UCLA spring football day 15: Bruins move into ‘summer of improvement’

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Bolu Olorunfunmi (4) bowls over Darnay Holmes (bottom) during the UCLA football Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 29, 2017 in Los Angeles. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

Kenny Young and Nate Meadors can be friends again.

The two were briefly pitted against each other in the team’s Blue vs. White spring game on Saturday, but after Young’s White Team won 17-10 over Meadors’ Blue squad, the two will reconcile over a dinner of Roscoe’s chicken and waffles on Meadors’ dime. (Meadors was hurt and didn’t play in the game, but is still on the hook for the pregame bet, Young said.)

But more importantly than chicken-fueled bets for the Bruins is the completion of their spring campaign and the beginning of the next phase of their offseason.

“This is the summer of improvement,” offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch said.

With their third offense in as many years after their worst season of the Jim Mora era, the Bruins enter a critical summer during which the players must take responsibility to push the team forward.

— More on UCLA’s summer plans.

— Photos from Saturday’s scrimmage

— Video: Jonathan Khamis and I break down the spring game from Drake Stadium

Video interviews

Here are notes/observations from the spring game:

— Official stat leaders to start, provided by UCLA:

— Overall, it was a mundane spring game. No grand conclusions will be drawn from this game alone as everything was very plain in terms of play-calling. People were playing in weird personnel groupings to accommodate the different squads, so this is not indicative of what the team will look like by September in terms of personnel.

— Bolu Olorunfunmi had a big day, scoring both of the White Team’s touchdowns and proving to be a good contributor in the passing game. I would cautiously slot him as the No. 1 running back if I had to at this point, but Brandon Stephens and Jalen Starks also had very impressive spring camps in general.

— Jalen Starks was mostly used in short-yardage situations and he was effective, converting on many. He was however stuffed on third-and-goal from the 1-yard line in the first quarter that resulted in the White Team having to settle for a short field goal that Andrew Strauch ended up missing.

— Rosen had a rocky start, but really came into his own at the end of the first half to lead the Blue Team to a touchdown drive in a two-minute situation. He completed nine of his last 10 passes, all on a touchdown drive that ended with a 13-yard score to Darren Andrews on the last play of the first half.

— In what has become regular for him, Adarius Pickett had the big defensive play of the game. His interception in the first half was the one turnover of the game as he picked off Rosen on a corner route. Hearing Pickett explain the play, it’s evident that he’s a player who combines the intellectual and physical parts of the game. He said the pick came about when he read the tight end. When he saw the tight end break up field, he knew he had man-to-man on the corner route and he saw Rosen looking his way, so he jumped the route and came up with the interception.

— Leni Toailoa also made a nice play to seal the win for the White Team as he came up with a pass breakup against Caleb Wilson on a long throw from Matt Lynch on the final play of the game.

— Jaelan Phillips, like he has been all month, was a menace in the backfield. I had him down (unofficially) for two sacks and three quarterback pressures. The freshman has not missed a step since coming to college.

— Jacob Tuioti-Mariner was also impressive. The senior had 1.5 sacks, a quarterback hurry and a tackle for loss (unofficially by my tally).

— Tom Bradley said it’s clear that the team must get better with tackling, which is a common complaint of coaches at this time of the year because players rarely do live tackling in practice. There were a number of tackles that were left on the field, including some in the backfield by Rick Wade and Keisean Lucier-South.

— Wade overall had a very good spring. On Saturday. he played opposite Phillips for a very dynamic defensive end pairing: The two are both 6-foot-6, 265-plus pounds and fast. I don’t know if that pairing would ever get on the field in a real game this year, but it could be trouble for opposing quarterbacks in future years at least.

— Late in the game, Osa Odighizuwa had a very good series when he combined on a sack with Tuioti-Mariner on second down and then got pressure on Lynch to force an incompletion on fourth down. He was awarded the most improved award for a defensive player this spring.

— Andre James earned the most improved offensive player award. The offensive lineman was a solid piece for the retooled line this spring. His versatility is key as he can play pretty much every position. He moved from right tackle to left guard this year.

— Drops were a problem, evidenced by Eldridge Massington’s drop on the very first play from scrimmage. Fisch said drops are definitely concern for the team, but mainly if it’s one guy dropping the ball multiple times. It seemed that on Saturday, there were no repeat offenders. Massington dropped the first ball but came back with four catches for the Blue Team. Devin Asiasi had a drop, as did Jalen Starks, Jordan Lasley, and Demetric Felton.

— J.J. Molson connected on a 22-yard field goal for the Blue Team in the third quarter. Andrew Strauch missed a short 17-yarder in the first quarter, but made a 37-yarder in the fourth as the White Team scored 10 unanswered points in the fourth to win.

— DeChaun Holiday (shoulder) and Denzel Fisher (elbow) watched the game from the sideline with matching right arm slings. Jimmy Jaggers (concussion) was on the sideline in street clothes. Meadors was dressed for the Blue Team, but did not play at all. His injury is unknown, however.