December 2011 Archives

SAN FRANCISCO -

Of all the fitting endings for a UCLA football season that bordered on absolute chaos, perhaps the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl was the most appropriate.

After all, the Bruins were starving for some offense on Saturday afternoon at San Francisco's AT&T Park.

UCLA managed just 219 yards - gaining just 18 on the ground - as a bloodthirsty Illinois defense made the bowl live up to its name with a 20-14 win over the Bruins.

And if anything sums up the UCLA season, it's this: After leading for nearly the whole game, the Bruins become the first team in college football history to finish 6-8.

"This one stings," UCLA junior offensive lineman Jeff Baca said. "We led most of the game, had a great defensive battle. Our defense played lights out. You saw today how good our defense could be, and if we don't put them in such bad positions, it's a different ball game. I'm not really thinking about next year yet.
"This one stings."

The Illinois defense did not so much sting UCLA as punch the Bruins in the gut, though.
With 2011 Hendricks Award-winning defensive end Whitney Mercilus leading the charge, the Illini pushed the Bruins offensive linemen back, back, way back, almost into McCovey Cove, finishing with five sacks and 11 tackles for loss.

UCLA was on its heels for much of the game, resorting to desperate heaves to spark an offense that simply could not get its footing. The Bruins tried to run early but found little success, ultimately finishing with 170 rushing yards under their season average.

"They won the line of scrimmage today, and when the opposing team wins the line of scrimmage, there really aren't very many holes," said junior running back Johnathan Franklin, who finished with just 29 yards on eight carries. "I can't just point fingers at the offensive line; we have to hit the line faster. But we can't just be one-dimensional. When we throw the ball, we have to be able to complete it."

Illinois became just the fifth team in NCAA history to start the regular season at 6-0 and end it at 6-6.

UCLA managed a different, more exclusive distinction on Saturday night.

The Bruins became the first college football team to finish 6-8 after their loss to the Illini.
But despite the dubious distinction, UCLA players were proud to represent their school and were defiant to the criticism about their season.

"No one criticizes Cal; no one criticizes Arizona State," Jones said. "We beat both those teams. We were supposed to be here. We played in the Pac-12 championship, and we deserve it. Who else would you put in this bowl game?"

Two key pieces to UCLA's 2012 plans - junior running back Johnathan Franklin and junior defensive end Datone Jones - said they would evaluate their futures next week, as both are considering the NFL Draft.

Franklin narrowly missed a second-straight 1,000-yard season, finishing with 976 yards on 166 carries with five touchdowns, while Jones was plagued by inconsistency and finished with just three sacks and 6.5 tackles-for-loss.

"I'm not really sure what I'm going to do, to tell you the truth," Jones said. "There's a big chance I may come back. I don't really know yet. I'm just being honest. It would be in my favor to come back, but I think I can make it, and we've got guys on the next level."

Jones said that he expects to receive his draft evaluation next week, but Franklin said he did not file for his evaluation.

"I got God," the devout Franklin said. "Only God knows. If I do leave and have a good combine or pro day and everything will fall into place."

SAN FRANCISCO -

With Illinois starting running back Jason Ford academically ineligible for the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, the UCLA defense knew the primary rushing threat for the Illini would be quarterback Nate Scheelhaase.

They did not expect him to be covered in soap.

But Scheelhaase found the creases and eked out the extra yard, finishing with 110 rushing yards on 22 carries in Illinois' 20-14 win over the Bruins on Saturday afternoon at AT&T Park.

"He was slippery," said UCLA sophomore linebacker Jordan Zumwalt, who led either team with nine tackles. "He was giving us some trouble, that's for sure. I don't think we expected him to run as much as he did. It was kind of hard to drop back into coverage and then have him get through."

After Illinois missed a field goal, Kevin Prince more than made up for it for the Illini.

Illinois cornerback Terry Hawthorne intercepted a Prince pass and took it back 49 yards for a touchdown to give Illinois its first lead.

Illinois recovered a fumble at the UCLA 29-yard line after a botched snap, and the Illini appeared to be primed to tie the game, but one big Glenn Love play changed things.

After Illinois moved it to the UCLA 3-yard line for a 3rd-and-3, Love sacked Nate Scheelhaase for a 15-yard loss before Derek Dimke put Illinois on the board as the first half expired.

The Bruins benefited from some referee indecision and took the lead over Illinois.

UCLA got the ball at the Illini 45-yard line after a 4th-and-1 stop, after the referees reversed an incomplete pass on 3rd-and-5, prompting Illinois to go for it.

it worked out for UCLA: Five plays later, Kevin Prince found Taylor Embree for a 16-yard touchdown.

Drive Time: 5 plays, 44 yards, 2:18

Check out the cool picture I got from Kraft Foods of UCLA players - including linebackers David Allen and Todd Golper - feeding the community at a local food shelter.

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SAN FRANCISCO -

Cue the laugh track, folks.

So many jokes have been told since the announcement of the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl on Dec. 4, Henny Youngman would be proud. College football writers became Catskills comedians, using UCLA and Illinois as punch lines.

Here are two teams that backdoored into the postseason, further proof that the bowl system is a farce, two teams with interim head coaches who will not be retained, two teams who have elicited more guffaws than a season of Saturday Night Live.

Just don't tell the players that.

"We're both teams who've had up-and-down seasons, both coaches have been fired, we're both in the same spot," UCLA junior quarterback Kevin Prince said. "And in bowl games like this, it's the team who wants to win it the most that does. The team that wants to be here. We have to make sure that we're that team."

The two teams may find themselves in similar circumstances, but their respective paths varied greatly.

UCLA's season was a roller-coaster, the peaks and valleys of a mountain range, the ride so nauseating that fans turned purple in the face. Just when all appeared lost, a 48-12 loss to Arizona in Week 7 indicating a tailspin, the Bruins surprised everyone won two straight over Cal and Arizona State, eventually heading to USC in Week 12 on a 3-1 streak. What followed was nothing short of a disaster - a 50-0 loss to the Trojans that spelled the beginning of the end of the Rick Neuheisel era, followed by a 49-31 loss to Oregon in the Pac-12 Championship game, after which offensive coordinator Mike Johnson assumed the role of interim head coach.

In the beginning some guys were questionable about being at school for another month, but now all guys are all in," UCLA running back Johnathan Franklin said. "You look at the last two games we played, 50-0, then losing to Oregon to go to the Rose Bowl, and we definitely need a win. Losing? Being 6-8? No."

Illinois, meanwhile, had one big rise and one big fall.

The Illini started the season 6-0 behind a relentless defense that ranks seventh out of 120 FBS teams in total defense, fourth in pass defense, ninth in sacks and fifth in tackles-for-loss. To that point, Illinois' offense had been keeping up its end of the bargain, ranking 33rd nationally. Then came a six-game slide against a brutal schedule, with losses to Ohio State, Wisconsin, Penn State and Michigan, and ultimately, the termination of Ron Zook a day after Neuheisel's firing, and with it the promotion of defensive coordinator Vic Koenning as interim head coach.

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#UCLA guard #Lazeric Jones scores 26 points but misses the potential game-winner in the lane, blocked by Josh Huestis, with two seconds left as Stanford wins 60-59. UCLA made just 15 of 24 free throws and had 9 turnovers in the first half, cutting it to just two in the second half.
Every time the Bruins cut the lead to one or tied, Stanford answered.

Lazeric Jones scores 14 first-half points to help the Bruins cut the lead to 1 by halftime.

As reported earlier, Norman Powell and Lazeric Jones will play tonight. Both suffered left ankle sprains but returned to practice yesterday and participated in this morning's shootaround and warmups just a while ago.
Game tips off at 8 p.m. here at Maples. Will update you at halftime and after the game. Hang in there as we're on a tight deadline for the paper, too. You can also follow live updates at http://www.twitter.com/jillpainter.

And happy new year!

One of the things that makes college sports so special is the names.

Not just the Horned Frogs and the Thundering Herd and the Banana Slugs, but the players themselves.

UCLA had a fun one in 2009 with Kevin Prince, the freshman Prince of Bel-Air.
But the Bruins' opponent in Saturday's Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl boasts perhaps the most appropriate name in all of college football.

Whitney Mercilus.

Mercy. Less.

"Pretty much, I played up to my name," said the Illinois junior defensive end. "Going through this whole season, I can step back and say all the hard work I put in got me here. I would say, yeah, I'm a pretty good player."

Pretty good?

Pretty good isn't a nation-leading 14.5 sacks and nine forced fumbles. Pretty good isn't a head slap that would make Deacon Jones smile and a stutter-step to rival Allen Iverson's. Pretty good isn't what is keeping Brett Downey up at night.

The UCLA junior offensive tackle will get his first start on Saturday in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl with the Bruins' offensive line in tatters.

"I've been hoping for a start ever since I got here," Downey said. "The fact it's a bowl game just doubles how intense it is. I'm going up against a really good defensive end - he's quite good, an all-American - so I've been watching a lot of film on him. It's going to be tough, but I'm up for the challenge."

Each of the past few years, UCLA has poached a highly touted prospect from the East coast.
In 2009 it was Damien Thigpen. In 2010 came Arimide Olaniyan. Then 2011 brought Kevin McReynolds.
This year's Eastern special comes in safety Kenny Orjioke out of Georgia.
Orjioke is only in his second year of football, but he garnered over a dozen offers from schools across the nation including Cal, North Carolina, ASU, Oregon State and Georgia Tech.
The UCLA offer came down just over a week after Mora's hiring and Orjioke didn't take more than a day to jump on the offer. The 6-foot-4, 225 pound safety is originally from California where he attended JSerra Catholic High School and the opportunity to return home was too much to pass on.
Orjioke is currently being recruited to UCLA as a safety but he does have the frame to grow into an outside linebacker.
Here is a quick chat that Inside UCLA Campus Correspondent Jacob Ruffman had with Orijoke, about his commitment.


Ruffman: How long have you been looking at UCLA?
Orjioke: I have always been interested in UCLA but I didn't look too hard until I got the offer.

JR: UCLA hadn't been on you through the whole process, what changed?
KO: I got a call from coach (Demetrice) Martin and coach (Adrian) Klemm to see if I was interested, and I said yes, and then they offered me a few days later. They sent me some pictures of the campus and statistics and I talked to some people who had gone there and were going there and I decided to go there.

JR: What made you jump on the offer so quickly?
KO: You know, there's nothing at UCLA I could find anywhere else. It was the whole package. I love the campus, it has a great education, coach Mora is an excellent coach, it's in a place where there's a lot of national exposure and UCLA is in the top 5 for getting jobs post-graduation.

The Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl may be a one-game showcase for interim head coach Mike Johnson, but he doesn't look at it that way.

The former UCLA offensive coordinator is not expected to be retained by Jim L. Mora even though the two worked together with the Atlanta Falcons. Johnson was up for the head coaching position at his alma mater, Akron, but the job went to Terry Bowden.

"I'm not going to do anything drastic to make me look good," Johnson said. "I'm not putting myself in front of the team at all. I'll go in, coach the team, do my best and give us the best chance to win."

The bowl game is not just a showcase for Johnson, though, but the players.

For a 6-7 team - one that has a chance to become the first 6-8 team in history - and one with a new incoming head coach, this is either Game 14 of the 2011 season or Game 1A of the 2012 campaign.

"The guys who are coming back, they're looking at this going forward; the seniors are trying to go out on a positive note," Johnson said. "If you have tremendous pride you're going to go out and try hard and end your career on a positive note."

Darius Bell cannot point to any one specific patch of the City College of San Francisco turf, but he can certainly recall the last time he played in the stadium.

"The only thing I really remember about this field is our last game; we played (American River) and I started the game 0-for-3," Bell said. "(Oregon head coach) Chip Kelly was in the stands, and I was pretty nervous because that was the school I thought I would go to, and I ended up completing my next 23 passes with five touchdowns. That's my last performance for this school, and it's a memory I keep with me."

It's been an eventful - and much anticipated - week for Bell.

First, his older brother, former UCLA running back Kahlil, had his first career 100-yard game on Christmas Day for the Chicago Bears against the Green Bay Packers. Then the Bruins headed up north to prepare for the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, with practices at Bell's former college. But Bell had to shake both distractions off to compete with junior Nick Crissman for the backup quarterback duties behind Kevin Prince, with Richard Brehaut suspended for the game for a violation of team rules.

"I've been looking forward to this for a while," Bell said. "This is a place that has done so much for me, and so much for other kids across the country. Kids come from everywhere to play here to get another chance. Sometimes all kids need is a second chance."

Bell, who practiced as a wide receiver for much of the year on scout team, was lightly recruited out of San Francisco's Riordan High and even after a standout season for CCSF in 2009, his only offer aside from UCLA was from San Jose State. But Rick Neuheisel saw Bell as a potential fit for the Pistol offense and came calling.

"I've never looked at myself as a JC guy; I just looked at this place as a stepping stone," Bell said. "I know at least 10 guys from this junior college alone who are in the NFL. The Jeremiah Massolis, the Aaron Rodgers, and look, Rodgers is the best quarterback in the NFL right now."

It has been a winding road for Crissman, as well, one also filled with potholes.

The No. 9 quarterback prospect in the class of 2008 according to Scout.com - for comparison, three-year starter Kevin Prince was the No. 40 quarterback recruit in the same class - has battled myriad right shoulder injuries since his freshman season, missing both the 2008 and 2010 seasons.

"It's been a really long, tough road," Crissman said. "Any chance I can get to get out there and play football again is awesome for me. At the expense of another teammate, you never want that, but it's the nature of the game. I've learned to never give up."

Gutbusters
Johnson said on Tuesday that he was unsatisfied with the team's conditioning after their return to practice from a lengthy layoff, and that he wanted to do additional running on Wednesday, but the Bruins did not do much extra.

"I think we're going to be in OK shape," Johnson said. "The way we've been practicing will get us in the conditioning and shape we need to be in. We want them fresh on Saturday."

Bumps and Bruises
UCLA junior cornerback Andrew Abbott suffered a right ankle sprain during Wednesday's practice, but Johnson expects him to be ready for the bowl.

Jim L. Mora's first commitment came from 4-star cornerback Marcus Rios on December 18th, just a week after Mora was hired. Rios, a one-time Boise State commit, was a near lock to UCLA following his official visit in September and the Mora hire just solidified his decision even more.

Here is a quick chat that Inside UCLA Campus Correspondent Jacob Ruffman had with Rios, about his commitment.

Ruffman: You committed to Boise State in March, what was the decision to end the process so early?
Rios: "I was really comfortable with the people and the program at Boise. I actually trained with one of the cornerbacks there and it made it a little bit easier because I knew their technique and I knew what their DB coaches were asking for. I had already been down there about five or six times already and I was really familiar with them."

JR: What made you want to look at other schools?
MR: "My dad told me that I should check out all of my options and all of my offers to make sure I was doing the right thing. Then I got to UCLA and I liked it a whole lot better and I just knew it was the place for me."

JR: How did you handle all of the coaching changes going on at UCLA? Did that effect your decision?
MR: "The process didn't really change. I was going to there whether Neuheisel was there or not. I wanted to go to UCLA no matter what, it didn't really have a major effect on me."

JR: So what are your thoughts on coach Mora?
MR: "I met coach Mora a couple of weeks ago and he seems like a really good coach. He's coached in the NFL so I know that the program is going to change a lot and it's going to become a lot stronger than it was in past years."

From UCLA:

Senior point guard Lazeric Jones and freshman guard Norman Powell both suffered left ankle sprains yesterday in practice. However, both guards returned to practice today and will play in the Pac-12 opener at Stanford on Dec. 29.

Jordan Zumwalt doesn't smile all that much any more.

As a freshman, he was all grins and awe shucks, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

When called upon to start at middle linebacker after the season-ending losses of both Patrick Larimore and Steve Sloan, he was greener than a global warming activist and twice as rabid.

He scurried all over the field with his eyes darting to and fro, wider than saucers, the highly touted freshman simply playing, as he calls it, "on hype."

A year later, he is calmer, more serious and, he believes, more prepared to assume starting middle linebacker duties once more with Larimore all but ruled out with a right thumb injury.

"I'm way more equipped to handle it," said Zumwalt, who ranks fifth on the team with 50 tackles. "I understand how to handle situations better, rather than just going off emotion. I know the defense well, too - a lot better than last year, that's for sure - so I have confidence in my play now."

Clark Lea, UCLA's linebacker coach, has confidence as well.

