2010 UCLA Pre-Season Camp: Quick Notes From Wednesday's Practice

by BruinJD on Aug 12, 2010 4:49 AM PDT

I was only there for the last hour, so missed any of the guys that worked out in the first half and the special teams work. Here are a few quick notes from the 2nd half guys:

Intensity: The guys were really working hard today and had a great intensity to the practice. Still not in full pads, but most of the guys had the shells on so there was a bit more contact. A lot of "playful" solid shots. Especially some good shoving along the lines. Little scuffle broke out at one point between Larimore and Baca, nothing serious and it was broken up quickly. But I love that Randall Carroll (not exactly one of the big boys) came flying in and got right in one of the D-Lineman's face. You like to see that kind of fight out of a receiver. (as long as it doesn't end up with one of the player's faces getting broken, we'll leave that to the guys across town)

Ricky Marvay - had a great practice. He was making some very nice plays left and right. Made some beautiful moves during one-on-one drills with the defensive backs, including one where he made a nice move to the inside before turning on the jets and blowing by him to the outside for a touchdown. And he was doing it consistently, all afternoon he was running great routes and making great catches. This kid is going to see time this year and be a play maker on offense.

Malcolm Jones - another guy I will be amazed if he does not see quality playing time this year. He also had a great practice. Good lateral movement, great job hitting the holes, and showing a bit of speed too. He definitely had the play of the day with a nice 40 yard touchdown run which drew a good amount of applause from the onlookers. The running backs seem to be having a lot of rotation between the 1st and 2nd string. On Monday Franklin and James worked with the 1's in the first session and Coleman and Jones were with the 2's in the second. On Tuesday, Coleman and Jones in the first, Franklin and James in the 2nd. Today it was Coleman and James in the 1st, Franklin and Jones with the 2nd. And today, Jones definitely looked better than Franklin. Not that Jet Ski even had a bad practice, he had a few nice runs, but Jones was the real play maker. I would not be the least bit surprised if he is seeing quite a bit of the field even in the opener with K-State.

Morrell Presley - This kid just needs to get consistent. He was being used today out of the F-back and split end positions. He had a few really nice catches, especially a sideline grab where he did a nice job keeping his feet in. But then at other times he's dropping passes or reading a long ball poorly and slowing up and missing the ball by a foot or so.

Size - While talking about Pressley, there was one formation today I loved. Fauria (6'7) and Harkey (6'5) were lined up at tight end, Pressley (6'4) and Jerry Johnson (6'4) were lined up outside and Barr (6'5) was lined up at tailback. I would love to see a defense try to account for that much size (and athleticism). We're going to be able to create some real mismatches this year.

Jerry Rice Jr. - Had a really good practice. He runs his routes extremely well and was doing a great job getting seperation from the dbs during the one-on-one cover drills. He also made a couple of great grabs during the scrimmage at the end, including staying with a play and grabbing a pass that had been aimed at Carroll and deflected by the db.

Cassius Marsh - Made a couple of great plays, and was consistently doing a great job filling holes and getting into the back field. Sure it was against the 2nd string of, our much maligned, O-line, but it was still great to see from the freshman.

Excitement - Watching our 2nd string and younger guys is so much more exciting than it has been in years past. I remember at this point last year, the 2nd string would come out and, other than wanting to see what a few of the frosh (Pressley, Carroll, etc.) could do, there was nothing to get excited about watching that unit. This year is completely different and speaks really highly of the depth that CRN and his staff has recruited and built. Especially at the skill positions, there is some really exciting talent even on the 2nd and 3rd strings.

Academic Issues - I also had a chance to talk with someone affiliated with the team. I told him I would probably be posting a write-up and he asked to remain anonymous, so I'm obviously going to respect that. But we did talk a little bit about the issues facing Anthony Jefferson and Jeff Baca. Jefferson has not yet been cleared by the NCAA, but it sounds like it is basically a paperwork issue and the team hopes to get it cleared quickly. With Baca, apparently he dropped a class in the spring that he was not doing well in. It left him short on units for the year. The team was aware of the issue and he loaded up on classes for the first summer session to bring his progress back up. It still required an appeal to the NCAA though, but the team is hopeful that he should prevail.

I'm hoping to make it to practice again on, possible, Friday and the weekend. Go Bruins!

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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Good to hear about Baca

And good to hear that it’s not a grade issue. It explains CRN’s confidence in having a strong case, and hopefully the NCAA will approve the appeal.

