, choosing the Bruins over San Diego State.

After point guard Josiah Turner committed to Arizona recently, Powell, Scout.com's No. 15 shooting guard, became the team's No. 1 priority.

Powell has tons of potential and could become a major player for UCLA as he'll be slated to eventually fill in for Malcolm Lee. Powell is a four-star prospect, but is considered to have a higher ceiling than some above him, and his athleticism is a big plus for the Bruins.

Congrats to the Toejam Slayer for being the closest in our third Poll of the Week, picking UCLA to win 35-15.

Toejam Slayer - please email me 10 questions for any UCLA football player at jon.gold@dailynews.com.

The latest AP top-25 poll was released today, and UCLA received nine votes after defeating Texas 34-12, while the Longhorns fell from No. 7 to No. 21, the biggest drop of the week.
Stanford, meanwhile, moved into the top-10 with a resounding win over Notre Dame, 37-14.

Kansas State and Houston each received votes, too, and UCLA's opponents this season are a combined 12-0 against other opponents, 2-2 against the Bruins.

If UCLA handles business against Washington State as expected, and wins at Cal, they have a chance for a top-25 ranking.

ESPN's Bruce Feldman included a link to this incredible breakdown of the Pistol offense, and it really explains a lot about why UCLA (and Nevada) is having so much success running the ball: Worth the read, trust me

Check out UCLA Head Coach Rick Neuheisal on ESPN: NeuheisAl

See what I did there?

Check out the long game story after the jump...

Just watched ESPN and saw that the Bruins are one of four nominees for the Impact Performances of the Week after the domination of Texas. Also, Mark May gave the UCLA offensive line the helmet sticker deal - don't really know what it's called - for the 264 yards against the No. 1 rush defense.

Just got the email: UCLA junior linebacker Akeem Ayers has a mild left shoulder sprain, and sophomore quarterback Kevin Prince tweaked his right knee in the second quarter - before he returned for the post-fumble drive with the 1-yard touchdown, and played the remainder of the game.

After surrendering 514 rushing yards in two season-opening losses to Kansas State and Stanford, UCLA buckled down against Houston and Texas, allowing just 108 rushing yards to the Cougars and 85 to the Longhorns.

The main difference: tackling.

The Bruins swarmed to the ball carrier on Saturday, three, four or even five defenders collapsing on Texas' magnificent skill position players.

Oak Park product Sean Westgate led the way at outside linebacker, totalling 11 tackles and forcing a fumble, but seven Bruins had more than five tackles.

"Our goal was just to tackle," Westgate said. "We knew if we missed tackles, these guys are way too good in the open field and they're gonna make plays. It was our goal in coming into this game; we tackled well and we ran to the ball. That's gonna be our trademark."

Of all the elated UCLA players to walk off the Texas Memorial Stadium turf on Saturday night after the Bruins' 34-12 win over the No. 7-ranked Longhorns, center Ryan Taylor took the sweetest time.
Step after step, his smile grew and grew and grew as he savored the moment, soaking in his sweat - he missed a portion of the game with cramps - while soaking in the atmosphere.
He deserved the long stroll.
Taylor returned to his home state a victor, the 25 game tickets he finagled from teammates going to good use.
He bent his fingers into the Hook' Em Horns sign, flipped them face down and strutted of the field.
"Horns Down," he said between gulps of air. "We did it. ... I wanted to beat Texas. That's it. I just wanted a win. Just wanted a win."
Taylor went down in the third quarter and had to receive intravenous fluids after the brutal Texas heat - game-time temperature listed at 90 degrees with 50 percent humidity - took its toll. Redshirt freshman Greg Capella entered the game until early in the fourth quarter, when he was pulled after an errant snap as Taylor replaced him. His return was pivotal, as UCLA chewed up the clock on a 12-play drive that resulted in no points and only gained 34 yards, but took 8 minutes, 19 seconds.

Hey guys,

I just wanted to let everyone know that I got some incredible videos tonight, and some will be posted as soon as I get my stories in. Great stuff...

JG

Kevin Prince's 41-yard touchdown run has put the Bruins up 27-6, and the Texas crowd is fleeing the exits. I never thought that would happen.
UCLA has 211 rushing yards on the No. 1 rush defense in the country.

Justin Tucker's 34-yard field goal brings Texas to with two scores, as the Longhorns are down 20-6.
Texas marched 47 yards with a couple of nice passes, but UCLA again held the Longhorns in the running game, and they have just 76 yards to the Bruins 161 on the ground.

Drive Time: 9 plays, 47 yards, 3:26

Not sure what to write here guys, I'm just completely stunned.
UCLA is not just beating Texas at this point, but utterly dominating the heavily favored Longhorns.
Johnathan Franklin just bowled over two defenders on his way to an 11-yard score, four plays after a pretty 35-yard run. UCLA has 145 rushing yards for the day.

Drive Time: 80 yards, 8 plays, 3:35

After forcing four turnovers, UCLA leads Texas 13-3 at the half at Texas Memorial Stadium.
The UCLA offense has scored 13 points off turnovers but has failed to generate any momentum itself, with just 77 yards at the half. The Bruins are just 2-for-6 passing for six yards, including a touchdown from Kevin Prince to Ricky Marvray.
Texas isn't moving the ball either, with just 129 yards and 3.7 yards per play. However, UCLA has given up 60 yards in penalties.

After UCLA's third fumble recovery of the game put the ball at the Texas 33-yard line, Kai Forbath smashed a 49-yard field goal four plays later, to put the Bruins up 13-3.

Drive Time: 4 plays, 2 yards, 53 seconds

Sean Westgate forced a fumble on Jeff Locke's BOOMING punt, and UCLA got the ball at the Texas 4-yard line, two plays later, Kevin Prince rolled out to find Ricky Marvray for his second touchdown of the season.

Drive Time: 2 plays, 4 yards, 1:03

A big red-zone stand by the UCLA defense prevented a Johnathan Franklin fumble on the 20-yard line from turning into disaster, as Texas kicker Justin Tucker hit a 31-yard field goal to put the Longhorns up 3-0.
Texas had a wide-open James Kirkendoll in the end zone on 3rd-and-5, but Garrett Gilbert overthrew him, and UCLA held strong.

So far, UCLA has 9 plays for -13 yards, while Texas has 19 plays for 88 yards.

Drive Time: 5 yards, 4 plays, 1:31

It's a really busy day for me, as I'm covering the game, and punting for Texas: John Gold

With Taylor Embree nursing a sore hip flexor, Ricky Marvray started at wideout for the Bruins against Texas. Early lineups included Marvray/Rosario/Presley, but the passing game still stalled as Kevin Prince was sacked at the UCLA 35 and fumbled, recovered by UCLA but forcing a punt on the first drive.

Cool news: UCLA center Ryan Taylor, who hails from Texas and grew up a Longhorn fan, was named a captain for the game and came out for the pre-game coin flip.

Check out the latest batch of weekly answers...

Check out the latest batch of weekly answers...

We're tracking a special combined "JV Show"/"Inside UCLA Podcast" right now from Jon Gold and Vinny Bonsignore's hotel in Austin, Texas in the run-up to Saturday's UCLA vs. Texas game.

As soon as they finish the show we'll get it up on the blogs and in the feeds, so check back in an hour or so for Jon and Vinny's take on Austin the city, UCLA fans who made the trip and UCLA's chances against Texas.

Check out the latest batch of weekly answers...

Check out the latest batch of weekly answers...

This is pretty funny...

Yes, the headline is a joke. Please understand I have nothing against the youth of Austin, Texas. OK, maybe a little.

By Jon Gold
Staff Writer

Taylor Embree's face changed from elation, smile stretching from shoulder to shoulder, to simple, pure relief.

He sighed, nodded, pursed his lips.

Finally, the UCLA offense had performed. Finally, the UCLA offense gave the defense something to smile about. Finally, the UCLA offense scored.

There is a you've-got-our-back-we've-got-yours relationship that exists between the offense and the defense, and when the offense falters, the defense feels the pressure.

Worse, the offense feels the defense's pressure.

After a 35-0 loss to Stanford at the Rose Bowl, it was there, the sideways glances, the frustrated head shakes, the cursing and anger, the "I don't want to comment on the offense" brush-offs.

After a 31-13 win over Houston in Week 3, quite simply, it wasn't.

Offensive coordinator Norm Chow and defensive coordinator Chuck Bullough weren't exactly playing patty-cake in the locker room, but the faith was back, bolstered by 266 rushing yards and five scoring drives.

"You never want the blame on you, you never want to be the reason that things aren't going right," UCLA wide receiver Taylor Embree said on Wednesday, as the Bruins prepared for part two of the Texas two-step, as they travel to Austin to play the No. 4/7 Longhorns today at 12:30 p.m at Texas Memorial Stadium. "You could tell all last week during practice, we had guys on offense sick of being the reason why we weren't getting the job done. I think we turned that around last week."

The UCLA offense can't afford an about-face this week.

Not against Texas. Not against a crowd expected to be in the 100,000s. Not against a Longhorn defense that some consider the best in college football or a Texas offense that is due to break out, despite the relative youth of quarterback Garrett Gilbert (621 yards passing, three touchdowns, three interceptions), who has taken over for legend Colt McCoy.

Congrats to the dude for being the closest in our third Poll of the Week, picking UCLA to win 31-23.

El Duderino - please email me 10 questions for any UCLA football player at jon.gold@dailynews.com.

Readers: Post your final score prediction and vote in the poll. Closest to actual score with correct winning team gets to give me 10 questions to ask a player of their choosing, within reason, for an upcoming video.

* UCLA offensive lineman Micah Kia will be ready to play, Rick Neuheisel said, but it's unclear if he'll start.
* Ball security is always key, especially because the forecast calls for 20 percent chance of rain.
* The band played at the end of practice, and one bandmember had an opportunity to return a kick. Damien Thigpen fielded the ball and tossed it to her. She tried to channel Thigpen's speed by wearing his helmet, and as all band members who participate in this drill, she scored a touchdown.
* Neuheisel is looking for the Bruins to maintain the same energy on defense, and the Texas offense has struggled to click and maintain any sort of rhythm this season.
* Today was the first day of school. Players will miss classes on the second day since the team is flying to Texas tomorrow.

Here is the first edition of the Double Feature, UCLA junior safety Tony Dye.

Check out today's feature in the Daily News here

and when you're finished...

Check out my video interview with Tony Dye:

* One of UCLA's best practices in a long time ended with head coach Rick Neuheisel shouting, "Hell of a football practice out there boys!" About 100 percent reversal from the Wednesday practice before Stanford.

* Derrick Coleman was back in white on Wednesday, and he should be available for Texas. UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel was non-committal about his role as starter, but given Johnathan Franklin's performance against Houston, you'd have to think he'll start.

