Rick Neuheisel: UCLA football held back by lack of nutrition facility

Jim Thompson / SportsBronze.com

Jim Thompson / SportsBronze.com

After UCLA’s season-ending loss to Nebraska on Saturday in the Foster Farms Bowl, Jim Mora stressed the Bruins’ need to self-reflect — to analyze everything from its practice structure to strength and conditioning.

“You just tear it apart,” he said.

The fourth-year head coach particularly harped on UCLA’s need to get bigger and stronger, so as to not get “pushed around” by power teams such as the Huskers and Stanford. His predecessor doesn’t think that will come easy.

On SiriusXM College Sports Nation today, former Bruin coach Rick Neuheisel said that the fact that the program still doesn’t have a dedicated nutrition facility will hamper its efforts to maintain size throughout the course of the season.

“UCLA is built now to handle spread offenses,” Neuheisel said. “They are three-down front, they are going to accordion out and play the Oregons and Arizona States and Arizonas. But the size issues are still going to be there for UCLA. And it gets back to the one thing that was widely out of whack for my program there as compared to the program across town, USC, which is the nutrition.”

UCLA has ‘long way to go’ after loss to Nebraska to end 2015

UCLA gave up 326 rushing yards in a dispiriting 37-29 loss to Nebraska in the Foster Farms Bowl on Saturday. (John Green/Bay Area News Group)

» UCLA has “a long way to go,” columnist Vinny Bonsignore wrote, with its loss to Nebraska exposing the team’s lack of toughness.
» The Bruins couldn’t stop the run, but an inconsistent offense didn’t help the cause either.
» After injuries and early departures, the UCLA offensive line was forced to start a walk-on in the Foster Farms Bowl.

What to watch: UCLA vs. Nebraska in Foster Farms Bowl

This hasn’t been the season that UCLA fans expected.

Heading into September, almost everyone had their eyes trained on the newcomer behind center. Would five-star recruit Josh Rosen live up to the hype? Can a veteran cast win big even with a true freshman quarterback? Turns out, Rosen was the least of the Bruins’ problems.

As the teenager threw for 3,350 yards, UCLA’s once-vaunted defense fell apart, losing three starters to season-ending injuries in the first three weeks. That the Bruins still ranked fourth in the Pac-12 in allowing 25.1 points per game was a feat in and of itself — keeping themselves in the conference race until the final week of the season.

However, facing Nebraska in Saturday’s Foster Farms Bowl might be the least enticing postseason matchup of the Jim Mora era. Can UCLA find enough motivation to clinch a fourth straight nine-win season?

When UCLA has the ball

For all Rosen’s talent, the one knock on him as a recruit was the thought that he might be difficult to coach.

“He had a reputation for being somewhat aloof or arrogant, or kind of a know-it-all,” said Mora, who first met Rosen in early 2012. “I have not seen that person in a couple years.

“What I’ve seen is a very mature, selfless kid that wants to be involved with his team, his teammates. I think he has a lot of confidence, but he’s measured that with a level of humbleness that people respect. He’s always anxious to learn and absorb information. He never acts like he knows it all. Even when he has an idea, the way he presents it is very respectful to everybody.” Continue reading “What to watch: UCLA vs. Nebraska in Foster Farms Bowl” »