UCLA wrapped up yet another full pads practice on Wednesday morning, and while Tom Bradley's defense flourished, Kennedy Polamalu's offense is still trying to get going. Here were the notables from the morning:
Notes
-Linebacker Josh Woods and defensive back Marcus Rios missed practice with injuries this afternoon. Neither looks serious. Running back Nate Starks was also held out of contact drills.
-Tight ends coach Rip Scherer told us after practice his recruiting areas are Temecula / Inland Empire, Orange County, Portland and a little bit of SEC territory. It'll all morph into essentially tight end recruiting after this month, though.
-Starks told us the plan Polamalu has given the RBs for right now is to ride the hot hand. No real starter or bell cow has been named yet.
The Day Five two-deep
-No notable changes here. Everyone that was with the ones on Monday was with them again today.
Practice observations
-It was an absolutely brutal day for the offense out there. On Monday I think I wrote there were seemingly more incompletions than completions, but today, I feel pretty confident saying there were definitely more incompletions than completions. The O-line cannot give the quarterbacks any time to throw, and on the rare occasion that they do get time, there's just no chemistry between Josh Rosen and guys like Eldridge Massington and Alex Van Dyke. Van Dyke and Jordan Lasley had two big drops that I noticed. Mike Fafaul had a bad interception to Jayon Brown. Rosen overthrew guys constantly. It was tough to watch.
-Tom Bradley kicked up the blitzing today, which is a big reason for the O-line's struggles. Any time a backer blitzed the B-gap, he got in for a sack. I saw Jayon Brown numerous times for would-be sacks. Eli Ankou and Jacob Tuioti-Mariner provided good push up the middle on Scott Quessenberry, Najee Toran and Poasi Moala, and Takk McKinley and Deon Hollins continued to run by tackles. With no real emphasis on the running game today, it was kind of a blood bath out there when it came to defense vs. offense.
-Two lone bright spots today for the offense were Cam Griffin and Ainuu Taua. The improvement Griffin has made in just seven days is pretty impressive. He's sporting a neck roll now and he's starting to look the part of a physical fullback. He had a few nice catches coming out of the backfield and even got a few carries with Starks out. After practice, both Starks and Soso Jamabo raved about Griffin. Taua, meanwhile, was great running downhill leading the way on some runs in 9-on-7.
-In OL-DL pass-rush, Keisean Lucier-South continued to shine. He blew by Andre James a few times, and is really starting to live up to that Anthony Barr comp we all put on him in high school. James, meanwhile, fell a bit back to Earth today. He got beat by KLS and Matt Dickerson in 1-on-1s and he gave up a few sacks in 11-on-11 as well.
-Takkarist McKinley continued to shine in 1-on-1s, beating Kolton Miller twice. Kenny Lacy got the better of Nick Terry in 1-on-1s, which hasn't been easy to do. Najee Toran and Jacob Tuioti-Mariner continue to stalemate in their 1-on-1 reps. Conor McDermott vs. Breland Brandt continues to not be fair for Brandt.
-The lone offensive play I saw today that was effective was a screen to Soso Jamabo. It was the second time this week that play has gone for big yards with the shifty back.
-Freshman J.J. Molson finished practice 3-for-5, with bad misses from around 35 and 52. He did make a long of 47 yards, however.
UCLA is back at it again on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
Notes
-Linebacker Josh Woods and defensive back Marcus Rios missed practice with injuries this afternoon. Neither looks serious. Running back Nate Starks was also held out of contact drills.
-Tight ends coach Rip Scherer told us after practice his recruiting areas are Temecula / Inland Empire, Orange County, Portland and a little bit of SEC territory. It'll all morph into essentially tight end recruiting after this month, though.
-Starks told us the plan Polamalu has given the RBs for right now is to ride the hot hand. No real starter or bell cow has been named yet.
The Day Five two-deep
-No notable changes here. Everyone that was with the ones on Monday was with them again today.
Practice observations
-It was an absolutely brutal day for the offense out there. On Monday I think I wrote there were seemingly more incompletions than completions, but today, I feel pretty confident saying there were definitely more incompletions than completions. The O-line cannot give the quarterbacks any time to throw, and on the rare occasion that they do get time, there's just no chemistry between Josh Rosen and guys like Eldridge Massington and Alex Van Dyke. Van Dyke and Jordan Lasley had two big drops that I noticed. Mike Fafaul had a bad interception to Jayon Brown. Rosen overthrew guys constantly. It was tough to watch.
-Tom Bradley kicked up the blitzing today, which is a big reason for the O-line's struggles. Any time a backer blitzed the B-gap, he got in for a sack. I saw Jayon Brown numerous times for would-be sacks. Eli Ankou and Jacob Tuioti-Mariner provided good push up the middle on Scott Quessenberry, Najee Toran and Poasi Moala, and Takk McKinley and Deon Hollins continued to run by tackles. With no real emphasis on the running game today, it was kind of a blood bath out there when it came to defense vs. offense.
-Two lone bright spots today for the offense were Cam Griffin and Ainuu Taua. The improvement Griffin has made in just seven days is pretty impressive. He's sporting a neck roll now and he's starting to look the part of a physical fullback. He had a few nice catches coming out of the backfield and even got a few carries with Starks out. After practice, both Starks and Soso Jamabo raved about Griffin. Taua, meanwhile, was great running downhill leading the way on some runs in 9-on-7.
-In OL-DL pass-rush, Keisean Lucier-South continued to shine. He blew by Andre James a few times, and is really starting to live up to that Anthony Barr comp we all put on him in high school. James, meanwhile, fell a bit back to Earth today. He got beat by KLS and Matt Dickerson in 1-on-1s and he gave up a few sacks in 11-on-11 as well.
-Takkarist McKinley continued to shine in 1-on-1s, beating Kolton Miller twice. Kenny Lacy got the better of Nick Terry in 1-on-1s, which hasn't been easy to do. Najee Toran and Jacob Tuioti-Mariner continue to stalemate in their 1-on-1 reps. Conor McDermott vs. Breland Brandt continues to not be fair for Brandt.
-The lone offensive play I saw today that was effective was a screen to Soso Jamabo. It was the second time this week that play has gone for big yards with the shifty back.
-Freshman J.J. Molson finished practice 3-for-5, with bad misses from around 35 and 52. He did make a long of 47 yards, however.
UCLA is back at it again on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
