Yesterday was the start of the 2009 UCLA Football Season. After an opening Media Day, fall practice officially began.


Coach Neuhisel roaming the sidelines

Coach Neuheisel decided on a split squad approach to the first week of camp. The first group of practices will be split, the early practice will be the first and third strings, late practice will be second and fourth strings, with the entire team meeting in the middle for special teams. This set up allows for more reps for each player and allows the coaching staff to really see what they have in the incoming freshmen.


Freshmen Randall Carroll running after a catch.

Speaking of incoming freshman, the two most important recruits coming in are without a doubt the offensive linemen Xavier Su'a-Filo and Stan Hasiak. Well, at the start of practice yesterday both Su'a-Filo and Hasiak where running with the first team offensive line. Su'a-Filo at left tackle and Hasiak at right guard. Neuheisel cautioned against putting too much stock in the move, saying that they just wanted to see what those two could do. I for one think that they will be a fixture from day one.

Kevin Prince seemed to have a fairly good day, nothing too surprising. Prince seems to have really seized his opportunity to be the starting quarterback and used it to become a very strong leader for the offense that is in need of leaders.


Kevin Prince shows his ability to throw the deep ball.

Freshman Richard Brehaut apparently had the best day as far as completing passes goes, but Neuheisel was not overly impressed with any of the quarterbacks. But he also admitted to being a very harsh critic. Redshirt freshman Nick Crissman threw the ball in practice yesterday for the first time since last year. Crissman underwent surgery on his shoulder and went through a very tough rehab process to get himself ready for this season. He is an interesting prospect to watch over the next few years.


Richard Brehaut leads the second team offense during the late practice.

Nick Crissman getting his first reps since last year.

The running game will be lead by redshirt junior Christian Ramirez, but during his press conference, Neuheisel said that sophomore Derrick Coleman has made probably the biggest jump this offseason. He weights 230 punds and has less than five percent body fat. He also ran a sub 4.5 40 yard dash during the offseason. For someone that big to run that fast, I am sure glad he is in blue and gold.


Derrick Coleman running individual drills.

The other big news to come out of the press conference was that for the November 11 matchup with Washington, the Bruins will, for the first time in their history, wear throw back jerseys. The jerseys will be from the Beban era of UCLA football and Gary Beban himself will be the honorary captain for the game.

Quickhitters: No injuries were reported for the first day... Freshman Dalton Hilliard was held out of practice, but did individual drills after having a knee scope three weeks ago... Senior defensive end Chinonso Anyanwu will be sidelined for a while after undergoing hip surgery... Incoming JC transfer Eddie Williams had to clear up a paperwork problem, but was admitted just in time for the second practice... Freshman fullback JaysonAllmond missed practice today due to a paperwork problem, he should be practicing by the end of the week... The first day in pads will be Fridaythe 14th.

Sidenote: I will be attending practice one day next week so look forward to two posts next week!

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.

1. USC
2. California
3. Oregon
4. Oregon State
5. Arizona State
6. Stanford
7. UCLA
8. Arizona
9. Washington
10. 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.

The Bruins picked up their biggest commitment of this recruiting class last week, with the announcement that safety Tony Jefferson out of East Lake HS (Chula Vista, CA) would be wearing the blue and gold in 2010.



Jefferson is the highest rated commit so far this year for the Bruins. He also was long rumored to be a USC silent commit, but after USC picked up two safeties already, Jefferson decided to drop the Trojans.

Not only is Jefferson an outstanding athlete, playing on both sides of the ball. He is also versatile on defense, where he will most likely be playing in college. Jefferson is a safety/linebacker hybrid with speed. He is also graduating from high school in December, so he can enroll in school early and compete in spring practice next year.

As a junior Jefferson recorded 89 tackles, two interceptions, two sacks, a pair of fumble recoveries and a forced fumble. As a running back on the offensive side, he ran for 1,322 yards and 26 touchdowns and earned All-State Underclass honors.

Thursday is Pac-10 media day in LA. Coach Neuheisel and Defensive captain Reggie Carter will be there to represent the Bruins. You can follow the coverage here. Neuheisel is scheduled to speak at 10:15.



Lastly, Colorado transfer Josh Smith is hoping that academics don't keep him out of UCLA. If he is cleared for admittance he will be a Bruin.