* Jeff Baca is out of his walking boot, and Neuheisel hopes to get him back soon for the scout team, as he's academically ineligible this season.

* Neuheisel said Datone Jones is about four weeks away from having his cast removed, and will have another X-ray shortly.

* Spoke briefly with Nik Abele out at practice, and there remains a slim chance that he could return. He's seeing a chiropractor about once every two weeks - down from once a week - and there's hope that there's a way to fuse the discs in his neck so they don't continue to bulge. Will keep monitoring this.

* Jordon James had a few nice runs, and I wonder if he'll be used this year. I would use him, personally, because I love his running style. But if they continue to get this production in the running game, I'm not sure you burn that redshirt.

* Saw a few nice catches out there - Nelson Rosario had a good grab, Ricky Marvray had one, Josh Smith had two, and Jerry Johnson had a couple. I wonder what happens with Johnson after this year; he shows a ton of promise, but just can't get over the hump and into meaningful rotation reps.

* Mike Harris continues to work with the ones at right tackle, and Neuheisel said the starter (Harris or Micah Kia) is a game-time decision.

Congrats to Backdoor Cut for winning the second weekly poll, and with it, the 10 questions for any UCLA player.

He chose David Carter, for a very entertaining interview.

From UCLA:

UCLA is one of more than 85 FBS teams taking part in the AFCA's third annual Coach to Cure MD effort with the games of September 25. Head coach Rick Neuheisel and his assistants are among more than 5,000 coaches at more than 350 NCAA schools that will be wearing a Coach to Cure MD patch to raise awareness and funding for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research.
Fans are encouraged to donate online at www.CoachtoCureMD.org or donate $5 by texting CURE to 90999.

Despite the presence of former All-Big-12 honorable mention kick returner Josh Smith, UCLA will continue to go with junior Taylor Embree as punt returner for the foreseeable future.
Embree is the more sure-handed of the two, and while he doesn't offer the speed that Smith possesses, he is a capable runner. Embree had a 31-yard punt return in UCLA's 31-13 win over Houston last Saturday.

"We had a couple of different plans against Houston with their punt formation, that wide punt formation," UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel said. "We were going to come after them a little bit. It's not that we've lost confidence in Josh, it's just that Taylor does a good job back there. Taylor is the better receiver of punts, but certainly Josh gives us some explosiveness with his legs."

* Mike Harris remained with the first team at right tackle, but Micah Kia got many meaningful reps at both right and left tackle, and I suspect the decision for starter will be made after the week of practice.

* Derrick Coleman was back in practice in a red jersey after that scary hit against Stanford, but his status is still undetermined.

* Christian Ramirez sat out again with a hamstring injury, and there's no word on his availability against Texas.

* Taylor Embree was limited in practice because of a hip flexor, with Josh Smith getting extra reps. Smith made a few nice catch-and-runs, and as the season progresses and the offense finds its rhythm, expect more of him.

* That being said...Taylor Embree is still No. 1 punt returner.

* Owamagbe Odighizuwa spent most of practice with the second defense, and he'll get more reps than previously, but I doubt he'll see a ton of plays.

* Keenan Graham seems to be firmly entrenched as defensive end opposite Nate Chandler, but it's essentially 50-50 between Graham and Damien Holmes.

* Jared Koster was at practice in a shoulder sling because of his dislocated shoulder, but I didn't see Iuta Tepa (torn pectoral) out there. Could've just missed him though.

While UCLA took major strides in its third-down efficiency - after starting the season 4-for-22 on third-down completions, the offense converted 5-of-11 against the Cougars - UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel said the team still had to improve its play in scoring position.

The Bruins went 5-of-8 on red-zone scoring chances against Houston, and that was a huge improvement over the Stanford game, when they did not even advance to the red zone once.

"Inside the 40-yard line of our opponent, we have to have a higher percentage of scoring points," Neuheisel said. "Eight drives in two weeks when we've been there and not generated any points. That consistency needs to be addressed."

Check out the first batch of weekly answers...

UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel said he was excited to return to Texas Memorial Stadium for the first time since 1997, when his Colorado Buffaloes defeated the Longhorns, 47-30, in Week 7. UCLA fans probably remember the Bruins' own win at 10th-ranked Texas in 1997, a 66-3 Week 2 slashing.

"It's a loud place, there's gonna be 100,000," Neuheisel said. "A big game, an intersectional game like this draws a lot of interest. It will be a great atmosphere for college football. As we found out (at Kansas State), you have to be able to handle that kind of noise and still operate efficiently at the line of scrimmage. Fortunately we have had that experience once before."

There will be another reunion of sorts for Neuheisel.

Neuheisel and Texas head coach Mack Brown traveled all over the world as part of the 2009 Coaches Tour, which ventured to American troops in several cities last summer. Also on the tour were former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville, Troy Calhoun (Air Force), Jim Tressel (Ohio State), Jim Grobe (Wake Forest), and Houston Nutt (Mississippi).

Head coach Rick Neuheisel was very pleased with UCLA's pass defense against the highly regarded Houston passing offense, which came into the game ranked in the top-10 in nearly every offensive statistical category.

The Bruins held the Cougars, ranked first in scoring offense entering the game, to three points through three quarters and held Houston quarterbacks Case Keenum, Cotton Turner and Terrance Broadway to 252 yards and one touchdown, with two interceptions.

One of the surprises of the defensive effort: Andrew Abbott.

Abbott, a walk-on who was awarded a scholarship in the fall, was second on the team with seven tackles and had two tackles-for-loss, totaling four yards. Abbott played extensively in the nickel package and has proven particularly important in the run game.

"It was a great game for Andrew," Neuheisel said. "He's always been knocked because of his size. Can he tackle? He was terrific in the tackling department. It's fun to watch him play when he's hitting on all cylinders like that."

From UCLA:

The UCLA baseball program's incoming group of nine freshmen has been ranked the No. 4 recruiting class in the nation by Collegiate Baseball, the national weekly baseball newspaper has announced.

The top five recruiting classes, as ranked by Collegiate Baseball, include LSU, San Diego, Oregon, UCLA and Florida, respectively. UCLA's latest additions have arrived in Westwood this week, as fall quarter classes are slated to begin Thursday, Sept. 23.

This marks the highest-ranked recruiting class for UCLA (by Collegiate Baseball) in head coach John Savage's six recruiting classes. Collegiate Baseball pegged the Bruins' 2007-08 group No. 5 and its 2008-09 class No. 6. UCLA's 2005-06 recruiting class was ranked No. 5 by Baseball America.

DALLAS (FWAA) - UCLA linebacker Patrick Larimore has been named the FWAA/Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week for games of the weekend of Sept. 18.

Larimore, a 6-3, 249-pound sophomore from Santa Clarita, Calif., made a career-high 11 tackles, forced a fumble and broke up a pass in UCLA's 31-13 victory over Houston. Three of Larimore's tackles were for losses and 10 were unassisted.

The Cougars entered the game averaging 576 yards of total offense a game, but were limited to 360 yards by the Bruins.

Larimore will be added to the 2010 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List. The Bronko Nagurski Trophy will be presented to the best defensive player in college football on Dec. 6 by the FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown Club at the Westin Hotel in Charlotte, N.C. Five finalists for the Nagurski Trophy will be announced on Nov. 18.

UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel said he felt sympathy for the Houston coaches, who watched both starting quarterback Case Keenum and backup Cotton Turner go down with season-ending injuries against the Bruins.

After throwing an interception to Akeem Ayers on the 2-yard line midway through the second quarter, Keenum came up lame while chasing Ayers, untouched by anyone, ending his bid for the Heisman Trophy. Keenum came into the game ranked fifth in all-time NCAA passing yards and was off to a great start in 2010 with 553 yards and five touchdowns through two games.
Turner, meanwhile, was effective in relief of Keenum in all three Houston games before suffering a broken clavicle on a hit late in the third quarter.

"It's such a fluke injury," Neuheisel said of Keenum's injury. "I feel terrible for Case, but all he did was try to slow down, and his knee kind of buckled. There was no contact. Reminded me of Koy Detmer at Colorado, he went down with no one around him. A torque in some way that your body says, you can't do it that way."

UCLA sophomore linebacker Patrick Larimore was named Pac-10 defensive player of the week. Check it out here.

One of the more heavily discussed items of business among UCLA message board denizens and commenters after Week 2 was the use of sophomore running back Johnathan Franklin.

Franklin, who led the team in rushing yards last season but battled fumbling issues, appeared to be able to handle a bigger workload after two weeks, gaining 133 yards on 24 carries.

Franklin's role increased, however, when junior Derrick Coleman went down after a vicious hit against Stanford.

But despite a 26-carry, 158-yard, three-touchdown performance against Houston, Neuheisel is still unsure that Franklin can handle so many carries.

"Johnathan Franklin is not your 220-pound back," UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel said. "He's 195, 200 pounds. I don't know that he's the kind of guy you give the ball 30 times to. I think he's more of an 18-22 carry guy."

UCLA cornerback Anthony Jefferson became the team's ninth true freshman to play this season, the Bruins' highly touted recruiting class paying immediate dividends.

Neuheisel defended the decision to burn Jefferson's redshirt by saying that the team needed him to play, but also said he understood that he would go through some lumps, as he did on a fourth-quarter touchdown from Terrance Broadway to James Cleveland.

"We just believe Anthony Jefferson's gonna have to play," Neuheisel said. "We believe he's talented enough to play. He learned some valuable lessons last night. He just turned the wrong way, kind of forgot fundamentally which way to look. Got beat on that play. Looks easy when you're sitting up in row 28, but when you're in the lights, get caught up, 'Is this real?' It can have that kind of effect on you. You saw Malcolm Jones going through some growing pains last night, too.
"But both will be sensational players."

Jones, who had 10 carries for 72 yards in the team's first two games, had 12 carries for 29 yards and fumbled twice.

Coveted point guard prospect Josiah Turner committed to Arizona, spurning UCLA, ESPN reported this morning.
Turner, rated the No. 5 point guard by Scout.com, was thought to be a UCLA lean late in the recruiting process, but his recruitment has bounced back and forth. Ben Howland put extensive time into Turner, and now Norman Powell becomes all the more important. As it stands, the Bruins will only have one scholarship next season, unless there are defections or transfers, so this will be an interesting recruiting season for the team.

UCLA junior Mike Harris started for senior Micah Kia at left tackle against the Cougars, and now the right tackle position might be up for grabs. Harris, who started all 13 games last season at right tackle, was suspended for a violation of team rules for the team's season-opening loss to Kansas State and did not play against Stanford.
Kia, though, injured his ankle during Tuesday's practice, and Harris practiced with the first unit for much of the week.
"Micah was ready to play, and in resting him over the course of the week, Mike had a great week of practice," Neuheisel said. "Micah will be ready to go this week. We'll wait and see about what (offensive line coach Bob Palcic) wants to do. My initial feeling would be yes, (Kia) gets it back. We want to have great competition there, and it wouldn't be unreasonable to see both players play."

