Mora: Alamo Bowl won’t override Brett Hundley’s body of work

UCLA had barely touched down in San Antonio on Sunday afternoon when the NFL draft again reared its head.

Shortly after the Bruins were welcomed at their team hotel by a three-man mariachi band, someone asked a question that will no doubt pop up again this week: Will the Alamo Bowl be quarterback Brett Hundley’s last chance to audition for the pros?

Head coach Jim Mora said emphasized that NFL scouts likely wouldn’t weigh one game more heavily than the 39 others that the third-year starter has played at UCLA.

“You look at the body of work,” Mora said. “Now, you’re also looking for patterns. What gives a guy trouble or where he excels. In that respect, one game can start to predict a pattern. But I think if you’re an instant evaluator, if you go off one game or one throw or one tackle or one quarter, that’s where you run into failings. Continue reading “Mora: Alamo Bowl won’t override Brett Hundley’s body of work” »

Brett Hundley’s finger injury won’t keep him out of Alamo Bowl

When Brett Hundley accidentally whacked his right hand against a helmet two weeks ago, his finger swelled up so much that he couldn’t finish out the end of UCLA’s 31-10 loss to Stanford.

On Friday morning, after the Bruins held their first formal practice since that regular-season finale, one of the first questions the quarterback faced was: “So can we see the finger?” Hundley smiled and held up both his hands. No one could pick out the damaged digit.

So no, it shouldn’t keep him out of the Alamo Bowl against Kansas State on Jan. 2, which will be his last game in a UCLA uniform. Continue reading “Brett Hundley’s finger injury won’t keep him out of Alamo Bowl” »

Jim Mora: Quarterback Brett Hundley’s finger is ‘fine’

UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley is “fine” after injuring his finger in the 31-10 loss to Stanford that ended the Bruins’ regular season.

Hundley injured a finger on his right hand and could not finish the game against the Cardinal. The redshirt junior had an ice pack taped to his hand afterward.

Asked about Hundley, Mora stuck to his favorite answer regarding injuries: “He’s fine.”

Mora also confirmed again that the Alamo Bowl on Jan. 2 will be Hundley’s final game before declaring for the NFL draft — something both the quarterback and his teammates had said before. Hundley originally stated in January that his third season with the Bruins would be his last, following his announcement that he was passing on the 2014 NFL draft.

Hundley was named to the All-Pac-12 second team this month, though his inconsistent play this season likely affected his NFL stock.

UCLA’s All-Pac-12 selections led by … Ishmael Adams?

UCLA's Ishmael Adams, pictured breaking up a pass intended for USC's Nelson Agholor, was the lone Bruin on an All-Pac-12 first team. (Hans Gutknecht/Staff)

UCLA’s Ishmael Adams, pictured breaking up a pass intended for USC’s Nelson Agholor, was the lone Bruin on an All-Pac-12 first team. (Hans Gutknecht/Staff)

Another round of All-Pac-12 awards, another chorus of approval from across the conference.

Just kidding. As always, postseason honors generate a good amount of chatter, as fans of every team ask why their favorite players were snubbed. But even considering that type of bias, UCLA’s placements on the all-conference teams on Tuesday night were … particularly eye-raising. (You can see the full results, as voted on by Pac-12 head coaches, at the bottom of this post.)

The biggest surprise was Ishmael Adams’ status as the Bruins’ lone first-team pick. Five defensive backs were featured instead of the usual four due to ties, but the scrappy 5-foot-8 cornerback might not even be the best on his own team. The problem is consistency. He made his share of big plays — he returned two interceptions for touchdowns this season — but also saw moments where he gave up key catch or committed a costly penalty.

His presence on the All-Pac-12 first team was even more striking considering the absence of linebacker Eric Kendricks, who recently broke the Bruins’ all-time tackles record. The senior settled for a second-team spot, behind Arizona’s Scooby Wright — the league’s defensive MVP — and Washington’s Hau’oli Kikaha and Shaq Thompson. Continue reading “UCLA’s All-Pac-12 selections led by … Ishmael Adams?” »

Brett Hundley (again) says he is likely declaring for NFL draft

When Brett Hundley announced in January that he was coming back to UCLA for his redshirt junior season, he made clear that this would be his last run with the Bruins.

“We won’t be here doing this again next year,” the quarterback said then.

Since then, he’s said a few more times that nothing has changed. But just in case anyone is keeping track of how often Hundley needs to tell everyone he’s gone, here’s the latest.

“There’s a really good chance that was my last game against USC,” Hundley said on The Jim Rome Show today. “The conversation keeps coming up. I’ve got my degree. I’ve done everything I wanted to do here. I’ve left something really, truly great, and I feel good. That’s probably my last one against USC.”

Hundley has a chance to beat Stanford this week and Oregon in the Pac-12 title game — two teams that have haunted him — but said after practice today he isn’t worried about how that affects the scope of his career.

“I think I’ve done a lot throughout my career here,” he said. “Hopefully, we pull out this win on Friday. You can’t worry about what you have done, what you haven’t done.”