Let’s do a quick reset before getting to extended thoughts on last night’s game. Let’s take a count on what CRN and Norm Chow were working with in one of the toughest venues in college football against one of the more talented teams in the west coast:

• A 3rd string JUCO transfer (playing his first year under Chow and CRN)
• A hobbled starting tailback and a true freshman in Derrick Coleman
• A backup fullback (Theriot out for the season)
• Backup TEs (as we lost our starting TE, one of the only players on the offensive side of the ball with experience and NFL potential in first game of the season)
• Backup WRs (without our senior WR who went down in the first game of the season and TA who we lost during crunch time)
• 4 different starters at OL from last spring (after losing three of our most talented starters - Lanis, Sheller and Kia - to an array of injuries ranging from career/season ending to nagging kind impacting effectiveness)

Basically in a sense we were fielding what might have been a scout team from this year's spring ball. And yet after all that the Bruins gave us a game, in which our hearts were beating almost to the closing mins against a team that was favored to win by almost three touchdowns on the road? So does anyone still in their right mind want to call that performance Dorrellian?

So with that out of the way, here are some thoughts on certain aspects from last night’s game. From my jotted down notes from 2 am stream of consciousness (writing down on post-its before going to sleep):

Playing to win: I have absolutely no problem with the call re. that onside kick. I find all the second guessing and Sunday morning quarterbacking of a head coach’s willingness to go for the win, after being subjected to years of timid and playing not to lose mentality that have driven us over the wall here on BN. At least here on BN we are going to appreciate a coach being fearless and going for the win. We are going to appreciate a head showing complete faith on his entire team (including on a defense which might be finding it’s away) in the most crucial moments of the game.

 I haven’t seen any specific data points re. success rates on onside kicks.  The only statistics I was able to look up this am was from the wiki entry pointing the 2004 success rates in the NFL which was around 24 percent. That is not very high. But it is probably not a reach to assume that success rate is a bit higher when it on side kick comes in a situation when the opposing coaches are least expecting it (would love to see some data points on that).

[UPDATE] silverlakebruin with a solid find re data points re success rates of surprise onside kick:

[T]he success rate of a surprise onside kick, one that happens prior to the fourth quarter, is 71 percent from 1997 through 2006.

Well that certainly gives support to CRN's decision.

Also, couple of more factors to consider in what kind of risk/rewards analysis CRN might have done to make that decision.  Until that point of the game (except for that last drive to end the first half and Masoli’s early success in the first quarter), UCLA’s defense was adjusting pretty well. They were throttling the passing attack. I don’t think it was unreasonable for CRN to assume that even if we didn’t recover the onside kick, our defense would be able to contain Oregon’s offense to a 3 point FG (which they did after Craft’s interception resulting from TA’s scary injury). Another factor to consider, given how we have been unable to kick it deep all season routinely giving up great field position, giving up good field possession on a surprise onside kick, wasn’t really the end of the world.

In any event, it didn’t work out due to a bad call (although the bad calls evened out in another badly officiated Pac-10 game). But I am not going to second guess CRN’s decision to be aggressive and play to win by showing his faith in his young team. I love that kind of aggression and eventually balls are going to bounce our way in the coming years. This is what makes football fun.

Sticking with Craft: Speaking of second guessing, after sleeping on it, I am not finding a lot of reason to clamor for a QB change. CRN and Chow are working with what they have right now in Kevin Craft. KC to this point of the season has completed 59 percent of his passes for 1233 yards with 5 TDs and 6 picks. Yes, he had a lot of Vinney Testeverde moments from his Tampa Bay days last night. Yes, we were holding our breath at times when he was throwing it underneath. But we have to ride this out with him (even if he can’t throw deep). The cold fact is that despite being at UCLA for one extra year and having full opportunity to compete for this job since last spring, Chris Forcier hasn’t been able to charge up the depth chart (at times falling behind true freshman Kevin Prince).

Also, I can’t fault the coaches for not wanting to burn up Prince’s redshirt season unless they are totally desperate. Even with Craft’s at times erratic throws, we have been hanging in there except for one and half football games (BYU and late second half against Zona) this season. I don’t mind that all too much.

Moreover, think out loud a little bit before getting frustrated over Craft not being able to go deep last night. The Ducks’ defensive frontline was at times pile driving our OL with a 3 men rush. Jake Dean (who is giving it all he has at center) was getting driven into the turf. Baca was getting terrorized (not too surprisingly) by all Pac-10 DE like Nick Reed.  It’s not like Craft had time to settle down and pick apart the Duck’s defense. He got sacked 6 times and hurried countless others. So considering the circumstances, I think he did what he could and at this point, I am going to put my complete faith in the combination of Neuheisel and Chow in their managing of Craft and UCLA’s QB position until it gets settled in next couple of years.

Clock Management at the end of the second quarter: So that brings me to the issue of clock management particularly concerning our second to last possession at the end of the first half. Here is how it went with 1:08 left in the first half and UCLA down 0-7 courtesy of WWL’s playchart:

1st and 10 at UCLA 11Derrick Coleman rush for no gain to the UCLA 11.
2nd and 10 at UCLA 11Timeout OREGON, clock 01:08.  
2nd and 10 at UCLA 11Kevin Craft pass incomplete to Taylor Embree.  
3rd and 10 at UCLA 11Kevin Craft rush for 1 yard to the UCLA 12.  
4th and 9 at UCLA 12Timeout OREGON, clock 00:50.  
4th and 9 at UCLA 12Aaron Perez punt for 40 yards out-of-bounds.  
DRIVE TOTALS: UCLA drive: 3 plays 1 yards, 00:24 UCLA PUNT

I think the key here was the play on 2 nd and 10.

