Scrimmage Saturday News & Notes

by Nestor on Aug 18, 2007 5:49 AM PDT in Football Comment 0 comments

Just one more Saturday to go till we get to game day! Today is of course scrimmage Saturday (I will put up an open thread right after this round with the germane links). And it sounds like it will be a ho hum deal since most of the starting position including the quarterback one, is all set.

The main goal for today is to avoid injuries:

"The biggest thing is to come out of the day without any serious injury," said Dorrell, who added it will not mean less playing time for the starters. "We want them to get a good amount of reps that we feel they need. Just like in training camp, you still have to work."

Traditionally, the training-camp scrimmages lacked flair, and this figures to be the same as coaching paranoia rises. Coaches, in general, feel playing a scrimmage in front of the masses means more opposing eyes are watching, and some will provide scouting reports to future opponents.

"We're not going to show everything that we do," Dorrell said. "But our players want to see what they can do. They want a chance to make some plays, so we'll get them a chance to do that."

Uhm again what is this guy talking about? It doesn't really take a lot of scouting to predict what will Dorrell's offense run. My little nephews (yes I have brainwashed all of them to become Bruins) could predict what was coming when they were watching UCLA games last season.

While most of the starting positions are all set, coaches are still figuring out details in the special teams:

All issues for starting spots have been solved, although injuries may dictate some changes. Fullback Michael Pitre and guard Shannon Tevaga will not compete in the scrimmage. Personnel decisions for special teams are another matter.

Derrick Williams, who averaged a team-high 26 yards a kickoff return, had to quit football because of multiple concussions. Mike Norris, Matthew Slater, Kahlil Bell and Brett Lockett will try to fill that spot.

Either Terrence Austin or Alterraun Verner will handle punts, although Dorrell said returning punts is "definitely in the future" for freshman Courtney Viney.

"We want guys who can secure a catch and hit those seams," Dorrell said. "There's a chance in the scrimmage to see if those guys can make plays. . . . Everybody looks good running through [non-contact drills]. I can go run through the coverage team on air. It's when bullets are flying, that's what you need to see."

The coverage teams will continue to get extra work, as teams will kick from the 30-yard line under a new NCAA rule.

"I'd say there has been 20-25% more emphasis on the special teams this year," Dorrell said. "The kickoff return play is a big play in college football now, just like it is in the NFL. You have to spend time and energy on defending the kickoff return and being productive in the kickoff return."

Last year the special team which was being coached by Wristen IIRC was kind of a disaster (except for the kicking game). We will see how this year shapes up. Seemingly we hear this talk about paying attention to details every season.

Anyways, couple of other interesting notes. First, per Foster from the LAT (linked above), Walker is swapping LB position moving Hale to Mike (MLB) and Kyle Bosworth to Sam (SLB). I guess its news to me that Hale was playing Sam because from the depth chart that is provided in the media guide it showed Hale at Mike and Bosworth at Sam to begin with. Oh well. Walker's reasoning is that he wants Hale at the Mike position because its basically the position that QBs the defense (and Christian Taylor is very good at it) and he thinks Hale is the right fit for it, while Bosworth can use his athleticism from the strong side. I will have more on our LBs and our front 4 early next week.

Second interesting note comes from Dohn (again linked above) re. our new center:

Snap decision: Chris Joseph's move from guard to center was slow in the spring, so much so he was concerned about his lack of progress heading into training camp.

That is no longer the case.

"I'm starting to get the hang of it," Joseph said. "I'm getting to know all the calls, how to direct everybody on the line, and things like that. You're at the apex of the line, so you have to know what's going on everywhere."

Snap decision, part II: From the looks of practice, and from what players are saying, UCLA will utilize the shotgun much more than in previous seasons. A key is having a seamless snap, which wasn't the case with Robert Chai last season.

In other words last year the coaches blamed Chai for not being able to incorporate shot gun formations in our play calling (again its always everyone but Dorrell's fault). I wonder what is going to be the excuse next year if things don't work out as hyped this practice season.

Oh speaking of practice here is an amusing note from Kevin Pearson's new UCLA Blog on PE.com (HT to Free the 16):

Admittedly, I haven't seen a practice quite like this in my four years covering UCLA, but Karl Dorrell sent his players out today in shorts and t-shirts and tennis shoes. Apparently, the only requirement was a hat. Most wore UCLA hats, but some wore baseball caps and Chris Horton even wore a floppy hat, ala Gilligan.

The team is basically just doing a special teams walk-through. Don't know if this was designed to reduce hitting because of Saturday's scrimmage or a reward for what has been a fairly productive training camp, but it is certainly something new.

No snarking needed from me on that one. I will let you draw your own conclusions.

Scrimmage day open thread coming up in a bit.

GO BRUINS.

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