With the Bruins linebacker corps decimated by injury and ineligibility - in addition to Larimore, senior outside linebacker Sean Westgate (concussion) and junior middle linebacker Isaiah Bowens (academically ineligible) are out - Lea is expecting Zumwalt to play like he did during a three-game stretch late last season when he had 20 total tackles and two sacks.

"As a competitor, he wants a bigger piece, and that's something that's earned through work," Lea said. "I know he wants to finish strong, and just through his own personal pride and competitive spirit, he'll come out and play his butt off."

At middle linebacker, Zumwalt is going to have to do a little more than that.

With the UCLA defense missing several players in its two-deep lineup, Zumwalt will be called upon to be a unifying presence on the field.

"Now going out there, I know what to expect," Zumwalt said. "It's not just going in and playing off emotion and hype. Now I go in, I have my cool with me, calm, collected, and I'm relaxed."

Heck, he might even smile.

UCLA head coach Ben Howland said today that both senior point guard Lazeric Jones and freshman shooting guard Norman Powell suffered sprained left ankles in Moniday night's practice and were receiving treatment today.

Howland said that both are in protective boots and are questionable for the team's Pac-12 opener on Thursday at Stanford.

Former walk-on guard Kenny Jones, who received a scholarship this season, could see some major minutes. The Bruins would be down to just Jerime Anderson and Tyler Lamb in the backcourt if neither Jones nor Powell was available.

* Junior middle linebacker Patrick Larimore is listed as doubtful for the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl on the team's injury report, but all indications are that Jordan Zumwalt will start in his place. Clark Lea is preparing as such, as is Zumwalt, and Larimore was out of practice today and not expected back.

* The Bruins' depth at linebacker is further hurting with Sean Westgate officially out for the game and Isaiah Bowens academically ineligible. Lea said that Todd Golper would slide into the backup role at middle linebacker, and Philip Ruhl will move into to backup Will linebacker.

* With Alberto Cid academically ineligible for the bowl - and Wade Yandall out with a concussion - Brett Downey moved into the starting quick tackle spot with Jeff Baca bumping to guard. Bob Palcic said he was glad Downey - and Connor Bradford, who also got extensive first- and second-team reps - got so much time during the spring and summer.

* Not too much noticeable from the team's first practice up at City College of San Francisco. Mike Johnson said after practice that the team needed a little extra conditioning before the bowl and would be running more tomorrow. A handful of dropped passes at one point had things looking pretty sloppy, but the offense improved later in practice.

Just got off the phone with new UCLA defensive back commit Ishmael Adams, and the intelligent - and highly talented - young player had some interesting things to say about his decision to commit to UCLA on Monday.

JG: What made you decide to verbally commit to UCLA today?
Ishmael Adams: "I prayed about it, talked it over with my family, and weighed the pros and cons about the two schools - Cal and UCLA. It just felt right to go with UCLA. I did it early to see if I can convince some players to change the program around with me."

JG: Halfway through your senior year, UCLA switches coaches on you - how did that affect your recruitment?
Adams: "My uncle has a great connection with Keyshawn Johnson, and he's close with Jim Mora Jr.; he knew aout him,and gave my uncle some good feedback. Coach (Bill) Redell knew Jim Mora's dad, and he's known Jim since he was little. I got good information and feedback from Coach Redell, and those are people who really helped me make my decision. It wasn't too big of a difference with the coaching staff - it was the players they have. I made connections. Those connections helped me make the decision, and they're excited about building the program up and making changes and building a class now to help."

JG: You are very active on Twitter discussing your recruitment, especially vocal with other uncommitted players; how has that kind of communication changed just in the few years of your recruitment?
Adams: "You really, truly want to have a great class. Those are the guys you're playing with for four years. If you don't feel comfortable with them now, how are you supposed to for four years? Making those bonds you make during trips, during the summer - those really help, especially if you make connections with top players. Bryce was always in my ear about going to Cal which had some influence. It really comes down to where a few players are going, and does that program also fit you? It's really changed a lot even since the very beginning for me."

Landed in San Francisco to discover the news that Oaks Christian cornerback Ishmael Adams has committed to UCLA. Chatted briefly on the phone and he confirmed, but we'll pick up the conversation later today.

The verbal commitment is a big one, from one of the premier cornerbacks in the country, and one of UCLA's top targets, a consensus four-star prospect. Adams is rated nationally as the No. 10 at his position by Scout.com, No. 12 by Rivals.com and No. 12 by ESPN, and cornerback is a position of need for the Bruins, even with six current verbal commitments from cornerbacks.

Here are some of his highlights, and I'll have our chat up later today:

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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

Hey folks,

Just dropping by to wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and many thanks for stopping by on a regular basis around here. I know there are a lot of options out there for UCLA info, and I truly appreciate the readership. Hope you are all with loved ones and eating big meals of merriment and cholesterol.

Happy Holidays!
Your loving, cherubic, bearded blog host
Jonah

Late in the second half of UCLA's last non-conference tune-up on Friday night, a man dropped to his knee and proposed to his girlfriend at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.

She said no.

It was only the second biggest rejection of the evening.

UCLA sophomore forward Travis Wear blocked a Kendell Anthony attempt with a six-point lead and 1 minute, 16 seconds left in the game immediately after scoring on a crucial rebound-and-putback, and the Bruins preserved their fifth straight win with a 71-63 victory over Richmond.

"That was a very good win for us," UCLA head coach Ben Howland said. "A very important win. That's a hard team to play against - their style of play and their strategies, you don't see that often. That really caused us problems early."

Richmond made 6-of-10 shots to start the game as its Princeton offense caused fits against UCLA's man-to-man defense before the Bruins switched to a zone, and the Spiders went ice cold, making just one of their next 14 shots. UCLA trailed 14-5 and 21-12 but a late-first-half spurt allowed the Bruins to tie it at 24 at the half.

For about 14 minutes, it looked as if UCLA came down with a debilitating case of arachnophobia against the Richmond Spiders in the first half tonight at the Sports Arena.

Richmond's Princeton offense gave UCLA's man-to-man defense fits and caused the Bruins to be tentative and ineffectual on defense, and the Spiders went up 14-5 and then 21-12.

But the Bruins' switch to a zone defense paid off, and after making 6-of-10 shots to start the game, Richmond made just two of its next 16, and UCLA came back to tie it at 24 going into halftime on a David Wear shot from the side.

Wear and Lazeric Jones lead the Bruins with eight points each - and four others have two - but UCLA has a 25-17 rebounding advantage over Richmond. UCLA's Joshua Smith, Tyler Lamb, Jerime Anderson, Norman Powell combined for 4-of-20 shooting at the half.

Darien Brothers has 11 and Derrick Williams has nine for the Spiders, who shot 8-for-26 to start the half.

From UCLA:

Head football coach Jim Mora has announced the signing of Russian offensive lineman Alexandru Ceachir, a junior college lineman from Santa Monica CC. This is the first signee of the Mora era.

The 6-5/300 lb. lineman hails from Moldova, a country located between Romania and the Ukraine. He graduated from high school in the Spring of 2009 and then headed to Santa Monica CC in 2010. While at SMCC in 2011, he played tackle and earned first-team American Pacific Conference honors. Ceachir also helped lead SMCC to their first conference championship in 20 years.

Ceachir is a highly touted recruit that had offers from many schools including Utah, Colorado, Arkansas and Ole Miss.

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UCLA head coach Ben Howland likes to think that every game is a test.

And for his now-surging Bruins in this down-and-up season, perhaps that's true.

But even he must be able to differentiate between the his last two opponents and the Richmond Spiders, against whom UCLA is hoping to build on its four-game winning streak at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.

The UC Davis Aggies and UC Irvine Anteaters? Five-question, open-book quizzes.

The Richmond Spiders and their pinpoint precise Princeton offense?

A bit more complex, and Howland knows he is going to have to throw the book at them.

"We'll be really tested in this game because they're a very good shooting team from three," Howland said. "They're very good at spreading you out. We'll have our hands full trying to guard the Princeton offense."

The Spiders, who won the Atlantic 10 Tournament last season and advanced to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament before falling to No. 1-seed Kansas, have four players in double-figures, led by Kendall Anthony's 14.2 points per game and Cedrick Lindsay's 13.0 points and 4.3 assists.\

Despite losing three starters from a team that won 29 games - a year after Chris Mooney led the Spiders to 26 wins - Richmond could be just the tune up UCLA needs heading into Pac-12 play.

"Every test for us is a true test," Howland said. "Hopefully we can show we've improved over the last two weeks since finals ended. This will be a very good test because they're an outstanding program and have a very good team."

(more after the jump_

New UCLA head coach Jim L. Mora has made the rounds on local and national radio to talk about his thoughts on the UCLA "Wall" tradition. He really doesn't hold back. The thing that strikes me the most is that he said hasn't spoken to the players about it, and that he said he won't.

Here are some links:

Mora on Cowherd

Mora on Loose Cannons

Mora on Mason & Ireland

With Alberto Cid academically ineligible for the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, Wade Yandall out with a concussion and Chris Ward out with a knee injury, UCLA is going to have to do some creative management for the offensive line.

Mike Johnson said today that Jeff Baca would likely move to guard and they'd bump someone from the second team up to quick tackle, so look for either Brett Downey or Connor Bradford to get the start against Illinois.

UCLA junior quarterback Richard Brehaut has been suspended for a violation of team rules, and Tony Dye, Alberto Cid and Isaiah Bowens have all been ruled academically ineligible for Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl.

On traditions:
"When I talked to Dan at the beginning of the interview process, we talked about things like traditions. There are some traditions we certainly want to honor, but skipping out on practice is not one of those proud traditions. ...
Dan Guerrero gave these kids an opportunity to compete one last time for UCLA and it really bothers me, personally, knowing Dan how I do, that they disrespected that gesture. It's a great thing for these kids to go play one last time for UCLA, these seniors going out and these coaches that may or may not be here to come together one last time to compete together, and it should not be taken lightly. No matter what the record is, whether it's the national championship game or not. That's what's disappointing."

On this happening at other places:
"I've never heard of anything like it in college football...and I don't ever want to hear about it again here."

On the Wall happening in the pros:
"Happen in the pros? No. No. Something like that happens in the pros and those guys would be on the street in a heartbeat, or they'd be $25,000 taken out of paychecks. Absolutely not. It would never have even been a question. And it won't be a question here."

New UCLA head coach Jim L. Mora on the "Wall" tradition:
"It's completely unacceptable and it will not be part of the program going forward. It's a right, not a privilege to play football for the UCLA Bruins. With the commitment you make when you sign on to play here, comes a commitment to do what asked of you by your coaches on a daily basis. I can just tell you, in no uncertain terms, that that tradition will no longer be a part of tradition going forward. Dan Guerrero and I have spoken about it, and we both agree that the culture of UCLA football needs to change as part of the interview process. We're going to do all we can to make sure we change it."

On discipline:
"I'm not about making threats, and I'll keep that between the players and myself, but I can tell you that my general feeling is that if they feel they want to skip out of practice and jump over a wall, then they might as well just keep going. They're not a part of what I want to be a part of."

By Jon Gold
Staff Writer

At a certain point late in UCLA's 89-60 win over UC Irvine on Tuesday night at the Los Anglees sports Arena, it almost looked like Ben Howland cracked a smile.

There hasn't been all too much to grin about this year for the truculent head coach.
Moving above .500 for the first time this year?

Enough to make Howland laugh.

"I was just glad we were playing well there," Howland said. "Our guys are really coming together. You can see there's a good chemistry with this team right now. That's fun. It was good to see them get excited for their teammates making good plays."

The players? Now they had a rollicking good time. Much like in their 82-39 win over UC Davis on Saturday at the Honda Center, the Bruins benefitted from impressive ball movement, finding wide open running lanes while finishing with 22 assists on their 34 baskets.

Towels waved on the bench, 3-pointers fell in like raindrops and if there were any more high fives, there might've been a dozen sprained wrists.

UCLA has now won four straight since Howland dismissed Reeves Nelson, and Howland did not avoid the awkward question.

"That's the reason when I removed Reeves," Howland said. "It has improved our chemistry and being positive. That's the bottom line."

Freshman guard Norman Powell brought the energy to a fever pitch with two second-half spurts. Less than three minutes after a rebound-3-pointer-rebound-drawn foul sequence, Powell had a 3-pointer, then followed that with a steal, sprinted down the court for a dunk-and-one and hit the free throw, six of his career-high 19 points.

Powell also added seven rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals with zero turnovers in just his 11th career game.

"My game tonight was basically being aggressive on defense," Powell said. "Your defense brings offense. With me trying to get the steals, blocks, playing hard, defending my man led to easy points in transition."

Powell was the most prolific of a bountiful backcourt performance, as guards Tyler Lamb, Jerime Anderson and Lazeric Jones combined for 35 points on 14-of-27 shooting.
With the Anteaters sealing off sophomore center Joshua Smith in the paint and denying the ball in the interior, the guards came to the rescue.

"We played well as a team tonight," Lamb said. "UC Irvine focused so much on our front court that we were able to get open shots. The way we were playing tonight, we were getting stops on defense and we were able to run and get buckets in transition."
The Anteaters strategy worked early as they managed to keep the game tied at 10 with 12 minutes left in the first half. Smith had just two free throws to that point, but the Bruins kept working it inside-out and went on a 32-18 run to close the half.

"We got off to a little of a slow start, but our defense started to improve and we started executing offensively," Howland said. "I was really proud of the rebounding, and in the second half, we did a better job of field goal defense."

With a win on Friday over Richmond at the Sports Arena, the Bruins would move to 7-5 heading into Pac-12 play, seemingly unthinkable after they fell to 2-5.

"We're much improved," Howland said. "It's just a better cohesive unit. Guys are really good on and off the floor together, and that's big for us."

UCLA freshman guard Norman Powell had his best game as a Bruin, and it looks like things are starting to click for him.

Powell led the Bruins with 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including 4-of-6 3-point shooting, and added eight rebounds, three steals and three assists in the Bruins' 89-60 win over UC Irvine on Tuesday night at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.

He had two beautiful sequences in the second half, with a 3-pointer-steal-dunk-and-one-free-throw run following a rebound-3-pointer-rebound-drawn foul spurt just a few minutes before.

I've made my thoughts known on the UCLA "Over the Wall" tradition many times before.

I'm all for it.

Absolutely, the players should have the ability to take their lives into their own hands. If they want to skip a day of practice to go to the movies, so be it.

Let the players have their fun while they still can. And then make them puke for it.

The problem isn't the wall, as I see it. I get the motivations behind it. If this is the Rose Bowl we're talking about here, and not the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, maybe the ringleaders are talked off the ledge.

The problem is, the players aren't made to pay for decisions like this. Even if it's a team-building exercise. Even if it's a reward the seniors who have toiled for years for the program. Even if it's simply a "tradition."

Those 15 bowl practices don't have to come on 15 different days. If a UCLA coach really wants to put an end to this practice, then make them practice for two hours tomorrow, then make them run for an hour more. Make the players never even want to think of it again. That will send a message. That will change the culture.

Former UCLA offensive coordinator Norm Chow will get his first head coaching job, it appears.

The Honolulu Star Advertiser is reporting that the Utah offensive coordinator will take reins of the Warriors, and that an introductory press conference will be held as early as tomorrow.

This will be Chow's sixth job since leaving BYU after the 1999 season, and his fourth since 2007. The former USC offensive coordinator had been clamoring for a head coaching position, but acknowledged that maybe the ship had passed last year. He was among three finalists for the Hawaii job.

UCLA interim head coach Mike Johnson thought the Bruins were going to get some extra third-down preparation for the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl on Tuesday morning.
The players called an audible.
UCLA upheld the tradition of going "over the wall" on Tuesday, taking off just after stretching.
"It's a tradition, so I'm OK with it," Johnson said. "Last week prepared them. We were going to do third down, and last week, we had two days where we did third down, so we're good."
Johnson, who played in two bowls himself including the XX Rose Bowl, understands the time commitment demanded of the players during bowl preparation, so he didn't sound too upset
"This is another spring ball for them, so you have a lot of time, a lot of practices. We were ready to go today, but it's not the end all. We'll have everything ready for Illinois."
Two years ago, the Bruins appeared to show few effects from one less day of preparation for the EagleBank Bowl. The Bruins defeated Temple, 31-20, on Dec. 29, 2009, at Washington D.C.'s RFK Stadium.
"I do know that its something that has been a tradition," Johnson said. "It's a lot of extra work, but as it gets closer to the game, focus becomes a little more narrow, and you can hone in. We were getting three extra practices on Illinois. Instead of having six days, we'll have five. We'll still have two extra days to prepare for them."

