The Evening Post: This time it’s a pseudo scrimmage

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*UCLA held a pseudo scrimmage tonight. No live tackling. They call it “thud-ing”. Brandon Sermons, Keenan Graham and Aaron Hester were out sick.

**The offensive line experimented with a new look. Xavier Su’a-Filo switched from left tackle to left guard. Torian White was at left tackle. Simon Goines played right tackle and Brett Downey manned right guard. Jake Brendel was the only constant at center. UCLA coach Jim Mora said it’s more of an experiment than anything while they continue to wait for word on Greg Capella (concussion), Jeff Baca (concussion), and Alberto Cid’s (concussion) return. Mora said Capella could come back for Wednesday’s practice, adding that Cid is the farthest along. If you’re wondering about the second unit here’s what it looked like: Will Oliver (left tackle), Carl Hulick (left guard), Kody Innes (center), Alexander Ceachir (right guard), Ben Wysocki (right tackle).

***The second unit struggled offensively. Richard Brehaut’s first four pass attempts went incomplete and there also was a muffed snap in that first series. QB Brett Hundley went 4 for 5 on his first series that included a couple handoffs to Jordan James. James in that series made a nice sideline-to-sideline run to make something out of nothing. Hundley showed off his speed in open space.

****Dalton Hilliard continues to play inside, though Mora says he’s still a safety. Hilliard considers himself a linebacker and seems to embrace his new role as a guy playing close to the line. He laid out Jordon James and Johnathan Franklin at the line of scrimmage for two huge plays. Randall Goforth continues to impress. He stepped in front of Roosevelt Davis on a Kevin Prince throw and raced down the sideline for a long gain. Cassius Marsh wreaked havoc penetrating with ease. Jordan Payton made a nice grab tip-toeing down the sideline for a nice gain.

*****Walk-on Erick Zumwalt got the defense riled up when he intercepted Brett Hundley in the end zone on a pass intended for Darius Bell. That Devin Lucien caught a touchdown pass from Hundley on the next play is a long forgotten footnote.

******Wednesday’s practice is close to the public.

The Morning Post: It’s the dog days of fall camp.

*If you want an explanation for today’s headline just watch UCLA coach Jim Mora’s video.

**Cornerback Brandon Sermons was not at practice. Mora said he’s sick. Maybe it’s that virus he’s talking about

***Linebacker Nate Iese returned to practice after a dislocated finger. It was a very minor injury as you can imagine since he didn’t even need a wrap.

****UCLA spent most of practice going 11-on-11 and simulated Rice. The offense struggled with rhythm, from QB Brett Hundley all the way down to substitution. At one point Mora was upset with the lack focus. Here are some good tidbits from today’s practice: Safety Randall Goforth recorded two interceptions off QB Kevin Prince. WR Devin Lucien made a couple nice grabs. His rivalry continues with Ishmael Adams, but no incidents today. New cornerback Fabian Moreau continues to impress at cornerback. His ability to learn the position so quickly increases depth. Dalton HIlliard continues to see more time at inside linebacker. Damien Holmes’ time has decreased some, but the assumption here is so that Hilliard gets as many reps during camp so he acclimates himself to playing at linebacker. Hilliard previously played a little running back in spring camp before going back to safety at the start of fall camp, only to move to linebacker at the tail-end of practice in San Bernardino.

*****UCLA will go with full pads tonight at 7 p.m. It’s the final practice open to the public.

UCLA Hoops: Coach Ben Howland on C Josh Smith

For those who couldn’t see the full video here’s what UCLA coach Ben Howland said regarding Josh Smith.

To put it in context, Howland was asked how Josh Smith has been coming along and said Smith has had a couple good practices. Howland then was asked if Smith has continued to get in better shape. Howland responded with the following:

“I think he’s got a long way to go where we want him to ideally be. We’re less than two months from opening up our regular practice so there’s a lot of work to be done between now and then. But I think this trip will be good and a barometer to where he is in his conditioning and where he needs to be because he’s going to play a lot.”

We caught a glimpse of practice after Howland’s press conference. I saw Smith but I can’t tell whether he’s lost any weight just based on the fact I’ve never covered this team. I asked a seasoned beat writer and he thought Smith actually put on some weight since the last time he saw Smith.