Freshman linebacker Jared Koster will need surgery for a dislocated shoulder suffered on the opening kickoff, and sophomore defensive end Iuta Tepa will need surgery after tearing his pectoral muscle. Also, junior linebacker Sean Westgate has a sore back, but Neuheisel expects him to be fine.

Talk about no rest for the weary.

UCLA dominated Houston's prolific offense in a 31-13 win on Saturday, holding the No. 1 rated scoring offense to just three points over three quarters, after the Cougars came in averaging 61 points per game.

Now, the Bruins face an offense that finished sixth in scoring and 13th in total offense last season.

Only Colt McCoy is off to the NFL, and the Longhorns rank just 50th in scoring (30.67 points/game) and 72nd in total offense at 359.33 yards per game.

"They're able to pick their poison," Neuheisel said of Texas. "They can run at you, pound away, but they also have a talented quarterback and skill outside. Requires your defense to be able to play that balanced offense, which is always more difficult."

The Houston Cougars got some more bad news today, and it's pretty sad.
Heisman hopeful Case Keenum suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in UCLA's 31-13 win over the No. 23 Cougars at the Rose Bowl last night.
Keenum went down in the second quarter, after completing 11-of-19 passes for 87 yards and two interceptions.
It gets worse.
Keenum's backup Cotton Turner, who has been effective in relief, broke his clavicle and will also miss the rest of the season.
Terrance Broadway is now up for Houston, and he played well late against the Bruins, completing 5-of-8 passes for 84 yards and a touchdown.

Here's a link...

Fire away with questions for this week's Q&A. Please don't post new questions on the answers section, because I don't always check the comments. Save them for next week.

Thanks
Jon

RESULT: UCLA 31, No. 23 Houston 13
RECORD: 1-2
WEEK 3 GPA: A-

QUARTERBACK
Kevin Prince was certainly not perfect, but his ability to manage drives and run the ball is paramount for young Bruins this year.
C+

RUNNING BACKS
Johnathan Franklin was at his best, and the coaching staff rewarded him thusly: 26 carries. And he rewarded them: 158 yards, three touchdowns.
A-

WIDE RECEIVERS
Passing game still atrocious, but fantastic downfield blocking, and Ricky Marvray looks like a playmaker.
C+

OFFENSIVE LINE
Who expected this? UCLA blocking has been revelation despite injuries, academic issues. Simply amazing.
A

DEFENSIVE LINE
The production wasn't there - only three total tackles among the entire line - but constant push into backfield frustrated Houston QBs.
C

LINERBACKERS
Enough written about Akeem Ayers (two TFL, one INT). We get it. He's great. But Patrick Larimore (11 tackles, 3 TFL, forced fumble)? Wow.
A-

DEFENSIVE BACKS
Sensational performance by defensive backfield shut down vaunted passing attack. Case Keenum's Heisman hopes slithered down the drain.
A

SPECIAL TEAMS
Can't get any better kicking duo than Kai Forbath and Jeff Locke, but Taylor Embree's 31-yard punt return was pleasant surprise.
A-

COACHING
Norm Chow, Chuck Bullough must've read report card last week (all Fs after Stanford thrashing) and adjusted. You're welcome, UCLA fans.
A

Oh, so now they know the problem.

UCLA just had no bullets for its Pistol offense.

Could it really be that simple?

The Bruins sure made it look that way Saturday night.

Behind a healthy Kevin Prince and a healthy dose of Johnathan Franklin, UCLA pummeled visiting No. 23 Houston 31-13 in front of 54,407 at the Rose Bowl.

A week after being handed its worst Pac-10 home loss in team history, a 35-0 thrashing at the hands of brash Stanford, the Bruins were simply a different team.

Maybe Prince was just a different quarterback.

The sophomore Crespi product was far from perfect -- completing just 9-of-17 passes for 99 yards and an interception -- but he didn't struggle like he did in UCLA's losses to Stanford and Kansas State.

"It's tough, especially when there's so much demanded on you," Prince said of his first two starts, when he completed just 15 of 38 passes for 159 yards, three interceptions and a touchdown, his 67.52 quarterback rating ranking last in the NCAA. "Especially in this offense; you've got to make the right reads on every play. (UCLA offensive coordinator Norm) Chow says that in certain offenses, quarterbacks have to be in it only 70 percent of the time, because 30 percent, they're handing the ball off. In this offense, you have to be reading someone on every play, and you have to be thinking all the time."

Prince was able to move the Bruins downfield for scoring drives of 51, 80, 42, 35 and 12 yards, using his feet efficiently while helping UCLA convert 5-of-11 third downs.

Prince gained 57 yards on nine carries, including a second-quarter two-yard touchdown run that put the Bruins up 14-3, their biggest lead of the season to that point.

"In that read-zone game the Pistol presents, you just have to be smarter and patient with those reads," Prince said. "There were a few opportunities there where I could keep it and make some plays with my legs."

Prince did his fair share of handing off Saturday, often to Franklin.

Franklin, who had 133 yards rushing in the team's 0-2 start, had 157 yards on 26 carries, including three touchdowns, for 12, 11 and two yards, respectively.

His first score -- an 11-yard burst up the middle -- put UCLA up 7-3, as the Bruins capitalized on a curious Houston kickoff call that provided ample field position.

After a 29-yard Matt Hogan field goal, the Cougars attempted a pooch onside kick, recovered by UCLA at its 49-yard line. After a 24-yard run by Prince put the Bruins in scoring position and a Prince-to-Damien Thigpen nine-yard pass put the ball at the Houston 18-yard line, Franklin had a seven-yard run followed by the touchdown.

"The offensive line did a great job; they really stepped up today," Franklin said. "It was about finding the crease and being consistent. Continuously working and not letting up."

After the offense built a 31-3 lead, the UCLA defense took over, shutting down Houston's vaunted passing attack. Highly touted quarterback Case Keenum completed 11-of-19 passes
for 87 yards and two interceptions before going down with a knee injury in the second quarter. His replacements -- Cotton Turner and Terrance Broadway -- completed 11 of 19 passes for 123 yards and a touchdown, as the Bruins held Houston to more than 200 yards less than its season average.

"I was extremely impressed by the way the defense came out," Prince said. "I don't read much of the media stuff, but I'm sure people were afraid of what that offense could do. But our defense responded; we responded to what happened last week.

"Last week was pretty rough, but we went to work this week in practice, forgot about it, moved on, and realized that we don't have time to rest and feel sorry for ourselves."

Kai Forbath's 41-yard field goal capped off yet another UCLA drive, and the Bruins continue to roll.
UCLA got the ball on its 40-yard line to start, following a bad Houston kickoff, and Johnathan Franklin continued to pound the ball, gaining 23 yards on the drive before the offense stalled.

Drive Time: 36 yards, 10 plays, 4:49

Another fantastic drive has put the Bruins up 21-3, and now fans are starting to wonder...huh? Where was this offense last week? Perhaps a healthy Kevin Prince really does mean that much, as UCLA has been punishing the Cougars, with Johnathan Franklin scoring from two yards out.
After Rahim Moore got his first interception of the year and returned it to the Houston 42-yard line, Franklin and the Cougars defense took over. Franklin had 10 yards rushing and a nine-yard reception, and Houston helped UCLA's cause with a roughing-the-passer call on 2nd-and-12 from the 44-yard line.

Drive Time: 42 yards, 7 plays, 2:30

Kevin Prince manhandled Houston cornerback Jamal Robinson for a two-yard touchdown run, giving the Bruins their biggest lead of the season.
Prince, who has 49 yards rushing on five carries, had 25 yards rushing on the drive and was 3-for-5 for 45 yards passing, including an incredible pass-and-catch to Ricky Marvray for 22 yards.
Prince's 14-yard run on 2nd-and-10 from the 16-yard line put the Bruins in position to score, and he bulled his way into the end zone after a little dancing in the backfield.

Drive Time: 80 yards, 14 plays, 5:55

UCLA responded to Houston's passing attack with a beautiful drive on the ground.
After Houston attempted a pooch onside kick after the opening field goal, UCLA started with the ball on its 49 yard line.
A Kevin Prince 24-yard run put the Bruins in scoring position, and then Johnathan Franklin took over to close the drive, picking up a seven-yard gain, followed by an 11-yard touchdown.
Franklin already has 34 yards rushing in two drives.

Drive Time: 51 yards, 5 plays, 1:50

Matt Hogan's 29-yard field goal put Houston on the board first, after the vaunted passing attack erupted for a long drive.
After a UCLA drive stalled following a quick first down, the Cougars marched down the field, Case Keenum completing 2-of-4 passes for 30 yards, though the big blow was a Tyron Carrier-to-James Cleveland completion for 48 yards.

Drive Time: 79 yards, 9 plays, 2:56

Hey guys,

Just a reminder to follow me on Twitter and Facebook during the game, if interested. I post more often there than on theso you can stay up to date easier.

Twitter: @thecoolsub
Facebook: Inside UCLA page

Check out the latest batch of weekly answers...

Wayne Lyons Dillard High School - No. 6 S - OFFICIAL VISIT
Jason Gibson Junipero Serra High School - No. 5 OLB
Stephon McCray Bullard High School
Stephan Nembot Montclair Prep School - No. 58 DE
Stefan McClure Vista High School - No. 6 CB
Jordan Payton Oaks Christian High School
Junior Pomee Rancho Verde High School - No. 9 TE
Devon Blackmon Summit High School - No. 32 WR

Malik Gilmore Lakewood High School
Lacy Westbrook Dominguez High School
DeVante Wilson Corona Senior High School
Darryl Jackson Mayfair High School
Beau Boyster Saint John Bosco High School
Gabriel Marks Venice High School
Gregory Townsend Beverly Hills High School - No. 2 DE
Brent Walker Norco Senior High School
Fred Wilson West High School
Antwaun Woods Taft High School - No. 9 DT

And apparently De'Anthony Thomas - No. 1 CB

Check out the latest batch of weekly answers...

When Rick Neuheisel brought up UCLA having to face a pair of future NFL first-round draft choices in consecutive weeks in Stanford's Andrew Luck and Houston's Case Keenum -- a game-time decision according to the Houston Chronicle after suffering a mild concussion against UTEP -- it allowed the former Bruins quarterback to wax nostalgic about one of his first NFL quarterbacking experiences while speaking Friday at the Pasadena Quarterbacks Club luncheon at Brookside Country Club in Pasadena.

