Spring Hopes Eternal For UCLA Football

by insomniacslounge on Apr 20, 2011 6:01 AM PDT

Bumped. - BN Eds.

As LABruin already mentioned, Tyler and I made it out to practice this afternoon. As always, the team was great with him. Coach Neuheisel allowed Tyler to roam the sidelines, and all of the players took time to give Tyler a little love and make sure things were going well with him. They've really gone above and beyond in making him feel like part of the team. Coach even had Tyler address the team at the end of practice.

The audio is a little rough, but basically, Tyler said that the defense was really fired up at practice today. Coach Neuheisel then asked, "What about the offense?", to which Tyler hesitated and replied, "Hopefully, it was just that the defense was really fired up." Ha..no coachspeak today! I tend to agree with his assessment, as overall, the defense won the day.

Datone Jones and Owa were very impressive and were in the backfield all day. UCLA ended practice with a two minute drill for each QB. Brehaut's drive ended in scoring territory but finisehed empty w/ a missed FG (Kai Forbath, where are you?) Brett Hundley's drive didn't go very well for the O. It was a 3 and out with 3 sacks! It wasn't necessarily Hundley's fault tho- the d line was in the backfield immediately, and there wasn't a whole lot that he could do. In general, Hundley looked very talented, but very raw. We should learn more about him in the fall after he's had a few months to digest the playbook.

A few other observations from today:

-We were really having trouble getting a good snap from the center to the QB in pistol. A lot of plays were dead before they started because of bad snaps. Hopefully, this was just an aberration.

-Broken record from last year, but this offense is only going to progress as much as the O-line does. Keep hitting those weights, boys!

-Anthony Barr, Malcolm Jones, and especially Morrell Presley looked really good. Hopefully, this will be a breakout year for Presley.

-Kevin Prince wasn't able to do any contact drills, but he did throw some really pretty deep balls in the WR/DB one-on-one situations.

-Jordan Zumwalt plays with a fire. Sometimes the fire burns out of control tho. Still, I love what he brings to the defense.

-Speaking of defense-: At practices last season, if you were just to watch the proceedings, you would really have little idea who the defensive coordinator was. This year, there is no doubt. Coach Joe Tresey is a presence on the field, and a breath of fresh air. This defense attacks and really seems to enjoy playing for Coach Tresey. This is going to be a unit that makes things happen rather than waiting for them to happen. I think everyone on the field realizes what the expectations for this season. Rather than be intimidated by the challenge, they appear to be embracing it. I know as fans, we've learned to guard our optimism, but hey, it's springtime; and that's the time for every fan to have hope. Heck, we're undefeated!

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.

Tweet Comment 14 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Tyler is part of the team!

The clips of him at practice addressing the team always put a smile on my face! Go Bruins & Go Tyler!

"Success is never final, Failure is never fatal. It's Courage that counts" - John Wooden.

by TheUclan on Apr 20, 2011 7:01 AM PDT reply actions

The bright side:

it looks like we no longer have the sure field goal, which I hope will make the coaches a bit more aggressive instead of settling.

Your boy is wise beyond his years! So diplomatic yet so direct!

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

by tasser10 on Apr 20, 2011 7:41 AM PDT reply actions

might make play calling more aggressive

but if the offense doesn’t convert then we missed out on getting some points with the FGs. I guess we’ll have to wait and see

by uclabruin34 on Apr 20, 2011 9:15 AM PDT up reply actions

I'm happy to see Tyler up and full of spirits.

How has he been progressing Insomniac? I sincerely hope he is turning the corner and you and Mrs. Insomniac can finally get some sleep.

In my world, seeing Tyler in this video clip is more important than what’s going on with the football team.

The best thing you can do for your children is to love their mother. John Wooden

by MexiBruin on Apr 20, 2011 8:16 AM PDT reply actions 3 recs

+1

greg in denver, UCLA guy for life - BruinsNation.com

by gbruin on Apr 20, 2011 8:52 AM PDT up reply actions

Thanks Mexibruin +gbruin

Truthfully, it’s been a mixed bag for Tyler over the last few months. His lungs are doing great now, and physically, he’s so much stronger. The life-threatening issues that he’s had are no longer in the forefront of our minds, and for that we are very thankful. Right now, we’re dealing more with “quality of life” issues. Unfortunately, all of the medications and radiation that he’s received have taken their toll on him, most notably affecting his optic nerves. As a result, his vision is compromised, making reading and tracking items difficult, and he has some moderate color blindness. We’ve been to the Jules Stein Eye Institute, and there isn’t really a lot to do other than change his medications and then wait and see. So that’s where we are now….waiting.

It’s been frustrating and painful to watch Tyler always have to deal with one issue after another, but as you know by now, Tyler is a remarkably strong kid. If anyone can fight his way through this, he can.

by insomniacslounge on Apr 20, 2011 9:05 AM PDT up reply actions