From UCLA:

UCLA sophomore forward Travis Wear, who has missed the last two games and has been out the last six days with a skin infection (cellulitis) on his left foot, returned to practice today and should play tomorrow when the Bruins host the UC Irvine Anteaters in the L.A. Sports Arena at 7:30 p.m. on Prime Ticket.

UCLA interim head coach Mike Johnson said a few players could return from injury for the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, but all but ruled out two others.

Johnson said junior middle linebacker Patrick Larimore (thumb) should return next week and that senior safety Tony Dye (ankle) has a "good chance" to come back next week, with a decision expected next Monday.

Johnson said that sophomore safeties Alex Mascarenas and Dietrich Riley are likely out for the bowl game, but the Bruins were boosted on Monday by the full return of junior Dalton Hilliard.

Hilliard suffered a concussion against Oregon in the Pac-12 title game and returned late last week in a red non-contact jersey, but he was full-go on Monday.

"You never know when you can come back or if they're going to keep you out longer," Hilliard said. "Last week I could've been back on Wednesday, but they said, 'Let's take a couple days extra, let's be smart about this.' So I took the extra days, got my head cleared, and I'm out here in the white instead of the red.
"I don't like that color very much."

UCLA interim head coach Mike Johnson said after practice on Monday that "one or two" guys are in question for the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl because of academics, and that he expects to find out tomorrow. Johnson could not reveal the names, but this is not foreign territory for the Bruins.

Redshirt senior center Kai Maiava was academically ineligible for the EagleBank Bowl in 2009, UCLA's last bowl appearance, and he still has not gotten over it.

"I felt really bad about not making that bowl game," Maiava said. "I let myself down, I let my teammates down, I let my family down. I let down all the people who support me."

Maiava, who was ineligble along with former Bruin Morrell Presley, was disconsolate. Come game-time, he was a hermit.

"When I went home and had to watch the bowl game from home, it was really tough on me," Maiava said. "I watched it alone. I could not watch that with anybody. I didn't call anybody all day. I'm just excited I get my senior year to go out and play one last game with my homies, and it's going to be a fun time."

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:

TUCSON, Ariz. - UCLA has been ranked No. 19 in Collegiate Baseball's preseason top-40 poll, the weekly newspaper announced on Monday.

The Bruins will play 31 of their 56 regular-season games against preseason top-40 teams in 2012.

UCLA is accompanied in Collegiate Baseball's preseason poll by seven other Pac-12 programs - Stanford (No. 3), Arizona State (No. 17), Arizona (No. 20), California (No. 22), Oregon State (No. 24), Oregon (No. 27) and USC (No. 40).

The Bruins will return six starting position players from last season's ballclub and one weekend starting pitcher, sophomore right-hander Adam Plutko.

The core of UCLA's position players from its last two teams will return in 2012 - Beau Amaral, Trevor Brown, Jeff Gelalich, Cody Keefer and Cody Regis made significant contributions as freshmen in 2010, helping lead the Bruins to the finals of the College World Series that season.

UCLA opens the season with a three-game series at home against Maryland on Friday, Feb. 17. Game time of the season opener is 6 p.m. The Bruins and Terrapins continue their series Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 10 a.m.

Collegiate Baseball has tabbed Florida as its preseason No. 1 selection and two-time defending national champion South Carolina as its No. 2 preseason team. South Carolina defeated Florida in the best-of-three national championship series last season.

Collegiate Baseball's Preseason Top-40 Poll

Rank School (2011 Record) Points
1. Florida (53-19) 497
2. South Carolina (55-14) 494
3. Stanford (35-22) 490
4. North Carolina (51-16) 488
5. Texas (49-19) 485
6. Texas A&M (47-22) 484
7. Rice (42-21) 482
8. Arkansas (40-22) 479
9. Georgia Tech. (42-21) 476
10. Texas Christian (43-19) 474
11. St. John's (36-22) 470
12. Louisiana St. (36-20) 468
13. Florida St. (46-19) 465
14. Miami, Fla. (38-23) 464
15. Louisville (32-29) 460
16. Oklahoma (41-19) 458
17. Arizona St. (43-18) 457
18. Georgia (33-32) 455
19. UCLA (35-24) 454
20. Arizona (39-21) 452
21. Cal. St. Fullerton (41-17) 449
22. California (38-23) 447
23. Vanderbilt (54-12) 445
24. Oregon St. (41-19) 443
25. Clemson (43-20) 437
26. Stetson (43-20) 435
27. Oregon (33-26-1) 432
28. Baylor (31-28) 430
29. U.C. Irvine (43-18) 425
30. Southern Miss. (39-19) 422
31. Missouri St. (33-23) 419
32. College of Charleston (39-22) 417
33. Virginia (56-12) 413
34. Georgia Southern (36-26) 412
35. Texas St. (41-23) 408
36. Central Florida (39-23) 406
37. Wichita St. (39-26) 403
38. Jacksonville (37-24) 400
39. Florida International (40-20-1) 397
40. Southern California (25-31) 395

Other Teams Receiving Votes: Coastal Carolina, Oklahoma St., Charlotte, East Carolina, Kent St., Creighton, Oral Roberts, Troy, South Alabama, San Diego, Gonzaga, San Francisco, Fresno St., Hawaii, Dallas Baptist, N.C. State, Mississippi St., Auburn, Mississippi, Kentucky, Tennessee, Stony Brook, Maine, Connecticut, Seton Hall, Notre Dame, South Florida, Liberty, Winthrop, Purdue, Michigan St., Minnesota, Illinois, Nebraska, Kansas St., Texas Tech., Missouri, Cal Poly, Long Beach St., U.C. Riverside, James Madison, Tulane, Houston, Manhattan, Rider, Central Michigan, Illinois St., New Mexico, San Diego St., Nevada-Las Vegas, Austin Peay St., Samford, Elon, N.C. Greensboro, S.E. Louisiana, Stephen F. Austin, Louisiana-Lafayette, Western Kentucky, Florida Atlantic, San Jose St., New Mexico St., Cal. St. Bakersfield.

Jim L. Mora clearly knew he needed some help.

After the jump, Inside UCLA Campus Correspondent Jacob Ruffman breaks down some of UCLA's new staff, and the recruiting implications of the hires...

Here's a look at UCLA's 82-39 from our Phil Collin. Josh Smith had a double-double and David Wear chipped in a career-high 15 points: Check it out

The UCLA women's volleyball team just sealed the program's 108th national title with a 3-1 win over Illinois in the national championship game.

The ninth-seeded Bruins captured the team's fourth title - and first since 1991 - with an impressive playoff performance, which included wins over Maryland, San Diego, Penn State, No. 1-seed Texas and Florida State. Including the title-match victory, UCLA dropped just three sets in the playoffs behind star junior Rachael Kidder, who had 24 kills against the Illini.

UCLA interim head coach Mike Johnson said that he did not expect to be retained on the staff by new head coach Jim Mora.

"We've talked about it, but I don't think I'm going to stay," Johnson said. "I don't think I'll be a part of this staff. Jim and I had a good conversation, but we didn't even talk about it. You have to see the writing on the wall. When you hire Noel Mazzone and make him offensive coordinator, you've got to see it. Jim and I have been around a long time, and he doesn't have to tell me, 'No, you're not going to be a part of my staff.' I can see it."

Jim L. Mora clearly knew he needed some help.

After the jump, Inside UCLA Campus Correspondent Jacob Ruffman breaks down some of UCLA's new staff, and the recruiting implications of the hires...

Thursday was a busy day for Jim Mora.

The new UCLA head coach announced the hiring of five coaches on Thursday night, making it official with Demetrice Martin, Adrian Klemm, Inoke Breckterfield, Marques Tuiasosopo and Steve Broussard.

And he joined Twitter.

The former was more important, at least immediately, as now UCLA has half of its staff ready to assemble Mora's first recruiting class.

"Each of these coaches will bring unique qualities to the UCLA football program," Mora said in a release. "All of them will be integral pieces of the UCLA football puzzle from their first day on the job."

Mora, known for his defensive coaching capabilities, has focused on his offense with his early hires.

Klemm, who prepped at St. Monica Catholic High and comes to UCLA from SMU, arrived in Los Angeles on Wednesday night and set to work as offensive line coach and run game coordinator, and he is expected to play an integral in UCLA's recruiting efforts during the next few days. He joined Martin in Los Angeles, as the former Washington defensive backs coach has been in the city since early in the week, finalizing his deal as defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator.

Breckterfield and Tuiasosopo, who was named tight ends coach after joining the Bruins earlier this year as an intern, will simply resume their recruiting duties, while Broussard will join the program as running backs coach after Arizona State plays in the Maaco Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 22.

New UCLA head coach Jim Mora has officially added three more to his staff on Thursday.

A day after the school announced the hire of former Washington defensive backs coach Demetrice Martin, Mora took to Twitter to officially re-introduce defensive line coach Inoke Breckterfield and Marques Tuiasosopo, who went from intern to interim quarterbacks coach and now to tight ends coach. Earlier on Thursday, Mora made official the hiring of former SMU offensive line coach Adrian Klemm as offensive line coach and run game coordinator.

UCLA is expected to bring on Arizona State offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone and running backs coach Steve Broussard as wide receivers coach.

Klemm arrived in Los Angeles late last night and has already started recruiting for the Bruins while Martin has been on campus for two days. Broussard and Mazzone are expected to join the team after the Sun Devils' Las Vegas Bowl appearance.
.

New UCLA head coach Jim L. Mora just opened a Twitter account - UCLACoachMora - and here's his first tweet:

"t's been a great 52 hours & 13 minutes on the job as head coach. Thanks for rolling out the red carpet for me, Bruin family!"

The UCLA football team is participating in a team function today in lieu of practice, and apparently the team-building exercise is a paintballing trip. This is similar to the team's bowl preparation for the EagleBank Bowl in 2009, when the team went to Magic Mountain.

Practice will resume tomorrow morning at 10:30 a.m.

Early on at the Los Angeles Sports Arena on Wednesday night, the UCLA basketball team watched as the Eastern Washington Eagles looked more like the Fort Wayne Zollner-Pistons, holding the ball at the top of the key as if there were no shot clock.
The strategy backfired as UCLA steadily built a lead.

But the Eagles soared back twice in the second quarter, actually attempting to move the ball toward the basket with some regularity, before the Bruins shut the door with two big runs to maintain their buffer and win their second straight, 60-47.

"They haven't shown it the whole year," Howland said of the stall tactics. "Actually the stall helped us. I wasn't disappointed in it. It gave us a rest, being a man down in our rotation."

With second-leading scorer Travis Wear laid up in the UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center with a skin infection on his left foot, the Bruins played an eight-man rotation, with all eight playing more than 14 minutes, and seven playing 18-plus. UCLA's lack of depth showed, as the Bruins shot 50 percent but just 33 percent in the second half.

Already down a man with Reeves Nelson's expulsion from the team and De'End Parker's persistent knee injury - and now food poison - Howland had to improvise with his rotation, with players checking in at almost every stoppage, and no two players benefitted from the lack of depth than sophomore center Anthony Stover and junior forward Brendan Lane, who totaled 36 minutes.

"It was very important for me and Brendan Lane to get in there and so some things that Travis does for us on a daily basis," Stover said. "Brendan did a really good job tonight, I played hard tonight, and I think we got the job done."

With the defense given a reprieve because of the Eagles' unorthodox offense, the Bruins were fresher on offense then they've been for much of the season.

Senior point guard Lazeric Jones kept up his hot shooting against the Eagles, leading UCLA with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting, while sophomore guard Tyler Lamb added 14. Sophomore center Joshua Smith had seven points and two rebounds, but added three blocks.

Jones' shooting continued his recent streak, as after starting the season 3-for-20, he's made 35 of his last 70 shots.

"Zeek really was off-keel to start the season and he's really got it back now," Howland said. "He's very much under control and really playing well and steady for us. He's done a nice job for us in these last few games in a row."

Jones had 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting in the first half while adding four rebounds as the Eagles seemed to eager to slow things up.

For much of the first 10 minutes, Eastern Washington stalled the ball behind the perimeter, more than willing to let the seconds drip off. Problem is, the Eagles were willing to let the Bruins off the hook, too. UCLA was able to remain in man-to-man defense for the entirety of the game after having only practiced the zone sparsely in practice during the last week, and Eastern Washington shot just 5-of-22 from 3-point range.

They got hot early in the second half after UCLA went into halftime up 28-18, as the Eagles went on a 12-4 run before the Bruins regained control with a 6-0 spurt, spurred by Norman Powell's four straight points.

"We kind of huddled up and we looked at each other and said, 'Look they're not going to go away,'" Lamb said.

UCLA sophomore forward Travis Wear spent Tuesday and wednesday night at the UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center with a skin infection on his left foot - the same foot he injured in Maui during the Maui Invitational - but he is expected to make a full recovery. He is expected to be discharged from the hospital on Thursday.

Sources have confirmed that Marques Tuiasosopo is set to stay on board and coach the tight ends next season, another quick move by new UCLA head coach Jim L. Mora.

Tuiasosopo has quickly climbed the coaching ranks after a long NFL career, which followed a standout career at Washington. He has gone from strength coach for the Huskies to UCLA intern turned interim quarterbacks coach after Rick Neuheisel was fired to full-time staff.

Like each of UCLA's previous hires - sources have said that Noel Mazzone (offensive coordinator), Steve Broussard (running backs), Adrian Klemm (offensive line) and Demetrice Martin (defensive backs) are all set to join the staff - Tuiasosopo is quite familiar with the conference, though he's the first new hire to bridge the new staff with the former staff.

With Broussard still with Arizona State during bowl preparation, Tuiasosopo gives Mora another crucial recruiter before the dead period begins.

* An interesting note: Mora's first five hires seem to be a shift toward more youth on the coaching staff. The average age for the first five hires is just over 40 years old. Compare that to Rick Neuheisel's first staff in 2008, and that's a difference of eight years, as the nine Bruin assistants on the '08 staff averaged 48 years.

Head Coach: Jim Mora

Offensive Coordinator: Noel Mazzone (54)
Quarterbacks: ???
Running Backs: Steve Broussard (44)
Wide Receiver: ???
Offensive Line: Adrian Klemm (34)
Tight Ends: Marques Tuiasosopo (32)
Defensive Coordinator: ???
Defenslve Line: ???
Linebackers: ???
Defensive Backs: Demetrice Martin (38)
Special Teams: ???
(note: only nine assistants per staff, so some positions will double-up)

A UCLA spokesman just announced the hiring of former Washington coach Demetrice Martin to the UCLA coaching staff, and he said Jim Mora will have a statement later today.

DevilsDigest.com is reporting that Arizona State offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone is heading to UCLA to become its new offensive coordinator. Still working on getting it confirmed from the UCLA side - a source said it's close - but this has been in the works for a while now and should be done soon.

Mazzone has extensive experience, both in college and the pros, and he's largely credited for turning around the Arizona State offense quickly with Brock Osweiler.
mazzone has served as offensive coordinator at Mississippi, Auburn, Oregon State, North Carolina State, again at Mississippi and then the Sun Devils, whom he led to the No. 11 passing offense, No. 25 scoring offense and No. 26 total offense.

While Jim L. Mora's first few hires - Adrian Klemm, Steve Broussard and Demetrice Martin - have been primarily lauded for their recruiting abilities and relationships, Mazzone's hire would lend a major boost to game-planning and scheming, particularly with his recent success at Arizona State.

The venerable Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times confirmed with Steve Sarkisian that UCLA had poached another hotshot young recruiting assistant coach from the Pac-12, as Jim Mora intends to bring in Washington's Demetrice Martin as defensive backs coach.

Like Adrian Klemm and Steve Broussard, UCLA's two big-time hires on Tuesday, Martin brings impressive recruiting relationships and bonafides, as he was considered Washington's top recruiter.

Sarkisian told Condotta that the move was "immediate," which also bodes well for UCLA, which got a waiver on Tuesday morning to start assembling its recruiting staff while also maintaining its current staff.

Martin prepped at Muir High in Pasadena, served as a grad assistant at USC and maintains many local ties, as Southern California was his primary recruiting area.

Seems like those concerns about Mora being able to recruit might be allayed with some of these hires, if they're able to hit the ground running.

Chatted with Scout.com's Brandon Huffman tonight about UCLA's two big assistant coach hires, Adrian Klemm and Steve Broussard.

What can a guy like Adrian Klemm do immediately?
Huffman: "He can certainly salvage this class with a couple guys who've already committed - Raymond Ford, Lacy Westbrook - and guys who were looking at SMU because of Klemm and also looking ASU. It's also going to help with those guys who were on the fence but were looking at SMU among a big group of schools. He's already jumped onto the 2013 guys. It's like a double bonus."