IIRC (haven’t reviewed the tape) KC rolled out to his right and had a little bit of real estate to gain perhaps 3-5 yards. Instead he rolled it and flinged it for an incomplete pass. I think that is where it went wrong. If KC had just tucked it in (similar to a decision he didn’t make against Zona and couple of other occasions last night) and gained 3-5 yards using his feet in that play, he would have made the situation much more manageable on 3rd down. I understand even if he ran, Oregon would have taken a time out, but it still would have made the situation manageable. And I think the roll out is designed to give him the option to make the decision between going up for positive yardage and completing to an open receiver. He made the wrong call in that split second. It happens for a first year QB (Cade made lot more bonehead mistakes in his first two season, not just his first season). But those play calls by no means were bad clock management on the part of UCLA’s coaching staff.

Running back rotation: I think this is where we have some rooms for raising questions re. personnel decisions. No doubt Kahlil Bell is a warrior. The kid is giving everything he has out there but at some point the coaches need to ask the question whether it would be more productive to go with Coleman and even Dean. The only explanation I can think of coaches not trying out Dean as much is probably because he is still learning to pick up blitzes (which right now is essential given the precarious state of protection our QB is getting from the OL). Kevin and his OL need all the help they can get and if that means going with the experience of Bell (despite being wobbly) or Coleman (due to his size) over Dean, that is understandable. But in terms of getting reps, I wouldn’t mind if I see more of Coleman over Bell.

The kid runs with aggression:

Photo Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer / US Presswire (via the LA Times)

Also Moline is really coming into his own at FB and at least to this 49er fan bringing up fond memories of Tom Rathman.

Defensive adjustments: The final score doesn’t show it. The rushing totals for Oregon is cringe worthy. Still, I thought Walker coached one of his better games as UCLA DC last night. I was very impressed with the way our defense adjusted after getting stomped early on by Masoli’s read option play. Ayers  finally had his much anticipated coming out party as a starter. I love this kid’s game and I think the way Walker has slowly worked him into the starting rotation is a very encouraging sign.

The question remains around the issue of tackling. Brett Lockett once again had a glaringly tough night (no hiding from the highlights on what Masoli did to him). But what can Walker really do? Replace him with Ware who was not all that effective against Tennessee? There is not a lot of options he has right now except to burn the red shirt years of E.J. Woods or try out someone like Love. But I rather have those kids red shirt and get physically ready for next season, instead of exposing them to D-1 speed and ferocity as a true freshman. Ask any Washington fans about how Willingham has ravaged his depth chart by burning through his freshmen’s redshirt seasons. Again, I don’t really have any answers here except for hoping that somehow Lockett will be able to get it together rest of this season.

Still, give all the adversity this team has gone through (outlined at the very top of this post),  I am feeling pretty good about where we are as a team. After the massacre in Provo, I am seeing unmistakable progression on both sides of the ball from game to game. The game to game improvement will still likely not result in a winning season, but now more than ever I am confident we are headed towards the right direction.

Now the challenge remains is to build on the positives. One of the more encouraging aspects from last night’s game was Watson’s sideliner report that the offense was upset even after scoring the final TD to make the game close in the waning mins. I like the fact that the team wasn’t smiling or hamming it up after a moral victory, instead showing the same kind of angst and frustration we kept seeing in the faces of AA and JF in their first season at UCLA. This is going to take a long time but now after few weeks, the signs are there that this team is taking one positive steps after another. Hopefully they will have a chance to take another a big one by flipping the scoreboard in our favor next Saturday.

GO BRUINS.

As strange as it may sound, in some ways I have been looking forward to this game day more than the one involving Tennessee.  The reason is pretty simple because it presents the best opportunity for our football team and out community to move forward.

We will start our game day round up with Kevin Pearson from the Press Enterprise, who zeroes in on the key matchup at the Rose Bowl:

The key matchup is UCLA's offensive line vs. Arizona's defensive front. The Bruins have done nothing right when it comes to run blocking, and the Wildcats aren't the best defensive front UCLA will see this season. The Bruins need to keep running the ball, and this could be the game for it.

Needless to say there is a lot of pressure on our offensive line to perform today. We have discussed this week, how these guys have been responsible for generating a ground game, which has been averaging an astonishing 29 inches per game. Chris Foster from the LA Times has an article in which he calls out the OL from the freshmen class of 2006:

"What it has been to this point is there is always one guy who is making a mental mistake or not using proper technique," tackle Nick Ekbatani said. "His guy is making the play. It seems like there are four guys on the right body and we have one going to the wrong guy."

That it seems to be a different guy each time calls into question UCLA's much-ballyhooed recruiting class of 2006, which included seven offensive linemen -- Ekbatani, Brandon Bennett, Jake Dean, Andy Keane, Micah Kia, Sean Sheller and Sonny Tevaga.

SuperPrep Magazine rated that class of linemen sixth in the nation.

Sheller, a projected starter, suffered a knee injury in an all-terrain vehicle accident this summer. The rest?

"It's been a bit of a disappointment, that's the bottom line," said Allen Wallace, national recruiting editor for Scout.com. "That was viewed as a recruiting class that was going to give UCLA a leg up in the trenches."

Instead, the Bruins keep digging deep holes.

I personally don’t feel it is all that productive to constantly bash the previous head coach (even though he bears a major share of the responsibility for where we find ourselves today (along with the previous Chancellor Al Carnesale and Vice Chancellor Peter Blackmun, who meddled into the hiring process back in 2002). However, for the purposes of perspective it is necessary to keep in mind what kind of talent, coaches are working with in the current regime. No wonder Bob Palcic, who is considered one of the best OL coaches in America, is calling this “the biggest challenge” of his decorated career:

"The five best," Bruins offensive line coach Bob Palcic said. "I'm just looking for the five guys I feel can execute the game plan. It's not specific to run. It's not specific to pass. You've got to be able to do both."