But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.

by tasser10 on Aug 11, 2010 9:32 PM PDT via mobile reply actions

Gee - dropping a class that he wasn't doing well in?

I seem to recall having that event crop up from time to time when I was a student. Not that I ever had a class I wasn’t doing well in.

by Fox 71 on Aug 11, 2010 9:52 PM PDT reply actions

I was TAing a class once

and a UCLA baseball player was in the class, and didn’t show up at all for the first five weeks including the midterm. The athletic department people came and asked us what he would need to get a bare minimum passing grade in the class. We explained he would have to do the assignments that he had missed and that his decision to skip the midterm meant he would need to do better than scraping a pass on the final. He decided to drop the class and take extra classes later in the year. No reason to believe Baca is in the same position, but I suspect that said baseball player would also have claimed to have “dropped a class that he wasn’t doing well in”. Sounds like the academic staff should have counselled Baca to complete the class even if the grade would not have been stellar, to avoid any potential academic issues.

We rightly make fun of players at other schools doing the bare minimum to remain eligible (ballroom dancing, anyone?); it is disappointing to me that any Bruin athlete should be on the edge of not having enough credits for the year when the bar is relatively low, and I think the academic side of the athletic department needs to step up.

I was reading about JD Morgan in a book about Coach yesterday, explaining how when he was athletic director he wanted to see evidence that all students were making normal progress towards a degree and was not satisfied with people targeting NCAA minimum eligibility standards (a lower bar).

No UCLA player taking the Student part of Student-Athlete seriously should get into difficulties with NCAA eligibility, absent some extreme circumstances (e.g. Hasiak’s adjustment issues); this is particularly true once you have settled into the university. Sounds like the Baca situation is not a big deal for the football team – as he will likely get reinstated with a minimum of fuss – but it does not reflect well on how the athletic department is dealing with the academic side, and does not reflect well on how our student-athletes perform off the field.

We are all proud of UCLA as an academic institution, and often cite our rigorous admissions standards as a challenge for our athletic recruiting. I hope that the athletic department steps up their game on the academic side to make sure everyone is making the most of the academic opportunities – as, I am sure, the vast majority of our guys are.

by britishbruin on Aug 12, 2010 8:58 AM PDT up reply actions

Your points deserve more emphasis here and elsewhere.

by peggysue69 on Aug 12, 2010 9:46 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions

This

Very well said. Thanks for putting my thoughts and opinions in text clearer than I would have.

by sponkey21 on Aug 12, 2010 10:31 AM PDT up reply actions

I guess this would depend on the minimum progress req's

I know that the athletes typically take the minimum number of units during this season, and I recall that some athletes did the same thing during the spring quarter when spring practice would take place during midterms. Correct me if I’m wrong, but someone taking a minimum course load during the spring quarter would basically go on academic probation if they drop a class and essentially become a part-time student.

I would also suspect that UCLA’s quarter calendar presents more openings for a dropped class to run afoul of NCAA eligibility rules. Even if someone like Baca made the prescribed academic progress during the winter quarter, he would still tank his eligibility if he went below the minimum progress during the spring quarter.

Where UCLA differs from a lot of other schools is that they don’t award academic credit for extracurriculars (i.e., no credit for PE, “football,” or ballroom dancing), and don’t offer trade school majors where a marginal student can hide out for four years. UCLA also doesn’t do part-time academic scheduling. If you enroll at UCLA, you’re expected to carry a full-time course load.

by Woochifer on Aug 12, 2010 6:13 PM PDT up reply actions

Great write-up, BruinJD

Kudos to adhering to journalistic practices

by UCLAngels on Aug 11, 2010 9:53 PM PDT reply actions

Ditto on all fronts

by peggysue69 on Aug 11, 2010 11:06 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions

Thanks for the updates.

I can’t wait for September 4th, and hearing these practice reports are helping to hold me over. From the sounds of the various reports, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Jones, Barr, and Riley all contribute this season.

We're havin' too much fun today. We ain't thinkin' 'bout tomorrow.

by Steve Bruin on Aug 11, 2010 10:10 PM PDT reply actions

Awesome post!

thanks so much, especially for the little insight on the academic issues.

by impaulv on Aug 12, 2010 3:39 AM PDT reply actions

Amazing

How ridiculous is that you can get some solid info. with a little effort (without being a professional “reporter”), yet we continue to get garbage from local tradmed. Thanks JD.

