The Sporting News Features UCLA & Kevin Prince

by Nestor on Jul 23, 2009 2:00 AM PDT in Football

UCLA and Kevin Prince was on the frontpage of the Sporting News (top left corner). TSN like Phil Steele and westwood78 is being a bit bullish on CRN's Bruins as the Pac-10's "most improved" program this coming season. TSN guys are high on the Bruins for three reasons:

Kevin Prince: they are calling him an "upgrade" from last year
New talent: they love Morrell Presley calling him UCLA's "best weapon"
CRN's second season: thet are pointiing to CRN's second seasons at both CU and at UW that were his best seasons at both of those programs

Let's work backwards here. Well I am really not sure about point number 3 considering CRN inherited the UCLA program in a very different state compared to the situations he entered into as a head coach at his previous two positions (no need to rehash that old history all over again).

As for Presley being the "best weapon" in the team that could be true but we will see how the lack of experience plays into his performance next year. Kevin Prince meanwhile hasn't started a game in almost two years. So while I am excited to see what he could do, we still have to keep the excitement in check. More on the TSN feature after the jump.

You can read the whole preview here which seems fairly standard at this point and bit stale. Like all other previews, it points to OL as "a major area of concern" (in CRN's own words):

The offensive line, which Neuheisel deemed "a major area of concern," should be better with the addition of junior college transfer Ryan Taylor and tackle Sean Sheller, who missed the 2008 season after being injured in a vehicle accident.

The key for the offense, it seems, is to not lose games—for the defense should be good enough to win its share. The Bruins have all-conference talent on the line in junior tackle Brian Price, at linebacker in senior Reggie Carter and in the backfield with shutdown senior cornerback Alterraun Verner.

That seems fair enough although they should have mentioned X man and Hasiak when talking about young talent could help our OL. Fingers crossed.

The print version has a projected starter lineup which also seems a bit dated and off given it has Dominque Johnson at WR (who transferred out) and Presley as the starting TE (I think Pausen as the team captain and also because of his experience will be getting starting nod at TE).

Still though it's cool to see UCLA getting positive pub despite the tough first season we expected this past year. If we can pull off a bowl season this coming year, the excitement around the program is only going to build heading into the next season.

GO BRUINS.

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XSF and Hasiak

As good as I think they’ll be, it’s hard to see freshmen OL contributing significantly this year. It just doesn’t happen, except out of extreme necessity. I don’t think we’re at the point of “extreme necessity” given the JC transfers, players recovering from injury, previously redshirted linemen, returning starters, etc. It just takes time for high school players to develop the strength needed to compete at a high major collegiate level. OL recruits generally take a year or two. Even the top recruits in the country. A lot of these rankings are based on projected performance contingent on these guys getting in shape (cutting fat and building muscle). Their weights can be deceiving in terms of overall strength.

by mdjohns4 on Jul 23, 2009 12:02 PM PDT reply actions

I agree...

I am absolutely in love with the prospect of having XSF & Hasiak (like flowers, candy, and dinner at Ruth’s Chris kinda love), but the most telling predictor of how good we will be this season is where they fall on the depth chart in August. These two studs coming into camp in August and starting as freshman might not be the best thing, for the reasons that mdjohns4 already mentioned. But, if these guys come in and end up further down the depth chart, then that tells us how much our big uglies have improved. Their improvement is the key to our season and our revitalization.

by westwood78 on Jul 23, 2009 7:36 PM PDT up reply actions

Yeah

Generally agree with that. We have heard a lot of hype about XSF and Hasiak. But it’s not going to matter much until we see how they hold up during August practices.

by Nestor on Jul 23, 2009 7:44 PM PDT up reply actions

OT

Wow, there have been several great posts today! I can’t wait for football to start :)

by captainqtp on Jul 23, 2009 12:34 PM PDT reply actions

Best weapon...

If I had a guess at our best weapon for 2009, I’d say Taylor Embree. What do you think?

by captainqtp on Jul 23, 2009 6:19 PM PDT reply actions

That's a good poll question for the main page

Who are our options?

Embree
Austin
Paulsen
Moya (some key TDs last year)
Presley
Rosario
Coleman

Who else? I am thinking out loud and fast here.

by Nestor on Jul 23, 2009 6:48 PM PDT up reply actions

Christian Ramirez

is going to get every opportunity to be that weapon

by bucknellbruin on Jul 23, 2009 7:37 PM PDT up reply actions

Very good point

Which brings me to another question who could be our dark horses next season? Players we are not really talking about but and is not in everyone’s radar. When I say “everyone” I mean everyone here, the hardcores who are following the team every day.

Moutra
Franklin
Knox
Jerry Johnson

What about Carroll and Thigpen?

Man .. there are so many fun questions to think about heading into this season.

by Nestor on Jul 23, 2009 7:43 PM PDT up reply actions

i'm big on Knox personally

but i think he might struggle to get carries; at least early on in the year.

Moutra is the one that really intrigues me…he seems like what we thought DJ would become after his freshman year. 6’3", good speed. Hopefully he can stay motivated, because he may be in for a frustrating year due to lack of PT; but i think he can be special

And obviously i can’t wait to see Carroll and Thigpen spread the field

by bucknellbruin on Jul 23, 2009 7:47 PM PDT up reply actions