UCLA v. Cal Report Card

RESULT: UCLA 31, Cal 14
RECORD: 4-4
WEEK 8 GPA: A-

QUARTERBACKS
A-
Kevin Prince was near-perfect in his execution of the Pistol offense

RUNNING BACKS
B+
Derrick Coleman making his case for more time with three scores

WIDE RECEIVERS
B
While passing game was muted with four suspensions, those who played did so admirably

OFFENSIVE LINE
A
Patchwork crew with a fantastic effort against a very good defensive line

DEFENSIVE LINE
A
Could Datone Jones have found a home in the interior?

LINEBACKERS
B
Much-improved effort, and use of Aramide Olaniyan in pass rush was impressive

DEFENSIVE BACKS
A+
Simply a great job against Cal’s star wideouts, with Tevin McDonald coming up huge (three picks)

SPECIAL TEAMS
A
Between Jeff Locke and Tyler Gonzalez, UCLA is feeling pretty good about kicking game now

COACHING
A
A week after things appeared to be falling apart, Bruins rebound with tremendous performance

Weekly Q&A

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

Kendricks wins brother battle

Brothers Eric and Mychal Kendricks made their presence known on Saturday.

Eric Kendricks, a backup outside linebacker for UCLA, had five tackles while older brother Mychal picked up four tackles for the Bears.

The elder Kendricks has the season edge with 59 tackles and 6.5 tackles-for-loss, while Eric has played well in a backup role for the Bruins, registering 43 tackles and three tackles-for-loss, including a crucial takedown of Cal tight end Anthony Miller for a 5-yard loss in the third quarter in the UCLA red-zone.

After an Aramide Olaniyan stopped Bears quarterback Zach Maynard on the next play, Cal kicker Giorgio Tavecchio missed a 42-yard field goal, preserving a 17-14 UCLA lead.

Cold as Rice

With four UCLA wide receivers suspended and senior Nelson Rosario limping with an ankle injury, former walkon Jerry Rice, Jr., had little time to adjust to his first major game action. Rice Jr. caught two passes for 17 yards, both second on the team to Rosario’s five catches for 56 yards, eliciting chants of “Jerry! Jerry!” from a crowd that clearly remembered the name.

“I was trying to zone in,” Rice said. “I didn’t hear it. What I did was take advantage of my opportunity and make sure I knew what to do in every situation. My goal was to get a win and start off 1-0 in my college career.”

Bruins rally around Riley

Just as the Rose Bowl was starting to rock, a Derrick Coleman 20-yard touchdown giving the UCLA football team a 10-point lead early in the fourth quarter, the Bruins were brought alarmingly back down to earth in their 31-14 win over Cal on Saturday night at the Rose Bowl.

After smashing into Bears running back Isi Sofele on 1st-and-10 at UCLA 26-yard line, sophomore safety Dietrich Riley fell to the ground and did not move.

He stayed on the ground for an extended period before being placed onto a stretcher and carted off the field, at which point he waved to the crowd and gave thumbs up. Riley was taken immediately to Huntington Hospital for tests, which all came out negative, and a UCLA athletics department spokesman said later that Riley had regained feeling and movement in all his extremities.

“I think it was a stinger where he felt like he couldn’t feel anything and then the feeling came back,” UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel said. “Caution is the order of the day, and they took care of him.”

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