Sooooo. What a way to wake up this Friday morning.

I am sure all of you have something else on your mind today, but I need to keep the focus on our Bruins at least to start our day. We will end this game week by closing the loop on all the discussion re. UCLA Athletic Department’s unconventional and bizarre (to put it charitably) marketing blitz around tomorrow’s game. I hadn’t really formulated any thoughts on it because I thought sooner or later DG would step up and address the situation head on. Well DG didn’t disappoint and stepped up yesterday:

Guerrero said, "We expect 70,000 fans and maybe 60,000 in blue. There is a fine line between what the [marketing department's] charge is and balancing that toward talking about marketing to the enemy, if you will."

Guerrero said, "You will see a different approach from this point forward on how we market the team. I'm not throwing anyone under the bus . . . but some things work and some things don't."

Pat Hill, Fresno State's coach, said he expected 20,000 to 25,000 Fresno State fans to attend the game. Fresno has already sold out their allotment of 9,700 tickets.

UCLA's marketing department also has run an ad saying "the college football monopoly in Los Angeles is over," and another that reminded Bruins fans that there was still room on "the bandwagon."

I think it is now crystal clear that CRN had nothing to do with that “monopoly” ad even though he took all the potshots from all corners of the country. In some sense it is very comforting to see how CRN did not throw any one under the bus when that monopoly ad became national news, and instead tried to make the best out of the awkward situation the marketing department put him in, by using that ad to reignite the Bruins. Then again, that ad might not be too far off, given what we saw last night. But … time for us to talk about that game will come later this Fall.

As for the ad campaign leading up to tomorrow’s game, Brian Dohn has more on DG’s thoughts:

Guerrero said it was his understanding "everything was pulled" in relation to the marketing campaign in the central valley, but damage was already done.

Not only was there a quarter-page ad in the Fresno Bee, in which UCLA originally planned to use a photo of Bulldogs quarterback Tom Brandstater, which Fresno State asked UCLA to change, but radio sports were also purchased.

"I can assure you, from my prospective as we move forward, you'll see a different approach to our marketing efforts this season," Guerrero said.

"I don't micro-manage. Those types of things don't usually come to me unless there's an issue. Obviously, there have been issues that have been raised relative to the approach that our marketing folks have taken, and so as a result of that I'm involved.

"I want to make certain we allow them to do their jobs, but we do it in a manner that doesn't compromise our ability to fill our seats. But on the other hand we don't want to give the impression at all that this is designed to bring the enemy (to the Rose Bowl) against our team."

That works for me and I think it is best that we just move forward from this issue. That explanation and pledge from DG is enough for me.

Speaking of tomorrow’s game, Kevin Pearson from PE.com zeroes in on concerns re. repeated breakdown in our punt coverage:

UCLA ranks 105th in Division I-A in punt return defense, allowing a staggering 19 yards per return, a problem that has been addressed this week in practice as the Bruins look for an explanation to their struggles.

Last season the Bruins were stellar in punt coverage, holding opponents to a 6.7-yard average on 38 returns. UCLA has allowed 247 return yards in three games this season, nearly eclipsing last season's total of 263 in 13 games.

"We always have confidence in our punt coverage, and there are some things we need to clean up and emphasize a little bit more, but aside from that, we're confident we will improve," said senior Michael Norris, who serves as the gunner on punt coverage.

Aaron Perez ranks sixth nationally with a 46.3-yard average on his 21 punts. He tied a school record with 11 punts last week against Arizona and dropped his first two inside the 2-yard line.

But some struggles with open-field tackling led to a rough day for the coverage team. Arizona finished with seven returns for 162 yards, including a 55-yarder late in the game.

"I'm not making any excuses," Perez said. "It's on us for not covering the punts. I have to kick better and get the ball in the air and place it better, and when we have a chance to make a tackle, we have to make it.

"When it comes down to it, it's a matter of being a football player and going down and making a tackle. If the offense is struggling, it would help if the punt team is doing its job."