In 38 years of coaching, the respected Palcic, in his first year at UCLA, is still searching for a capable combination.

Asked if he was ever searching this much three games into a season during his coaching career, he said, "Never. It's the biggest challenge of my career. That's the way it is. The biggest challenge of my career."

Hopefully, Palcic’s boys will be able to move in a positive direction today. I know I believe in what Coach Palcic can do given what I saw firsthand in the kind of line he put together last time he was coaching at UCLA. If you need a reminder just look up the game tapes of UCLA’

More on what the Bruins need to do today from Kevin Pearson:

The Bruins also must play smart. They have been penalized only six times in two games and must keep that up.

They also must hold on to the ball. Turnovers will kill most teams, and this one is not talented enough to make up for wasted possessions.

Asked this week what gave him hope that UCLA could rebound and beat Arizona, Coach Rick Neuheisel pointed out that everyone showed up to practice, which was a promising start. In trying to rebuild this program, Neuheisel has stressed mental toughness, not only to avoid the bad losses but also to have the resiliency to respond when they occur.

"The test will be when there is a bump in the road in a game, and all of the sudden, will everyone sit and wonder, 'Oh here we go again'?" Neuheisel said. "It cannot happen. We have to be resilient.

"Ultimately the hallmark of this program is that we have to be tough. When you take one on the chin, the best thing a competitor does is get back up and get back in the ring."

Speaking of getting back up, we have discussed about Walker and his boys bouncing back from last week’s humiliation. In Arizona they are taking on a QB, who has a history of lighting it up against the Bruins. In addition to Tutitama and prolific receivers such as Gronkowski (who is making his season debut after sitting out the first three games due to health issues) and Thomas, Walker is worried about Arizona’s running back. From Dohn:

Wildcats tailback Nic Grigsby had no problem running through UCLA's defense last season, rushing for 124 yards. He is averaging 125 yards per game this season.

"If you give (Tuitama) seams and he gets his confidence going, that's the whole thing," UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker said. "The little running back concerns me a little bit because they can get you in space.

"You worry about taking care of all the wideouts and the tight ends and all the throws, and all of a sudden they hand it off to the little guy and he finds a crease, and there he goes. It's executing and tackling."

While UCLA is a three-point underdog, it has won 17 of its past 20 home games, and in the last four years made a living of winning at home after disastrous performances on the road.

"We've got a lot of people that don't want to have that feeling again," UCLA cornerback Alterraun Verner said. "I think that is the motivation, but also we learn from those mistakes. I'm pretty sure most of this team is mentally tough."

For more on the game here are other games notes from the LA Times and the Daily News. Also as the OC Register notes, despite last weekend’s disaster our coaches continue to recruit aggressively, as they are hosting a large number of recruits at today’s game.

Hope ATV and his team-mates get to bounce back today that will enable them to put 0-59 in the past, and make a statement to those young kids getting a taste of UCLA game at the Rose Bowl. It will also be the perfect way of moving this program forward.

We will have our game thread up about 30 mins before the game.

GO BRUINS.

So training camp opens today (3 pm PST). If you want to get one last primer on the post spring depth chart before you head out to Spaulding Field this afternoon here are our notes we have been posting in last few weeks:

• Offensive Line
• Quarterbacks
• Running Backs
• Receivers
• Front-7 (DL/LBs)
• Defensive Backs
• Special Teams

Obviously OL is one of the two biggest question marks (besides QB). Dohn has a profile on injured RT Sean Sheller who suffered an unfortunate injury this off season resulting in more turmoil on the right side of our OL:

Sheller was hurt when the Polaris Ranger - in essence, a supped-up off-road golf cart with a roll bar - he was driving tipped during a right turn and landed on his leg. He suffered torn anterior cruciate and medical collateral ligaments and meniscus. He also sustained nasty scrapes to his ankle and foot, in which so much gravel was imbedded, he said it took doctors and nurses at a local hospital hours of squirting water into it to get it clean.

"It was the worst pain I ever felt," Sheller said. "I went to one hospital, and it was too small and couldn't handle my injury, so I went to another. No painkillers for six hours. Man, that hurt."

Almost as much as telling his father, or UCLA's coaching staff. "I thought my dad was going to be (pissed)," Sheller said. "Coach Neuheisel was like, `You're going to come back,' but coach Palcic was mad. I kind of feel like I let him down. Everybody was counting on me, and I let them down."

Sheller underscores the plight of UCLA's offensive line. He had no playing experience, but Palcic said Sheller had quick feet, a long reach and possessed the athleticism to play tackle.

For his part CRN is doing what he can to keep Sheller’s spirits up and diffusing speculation that his career might be over:

"I think that's pessimistic," Neuheisel said. "There's always a chance guys don't respond to surgeries. How much weight he can put on, because he's a growing kid when the injuries took place, but I remain optimistic he will be back for spring ball."

As do we. I am sure Sheller will be missed. But the best thing he can do right now is to take it easy, listen to his doctors, while do what he can to enjoy his experience as a student at UCLA and encourage his team-mates. Reading the whole interview he comes across as the kind of kid who will do just that.

Sheller and his returning team-mates will have a lot of new Bruins joining the team this season. We have all heard about the blue chip recruits. Yesterday, UCLA released a list of the new walkons. Considering we are being coached by an individual who achieved ultimate Bruin glory by brining it to practice every day, I am sure it will not take much to impress upon these kids how everyone of them will have a shot. Among the names that stick out: Tyler Tuiasosopo, a 6-10, 210, “Athlete” from Everett, Washington who happens to be nephew of former Bruin great Manu Tuiasosopo and cousin of Washington star Marques Tuiasosopo. Also interesting to note from the list of new walk ons, there are couple of Mater Dei kids in the team: Andrew Abbott, DB, 5-10, 170 and Carlo Valdes, WR, 6-0, 182.  I would think having these two kids in the team will not hurt the prospect of strengthening relationship with that legendary OC high school program.

