2010 UCLA Pre-Season Football Camp: 8-14 Evening Practice Notes

Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

Thoughts from yesterday's evening practice....

- Ricky Marvray. Seriously people, this kid is hungry. I really can't see, at this point, how he is not in the rotation from Day 1. He is just a scrappy, blue collar playmaker. I can't remember if it was 7 on 7's or not, but the first play of the day that got the crowd amped was Brehaut's perfectly thrown fade pattern to the corner of the endzone that Marvray out-jumped the defender to haul in. It was a thing of beauty. Of course, it figures we use the 5'10" guy when we have 6'4" Rosario and Embree.....The second play was during the scrimmage where he outjumped the defender and literally wrestled the ball away. He just wanted it and was not going to be denied. So, the two top crowd-pleaser plays of the day? Made by Ricky Marvray. Lastly, the kid is a BLOCKER away from the ball. This is the first memory I have of him and despite the showtime catches, the dude rolls up his sleeves and goes after DB's with a fury during the run game. Love it.

- Randall Carroll got some payback today for the mayhem that Dietrich Riley has been causing. Run play that ended up a mosh and Carroll comes from the opposite side of the field and put a hit on Riley that made the crowd 'Oooh.' Riley didn't go down, but it was a loud crack and I'm sure got his attention.

- Dietrich Riley. Uh. Man. Kid keeps stepping it up. 7 on 7's he had two interceptions today. Both throws were atrocious by the QB's (can't remember who exactly), but so were some of the receptions Rahim logged last year. No big hits this practice, but I think I'd rather have the INT's. I would love to see him pick up the scheme well enough to get on the field with Rahim at the same time.

- Tony Dye. Just when I made the comment that he hasn't done a whole lot to standout during practices he goes and makes a sweet pick. it was a tipped pass that he kept after and I think dove for. I'm for whoever steps it up (him or Dietrich), but this is a good place to be.

- Taylor Embree had a great catch that was thrown just perfectly to utilize his height. Jumped, caught and took it to the house...Didn't see a whole lot from Rosario. Kid has great height and jumping ability and makes periodic great catches. But man, it just seems like he is laid back out there. Contrast this with Marvray who is out there fighting and cracking skulls. 

- Anthony Barr back on KR again....guess this wasn't just a one-time experiment. Ought to be interesting to see if this pans out...

- Akeem showed his all-American abilities. 7 on 7' s in the redzone and the QB (again, forgot who) fires a mother-loving bullet meant for Fauria. Akeem jumps up, and the ball is thrown so hard it pops up out of his hands, but he keeps after it and hauls in the bobble for the INT. It was a really impressive INT b/c of the height and velocity of the pass.

- Crissman. Has some good throws, but I think his throwing motion is most apparent in his long ball attempts. He threw a deep ball and it was woefully underthrown and off-target. It was not pretty. It seemed as if the short throwing motion just kills the velocity and range. Bell also struggles with the longer balls. Brehaut most definitely has the edge in this regard.

- Thigpen was looking a little better, breaking up a pass play here and there. Still on the defense as CB so the experiment seems to continue.

- Keenan Graham is running with the one's today at least once. I remember watching him last year and being really impressed with his quickness off the LOS. I actually remember the play a full year later: it was a hop to his left right into the perfect gap, which he shot through for a TFL. Not sure what his weight is now compared to then and the resulting effect on his quickness, but I think he's going to be solid.

- Punting. Man, Kip Smith had two booming punts today during ST practice. Had to be 60 yards or so. One of them was downed on the 4 yard line. We really are spoiled in our kicking game....

- Freshmen seem to be representing well with quite a few in on second teams. Dietrich Riley, Cassius Marsh, Malcolm Jones. Not bad. Nearby guys commented on the overall size of the freshmen this year as well.

- Nate Chandler has quick feet at DE. Reginald Stokes is strong, as exhibited by a jersey tackle of Christian Ramirez. Stokes grabbed the bottom of his jersey in one hand while Ramirez had a pretty good head of steam.....managed to stop him and whirl him down for the tackle. 

- Chris Ward was running at Left Tackle with the third team. I thought he was recruited as an OG, which is kind of the look he has (thick and burly). I think he probably ends up back at guard...especially if Su'a-Filo comes back (please!). 

- We ARE getting some running game going. It wasn't huge runs every other play or anything, but Coleman opened up the scrimmage portion with a solid 11 yard burst, followed up by another 5 yard gain. Of course there was the occasional blow up, like when Brehaut handed off to Coleman that resulted in about a 5 yard loss. He got an earful from both Neuheisel AND Chow after that. Apparently, from what I could gather, it was not the right decision.

- Jonathan Franklin showed his speed with what looked like a busted run play that he turned into a short-yardage TD sprint to the endzone.....outran the D to the pylon.

- Lastly, I don't believe Mike Harris appreciated the SUC bomb last year as he was sporting a 'F*ck SC' shirt. I like the attitude though. 

I have to go pay attention to my wife now...