UCLA Football: Mora's Transitive Property

UCLA's Spaulding Field

Scott Robinson

Coming across the play was LB Isaiah Bowens, just recently lining up with the one’s due to the barrage of injuries befalling upon the line-backing core. One second before the tackle, the RB rolled to the ground with his helmet directly impacting Bowens’ knee.

The sound of helmets and pads cracking was next, quickly followed by a handful of trainers jogging in concern towards the player lying on the field. Bowens’ hands clutched his knee, while he rolled on the ground.

It was a rough play, with a rough ending: Bowens’ injury looks like it may be one that will put him on the sideline for a while. He required two helpers to get off the field. When Coach Mora was asked about him after practice, he said:

“I don’t, obviously, know the severity of it yet, but it’s a knee sprain… They took him in, and we’ll see where he is…”

Just a few plays before, Bowens laid a powerful hit on RB Malcolm Jones—sending Jones to the ground with an audible thud, heard even fifty yards away.

But that’s football; Physical, painful and costly. An MRI is expected to determine Bowens’ extent of injury.

Good thing Coach Mora has a few players in the fold coming this summer to shore up the LB depth issues, because as of today, the following are out: Jordan Zumwalt, Patrick Larimore, Anthony Barr, Aaron Wallace and now, Isaiah Bowens.

Seeing Bowens’ spot, after his injury, was both Ryan Hoffmeister and Jared Koster. Already in the mix was LB Aramide Olaniyan, who followed up a strong Tuesday with another great practice.

Olaniyan picked up a fumbled ball by RB Jordan James; A difficult play considering he was in the midst of tackling only to adjust for a scoop of the ball.

But beyond Olaniyan is nothing but a question mark. Hoffmeister and Koster might have trouble seeing the light of day once the new crop comes to town.

The 2012 recruiting class is looking ever more important as the injuries pile up. From the class, expected to compete for some field time at LB are: Aaron Porter (6’2 / 230), Kenny Orjioke (6’4 / 225), Jeremy Castro (6’3 / 245) and Nate Iese (6’4 / 235).

Wise decision, not conceding the year of 2012.

Feels Good…

Coach Mora was at it again at practice, this time delivering a few choice words to OG Alberto Cid. During the 11-on-11’s LB Eric Kendricks got into it with OT Brett Downey, pushing and shoving—And just when it appeared to be sewing up, Cid came in tow and then the “gassers” began.

Heard from the bleachers was Mora, again in the trending Johnny Cash get-up:

“You’re killing your football team!”

UCLA Football: The Next Step

The Bruins stretch at UCLA's Spaulding Field

Scott Robinson

It was another beautiful day in the Westwood neighborhood.

What a shame the fans were not there to share it: The crowd has now thinned out substantially.

The recruits did not seem to notice, however. At today’s practice were the following:

Name	Position	Year
Troy Williams	QB	2013
John Ross	WR/DB	2013
DaMari Scott	WR	2013

Imagine what winning will do for recruiting…

The Bruins are now roughly half-way done with their spring practices—only eight more until the Spring Game. So far, if one were forced to name the three major differences from one year ago, they easily could be surmised as follows: tempo, true competition and game simulating drilling.

All the things a coach might want to get better.

There’s still a lot of work to be done, though.

Wrinkles

Today, a number of the same drills seen throughout spring practice added a few more folds in complexity.

This certainly bodes well for the new coaching staff.

On the one hand, this “next step” might reflect a better grasp of Coach Mora’s expectations. On the other, these wrinkles might push to the margins some previous starters.

Either way, the Bruins win.

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.