He’s ba-ack! UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel was hired to bring his alma mater back into college football’s good graces after two moribund seasons. Neuheisel’s last coaching venture, with the Washington Huskies, ended with a controversial firing in 2003 and a lawsuit after Neuheisel allegedly participated in a college basketball betting pool. Oregon fans remember Neuheisel as “Slick Rick,” the man who instructed his team to dance on the “O” at Autzen Stadium after a Husky win.
UCLA (2-3, 1-1 Pacific-10 Conference) added offensive coordinator Norm Chow (formerly of the Tennessee Titans and USC) to the fold and retained defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker to create a formidable coaching staff, but the results thus far have been mixed. A dramatic upset of then-No. 18 Tennessee was followed by a blowout loss to BYU (also ranked No. 18 at the time), 59-0. The Oregon game will be the second road game the Bruins have played all year (the loss to BYU was the first).
Oregon’s Jeremiah Masoli can surely relate to UCLA’s Kevin Craft, who entered fall camp as the third-string quarterback but was moved to starter after injuries to Pat Cowan and Ben Olson. Craft has completed 97 of 169 pass attempts for 945 yards with four touchdowns and five interceptions, but his performances have been mixed: In the first half of the Tennessee game, Craft threw four interceptions, but he performed well in the second half to seal the upset.
True freshman running back Derrick Coleman currently leads the team in rushing (159 yards on 23 carries), but senior running back Kahlil Bell, who has four touchdowns in his last two games, will likely start as the Bruins attempt to establish the running game. Junior wide receiver Terrence Austin, who also returns punts and kicks for UCLA, is the team’s top pass catcher, but redshirt junior tight end Ryan Moya has become a favorite target of Craft’s, catching three of his four touchdown passes.
Defensively, the Bruins feature one of the best pairs of defensive tackles in the conference in redshirt senior Brigham Harwell and sophomore Brian Price. UCLA did lose standout defensive end Bruce Davis to the NFL, but redshirt junior Korey
Bosworth has filled in well; he leads the team in sacks, ranks second in tackles for loss and is the Bruins’ fifth-leading tackler. Cornerback Alterraun Verner has been regarded as the best defensive player on the Bruins, and his six pass breakups, two interceptions and 39 tackles (second on the team) allude to that claim.
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