After graduating from UCLA, Neuheisel played for San Antonio Gunslingers in the old USFL, when he received a phone call from the Green Bay Packers offering him a tryout.

Neuheisel, born in Madison, Wisconsin, and a lifelong Packers fan, arrived the morning of the tryout and threw one slant pass that resulted in an unnamed free-agent receiver suffering a broken finger.

"It was a perfect pass," Neuheisel said.

The tryout was cut short until later in the afternoon, with Neuheisel touring the Packers Hall of Fame museum in the interim. When he returned to the indoor facility for the second workout, a Packers assistant had told him "they'd seen enough" and that he "wasn't exactky what they were looking for."

The 6-foot-1 Neuheisel, in disbelief after throwing just one pass, was told by the Packers that they expected him to be a "taller 6-1."

Instead of staying the rest of the day at the Green Bay Packers Ramada Inn, Neuheisel had lunch courtesy of the franchise before leaving on a flight out of Wisconsin later that night. Although he never had future contact with the Packers, he did split the 1987 season with the San Diego Chargers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

It was that learning experience that allowed Neuheisel to be patient with St. Francis coach and former Hart quarterback Jim Bonds -- also a speaker Friday at the Quarterbacks Club luncheon -- when Neuheisel was his quarterbacks coach at UCLA in 1988 and '89, and has allowed him to be patient with Kevin Prince and Richard Brehaut the past two seasons.

"We're going to get there," Neuheisel said. "I just hope I'm around to see it when it happens."

During his speech Friday at the Pasadena Quarterbacks Club at Brookside Country Club in Pasadena, Rick Neuheisel encouraged the Bruins fans in attendance to remain optimistic, despite the 0-2 start.

After all, this isn't the first time Neuheisel has endured an 0-2 start to the season.

During his first season at Washington (1999-2000), Neuheisel lost to BYU and Air Force, before the Huskies rebounded to win seven of their final 10 games, including a 6-2 record for a second-place finish in the Pacific-10 Conference and an appearance in the Holiday Bowl, where Washington lost to Kansas State 24-20.

"I told my coaching staff, 'We can't win the Mountain West, but we can still win the Pac-10, so let's find a way to do so,'" Neuheisel said. "And we came within a whisker of doing so, even beating conference champion Stanford (35-30)."

In Neuheisel's second year at Washington, the Huskies went 11-1 -- including a victory over then No. 1 Miami (Fla.) -- and defeated a Drew Brees-led Purdue team in the Rose Bowl 34-24 to finish ranked third in the country. That victory helped Neuheisel become the only Rose Bowl MVP to also coach a team to victory in the annual New Year's Day game.

"When I walked in here (to Brookside Country Club), I saw a lot of people feeling sorry for me, but that shouldn't be the case," Neuheisel told the audience. "Sure I'm disappointed in the way we've been playing, but you've got to continue to believe it can happen and find a way to get over the hump.

"There's plenty of good seats available on the bandwagon now right up near in the front because a lot of people have jumped off," Neuheisel continued. "If you have gotten off, that's fine, but there's still time to get back on because I wouldn't want you to miss being part of an unbelievable ride."

Rick Neuheisel made his annual appearance Friday at the Pasadena Quarterbacks Club at Brookside Country Club in Pasadena, joining another former UCLA quarterback Jim Bonds -- now the head coach at St. Francis -- as the guest speakers.

Minutes before Neuheisel was introduced, former Dodger Al Ferrara (1963, 65-68) informed those in attendance of the news that Don Mattingly would be managing the Dodgers the remainder of the regular season, instead of a retired Joe Torre.

As he was preparing to walk up to the podium, Neuheisel looked at his cell phone, apparently reading or responding to a text message.

When he greeted the crowd, Neuheisel commented, "Many of you saw me checking my phone. I was just making sure that Joe Torre wasn't hired to coach UCLA football."

Neuheisel later referenced UCLA's 1983-84 season, when he was selected MVP of the Rose Bowl after leading the Bruins to a 45-9 victory over Illinois after falling ill the night before and being uncertain whether he would even play.

UCLA started 0-3-1 that year, with Terry Donahue benching Neuheisel -- a former walk-on from Arizona who began his career holding kicks for John Lee -- in favor of Steve Bono following a 42-10 loss at No. 1 Nebraska.

"Terry Donahue said 'In situations like this, either the coach gets fired or the quarterback gets fired and I'm not fired yet," Neuheisel said.

Bono was then injured during an October game against Stanford and Neuheisel came back to finish the season, leading the Bruins to a a victory over USC, a Pacific-10 Conference championship, the Rose Bowl win over No. 4 Illinois and a 7-4-1 final record.

The third-year coach, 11-16 at UCLA following Saturday's 35-0 loss to Stanford, only hopes this season's Bruins rebound in similar fashion.

Check out the latest batch of weekly answers...

* Kevin Prince looked good once again running the offense, delivered a few really, really nice balls and ran the ball well. We'll see how he plays, though.

* Patrick Larimore had a nice practice, and I expect major things from him. Major, major. Fills the gap well, gets to where he's supposed to be, reads the situation well. He's only a redshirt sophomore, but when he comes of age, he'll be a beast.

* Working with the second-team defense, Glenn Love had a nice interception.

* Keenan Graham continues to work with the first-team defense, but needs to work on his run defense. At this point, I think it's clear he's the best available, though.

* Anthony Barr (back) practiced, and appears game-ready.

* Christian Ramirez practiced despite a hamstring injury, and Neuheisel said he expects him to be available.

* Micah Kia did not practice, but Neuheisel said it was just to give him time to rest up, and that he'd play against Houston.

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Readers: Post your final score prediction and vote in the poll. Closest to actual score with correct winning team gets to give me 10 questions to ask a player of their choosing, within reason, for an upcoming video.

By Jon Gold
Staff Writer

Kevin Prince has a question for his wide receivers and tight ends and running backs and even the new F-backs.

Care to dance?

For two games, the UCLA offense has shriveled into the corner, the geek with the glasses, stapled to the wall like a flower, afraid to test out the shoes, no rhythm, too many blues.

Forget two left feet. Try 22.

The Bruins have stumbled to start the season, tripped over their own feet, stepped on each other's, and even shot themselves in the foot a few times. Forget bunions, there are bullet holes.

Less than 550 yards of offense in two games. Only 22 points. Rankings that are abysmal, down there with the worst in the country.

They know it.

They feel it.

Or, as it seems, they don't feel it.

"It's something you can absolutely feel," UCLA sophomore quarterback Kevin Prince said after Tuesday's practice. "You can see it too. When you're watching the Lakers - I'm a big Laker fan - and you watch Kobe, and you say he's in the zone, that's rhythm. He's feeling it, draining threes, making nice dishes, he's feeling it, that's a rhythm. It's the same thing with football. I go out there, and today I felt I had rhythm.

"Weeks past...not so much."

Breakfast with the Bruins
Friday, Sept 17--7 am
Coach Norm Chow--Offensive Coordinator
Coach Chuck Bullough--Defensive Coordinator
Key UCLA Football Players:
Tony Dye--Strong Safety
Patrick Larimore--Linebacker
Darius Savage--Offensive Lineman
Nelson Rosario--Wide Receiver
UCLA Spirit Squad
Olympic Collection
11301 W Olympic Blvd (@ Sawtelle)
$25 includes breakfast buffet, program, and parking
For more information, contact Claudia Hart @ 310-348-UCLA or email @ claudia4UCLA@yahoo.com

Rick Neuheisel was pleased with Kevin Prince on Wednesday
``He's looked sharp,'' Neuheisel said. ``It's been a good week. I feel better tonight than I have in any previous week in terms of where he is.''

Anthony Barr has a sore back.

Jordan James looked good in practice again.
Derrick Coleman (concussion) watched practice. He's not expected to play this week, and it's unclear how long he'll be out.

Neuheisel believes Micah Kia (ankle) will play Saturday and isn't worried about his limited practice time.
``I'd like to think we'd be fine. The one place we're fortunate is that we have a proven guy behind him in Mike Harris. There was a chance to give more reps, but I think Micah will be fullspeed (Thursday).''

Check out the latest batch of weekly answers...

Congrats to GregB for winning the first weekly poll, and with it, the 10 questions for any UCLA player.

He chose Kai Forbath.

Former UCLA center J'mison "Bobo" Morgan talked to ESPN.com's Andy Katz about his transfer to Baylor, and discusses the health of his grandmother.

Morgan was dismissed from the team on Mar. 30, when Ben Howland issued a release stating: ""I feel that is is in the best interest of this program and for J'mison Morgan that he no longer be a part of this team. We are suppotive of him and his future in whatever direction he decides to go."

Here's a link

This is not a manifesto, nor a blueprint nor anything other than an observation.

I've been on the job a relatively short time, but I've seen an ebb-and-flow with the fanbase of the UCLA football program that is quite startling. To see the comments from a month ago, and to read this week's comments, you'd think the world ended. To Bruin fans, I understand why you think it has. The loss to Stanford was a bad one. Very bad.

However...

In my first sit-down interview with Rick Neuheisel, he described a plan he had in mind for the program that included a very salient point: It's not only about having the players, but having them be of age. He knew the talent level in the program was rising, but that the dividends wouldn't pay off for a while.

At times last year, because of the talent of some key players - Brian Price, Alterraun Verner, Xavier Su'a-Filo, Rahim Moore - and the leadership of others - the Bosworths, Logan Paulsen, Reggie Carter, Terrence Austin - the process was masked.

For seven games it was, at least. The Bruins' weaknesses were revealed in those other games. Teams would run wild, precious few mistakes would kill any momentum, youth at key positions would become evident. Six times, UCLA was caught.

Now...

You're looking at a team that is not only young, but inexperienced. It's one thing to have five senior offensive linemen start two straight games. That would be a huge, huge advantage...if the players each had 15 career starts under their belts. UCLA's offensive line? Thirty-one starts - Kia (15), Savage (8), Williams (6), Taylor (2), Sheller (0) - among the five.

You're looking at a team that has an abundance of talent at some positions, and almost no depth at others. A team that has a banged-up quarterback who barely practiced in a new offense that doesn't necessarily fit all the players.

My point is this: Perhaps the expectations were a little high to begin with, and a 40-point, unscientific scale will reveal the current breakdown of the team, and the potential breakdown of the team. The scale is broken into four parts: Skills, Age, Experience, Health.

Again, this is unscientific. To gauge "Skills," I essentially looked at the recruiting rankings of each of the starters, and advanced the talent along with improvement, and discussed the results with a few colleagues. With a few discrepancies, I basically figured a player who was ranked in the top-10 of his position was a 10/9, from 11-20 was a 9/8, from 21-30 was an 8/7, and so on. Again, I took into account whether I thought a player's stock had improved.