How much of a coup is it considering Mora has no recruiting experience and few immediate connections?
Huffman: "That's what's key. Klemm comes in as a guy who has already developed relationships with all of these guys to a mid-major in Dallas of all places. Now in your backyard, he's going to be that bridge to Mora. Those kids are looking for a reason to be looking for a reason to commit to UCLA. That's going to help really help bridge Mora to new recruits."

What do you think this says about Mora accepting his limitations and addressing what he'll need help in?
Huffman: "Mora obviously has the ability to evaluate talent - you don't become an NFL head coach unless you can go through a draft, free agency, and so - but the thing he may lack is those relationships. Neuheisel developed those relationships, but maybe wasn't an Xs and Os guy. While Mora is maybe the Xs and Os guy, and that's where his acumen comes into play, but then you take the relationship that Klemm will have with these guys, and that's a perfect combo. Neuheisel might not have been good evaluating talent, but now you have assistants who can do that and also have relationships".

Any top recruits that UCLA might be able to get back in on?
Huffman: "I'm not guaranteeing they're going to get back in the game with Jordan Simmons and Max Tuerk, but those are going to be guys they go after. Tuerk's first offer was from SMU, he took a visit to SMU and he loved Klemm. He seems solid to USC, but there's always something about that first school - and in this case, the first coach - so I can be pretty confident in saying that. Now it's not SMU, Conference USA in Dallas, but the very first coach, and in LA."

Regarding Broussard, why are his bonafides so important? Just that he's a Pac-12 guy?
"It's huge. He has not just been coaching in the Pac-12, but from a recruiting standpoint, he's recruited SoCal consistently. He knows the landscape. He's been in Pullman. He's been in Arizona. Now he's coming to California. He's going to cast a pretty wide net. Mora wants Washington, you have a guy who coached and played in Washington. Mora wants Arizona, Broussard knows the lanscape there."

Mora is a defensive guy; is this the right strategy for him, to show recruits that he wants to get in good offensive minds, too?
"It's a big thing for him to get the offensive side of the ball worked out. Mora is a defensive guy, so he's going to have his defensive mindset set in stone quickly. He needs to get on the offensive side of the ball. So much of this is about recruiting. The reason you hire them first is because of what they bring to the table as recruiters. You have to get these guys in the living rooms by Friday. It's the year of the linemen - now you're bringing in one of the best recruiting coaches in the country who is a lineman himself. These guys have pretty good reps as coaches, but this is about recruiting acumen. Mora can worry about defensive staff later. This is about getting guys who can get in living rooms next couple days wearing UCLA polos."

Jim L. Mora's nerves have been frayed for days.

The will-they, won't-they of UCLA's coaching search, the immediate preparation for a move from Seattle to Los Angeles, and then, to top it off, his most nail-biting test in 30-plus years.

But Mora aced the NCAA recruiting test - ahem, open book - on Tuesday morning and almost immediately, he planned to fill the one gaping hole in his resume.

"I haven't been that nervous about a test since I took the SAT," he joked to a horde of eager reporters at his introductory press conference on Tuesday at UCLA's Morgan Center, after he was announced as the Bruins' 17th head football coach.

Now, Mora can finally smile.

But even the Cheshire Cat's lasted longer, as Mora knows he will be graded harshly as he assembles his first recruiting class with the benefit of zero recruiting experience, his last and only college job came 27 years ago as a graduate assistant at his alma mater Washington.

To help, he's bringing in the big guns.

Mora is expected to bring on SMU offensive line coach - and Rivals.com 2010 non-BCS recruiter of the year - Adrian Klemm as his offensive line coach and run game coordinator and Arizona State wide receivers coach Steve Broussard to be his new running backs coach, sources said on Tuesday night.

With heavy ties to Southern California and street cred gained over a combined 15 years in the NFL, that duo should be able to get UCLA in many front doors.

Mora wants to help pick the right ones.

Mora knows he lacks living-room experience right now, but he's no stranger to evaluating talent.

"One of the things Bill Walsh always made us do is Bill said, 'I know what the guy is now; your job is to tell me what he's going to be in a year, two years, three years, four years,'" Mora said. "That's what Bill Walsh said. He said, 'Look, I can turn on the film and tell you what he is right now. Your job is to tell me what he's going to be.'
"I've been trained to do that."

Jim L. Mora said earlier today he hoped to have two new coaches in place by the end of the day, and he has.

Arizona State wide receivers coach Steve Broussard is set become the new UCLA running backs coach, sources said Tuesday night. Like soon-to-be offensive line coach Adrian Klemm, Broussard is considered an up-and-coming young recruiter with ties to Southern California. Like Klemm, too, Broussard is a former NFL player, having spent eight years in the league with the Atlanta Falcons, Cincinnati Bengals and Seattle Seahawks.

Broussard also brings Pac-12 playing experience as well, as he played for Washington State before ultimately coaching there, as well, from 2007-09 as running backs and special teams coach, before joining the Sun Devils.

Sources have confirmed that UCLA is set to hire SMU offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator Adrian Klemm as its new offensive line coach and run game coordinator.

Klemm is regarded as one of the top recruiters in the country, particularly for his ability to recruit Southern California. He prepped at St. Monica Catholic High, playing with Marcellus Wiley, before playing for Hawaii. After a monster senior season following a switch to the offensive line, Klemm was drafted in the second round of the 2000 draft by the New England Patriots, and played in the NFL for five seasons. He began coaching in 2008 and quickly moved up the ranks, ultimately being named Rivals.com's top non-BCS recruiter in 2010.

Here's a great story on Klemm from Richie Whitt of the Dallas Morning News - check it out - and I'll have a conversation with Scout.com's Brandon Huffman up a little later.

As I said earlier, a handful of us were able to chat with new UCLA head coach Jim L. Mora briefly, and here's our conversation:

JG: Two-part question: Who is James Lawrence Mora, the man?

Jim Mora: "I pride myself on being a good husband, a good father, a good brother, a good son, a great uncle and a man of integrity and honesty."

OK, who is Jim Mora the football coach, and is there a difference?

JM: "Yes. I bring more intensity to my job than I do to my life. I'm passionate. I'm committed. I'm detailed. I'm demanding. I have very high expectations and I hold myself accountable to what I would hope is a higher standard than anyone else would expect of me. That's what I want our football team to be as well."

What do you want to do to make sure that guy number 85 plays to his best level and guy number one plays to his best?

JM: "You have to create a culture of accountability. Not only accountability to your institution, to your school, but to your teammate and to yourself. There's really not a lot stronger than peer-to-peer accountability. I have a saying that I like, and that's, 'Count on me.' You have to earn the right, first of all, through your actions, to say to somebody, 'Hey, you count on me,' and have any merit. Once we get a culture where each player knows beyond a doubt that they can depend on the man next to him to be there for him as hard and as long as they can, then we'll be going in the right direction. That's not easy. That's not easy to create. But that's what we're going to create. We're going to create a culture of accountability. We're going to have very high expectations and we're going to push to reach them and we're going to be proud of them."

As you said before, this time they're picking you, you're not picking them. When you approach recruiting, how important is it for you to have that base of accountability but also to bring in guys who are a fit for that?

JM: "That's always an issue, I think. Part of the evaluation process is trying to find out if a guy loves to play football. That's a hard thing to evaluate. You can talk to players and they're going to say, 'I love to play football,' and you talk to a lot of high school coaches and they'll say, 'Yeah, this guy loves to play football.' But one advantage I might have in that area is the fact that I've been around so many great players in my career. And I mean all-time great players. Both coaching them, and just being around them. They all have something to them that stands out and I think I can identify it. Can I identify in a 17 or 18-year old kid like I can identify it in a 25-year old kid? I don't know. But I think I will be able to. Will I be 100 percent? No.

When you think about all you have to do starting now, what is today about for you?

JM: "Today for me is about meeting with the players, starting to put together a world-class coaching staff, starting to identify the players who we're recruiting who can come in and be the type of men and players we want. Once I'm done with this, next order of business is to meet with the current coaches. I'd like to have a couple hires in place by the end of the day, either from this staff or outside of this staff. And tonight I'll spend three hours talking on the phone to the 18 kids who have given us either verbals or soft verbals. Tomorrow, I'll come in, and it will be a continuation of coaches, recruits and then getting around, getting to know people. I've got a lot to learn."

You think about where you come from, the NFL, which is a bunch of millionaires, the best in the business, and they're pretty much known quantities. What is the transition like from known quantities to unknown quantities?

JM: "One of the things Bill Walsh always made us do is Bill said, 'I know what the guy is now.' Your job is to tell me what he's going to be in a year, two years, three years, four years.' That's what Bill Walsh said. He said, 'Look, I can turn on the film and tell you what he is right now. Your job is to tell me what he's going to be.'
I've been trained to do that. I've been trained to look at a junior in college, and say, now where is this guy going to be in his third year in the NFL. Now I'm going to be looking at juniors in high school, and thinking where is this guy going to be in his second year in college? I think it's probably a little more difficult to look at a junior in high school and predict where he's going to be as a junior in college, but it's the same philosophy. And that was Bill's philosophy."

Just had to share this...

The four local major outlets - the LA Times, ESPNLA, OC Register and myself - each got brief individual sit-down interviews with new UCLA head coach Jim L. Mora. I walk in for mine, he breaks into a huge smile and says, "So it's my first press conference, I'm nervous and everything, I look out into the crowd and see you and I'm like...is that Jonah Hill?"

Welp.

(oh, and he also said he hopes to have a couple of new hires to announce by the end of the day)

UCLA's waiver to have additional coaches in place for recruiting - similar to the waiver given to Ohio State after the hire of Urban Meyer - has been approved by the NCAA.

Every new coach added during the next few weeks will mean one less current coach who is allowed to recruit, and with Mora's addition to the staff, that already begins.

UCLA head coach Jim L. Mora passed the mandatory recruiting test and said he will begin recruiting tonight.
He added that he hasn't been so nervous for a test since his SATs.

"It might be the thing I'm most looking forward to right now. Getting out, getting into homes, getting in front of parents, in front of kids. I'm excited to start recruiting. I plan on starting today."

Ben Howland on Reeves Nelson:
" I talked to him on Sunday. I talked to his dad a couple times, Sunday and yesterday. I'm going to try to reach Reeves again today. He's spoken with a few different agents and he's looking at his options. Because of the NBA situation that just ended, I think it opened
up some opportunities that this time of year would not be available that now are.

Howland on Malcolm Lee and Tyler Honeycutt signing NBA contracts:
"That's great. I'm really happy for both those kids. Its so tenuous, you don't know, with the shake up and the new CBA. That's great for both of those kids.

Josh is really wide and strong, but one thing that he fails to remember is he has long arms. He has a 7-foot-3 wingspan, so he has a good ability to block shots.

That doesn't help that come down. I'd rather give up 3s adn try to gcontest those threes than layups. Because we're in a none-man rotation the next 24 games, we have to look at it. Zone is goin to benefit us.

hes got to be able to just play. he got tured pon saturday a couple tiems and asked to come out. He neesd to rest when he gets tired, and he let us know at least on one poccasion We did a little extra prior to that came, and he did some extra yesterday prior to practice.

weve got to increase his rebounding effort, on defensive side of the floor.

* Ben Howland said that Tyler Lamb is nursing bursitis in his left hip and had an MRI that revealed nothing further. He missed practice yesterday and is questionable for today.

* On top of his knee injury, De'End Parker has food poisoning.
"This kid can't catch a break. His knee, the concussion put him out a couple weeks and the last few days, he's been violently throwing up. But his knee is still the main issue."

* Howland on zone defense against Penn:
"We started it, and our zone was a little better than our man. But they made some shots. (Tyler Bernardini) really shot the heck out of it. They really did a good job as the game wore on attacking better. We have to get better at it, because we're going to have it during the course of the year."

* Howland on zone in practice
"We've been working on it the last week. All the kids have played it. There are a lot of little nuances on what we want to get better at. We're still trying to emphasize getting better with out man."

* Howland on Lazeric Jones:
"He's playing a lot better. He's gained a lot of confidence from his play. He's been solid; he played really well for us on Saturday against Penn. I probably need to get him a few more minutes of rest. We've got to get (Norman Powell) more minutes.

Middle linebacker Patrick Larimore had surgery on his left thumb today, interim head coach Mike Johnson said, and he is questionable for the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. He's had similar issues in the past and only missed about 10 days, so Johnson hopes he can play.

Offensive guard Chris Ward had his knee scoped today, too, and he'll be out indefinitely.

From UCLA:

Wide receiver Nelson Rosario and linebacker Patrick Larimore have been named the MVPs for the 2011 Bruin football season. Rosario was named the Offensive MVP, while Larimore took home Defensive MVP honors on Monday evening at the football team's annual awards banquet.

Rosario took home the offensive honors after an incredible senior season in which he hauled in 61 receptions for 1106 total yards. He averaged 18.1 yards per catch and scored four touchdowns for the Bruins. His longest reception of 76 yards came during a crucial drive in UCLA's upset win over Arizona State. Two of his catches were featured on Sportscenter as top plays of the day (vs. Houston and the touchdown grab at Oregon in the Pac-12 title game). Rosario ranks fifth all-time at UCLA in career catches (143) and receiving yards (2,307). He is fifth on the single season receiving yard list (1,106) and seventh in single season catches (61). He became the seventh Bruin to reach 1,000-receiving yards in a season and the 10th Bruin to top 2,000 career yards.

Larimore was honored as the Defensive MVP after a solid junior campaign in which he led the team in tackles with 81. He tallied 50 solo tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss and one sack during the season. The highlight of his season came against the Ducks in the Pac-12 title game when he notched his first career interception and then returned it 35 yards for a Bruin touchdown. He also had a fumble recovery and six tackles in the Pac-12 title game.

Below is a list of all award winners from Monday night's banquet.

CHARLES PIKE MEMORIAL AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING SCOUT TEAM PLAYERS
Offense: Steven Manfro
Defense: Kevin McReynolds
Special Teams: Roosevelt Davis
JACK R ROBINSON MEMORIAL AWARD FOR HIGHEST SCHOLARSHIP BY A SENIOR
Sean Westgate

N.N. SUGARMAN MEMORIAL AWARD FOR BEST LEADERSHIP
Offense: Kai Maiava
Defense: Patrick Larimore

CAPTAIN DON BROWN MEMORIAL AWARD FOR MOST IMPROVED PLAYER
Offense: Joseph Fauria
Defense: Andrew Abbott

JOHN BONCHEFF JR. MEMORIAL AWARD FOR ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Eric Kendricks

Ed Kezirian "COACH K" AWARD FOR ACADEMIC AND ATHLETIC BALANCE
Brett Hundley
Jacob Brendel

TOMMY PROTHRO AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER
Derrick Coleman
Jeff Locke

KENNETH S. WASHINGTON AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING SENIOR OF THE YEAR
Cory Harkey
Sean Westgate

PAUL I. WELLMAN MEMORIAL AWARD FOR ALL-AROUND EXCELLENCE
Derrick Coleman

JERRY LONG "HEART" AWARD
Cory Harkey

HENRY R. RED SANDERS AWARD FOR MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Offense: Nelson Rosario
Defense: Patrick Larimore

Twitter is a dangerous, dangerous beast.

I've discovered that myself, before, shooting from the lip a joke that was not well-received. Note to self: Never joke about a public official, a jelly donut and Winona Ryder.

To imagine a horde of 18-to-22 year olds on such an infernal device is simply terrifying.

The problem with immediate reaction is it is almost entirely emotional and lacking rationality. It's visceral, raw.

It's stupid.

And UCLA must find a way to deal with it.

The problem with the recent check flap is that it could've entirely been prevented by one rule: You tweet, you don't play. Simple as that.

College athletics are dictatorships. It comes from the head coach on down, and the problem with being a friendly player's coach is it can often backfire. When discipline is lacked, that doesn't just manifest itself in false starts and sporadic f-bombs.

Lack of discipline is a cancer, and it spreads, and it spreads quickly. It doesn't just have to be nipped in the bud, it has to be chopped off, head first.

The one thing that we know for sure with the check issue is that there was clearly a failure of communication. Maybe someone wielded power without the authority to do so. Maybe some feelings were hurt. Whatever. Who is to blame is not the question.

It was the immediate and thoughtless reaction to the situation that has UCLA embroiled in just another embarassing mess. Cooler heads, such as Jeff Locke, tried to appeal to reason. Teammates having to tweet at teammates to study the NCAA rule book? What is wrong with this picture?!

