UCLA football: Coach Rick Neuheisel seeks big-play capability
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UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel has moved on from his “run the ball or die trying” mantra of a month ago, as “high octane” and “explosiveness” are now the buzz words.
The Bruins rank 102nd out of 119 teams nationally in passing offense. Statistics were not much of a concern as long as they were winning, but a 24-16 loss to Stanford seems to have Neuheisel crunching numbers.
“It isn’t lost on us that we haven’t been a downfield offense,” Neuheisel said at his weekly news conference. “We have to have the ability to stretch the field horizontally and vertically.”
The focus was more grounded a month ago, but a 24-16 loss to Stanford refocused the spotlight.
“I would love to get big chunks of yards, but we haven’t been able to get it done,” Neuheisel said. “That’s the one thing that does ail us. We’ve got to find a way to do that.”
At the heart of the issue remains quarterback Kevin Craft, who completed 22 of 34 passes for 204 yards but had only one completion longer than 16 yards.
That should be solved this week, as Prince is waiting for one more check-up on his fractured jaw before rejoining full practices. He is expected to start against Oregon on Saturday.
“The reasons we chose Kevin Prince [as the starter] in the beginning as still the same,” Neuheisel said. “He has a big arm and can put the ball in all positions of the field. We haven’t seen that yet in games, but we have in practice.”
But the quarterback situation is only part of the problem. Other than wide receiver Terrence Austin, the Bruins have yet to have a receiver step up and show he is a deep threat. Freshmen Morrell Presley and Randall Carroll, two of the fastest players on the team, have yet to become in-game concerns for opposing defensive coordinators.
Presley caught three passes against Stanford, but for only 22 yards. His pass-catching skills are improving, but he did drop a second-down pass on the Bruins’ last drive. Carroll, a two-time state 100-meter champion at Los Angeles’ Cathedral High, didn’t get off the bench against Stanford, an indication that he is having difficulties grasping the UCLA offensive scheme.
“It isn’t as though we haven’t called [deep passes],” Neuheisel said. “Sometimes we call it and different things pop up that do not give us a chance to hit the deep ball.”
In other UCLA news:
--Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli did not practice Monday, according to media reports. Masoli injured his right knee against Washington State on Saturday. He spent Monday wearing a brace and icing his knee. Masoli had 170 yards rushing against UCLA last season.
--UCLA’s game against California on Sept. 17 will be at 12:30 p.m. at the Rose Bowl. It will be televised on Channel 7
-- Chris Foster