I made a mistake when writing down my notes on Fresno State couple of nights ago. I thought I read that Fresno State was averaging (a staggering) 44 yards per punt return this season. I went back and looked at the numbers again. I goofed up and was reading the column on yards/punt instead of the one for punt returns. FSU is not averaging a lot in their punt returns (3.8 yards per return). But that doesn’t mean the special teams can take it easy tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully they can use tomorrow’s game as an opportunity to get better for rest of this conference season.

Also, in terms of personnel issues, injuries continue to dog the team, as we will now be without FB Theriot, who is out for the reason. Chane Moline will take over at FB. From the OC Register:

“It’s a tough loss, because he was valuable on special teams as well,” UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said. “Trevor’s a great kid. He’ll rally and be back next fall.”

Theriot, nicknamed “Moose,” will undergo arthroscopic surgery in the coming weeks, though a date has not been set. He will be replaced against Fresno State by Chane Moline, who moves from the tailback position.

Switching Moline could leave the Bruins thin in the backfield. Starter Kahlil Bell has been slow to return from an ankle injury. While expected to play Saturday, Bell might be limited.

That leaves the Bruins with two other tailbacks, Raymond Carter and Derrick Coleman (Troy High). Aundre Dean is expected to return in time for next week’s Washington State game. Neuheisel said Bell is “over 90 percent,” recovered from a high ankle sprain.

Theriot, a junior, injured his knee late in Wednesday’s practice during team drills. A former walk-on, Theriot was awarded his first athletic scholarship last spring. He was used primarily as a blocker and had not carried the ball this season.

Theriot already used his redshirt season, so he retains one more season of eligibility.

Best wishes to TT. As for the rejiggering, it might actually work out well. I kind of like the idea of Moline at his natural position, while being able to utilize the speed and explosiveness of either Bell, Carter (provided they are in full form) and Coleman at the TB spot. Hopefully they can break through tomorrow afternoon. Perhaps they were watching some game last night that will get them extra fired up and inspired for tomorrow.

GO BRUINS.

Now that we have discussed the two biggest question marks around the unit, let’s shift our attention towards our running game. To start let’s go back to what Neuheisel and Chow told us back in April:

Neuheisel: "We’re formulating a scheme. I don’t know if it has the moniker that all the trendy offenses have now. I certainly wouldn’t call it Spread or the West Coast. I think where Norm is centered on is just being able to run the ball and protect the ball. It sounds overly simplistic, but if you can do both those things you can force defenses into a position where now big plays are available.

That doesn’t necessarily sound exciting. ‘Run the ball and protect the ball’ sounds very conservative. But I think if you can do both of those things successfully and commit to both of those things, the excitement then comes because the field now opens because you have to stop the run. You will bleed to death if you don’t stop run."

Chow: "We’re going to run the ball. To win in this game, in any league, you have to run the ball. I don’t think we’re going to revolutionize football. We’re going to continue to do things that [Neuheisel] and I know best.

"I think now it is a matter of what skills what kids can do. We’re not going to ask our kids to do something they are not capable of doing. Right now we put in base stuff that will fit just about anything, then we’ll wait and see."

I mentioned in my notes on our QBs about how for Ben Olson (or any other UCLA QB) to become effective they will have to focus on being more of a game manager than a gun slinger. For Ben or any other to become a successful game manager, it will be essential for UCLA to feature a consistent running attack, which hopefully will flourish taking advantage of multiple options (or at least potential of options) available in our depth chart.

So let’s review with what the coaches had to work with at the end of spring football:

** denotes red-shirt
^ denotes walk-on
() indicates number of games started in 06

And here is a look at their stats from last season:

In addition to looking at running stats we also need to look at the receiving stats of our backs. We can probably expect Chow to ask his QBs to throw a lot of quick, short passes to our RBs (based on our experience in watching Chow offenses at Southern Cal, NC State and BYU):

Let’s start with Bell who didn’t waste any time sending a signal last season that he was a Pac-10 level running back:

Before his season ended at Washington State, Bell was on track to have a great season. As the highlights show above, he has all the tools of emerging as a dependable running back. The question he will have to answer is whether he will return to the same form he was showing before he went down. Let’s hope that he is completely healed up and ready to go. Coming into last season there were lot of stories about how he had rededicated himself to football after some hiccups during his initial years at UCLA. It was great to see him emerge as a dependable option out of the backfield. It would be great if he can return to form, and provide Chow with a valuable weapon in the backfield.

