Bruin Bites: Kevin's Chow Reunion, DC's Fiscal Smarts, Football Notes, Cori Close Nabs New Recruit

by Bellerophon on Nov 9, 2011 12:15 PM PST in News

The return of #12 will be a happy sight for many UCLA fans, especially those who don't want to see Brett Hundley's redshirt burned at the tail-end of a meaningless season of UCLA football.

Ahh yes, it's another Wednesday, which means another half-way point to the weekend and Rick Neuheisel's team will have an opportunity to purge the demons of past trips to Utah. Road trips to the Beehive State have not exactly been kind to UCLA (the most recent debacle coming in 2008 as BYU romped all over Rick's Bruins 59-0 in Provo). While the Neubs are busy hyping themselves up for a game against a lower-tier Pac-12 team, in the bigger scheme of things, Saturday's game will not change the trajectory of Rick's failed tenure in Westwood. In short, Saturday will not change the need for wholesale regime change in Westwood.

With that, let's turn to the bits and pieces of news from around the UCLA-iverse:

Starting with football, with the Bruins going to Salt Lake City, the story lines revolve around former UCLA offensive coordinator Norm Chow facing off against his old team. Unlike Joe Fauria, Kevin Prince is looking forward to facing off against Chow, someone he calls a family friend whom he enjoyed a "close relationship" with. Norm, on the other hand, is playing down facing his former and embattled boss, calling it just "another game" that Utah needs to win to be bowl-eligible.
In news that should please those wanting to save Brett Hundley for next season, Sean Ceglinsky at CBS Sports is reporting that the return of Richard Brehaut has, according to Neuheisel, made it very unlikely that Hundley will see game action, preserving his redshirt status for the season.
Sticking with Sean Ceglinsky, he is also reporting for CBS Sports that Neuheisel has officially decided that Johnathan Franklin will remain the starting RB, with Coleman coming off the bench for significant portions of the game. In other words, expect nothing to change against Utah: Rick will continue to under-utilize Coleman, not using him until late in the game.

Turning to campus news, the renovated dining commons at Rieber Hall will now be serving more upscale Asian dishes in lieu of the standard dorm food. The now-exclusively Asian offerings at Rieber are part of a wider push to improve campus eateries, which is pretty awesome for current Bruin students.
In basketball news, Ben Bolch at the L.A. Times has a pretty good article on DC and how he's managed to navigate the financial uncertainty of the NBA lock-out by planning ahead, saving money, and being fiscally savvy. Pretty neat read and great to see that DC, one of my favorite Ben Ball Warriors and Bruins, has a good head on his shoulders. Whenever the lockout ends, it'll be exciting to see him running the Pacers' offense.
In other basketball news, Coach Cori Close got another commitment to her women's basketball team, adding 5'9" guard Nirra Fields from Mater Dei, one of the top-rated female guards in this recruiting class, to the Bruin roster. Welcome to Westwood Nirra and good to see that Cori is keeping UCLA in the mix on the recruiting trail.
Finally, Lucas Giolito and Max Fried, the stand-out pitching duo from Harvard-Westlake who committed to John Savage's UCLA program were profiled in the L.A. Times, discussing their choice of college and the likelihood that neither talented pitcher will end up in Westwood following the Major League Baseball draft, where both are expected to be taken early (in fact, Giolito is in the conversation to be the top overall pick). While Savage has managed to keep first-round talent in Westwood before (Gerrit Cole), it'll be a monumental job if he can keep either pitcher from going pro.

With that, those are your Bruin Bites for the middle of the week as we patiently wait another weekend of UCLA football in what should be Rick Neuheisel's swan song season in Westwood. It's been a long decade of irrelevance for UCLA football and it's time for wholesale regime change.

For now, fire away with your thoughts, comments, and additions in the comment thread.

GO BRUINS

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Brutal but true....

“In other words, expect nothing to change against Utah: Rick will continue to under-utilize Coleman, not using him until late in the game.”

This is another perfect example of why we need to make a coaching change. IMO, DC has improved as much as any offensive player we have. Last year, he seemed to run tentatively. But, this year, I have seen an extra explosiveness. It is a combination of Franklin dropping the ball and Coleman deserving the start. Not only would this be a huge motivator for DC, it should send the proper message to Franklin – drop the ball, lose your starting job. And, it would provide extra motivation for those not starting that could be.

by kkucla on Nov 9, 2011 2:25 PM PST reply actions

+1 kkucla

All we do now is hope that Franklin doesn’t have another untimely bobble

wanting to be able we certainly wished,
... but being allowed to try we didn`t dare

by c bruin 84 on Nov 9, 2011 2:27 PM PST reply actions

+2

That many fumbles, why is he still playing and others not getting shot in addition to increasing Coleman’s carries?

by Bruin'96 on Nov 9, 2011 3:28 PM PST up reply actions

My point exactly

There is no consequences for playing poorly and therefore no motivation to play your way into the starting lineup. I have never seen a collective coaching staff so committed to playing the same players, regardless of results. However, the one constant over the past 4 years is CRN and that is the root of the problem.

by kkucla on Nov 9, 2011 6:17 PM PST up reply actions

In that weather and altitude...both will be needed...

not to mention THAT defense. Time for some payback. BRUINS owe em a thumping!!!

by GogetemBruins on Nov 9, 2011 2:54 PM PST reply actions

Altitude issues....

I know this was brought up in previous posts, but I will absolutely barf if altitude issues are given for our players being gassed if we lose this game. Every pro team heads to Denver to play, and we haven’t heard of the pro teams in Denver going undefeated because their opponents couldn’t handle playing in the thin air.

Sure, the UCLA footballers’ wil feel like their lungs are on fire, maybe they’ll get tired a little earlier than expected, but the UCLA staff should have O2 masks available and make sure the players stay hydrated. The altitude is a moot point, if RN or DG bring it up as being a factor, even more of a reason they need to get canned.

by BruinBabe4ever on Nov 9, 2011 5:33 PM PST reply actions

This thread is a great indictment of our current coach

There is no expectation that we will win. It’s talk of excuses. It’s talk of payback (meaning we need to pay them back for humiliations which should never have happened. It’s talk about hoping our backs don’t fumble the ball.

Neubs – this is not the way you want to remember your good old days. In my good old days, and in the good old days of many of us, we expected to win ever game. You guys don’t. You might say you do, but you really don’t. You know at some point that the other team will impose its will on us. If we win, you’re surprised.

Help us, Neubs. Help us save your good old days by joining with us in demanding the ouster of the athletic depatment management and the football management.

by Fox 71 on Nov 9, 2011 5:54 PM PST reply actions

franklin and coleman are like thunder and lightning

kinda like $c had with bush and white. i like it when coleman comes in and closes out games. franklin gets them tired and coleman punches them in the gut. a classic one two punch… or that’s what i thought we were doing… our biggest problem is fauria and getting him the ball! more screen passes and play action to our playmakers! we don’t need no stinkin’ utes!

by BruinArts on Nov 10, 2011 12:11 AM PST reply actions