Weekly Q&A — 12/16/14 Answers

Q: How is UCLA doing with their allotment of Alamo Bowl tickets? Any estimate as to how many Bruins will be in San Antonio for the bowl game?

A: I don’t have estimates on tickets sold yet, but the Alamo Bowl contract allots 6,000 tickets to the Pac-12 representative and 12,000 tickets to the Big 12 team.

Q: Has Jim Mora said anything about the ridiculous suggestions that he might be the next Michigan head coach?

A: He hasn’t made any public statements, but he’s not going anywhere. Don’t even worry about it.

Q: In your opinion, with regard to football, who was the most underachieving player and who was the breakout player this season? As of now, who do you think will the breakout player next season?

A: I think the biggest underachiever was Fabian Moreau, even though he turned things around a bit in the second half and was still made the All-Pac-12 second team. But he looked so, so impressive during camp, and coupling the eye test with the “All-American” hype that Jim Mora gave him just set the bar too high.

For simplicity, let’s define “breakout” as someone who played at least sparingly this season making a big jump — i.e., no Josh Rosen. It wouldn’t shock me if everything clicks for Moreau, but freshman Jaleel Wadood seems like a safe bet to take over Anthony Jefferson’s vacated spot in the secondary. I still like Thomas Duarte to put up some big numbers if he can stay healthy.

Q: Looking back on Stanford game week, did you sense any sort of letdown by the Bruins leading up to the game? Or did the Bruins simply suffer the misfortune of facing a Stanford team that everyone thought would show up before the 2014 season started?

A: I didn’t sense anything during the week, but once the game started, it never felt like UCLA had any momentum. Though that kind of stuff is hard to quantify, the Stanford game seemed like the mirror image of the USC game. Against the Trojans, UCLA looked like it was in full control even when the score was close, while the opposite seemed true a week later. But Kevin Hogan also had the game of his life; sure, he had a lot of time to throw, but some of those throws he was making were the best of his Stanford career.

Q: Rosen seems like the pocket passer while Hundley was the spread QB runner. How do you think our offense will do with Rosen? More bubble screens?

A: St. John Bosco actually runs a very similar offense, so that might make the transition reasonably smooth in terms of the playbook. One of the more interesting things to keep an eye on this offseason will to see how Noel Mazzone’s scheme looks with a different quarterback for the first time at UCLA. There’ll likely be some new wrinkles in lieu of designed runs, which I realize is a very vague way of answering this question.

Q: I know Hundley is more athletic and has the intangibles, but how big is the drop-off between third-year Hundley and first-year Rosen really?

A: I’d think that it’s significant, especially when you factor in that Hundley had a year to redshirt before anyone saw him play a game. True freshman quarterbacks just don’t come in and start without hiccups. Matt Barkley

Q: Do you think Asiantii Woulard will transfer?

A: If he gets beat by Josh Rosen for the starting job this offseason, then that has to become a serious consideration — even if he sticks around initially to try and compete. Matt Barkley had two linemen and a receiver that made all-conference first team, and he had 15 touchdown passes against 14 interceptions.

Q: Is there any chance we get a graduate transfer like say Braxton Miller ? Also, which of the remaining top recruits do you believe will commit to the Bruins by signing day?

A: I really doubt Braxton Miller ends up at UCLA. Given that the Bruins have been successful recruiting out of Texas, I think guys like Soso Jamabo and Malik Jefferson are not the longshots that most of the Louisiana targets were a year ago.

Q: Our football team is going to be stacked with talent on both sides of this ball next year with all the returning players. What do you think our areas of need will be and any guesses on our preseason ranking?

A: I think the question marks heading into camp will be quarterback and linebackers, since UCLA loses its leaders on each side of the ball in Hundley and Eric Kendricks. The linebacking corps returns a lot of players with game experience, but it needs guys like Kenny Young and Kenny Orjioke to develop into all-conference type players. The offensive line should be OK if it can stay healthy, but that’s always a dicey proposition given Conor McDermott and Simon Goines’ respective injury histories.

Ranking will depend on what happens in the Alamo Bowl. If UCLA wins, then a top-15 spot is conceivable — especially if Rosen/Neuheisel/Woulard look good in camp.

Q: Is Craig Lee still with the team? Besides Hundley do you see any other Bruins leaving early for the NFL?

A: Yes. And no, right now, I don’t expect anyone to declare early except Hundley.

Q: Who are the UCLA alums most involved with the football and basketball programs, whether or not they’re former players? I wish Kareem or Walton would be asked to tutor UCLA’s big men – Parker is playing better this year, but he still has only one offensive move after 2+ years in the program.

A: Easy. DeShaun Foster and Tyus Edney, since they are actually on those respective staffs.

Q: So what’s your favorite boba spot?

A: Gonna go with Volcano as my spot on the Westside, but I’m definitely past my days of peak boba consumption.