Spaulding Roundup: Saturday Practice Notes, Spring Game update and Moreau Impresses

The Bruins were out practicing on Spaulding Field again this morning. Spring football is coming to a close with today being the 11th of 15 practice sessions. keeping that in mind, some of the guys are making a strong impression on the staff as they take a couple of months off from the practice field. Here is the video of Coach Mora's post-practice talk with the media (via David Woods/BRO).

The competition between Ashanti Woulard and Jerry Neuheisel looks to be a tight one. Asiantii has struggled a bit lately

On Thursday, Woulard was held out of 11-on-11 sessions, and missed several throws on the 7-on-7 portion after a wide-open touchdown to receiver Sam Handler.

"He’s stalled a little bit," Mora said. "Does it concern me? A little. But I think it’s common. You reach a barrier, and you ascend and break through. He wants to be great, but he’s still young."

To be fair - and as noted above - that is usual for a true freshman (not named Myles Jack). Jerry Neu has taken advantage of that opening, with Mora noting that his performances over the past weeks has caught his eye. Keep in mind that Woulard is going through his 1st year of collegiate spring ball, while this is Neu's 3rd spring as a Bruin.

Mora talked about how good Mossi Johnson has looked, as has the secondary as a whole - really the team's understanding and grasp of their roles on the team and of the overall scheme, even in just the past few days has notably improved. Malcolm Bunche's level of play and versatility earned praise, as has Kylie Fitts work on the field. But the biggest praise was reserved for Fabian Moreau.

...Moreau is clearly turning himself into UCLA’s best defensive back. Even Mora couldn’t resist; in the span of four minutes or so, Mora went from saying he didn’t notice Moreau much (a good thing) to saying the former high school tailback is a future first-round NFL draft pick.

Just a couple of notes on injuries: Thomas Duarte sprained his ankle and missed practice, but is not thought to be a long-term problem. Devin Fuller has a tight back - which led Mora to talk about his concern in trying not to make him go out on the field full speed and aggravate that injury. Sean Covington took some placekicking reps on Friday, mainly to give Fairburn a rest, though he did praise Sean's range.

Later in the week, Mora plans a couple of practices sans pads before Saturday's finale. And on the "Spring Spectacular"... If you attended last year's Spring event at the Rose Bowl or watched the Pac-12 Network's coverage, you know that it was not a particularly spectacular event to watch. Mora has taken note, and is intending for the team to take part in more 'real football' activities next Saturday at the Stubhub Center. His goal is to have a real spring game, but at the very least we should end up seeing a more interesting and exciting set of Bruin team activities. The plan is for the players to sign autograph outside of the stadium from 3-4pm, with the event starting at 5pm.

Go Bruins!