Speaking of freshmen all eyes will be on Aundre Dean. Dohn shared his notes on an interesting drill Dean was taking part in during 7-on-7s:

While Dean was running pass routes out of the backfield, two balls were thrown his way. One came from the quarterback, and the other was thrown at his feet by a helping teammate. The idea was for Dean to keep his eye on the pass from the quarterback, and not be distracted by anything else.

Dean and our RBs will get a lot of opportunities to catch short passes out of the backfield in Chow’s quick fire offense. And given the uncertainty our OL it might happen more frequently because coaches will probably emphasize the QBs getting rid of the ball quicker dumping it off to RBs/TEs at proper spots so that they can have some space to work with the ball and move the chains. It will be interesting to see how Dean adapts to it because not sure how involved he was with the passing game during his brilliant prep career down in Texas.

We brought up the topic of recruiting above. Neuheisel provided some interesting comments on the subject to Brian Dohn:

"Recruiting is crazy now,'' he said. "Guys are committing way early. It's bizarre. All the information out there, which you can't combat because you can't call (a prospect at certain times) is maddening. The guy hears this, the guy hears that, and you want to get on the phone and say, 'hey, let me tell you,' and you can't get on the phone. You have to hope he'll call you.
"And then if you miss the call, you have to wait for him to call you back. You gotta have your cell phone strapped to you at all times."
Are players being offered earlier than what you were used to?
"Offered indiscriminately, and I think (schools) come from far away and offer indiscriminately, knowing that they can always back out. Just to get in the game, they throw offers out there. As I said to (former coach) Karl (Dorrell), you have to be careful because of who you didn't get. You lose because you get players that can't play. Because you're not going to lose them once you get here. Who wants to leave UCLA?"

I think it makes sense that Neuheisel and his staff hasn’t gone out of their way to offer everyone under the sun. It’s not a bad idea for him and his coaches to proceed judiciously and make sure they get the athletes that specifically fit into their schemes. Because if we need another reminder on what he has inherited in his first year at UCLA here is one of the lead grafs of a primer on UCLA’s training camp in the OC Register:

Outgoing coach Karl Dorrell left him with less than a dozen returning starters, an offensive line that leaves his coaches clueless, a quarterback who inspires less confidence than the current economy and a proud tradition wandering lost in the desert.

But no one should feel sorry for us here on BN … and I will leave with these words from CRN (from Dohn’s article on Sheller linked above) heading into this afternoon:

"Cautiously optimistic. That's how I'm going to say it." Neuheisel said. "What choice do you have? At the end of the day, do you want cautious pessimism? That's an easy choice and you might be right more often, but with an unhappy result. I know (offensive line coach Bob Palcic) is looking forward to the challenge."

If you are out there at Spaulding this afternoon (or next couple of weeks) … as always feel free to share your thoughts/impressions, pictures, anything you want (long or short form) via the FanPost and FanShots section. This is going to be difficult season but as I have said many times before I haven’t been this excited about UCLA football since 2001.

GO BRUINS.

Let’s start our walk with an extensive fall camp preview of our offense by Tracy Pierson at Bruin Report Online. The post is not behind the BRO subscription firewall. So take a look. Pierson offers a sobering perspective:

UCLA has decent talent on its roster –everywhere but on the offensive line. And after reviewing our booklet of Football 101, we know that, if you can’t get decent production on your offensive line, your offense can’t move the ball, and because of that, you can’t score. The defense, then, has to spend way too much time on the field, which puts even more pressure on it to limit opposing offenses.

It’s a snowball effect.

And the biggest questions at OL are on the right side:

The most up-in-the-air position on the OL is easily the right guard spot. Currently, Scott Glicksberg (SR, 6-4, 300) is penciled in there. Glicksberg has had an interesting career at UCLA – originally coming in as an offensive lineman, then was switched to the defensive line. He then had a bout with mononucleosis, and lost quite a bit of weight and didn’t get on the field for a while. When he returned, he came back as a 250-pound tight end. He then injured his shoulder last season as the designated blocking tight end, but when the offensive line was growing even more thin, he gained his weight back, did some considerable time in the weight room and was plugged back into the offensive guard position. It would be a great story if, this fall, Glicksberg had a good season for the Bruins.

Nick Ekbatani (JR, 6-4, 295) is also a candidate for the starting right guard position. Ekbatani, a former JC prospect, came to UCLA with big expectations, having been recruited by some big-named schools. But with some injuries here and there, he’s been limited, and sat out the entire season in 2007. He then sat out much of spring practice, so the coaches are anxious to see him healthy next week.

Ekbatani will also be a candidate for the starting spot at right tackle, which has to be the hardest hit position on UCLA’s football team. Aleksey Lanis, who was a good, young player, quit football after too many knee injuries. The projected starter after Lanis, Sean Sheller, had a serious knee injury in an ATV accident in the off-season and will be out for the season. There is actually some question whether he’ll be able to return to football at all. So, UCLA is now dipping down into essentially its third string at right tackle. Mike Harris (R-FR, 6-5, 305) will get a chance there. Harris, physically, is impressive-looking, but he’s young, inexperienced and there were some issues: 1) Whether he has the foot quickness and 2) the fact he was struggling to pick up the blocking schemes last season as a true freshman.

