Spaulding Roundup: Offense Rebounds During 7-on-7, Allmond’s Move & Other UCLA Notes

Bruins have not gotten in 7 days of practices this pre-season. It's the point of the season when the days become a bit of grind, minor injuries pile up, and the coaches challenge their players to focus harder through the daily slog, leading up to the final public scrimmage.

The Bruin defense not surprisingly got the better of UCLA offense on Saturday (operating without its starting QB). It sounds like the offense made bit of a comeback on Sunday with Richard Brehaut looking all right during 7-on-7 drills. Here are CRN's post practice comments:

As CRN noted from the outset, it is difficult for an offense to click on all cylinders "when a defense has seen an offense the whole time." What offense coaches are looking for at this point is for their QBs to "see what a defense is doing and change his plays and takes what the defense is doing."  

Hopefully Brehaut and co. will be getting better about making the right reads and the doing proper check downs while calling their plays. More after the jump.

The official blog has the following rundown of yesterday's action:

Anthony Barr made perhaps one of the most impressive catches of fall camp thus far. Barr was running an outside route against Aaron Hester during 7 on 7 and essentially leaped over Aaron to snag a well thrown ball by QB Richard Brehaut. Jerry Rice Jr also had a nice TD catch in a redzone scenario, getting open just behind All-American safety Rahim Moore.

On defense, the secondary storyline did not deviate from the norm; its dominant performance was evident again with Moore making an impressive interception while the rest of the secondary continued to play at a fast paced level. This was particularly exemplified during the 2 minute drill at the end of practice where the defense intercepted two passes from the offense drive. The offense did finally prevail on a nice drive down field into field goal range where freshmen placekicker Kip Smith knocked one between the uprights to give the Bruins the victory.

More notes from Jon Gold who described Brehaut as "sharp and authoritative" in "team and 7-on-7 drills":

* No major lineup changes, though Cassius Marsh was working with the second-team defense, and Anthony Barr spent some time with the first-team offense. Dietrich Riley again got extensive work at safety, and Steve Sloan and Sean Westgate had the first-team defensive duties.

* In WR/DB individual drills, the offense dominated, with Taylor Embree and Nelson Rosario each catching all the opportunities. Andrew Abbott looked very good and he and Courtney Viney should provide ample insurance for Hester and Price.

* Jayson Allmond has been moved to defensive tackle, but the move could be temporary. He was in a log-jam at F-back, after being moved from fullback to tailback for spring ball.

* Injury report: Stan McKay has a concussion and will go through the proper recovery protocols. Kevin Prince, Josh Smith, Joseph Fauria and Jordon James are all expected back from their day-to-day injuries in the next couple days. Neuheisel was non-committal about Prince's return to action tomorrow.

More on the Allmond move from the LA Times:

"Tight end was not working out; we didn't need to see it anymore," Neuheisel said. "We'll see how he does at D-line. He has the size and athleticism. ... But it is a different mind-set."

Allmond, a 6-foot, 260-pound redshirt freshman, was obsolete where he was recruited to play after the Bruins switched to the "Pistol" offense, which does not have a fullback.

"My first thought was, 'Where am I going to go?'" Allmond said. "They moved me to F-back, then running back, then tight end. My mind is in different places. But I will do whatever I have to do to get on the field."

Allmond, a linebacker in high school, is light for a defensive tackle, but said his quickness might offset the weight issue.

Hmm. I know someone who contemplated moving Allmond over to DL way back in January. It seemed to make sense in discussion in comment threads. lol So yeah, I absolutely love this move. I am not expecting Allmond to make any immediate contribution. However, I could see him being a total force in about a year once he puts in 20-25 lbs to bulk up his frame. He could be a beast of a DL and give our line even more depth. For the long term success of both Allmond and the program, I think this move makes a lot of sense. Let's see if he and the team sticks with it.

Speaking of TEs, Cory Harkey left the practice field yesterday with what LA Times reported as "concussive symptoms." I imagine Harkey will be going through all the precautions. In his absence Morrell Pressley will get time at TEs (his earlier spot) along with Kevin McDermott. Of course this immediately caused the LA Times to loudly concern troll about the position being "thin" overlooking the fact that injuries to Joe Fauria is minor and that he would most likely be playing if there was a game going on this weekend. Whatever.

Today will be another session of two a days with the morning practice starting at 9am and the afternoon practice beginning at 4pm in full pads. Both practices will be on Spaulding Field. As is the case with all Bruin football preseason camp practices, they are wide open to public. So head out there if you have the time today and check out the team.

GO BRUINS.