Baca’s issue was exactly what I suspected. Thanks for confirming it.

by Nestor on Aug 12, 2010 4:43 AM PDT reply actions

Also

The team had Subway sandwiches for dinner! I saw a couple of football players (whose names I don’t know) pickup a great number of in boxes from Westwood Subway! What would BN do without this great reporting!

by cyberdbk on Aug 12, 2010 5:50 AM PDT via mobile reply actions

More notes from practice

I also observed practice from start to finish and can add some more points from both sessions. Overall, I think Ricky Marvray was the MVP of the practice. I think the 1 pass he didn’t catch on the day was thrown too high for him, but he got up and still almost reeled it in like everything else thrown his way. Randall Carrol made some great grabs. It’s almost as if he realized that he needed to match Ricky’s output catch for catch to remain relevant. That my friends is what competition is all about- it brought out the best in RC today.

That much maligned 2nd string O-line is the unit that opened up a gaping hole for MJones to breeze through untouched.

Several players got reps in both sessions- Darius Bell, A. Barr, Pressley and a few others. Pressley looked great in the first session, not so much in the second. Bell is getting more work to get up to speed and his timing with the receivers. Great footwork, great ball handling, but holding onto the ball too long and not hitting receivers downfield.

Price and Hester have great rapport and are a dynamic duo. I saw both of them spending extra 20-25 minutes after the 1st session getting in extra speed work, backpedalling, and read drills. Price is the cheetah- long, lean, and ‘ludacris’ (couldn’t help the Spaceballs reference) speed. Hester is the panther- great explosive burst, more physical, supreme confidence. These two know they will be teaming up for the long haul so it’s great to see them doing their extra work together.

All in all, it was a high intensity practice and we are getting great competition in all phases of the game. CRN is building this team the right way- with a strong foundation, talented players, and competition checked by team spirit.

Bruins are forever but Trojans are good only once.

by $honuff on Aug 12, 2010 7:03 AM PDT reply actions

Thank you...

Thanks you all for the updates. I am beyond disgusted by reading the local “news” hacks’ take on Bruins football. Either they are extremely neglegent in their coverage or we get the obvious trogan-biased “reports” (or both). The info that I get here is much much more insightful. Please keep them coming. Those of us who can’t make it to practices really appreciate it!

by 1BruinFan on Aug 12, 2010 10:09 AM PDT up reply actions

TY JD and Nuff

I like your description of our CB’s. They’re going to take their lumps because their still inexperienced but in come 2011, both of these guys will be on preseason watchlists and scouts will be drooling over them.

That jumbo package is quite interesting. Lots of teams have size but our guys are playmakers as well. If our line can be decent (think the zone scheme will really help) and KP makes the anticipated jump, I think our offense will be pretty good.

by BlueReign on Aug 13, 2010 12:20 AM PDT up reply actions

+1 on all expressions of thanks for these writeups

by britishbruin on Aug 12, 2010 8:59 AM PDT reply actions

Huge player package

Size – While talking about Pressley, there was one formation today I loved. Fauria (6’7) and Harkey (6’5) were lined up at tight end, Pressley (6’4) and Jerry Johnson (6’4) were lined up outside and Barr (6’5) was lined up at tailback. I would love to see a defense try to account for that much size (and athleticism). We’re going to be able to create some real mismatches this year.

If you guys could have any combination of tall guys out there who it would be, and what would you call the package? I like that group of skill players, but I’d sub in Rosario for Presley or Johnson.

I think we should just call it the WTF!? package.

Last thing …. was looking through the defensive depth charts of the teams we are playing this year. Oregon’s secondary is 6’1", 5’11", 5’10", and 5’10". Yum. Also, Washington’s entire group of LBs and secondary doesn’t have one player over 6’1". Arizona State secondary is 5’10, 5’10", 5’11", 6’. Arizona is 5’11", 5’11", 5’11", and 6’1". We could have some definite mismatches this year. I hope Chow can put KP and co. in position to take advantage of them!

by captainqtp on Aug 12, 2010 10:52 AM PDT reply actions

yup

I used to enjoy our redzone offense that basically involved throwing the ball up in the air in the general direction of 6’5’’ Marcedes Lewis isolated against some 5’10’’ corner. Touchdown UCLA.

by britishbruin on Aug 12, 2010 11:20 AM PDT up reply actions