As recalled in that great HBO documentary on John Wooden, Bill Walton once walked into practice sporting a lion's mane that had the legendary UCLA coach up in arms. He handled it quite simply, explaining to Walton that while yes, there was no rule against long hair, Wooden was the one who dictated the starting lineup, and unless he high-tailed it to a barber, he would not play.

It is that simple.

It's a parent telling his young child, you tough that oven, and you're going to be burned. If a kid touches the oven and is burned, blame the kid.

In this case, UCLA would be wise to establish some authority over Twitter, for once, or the players will just keep burning themselves.

And then I'll have to write about it. And I'll probably jump to conclusions.

So a governor walks into a donut store with Winona Ryder...

Kai Maiava, Randall Carroll, Aramide Olaniyan tweeted Sunday night about their displeasure over not receiving checks UCLA withheld for missing mandatory (this is up for debate) workouts and not turning in academic exit forms in time. Many players - even those that didn't tweet about not receiving checks - said these workouts during finals week for bowl prep have always been voluntary.
Players tweeted about how they would be hungry because they didn't have money, but a few hours later the issue was resolved.
``The last thing we want to do is to have anybody starve,'' Mike Johnson said.
Coincidentally, UCLA is playing in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl.
Jeff Locke took to twitter to defend UCLA and said after practice Monday: ``The way it was treated by some of the players in the media made us look bad. I don't think they should've made the school look bad at all. The way it was put out by some players made it look a lot worse than it really was. I think it was handled fine. We might have messed up for a second, but in the end it's all fine.''

Here is UCLA's statement from Nick Ammazzalorso, director of athletic communications, regarding the checks that were withheld from some players:

"All of our players were advised that they would need to complete three of five workouts and submit academic exit forms prior to Sunday's practice in order to receive their bowl checks. Those who did not complete their assignment had their checks withheld. The coaching staff changed its mind when they realized that withholding the money would cause the players some financial hardship."

One coach in, one coach out and one coach on its way.

Forget trying to learn plays, UCLA football players are just trying to remember the man in charge.

With interim head coach Mike Johnson leading his first Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl practice on Sunday without Rick Neuheisel - and with new head coach Jim L. Mora expected to arrive in town today - the Bruins heads' were spinning.

"I'm excited for like my fourth fresh start," junior tight end Joseph Fauria said. "I had a fresh start as a freshman, a transfer, then (offensive coordinator Norm) Chow left, and now a new coach. Four fresh starts. Pretty fun."

Fauria laughed, shrugged and shook his head - pretty much the consensus reaction from most of the Bruins who are just trying to keep up with all the change.

Step one, focus on the now, and that means preparation for their Dec. 31st bowl matchup with Illinois.

Sunday's practice was lively, with players back out for practice for the first time since November, following finals week. The Bruins focused extensively on fundamentals, with the next week of practice almost like a mini minicamp. Scout team players got extra scrimmage time, mostly freshmen on freshmen, a luxury not afforded when preparing for an immediate opponent.

The biggest difference, though, was not hearing the familiar voice of Neuheisel.

"He'd always come out and say, "Great day to be alive, great day to be a Bruin," junior quarterback Kevin Prince said. "He'd try to get everybody revved up. It's a different feel. It really is. It definitely feels like something's missing right now. You're used to something for four years, and you take that away, and it's odd."

Out with the old and in with the new, and in UCLA's case, that means Mora.

Mora called the Carolina Panthers vs. Atlanta Falcons game for Fox on Sunday then planned to fly back to Washington before heading down to Los Angeles to begin assembling his staff and start recruiting.

A newcomer to the college game, Mora is also going to make his introduction to the Bruins for the first time, as many only know of him from his NFL head coaching gigs with the Falcons and Seahawks.

UCLA players seemed to trust the hire, though they appeared relieved that the coaching search finally ended.

"There's no reason to worry about it, but it's nice to have it done," Prince said. "It's better to have someone solidified then wait and see and have uncertainty surrounding the program. You don't want to miss out on good coaches. You saw all these good coaches going different places, and you're like, 'Well, when are we going to get somebody?'"

* Interim head coach Mike Johnson's first practice after taking over for Rick Neuheisel was not vastly different from that of the previous four months. More emphasis on team drills, though that is typical during bowl preparation. Some intriguing offensive formations, a good energy. But nothing too drastically different.

* Johnson also confirmed his interview with Akron this week. He said he was unsure if he would have to travel for it.

* Kevin Prince remained with the first-team offense in the team's first practice back from an extended break. Richard Brehaut was working with the twos but moving better than he has in two months.

* Malcolm Jones seemed to be more involved in the offense that at any point this season, getting a ton of reps with both the first and second teams.

* If today is an indication, it looks like Donovan Carter is up with the first-team defense, along with Datone Jones in the interior.

* Keenan Graham got a lot of time at first-team defensive end with Jones still in the interior, and the rotation of Graham, Iuta Tepa, Damien Holmes and Owa Odighizuwa seems pretty set.

* Simply put, Steven Manfro had a sick, sick cut on a run late in practice.

* Sean Westgate, Alex Mascarenas, Dalton Hilliard all missed practice and their status is unknown for the bowl game.

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

ANAHEIM -- UCLA went on a couple of runs to push its lead to 14 at one point in the second half but had to fend off a pesky Penn team that put together a big run of its own to make things interesting. In the end, UCLA leaves the Honda Center with a 77-73 win on Saturday to improve to 3-5 on the year.

Sophomore center Joshua Smith, playing with three and four fouls for most of the second half sparked a few big plays and finished with 12 points as did redshirt sophomore Travis Wear. At one point in the second half Smith scored on three straight possessions and started a chain of assists that ended with a 3-pointer from freshman Norman Powell to put the Bruins up 68-55.

Senior point guard Lazeric Jones led the Bruins in scoring and tied his season high with 21 points.

Penn guard Tyler Bernardini poured in 29 points including eight 3-pointers to help the Quakers hang around late in the game.

For the first time since the late-1940s, someone might need to show the new UCLA head coach around Westwood.

Athletic director Dan Guerrero announced the hiring of former Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks head coach Jim L. Mora on Saturday morning, concluding a 12-day head coaching search.

Guerrero said the contract was a five-year deal worth approximately $12 million plus bonuses and perks, a substantial bump from former head coach Rick Neuheisel's $1.25 million per year. The new deal puts UCLA in the upper-tier of the conference's coaching salaries.

"I am extremely excited that Jim Mora Jr. has accepted the position of head football coach here at UCLA," Guerrero said in a conference call with reporters on Saturday morning. "He brings with him tremendous football acumen, of course having coached in the NFL for over 20 years. He is high-energy, hard-nosed, disciplined and organized. He's coached defense his whole life, and that bodes well for us with the kind of offensive firepower we see in our conference."

Mora's defensive expertise, sharpened through six different stints as a defensive assistant in the NFL, should provide a stark contrast to the offensive-minded nature of two of the Pac-12 conference's newest members, Washington State's Mike Leach and Arizona's Rich Rodriguez. Mora spent more than 25 years in the NFL, including 18 years as an assistant coach before becoming head coach of the Atlanta Falcons in 2004. Mora led Atlanta to an 11-5 record and an appearance in the NFC championship game in his first season, but he went just 15-17 in his next two years before being fired. After a two-year stint as an assistant with Seattle, Mora assumed the head coaching position in 2009 and went 5-11 before being replaced by Pete Carroll.

Mora is set to arrive in Los Angeles early next week as he concludes his broadcasting duties, but he is unsure of his role for the team's Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl preparation. Interim head coach Mike Johnson, who is reportedly set to interview for the vacant Akron coaching job sometime during the week, will maintain control in the meantime. Johnson coached for Mora in Atlanta from 2004-05.

"I've only been on the job for an hour here, so there are a lot of things we certainly have to solidify," Mora said on Saturday morning. "We need to decide the best way to go forward. We want to make is this: We want to make sure players and coaches who have worked so hard to win the Pac-12 South, to earn a bowl bid, can enjoy that experience."

Name: James Lawrence Mora
Age: 50
Expertise: Defense
College Experience: One year, 1984, Washington graduate assistant
Professional Experience: 25 years, including 2004-06 as head coach of Atlanta; 2009 as head coach of Seattle
Professional record: 31-33
Quote: "I can't tell you exactly where they've been, but I can tell you what I want UCLA to become. I want them - I want us - to become a football team that plays smart, plays hard, that plays relentless. That plays with great mental toughness and physical toughness and plays with a relentlessness that is obvious to everybody that watches us play. I want us to be a team that when we are in a situation when our best is demanded, we give our best. I want to fill the program with athletes who love to compete and thrive on competition. That's what I want our football team to be."

JLM on evaluating the current roster:
"I have not gotten a very good chance to give you anything near accurate. That will be one of the things I do right when I get there. Along with hiring a staff and recruiting, it's evaluating the players on our team. The most important thing right now is to come in and attack recruiting, make sure we get a tremendous class in and hire a great coaching staff."

JLM on retaining certain coaches:
"I took the job with no stipulations regarding staff other than I don't believe you need to go into someplace and blow out your coaches. Our objective is to provide our student-athletes with the very best coaches we can provide them with."

ANAHEIM -- The Bruin Road Show's first half in Anaheim - also its first without last year's leading scorer and rebounder, junior forward Reeves Nelson - went relatively well as UCLA leads Penn 39-35 at the Honda Center.

UCLA looked energized on defense but was slow to rotate at times, giving up five 3-pointers. Coach Ben Howland turned to a zone when redshirt sophomore center Anthony Stover came into the game after sophomore center Josh Smith picked up his second foul midway through the half.

UCLA hit on 6-of-11 3-pointers but that may not be a good thing with the obvious size advantage the Bruins have. There haven't been a lot of good looks in the post. Smith got the ball a handful of times down low but botched two of them although he did clean one of them up and finished it with a 3-point play the old fashioned way.

Senior point guard Lazeric Jones leads the Bruins with 14 points. Senior Jerime Anderson has eight.

JLM on interviewing for defensive coordinator positions:
"That was after last season; I interviewd with John Fox on one day and turned the defensive coordinator job down, as I did the Philadeplhia Eagles job and a couple others. I just felt, at that point in time, that my passion was elsewhere. If my passion had been professional football, I would've taken one of those jobs. But it wasn't. ... You never know until you actually talk to somebody how you're going to feel, and John Fox and I have a long, long relationship and I wanted to go out and hear what he had to say."

JLM on UCLA's recent history:
"I'm not an expert in that area yet, but I will be shortly. I can tell you what I want UCLA to become. I can't tell you exactly where they've been, but I can tell you what I want UCLA to become. I want them - I want us - to become a football team that plays smart, plays hard, that plays relentless. That plays with great mental toughness and physical toughness and plays with a relentlessness that is obvious to everybody that watches us play. I want us to be a team that when we are in a situation when our best is demanded, we give our best. I want to fill the program with athletes who love to compete and thrive on competition. That's what I want our football team to be."

JLM on his role with the bowl game
"That's something we'll have to evaluate as we go forward. I can't give you a definitive answer on that. I've only been on the job for an hour here, so there are a lot of things we certainly have to solidify. We need to decide the best way to go forward. We want to make is this: We want to make sure players and coaches who have worked so hard to win the Pac-12 South, to earn a bowl bid, can enjoy that experience. We want to make sure seniors who have spent carrers dedicated to UCLA get the opportunity to go out there free of distractions and play their heart out for their university."

JLM on his role in the defense:
"I will be involved in all three phases of the game. I think that I'm most valuable if I have a direct understanding of our defensive philosophy, our offensive philosophy, our special teams philosphy. And I think one of the most important thing a head football coach can do on gameday is manage the game. I have a real pet peeve about football coaches who make game managament errors, who call timeouts when they shouldn't be called, who aren't prepared to make decisions on critical fourth downs, whether to go for it, punt, kick a field goal. I will be very active with all three phases. I cannot tell you now for sure whether I will or will not call defenses but I can assure you that everything that happens on that football field will go through my headset."

ANAHEIM -- Sam Strong (otherwise known as the other fat guy) here at the Honda Center. I realize it's been a busy day for UCLA fans with the football hiring of Jim L. Mora but we're about 30 minutes from tip as Ben Howland's Bruins look for their second D-I win this season.

The court looks about the same as it did for previous Wooden Classic games but they've added the circular UCLA logo at center court.

I don't know much about Penn other than that the Quakers are 5-5 on the year lost to the only ranked team they've played. Penn lost to then-No. 17 Pitt 78-58 on Nov. 25 in the Philly Hoop Group Classic.

Ben Howland said yesterday that he thought getting the Reeves Nelson monkey off the team's back would be a positive for UCLA. We'll see shortly.

A reminder to follow me on twitter @SamStrong for in-game updates.

Game is on Fox Sports West with Joel Meyers and former Bruin Don MacLean on the call.

Here's what Jim L. Mora had to say about UCLA interim head coach Mike Johnson:
"Mike Johnson and I coached together one year in Atlanta, and as I know you already know, I released Mike after that year and have since had a good relationship with Mike. We both matured in terms of our relationships with each other and I think we're on very good terms right now."

Johnson coached for Mora for two years, in 2004 and 2005, before being relieved of his duties.

First, UCLA needed an NCAA waiver to become bowl-eligible once more after falling to 6-7.
Now the Bruins are going to beckon the NCAA once more.

During a conference call with reporters this morning to announce the hiring of Jim L. Mora as head coach, athletic director Dan Guerrero said that the school will apply for a waiver to allow for two simultaneous staffs during the lead-up to the bowl - a bowl staff and a transitional staff - similar to the situation at Ohio State with Urban Meyer.

Mora, who will take the NCAA recruiting test once he gets to Los Angeles early next week, will attempt to be able to assemble a group to recruit immediately.

One name that is garnering a lot of buzz for that staff? SMU offensive line coach Adrian Klemm, who was named non-BCS recruiter of the year by Rivals.com. Klemm has been a poacher for the Mustangs, snagging abundant talent Southern California, and with Mora's lack of recruiting experience - check that, zero recruiting experience - a guy who is already plugged in is a must-have for the new head coach.

DG on hiring a coach without recruiting experience:
"Jim will adapt. It is a process that is learned very quicky in this business. Once you're in a living room, once you're in a home, it's the same process of trying to convince a student-athlete to come and be a part of something spoecial. Being out on a limb, hiring an individual who does not have much experience on a college campus, I think Jim will make the adjustment and adaptation very quickly. Bottom line is that we want to recruit a solid football coach.

DG on the search process:
"I had a short list as I indicated from the very beginning when we had the last press conference. Jim was on that list."

JLM on the biggest challenges to the job:
"I believe there are going to be a number of differences and a number of challenges. It will start with recruiting. I'm not naive enough to think I can walk in day one and be excellent recruiter. But I feel like if I surround myself with good people, people who have done it, people who've had success in it, and chuck my personality and passion into that process and get in front of these kids and parents and relatives and show them all that UCLA has to offer and I have to offer and my coaching staff has to offer, we can convince some darn good football players to come to UCLA and be great student-athletes for our program."

JLM on adapting to unique offenses:
"The other challenge will certainly be adapting to some of the unique offenses we have seen in college football that are different than you see in pro football. You see things out of Oregon and some other teams that you don't see in pro football. I'm excited about having the opportunity to learn how to defend those offenses. I've coached defensive football my entire life, I've coached on some outstanding defensive staffs, and I look forward to the challenge. I look forward to the newness of it."

Dan Guerrero opening statement:
"I am extremely excited that Jim Mora Jr. has accepted the position of head football coach here at UCLA. He brings with him tremendous football acumen, of course having coached in the NFL for over 20 years. He is high-energy, hard-nosed, disciplined and organized. He's coached defense his whole life, and that bodes well for us with the kind of offensive firepower we see in our conference. Though he's never coached a game in college, bottom line is he is a terrific football coach, and he will surround himself with a staff that will aid in the transition from pro football to college football. Lastly, he shares many of the same values that we do at UCLA.
"I've spoken to several players who have played for him. He is a player's coach, he's civic minded, and more importantly he has a sincere desire to win championships. We're excited to have him. I know he's excited to be a Bruin."

