UCLA Spring Practice Day 3 – A Quick Look At The Offense

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For UCLA Spring Practice Day 3, I wanted to look more at the defense, which you can read about HERE, but also saw some of the offense. With UCLA’s first practice in pads, there was a bit more fire to the Bruins. Though the defense looked more in sync than offense, there was a lot of good things happening for a side that just lost their leader for the last three years, Brett Hundley.

Because I focused more on the defense, I was only able to get a feel for the quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers. Offensive line fans, never fear, we will get you an update in the coming practices. Although I can tell you there was a Kolton Miller sighting… you cannot miss him, he is 6’8″, 300 lbs.

Receivers Looking To Shine

With the Bruins adjusting to three different QBs in Spring Practice, there will naturally be different reactions to Jerry Neuheisel, Asiantii Woulard and Josh Rosen throwing to them. With that, three receivers stood out in Spring Practice Day 3 with their consistent play.

• Mossi Johnson continues to shine and did not seem to be affected by the multiple QBs passing styles. He had great positioning and caught very ball thrown at him with ease. He even had a great catch in traffic at the goal line that was thrown on a frozen rope from Neuheisel. He got hit and still held onto the ball.
• Austin Roberts and Alex Van Dyke are two big receivers that take up space on the field. These two were huge commits in 2014 because of their size, speed and pass catching abilities and we are starting to see that become more prevalent in practice.

Running With The Competition

UCLA Bruins

Paul Perkins stills looks just like the best rusher in the conference. He is still solid, he still runs with passion, but now it seems that there is a confidence about him seeing as he will be THE MAN next season.

The story with the RBs is who will be #2? Head coach Jim Mora alluded to that after practice, when asked if Nate Starks will be the back-up. He responded, “Yeah, but there is great competition.” After that he said “Craig Lee has flashed” which is good to hear about a player that has had a tough time breaking out the last two years he has been with the program. Click HERE to check out the video by Jack Wang of InsideSoCal.com.

Indeed, both looked good against the defense, but from my perspective Starks really stood out. Not only is he still a bulldozer, but he looks to have added some side-to-side movements which allowed him to juke a bit more freely which resulted in a lot of the defense missing tackles on him.

Pass Improvements

Sep 26, 2014; Las Vegas, NV, USA; St. John Bosco Braves quarterback Josh Rosen (3) makes a pass while being pressured by Bishop Gorman Gaels defensive end Haskell Garrett (16) during a game at Fertitta Field.Bishop Gorman won the game 34-31. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

The thing about Josh Rosen is that he can adapt to situations quickly. On Day 1 of Spring Practice, he looked like a freshman. Today, he looked like a much improved freshman who has a lot of confidence in his ability. He was getting balls to receivers in traffic and throwing 35-yard passes like he was flicking a coin in to a nearby water fountain.

Neuheisel started practice not being able to throw balls to his targets and having some knocked down. Towards the end, there was not a ball his receivers dropped. Neuheisel looked a lot more consistent and confident in the second hour of practice as he was slinging balls all over the field.

The same went for Woulard as he started out cold, but got better as practice went on. In scrimmage, he had a pass that was picked off at the goal line by Jaleel Wadood. That INT seemed to straighten him out he came back and threw good pass after good pass. He even had a 30-yd touchdown pass that went over the entire defense into the middle of the end zone.

The next practice is Monday at 7 a.m.