In the off-season, the guy who has lined up at the informal workouts at right tackle is Brandon Bennett (SO, 6-4, 310). Bennett has had his body transformed since coming to UCLA, having lost a good 30 to 40 pounds and added muscle, and he could still do some more work on it. Bennett, once he lost the weight, showed some decent quickness, so since UCLA is so thin at tackle, that’s where he found himself.

Not only is UCLA’s OL lacking elite talent and experience, but depth. After those six, there is Jake Dean (SO, 6-4, 295), who has hopped between center and guard, and is now settled in at center again. UCLA is grooming him as the center of the future when Reed leaves after this season. He did, however, injure his foot in the off-season but the MRI was negative and he’s expected to be ready to start camp next week.

The only other lineman who returns from last season is Sonny Tevaga (SO, 6-3, 320), who is written in as a back-up guard. Tevaga, like Bennett, has lost a ton of weight, but we haven’t see him this off-season at all and haven’t heard about his progress.

So what should we look from our OL (which the coaches are trying to patch by converting TEs)? Here are they keys per Pierson:

The biggest key, truly, to the offensive line in fall practice is to stay healthy. One more injury to one of the key players and they might have to convert more tight ends or defensive ends to the OL.

It’s key that the offensive line show, by the end of fall practice, some cohesion, and just a bit of capability of run blocking. We’re not going to even think about pass protection, since that would be asking too much (and actually, it’s far more difficult to develop). If this group can get Palcic’s new blocking schemes down and, by the end of August, show that they’re capably of opening some holes against UCLA’s defensive front seven in practice, consider that a big win.

Agree with him whole heartedly. Read rest of Pierson’s preview here.

Well we will have some RBs who will be eager for to run through those holes. And it looks like Bell is now ready to go when training camp opens up next week:

UCLA running back Kahlil Bell, recovering from a knee injury, was cleared for full practice when preseason workouts begin Tuesday.

Bell, who led the Bruins in rushing last season, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in a 20-7 loss at Washington State on Oct. 27 and had surgery a few weeks later. The senior tailback didn't participate in spring practice.

Bell had 795 yards rushing last season.

This is great news. Note freshman running back Raymond Carter was cleared for practice few weeks ago. Also speaking of RBs, it looks like coaches are in sync with our ideas. Remember who we were discussing about perhaps trying out Moline at FB (ala Tom Rathman). Well the coaches seem to have the same idea:

In talking to the coaching staff, UCLA plans to use junior running back Chane Moline in a hybrid role this season, having him split time between tailback (mostly for short yardage) and also utilizing him as a fullback.

I think Moline could emerge as a prototype running back in a West Coast offense who can catch those short passes and turn them into 3-5 yard gains out of the backfield. Again I remember Montana just carving up the opposing Ds with those short drops to Craig, Rathman, and Jones (John Frank before Brent Jones).  As Pierson noted above, if our OL can show some modicum of cohesion and open up some running lanes for our backs, it could set up the short passing game well.

For their part coaches are scouring all over for noted. According to Dohn Chow recently attended the Cowboys’ camp in Oxnard, while Palcic checked out the Texans.

We will end with a note on our opponent. Apparently Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer was served by a subpoena by a “disassociated Alabama boosters” at SEC media day (in Birmingham, Alabama). Joel over at Rocky Top Talk has a detailed post with his arguments on why the way the subpoena was served was an abuse of process. Crazy stuff. But I wouldn’t get all excited about this being a distraction for the Fulmer and the Vols. I am sure those guys are going to be locked in and focused heading into the Rose Bowl.

GO BRUINS.

We will start our walk with some bad news from the football front. As uclafan11 already noted Christian Ramirez has been declared ineligible for the entire 2008 season. From Kevin Pearson at PE.com: 

UCLA tailback Christian Ramirez, who was expected to compete for playing time in a deep UCLA backfield, was ruled ineligible because he did not meet NCAA eligibility requirements and will be forced to sit out the 2008 season.

Ramirez, a converted safety who could have moved back to defense this season if needed, can count this as his redshirt season. He will have two seasons of eligibility remaining. He is allowed to practice with the team.

"This is unfortunate for Christian and for our team" said head coach Rick Neuheisel. "I'm sure Christian will work hard to ensure this situation does not occur again. The rest of our running backs will just have to step up."

Needless to say this is very disappointing. I have always been high on Ramirez. I loved what I saw out of him last year. However, when it comes to academics there is no compromising at UCLA. Let’s hope he has learned a lesson and comes back with purpose and determination next season. As for the depth chart, we have decent depth at TB. What will be interesting is who will replace Ramirez as KR in the depth chart. I would think this will really present an opportunity for Jonathan "Jet Ski" Franklin to step up.

Speaking of depth chart may be there is some more shuffling around on the horizon at the right side of OL. From Dohn:

UCLA offensive lineman Nick Ekbatani, who spent his first two years in the program as a guard, is playing right tackle during summer passing drills as the Bruins look to replace injured starter Sean Sheller.

Haven’t heard anything official from the coaches yet. But this is a sign that Ekbatani is probably in the mix for competing for the starting spot vacated by Sheller’s injury. He will be competing against Harris, Chandler, and probably Edwards for the starting spot. Competition bodes well for the team.

Elsewhere, Pac-10’s official site have released a generic preview of UCLA. There is nothing earth shattering in that link, but throwing it up there for those who’d like to read every piece of Bruin related info out on the internets.

Speaking of Bruin football related football info, if there is anyone on BN who is a NASCAR, UCLA football has a special deal for you. Apparently the AD and the Auto Club has put together a package for both the Pepsi 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the UCLA/Tennessee game. I drink Coke and don’t watch NASCAR. But if it works for you, get on it.

