Jim Mora had a conference call and Angus McClure, Tom Bradley and Eric Yarber met with the media. The notes:
-Here's the exchange between Mora and a reporter when asked about the Twitter spat between Takkarist McKinley and Mique Juarez:
Reporter: "Did you have to go back and give them a reminder (of being smart on social media) after the exchange yesterday?"
Mora: "No."
Reporter: "I know you're aware of it, was that a distraction in a week like this?"
Mora: "No."
Reporter: "So you just kind of let it go?"
Mora: "Yes. I mean, there's nothing to - I don't even know what you're talking - it's a non-issue to us. It doesn't matter. Paid no attention to it."
-Mora reiterated that he believes Christian McCaffrey is "the best player in college football."
-On not currently being in the rankings, Mora said, "I couldn't care less about rankings." Said it's "irrelevant right now."
-Tom Bradley didn't make the direct comparison of McCaffrey to these great backs, but it certainly sounded like he was saying preparing for McCaffrey is similiar to either playing or coaching Curt Warner, Marcus Allen, Tony Dorsett and Ron Dayne. He said the thing that makes McCaffrey so good is he does everything - catching, running, blocking, returning - so well. Bradley said he actually recruited McCaffrey's father to Penn State (he ended up at Stanford). Isn't that crazy?
-Asked if UCLA would use a "spy" on McCaffrey like it did with Taysom Hill, Bradley said they're two different offenses and wouldn't reveal their gameplan.
-On how Theo Howard can get more involved, Eric Yarber said it's just "hard" for freshmen to get run in this offense. He said he wants Howard to get confidence before he gets "thrown to the wolves." Yarber hinted that Howard's blocking may be an issue when it comes to playing time, too.
-Yarber said the game is just so fast for freshmen wideouts, saying it even took Jordan Payton five or six games for it to finally slow down in his freshman year at UCLA.
-Yarber said Darren Andrews "has to learn" from the penalties he's racked up the last two weeks.
-On the drops, Yarber said they just have to "do a ton of ball drills" and catch balls at all kinds of different angles and catch at least 100 balls a day to try to fix the issue.
-McClure said Boss Tagaloa practiced Tuesday, but "we'll see" when it comes to his availability for Saturday. McClure also said Takkarist McKinley (groin) didn't practice today, but they "expect him Saturday."
-Here's the exchange between Mora and a reporter when asked about the Twitter spat between Takkarist McKinley and Mique Juarez:
Reporter: "Did you have to go back and give them a reminder (of being smart on social media) after the exchange yesterday?"
Mora: "No."
Reporter: "I know you're aware of it, was that a distraction in a week like this?"
Mora: "No."
Reporter: "So you just kind of let it go?"
Mora: "Yes. I mean, there's nothing to - I don't even know what you're talking - it's a non-issue to us. It doesn't matter. Paid no attention to it."
-Mora reiterated that he believes Christian McCaffrey is "the best player in college football."
-On not currently being in the rankings, Mora said, "I couldn't care less about rankings." Said it's "irrelevant right now."
-Tom Bradley didn't make the direct comparison of McCaffrey to these great backs, but it certainly sounded like he was saying preparing for McCaffrey is similiar to either playing or coaching Curt Warner, Marcus Allen, Tony Dorsett and Ron Dayne. He said the thing that makes McCaffrey so good is he does everything - catching, running, blocking, returning - so well. Bradley said he actually recruited McCaffrey's father to Penn State (he ended up at Stanford). Isn't that crazy?
-Asked if UCLA would use a "spy" on McCaffrey like it did with Taysom Hill, Bradley said they're two different offenses and wouldn't reveal their gameplan.
-On how Theo Howard can get more involved, Eric Yarber said it's just "hard" for freshmen to get run in this offense. He said he wants Howard to get confidence before he gets "thrown to the wolves." Yarber hinted that Howard's blocking may be an issue when it comes to playing time, too.
-Yarber said the game is just so fast for freshmen wideouts, saying it even took Jordan Payton five or six games for it to finally slow down in his freshman year at UCLA.
-Yarber said Darren Andrews "has to learn" from the penalties he's racked up the last two weeks.
-On the drops, Yarber said they just have to "do a ton of ball drills" and catch balls at all kinds of different angles and catch at least 100 balls a day to try to fix the issue.
-McClure said Boss Tagaloa practiced Tuesday, but "we'll see" when it comes to his availability for Saturday. McClure also said Takkarist McKinley (groin) didn't practice today, but they "expect him Saturday."