Jim L. Mora opening statement:
"I want to start off bny saying I'm deeply humbled and honored that Chancellor Block and DG have selected me to lead the UCLA FB program. As someone who has been aroudn the game of football my entire life, i've held this joba t UCLA in high esteem. I think UCLA is truly a sleeping giant, and I realize that an opportunity like this, of this magnitude, doesn't present itself more than oncei n a coaching career. When the job was offered, I jumped at the chance to be a Bruin. our objectives are going to be simple, and that's to make Bruin fans proud of their football team. I'm going to work extremely hard to assemble the best coaching staff in college football, great coaches who can teach, motivate, recruit and mentor, and help kids who can grow through college, mature into men who can lead productive, successful lives, in whatever they do. We're going to recruit student athletes who will win both in the classroom and on the field. Great players who love to compete, who are smart, tough, hard-nosed and represent UCLA with dignity, class and who are proud to be Bruins.

From UCLA:

UCLA has named former Seattle Seahawks and Atlanta Falcons head coach Jim L. Mora its Head Football Coach, replacing the departed Rick Neuheisel, it was announced today by UCLA Director of Athletics Dan Guerrero.

Mora and Guerrero will both be available to local media only via teleconference today at 11:30 am. Mora will be formally introduced to the Los Angeles media at a press conference early next week.

"I am proud to announce today that Jim Mora has accepted the position of head football coach at UCLA," said Guerrero. "He has been a head coach at the game's highest level and has clearly demonstrated to me that he is hungry and eager to return to the sidelines."

Mora's father, Jim E. Mora, was a prominent collegiate and NFL head coach, whose career included a stop at UCLA in 1974.

The younger Mora, 50, began his head coaching career with the Atlanta Falcons in 2004, and led Atlanta to an 11-5 regular season record and first place in the NFC West. After defeating the St. Louis Rams in the Divisional round, the Falcons' season ended in a loss in the NFC Championship Game to the Philadelphia Eagles. Mora also coached the Falcons in 2005 and 2006.

"As someone who has been around the game of football my entire life, I have always held the UCLA job in the highest esteem," said Mora. "Given its location and its tradition, UCLA is truly a sleeping giant and I realize that an opportunity of this magnitude doesn't present itself more than once in a career, so I jumped at the chance to be a Bruin."

After leaving the Falcons, Mora was named assistant head coach/defensive backs of the Seattle Seahawks in early 2007. He spent two seasons in that position before being promoted to the Seahawks top post after the retirement of Mike Holmgren.

He coached the Seahawks for the 2009 season and has worked as an analyst on the NFL Network for the past two seasons.

"UCLA has always been a place of high expectations, as it applies to our students, our faculty, our researchers and, not least of all, our athletic program. With more NCAA championships than any other university, the reality is that our fans count on us to be great. The hiring of Jim L. Mora as head coach of UCLA football proves that this is still a place where champions are made and integrity matters," said UCLA Chancellor Gene Block. "Jim is the kind of coach who understands that every player must succeed not only on the field but also in the classroom. Great athletic programs are made up of great leaders, great athletes and great minds. I can think of no better place for Jim Mora than UCLA, and no better coach for UCLA than Jim Mora."

Mora began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of Washington in 1984, immediately after his four years as a defensive back for the Huskies. As a player, he appeared in two Rose Bowls.

In 1985, the younger Mora made his NFL coaching debut as a quality control coach with the San Diego Chargers. In 1989, he was elevated to Chargers secondary coach, where he remained until 1992, when he joined his father's New Orleans Saints staff in the same role.

Jim L. Mora departed New Orleans in 1997, moving to the San Francisco 49ers, also as secondary coach. In 1999, he was promoted to defensive coordinator and remained in that role until 2003, when he was hired by the Falcons.

It took a while, but UCLA has found its man.

Sources indicated early Saturday morning that UCLA is set to hire former Seattle Seahawks and Atlanta Falcons head coach Jim L. Mora as its new head coach, with an introduction planned for early next week.

In a wild coaching search that had an abundance of twists and turns, sources said on Friday that communication had waned with Mora and that the search would continue, with Washington head coach Steve Sarkisian and Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Jay Gruden among candidates. But reports filtered in throughout late Friday that Mora was back in play with the Bruins and it appears the 12-day search has concluded.

This, after UCLA showed previous interest in Boise State head coach Chris Petersen and Houston head coach Kevin Sumlin before being rebuffed.

Mora last coached at the college level in 1984 as a graduate assistant at Washington, where he played defensive back from 1980-83. After a lengthy career as an NFL assistant coach, Mora took over for Atlanta in 2004, guiding the Falcons to an 11-5 record an appearance in the NFC championship game. Mora went 15-17 for the Falcons the following two seasons and was fired and spent one season with the Seahawks in 2009, going 5-11. He has served as an NFL analyst since then and is expected to join the team once he finishes his broadcasting duties.

Interim head coach and offensive coordinator Mike Johnson coached with Mora in Atlanta in 2004-05, serving as quarterbacks coach for Michael Vick. Johnson is reportedly set to interview for the Akron head coaching position next week.

Washington head coach Steve Sarkisian denied that he has been contacted by UCLA about its head coaching vacancy on Friday, but sources confirm there has been interest put forth by UCLA.

Sources also confirm that there has been little contact in recent days with Jim L. Mora, thought to be the leading candidate for the position after early attempts at Boise State's Chris Petersen, Houston's Kevin Sumlin and Miami's Al Golden were rebuffed.

Sarkisian, who has led the Huskies to a 19-18 record in three years and back-to-back bowl games, would not speculate on his interest in the position with reporters in Washington.

"The point of it is, and I've said before, I'm not going to engage in speculation and rumors," Sarkisian said. "Hopefully, as we continue to get better here, and we win even more games, those speculation and rumors are going to grow in numbers, and I don't feel like I should have to come and talk about speculation and rumors every time they come up."

Eleven days into the coaching search, UCLA fans are starting to get antsy, as several coaching positions have been opened and subsequently filled across the country. Lofty talk by athletic director Dan Guerrero that the Bruins would have more money to offer the new head coach and assistants has whet fans' appetite for a quick hire, but UCLA has appeared to be acting deliberately in the process.

Sarkisian signed a new five-year contract with the Huskies that escalates every year through 2015, when it reaches $2.85 million.

Washington athletic director Steve Woodward echoed Sarkisian's comments that the former USC assistant coach had been contacted by UCLA.

"You are always concerned. You are always worried when you have a good coach that other people will want to talk to him, which is a good problem to have. But Steve is very happy at the University of Washington, in a great situation, and I think everything is fine going forward. I think at the end of the day, Steve will be the coach at the University of Washington.''

The interest in Mora, meanwhile, appears to be cooling off.

Mora went 31-33 in four seasons with the NFL's Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks but has minimal collegiate coaching experience, with only one year as a graduate assistant for Washington in 1984.

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UCLA head coach Ben Howland on the decision to dismiss Reeves Nelson:
"This hopefully, for his sake, is going to be something that is real, something that is going to have a drastic effect on him if he doesn't behave appropriately and fit in. He's going to have to make some choices and I'm hoping that by the severity of this he can learn from it."

On making the decision now:
"I didn't want to turn this into a thing where this was the focus. For the best interest of the program and of the team and of UCLA basketball, I felt it was most appropriate to make this decision going forward."

On where the team goes from here:
"Honestly I think it will be a positive for our team. The distraction of all this has not been a positive. The negativity is not a positive for a team. When I suspended him the first time, the two practices we had after that were the best this year that we've had. Hopefully this is going to be a unifying thing."

On how he feels he handled the situation:
"Hindsight is always 20-20. If I had been a professional basketball coach, he probably would've been dismissed earlier. Reeves is actually a kid who just turned 20 this summer, started college early at 17, and this is education. We're trying to help kids grow and mature and I'm one that's an optimist and wants to hope and believe and try to help kids grow and improve. It came to a point where it was too much of a negative and a distraction."

On discussions with Nelson's parents:
"I spoke to both his mom and dad this week and this morning. It's really hard."

On his future with Nelson:
"I'm not going to stop trying to help him. I'm going to keep trying to help him, advise him, communicate with him about his future. This doesn't end my relationship with Reeves Nelson. My relationship with Reeves will continue."

I just went through UCLA's basketball commitments during Ben Howland's tenure, and this is what I found:

Out of the 20 verbal commitments since 2003-08 who would've had four years of eligibility through this year, only seven have stayed the full four years.

Here is the list: Lorenzo Mata, Josh Shipp, Darren Collison, Michael Roll, James Keefe, Nikola Dragovic, Jerime Anderson.

Four stayed three years: Arron Afflalo, Alfred Aboya, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Malcolm Lee.

Four stayed two years: Jordan Farmar, Ryan Wright, Russell Westbrook, J'mison Morgan.

Four stayed one year - Trevor Ariza, Kevin Love, Chase Stanback and Jrue Holliday - and Drew Gordon was gone early in his second year.

Then there are the classes 2009-11:
Tyler Honeycutt (two years), Reeves Nelson (2-plus years), Mike Moser (one year) and Matt Carlino (half year), with nine current players remaining, including four who transferred to UCLA from either a junior college or another four-year school.

So I know the math is funny, because with all the early exits, obviously the team has brought in more recruits than a typical team. But just based on "potential" four-year careers at UCLA - using the max eligibility time - here's how I figure it works:

Out of 96 possible years of eligibility for the 24 recruited players from 2003-11 who are no longer with the team, they only stayed a combined 59.5 years.

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Apparently, Ben Howland has reached his last straw.

After announcing that he was suspending returning leading scorer and rebounder Reeves Nelson indefinitely on Tuesday, Howland dismissed the junior all-conference selection on Friday.

"After much thought and deliberation, I have made the decision to dismiss Reeves Nelson from the UCLA Men's Basketball Team effective immediately," Howland said in a release. "This decision is not one that I take lightly, but it is in the best interest of both the program and the student-athlete."

Nelson was suspended indefinitely on Nov. 14 but reinstated just two days later after missing the team's loss to MIddle Tennessee State. After missing the team flight to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational, Nelson was suspended for the first half of the Bruins' win over Chaminade.

After playing 51 minutes in UCLA's following two games against No. 14 Kansas and No. 15 Michigan in Maui, Nelson played just 10 minutes in a UCLA win over Pepperdine and 12 minutes in a loss to Texas.

"This continues a trend of very disappointing behavior by Reeves," Howland said in a on release on Tuesday justifying Nelson's suspension. "I personally have worked hard with him to illustrate the importance of the code of conduct for our student-athletes, as well as the ramifications for violating it. I am disappointed that he has continued to fall short of my expectations."

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From UCLA:

Safety Tevin McDonald has been named to CBSSports.com's Freshman All-America team after an impressive frosh campaign for the Bruins.

McDonald ranks fifth in tackles on the Bruin defense with 52 (39 solo). He also tallied three interceptions (all against Cal), seven pass breakups and one forced fumble during the year.

The football team returns to the practice field on Sunday to begin preparation for the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, held Dec. 31 at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

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Sources are indicating that former Seattle Seahawks and Atlanta Falcons head coach Jim L. Mora is no longer a candidate for the UCLA head coaching position.

Mora went 31-33 in four NFL seasons but has little collegiate coaching experience, last coaching at the college level in 1984 as a graduate assistant.

Any work being done on the UCLA coaching search is either on the extreme down low or just on hold right now.

Former NFL coach Jim Mora Jr. remains a prime target, according to a source, and while he has been in contact with UCLA officials, not much was happening as of late Thursday.

UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero was back in town Thursday after spending the last few days in New York, but if he's making progress on finding a new football coach he's keeping things low key.

SMU coach June Jones, who seemed to be in line for the Arizona State job before the Sun Devils abruptly called off talks, could be a fallback option at UCLA. However, a source indicated Thursday he was unaware if Guerrero had reached out to Jones.

Rivals.com's Chris Level is reporting that Jim Mastro is going to be hired by Washington State to be its running backs coach. Trying to get it confirmed now.

if so, that further cements the assumption that UCLA would be moving away from the Pistol offense under its soon-to-be-hired coaching staff.

Update:
Here's what I was told by UCLA:
"Coach Mastro will be going up to meet with Leach some time in the next few days and after that meeting, a decision will be made."

Looks like SMU coach June Jones is either staying put or considering options that no longer include Arizona State,

Our friend Doug Haller at the Tucson Citizen filed a report earlier about Arizona State ending talks with Jones late Wenesday.

Interestingly, the same situation happened Friday when Arizona State called off talks with Houston coach Kevin Sumlin, which led to UCLA moving in on Sumlin as its top choice only to have talks with Sumlin go nowhere.

I have heard Jones' name linked to UCLA over the last few weeks, and if trhe Bruins are looking for someone to shake things up he is certainly someone capable of doing just that.

I'll poke around and see if Jones becomes a viable target and get back to you.

Also, I am scheduled to speak to a very, very high-up source either later tonight or tomorrow, so hopefully I'll have something to report pretty soon on where the search might be,

Until then, here is the report on Jones from Arizona:

ASU broke off talks with Southern Methodist University coach June Jones late Wednesday afternoon, a final unexpected turn in a dizzying day of false reports from national and local media outlets saying the deal was done.

Where ASU's search goes from here isn't clear, but Oregon offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich, Tennessee defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox and San Francisco 49ers linebackers coach Jim Leavitt, former head coach at South Florida, could be possibilities. It's unknown if Houston coach Kevin Sumlin -- high on ASU's list of candidates from the start -- remains in the picture.

UCLA freshman guard Norman Powell was rushed to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center emergency room on Wednesday after suffering an allergic reaction at practice.

The Scout.com four-star recruit was in stable condition as of Wednesday night and was scheduled to remain in the hospital overnight for observation.

Powell, who is not expected to practice today and will continue to be monitored, is averaging 4.6 points in 16.6 minutes per game for the Bruins, who play against Penn on Saturday at the Honda Center. Powell scored zero points in 15 minutes against Texas in a 69-59 loss last Saturday, but had a season-high 10 points in 23 minutes in a 62-39 UCLA win over Pepperdine on Nov. 28.

Hey guys this is Vinny Bonsignore. I've been poking around UCLA today and a couple of things on the football coaching search.

First of all, at the risk of summoning my inner Spicoli from Fast Times at Ridgemont High, the whole Jim Tressel being seen on campus thing is totally bogus.

At least according to my guy on the inside, who has been on campus all day every day for while now and didn't see him.

And he promises me he would have seen Tressel, had the former Ohio State coach been there.

That said, UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero and former NFL coach Jim Mora Jr. have definitely talked within the last few days,

Guerrero has been in New York the last few days but he is expected back in Los Angeles Thursday and he's expected to sit down and weigh all his options at that point.

Now, before some of you guys jump off the deep end on Mora Jr., think of it this way:

Who was the last former NFL coach and defensive coordinator who was fourth or fifth on a coaching list search then got hired much to the chagrin of the fan base but ended up being one of the greatest coaches in college history??

Yeah, I think we all know who that was.

Maybe Mora Jr. fits that same bill.

Give him a chance, is all I am saying.

Anyway, Mora, 50, was 26-22 as coach of the NFL Atlanta Falcons before going
5-11 as coach of the Seahawks in the 2009 season. His also has
college coaching experience as a graduate assistant at Washington in
the 1984 season.

He is also the son of longtime NFL coach Jim Mora.

So there you go, guys,

Ed. note: I'm taking a retrospective look at what eventually doomed the Rick Neuheisel era. He obviously did not lack a passion for the job, but questionable decisions and cruel twists of fate - and knees - led to his dismissal from his alma mater. I take a look back at a dozen of the pivotal moments that eventually sealed Neuheisel's fate.

12. The Final Straw
Despite a 3-1 record after the Arizona disaster, if the writing was not already on the wall by Thanksgiving, the pens were being pulled out. Neuheisel had one last-ditch effort to save his job - though some maintain that his fate had already been sealed - with a potential game-changing win over USC. Neuheisel knew it, the players knew it, everybody knew it. Lay it all on the line, one more time. And the Bruins did lay something that night: An egg. As in, 50-0, the worst defeat to the hated Trojans since a 52-0 loss in 1930. After the game, athletic director Dan Guerrero said he would wait until after the season to assess Neuheisel's future. Rick Neuheisel was fired as UCLA head coach two days later.

Ed. note: I'm taking a retrospective look at what eventually doomed the Rick Neuheisel era. He obviously did not lack a passion for the job, but questionable decisions and cruel twists of fate - and knees - led to his dismissal from his alma mater. I take a look back at a dozen of the pivotal moments that eventually sealed Neuheisel's fate.

11. Debacle in the Desert
If Arizona was better, it would be one thing. If UCLA suffered a close loss, it would be one thing. If there was no petulant fighting, it would be one thing. If it was not an ESPN-televised, Thursday night marquee matchup, it would be one thing. It was everything. Everything bad, that is. The Bruins traveled to Tucson for a matchup with a Wildcat squad under a freshly minted interim head coach, one that had lost 10 straight to Division 1 opponents, and traveled back to Westwood with a 48-12 loss that spurred rumors of Neuheisel's imminent demise. The major stain: A midfield brawl near halftime that resulted in 10 player suspensions, and a clear sign that the coaching staff had lost control of the players.