We will end the walk with a note on Ben Ball. Coach Howland recently returned to Pacific Palisades (I feel cooler already in this hot Mid Atlantic summer dawn just typing Palisades) for his annual youth basketball camp. The Palisadian-Post has the details:

A hush fell over the Palisades High gym Monday morning when UCLA men's basketball coach Ben Howland gave his opening speech to the aspiring players who signed up for his third annual summer youth basketball camp.

When Howland talks, you listen... and learn.

"I see a lot of talent out here," Howland said after players were assigned teams in one of three divisions--the SEC (grades 1 and 2); the PAC-10 (grades 3 and 4) and the NBA (grades 5-7). "Possibly some future Bruins."

He should know. Howland led UCLA to its third consecutive NCAA Final Four in March and his defense-first philosophy has caught on up the road in Westwood.

"We want the kids to have fun, but we also want them to learn the fundamentals of basketball," said Howland, who was delighted that 210 kids signed up--70 more than last year. "This is a fun week."

Read rest of the report here. It’s always fun when Coach Howland shows up.

GO BRUINS.

With less than a month left till opening of the fall camp, we thought this would be a good time to go through our team’s tentative depth chart, the coaches set following spring football. In the past years we went through this exercise at least a week after the beginning of fall camp. However, the situation around our football program is a little different this year with a brand new coaching staff. So we thought it would be good to see what the coaches are working with following five years of Karl Dorrell.

And we will start with the possibly the most vulnerable aspect of our football team – the offense – and zero in on the biggest question mark by zeroing on the offensive line.

Here is a look at the current depth chart heading into Fall Camp:

() indicates number of games started in 07
** indicates utilized redshirt year
+ As noted by report in the Daily News

There is no way to sugar coat the situation above. To say that Neuheisel, Chow and Palcic will have a challenge in their hands based on the offensive live, would be the understatement of the year.

The first thing that stands out is the lack of experience. Among the current group of starters only Micah Kia has starting experience at the same position from last year. Reed started 8 games last year but that was as a guard. As for Glicksburg, again the number 269 next to him is not a typo. He is a converted TE and it will be interesting to see whether he was able to fill out his frame when he checks in during Fall camp.

We have all heard about Sean Sheller. The most devastating part of his injury was that coaches were counting on him to fill in for Aleksey Lanis. Lanis had to retire from the team during spring due to injury related issues ending a promising football career at UCLA. Then Sheller’s injury hit, effectively leaving us with Mike Harris, a freshman without any experience.

Consider the situation. Of all the places the already thin OL had to take a hit, it came on the right, the blind side of Ben Olson.

Perhaps for those who are looking for silver lining, might want to argue that the fact that this unit doesn’t have a lot of "experience" might not be such a bad thing given the woeful performance of the offensive unit this past two seasons. Let’s take a quick look at two key stats measuring the offensive line from the past season.

Last year, the Bruin OL was atrocious in terms of protecting QBs. We don’t need to repeat how our QBs kept going down. In terms of stats, UCLA allowed 36 sacks in 13 games, tying Oregon State as the 3rd worst team in the conference in that department. [See 2007-08 Pac-10 statistics]. Also the running game was just above average as the Bruins finished 6th in the Pac-10 conference averaging 151 yards per game (3.7 yards per carry). Bruins’ performance in both categories regressed from the 06-07 season, although that wasn’t a surprise to anyone here on BN, since we had raised the alarm bells re Bob Connelly.

So what to expect this year under a new OL coach Bob Palcic.  His recent record at Wisconsin was a bit mixed. Wisconsin Badgers were among the Big-10 leaders last two years in the rushing department (4th in 06-07 and 2nd in 07-08). However, at the same time they also gave up an alarming number of sacks (10th in 06-07 and 07-08). [See Big-10 stats from 06-07 and 07-08]. For the sake of Olson and others, we sure hope that trend doesn’t continue for Palcic in Westwood this coming season. The long time Bruin fans know what Palcic did during his last stint at UCLA with the OL anchored by Jonathan Ogden, Vaughn Parker back during 1993-94 season.

I am guessing this year with this offensive line we are going to see Bell, Ramirez and co. trying to run on the backs of Kia and Savage. In terms of experience as mentioned above Kia is the leader of this team. He has the tools to emerge as a great Pac-10 lineman, while Savage at 6-4 338 is an athletic specimen. Those two guys will be leading the OL charge.

We have huge questions at center and the right side of the line. At center hopefully Reed will emerge as a serviceable option. His starting experience came as a guard. It will be interesting to see how he adapts to his new position and develop his timing not just with Olson and other QBs (I will post my notes on them tomorrow BTW). Behind Reed there is not much depth at center. Unfortunately it sounds like Dean is hurting. Adam Heater I believe is another converted TE. YIKES.

Then there are the questions about the right side. I wrote about Glicksburg being a converted TE and Sheller's injury above. Right now let’s keep our fingers crossed that Donovan Edwards take cares of his academic goals this summer. So far reports indicate that he is on track to qualify (knocking on wood) this summer and that he will get a shot at RT. Palcic is also moving around folks around to bolster the right side. As Dohn noted this week already reds hirt freshman TE - Nate Chandler - who was listed at 6-6, 273 has been moved to OL with the expectation that he will be competing for a spot at RT. We will how that experiment goes. norcald503 expressed his concern about it:

For NC to go to Chandler rather than any of these other guy indicates to me that NC doesn’t think much of our OL depth and that we might be in a more dire situation that our depth chart would indicate.

I had hoped these guys would develop under Palcic and help us avoid major line issues down the line, but if NC isn’t sold on them and is turning to a converted TE, that makes me real worried about what happens when the current crop of starting linemen with experience (such as Kia and Reed) are gone.

