Talkin' About Practice

by Nestor on Dec 20, 2006 10:06 AM PST in Football

So practice is the buzz word for Bruin football. Dohn mentioned yesterday how Dorrell has been conducting tough, hard hitting, bowl practice sessions. We have some more follow-up practice notes on Bruins bowl practice sessions.

The young guys are using these practice sessions to make an impression. LA Times on freshman WR Dominique Johnson working to get an edge for next season:

UCLA freshman receiver Dominique Johnson did not play this season but he has already gained an edge for next year, thanks to the extra practice time gained as a result of the Bruins' appearance in next week's Emerald Bowl.

"I've always been impressed with him," Coach Karl Dorrell said about Johnson, a 6-foot-4, 205-pound wideout from Moreno Valley Valley View High who is redshirting this year. "He's done a nice job on the offensive side, running through his stuff."

After working with the scout team during the regular season, Johnson stood out in practices last week featuring the type of size UCLA's passing game has missed this season.

"I pretty much figured that this would be a good time for me to start getting ready for next season," Johnson said. "I want to be prepared to compete."

Johnson said he grew as a player practicing against UCLA's No. 1 defense this season and understands his unique role among the Bruins' receivers.

"I used the scout team reps to work to make myself better by going over things I needed to improve on," Johnson said.

Dohn has more on other youngsters making impressions during this bowl practice sessions:

A big benefit of bowl practice is getting experience for younger players, and two red-shirt sophomores standing out are linebacker Joshua Edwards and defensive end Tom Blake, Bruins coach Karl Dorrell said.

Both players are walk-ons, sitting out this season after transferring from UC-Davis.

Blake, who played at Palo Alto's Gunn High, started one game and had 5.5 sacks in 2005 with UC-Davis. Edwards, who is from Spring Valley's Monte Vista High, started five games and made 20 tackles.

Blake said he had "18 or 19" sacks as a senior, but Gunn wasn't known for producing Division I players so he accepted a scholarship to UC-Davis. [...]

Other young players Dorrell said he was impressed with are receiver Dominique Johnson, running back Ryen Carew, offensive linemen Jake Dean and Sean Sheller and defensive linemen Jeff Miller, Andy Keane and Reggie Stokes.

Good to hear these guys are looking good. This will only fuel our expectations for a Pac-10 championship in 2007. In the short term though these much hyped intense practice sessions should lead to a convincing victory over a washed up Florida State.

GO BRUINS.

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Turning the corner?

Remember that these types of practices were what was "different" leading up to the SUC game as compared to previous years. Is Karl finally applying the lessons he learned during the SUC game to his general approach to coaching? We can only hope so.

by Tydides on Dec 20, 2006 12:36 PM PST reply actions

Keeping my fingers crossed.

I've been hoping that KD would would have that defining moment where it all comes together and he figures it out. He has done a lot of good for this program, and I want to see him become a good coach. Maybe the fire that drove him at the SC game will be that moment. I hope so. I can't take the uninspired play anymore. I hope the SC game gave everyone else, especially the KD defenders, a higher standard to hold him to, including himself.

by isodore on Dec 20, 2006 1:35 PM PST up reply actions