UCLA Football: Two Yards Too Short

UCLA's Spaulding Field, Saturday Morning

Scott Robinson

What audacity.

Two yards from the sideline, amidst a sun-drenched morning at Spaulding Field, RT Brett Downey slowed down his pace as the next offensive line unit hopped in for the subsequent drill.

Suddenly, Coach Mora, with veins bursting from his forehead, abruptly stopped the play. Stepping out from behind the defense, Mora belted out at Downey in a hoarse scream:

“Run your ass off the field or run out there!”

Mora pointed to the exit of Spaulding.

“Over-the-wall” sure seems silly under such expectations of hustle: Apparently, this new coach’s mantras has teeth to go along with his coach-speak.

Responsive, Downey ran everywhere from that point on.

Seems as though these messages are being received.

When the right tackle was asked about the incident, he replied: “It’s intense. They’re expecting perfection.”

To be sure, this regime has made it clear: There is no acceptance of a complacent mentality. Players are expected to get on board or get out.

With the morning’s outburst came Coach Mora’s point: Players are now competing for any spot, even on the practice team.

My Way or the Highway

If one theme could be derived from today’s practice, it’s this: The players must hustle to be on the field. Period.

And with this message, comes the fruition of the delivery: basics are being dealt with, finally. On all fronts, be it the running backs, defensive lines (what have you), the staff is communicating their expectations consistently.

From the looks of it, there is a method to this madness. In lieu of a sideline rant, where a coach would pop off and appear ready to shear clean his quarterback’s head, this staff is delivering the “teach-able” moments at the appropriate time: Practice.

UCLA Football: The Bruin Hustle

UCLA Tight End Joseph Fauria

Scott Robinson

As evidenced by the variance in snaps, the QB position appears to be at the forefront as this spring’s most important decision for Coach Mora. Luckily for the coach, the quarterbacks threw with a little more certainty and confidence today as the separation in the race began to unveil itself.

Working with the first group, comprised of Kevin Prince, Brett Hundley and Richard Brehaut, the coaching staff continued to impart game-tangible lessons as the practice progressed. In the second group, and showing slightly less accuracy today, were TJ Millweard, Jerry Neuheisel and Mike Fafaul.

Between the three quarterbacks vying for the starter role, Prince might have shown the best performance of the day. Prince hit Fauria and Shaq Evans in stride on a couple plays—definitely better in timing and shoulder placement than on Tuesday. Hundley showed improvement in the medium to longer passes, with two exceptionally zipped spirals into a slant by Jerry Rice Jr. and post pattern by Jordan James, respectively.

Richard Brehaut, however, looks like the most well-rounded QB. Not the best spirals, nor necessarily the most accurate but today he seemed to hit the most receivers with catch-able balls.

Of the RB’s, Dalton Hilliard continues to show incredible accelerating speed and soft hands. Despite having some trouble holding onto the ball again, Hilliard displayed—a number of times—the ability to cradle in a tough pass and turn up-field. Such a play-maker, one that can deliver the after-the-catch yardage, was sorely missing from last year’s offense.

Between Hilliard, James and Lucien, Mazzone will have quite a few options.

Tempo, Tempo, Tempo

The squad looked even faster in practice today, as they continue to learn the expected pace between drills. With what appears to be a greater bang for the buck in this quicker practice regimen, the energy also incidentally continues to rise.

UCLA Football: Football is Physical?

UCLA's Head Coach Jim Mora

Scott Robinson

Today represented the first football practice for Coach Mora in two years, three months and a little change.

And he was not the only one excited at the advent of the spring season.

Actually, the Bruins’ kin, fans and friends packed full the first practice’s stands—the excitement was palpable. Coach Mora, decked in black shorts and a gray UCLA shirt, heralded this practice as only the beginning.

“I’m pleased with the effort—Pleased with the attitude,” said Mora as he sipped on his Gatorade Rejuvenate after Day One. Flanked by the media and their cameras, the coach looked as though he’s done this kind of thing before.

When asked about a starting QB, Mora was quick to quip: “[We] have to let it happen.” A calculated but experienced response—which should be expected from the sort of coach that was born into a NFL coach’s family and then spent 25 years of his own in the league.

Meanwhile, Mora’s process of vetting out such a starter began with Kevin Prince taking the one’s, Brett Hundley the two’s and Richard Brehaut the three’s. Alongside them snapped TJ Millweard, Jerry Neuheisel and walk-on Mike Fafual, who has a slingshot of an arm, by the way.

One practice down, 14 more to go.

Change? Prove it.

While it was clear this was the first team practice, there was certainly a level of focus unlike any seen in the recent past.

Clearly, this coaching staff is attempting to prepare the team with tangible exercises—ones meant to replicate actual game-play with the purpose to translate onto Saturdays.

One example: Defensive players were clearly instructed to strip the ball, as every moment of contact between them and the offense led to the grappling of arms. Another: the QB’s appeared to throw against a changing defense—specifically looking for the open man.

UCLA Football: Spring Practice Starts Tuesday

Scott Robinson

The UCLA Football team starts practice this next Tuesday, April 3rd.  I will be there with live updates!

If you have any particular questions for coaches or players you'd like to hear from, tweet at me:

@UCLASportsBlog

For all the most up-to-date information, be sure to also follow:

@BruinsBall

2012 UCLA Bruins Spring Practice Schedule:

Tuesday, Thursday Practices [Spaulding Field, UCLA Campus]:
4/3 & 4/5 – 3:45 PM
4/10 & 4/12 – 3:45 PM
4/17 & 4/19 – 3:45 PM
4/24 & 4/26 – 3:45 PM

Saturday Practices [Spaulding Field, UCLA Campus]:
4/7 – 9:30 AM
4/14 – 9:30 AM
4/21 – 1:00 PM
4/28 – 1:00 PM

Spring Game [The Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA]:
5/5 – 5:00 PM

Follow Spring Practice at BruinsBall.com

UCLA Football: The On-Season. Part 3: The Future

Dan Guerrero - Photo Courtesy OCRegister.com

Scott Robinson

As the short days of winter wane into the face of spring, UCLA is currently prepping their squad for the upcoming football season. Inroads against a crumbling recent past, one littered with muttering descriptions of mediocrity, are beginning to show a clear path, one with resolve throughout the entirety of UCLA’s athletic program.