I guess I am willing to be open minded about this. I saw this move as Chow being more excited about the option Chandler can possible present due to his athleticism than him not having confidence in other guys in the chart. Chandler is supposed to beast. If he emerges as a very athletic RT, who knows we can look out for that ole "tackle eligible"?  Anyway, I will also not be surprised to see more movement around OL this Fall to create competition with Harris, Chandler and Edwards. Let's see how this all plays out.

From my understanding of the situation the two incoming freshmen – Jeff Baca and Connor Bradford – might not be ready to contribute this coming season because they will need to bulk up. If anyone has information indicating that situation might have changed, please let us know in the comment section. Palcic will also have two additional options in Kai Maiva and Brett Downey. Maiva, the CU FB transfer was a highly recruited C out of high school and reportedly had regained his weight and back up to 300+ lbs. Brett Downey was reportedly a 6-7, 265 lb offensive tackle who may turn out to be a serviceable option.

After all is said and done Palcic might be able to put together a patchwork OL following a productive Fall Camp. However, we need to keep a realistic perspective given the kind of situation he inherited from the previous regime. Also don’t forget that Palcic will be the 4th offensive line coach for lot of these kids for the fourth consecutive season (which is layered upon the fact that they are also being led by 4th different OC in as many seasons). So now you know why were serving up all those doses of reality posts heading into this Fall Camp.

In any event, I think what I believe we can hope and expect from this staff is to put together a unit that will fight and scrap coming out of the gate. I am certainly not expecting miracles in next two years given the status of our OL depth chart. However, despite the challenges I think we are going to see a team that will play with a sense of purpose and determination that has been missing from the previous UCLA teams.

GO BRUINS.

We have some significant news from the football team. There has been some shuffling around in our depth chart and it has to do with our OL. Nate Chandler, a red shirt freshman TE is moving over to the OL (per Chow’s request). Dohn has the details:

Chandler met with offensive coordinator Norm Chow last week and agreed to move to tackle as UCLA tries to solve its depth issues and find a replacement for Sheller.

"It's going to help the team eventually, so I'm down with it," Chandler said. "I have no problems with it. At first, it was kind of tough, but I talked to Norm and he said, `I can make you into a great tackle.' I believe in him, and I think I can do it myself."

The 6-foot-6, 273-pound Chandler said he wants to gain 10 to 15 pounds. He was considered a strong tight end prospect, but the Bruins have depth at that position.

However, Sheller was injured in an offseason off-roading accident and is out for the season after undergoing reconstructive knee surgery.

It creates a hole at right tackle, and Chandler said he was told he could compete for playing time immediately. Incoming junior college transfer Donovan Edwards, providing he meets UCLA's academic requirements, will also compete for the spot.

"I'm definitely going to have a chance to compete for the spot, so I'm going in with the mindset that I can play," Chandler said. "I think that's possible."

Great comments from Chandler. This move could work out well for all parties involved. Given his previous experience as a TE, Chandler could emerge as an athletic TE. If he excels at his new spot, it will make him that much more marketable in case he is pursuing a football career beyond college (which I imagine is the dream of Chandler and all other blue chip recruits at UCLA).

Dohn also has some encouraging news re. Raymond Carter:

Carter looks fine in workouts and is expected to be ready for training camp next month.

If Carter works his way to his old self (and get back that speed) it will be a huge boost to our RB corps. I will start posting my notes going through our dept chart tomorrow.

Moving over to hoops, now that is he back from Korea, Jordan is looking to take another trip. This one though seems to have a deeper purpose than just promoting the NBA:

The Lakers' guard, who is Jewish, will travel to Israel to run basketball camps for Israeli and Palestinian children in association with the Peres Peace Center. The goal of the camps, which take place Aug. 4 to 11, is to bring Israeli and Palestinian children together through basketball and create a foundation for peaceful relations between them in years to come.

"If you can have a good time with someone you're supposed to be enemies with, and you guys can work together, things can be better for your future," Farmar said.

Farmar, who averaged 9.1 points and 2.7 assists in his second season with the Lakers, also participated in the NBA's fifth-annual "Play for Peace" clinic in 2006, a little more than a month after he was drafted out of UCLA.

"Sports can be a ground where everyone has fun and when you're out there having a good time; you don't really think about everything else that's going on," Farmar said.

Farmar was also in the news recently doing a fundraiser for Senator Obama. So just like Kareem, Baron, Arthur Ashe, Jordan is emerging as yet another Bruin superstar, who is making a name for himself beyond the basketball court.

Don’t worry our Republican friends. Not to be outdone (angling for the hearts and minds of Bruin Nation), Senator McCain recently lampooned a certain “school” (which happens to be his wife’s alma mater) by calling it out as “the University of Spoiled Children.” Good for Senator McCain. 

GO BRUINS.

Some tough news to pass on in what has been a great night for Bruins.

This came out earlier this evening:

Get well soon Sean.

I wrote yesterday how Sheller's injury even if it wasn't severe was a setback. This is going to make life even more difficult for Palcic (who was already dealing with the loss of Aleksey Lanis). Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope Donovan Edwards gets his course work done. May be freshmen Mike Harris will get to step and who knows Connor Bradford, an incoming freshman may be called upon to serve right away. 

Either way, this is tough news and only complicates the scenario we laid out in our dose of reality posts in recent weeks. However, with the current coaching staff in place I am confident that they will find a way to make the best out of this situation.

GO BRUINS.

Let’s start our Humpday walk with news from the football front. UCLA released few more details on Sean Sheller’s accident:

Sheller was driving a vehicle that is considered an ATV because it can go off road, but it is also a street legal vehicle which the family uses for transportation. It is smaller than a jeep but bigger than a golf cart, according to Steve Sheller, Sean’s father.

