Check out the latest batch of weekly answers…
1) Seemed to me that Chow was limited by what he could do with the “type” of talent we had. He was very conservative at times in play calling. Do you think he should have gotten 1 more year to work with the offense and Hundley? Alos, any word on Barry Sanders Jr? Thnx for the hard work Bub. – UCLA34
I do believe Chow was limited, but as I’ve written before, I believe he also limited himself. There seemed to be an inordinate amount of up-the-middle runs, not using the lateral quickness of Johnathan Franklin, or to an extent, Damien Thigpen and guys like Randall Carroll and Josh Smith. Now, Chow is a legend, and there is zero – and in my mind, I mean ZERO – doubt that he is an offensive mastermind…when he has the pieces. To me, so much of this game is guts. The guts to think out of the box, the guts to alter a game-plan on the run, the guts to sacrifice a yard or two early to set up 10 yards later. I think Chow, with this team, with the injuries and the quarterback play and the offensive line, simply clammed up a little too much. I don’t have a real opinion on if he should have had another year, because I really believe that chemistry is paramount in football and there seemed to be little and because I know that given the right circumstances, there is no one better than Chow. Regarding Barry Sanders Jr., no nothing new.
2) Brandon Cooks was long considered a UCLA lock, then he decommitted primarily because of the offense. Will UCLA make another push for him? Any idea on who Johnson is personally recruiting? Thanks. – Anonymous
I think the Cooks ship has sailed. Not sure in particular who Johnson is after, but I know he has been at some Los Angeles high schools extensively.
3) Since we only had 12 scholarship basketball players going into the year, was a scholarship given to one of the walk-ons for the year? Also, when Carlino left early, was his scholarship transferred to a walk-on? – Anonymous
No, I don’t believe that has happened.
4) Do you think Neuheisel thinks this is his last season if he does not have a big year at UCLA? It seems with him moving to Qb coach and his comments on sharing the offense with Johnson show he is worried about his future. – legalsean
Yes, I think he knows that last season was catastrophic and he’ll need a major push forward. He’s talking and acting as if he has one more shot.
5) Hey Jon, long time reader here and #1 ucla football fan since May 12, 1986. I have been through the ups and downs of ucla football for as long as I can remember. Season ticket holder since my grandma gratuated from there way back when. Yet, I have never been to a UCLA basketball game due to the price of tickets being so unreasonable. Got any hookups for the Oregon State@UCLA basketball game coming up so I can be happy about going to at least one good UCLA game this year? Haha. Keep up the solid writing! Love the blog. – Brock
Email me at jon.gold@dailynews.com, and I’ll see what I can do.