This past week was the first for UCLA fall camp. While there were ups and downs on both sides of the ball, the Bruins showed something that they haven't shown in some time: promise.

This week started with the NCAA mandated acclimation period where there are no two a days allowed for the first week and no pads allowed for the first five days. But as of Saturday UCLA has been in full pads and practicing twice a day every other day (another NCAA rule preventing two practices two days in a row).

While the defense still appears to be winning the war against the offense, surprisingly enough, the offense is winning some wars. The first string offensive, freshman Xavier Su'a-Filo at left tackle, freshman Stan Hasiak at left guard, sophomore Kai Maiava at center, junior college transfer Eddie Williams at right guard, and sophomore and only returning starter Jeff Baca at right tackle, line has stayed the same most of the week. They also have been doing an outstanding job protecting the quarterback and opening running lanes for the running backs, when you compare them with last year.




Quarterback Kevin Prince has appeared to make huge strides since the spring. He has taken on a leadership role for the offense and shown flashes of being one of the all time great quarterbacks for the Bruins. Now if he can translate that to game success and cut down on team turnovers, then UCLA should be a big surprise this season.



The running game seems to have turned a corner with the help of a talented offensive line. Although junior Christian Ramirez has been named the starter, sophomore Derrick Coleman has transformed himself into a force in the running game. At 6-feet 230 pounds and running a 4.5 40 yard dash, Coleman is a rare combination of size and speed that will be carrying the load much of the season for the Bruins. Redshirt freshmen Milton Knox and Jonathan Franklin have both had good moments but also need to be more consistent. Freshman Damien Thigpen has been making a case for no redshirt year by using his speed to stretch the field.

At wide receiver the biggest surprise has been the play of freshman Ricky Marvray. Marvray has come in and played like a veteran from day one. His routes are run smoothly and correctly, he catches everything, and has shown more speed than he was thought to have coming in. It seems that Marvray will not Redshirt this year and will see the field plenty.

On the defensive side everything is what you would expect. Brian Price is showing just what an all-American defensive linemen looks like. Datone Jones is quickly becoming the Bruins best young defensive linemen. Reggie Carter is doing what he does best, fill holes. Alterraun Verner is doing his best to show the younger defensive backs how it's done. And Aaron Hester is doing his best Alterraun Verner impersonation.







The only starting spot still up for competition on defense is the strong safety spot where sophomore Tony Dye and redshirt sophomore Glenn Love are battling it out. Dye's knock is that he is so versatile that he would almost be a better back up and nickle corner at this point. Love's knock is that he is still very inconsistent in pass coverage and plays like a much smaller player, not at all what you want from a 6-4 player.

Two a days continue all this week, culminating with a full team scrimmage this Saturday evening at Drake Stadium.



Quicknotes: Injuries to defensive tackle Jess Ward (sprained MCL out 2-3 weeks) and defensive end Reggie Stokes (torn cartilage out indefinitely) has forced the coaching staff to move some offensive linemen to defence. Junior tackle Sean Sheller is now lining up at defensive tackle and redshirt freshman tackle Connor Bradford is now lining up at defensive end... Also among the injured are senior offensive guard Nick Ekbatani (sprained MCL out 4-6 weeks)... Freshman Nik Abele, who started his young Bruin career at defensive end has been moved to offensive tackle where offensive line coach Bob Palcic begged coach Rick Neuheisel to keep Abele... Freshman fullback Jayson Allmound is making a case for no redshirt year.

Sidenote: I will be attending practice today and will have a full practice write up tomorrow.

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.