For age, it's pretty simple: RS Senior is a 10, Senior/RS Junior is an 8, Junior/RS Sophomore is a 6, and so on.

For experience, I took into account how many starts a player made last year, and in his career. Obviously, Micah Kia did not start last year because he was hurt. But he had 15 career starts going in, and that's pretty good.

Health, again, is basically just my observation, combined with their history of health issues.

Now, there's no hard and fast rule on what would comprise an elite player, a very good player, average, below-average and poor. Figure around a 35+ would be great, a 30+ would be very good, a 25+ would be average, a 20+ would be below-average and a 15+ would be poor.

Once again, just to reiterate, this is completely unscientific, and it does not take into account things like work ethic, attitude and brains. This purely was made to convey my belief that a young team, no matter the talent, will struggle unless that youth is experienced. A team of 22 sophomores who each rank at a 10 in skill is worth less, unless they each started 12 games the season before. In college football, players mature greatly between the ages of 18 and 23. Eighteen is a boy. Twenty-three is almost a man.

Also, and this is a big caveat, I believe certain positions outweigh others. A team with a talented, experienced offensive line is better off than a team with a talented, experienced wide receiver corps. A good, experienced quarterback is extremely important. A dominant free safety is not as important as a dominant middle linebacker.

So, and I hope I still have your attention, here it is...

Houston might be playing a hide-and-seek game with Case Keenum, but Neuheisel isn't buying it.

Keenum suffered a mild concussion in the Cougars' 54-24 win over Texas-El Paso and coach Kevin Sumlin said that his star quarterback was listed as day-to-day, his status not updated until game-time.

Keenum has reportedly been responding well as he goes through the proper concussion protocol, and is expected to play Saturday at the Rose Bowl.

"I think you have to expect he'll be ready," Neuheisel said. "He's a tough guy. It's not like he has to be in any contact this week. You just have to anticipate he'll be ready. And you have to anticipate that if he weren't ready to go, it would be the same offense you played anyway."

Backup quarterback Cotton Turner relieved Keenum in the third quarter, completing nine-of-10 passes for 69 yards and a score.

But Turner is a far cry from Keenum, who jumped ahead of Texas' Colt McCoy and North Carolina State's Philip Rivers for fifth on the NCAA career passing yardage list with 13,503, after throwing for 279 yards against the Miners.

From Tony Ciniglio of the Daily Breeze:

Former Inglewood High football star Shaquille Evans is coming home.

Evans decided he will transfer to UCLA, about two weeks after choosing to leave Notre Dame after just one season.

"Maybe being at home was the best fit," Evans said while helping at Inglewood's Monday practice. "UCLA wanted me there. I wanted to go where I felt wanted, where I felt needed. I wanted to be welcomed."

Evans had seven catches for 61 yards in limited time last season and expected to be part of the offense this sesaon. But when Evans, a 6-foot-1, 205-pound receiver who was a Charlie Weis recruit, was not listed on new coach Brian Kelly's official depth chart this season, he sought a transfer.

Kelly did not put any restrictions on the transfer.

Evans said he will sit out the remainder of this season, then still have three years of eligbility left when he joins UCLA for the 2010 season."They're a local team, a rising program," Evans said. "I feel they have a lot of potential."

Evans, who was the No. 4 ranked receiver in his recruiting class, had originally committed to USC before choosing Notre Dame.

Now Evans will be able to play in front of his hometown family and friends.

"When I look back, I probably felt like I should've stayed home," Evans said. "I felt this is where I should've been from the get-go."

* Kevin Prince practiced almost the entire day with the ones, and looked the best he's looked in essentially six weeks. Prince is still developing the timing that he had over the summer with his receivers, but his deep balls looked on point and he moved well.

* Prince had a few really nice deep routes, including throws to Taylor Embree and Josh Smith that looked good.

* With Derrick Coleman out, Jordon James saw extensive time along with Johnathan Franklin and Malcolm Jones, and I'll continue to maintain that he's the most fun to watch. He's a pinball out there - not as strong as MJD, but runs downhill like he did - and it's about time he got some role in the offense.

* For everyone wondering why Taylor Embree gets so many reps at returner - he takes care of the ball. Josh Smith and Damien Thigpen each dropped punts today, and Frank Gansz got into Smith pretty good. I think Smith can be an excellent returner, but it makes sense in terms of field position to want a guy out there who can at least field the punt.

* Saw a few really nice plays out of Anthony Jefferson, and some close to the team have told me that he might end up being the best NFL prospect on the team. He's still very raw, but a lot of talent there.

* Interesting answer from wide receivers coach Reggie Moore about why there aren't more situational lineups - Smith/Carroll/Marvray at once, three deep threats, for example - and he made a good point: In the Pistol, the goal is to run more plays and run them faster, a la the no-huddle, and that typically requires the same group to be out there for four-five plays, meaning less substitution.

* Christian Ramirez is nursing a hamstring issue that sidelined him for the game and today's practice. No timetable on his return.

* Linebacker David Allen has a broken pinky that required a heavy wrap - couldn't tell if it was a cast - but he won't miss any time.

* Micah Kia got tangled up and his right leg needed attending - he was limping pretty badly - but Neuheisel said he was fine.

Neuheisel is sticking by the Pistol offense, which he and offensive coordinator Norm Chow installed in the spring after the Bruins struggled in the running game the past two seasons.

The UCLA rushing attack has improved - the Bruins are averaging 172.5 yards per game, 51th in the country, after ranking 88th last season - but it has not translated into points, as the team ranks 115th out of 120 in scoring offense at 11 points per game.

"Why were struggling is not because of the Pistol," Neuheisel said in his Monday press conference. "It has nothing to do with the Pistol. Has to do that were not throwing and catching. We've had ill-timed procedure penalties. Ricky Marvray's two penalties are both first downs inside the 15-yard line. We've just got to eliminate stupid mistakes."

Check out the latest batch of weekly answers...

Check out the first batch of weekly answers...

Shaquelle Evans, a wide receiver from Inglewood High, has reportedly enrolled at UCLA after transferring from Notre Dame. Evans was the No. 12 wideout out of high school, choosing the Irish over USC.

ESPN's Bruce Feldman is reporting that Evans chose UCLA over Oregon. Evans was said to have committed to UCLA earlier this month, but he sent me a text refuting the rumors.

Here's the story

Here's the link to his Scout.com profile

A day after saying on a conference call with reporters that he planned on putting the quarterback position back up for competition, UCLA head coach said that sophomore Kevin Prince would start against Houston on Saturday at the Rose Bowl.

"He's our starter; that's my plan," Neuheisel said during his Monday press conference. "Richard Brehaut is going to continue to compete and continue to be ready. I think he's made positive strides. But right now, Kevin Prince is still ahead in terms of managing our offense."

Prince has struggled in two games for the Bruins, who fell to 0-2 with Saturday's 35-0 loss to Stanford at the Rose Bowl. Prince has completed 15-of-38 passes for 159 yards with three interceptions and two fumbles, including a ball that was ripped from his hands and returned for a touchdown by Cardinal defensive back Michael Thomas late in the third quarter.

Hey guys,

I'll join Petros and Money today at 3:30 p.m. on 570 KLAC. I'll get the link up soon after...

Congrats to Backdoor Cut for being the closest in our first Poll of the Week, picking Stanford to win 31-10.

Backdoor Cut - please email me 10 questions for any UCLA football player at jon.gold@dailynews.com.

Fire away with questions for this week's Q&A. Please don't post new questions on the answers section, because I don't always check the comments. Save them for next week.

Thanks
Jon

On what ails UCLA:
"Offensively, we have got to do a better job of throwing and catching and converting third downs. Our running game has been pretty good and can get better. But we have to do a better job of converting third downs and throwing and catching the football. Defensively, we can get better at some of our gap integrity. Our inside front seven have got to be in our gaps and playing efficient football in there."

On Andrew Luck:
"The Luck kid last night was really good at making first downs with his legs. I think our coverage was really good at times, and yet he got out of trouble, made a number of playing with his legs that cost us and kept drives a live."

On the mental mistakes plaguing the team:
"The opening punt return that we let the ball bounce 30 yards and put the ball on the 10-yard line ... We had a couple penalties where were trying to match their substitution and couldn't get it done. We had to waste a timeout because we had a punt returner on third down. You can't put your finger on one thing - its execution. Our quarterback misfiring, not throwing to an open receiver, quarterback not getting to his read to an open wide receiver, a number of things. We've been better. Been better with these guys. It's a little bit alarming that this is going on."

On the starting quarterback against Houston:
"We haven't made that determination yet. We'll see. We'll watch practice. The effectiveness of the quarterback position is critical, so we want to make sure we have someone out there who knows what he's doing and does it well. At the end of the day, as long as (Prince's) health is good, it comes down to performance. To date, the performance hasn't been what it needs to be."

On questioning himself about starting Prince:
"I question myself all the time. I know why I chose what I chose. I can't go back and switch it."

On Prince's shoulder:
"We're dealing with some basic soreness, and I don't think it's one of those things that requires an MRI."

On Ricky Marvray's personal foul:
"He made a block downfield, kind of a peel back block, and it wasn't necessary. Wasn't a necessary block. You like that he likes to play, but he needs to have more discipline than that."

On Derrick Coleman:
"Derrick is fine, out of hospital, here today. He's sore, has a little neck sprain, and a mild concussion, but I think he'll be back shortly."

Here's my gamer from last night, and it ain't pretty. Neither was UCLA.

UCLA REPORT CARD

RESULT: Stanford 35, UCLA 0
RECORD: 0-2
WEEK 2 GPA: F

QUARTERBACK
Kevin Prince either needs all the practice time or none; no more splitting time with Richard Brehaut. Pick.
F

RUNNING BACKS
Johnathan Franklin and Malcolm Jones looked like they could handle a heavier workload.
F+

WIDE RECEIVERS
Zero separation, zero effort for deep balls, and a baffling rotation.
F

OFFENSIVE LINE
The running game continues to impress, but pass-blocking needs a major upgrade.
F+

DEFENSIVE LINE
Did not break containment as often, but didn't need to - Stanford ran up the gut just fine.
F

LINERBACKERS
Rather than avoid blockers, linebackers are engaging them like they've dated for four years.
F

DEFENSIVE BACKS
Rahim Moore has not been an All-American through two games, and Dietrich Riley needs more time.
F

SPECIAL TEAMS
Kai Forbath misses his first field goal inside 50 yards in 40 attempts, UCLA fans groan.
F

COACHING
Chuck Bullough, Norm Chow more vanilla than 1950s Iowa, more conservative than Palin.
F-

Just woke up to the message that UCLA running back Derrick Coleman was released from the hospital around 1:30 last night with a concussion & neck sprain. CT scans and x-rays were normal, but there is no timetable for his return.

