Bruins Head North, Open Pac-10 Play

(first published on KLAC's Bruins Board website --- 10/1/09)

With Saturday’s looming trip to Stanford (3-0, 2-0 in Pac-10), the undefeated UCLA Bruins (perfect through the ’09 non-conference slate) feel ready for the grind of Pac-10 play. And the Bruins coaching staff took full advantage of their extended practice time since the Kansas State win.

While it has been a full two weeks since UCLA played in a competitive football game in pads against anyone except each other, you wouldn’t know it listening to senior middle linebacker Reggie Carter.

“We’re focused, man,” offered Carter on Tuesday, the defense’s signal-caller and emotional leader. “Being three and oh right now, I mean it’s great and all. I’m not gonna lie and say I’d rather be where we were a year ago. But the thing that we all gotta remember, and keep telling ourselves, is that we really haven’t done anything yet. And that’s not me just putting us down. We have to focus on the fact that we still haven’t played a single Pac-10 team so far and there’s a lot of work left do do.”

The Cardinal should give UCLA all it can handle at Stanford Stadium this weekend. Jim Harbaugh’s crew is an impressive 3-1 out the gates with the only loss coming by 3 points to Wake Forest on the road. Lopsided conference wins for Stanford over both Washington schools have the team at 2-0 in the league, good enough for first place right now.

One of the main reasons why Harbaugh’s Cardinal is having so much success this season is its outstanding special teams play. Return man Chris Owusu already has three kickoffs returned for touchdown this season, tying the Pac-10 single season record set by USC’s Anthony Davis (’74) and UCLA’s Matthew Slater (’07). His long returns have boosted Stanford’s field position and greatly affect which side of the field teams are playing on.

To kick to Owosu or not to kick to him? That is the question that UCLA special teams coach Frank Gansz Jr. has dealt with for the past two weeks. A safer bet would be to stay away, but you don’t want to give Stanford the ball at the 40-yard-line every time either.

“He’s a problem,” says Gansz, matter-of-factly. “Just when you think you have containment, the guy busts through a couple defenders and he’s gone. We’ll have to treat him very carefully this weekend. He’s a game-changer, no doubt.”

The Bruins are off and running too though, with three wins in their first three games for the first time since 2005. That team went on to win ten games before some late season hiccups. With top Pac-10 teams dropping like flies just about every weekend this year, the door is certainly ajar for someone new to squeeze through this year.

“We know what our goals are,” said head coach Rick Neuheisel in his weekly Pac-10 teleconference. “And we know that we’re capable of achieving them. I really do believe that this group has the chance to put something special together over the course of the season. The bye week was good for us. It gave us a chance to freshen up, shake off some bumps and bruises here and there. We got a lot of quality practice time in too, so that was a big plus. Once the season gets rolling, sometimes it can be hard to keep the rhythm of practices. So it was nice to get that back for a bit and sharpen some things up— especially in terms of our red zone production and kick coverage.”

Though UCLA’s offense hasn’t exactly been lighting it up on the scoreboard just yet, it’s already clear that the ground game is significantly better than it was a year a go. Freshman TB Jonathan Franklin is getting decent space thanks to a vastly-improved offensive line. And fullback Derrick Coleman has been a nice change of pace runner for offensive coordinator Norm Chow’s scheme. But the quarterback position remains unsettled, though the seat stays warm. Senior QB Kevin Craft was a bit shaky at time during the home win over Kansas State a couple weeks back, but he made some key throws in the second half when he had to. He should be fine against an average-at-best Stanford ‘D’, so long as he continues avoiding the big mistakes that plagued him last year.

Meanwhile, injured freshman starting quarterback Kevin Prince is said to be all but recovered from the fractured jaw he suffered at the end of the win over Tennessee. He’s walking around visibly ten or so pounds lighter than before, but says his head feels fine. Prince will not travel with the team, but will make the trip to Stanford for the game on Saturday. He’s expected back under center against Oregon at home next weekend.

Prediction: UCLA 17 - Stanford 13

-JAB