Bruin Bites: UCLA Football Edition

By now most of you should have read Nestor's notes from practice yesterday.

If you have not, you definitely should, if only to hear what a coach should sound like.  It's hard not to go all in on Coach Mora, but so far the general trend has been upward.  On a character level at least (and it is no small thing), I think everyone is sold and proud to have him representing the four letters.

Anyway, just wanted to wrap up some more notes from practice and a few notes here and there about UCLA Football.

Starting first with a few more details from practice, it seems stud athlete Asiantii Woulard is finally hitting a wall, something that is not too much of a surprise.  There are few athletes who can have a straight upward trajectory in their learning curve.  Given that he is just a sophomore, and that the pressure has ratcheted up, it is not that shocking to find Asiantii in this spot.  Meanwhile, Jerry Neuheisel has stepped up his game and taken advantage of his experience and maturity to step ahead of Asiantii.  I am sure Woulard will get back on track, as his stalling seems more mental than anything else.

A funny recruiting battle is emerging within the coaching staff, for Myles Jack's services.  Apparently Coach Polamalu is dropping hints to Jack here and there, trying to "flip" him to his side.  I don't blame him!  But now it looks like they are also using MJD to lure him over to the offense...recruiting violation!  Funny stuff, but overall it sounds like we will have the depth to be ok at running back.  The question remains, will we be great?  That's what a Myles Jack brings you.

Sticking with current Bruins and spring practice, ESPN has a video of an interview with Jake Brendel sporting some cool specs to catch up on the state of the offensive line, his QB, and other nuggets.

Looking back at the 2013 season, ESPN has a run down of the takeaway margins for the Pac-12 teams.  Not surprisingly, there is a pretty good correlation between that margin and the results for the season.  Of note: UCLA (and UW) had the fewest turnovers in a season for the past 3 season, with a total of only 16.  Meanwhile, Stanford has been in the teens all three years.

Finally, Barkley-Blaster Extraordinaire Anthony Barr is visiting with the Steelers who will interview him for the upcoming draft.  I think many of us saw Barr as a good fit for that defense, and Pittsburgh also drafted another UCLA stud by the name of Bruce Davis.

That's all folks, enjoy your day!