UCLA still waiting to name a starting quarterback

UCLA head coach Jim Mora speaks to reporters during NCAA college Pac-12 Football Media Days, Thursday, July 30, 2015, in Burbank, Calif. (Mark J. Terrill/AP)

UCLA head coach Jim Mora speaks to reporters during NCAA college Pac-12 Football Media Days, Thursday, July 30, 2015, in Burbank, Calif. (Mark J. Terrill/AP)

At this point, just about everyone is tired of asking questions about UCLA’s starting quarterback. And rest assured, Jim Mora is tired of fielding those questions.

So when Mora accidentally let slip that Virginia would be blitzing a guy who has “never taken a snap” — well, reporters latched onto that like piranhas. Of the Bruins’ three quarterbacks, only five-star recruit Josh Rosen has never stepped on the field in a college game.

The UCLA head coach insisted afterward that it was simply an honest faux pas — that he’d meant to say a quarterback who has “never started a game.” As always, he insisted that the competition between Rosen, returning backup Jerry Neuheisel, and former walk-on Mike Fafaul (now on scholarship) is still alive.

“What I am after is competition,” Mora said. “Competition brings out the best in everybody. It’s trying to balance wanting that great competition, and wanting to have that synergy that’s so important on offense. That’s where it gets a little tricky. Hopefully we do a good job of that.”

“I would like to decide sooner rather than later,” he added later, “but I can’t force it to happen.”

The fourth-year head coach also said that while Rosen has a lot of promise even as a true freshman, he also said that Neuheisel has “special qualities” that make him a winning player. He also tried to illustrate the challenge of balancing a competition with an anecdote from his NFL days.

Mora was the San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator in 2001 when the team drafted Andre Carter at No. 7 overall. During the first minicamp practice, the future Pro Bowl defensive end practiced with the backups — raising the eyebrow of general manager Bill Walsh.

Their exchange, per Mora’s recollection:

Walsh: “Why do you have him on second team?”

Mora: “Well, he’s gotta earn his spot.”

Walsh: “Jim, we just drafted him with the seventh pick and paid him $30 million. He’s earned his spot.”

Walsh argued that the team would be better off putting Carter on the first string right away, both allowing him to gel with the other starters, and to give the displaced veteran more time to get over his disappointment. Mora admitted that the same reasoning could also apply to UCLA’s quarterback competition.

“There’s something to that, but it’s got to happen the right way,” Mora said.