Spaulding Roundup: Defense's Edge, Offensive Frustrations & Encouraging Notes
Another day, another practice in which the defense dominated the offense out in Spaulding. The headlines today are pretty consistent in all the papers as Neuheisel directly called out the offense yesterday for its slopppy performance for the second straight day (following Friday's scrimmage). From the Daily News:
"I just think we need guys to step up," Neuheisel said. "They've got some of the best coaches in the land. It's time now to grow up. There are far too many just plain dropped balls out there, missed assignments, fumbled snaps. It's too lax. "And the only way coaches know how to do it is to take it as their responsibility, which means we're going to coach their tails these last three days. We have to." CRN wants the offense to match the intensity of his defense that has been bringing it to practice everyday:
Coach Rick Neuheisel would now like to see his offense learn something from his defense.
"They're really playing hard, playing well," Neuheisel said of the defense, "a great example for our offensive team. Our offensive team has got to take the onus now to match their intensity."
It sounds like the offense is trying to adjust without the presence of starting center Kai Maiava who went down on Friday:
The defense dominated in both scrimmages this spring, and the trend continued during Monday's practice. One of the problems was with the center-quarterback exchange. Starting center Kai Maiava sprained his left ankle during Friday's scrimmage and is out for the rest of the spring, and the Bruins had several fumbled snaps between backup Jake Dean and a few of the quarterbacks. Guess Dean and rest of the QBs will have rest of the week to get it all straightened before the final scrimmage at the Rose Bowl this Saturday. While Neuehisel played the bad cop, it was up to Chow to provide the encouraging notes: [T]he sky was not so much falling as overcast in offensive coordinator Norm Chow's eyes. Asked if he felt the offense had progressed as far as he expected at this point, he said, "Yeah we have. We've done a great job." Perhaps we can hear more from the folks who have been attending practices. But it sounds like our running game is showing some signs of life: Dean has been running hard while Knox has been showing off this moves:
As for the day's practice, he said, "Of the 11 guys we project to start, three practiced today. . . . Guys were jumping the snap counts; it's nothing to be concerned about. Let's just play."
As evidence, Chow said that the goal was to average four yards per carry rushing in Friday's scrimmage -- a significant achievement for a team that finished 116th in rushing offense in 2008.
"We averaged 4.5," Chow said.


Meanwhile, hopefully in the immediate short term hopefully the offense will respond to the head coach's challenge and come back with more focus and intensity in the remaining practices. It is kind of amusing to see the yin and yang routine of Neuheisel and Chow. Their public statements give us a little hint of how the coaches mesh multiple approaches to motivating their players every day. I think the trick is not to get too hung up on these day to day updates (as much as we read everything) and wait for the data points to emerge in the coming years that will give us the big picture. Given all the experience these coaches have, I am confident they are thinking the same way too.
GO BRUINS.
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11 comments
Comments
Deeply Appreciated
Although there have been few comments in these threads, I want you to know how much those of us in Exile appreciate them.
Thank you for bringing us into spring practice with great write ups and the cool pictures.
sjh
by Class of 66 on Apr 21, 2009 6:28 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Your welcome!
I have fun writing this in the am. Writing this type of post is pretty much like drinking coffee for me at this point. lol
However, perhaps there other newbies on the BN want to give it a shot? Anyone want to do late afternoon/evening roundup?
by Nestor on Apr 21, 2009 6:44 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Side note: the temperature at UCLA yesterday...
…was NINETY-NINE (99) DEGREES.
We’re talking record high, people. I know, I know, I know our guys need to be ready for similar temperatures for early September games, but yesterday was a wallop for April.
M
"In this program your passion bucket must be full to play SC." -- CRN, to Dan Patrick, 1/2008
by Meriones on Apr 21, 2009 7:18 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I've been crammed in a freezer the past two days
and have been wearing a jacket indoors, only to walk outside after work and just get wrecked.
by Tydides on Apr 21, 2009 5:19 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Ouch, 99 degrees?!
Definitely a challenge to do any type of activity in that kind of heat. Hope our guys stay hydrated and that our coaches keep an eye out for heat exhaustion.
by Kerckhoff405 on Apr 21, 2009 8:41 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Yep, the heat
was absolutely suffocating. Running the perimeter I almost passed out going up sunset. I can only imagine how it would feel to be sprinting in pads, with the likes of Price coming after me….
B.F.
by eubruin on Apr 21, 2009 9:42 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
For a little challenge
run up Stone Canyon Rd, just off Sunset…especially the last 1/2 mile…
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
by tasser10 on Apr 21, 2009 10:03 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Ahh, running in Bel Air is
an entirely different beast. The pacing is rough – that’s what I love about the perimeter, it sets you up nicely for the inclines. The views up SCR are epic though, definitely worth the effort.
B.F.
by eubruin on Apr 21, 2009 3:50 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, did that often when I was in ROTC… Ouch
by impaulv on Apr 21, 2009 4:18 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
My poor son ended up puking after school.
Very bummed. He was so messed up I didn’t even let him play his Wii.
NOTE: My kid is already active in little league and piano, and palyed soccer last fall, so it’s not like he’s a sedentary kid by any stretch.
M
"In this program your passion bucket must be full to play SC." -- CRN, to Dan Patrick, 1/2008
by Meriones on Apr 21, 2009 3:43 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

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