Ed. note: I'm taking a retrospective look at what eventually doomed the Rick Neuheisel era. He obviously did not lack a passion for the job, but questionable decisions and cruel twists of fate - and knees - led to his dismissal from his alma mater. I take a look back at a dozen of the pivotal moments that eventually sealed Neuheisel's fate.

10. Unmerry-Go-Round

With his job on the line this season, Neuheisel knew that settling the quarterback debate would be paramount. With Norm Chow off to Utah and the quarterbacks now under his command, Neuheisel would have to decide once and for all, Kevin Prince or Richard Brehaut. After declaring the competition 50-50 and saying that it was a coin-flip for who would get the first practice reps of fall, Neuheisel gave Prince the keys and never really asked for them back. Even as Brehaut showed better command of the offense and sharper passing, Prince got the lion's share of first-team reps until around Week 3, when Brehaut forced his way back into the discussion. By Week 1, things had barely been settled, Prince was injured against Houston, came back to throw three first-quarter interceptions in a 49-20 loss to Texas and only regained the starting spot when Brehaut suffered a broken ankle against Washington State. Now? Things are as unsettled as ever.

Ed. note: I'm taking a retrospective look at what eventually doomed the Rick Neuheisel era. He obviously did not lack a passion for the job, but questionable decisions and cruel twists of fate - and knees - led to his dismissal from his alma mater. I take a look back at a dozen of the pivotal moments that eventually sealed Neuheisel's fate.

9. Everybody Hurts, Sometimes
At one point late in UCLA's 2010 season, the training room became the most popular destination on campus. The Bruins who's who were certainly in there: defensive end Datone Jones, gone in a flash with a broken foot; Kai Maiava, out with a broken ankle; Kevin Prince, lost midway through the season with a torn knee; around the same time as Patrick Larimore, sidelined by a dislocated shoulder. UCLA lost 59 starts because of injury, third most in the country, and without proper depth at key positions, the Bruins stumbled to a 4-8 campaign.

Ed. note: I'm taking a retrospective look at what eventually doomed the Rick Neuheisel era. He obviously did not lack a passion for the job, but questionable decisions and cruel twists of fate - and knees - led to his dismissal from his alma mater. I take a look back at a dozen of the pivotal moments that eventually sealed Neuheisel's fate.

8. Prince, for starters
Coming off a promising redshirt freshman season in which he gutted out tough injuries and improved as the season went on, Kevin Prince entered his sophomore season with lofty expectations from UCLA fans who just wanted some stability at the position. They got it. For about two days. Then Prince injured his back on the second day of fall camp and was sidelined for three weeks. Prince's status for the season-opener at Kansas State was in doubt almost up until gametime, but he got the nod over Richard Brehaut. The offense lacked any semblance of rhythm or timing, Prince completed just 9-of-26 passes and the receivers dropped eight balls, and UCLA lost 31-22 to a Wildcat team they'd beaten 23-9 just a year before.

Ed. note: I'm taking a retrospective look at what eventually doomed the Rick Neuheisel era. He obviously did not lack a passion for the job, but questionable decisions and cruel twists of fate - and knees - led to his dismissal from his alma mater. I take a look back at a dozen of the pivotal moments that eventually sealed Neuheisel's fate.

7. Three Unwise Men

"The three young men know they made a terrible mistake," Neuheisel said in a release, and it was almost as if you could see him shaking his head at the misdeeds of Josh Shirley, Paul Richardson and Shaquille Richardson in late-June 2010. Less than a week after being arrested on suspicion of theft charges for allegedly stealing purse on-campus, the talented class of 2010 trio was booted off the team, but welcomed to return at a later date. They declined, and all three ended up at Pac-12 schools, Shirley to Washington, Shaq Richardson to Arizona (we'll talk about him later) and Paul Richardson to Colorado. All of a sudden, UCLA's vaunted '10 class appeared much less...vaunted.

Ed. note: I'm taking a retrospective look at what eventually doomed the Rick Neuheisel era. He obviously did not lack a passion for the job, but questionable decisions and cruel twists of fate - and knees - led to his dismissal from his alma mater. I take a look back at a dozen of the pivotal moments that eventually sealed Neuheisel's fate.

6. Gunshy
With his best offensive lineman gone, Neuheisel saw a dearth of talent up front and traveled to Reno, Nev., to find some duct tape. Short-term thinking at its worst. All the Pistol offense did was mask the problems, which were only compounded when center Kai Maiava (broken ankle) and guard/tackle Jeff Baca (academic ineligibility) were both lost for the season. UCLA struggled with pass protection behind a patchwork line in 2010, and Kevin Prince's inability to stay healthy put the passing game in a funk from which it never recovered. The second year of the niche offense was better, but not by much, and the Bruins still finished 85th in scoring offense.

Ed. note: I'm taking a retrospective look at what eventually doomed the Rick Neuheisel era. He obviously did not lack a passion for the job, but questionable decisions and cruel twists of fate - and knees - led to his dismissal from his alma mater. I take a look back at a dozen of the pivotal moments that eventually sealed Neuheisel's fate.

3. On a Mission
Things were looking up for UCLA for much of 2009. Signing Day in February was a boon, with Neuheisel's first solo class putting the Bruins back on the recruiting map. Spring practice was relatively injury-free. Fall camp was a spirited affair with a talented defense showing signs of big things to come. The team had an impressive early season win at Tennessee that was part of a 3-0 start, and even during an 0-5 slide that followed, the Bruins still looked pretty good. Then a 3-0 swing put UCLA in bowl contention, and even a 28-7 loss to USC didn't sting for too long, as the Bruins scored an EagleBank Bowl win over Temple. But then Xavier Su'a-Filo ruined Neuheisel's new year by choosing to embark on his LDS mission, leaving a massive hole on the offensive line.

Ed. note: I'm taking a retrospective look at what eventually doomed the Rick Neuheisel era. He obviously did not lack a passion for the job, but questionable decisions and cruel twists of fate - and knees - led to his dismissal from his alma mater. I take a look back at a dozen of the pivotal moments that eventually sealed Neuheisel's fate.

4. Walker Walks

The most crucial holdover from the Karl Dorrell reign, Walker was more than just a crack defensive mind. He was a fantastic Los Angeles recruiter and a favorite among players. When he left to take over the head coaching position at New Mexico State after three years with the Bruins, the UCLA defense lost its heart and still has not recovered it. Since then, the Bruins have had less continuity than Pulp Fiction. On a shoestring budget, Neuheisel promoted Chuck Bullough from linebackers coach. Two years later, Bullough was fired. A seemingly interminable search eventually led Neuheisel to Joe Tresey this year. The Bruins rank 96th in scoring defense and 91st in total defense.

Ed. note: I'm taking a retrospective look at what eventually doomed the Rick Neuheisel era. He obviously did not lack a passion for the job, but questionable decisions and cruel twists of fate - and knees - led to his dismissal from his alma mater. I take a look back at a dozen of the pivotal moments that eventually sealed Neuheisel's fate.

3. That Fateful April Thursday
April 24, 2008 could very well be the day the Neuheisel Era was forever doomed as not one but both of UCLA's starting quarterback options - Ben Olson and Pat Cowan - were lost for the season on that mind-numbing Thursday, both on non-contact plays. Olson was the bazooka-armed former top recruit; Cowan was the gutsy leader who willed the team to a 13-9 win over USC in 2006. Cowan had already gained an early edge on the starting nod during spring ball, but either would have been experienced and capable, at least more experienced and capable then junior college transfer Kevin Craft, who went out and set the team's interception record in a 4-8 season.

Ed. note: I'm taking a retrospective look at what eventually doomed the Rick Neuheisel era. He obviously did not lack a passion for the job, but questionable decisions and cruel twists of fate - and knees - led to his dismissal from his alma mater. I take a look back at a dozen of the pivotal moments that eventually sealed Neuheisel's fate.

2. Hiring Norm Chow and then not giving him the reins

When Neuheisel brought offensive guru Norm Chow in to join defensive wiz DeWayne Walker as coordinator, folks around UCLA were calling it a coaching dream team. What a nightmare. Walker was gone in a year and while Neuheisel and Chow have both downplayed any "chemistry issues" in the media, to be certain, there were issues. Neuheisel never ceded full control of the offense to Chow, and their back-and-forth instruction with quarterbacks caused mass confusion. Eventually Chow was jettisoned after three years after the ill-fated switch to the Pistol offense doomed the passing game.

Ed. note: I'm taking a retrospective look at what eventually doomed the Rick Neuheisel era. He obviously did not lack a passion for the job, but questionable decisions and cruel twists of fate - and knees - led to his dismissal from his alma mater. I take a look back at a dozen of the pivotal moments that eventually sealed Neuheisel's fate.

1. Do not pass go, Do not collect $200

Though no fault of Rick Neuheisel, an ill-timed advertisement became the butt of jokes and set a tone of skepticism that Neuheisel could never overcome. When the "The football monopoly in Los Angeles is officially over," ads hit newstands, Neuheisel's bravado was immediately questioned. When the team lost to USC 28-7 in Neuheisel's first game, he was roundly mocked. By the time the Trojans beat the Bruins 50-0 on Nov. 26, Neuheisel's fourth straight loss to his cross-town rivals, more Monopoly jokes had been told than at a Parker Bros. convention. Eventually, Neuheisel's passion bucket full of ready-made inspirational quotes wore out a fan base that just wanted to win.

On Reeves Nelson and what prompted the suspension:
"I'm hoping it's a teachable moment. his behavior on the bench Saturday was totally against what UCLA basketball and our program stands for. We'll see. I met with him this morning after his first final and we will talk again later in the week."

On Nelson being kicked off the team for good:
"That's conjecture. we'll wait and see what happens."

On why he hasn't reached the final straw:
"These kids aren't professional athletes. They're college kids. I try very hard to try to work with each kid. But as it affects and reflects the program and the team as a whole. There's a point where enough is enough. A are we there at this point yet, we'll see."

On the situation being a distraction:
"There's no question it has. It's been very difficult. Definitely a distraction and we don't need any distractions. It's tough enough to come together without being distracted."

On the players reaction to Nelson:
"It's a tough situation for them. They're very close with Reeves off the floor. On the floor, sometimes he will lose his cool or lose his head. It's a different situation on and off the floor."

UCLA head coach Ben Howland suspended returning leading scorer and rebounder Reeves Nelson from the team on Tuesday, continuing a tumultuous ride for the enigmatic star.

Nelson was suspended indefinitely on Nov. 14 but reinstated just two days later after missing the team's loss to MIddle Tennessee State. After missing the team flight to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational, Nelson was suspended for the first half of the Bruins' win over Chaminade.

After totaling 51 minutes in UCLA's following two games against No. 14 Kansas and No. 15 Michigan in Maui, Nelson played just 10 minutes in a UCLA win over Pepperdine and 12 minutes in a loss to Texas.

"This continues a trend of very disappointing behavior by Reeves," Howland said in a release. "I personally have worked hard with him to illustrate the importance of the code of conduct for our student-athletes, as well as the ramifications for violating it. I am disappointed that he has continued to fall short of my expectations."

The team's lone returning all-conference first-team selection, Nelson was expected to once more be a scoring and rebounding threat, coming off back-to-back impressive seasons. After averaging 11.1 points and 5.7 rebounds as a freshman, Nelson improved greatly last year, to 13.9 points per game and 9.1 rebounds. This year, though, he has contributed just 5.7 points and 4.5 rebounds in the Bruins' 2-5 start.

Nelson is just the latest in a string of fractured relationships for UCLA.

Former Bruin forwards Mike Moser and Chase Stanback are the main reason UNLV is off to an 8-1 start, averaging a combined 31.9 points and 18.2 rebounds. Former UCLA forward Drew Gordon is averaging 10.6 points and 9.1 rebounds for 6-2 New Mexico and BYU transfer Matt Carlino is about to become eligible for the Cougars in mid-December.

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

Forget the long and winding path that it took to get there: UCLA will officially head north for the new year.

The Bruins accepted an invitation to play Illinois in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl at San Francisco's AT&T Park on Dec. 31.

The bowl will feature two teams with interim head coaches, as UCLA offensive coordinator Mike Johnson takes over for the recently terminated Rick Neuheisel and Illini defensive coordinator Vic Koenningassumes the mantle from Ron Zook.

" I think it's going to be a good matchup; I think it's two teams that have gone down similar paths," Johnson said.

While UCLA's road to the postseason included more highs and lows than S&P 500, Illinois' trajectory has trended downward for the entirety of the second half of the season, a slope that resulted in Zook's dismissal.

After jumping to a 6-0 start, Illinois lost six straight, with losses to then-No. 19 Penn State, then-No. 24 Michigan and then-No. 17 Wisconsin.

The Bruins, meanwhile, limp into the year-ending matchup coming off consecutive losses to top-6 ranked USC and Oregon, defeats that dropped their record to 6-7, with the team becoming the first since North Texas in 2001 to advance to a bowl game at under-.500.

"Everyone to a man, both coaches and players, are determined to get this football program back to where it needs to be," Johnson said. "And this is a stepping stone, one game to get that going in that direction."

UCLA is not in unfamiliar territory with a new head man coming in following a firing, as the Bruins lost to BYU 17-16 in the 2007 Las Vegas Bowl with DeWayne Walker as interim head coach after Karl Dorrell's firing.

Johnson said that he will meet with the players for the first time as head coach on Monday, though the Bruins will take the week off of practice because of finals.

Although it is just his first year in the program, Johnson expects the transition to go smoothly, as it did for Walker, despite the Bruins' loss to the Cougars in the Las Vegas Bowl.

"The one thing I think I have with all the players is their respect, and I think from that standpoint, it makes it an easier transition," Johnson said. "I think the players know exactly who I am and they know what I stand for."

Sources confirmed tonight that UCLA is no longer pursuing Houston head coach Kevin Sumlin for the team's coaching vacancy and that the Bruins are regrouping and exploring new candidates.

UCLA's first choice, Chris Petersen, has decided to stay at Boise State, and Sumlin is also a candidate for the Texas A&M job.

Sources have said that UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero, who met with Sumlin in Houston on Saturday, is essentially rebooting the search and at this point, there are no clear-cut favorites. Miami head coach Al Golden, whom Guerrero interviewed for the job during the post-Karl Dorrell vacancy, is among the candidates, along with SMU head coach June Jones. Sources indicated on Saturday that there was minimal interest in former Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti.

From UCLA:

The Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl has extended an invitation to the UCLA Bruins to participate in the 2011 edition of that game, scheduled to be played on Saturday, December 31, 2011 at AT&T Park in San Francisco. The game will be televised live on ESPN at 12:30 (PT). The Bruins (6-7) will face Big 10 team Illinois (6-6) New Year's Eve.

UCLA is 6-5 all-time against the Illini and have won the past four meetings (last win came in 2004, 35-17). The series between the two schools dates back to 1946. This will be the fourth bowl meeting between the two schools as they previously faced off in the 1947 Rose Bowl, 1984 Rose Bowl and 1991 Hancock Bowl.

"We're thrilled to bring UCLA back to San Francisco," said Executive Director of the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl Gary Cavalli. "The Bruins played in our 2006 game against Florida State, and we had a great experience with Dan Guerrero and the entire UCLA family. That 2006 game was a classic matchup of two premier programs that had never met before on the gridiron. It was also our first sellout, and we anticipate another big crowd at AT&T Park on New Year's Eve."

The game marks UCLA's 30th bowl appearance in a game, and the Bruins have a previous postseason record of 14-15-1. The Bruins will be making their second-ever bowl appearance in San Francisco; they were Emerald Bowl participants in 2006, and fell to Florida State, 44-27. UCLA's last bowl game was in 2009 at the EagleBank Bowl in Washington, D.C. where they defeated Temple 30-21.

"We both appreciate and accept the invitation to the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl," said UCLA Director of Athletics Dan Guerrero. "Not only will our 18 seniors have the chance to end their collegiate careers on a high note, but both our entire team and our travel party will have the opportunity to enjoy the sights and sounds of one of America's greatest cities."

The Bruins will be led by interim head coach Mike Johnson, who takes over after UCLA opted to dismiss fourth-year head coach Rick Neuheisel after the Pac-12 Championship game.

