UCLA wrapped up its 15th practice of the spring Saturday with about an hour of fully live, 11-on-11 scrimmage work.
Here were the notes:
THE TEAMS
-Chip Kelly split the squad up into "Blue" and "White" teams (White won, 16-10). The teams essentially looked like this: Blue team was Nos. 1 and 2 offense and Nos. 3 and 4 defense; White team was Nos. 1 and 2 defense and Nos. 3 and 4 offense. So basically the scrimmage was 1sv1s, 2sv2s, 3sv3s and 4sv4s, alternating drives each.
THE SCORES
-Frosh wideout Chase Cota caught the first TD of the game -- a quick little spot route from Austin Burton (Andrew Strauch made the XP).
-J.J. Molson made an easy, 25ish-yard field goal.
-Austin Burton took a read option in on his own from about the 2-yard line for the game's second touchdown (Strauch made the XP).
-Theo Howard mossed every fiber of Darnay Holmes for a deep ball score from a beautiful throw from Matt Lynch (Molson made the XP).
(There was also a safety on a wayward snap that Burton had to go like 20 yards backward to try to recover)
THE STANDOUTS
-Krys Barnes (off Devon Modster), Mo Osling (off Jackson Gibbs) and Elijah Gates (off Lynch) had interceptions.
-Lokeni Toailoa played outstanding, recording several tackles for loss and making a few really nice open-field tackles.
-Joshua Kelley was probably the top offensive performer, showing exceptional burst, especially when compared to the slow-moving Jamabo, Stephens and Olorunfunmi.
-Austin Burton was the top QB performer of the day, showing the accuracy that Modster, Lynch and Gibbs just don't have -- particularly on the deep ball. Lynch did run the read option very, very well, though.
-Speedsters Damian Alloway and Demetric Felton both caught a few passes, including two big-time deep balls.
-Safety Will Lockett was active -- sticky in coverage and around the ball in the ground game.
-Similar to Lokeni Toailoa, Tyree Thompson was all over the ball at the line of scrimmage. He also had a nice PBU on Kelley early in the game.
OTHER NOTABLES
-UCLA's defense was almost exclusively a 2-4-5 throughout the afternoon, with no noseguard in any of the drives. That's very different from what we saw in the first 12 open practices, so I'm just going to assume they did that because they didn't have enough D-linemen to run the true 3-4 all scrimmage.
-DB Shea Pitts nearly knocked out Austin Burton early in the game, and was actually "ejected" for targeting on the play. He was allowed back in by Kelly, though.
-Leni Toailoa and Moses Robinson-Carr had the lone sacks on the day. The O-lines seemed to hold their own, and all of the QBs did a great job maneuvering around the pocket to avoid pressure.
-Most, if not all of the guys who came into the week nicked up did not play, sporting yellow jerseys and shorts on the sidelines.
-Lots of familiar faces on the sidelines, including a grip of 2018 signees (who actually introduced themselves to the team after the scrimmage on the field), grad transfer QB commit Wilton Speight and future first-round pick Josh Rosen.
We'll have full spring recap coverage on the site this week (yes, including a Cover One on the spring game!). Stay tuned.
Here were the notes:
THE TEAMS
-Chip Kelly split the squad up into "Blue" and "White" teams (White won, 16-10). The teams essentially looked like this: Blue team was Nos. 1 and 2 offense and Nos. 3 and 4 defense; White team was Nos. 1 and 2 defense and Nos. 3 and 4 offense. So basically the scrimmage was 1sv1s, 2sv2s, 3sv3s and 4sv4s, alternating drives each.
THE SCORES
-Frosh wideout Chase Cota caught the first TD of the game -- a quick little spot route from Austin Burton (Andrew Strauch made the XP).
-J.J. Molson made an easy, 25ish-yard field goal.
-Austin Burton took a read option in on his own from about the 2-yard line for the game's second touchdown (Strauch made the XP).
-Theo Howard mossed every fiber of Darnay Holmes for a deep ball score from a beautiful throw from Matt Lynch (Molson made the XP).
(There was also a safety on a wayward snap that Burton had to go like 20 yards backward to try to recover)
THE STANDOUTS
-Krys Barnes (off Devon Modster), Mo Osling (off Jackson Gibbs) and Elijah Gates (off Lynch) had interceptions.
-Lokeni Toailoa played outstanding, recording several tackles for loss and making a few really nice open-field tackles.
-Joshua Kelley was probably the top offensive performer, showing exceptional burst, especially when compared to the slow-moving Jamabo, Stephens and Olorunfunmi.
-Austin Burton was the top QB performer of the day, showing the accuracy that Modster, Lynch and Gibbs just don't have -- particularly on the deep ball. Lynch did run the read option very, very well, though.
-Speedsters Damian Alloway and Demetric Felton both caught a few passes, including two big-time deep balls.
-Safety Will Lockett was active -- sticky in coverage and around the ball in the ground game.
-Similar to Lokeni Toailoa, Tyree Thompson was all over the ball at the line of scrimmage. He also had a nice PBU on Kelley early in the game.
OTHER NOTABLES
-UCLA's defense was almost exclusively a 2-4-5 throughout the afternoon, with no noseguard in any of the drives. That's very different from what we saw in the first 12 open practices, so I'm just going to assume they did that because they didn't have enough D-linemen to run the true 3-4 all scrimmage.
-DB Shea Pitts nearly knocked out Austin Burton early in the game, and was actually "ejected" for targeting on the play. He was allowed back in by Kelly, though.
-Leni Toailoa and Moses Robinson-Carr had the lone sacks on the day. The O-lines seemed to hold their own, and all of the QBs did a great job maneuvering around the pocket to avoid pressure.
-Most, if not all of the guys who came into the week nicked up did not play, sporting yellow jerseys and shorts on the sidelines.
-Lots of familiar faces on the sidelines, including a grip of 2018 signees (who actually introduced themselves to the team after the scrimmage on the field), grad transfer QB commit Wilton Speight and future first-round pick Josh Rosen.
We'll have full spring recap coverage on the site this week (yes, including a Cover One on the spring game!). Stay tuned.
