UCLA Gets Spring Practice Under Way

The UCLA football team has had a blue collar feel to them since head coach Jim Mora arrived just over three years ago. That was amplified on this morning as the Bruin football team started Spring Practice.

It was overcast and a bit cold. To the south, smoke rose from the facilities management center, mixing with the low lying cloud cover. Construction was being done on the new Meyer and Renee Luskin Conference Center just east of Spaulding Field. Coming from the building was loud drilling sounds, echoes of metal riveting into metal as well as the vision of flying sparks from arc welding. It felt more like Pittsburgh than Westwood.

UCLA Bruins

With the football team in the foreground and the skeleton of a massive building in the background, it was evident there was definitely work to be done.

Things got started for UCLA at 7 a.m. with run-throughs, stretches and warm-ups. With it only being the first practice, it was essentially large groups of players being herded all over Spaulding Field.

Quarterbacks doing drills on one side of the south field while receivers and running backs finding their respective corners on the north field. Defense was pacing themselves as they worked on setting-up and coverage on their side of the south field. Linemen are not on either field as they are working with large equipment on the far side of Spaulding. Indeed, it was just another practice at UCLA.

With coaches working with the players to refine their skills during this Spring Practice session, there was not much to point out in the first hour, yet we did get a look at players individually when they were running plays with both offense and defense in the second hour.

Here is the Go Joe Bruin perspective…

• The defense looked a little sharper than the offense for most of practice. Myles Jack is still Myles Jack so naturally he was in top form and looking good.
• Randall Goforth, who is recovering from shoulder surgery, was in a red jersey, yet he was still playing physical.
• Eldridge Massington, Thomas Duarte, Alex Van Dyke and Austin Roberts really stood out among the receivers. They all had good form and made their receptions look easy. During drills, they stood out against coverage.

And what about the quarterback situation? Of course you want to know about that. With the Bruins former QB Brett Hundley heading to the NFL, it is down to three players…

• First off, all of them had good passes mixed in with bad ones. It is practice, it will happen.
• Jerry Neuheisel looks like he is working on his long passes. He was accurate on the long ball for the most part. He also looks to be trying to roll out to the sides a lot more.
• Asiantii Woulard looks like he could be a carbon copy of Brett Hundley, at least in how he plays the game. His arm looked strong but could use some fine tuning. If that does not work, he has his legs to get him out of sticky situations, which helped get him a few extra yards on a some plays.
• Josh Rosen looked like a college quarterbacks every time he steps behind center. He automatically gets into a stance that tells you he is ready. He has a strong arm and is fairly accurate.

Woulard and Neuheisel had taken the majority of snaps during the drills. Both look good at times but not consistent. But like we said, it is the first practice. As for Rosen, he was limited but did come on at the end. He looked good in traffic, but needs to adjust to a college defense.

Well that is all from Spaulding Field for today. Stay with Go Joe Bruin as we continue to bring you more information on UCLA football as they progress through Spring Practice.