The Stanford Cardinal did not need to rip victory away from the hapless UCLA Bruins on Saturday night at the Rose Bowl, but they did it anyway.
Adding insult to insult, free safety Michael Thomas tore the football from sophomore quarterback Kevin Prince's hands and waltzed 21 yards into the end zone with just under a minute left in the third quarter.
By then, the Rose Bowl was just a shell, fans escaping to the exits like someone tripped the fire alarm.
Except the only thing tripped up? The UCLA offense.
The bumbling Bruins managed just 233 yards of offense and blew two scoring chances as the Cardinal chipped away, ultimately handing UCLA a second-straight loss, this a 35-0 beatdown in front of 56,931.
Behind star quarterback Andrew Luck, Stanford methodically pounded the ball, gaining 364 yards rushing and 23 first downs. Luck got in on the act, rushing for 63 yards on seven carries, including four carries of more than 10 yards. Luck appeared to add a rushing touchdown with just over a minute left in the third quarter, but he was ruled down at the 1-yard line following a four-yard gain before handing off to fullback Owen Marecic for the score on the ensuing play.
Exploiting a UCLA defense that looked run-first for much of the game, Luck began to pick the pass defense apart, particularly on the play action. Luck threw his first touchdown of the day to wide receiver Ryan Whalen on a rollout out of the Pistol formation less than six minutes into the game, then hit uncovered reserve tight end Coby Fleener for a three-yard touchdown with 9:25 left on the clock.
"He's probably the best quarterback in the Pac-10, probably in the country," UCLA safety Rahim Moore said. "I've known him since high school, the Army All-American Bowl, and he was throwing darts then. Everything was on the money."
Luck wasn't exactly Benjamin Franklin, Andrew Jackson or Abraham Lincoln on Saturday, but he got the job done.
After throwing for four touchdowns and 316 yards on 17-of-23 passing in the Cardinal's 52-17 win over Sacramento State in the season opener, the Davey O'Brien Award candidate completed just 11-of-24 passes for 151 yards against the Bruins before being pulled with five minutes remaining.
But Luck was accurate when it mattered, despite finding just five different receivers, including Doug Baldwin three times for 50 yards.
"The thing about Andrew Luck, he's really polished," Moore said. "You look at some quarterbacks, and are they polished? Do they make good decisions? He does. He blends in perfectly with that offense, and with him, it's like playing against Peyton Manning. That's the type of quarterback he is - just so polished."
Luck's counterpart, Prince, not so much.
More like a rough, pointed, jagged rock.
The Crespi of Encino product went 6-for-12 for 39 yards and an interception, a 60.6 quarterback rating. Under Prince, the offense managed just 160 total yards, with running back Johnathan Franklin picking up 66 rushing yards.
Prince was pulled after Thomas's fumble-return touchdown in favor of sophomore backup Richard Brehaut, and the Bruins started to move.
For a while, at least.
After Brehaut came in and led UCLA to the Stanford 21-yard line on his second drive, the Bruins stalled on fourth down, giving up their last scoring chance.
By then, the Rose Bowl was nearly empty, boos pouring in on a cloudless night.

After Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck was ruled down at the 1-yard line on a 3rd-and-goal run, fullback Owen Marecic finished the job.
The two-way monster had a 1-yard scoring run to cap off a 68-yard drive, as Luck displayed his speed, rushing for 33 yards on the drive.

Drive Time: 68 yards, 18 plays, 9:25

PASADENA - UCLA's plan was to introduce a heavier rotation for the defensive front seven against Stanford, and if the early going was any indication, they needed to.
Stanford had 137 yards in the first quarter, including 80 on the ground, while building a 10-0 lead.
The Cardinal had the ball for more than 10 minutes in the quarter while tallying nine first downs.
For comparison, the Bruins ran nine plays.
The low point? Senior defensive tackle David Carter caught vomiting live on ESPN, less than 15 minutes into the game.
UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel made it a point of emphasis early in the week to mix some new blood in, saying that he expected freshman defensive tackle Cassius Marsh (Oaks Christian) in particular to get increased playing time. Marsh played extensively in the first half against Stanford, which lead 13-0.
"We're hopeful we can get all those guys in the game and seasoned to be productive in the game," Neuheisel said. "That makes us a better football team, when you have guys 25 or 30 plays, because they can go at a much higher speed."

A short field caused by a Randall Carroll fumble gave Stanford the ball at the UCLA 46-yard line, and the Cardinal capitalized seven plays later with another short field goal by Nate Whitaker.
Whitaker's 21-yard field goal came after Tony Dye batted away an Andrew Luck-to-Ryan Whalen pass in the end zone.

Drive Time: 43 yards, 7 plays, 1:56

Nate Whitaker's 23-yard field goal capped off a long drive that stalled in the red zone, and the Cardinal are up 10-0.
Stanford faced only two third downs on the drive, as they were able to move the ball on first- and second-downs with a sound running game, and the Cardinal already have 80 yards rushing and 137 total.

Drive Time: 14 plays, 81 yards, 6:15

Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck found Ryan Whalen wide open in the end zone for a touchdown on 2nd-and-6 from the 16-yard line, and the Cardinal capitalized on good field position to punish the Bruins.
Following a quick three-and-out by UCLA, Stanford got the ball on its 39-yard line, and a pair of Luck runs - one for 16 yards, one for 11 - put the Cardinal in scoring position.

Drive Time: 61 yards, 7 plays, 3:28

Hey guys,

Every week, ESPNLosAngeles.com UCLA blogger Blair Angulo and I will break down the game in the Chalk Talk. We'll discuss the week's opponent, the previous opponent, and what we saw in practice.

This was our first one, and I know the audio sucked (and I know I look like Jonah Hill), so spare the harsh comments.

Hey guys,

Just a reminder to follow me on Twitter and Facebook during the game, if interested. I post more often there than on theso you can stay up to date easier.

Twitter: @thecoolsub
Facebook: Inside UCLA page

Here is a list of unofficial visits for UCLA's game with Stanford today at the Rose Bowl.
Verbals in bold, priority targets in italics...

Given the way the Andrew Luck hype machine was turned to full blast this summer by Jim Harbaugh and given the fact Mel Kiper and Co. bought right in, perhaps UCLA was right to initially think that the Stanford game-plan for Saturday's Pac-10 opener would be pass-heavy.

Heck, just given Luck's performance as a freshman for the Cardinal last season, and you could forgive the Bruins for expecting Luck, Luck and even more good Luck.

But then Kansas State's Daniel Thomas filleted the UCLA defense.

Now, the Bruins expect the reliable Stanford rushing attack to make its usual appearance.

"I expected it to be the Andrew Luck Show originally, before the Kansas State game," Dye said. "But we showed a little run weakness on the defense, so we're playing it both."

A little run weakness?

Check out the latest batch of weekly answers...

Rick Neuheisel was left seeing red after his UCLA football team fell to Kansas State, 31-22, in the teams' season-opener last Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

He'll see red when the Stanford Cardinal venture to the Rose Bowl.

And he'll see red when he looks down, for the first time ever.

To commemorate Sept. 11, the UCLA coaching staff and non-performing players will wear specialized Adidas game shirts on Saturday, with the "U" and "C" on the breastplate in blue with white stars, and the "L" and "A" with red and white stripes.
It is the first time a UCLA coach has worn red during a game.

"That trumps all. The idea of paying tribute the fallen brave folks who perished in the tragedy is important," Neuheisel said. "It's important that we remember, and that we pay tribute, not only to them but to the families who've given so much.
"Red, white and blue is the first team we're on."

For a program that has such a keen hatred of all things red - or is it just cardinal and maroon? - it would take a day with the significance of Sept. 11 to bring about the temporary change.

"We're going to focus on the fact that this is a great honor, to be able in some small way to pay tribute to those heroes," Neuheisel said. "When it comes time to play, we're going to be pumping some blue and gold blood, raring to go."

* Kevin Prince threw more but was still on a pitch count in UCLA's Thursday practice in shorts and shells. He had a number of nice throws - including a good pitch-and-catch to Nelson Rosario - and the company line is that he feels fine and should not be limited against Stanford. Key word being "should."

* Rick Neuheisel said Josh Smith is ready to return punts, but he wasn't sure if the situation would dictate his use.
"A lot will depend on Josh's conditioning, and how we feel about our return game. We'll wait and see."
Smith returned two kickoffs for 55 yards, while junior Taylor Embree handled the punts, taking two for 14 yards.

* A lot more of Keenan Graham, and it's deserved. He was probably UCLA's best defensive end against K-State, and I expect him to get a starting role at some point.

* Kai Forbath kicked, but missed a short field goal and turned around in disgust. He's about as sure a bet as can be, though.

* Coaches are not sure if they're going to pull the plug on Seali'i Epenesa's redshirt, and I think Jordon James is probably in the same boat. Unless time and place dictates it, I'd be surprised if they went in, even though both have great promise.

Readers: Post your final score prediction and vote in the poll. Closest to actual score with correct winning team gets to give me 10 questions to ask a player of their choosing, within reason, for an upcoming video.

Hey guys,

I've set up an NFL Survival pool for the upcoming season. I know it's late notice, but if you check it out and want to join, here's the link: Sign up

If that doesn't work...
League ID: 27646
Password: bruins

The prize at the end of the season: a UCLA fun pack, with some basketball tickets and some football and basketball cards, including either a Jrue Holliday, Darren Collison or Alterraun Verner autographed rookie card.

Thanks for playing, and good luck!

Here's my feature today about UCLA offensive tackle Micah Kia, and it's a pretty cool one. Kia's ancestors - the Nae'ole - safeguarded King Kamehameha as a child when a rival leader wanted him killed. Now Kia protects a Prince.

Check it out: Story here

I'll try to post some of the pictures here, too...

Check out the latest batch of weekly answers...

* From my vantage point, Wednesday's practice lacked the intensity needed to prepare for a conference opponent, particularly one ranked in the top-25.

* Kevin Prince threw early and threw well, but again was on a "pitch count." Neuheisel was adamant that it was precautionary, and that Prince is the starter for Saturday, barring anything drastic. Prince banged his shoulder in the game, and again in practice on Tuesday, and has the usual post-game soreness. From Prince and Neuheisel, the oblique is not an issue any more.

* A couple of Prince observations: Looked better on screen passes - for some reason, a plague for him - and had a couple of nice deep balls. Also underthrew a couple of routes.

* Joseph Fauria had a few good catches, and he's going to see an increased roll, but his fragility will remain a concern.

* Seali'i Epenesa got extra work with the first unit, and Cassius Marsh continues to play a big role, and I'd except him to get a lot of time against Stanford.

* Great catch by Ricky Marvray and he had a much-increased role in practice. He's become a true factor for the offense.