"On behalf of the UCLA coaching staff and players, I want to express our excitement over being offered an opportunity to continue our season in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl," said Johnson.""The next few weeks will offer all of us associated with the Bruin football team an opportunity to grow, both individually and collectively, as we prepare for the challenge on the field that is ahead of us. I am very familiar with the Bay Area and know all of us will enjoy our trip and the opportunity to compete again in a bowl game."

RESULT: Oregon 49, UCLA 31
RECORD: 6-7
WEEK 13 GPA: C

QUARTERBACKS
C
Kevin Prince took a pounding but was simply not efficient enough.

RUNNING BACKS
D
Derrick Coleman deserves a B, but Johnathan Franklin's two fumbles drop the score.

WIDE RECEIVERS
B
Have to wonder how good Nelson Rosario could be with 100 percent focus.

OFFENSIVE LINE
C
Cut down on penalties but Prince often had to run for his life.

DEFENSIVE LINE
D
Darron Thomas' relative inaccuracy was negated by all his time in the pocket.

LINEBACKERS
B
Patrick Larimore's interception return for touchdown was a thing of beauty.

DEFENSIVE BACKS
C
Once more, is it the scheme or the players? Either way, Ducks found the seams.

SPECIAL TEAMS
B
Tyler Gonzalez's 44-yard field goal continued his feel-good story.

COACHING
B
Perhaps for the first time this season, Bruins rised to the level of their opponents.

I just got off the phone with Rick Neuheisel.

It was an interesting phone call to make.

The relationship between a head football coach at a major university and a professional beat writer is not always a harmonious one. I'm not going to pretend everything was rosy - we had our fair share of ... lets just call them colorful conversations - but I respected him and I think he respected me.

Most of you know that this is my first professional beat, and I got the gig when I was 25 years old, just a baby in the beat world, taking over for the irreplaceable Brian Dohn. The transition from the flowery world of prep coverage and local features to the cutthroat nature of beat journalism is very difficult. Imagine only covering the winning team week after week, detailing triumph and not failure, then being jolted into the reality of the grind. And it is a grind.

Oftentimes, I had to highlight the bad and not the good, and I am by nature a rose-colored-glasses kind of guy, so that's not natural to me, and it's not easy. But even in criticism, Neuheisel handled himself with class.

Never more so than the last week.

I watched a man who cared more for UCLA than I probably care for anything watch his dream job slip from his hands, never once this season conceding that the end was near. I watched a man who won a Rose Bowl for UCLA as a walkon quarterback fail to bring his team back to those heights, falling just short, no matter the improbability of the situation. I watched a man who wanted so bad to succeed with these players at this place look defeat squarely in the face and man up.

The look on his face on Wednesday night, lips quivering, tears welling, and I realized a chapter of my life closed, too.

Our phone call was a brief one, but it was important one. I thanked him for his fairness with me despite criticism, something that in the world of blogs and tweets and reporters who have to write columns, can be a difficult thing. Particularly on the blog, I'm directed to not pull any punches, and that's not going to stop now. But to me, there's a way to do it.

"Jon, you manage to pull it off. You can ask the tough questions, and be a good guy at the same time."

I'll never forget that, either.

EUGENE, ORE. -

UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel said throughout the week that the Bruins were hoping to catch lightning in a bottle against No. 8 Oregon.

They saw lightning alright.

They just couldn't catch it.

Yellow bursts of light in the familiar green jerseys, the pronounced jersey numbers almost glowing as they flashed right by, all the way into the end zone.

The Bruins could not bottle up a scary-fast Duck offense, and Oregon ran all the way to the Rose Bowl by way of a 49-31 victory in the inaugural Pac-12 Championship Game at Autzen Stadium.

"Oh, man it's tough," said sophomore linebacker Jordan Zumwalt, who had eight tackles. "There were a couple of times I didn't even have time to look at the down and distance. Coaches did a good job getting the plays in, but that tempo is so fast.
"Tempo is definitely their best weapon."

LaMichael James isn't too shabby in the holster, though. Neither is Darron Thomas.

James had 219 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 25 attempts and added two receptions for 24 yards while Thomas completed 20-of-36 attempts for 219 yards and three scores, completing passes to nine different Ducks.

With an offensive scheme more relentless than a wildfire in high wind, Oregon caught UCLA off-guard and continued to pounce, hitting seven plays of more than 15 yards in just the first half.

"I don't think we had problems in terms of how we executed procedure," linebackers coach Clark Lea said. "But when you get fatigued, you get misaligned, and we were caught a couple times. When we got lined up, good things happened."

UCLA was able to keep up with Oregon on occasion, but the Ducks forced an offense that needed to be flawless into numerous flubs.

The Bruins committed four turnovers, including a pair of fumbles by running back Johnathan Franklin, and the Ducks capitalized, scoring 21 points off the miscues.

"That is a team that is not going to make a lot of mistakes," junior offensive lineman Jeff Baca said. "Offensively, we felt we had to come out and score on every drive. If we did, it would've been a different story."

UCLA proved how crucial takeaways could be midway through the first quarter, when junior linebacker Patrick Larimore snagged a Thomas pass that bounced off Oregon running back Kenjon Barner and returned it 35 yards for the score to tie the game at seven.

But back came the Ducks, scoring on four of their next five possessions to distance themselves from the Bruins.

"You take away the turnovers - the things that make a good team into a great team like Oregon - and we win the game," said junior tight end Joseph Fauria, who had four receptions for 50 yards. "That feels like it was the case the whole year. But that's what makes the difference. It's tough to swallow."

Oregon had little problem swallowing up the UCLA running game, particularly on fourth down.

Trailing 7-0 with just under nine minutes left in the first quarter, running back Derrick Coleman was stuffed on a 4th-and-1 attempt at the Oregon 23-yard line. Late in the third quarter, Franklin was jammed up on a 4th-and-1 at the Oregon 46.

"They are stout up front," said UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel, who coached his last game for his alma mater after his firing on Monday. "We felt like we had good plans as to how to go about getting 4th-and-ones, and unfortunately we ended up on the short end of the stick a couple of times."

Despite falling short, UCLA did not waver in its resolve, however, reversing a pattern that has doomed the Bruins throughout a topsy-turvy season. With Oregon a 31-point favorite heading into the game, UCLA could've caved, but it did not, unrelenting until the end, including the game's last score, a 19-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Kevin Prince to senior wide receiver Nelson Rosario with less than two minutes left.

"Tonight was our last night we had coach Neuheisel," Zumwalt said. "For one game. We just wanted it so bad for him. We showed our heart and pride for him."

Walking off the Autzen Stadium field on Friday night, Rick Neuheisel lingered, occasionally glancing to the massive scoreboard that read Oregon 49, UCLA 31.
His trudge off the turf was a slow one, each step carrying him away from his beloved alma mater. He grabbed players and hugged them. He whispered words of encouragement. He waved to fans.

For those watching, it almost looked like he was walking the Green Mile.

It wasn't quite the sendoff that he received on Wednesday night on Spaulding Field at UCLA, when he was hoisted above his players' shoulders and carried off the field to chants of the Bruins' fight song.

But this one was final.

For Neuheisel, at least.

Not the players.

"It's sad seeing a grown man go through this and being a part of it," tight end Joseph Fauria said. "Witnessing someone go through those tribulations, it's difficult to watch. It's not something I want to watch ever game. It's going to be sad when he's not there on Monday. I don't want to know the feeling. I don't know how I'm going to prepare for it."

UCLA has braced for the transition from Neuheisel to interim head coach Mike Johnson for five days after Neuheisel's dismissal was announced by athletic director Dan Guerrero on Monday, but for many it still has not sunk in.

Players, most of whom were brought to Westwood by Neuheisel, appeared almost unaware that this was the swan song, that come Monday, they'll be led by a different head coach.

"A lot of guys are still kind of processing it, caught up in the moment," junior cornerback Andrew Abbott said. "It hasn't hit us that he won't be with us anymore. We had a great talk at the end of the game, and we love him."

Johnson said he will meet with athletic director Dan Guerrero on Monday morning to discuss the team's bowl bid, of which UCLA was guaranteed on Wednesday.

"I'm going to meet with the brass on Monday morning, and we're going to find out where we're going, talk about some things and go from there," Johnson said. "I'm going to make sure we're prepared for wherever we have to go."

Hardest for Neuheisel, though?

Realizing he's leaving abounding talent for 2012, when the schedule lines up favorably for the Bruins.

During the slow waltz off the field, Neuheisel grabbed prize pupil Brett Hundley, the wunderkind freshman quarterback who was called the savior by UCLA fans before the season, and drew him close.

"You take this team to a different level," Neuheisel said. "You hear me? A different level."

EUGENE, OR - Boise State football coach Chris Petersen removed himself from consideration for the UCLA job and the school is now turning its attention to Houston coach Kevin Sumlin, according to a source close to the situation.

Sumlin's name has been linked to the Arizona State opening, but the Sun Devils abruptly ended their pursuit of him Friday.

Sumlin has also been rumored to be a candidate for the Texas A&M job, after the Aggies fired Mike Sherman.

However, UCLA is expected to make a serious run at Sumlin, according to the source, and he is clearly their top choice. Sumlin has led the Cougars to a 12-0 record and a No. 6 ranking behind Heisman hopeful quarterback Case Keenum, the most prolific passer in FBS history. UCLA administration got a good look at Sumlin over the last two years, as the Bruins have played Houston the previous two years, splitting the games.

Should Sumlin decline, the source indicated UCLA would have to move onto a second-tier group of candidates, although there is no indication that such a list has been compiled yet.

The source also said that former Oregon coach Mike Bellotti was never a legitimate candidate for the job and that UCLA is not expected to alter that stance.

Petersen, who has led Boise State to a 71-6 record in six years, was UCLA's preferred choice, and was offered the job and a contract in the ballpark of $4 million, but withdrew himself from consideration. Peterson has been linked to numerous coaching searches during the past two years, including the current opening at North Carolina.

The UCLA offense took over at its own 44-yard line with 11 seconds left, just hoping to move the ball down the field.

And it did, as Kevin Prince hit Joseph Fauria for a 30-yard pass to set up a Tyler Gonzalez 44-yard field goal to cut the Oregon lead to 35-17.

Drive Time: 2 plays, 30 yards, 11 seconds

UCLA is certainly putting up a fight.

But LaMichael James is making it hard for the Bruins to punch back.

James' three-yard touchdown run once again put the Ducks up two touchdowns, and James now has 11 carries for 108 yards.

UCLA Rick Neuheisel implied that this was no time to open up the bag of tricks.

But he had a few up his sleeve.

A nice drive by the UCLA offense culminated in a 37-yard touchdown pass from Kevin Prince to a wide-open Nelson Rosario on a flea flicker, and Autzen Stadium is stunned.

Drive Time: 7 plays, 74 yards, 3:37

The UCLA defense isn't playing too poorly up in Autzen Stadium.

Problem is, the Oregon attack is just so relentless.

The Ducks again benefited from a Johnathan Franklin fumble at midfield, and after converting a 4th-and-1 at the UCLA 20-yard line for 13 yards, Darron Thomas found a wide-open Colt Lyerla in the back of the end zone for the score.

Oregon struck again with two big plays.

First, a 16-yard run by Darron Thomas on the Ducks' first play after Patrick Larimore's 35-yard interception touchdown return. then a 31-yard pass from Darron Thomas to Josh Huff.

And then, a Thomas 10-yard touchdown run, to put the Ducks back on top by a score.

Drive time: 5 plays, 52 yards, 1:26

it was pretty much established that turnovers were going to be the only way for UCLA to keep it close against 31-point favorite Oregon.

Pat Larimore made that a fact.

Larimore intercepted a pass that popped out of Kenjon Barner's hands and returned it 35 yards for the score to tie the game for the Bruins.

Oregon is known for it's quick-strike offense.

This year, UCLA has been known for fumbling at inopportune times.

The two combined to make the Bruins' start a rough one in the Pac-12 title game.

Johnathan Franklin fumbled on the team's second play from scrimmage and LaMichael James ran it in from 30 yards for the touchdown four plays later to give Oregon the lead.

PORTLAND -

They are coming off a 50-0 loss to their despised cross-town rival USC ... their coach has just been fired ... and now they head to Autzen Stadium, louder than a henhouse at feeding time, for a Pac-12 Conference championship game in which they are expected to be throttled.

And yet there is almost an eerie calm among UCLA football players.

Despite more turmoil inside the program than a Colombian soap opera, the Bruins are paying no heed.

They may be more than four-touchdown underdogs against Oregon, No. 8 team in the country, but so what? There is a game to play, and it is a welcomed reprieve, a three-hour block on what is supposed to be a frigid Friday night, a brief slice of the week in which nothing else matters besides the guy in front of you, though with the Ducks frantic pace, he might already have blown by.

"Towards the end of the year, with school and everything - and especially this year, with the highs and lows and coach Neuheisel getting let go - I'm really thankful I have a game on Friday just to get rid of all the other BS," junior middle linebacker Patrick Larimore said. "There's a ton of it."

Mired in a coaching quagmire - with interim head coach, and soon-to-be-former offensive coordinator, Mike Johnson taking over for Neuheisel following the game - and muddied by the recent walloping by the Trojans, the game is nothing if not a relief to the players.

Even if Oregon is trying to ruin their fun.

And the Ducks have surely trashed a lot of dreams this season, piling up touchdowns like logs on a fire, as their 45.9 points per game rank third in the country. With a host of offensive stars and a rhythm only rivaled by Kool and the Gang, the Ducks are going to try to pounce on UCLA much as they did last season in a Week 6 matchup, which Oregon won at Autzen Stadium, 60-13.

"They don't do a heck of a lot of things; what they do, they do well," UCLA defensive coordinator Joe Tresey said. "The whole key to their tempo is they get people misaligned six, seven times a game, and all of a sudden it's, 'Bam, there's a 30-yard gain,' then, 'Bam, a 25-yard gain.

"It's imperative to get lined up first and foremost and once you're lined up, now you have a chance."

Larimore, who suffered a shoulder injury against Oregon and missed the rest of the year, likened UCLA's defensive gameplan as dancing with the Ducks.

But with Darron Thomas and LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner and De'Anthony Thomas, the Bruins better be afraid to let Oregon take the lead.

"It's about dancing with them - you watch teams that slow them down, and they just kind of mirror them and try to get off the field eventually," Larimore said. "If you try to attack, somebody is going to miss a tackle in space, something is going to break. There's just too much speed and too much field."

UCLA found that out the hard way last season, and problems were compounded by an offense that continually stepped on its own feet.

With junior quarterback Richard Brehaut in just his second career start, UCLA was outgained 582-290, despite maintaining a 17-minute advantage in time of possession over the quick-strike Oregon attack.

This year, with junior Kevin Prince retaking the reins, it's no time for the Bruins to be wallflowers.

If Oregon wants to dance, let's dance.

"The point spread is 30-something points? Whatever," Prince said. "It is what it is. We're going to go up there and have fun. We're going to go up there and play loose. We know we can't go out there and be tight because we're playing in Autzen in the first Pac-12 championship against a great team in Oregon."

With a bowl bid wrapped up by way of an NCAA waiver even if the team is to lose - and a Rose Bowl berth in the offing if they somehow find a way to win - UCLA is hoping to play with reckless abandon. For Neuheisel, at least, there is no tomorrow, and the players and coaches know that. It made preparation for the game a relatively stress-free affair.

Let everyone else worry, for once.

"If you look at it right now, what are there, six teams in each division?" Tresey asked. "Well, there are five teams that wish they were playing tonight."

UCLA Head Coach Ben Howland...
On Anthony Stover's shoulder:
"He had a twinge during the Chaminade game over in Maui, and he came out and it was the end of the half, and he was scared because he felt something. It's always going to be there, but I think he's OK with it."

On De'End Parker:
"His MRI came back that he has exactly what trainers and team doctors thought, that he has patella tendonitis. You can see it's inflamed some on the MRI, which was Monday. There's nothing else going on there. He really feels like its's hampering him. It's been 12 or 13 days."

On Norman Powell:
"I think Norman is really coming on, improving every day. He's put a lot of time in, extra time in on his own. He's improving, and you can see it in his play. I thought a couple times in early games he would come in off the bench and he wouldn't get in the flow. He's learning to get into the flow of a game until he gets his first shot."

On Reeves Nelson starting:
"We'll see where it goes, but right now, he won't be starting on Saturday. I suspended him and when he missed the plane to Maui, that was really uncharacteristic of him. We'd never had a problem with that. I don't think that was something with him doing anything on purpose, but still it's a problem."

On Nelson working his way back into good graces:
"It comes down to him being positive and having a work ethic on the defensive end of the floor."