UCLA Football Spring Practice Day 3 – Bruins That Stood Out and Other News

For Day 3 of UCLA Football’s Spring Practice, Go Joe Bruin got to see the team in the flesh and saw several players stand out.

Though it is only Spring Practice, the presence of UCLA Football always seems to put a smile on my face. It was the first time I got to see the UCLA Football team for myself as they go through Spring Practice.

RELATED: UCLA Football Spring Practice Schedule

Before we get into practice it self, I just wanted to comment on how lovely the football team looked on the IM field.

With the Bruin’s usual practice area, Spaulding Field, currently under construction to accommodate the construction of the new Wasserman Football Facility, which will be complete by the end of summer 2017, the team, coaches and all of their equipment were nicely laid out on the gigantic turf field on the north side of Pauley Pavilion.

But then I noticed the general viewing area… it was not great. We were limited to the south side of side-by-side fields that ran north-south. Not the greatest spot to watch football, but Spring Practice is just that, practice.

The UCLA Football team ran through 11-on-11 plays about 30% of the time. The rest was individual units working on drills. To the casual observer it might seem boring, but to those that cannot get enough football, it was a chance to see the team develop on an individual level.

Standout Bruins

There were several players that really stood out, for better or worse, though the majority had a handle on drills and scrimmages. Interestingly enough, most of them are players that have switched positions or would have back-up roles. Here is a list of players that stood out on Day 3.

UCLA Bruins

Bolu Olorunfunmi – He had several excellent runs that went for touchdowns on both sides of the line. His speed is what stood out during a mid-practice scrimmage as he ran for the corners and beat out his defender on nearly consecutive plays. In a later scrimmage he had a run that went down to the 10-yard line, but was gang tackled. He got up and hobbled down the sideline, but no word on if he was injured, though it did not look serious.

Ainuu Taua and Cameron Griffin – Both of these players switched from defense to fullback and seemed to have a handle on the position. Both were used in pass plays and appeared to have soft hands as they pulled in receptions. Late in practice, Griffin caught a nice pass for a touchdown on the weak side of a bootleg.

Kenny Walker – He looks a bit more comfortable catching, though did have the occasional dropped pass. Getting receptions seems to be the problem he needs to get over, yet once he catches the ball, he moved very well to avoid defenders.

Nick Terry, Takkarist McKinley and Keisean Lucier-South – All three of these players looked very good on the defensive line. In drills, JC transfer Terry showed good strength attacking the gaps and had a few good stops during a short scrimmage. McKinley and Lucier-South were very quick off the line when attacking the edges during drills.

Quick Notes

–Josh Rosen and the other quarterbacks were taking snaps out of both the shotgun and under center. As Rosen looked naturally confident, Mike Fafaul and freshman Matt Lynch looked raw, though both did have a few good passes with the second team.

-Offensive tackle Conor McDermott looked very good and has not skipped a bit. The Bruins moved well when running to the left where McDermott is. The other tackle, Kolton Miller looks physically bigger which makes him stand out even more as 6’9″ football player. He also looked sharper and quicker on the line.

–Poasi Moala still has great hair.

Next: UCLA Football Spring Practice Day 2 - Defensive Coordinator Tom Bradley Talks To The Media

-The offense seemed to be pacing themselves in 11-on-11 drills. There were several plays were the Bruins took their time coming out of on-field huddles, which there were a lot of.