by Ross Coleman - Contributing Editor
August 4, 2009 22:35
It seems that the closer we get to UCLA football starting, the slower the news is coming out of Westwood.
Well the biggest news to come out of UCLA is that Daily News beat reporter Brian Dohn is leaving his job covering the Bruins. You know its slow when that is the biggest story.
Dohn has covered the Bruins for the last six years in basketball and football. I, for one, think that he did a good job covering the Bruins in a unbiased and honest way. Now I have heard that some think that he is negative and tends to have a poor view of how good UCLA football could be. But I think he always did a good job of breaking stories and always seemed to be an insider for UCLA news.
As far as real breaking news for UCLA football, this past week was media day. It may have been a quiet media day but it still happened. Coach Neuheisel and senior linebacker Reggie Carter were out representing the Bruins. Both had some good things to say about the progression of the offense and Kevin Prince.
According to Pac-10 coaches, UCLA was picked to finish seventh this year.
- USC
- California
- Oregon
- Oregon State
- Arizona State
- Stanford
- UCLA
- Arizona
- Washington
- Washington State
Both Carter and Neuheisel said at media day that a bowl game is the goal this year. Anything less would be a severe disappointment. Vegas has even set the Bruins over/under win total at six for this season.
Quick hitters: Colorado transfer Josh Smith will be a Bruin after sitting out next year... Both senior tight ends Logan Paulsen and Ryan Moya have been named to the Mackey pre-season watch list. The Mackey is given to the top tight end every year... Sophomore defensive back Tony Dye is suffering from turf toe and should be ready for fall camp... Freshman linebacker Taniela Maka did not achieve the necessary SAT score to be admitted to UCLA. He will sit out this fall and try to get a score good enough to enroll in January... Freshman linebacker Jared Koster has a sports hernia and will have surgery to repair it... Senior defensive end Chinonso Anyanwu will likely have surgery to fix a hip injury, he will miss the start of fall training camp... After some conflicting reports on their eligibility both freshman tackle Nik Abele and junior college transfer guard Eddie Williams are now enrolled at UCLA...Offensive linemen Mike Harris, Kai Maiava and Darius Savage and tight ends Moya and Paulsen have all been cleared to participate in fall training camp after missing time with injuries.
Links:
According to rivals.com, which is counting down the top 100 players in college football, UCLA has three players in the to 100. Brian Price (49), Reggie Carter (67), and Alteraun Verner (72).
On ESPN.com veteran college football writers Pat Forde, Ivan Maisel and Mark Schlabach are having a mock draft of the top 40 college football schools. Maisel picked the Bruins 30th.
The good old LA Times is doing a preview of the upcoming season by position. Here is the outlook from the backfield.