* Jordan Zumwalt got a decent amount of reps with the first team, and Chuck Bullough said they could use him Saturday. He's still raw and a work-in-progress, but he's on the cusp.

Breakfast with the Bruins
Friday, Sept 10--7 am
Head Coach Rick Neuheisel
Sean Sheller, #72 OL
Jonathan Franklin, #23 TB
Rahim Moore, #3 FS
Akeem Ayers, #10 LB
UCLA Spirit Squad
Olympic Collection
11301 W Olympic Blvd (@ Sawtelle)
$25 includes breakfast buffet, program, and parking
For more information, contact Claudia Hart @ 310-348-UCLA or email @ claudia4UCLA@yahoo.com

Check out the latest batch of weekly answers...

Hey guys,

I'll be talking UCLA football on "In the Zone" with Martinez and Long on ESPN 710 at 7:15 p.m. today. Here's the listen live link: Listen Here

In a battle of wits, Norm Chow might just have outsmarted himself.

After UCLA scored with 1 minute, 26 seconds left in Saturday's eventual 31-22 loss to Kansas State, the Bruins found themselves with a game-tying two-point conversion opportunity.

Rather than call his preferred play, Chow opted for a pass play to the back of the end zone - Kevin Prince's throw to Taylor Embree was batted down - because he thought Kansas State coach Bill Snyder would have a read on him.

"You always plan for your 2-point play in advance, and you usually have a list of two, three plays," Neuheisel said. "Norm had on his list a play above the play we called, but we had called that play in a previous game on a 2-point play, and he just thought, 'You know what, they'll have looked at that one, so I'm going to the next one.'"

While UCLA had a successful night running the football against Kansas State - the Bruins finished with 193 yards on the ground, but only 120 passing - the next step for the coaching staff is trusting the running game in critical situations.

Perceived to be the weak spot heading into the game, the offensive line showed consistent push, as running backs Johnathan Franklin, Derrick Coleman and Malcolm Jones averaged 5.2 yards per carry.

Now they'll have to get the two yards that matter most.

"As we get further into the Pistol and gain more confidence in it, the runs will be much more viable in that situation," Neuheisel said. "They were in an eight-man drop, three-man rush, and if we had to do it again, we'd probably run the ball."

Check out the latest batch of weekly answers...

* A little more live action at UCLA's practice today, but it wasn't exactly a madhouse out there. I thought we'd see more scrimmage situations - and they did some - but not as much as I'd expect.

* Kevin Prince threw well, but got little action toward the end of practice, as he's still a little sore from the Kansas State game, and got his shoulder nicked up today.

* Don't expect many defensive changes, but expect the backups to simply get more time. Lot of work for many of the impact freshmen, and we might even see Anthony Jefferson and Seali'i Epenesa in the mix.

* Patrick Larimore looked really good, and I have little doubt he'll turn into a game-changer. Still very raw, and his technique needs refining, but he's extremely athletic.

* I didn't see too many drops today - can't remember any specifically - and I talked to Taylor Embree after practice, and he said they were just as surprised as anyone. Good video interview with Embree coming.

Check out the first batch of weekly answers...

Congrats to GregB for being the closest in our first Poll of the Week, picking Kansas State to win 34-30.

GregB - please email me 10 questions for any UCLA football player at jon.gold@dailynews.com.

Along with fellow locals Malcolm Jones (Oaks Christian) and Anthony Barr (Loyola), strong safety Dietrich Riley of St. Francis was among UCLA's most-discussed freshmen during fall camp.

And for good reason - the four-time All-Mission League selection had three interceptions and a forced fumble in two fall scrimmages.

But unlike Barr and Jones, Riley did not play for the Bruins on Saturday against Kansas State.

"There were probably two or three times when we said, get Dietrich ready, but the game is so close," Neuheisel said. "You've got Tony Dye and Rahim, who have a number of starts both under their belt. Can you risk a guy going in there and not knowing exactly what to do? The answer is, ultimately, yes, you can.
"We just didn't pull the trigger the other day. But we will."

Breathe deep, UCLA football fans, Rick Neuheisel has a plan.

And that plan is to let his players breathe deep.

After stating that he does not plan for a wholesale overhaul of his personnel despite a 31-22 season-opening loss at Kansas State on Saturday, Neuheisel said that he simply might have played his starters too many plays, and will try to work more players into the rotation.

If the second half of the game was any indication, they could use the break.
UCLA allowed 24 points and 272 yards - 180 to running back Daniel Thomas alone - in the final two quarters, watching a 10-7 lead slip away.

"The one thing we may want to do is try to give some guys a little more of a break," Neuheisel said. "There are some young players that probably need to get a few snaps to keep guys fresh. There's a reluctance to do that. We've got to grow up these kids fast so we can spell guys and keep them as fresh as possible."

The Bruins might have just been outplayed on the first drive of the second half, when the Wildcats, faced with 1st-and-20 at their 10-yard line, marched 90 yards for a touchdown to regain the lead at 14-10.

But down the stretch, the fatigue set in, and players like Justin Edison - who played more snaps against Kansas State than he did all season last year, Neuheisel pointed out - started to fade.

Neuheisel balked at the idea of playing more situational defenses, simply stating younger players, including defensive tackle Cassius Marsh (Oaks Christian), needed to play more.

"Some games you can just go so many plays and you get a blow, so you can continue to go full-speed," Neuheisel said. "But not so much the speed of the defense as a whole slowed down, but the concentration of the defense. Fatigue makes cowards of us all. We have to learn how to trust people, and these young players have to really work their tails off this week, so there's reason to trust them."

Surprise, surprise, Brett Hundley, the No. 6 quarterback in the country according to Scout.com, has chosen UCLA.

Hundley took an unofficial visit to UCLA for the team's Aug. 21 scrimmage, then cancelled an unofficial visit to Washington the following weekend. Shortly thereafter, Hundley wrote on Facebook that he made his decision, and that he would let it be known today.

Hundley announced his decision at Chandler High in Arizona in front of friends and family, giving UCLA it's top quarterback recruit since Ben Olson in 2004.
"It's a huge get; this is on par with Malcolm Jones last year, an impact player at an impact position," Scout.com's Brandon Huffman said. "The highest-rated from the high school ranks, and first time they've gotten a top quarterback prospect on the west coast in a long time."

UCLA has dealt with injuries and inconsistency at the position for almost every year in the last decade, but scouts believe Hundley could be a game-changer. Perhaps even play early.

"I think he could," Huffman said. "I don't think that Neuheisel has shown an aversion to playing young guys. He's the kind of guy who could come in, and if they get zero production from the position this year, they sure as heck open it up in the spring."

Fire away with questions for this week's Q&A. Please don't post new questions on the answers section, because I don't always check the comments. Save them for next week.

Thanks
Jon

Junior wide receiver Josh Smith was expected to jolt some explosiveness into the UCLA return game, but only handled the kick return duties, while junior wide receiver Taylor Embree handled the punts.

Smith was honorable-mention All-Big-12 kick returner as a sophomore at Colorado in 2008, after returning 50 kicks for 1,276 yards and a touchdown, and catching 29 passes for 387 yards and a score, ranking second on the Buffaloes' all-time all-purpose yards list (1,987).

''We just felt like we were asking a lot of him for his first game back with the kickoff return," Neuheisel said of Smith, who missed extensive time in fall camp with a groin injury. "We had some plans for reverses and things like that and I didn't want to put that on him. With the wind and the high sun, I just wanted Taylor (Embree) to be very sure-handed with that.''

Smith finished with two rushes for 52 yards, including a team-high 43-yard run, and had two kick returns for 55 yards against the Wildcats.

All it took was a night's sleep to knock the optimism back into Rick Neuheisel.
After UCLA's 31-22 loss to Kansas State on Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, Neuheisel was sullen, at times complementary, but certainly grim.

He had reason to be.

His Bruins struggled against the run, allowing 313 rushing yards, the most they've allowed since Week 6 of 2008, when they gave up 323 to Oregon in a 31-24 loss.

But after scouring the game film, Neuheisel saw a diamond in a lump of coal.

"After looking at the film, I feel much better than I did flying home last night," Neuheisel said. "There were enough good things on the tape - and things you know are correctable - to know we have a great chance to build on this. To be something that is hopefully special. I'm encouraged. We have things to fix and fix fast, given the nature of our opponent this week, but I'm encouraged."
"Given the nature of the opponent," or in other words, "Uh, oh."

Here's my report card for Game 1, UCLA's 31-22 loss to Kansas State...

MANHATTAN, Kans. -

Up until Saturday, UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel wasn't sure if he'd have his team's best offensive weapon.
That his team's best offensive weapon is a kicker, senior Kai Forbath, is another story.
But Forbath is no ordinary kicker, last season's Lou Groza Award winner, and his nagging groin injury held him out for much of the last two weeks.
When Forbath (Notre Dame High) approached Neuheisel before the game and told him he was good-to-go, Neuheisel breathed a sigh of relief.
He was rewarded.
Forbath had three field goals, 44, 42 and 35 yards, giving him 40 straight field goals under 50 yards.
"That was one of the neat things," Neuheisel said. "I thought when the game got to 17-16, we were going to pin them down, get the ball back, and he was going to be the hero. He's the best kicker in the country, went through the warmups and said, 'I feel good.'"
Forbath, who hit 28 kicks in 31 tries last season, tied the NCAA for most three-field goal games, and now is now just 10 behind John Lee on the UCLA all-time list.

MANHATTAN, KAN. -

Norm Chow was incredulous, disbelieving, shaking his head when told his wide receivers dropped eight passes in UCLA's 31-22 loss to Kansas State on Saturday afternoon at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

"We dropped what, a half a dozen balls? Eight?!" Chow said, clearly upset. "That does (surprise me); that's our most experienced group."

And it is, with juniors Nelson Rosario and Taylor Embree leading a talented unit that includes junior transfer Josh Smith and redshirt freshman Ricky Marvray, who caught the team's lone touchdown pass from Kevin Prince late in the game.

MANHATTAN, Kans. - UCLA expected a steady dose of Daniel Thomas, but he didn't go down smooth, and he didn't go down easy, and really, he didn't go down at all.
The Bruins dived and reached and grabbed and clawed, but Thomas was just too difficult to swallow.

He was a jagged not-so-little pill, a 6-foot-2, 228-pound merry-go-round, only he did not just go around the UCLA defense, he went around and over and in between and through.

Thomas torched the Bruins for 234 yards and two touchdowns in the Wildcats' 31-22 win in the teams' season opener on Saturday afternoon at Kansas State's Bill Snyder Family Stadium, even though the Bruins knew it was coming, even though they thought they were in the right spot.