That brings us to Raymond Carter, who was a pretty highly recruited 4 star running back out of Crenshaw High School in the small 2007 recruiting class.  Just like Kahlil, Raymond is also looking to come back from an injury, which quashed his hopes for making an impact in his freshman year before it even got started. Raymond (like Kahlil) was held out of practice this past Spring, however from what we hear, he will probably be ready to go this Fall Camp. As noted earlier on BN, Sporting News singled out Carter as a possible "comeback player" because of his "breakaway speed." This is a guy I am looking forward to see getting some action because he was billed as RB who had the ability to be a "playmaker," something we haven’t had in our RB rotation since the departure of MJD.

Speaking of playmaker and freshmen, let’s talk about two of our freshmen tailbacks. There is Aundre Dean. Instead of describing his playmaking abilities, I will just go ahead and post these highlights that we put up in March (during the heat of Ben Ball season):

Aundre Dean ... Running Back ... Katy Texas from Bobby Gerry on Vimeo

I mean there is not much I need to add to that. Some folks are wondering whether AD will emerge as a starting RB this year. I don’t think he will. However, I do believe that he has the potential to make the same kind of impact as Foster did his freshman season. We will see how that works out.

Along with Dean, Bruins will also welcome Milton Knox into the fold this Fall. As we have written before Milton is the other part of "Thunder & Lightning" combination of this recruiting class. Now Milton is listed at 5-7.5, 196 in his current scout.com bio. He might get redshirted this coming season. However, he can be so explosive out of the backfield that he might just break into the rotation if is able to impress the coaches in Fall Camp. So if you live around Southern California, I would highly recommend heading down to Westwood for practices this August to see just how our running backs are looking.

But we are not done yet. Let’s get back to some of the returning backs who are currently listed on the depth chart. Christian Ramirez had a great spring camp and he finished off on a nice note during the scrimmage. He started the season at the safety spot last year. He was moved to TB after the injury to Carter and immediately made an impression during the Stanford game. However, he didn’t get another shot following a key fumble against Cal. So it will be interesting to see where he emerges in the depth chart following this Fall Camp. He certainly has shown the ability on the field. If he can keep at it, he can also emerge as another option for the coaches in this crowded backfield.

Speaking of "speed" don't forget about Jonathan "Jet Ski" Franklin, the incoming freshman RB-DB who happens to be a reality TV star. There is a chance Jet Ski could get redshirted because of the options we have at RB and infusion of talents such as Hester and Woods at DB. However, don't be too surprised if Jet Ski finds himself a spot in the special team because of his speed.

At FB Theriot did a serviceable job last season after the injury to Michael Pitre. Right now the position is thin. Tobi Umodu is a converted LB who has never played the position. So, I think it will be interesting to see whether Chane Moline remains at TB, if Dean (and Knox) emerge as viable options right away this Fall. It might not be a bad idea to shift Moline to FB. He has the size to play the position. And with his TB skills with him at FB, Chow might be able to put together the classic dual threat combo ala Roger Craig and Tom Rathman many of us Niners fans enjoyed back in the Day. Don’t forget we have Derrick Coleman coming in as a freshman in this year class. At 6-0, 220 Coleman might get redshirted this year as the future at FB, but you never know given the lack of depth at FB position.

Speaking of doing an admirable job, Craig Sheppard did just that last season when he had to step up as our running backs were going down towards the end of the season. I imagine he is going to make the youngsters compete hard to take over this position during the Fall Camp. At the very least his game experience from last year will be helpful to the entire unit.

So in conclusion, this is one position our coaches will have options. They will have a lot of young talent at their disposal. If they can put together a diversified running attack featuring fully recovered and healthy crew from last year and blend them in with the talent of the young crew this year, it will a great development for our entire offensive unit. A dependable running attack will allow our QBs to manage the game more efficiently, and more importantly allow Chow to put together his patented schemes keeping the opposing DCs on their heels.

GO BRUINS.