Pauley Pavilion Construction Update 5/25
Via @UCLAAthletics:
With just five months until the project’s completion, check out the most recent picture of Pauley Pavilion’s interior. pic.twitter.com/njupXTBQ
Most Important Football Game of the Year?
Kevin Gemmell of the ESPN Pac-12 Blog has picked the Cal game, October 6, as the most important football game for UCLA this fall.
Stanford seems like a good pick in the season finale. Could be the game that determines if UCLA is bowl bound or not. But who knows? They could already be bowl eligible by then. You have to imagine that six wins are out there for this team. But the game that could be the most telling is at Cal.
A victory on the road against Cal would certainly be a quality win. Then they host Utah the following week, which will be coming off the USC game. Who knows what kind of state the Utes will be in. The Bruins have a decent chance to go 5-1 in the first half of the season. And being 5-1 heading into the meat of the South Division schedule would make the folks in Westwood feel pretty good.
The reasoning behind picking this game is sound. The Bruins start the season at Rice, at home for Nebraska, Houston, and Oregon State, and then at Colorado. UCLA easily could start the season 4-1 before heading into the real meat of the Pac-12 schedule.
The Cal game is on the road and a win could leave the Bruins 3-0 in conference. The game is also very winnable with Zach Maynard again expected to be the quarterback for the Bears. Last season UCLA won easily at the Rose Bowl with Tevin McDonald picking off Maynard three times while the offense rushed for 294 yards.
In the second half the of season will have to face Utah, the Arizona schools, Washington State, USC, and Stanford. A win at Cal could be a critical springboard towards a successful season.
Love, Westbrook Named All-NBA
Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook played together at UCLA in 2007-08. They won a World Championship together for Team USA in 2010, and were again together for this year’s All-Star game. Today they are teammates again, this time on the All-NBA 2nd team.
(Source: nba.com)
Muhammad, Anderson Named SLAM All-Americans
Accolades are nothing new for incoming Bruins Shabazz Muhammad and Kyle Anderson. The pair received another today as both were named SLAM 2012 All-Americans alongside Isaiah Austin, Nerlens Noel, and junior Jabari Parker.
This award however is more intriguing to Bruin fans because it comes along with this great photo of the duo decked in blue and gold. I have to say, it’s a great look.
(Source: instagr.am)
12 Bruins Named to Phil Steele’s Pre-season All-Pac-12 Team
Phil Steele, publisher of what college football fans affectionately call “The Bible,” released his pre-season All-Pac-12 team today including 12 Bruins across the 4 teams.
The first team included just one UCLA player which unsurprisingly was punter Jeff Locke. Locke was also named to Steele’s fourth team pre-season All-American team.
Those named to the second team were tight end Joseph Fauria, linebacker Patrick Larimore, and cornerback Aaron Hester.
Tackle Xavier Su’a-Filo and linebacker Jordan Zumwalt made the third team. The fourth team includes six Bruins - running back Johnathan Franklin, receiver Shaquelle Evans, guard Jeff Baca, defensive ends Cassius Marsh and Datone Jones, and safety Tevin McDonald.
This likely means that Steele sees an improvement for UCLA this year as last year only five Bruins made his mid-season All-Pac-12 team (although only 3 teams were named not 4).
The men’s committee reviewed blocking and charging plays and the impact of the three-foot restricted area arc. The committee believes that in some cases the call is not being made correctly, sometimes giving the defense an advantage. To help address this, the committee approved guidelines to help better administer these rules:
* Before the offensive player (with the ball) becomes airborne, the defender must have two feet on the floor, be facing the opponent and be stationary to draw a charge. Otherwise it should be a blocking foul.
* Secondary defenders (help defenders) moving forward or to the side are also in violation, and these should be blocking fouls.
* Contact that is “through the chest” is not de facto proof of a charge. The rule in its entirety must be considered before determining a foul.
* In some cases, it appears that a defender is being rewarded solely for being outside the arc, without considering the other aspects of the rules.
(Source: ncaa.org, via rushthecourt)
Top-Ranked Longsnapper Chooses UCLA
Cole Mazza, the top-ranked long snapper from Bakersfield Liberty, committed to the Bruins Friday. He also had offers from Utah and Washington. More and more schools are giving scholarships to snappers like Mazza, and it’s easy to understand why. When conference championships and bowl games often hinging on a simple field goal, it’s better not to be worrying about a bad snap.
UCLA hasn’t had that problem for a long time now with Kevin McDermott doing a great job as the current snapper. The man he replaced, Christian Yount, was also on scholarship for the Bruins and is now in the NFL. Mazza should continue the strong special teams tradition in Westwood.
Watch Cole Mazza make his decision via @TheChrisRubio: http://twitvid.com/ILKP2
Schedule News: Cal Poly to Visit Westwood
The full schedule has yet to be released, but the Bruins will play host to Cal Poly on November 25 according to KSBY in what should be one of the first games held at new Pauley Pavilion. Last season the first “home” game of the regular season was on November 11 against LMU so there is likely to be at least one before the 25th. It has already been announced that UCLA will play Texas and Missouri in non-conference play this season. Look for the complete schedule to come out sometime during the summer.