"I know a couple of times I was coming across, and I had cutback gap on him, and the ball was declared, clearly declared, and he ran into everybody, stopped on a dime and cutback the other way for a huge gain," said junior outside linebacker Sean Westgate, who had seven tackles. "I'm just like, 'I know that was my gap, I know I messed that up.' He and (backup running back William Powell), they were both cutting back all over the place. It wasn't just us missing tackles. They were making life difficult for us."

Quick game write-up for the blog, more to follow...

Kai Forbath nailed a 42-yard field goal attempt, his third of the day, to bring UCLA within one at 17-16.
UCLA had a huge 43-yard run by Josh Smith on a double reverse to get into field-goal position, but two short runs and an overthrow by Kevin Prince

Drive Time: 6 plays, 45 yards, 2:06

A 35-yard field goal by Josh Cherry puts Kansas State back up 17-13, after another nice drive stalled.
Carson Coffman was sacked on 3rd-and-7, as the coverage held strong, and the Wildcats could not capitalize off a 29-yard run Daniel Thomas run.

Drive Time: 10 plays, 52 yards, 5:17

After a long drive, Kai Forbath chipped in his 39th consecutive field goal under 50 yards, and the Bruins trail 14-13.
A good drive stalled at the end, courtesy of dropped passes by Taylor Embree and Anthony Barr, but Kevin Prince looked the best he has all game on that drive.

Drive Time: 14 plays, 62 yards, 5:01

After a 44-yard run by Daniel Thomas, change-of-pace back William Powell just scored from 28 yards out to put Kansas State up 14-10.
A first-down penalty by the Wildcats put them at 1-20 at their own 10-yard line, but three consecutive big plays, first a 13-yard pass from Carson Coffman to tight end Travis Tannehill, put them in the end zone.

Drive Time: 4 plays, 80 yards, 2:20

Despite an anemic passing game, the Bruins are clinging to a 10-7 lead, thanks to two fumble recoveries.

Kevin Prince, who missed nearly all of training camp, is just 5-for-17 passing for 43 yards, though UCLA wideouts have dropped six passes. Prince has struggled throwing on the run and across his body, the two throws that hurt him most while he nursed the oblique strain.

But what he hasn't done in the air, he's done on the ground. Prince's 11-yard touchdown run was the half's only score, and he baffled nearly the entire stadium on a bootleg fake.

The UCLA defense has done a decent job on star K-State running back Daniel Thomas, limiting him to 53 yards rushing and a score, and two catches for 15 yards.

As poor as the Bruins passing game has been, the Wildcats might actually be worse: Carson Coffman is 7-of-12 for just 39 yards and has been sacked four times. Patrick Larimore has done some damage, with a forced fumble, fumble recovery and a sack, and Akeem Ayers has a fumble recovery and 10 tackles.

Kai Forbath just hit a 43-yard field goal to cap off a 50-yard drive, as the UCLA offense started to roll.
Forbath's 38th-straight field goal inside 50 yards followed an up-and-down drive - two dropped passes, but four plays over six yards - and put UCLA up three.

Drive Time: 11 plays, 50 yards, 3:09

Kevin Prince faked out the entire stadium and took a quarterback keeper 11 yards into the end zone untouched as UCLA got the ball at the 11 following a fumble, recovered by Akeem Ayers.

Drive Time: 1 play, 11 yards, 5 seconds.

After a quick three-and-out for UCLA that featured two drops by Morrell Presley, Kansas State got the ball on its 45-yard line and marched down the field. Or, at least Daniel Thomas did.
Thomas had 25 yards rushing and a 21-yard reception on the XX-play drive, and after a goal-line stop by UCLA on 4th-and-goal at the 1 was overturned because of a penalty - too many men on the field - Thomas plugged it in from a yard out.

Drive Time: 10 plays, 55 yards, 5 minutes, 27 seconds

After a ridiculous traffic jam, I finally made it to Snyder Family Stadium.

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In honor of Thousand Oaks' hottest new burger joint, here are five UCLA players to watch, and why...

Kellis Robinett of the Kansas City Star wrote about the UCLA offensive line: Star

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When the UCLA football team first met Daniel Thomas last season in Week 3, the Kansas State junior running back was somewhat of an unknown quantity.

A junior college transfer from Northwest Mississippi Community College, Thomas burst on the scene in his first two games for the Wildcats, racking up 240 yards and a touchdown against Massachusetts and Louisiana.

Then Kansas State traveled to the Rose Bowl, where Chuck Bullough and the UCLA defense had a rude awakening for him.

The Bruins held Thomas to his second-lowest yardage total of the season, just 54 yards on the ground, though he added 61 yards on four receptions.

It would be just a blip on a 1,265-yard season, one in which Thomas was named Big-12 offensive newcomer of the year and first-team all conference. Now he's a preseason All-American, up for the Doak Walker, Maxwell and Hornung awards.

There will be no doubting Thomas this time.

"He's a very good back; obviously, a 1,000-yard back in the Big 12 is an accomplished guy," UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel said. "I think he had 50-some-odd yards against us last year, but it's going to be a bigger test this year, because we're at their place and it's the first game of the year, where tackling is always a question mark because you haven't done a lot of it."

Tackling was a big issue for the Bruins last year, and that was with five senior starters plus Pac-10 defensive player of the year Brian Price, who left the team after his junior year as an early second-round pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

With all that talent, all that leadership, the Bruins still grasped at air last season.
Now they replace seven starters and haven't worked on much tackling during fall camp.

Now they just hope Daniel Thomas isn't Thurman Thomas.

"It's a concern, there's no question," Neuheisel said. "We had a good scrimmage, didn't have a lot of missed tackles, but we'll have to see. We certainly have had a number of tackling drills, so I'm hopeful we'll fly around. I still think there's enough experience on the defensive side of the ball that we'll wrap and get guys down."

Lacking depth on both the offensive and defensive lines - particularly after injuries to valuable junior starters, defensive end Datone Jones and center Kai Maiava - Neuheisel limited the live action during the last days of practice, hoping to preserve what depth the Bruins had remaining.

It could backfire.

"Every coach in the country would love to play live all the time, but you can't afford losing guys," Neuheisel said. "(That) is part of the casualties of that scrimmage situation. It's part of the deal."

If it's just part of the deal, then UCLA has done its fair share of shuffling to manage it.
Despite the graduation, attrition and injury concerns, the Bruins are optimistic that a talented group of young, untested defenders can hold fort.

The coaching staff sees much promise in converted offensive lineman Nate Chandler, who finally steps into a starting role as a junior at defensive end, opposite sophomore Damien Holmes. Senior defensive tackle David Carter gained extensive experience last season as the first reserve off the bench, and junior defensive tackle Justin Edison bulked up to handle the additional workload.

After heated offseason battles at two linebacker positions - with one wrapped up by preseason All-American Akeem Ayers - UCLA will likely rotate between redshirt freshman Patrick Larimore and junior Steve Sloan at middle linebacker and juniors Sean Westgate and Glenn Love opposite Ayers.

With the pieces in place, the Bruins spent the last week trying to both refine their own scheme while preparing for Kansas State's.

"I think it's both; just figuring out what we can do if they change their stuff and what they can do against us if we change our stuff," Moore said. "But we can't worry about all the changes they've made. We worry about what we're doing, but when the game comes, we have to make sure we adjust."

UCLA better just hope it doesn't become a bunch of tackling dummies.

Hey guys, sorry I haven't been on today. The wireless Internet at the Denver airport, my layover, has been down.

I fly to Kansas City, then drive to Topeka, so I'll have some posts later.

Thanks for checking in,

Jon

Former UCLA wideout/returner Terrence Austin just caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Richard Bartel (umm, who?) for his first professional score. Yes, it was a preseason game. But cool for Austin nonetheless, and while he already locked up a roster spot, this can only mean good things. For the game, Austin has five catches for 94 yards and the score.

If you want a preview of the pistol offense, Hawaii is running it right now against USC.

From UCLA:

Brandon Willis, a 6-3, 255-pound freshman defensive tackle from Duncan, SC, is now a member of the UCLA football program.

Willis has been admitted to school and has signed a statement of intent to enroll. He will join the team immediately and will redshirt this season due to his transfer from the University of North Carolina. He will have four years of eligibility remaining.

"We are very excited about Brandon joining our program," said UCLA head football coach Rick Neuheisel. "We thought the world of him a year ago as a high school senior and we feel he will be a tremendous asset to our defensive front."

* UCLA practiced in shells today and primarily focused on the gameplan, with extensive walk-through work.

* Kai Forbath warmed up but did not do much kicking, and he'll be a game-day decision, but Neuheisel said he's bringing all the scholarship kickers, and 72-73 players total.

* There was a skirmish between Taylor Embree and Akeem Ayers that quickly flared up and quickly died, and Neuheisel said it was the first Thursday altercation he's seen in a while.

* Kevin Prince looked the best he's looked in a while, and though he was off on some passes, I think he's definitely good to go.

* Saw a couple of nice catches today, including a great grab by Josh Smith. If the line holds up, expects some impressive down-field gains.

* Pay close attention to the running back rotation, because as of now, I have no idea what to expect. All four guys once again got reps with the first team, though Derrick Coleman and Johnathan Franklin obviously got the lions' share. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.

* Also, Brandon Willis was at practice, and I've heard he'll join the team late next week, possibly Wednesday.

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Hey guys,

When I'm traveling, its a lot easier to do updates on Twitter and Facebook than the blog, so if interested, here are the links to both pages...

Twitter: @thecoolsub

Facebook: Inside UCLA

Readers: Post your final score prediction and vote in the poll. Closest to actual score with correct winning team gets to give me 10 questions to ask a player of their choosing, within reason, for an upcoming video.

Here's a link to UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel's appearance on the Dan Patrick radio show this morning: Neuheisel

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Here's Kevin Prince's thoughts on how practice went today.
``I'm feeling good. I'm feeling better everyday. I'm able to make more throws. I made a throw on the run to the left today, which I hadn't done for a little while. Happy with that. It's not perfect, but I'm continuing to improve and I'm happy with it. ... Accuracy, I thought, was a lot better. I'm starting to feel more and more comfortable behind the line.''

Kevin Prince took snaps, along with Richard Brehaut, and said he hasn't experienced any pain or soreness after the last three days of practice. He did say the oblique strain is a ``tiny bit'' tight but not terrible.
Asked if he could play if the game was today, Prince said:
``Yes, I feel fine.''

Kai Forbath (groin) didn't kick again today. He said the decision to not kick today was a ``group decision.''
``No one wants me to push it and be out longer than I have to be,'' Forbath said.
Forbath revealed he had an MRI on the groin a couple of weeks ago because the swelling wasn't going down.
Forbath also said he still could be fine to kick at Kansas State on Saturday, even if he hasn't kicked much in practice.
``That's just a confidence thing,'' Forbath said.

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