The accident did not occur in an off-road situation, according to Mr. Sheller. Sean Sheller was driving on a combination of asphalt and gravel in a park with his sister and some of her friends in the vehicle when the accident occurred. As he was taking a right curve, the vehicle started to tip to the left. Sean attempted to make sure his sister and her friends were not injured by extending his left leg to try to keep the vehicle from tipping and he was injured in the process.

Sheller underwent an MRI on his left knee this afternoon and the results should be known in the next day or two, according to Mr. Sheller.

We will keep our fingers crossed for that MRI result. But regardless this is a big set back for our offensive line. Take a look at our depth chart (pdf file) again from this spring. At 6-5, 282, Sheller was penciled in as the starter at RT. I am sure he and his coaches were looking forward to a great off season for him in which he was going to put his time in the weight room, getting ready for August. But now it looks like that time table will most likely get pushed back and a freshman like Mike Harris (6-5, 311) will have to step up. And it also looks like Donovan Edwards (once he finishes his coursework this summer to qualify for UCLA) might be competing for a spot at RT.

There were already lot of question marks around an offensive line that only features two returning starters (Reed and Kia) from last year’s team. Now the picture gets a little more murkier. It’s terribly unfortunate, but luckily for us we have one of the best OL coach in the game in Bob Palcic. I am confident he is going to make the best out of this difficult situation. But as we have been saying last few weeks, we shouldn’t be expecting miracles.

Speaking of football, a familiar name crossed AP wire yesterday:

Montana State's second-year quarterbacks coach, Jim Svoboda, has been promoted to assistant head Football coach and co-offensive coordinator.

Head coach Rob Ash says the promotion reflects Svoboda's experience and duties in the Bobcat program.

Svoboda joined Ash's staff last summer from UCLA, where he coached from 2004-06, including the last season as the Bruins' offensive coordinator.

He was a finalist for the 2005 Frank Broyles Award as the nation's top assistant football coach. 

Good luck to Svoboda. I always thought he kind of got a raw deal in Westwood.

Let’s move on to hoops with a nice article on the latest Ben Ball commit – Brandon Lane – in the Rocklin Placer Herald:

Both Steve Lane and Taylor [Rocklin coach Steve Taylor, BN Ed] said Brendan had narrowed his choices to Stanford, Cal and UCLA as he came closer to making a decision.

"The coaching changes at Stanford and Cal made it hard to predict what those programs would be like," Taylor said. "You don’t really know who they are going to recruit. UCLA is a proven program with a proven coach that has obviously been successful."  […]

 "Brendan has talked to a lot of people and coaches and he was comfortable with coach (Ben) Howland over time and he saw UCLA as a challenge where he is going to have to perform and he will have to earn it out there," Steve Lane said. "It has been such a crazy time, I can’t believe it has only been like three months (since restraints on recruiters were loosened).

"They can call coach Taylor every day and some people did. They can only call the house depending on what time of year it is and Brendan was pretty experienced with the whole process. We let him handle a lot of that himself. If he is uncomfortable talking on the phone with someone then why would he consider their program? As a family, quite frankly, it’s fantastic to get that kind of attention but it’s a lot of pressure. You kind of would like things to go back to normal."

Taylor spent "a number of days" with Howland during the recruitment process.

"(Howland) was hands on and I think a lot of it (Lane choosing the Bruins) had to do with UCLA’s success and Brendan having a chance to be successful," Taylor said. "He is used to winning. He felt very comfortable making the decision."

I’d say three straight Final-4s are making lot of blue chip recruits around the country "comfortable" with UCLA.

Lastly, let's end our walk with this:

via www.whitehouse.gov

Our champions were honored at the White House yesterday. You can get the full details on our official site. Some day soon we will have Howland and/or Neuheisel with their teams in that shot.

GO BRUINS.

According to this story in the current, online edition of the Los Angeles Times, UCLA may have added a lineman .. and may have lost one, too:

Donovan Edwards, a 6-foot-5, 285-pound tackle from Diablo Valley Community College, committed to UCLA and will be eligible to play this fall. Edwards, who will attend summer school to try to qualify for admission to UCLA, will have four years to play three seasons.

The Bruins though may be without tackle Sean Sheller, who suffered knee and ankle injuries in an all-terrain vehicle accident. The extent of his injuries was still being determined, according to a UCLA official. Sheller is listed as the Bruins' starting right tackle on the depth chart heading into fall camp.

I have to say, while I'm loathe to criticize a kid, if Sheller seriously hurt himself riding around on an ATV a month or so before training camp, he's pretty ... I dunno ... well ... fill in your own adjective.

Man, we're already thin on the offensive line and Sheller was penciled in as a starter and one of the guys we are/were really counting on. Let's hope that it isn't as serious as the story makes it sound.

UPDATE (A): Check this link from the Daily News.

One entry notes:

I'm hearing that Diablo Valley CC offensive lineman Donovan Edwards didn't get the grades in order to attend UCLA, therefore there was a scholarship available for Kevin Prince.

For what its' worth, a premium post on another site says that all Edwards needs to do is take a few more classes at his JC and he'll be fine to enroll for camp in August. That would be welcome news.

UPDATE II (N): Update from DN re. Edwards:

He doesn't have the grades to get into UCLA, and if the season started today he wouldn't be playing. He did commit to UCLA, but he has work to do this summer academically if he's elibigle to play.

And Sheller:

UCLA offensive tackle Sean Sheller, who hurt himself in an off-road accident while riding an ATV on Friday, is being treated for an open wound on the inside of his left ankle.
He also injured his left knee and will undergo an MRI to determine the severity of that injury. No timeframe was given for the MRI, only that it will be done in the near future.
His status for the football season will be determined following the MRI.

Fingers crossed re. Sheller. Hope the injury is not as bad it sounded in few other reports.

GO BRUINS.