During this off-season we've focused on some key data sets pointing towards many different areas needing improvement. As far as coaching is concerned, different practice motifs of efficiency (under the helm of the specialist, Coach Alosi) stand to drastically improve the team with football-specific training.

As both Defensive Coordinator Lou Spanos and Offensive Coordinator Noel Mazzone arrive with a “clean slate,” a mistrusting Bruin faithful fanbase might be asking:

“What else has changed that could possibly lead us to believe Mora’s regime is coalescing towards winning?”

Reports are trickling in of players jumping aboard and heeding guidance from the rallying Coach with extensive NFL experience. But now, it’s not just the players, it’s the administration that’s lining up to right the ship.

In fact, it’s been an incredibly demanding, yet productive, season for one particular UCLA Athletics Department…

Pro-Activity

Despite his absurdly busy schedule, I was lucky enough to talk with Nick Ammazzalorso, UCLA’s Executive Director of Athletic Communications. His role, while newly established, has quickly augmented the football team’s return to relevancy. Acting through both media promotion and most recently, crisis response, Ammazzalorso’s position has quickly become indispensable to UCLA’s ability to mitigate negative press or misinformation.

“Pro-activity,” Ammazzalorso states, “is the key to all teams [in their efforts for success].” One might scoff at such a statement, especially in light of the recent Sports Illustrated article. However, consider UCLA’s ability to respond, most competently, via statement and affirmation of Ben Howland’s return: I would say it would have been much worse without the likes of Ammazzalorso or his department’s function.

UCLA Football: The On-Season. Part 2: The Present

 Sal Alosi - Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Scott Robinson

The winter off-season… Hope and promise is plentiful. Message boards flutter in excitement at roster switches and weight increases. Interviews on the practice field or weight room always come packaged with the same delivery: “We’re getting stronger. We’re getting faster…” That’s typically followed by a trainer pointing to some exercise sheet and showing a higher number for an athlete’s lifting capacity.

But UCLA was “stronger and faster” last year… So, why did they only improve marginally, from a 4-8 to a 6-8 record? If stronger and faster is not a true indicator, then what can be collected as progress from a team during the off-season?

Perhaps it’s just having the right mind-set. History has shown, time and time again, that it is possible to reform a team in very little time—Even under the helm of a first year coach. Maybe it’s just the coach?

Or maybe it’s both.

Considering Parcells (1-15 to 9-7), Jim Mora (3-13 to 13-3) and even Jim L. Mora (5-11 to 11-5) did it, the task of turning around a down program can most definitely be achieved within one off-season. Take Sparano’s 2008 Dolphins: Despite getting a pink slip this past year, he revved up Miami from just one win to 11 within a single year—tying an NFL record for most increased wins ever, year-over-year.

UCLA Men's Basketball: Bruins Lose a Close One

Tyler Lamb - Photo courtesy of Adam Kazmierski

Scott Robinson

The last time UCLA was featured on CBS, they faltered to an all-freshmen starting five in St. John’s at Madison Square Garden. Today, UCLA (16-13) dropped another road game under CBS’ national spotlight in front of the hostile crowd at the McKale Center. With the win, 65-63, the surging Arizona Wildcats (21-9) have now won six of their last seven.

A sloppy first few minutes, the Bruins took an early 12-10 lead with 11:00 left in the first. Back and forth through-out the opening half, UCLA had four straight turnovers in a span of six possessions. To make matters worse, even without getting the start, Josh Smith had picked up his third foul by the 6:00 mark in the first half. With Smith stymied by a more athletic Wildcat team, a couple of Bruins stepped up and should be credited for their efforts in keeping it close: Jerime Anderson and Travis Wear. Had it not been for that tandem’s first half performance (T. Wear’s nine points, six rebounds and Anderson’s 10 points, three rebounds), the game could have quickly gotten out of hand.

Although averaging only 11.9 turnovers a game, UCLA had already committed nine by the last minutes of the first. Staying in it up to the half was key in helping UCLA work through Smith’s foul trouble. A continued close game, UCLA and Arizona traded leads through the opening minutes of the second half. With 10:35 to go, UCLA finally hit their first three-pointer. A quick steal by Lamb followed by a lay-up by Anderson pushed the Bruin lead to six. Arizona answered quickly, closing it to 45-44 with 8:42 to go. A deep uncalled bank thudded in at the turn of the shot clock, giving Lamb his second three and UCLA a four point lead with six to go.

Despite a nice rebound and lay-up sequence by Smith, Arizona took back the lead, 54-53, with 3:52 left in the game. The Wildcat lead was pushed to five after Arizona’s Jesse Perry and Solomon Hill put up a couple baskets, making it 60-55 at the 2:00 mark. With under a minute to play, Smith was brought back to the line to make it 63-61, Arizona. Then, with 12.6 seconds left, UCLA was kept in the game after three of four missed free throws by the Wildcats. Consecutive fouls gave the Bruins the bonus with 9.0 seconds left. Two free-throws by Anderson put it back to a one-point game. After a forced foul, Kyle Fogg missed another free throw—Giving Anderson 7.9 seconds to drive and eventually miss a potential game-tying jumper as time expired. A close game through and through, including over 11 lead changes, it came down the final possession.