UCLA’s Steve Alford was among the several Southern California head coaches who attended the John R. Wooden Award Tipoff lunch Wednesday, and previewed the Bruins to members of the Los Angeles Athletic Club. He was not available for questions afterward, but made a few comments about the team.
Some quick notes from the day:
— Alford said center Tony Parker had a great summer, and also grouped Kyle Anderson with Jordan Adams and Norman Powell as “big, physical guards.” The coach didn’t go into the rotation in detail, but UCLA’s lack of depth in the frontcourt likely necessitates Anderson playing more point forward than guard. Continue reading “Notes from John Wooden Tipoff luncheon” »
Next week, Damien Thigpen will take his first game snaps since tearing his ACL last November.
The senior shed his no-contact red jersey early this month, and had long pegged the Oct. 3 game as a potential comeback date. Last year, the speedy running back finished third on the team with 849 all-purpose yards despite sitting out the final three games of the season.
His return crowds a backfield that has performed surprisingly well so far this season, but he could also be used as a slot receiver in certain packages.
“It would be great to get him a few carries,” head coach Jim Mora said. “It’s not that you want to get your running backs hit, but when you’re coming off an injury like that, it’s important that you take some shots. You build confidence when you do. We’re going to give him a couple of carries at least.”
Mora added that Thigpen isn’t ready to work as a kick returner yet — he took back 14 for 376 yards in 2012 — but could see special team snaps in another role. The coach has also seen enough that he no longer cringes when the senior takes a hit.
“I was three weeks ago. Now I’m not,” Mora said. “I’m not just because of his body language. He’s very confident and he looks like he’s going full-speed through his cuts. He’s not tiptoeing through the holes. He’s hitting it.”
— UCLA has what Mora said amounts to 2.5 bye weeks this year: the one that prefaced the Nebraska game, this week, and the extra days following next Thursday’s game. If he only had one, however, he choose it use it now to help his players adjust to the first day of classes. Continue reading “Running back Damien Thigpen to return against Utah” »
— Jim Mora is still working on his wish list for what he wants in UCLA’s new $50 million football facility, officially announced this morning.
“Our goal is to make it one of the top facilities in the country,” he said. “I think we have to be really good about looking ahead and seeing what types of technology are going to be available five years from now and move in that direction.
“We only get one shot at it. It’s not like you can get another shot here in the next 25 years.”
— Asked about an ideal completion date, Mora said: “Tomorrow. If it could be done by tomorrow, we’d be happy.”
— As a longtime NFL coach, Mora was familiar with using less-than-glamorous digs. On Jan. 26, 1995, when he was a defensive backs coach in New Orleans, a two-alarm fire forced the Saints out of their main building.
Q: Can you give us a list of the true freshmen that have played and those who have not and will presumably redshirt?
These freshmen have all played: WR Darren Andrews, OL Caleb Benenoch, S Jayon Brown, DL Kenny Clark, P Sean Covington, WR Thomas Duarte, DE Kylie Fitts, S Tahaan Goodman, LB Deon Hollins, LB Myles Jack, LB Cameron Judge, WR Jalen Ortiz, OL Alex Redmond, LB Isaako Savaiinaea, DE Eddie Vanderdoes, CB Priest Willis.
Asiantii Woulard will redshirt barring significant injury to quarterback Brett Hundley. Running back Craig Lee looked headed for a redshirt in fall camp, and UCLA has more than enough bodies in its backfield rotation. Unless a player higher up in the depth chart gets nicked, the freshmen who haven’t already burned their redshirts probably won’t do so.
Q: How does Massington look in practice? Do you think he will play this year or redshirt? If the latter, is it health related or simply because we are stacked at WR this year? Continue reading “Weekly Q&A — 9/23/13 Answers” »
