PISTOL-WHIPPED INTO A FRENZY

In the Pistol, the QB doesn’t HAVE to run, but it’s going to be open, so they will have to take it.

Combo Rice:  Hall of Famer Jerry Rice and Jerry Rice, jr.

This is Maya, of the UCLA Dance Team, and I think she looked better than ever on Saturday.

Pistol at Dusk:  UCLA’s “Pistol” isn’t a lethal weapon yet, and their Saturday Night Special scrimmage shows that the new Offense is not on target to shoot something other than blanks;  However, the Defense proves that THEY still have stopping power 

Kevin Prince is going to have to break some tackles this year.

UCLA held its annual Spring Scrimmage at the Rose Bowl on Saturday Night, unveiling their new “Pistol” Offense, and the reviews were NOT good.  Coaches Neuheisel and Chow were disappointed, and discussed partially scrapping the new formation before the Season starts.

The Bruin Offense — playing against the First String Defense — looked rusty and out-of sync, even for April.  Kevin Prince and Richard Brehaut both missed their Receivers more often than not, and during the whole scrimmage, one 28-yard completion from Prince to Cory Harkey may have been the biggest play.

While the Passing Game looked out of rhythm, the running game did show a little improvement.  Derrick Coleman was the beneficiary of better blocking schemes, gaining 64 yards in 6 carries.  The Quarterbacks would have added a lot of Rushing Yardage, but plays were ruled dead as soon as anyone TOUCHED a QB.  It looked like Flag Football, as Sacks were called without the Quarterback having a chance to elude the tackle.

And the best part of the Pistol seemed to be that after a fake handoff, the QB had room to run, as the plays were designed.  But because the QB’s couldn’t be tackled, there are no stats to back that up.  The worst part of the Pistol?  SEVERAL snaps were WAY too low, even skipping on the ground to the QB.  By the time the QB finds the handle and gets situated, he’s getting Sacked.

The Receivers were not really getting separation that the QB’s could find, except on one play were Morrell Presley beat everyone straight down the middle of the field, but Prince threw it five yards too deep.  TE Joseph Fauria made a catch downfield, but did not get targeted as much as I would like.  Also, WR Ricky Marvay saw some action, and did not disappoint. Finally, the scrimmage ended on a short TD Pass to back-up back-up Tight End Andrew Yelich.

On Defense, Datone Jones hurt the Bruin Offense with his penetration, Tony Dye looked stronger and made at least one huge hit, as did Glenn Love.  Courtney Viney made some nice plays including an INT, and Marlon Pollard Intercepted a late Pass and returned it all the way for a TD.  The Defense was in charge, but it was WEIRD — They didn’t seem to be going all out, because they had to PULL UP so often.  But it looks like Defense is still the Bruins’ strength… unless you count Special Teams.  Kai Forbath is at it again — He hit a 57-yarder, with 2 yards to spare.  The scoreboard said “Prince vs. Brehaut,” but for the first 30 minutes, it should have just read “Forbath – 3, Forbath – 3.”

From the Nation’s Best Special Teams, to the Nation’s Worst Broadcast Team:  Chris Roberts was the P.A. Announcer for the scrimmage, and guess what?  On the very first pass play, Roberts uttered one of his trademarked queries — “Was that a Completion?”

 And finally, from the Nation’s Worst Broadcaster to the Nation’s Best Spirit Squad:  There were only THREE UCLA Spirit Squad members at the Scrimmage… but they were AWESOME.  Maya and Nicolette from the Dance Team, and Roxanne from the Cheer Squad were the three, and they posed with fans — mostly teeny-tiny little fans — in the Mattel Zone before the game.  Below are NINE more Cheer Shots (3 of each girl), but first, some Football Action Shots, and some Football Player Close-ups.  As always, all the photos blow up when you click them, and they have pop-up captions if you mouse-over them.

[And yes, I know about the Lakers getting KILLED by OKC, behind Westbrook’s 16 1st Half Points.  Now let’s talk about Football and Cheerleaders.  Congrats to Alterraun Verner and Terrence Austin for getting Drafted.  And to Pete Carroll, for Drafting ex-trojan Anthony McCoy, as one more F-You to Taylor Mays.  And speaking of the NFL, did you see the photo above of THE Jerry Rice and his son the Bruin?  How cool is THAT, to have Jerry Rice at your games?!] 

  Prince goes deep, to no avail.  BTW, today is Select-a-Seat Day, and those signs you see must denote available Season Tickets.  That’s what having NO Offense will do to a Team.

  For the most part, it looked like everyone was HOLDING BACK, but here, Tony Dye let it loose.

Brehaut was better at Pocket FEEL, but NOT on THIS play.

Brehaut’s status as #2 is probably safe — Here is #3 Nick Crissman.

Neuheisel even called on old buddy and fellow former UCLA QB Wayne Cook to execute one Pass play.

Wayne Cook congratulates Alterraun Verner for getting drafted by the Titans is Round 4.  Tennessee still has an ex-trojan Coach in Jeff Fisher, but at least they got rid of LeDale White (to Pete Carroll and Seattle!)

Now why is TIM WRIGHTMAN touching ice cream with a Carson Palmer fan?

… and more importantly:  Why is Rahim Moore strangling Akeem Ayres??

False alarm — Rahim did not go all O.J. on Akeem — they were just foolin’ around.

Are you joshing me?  This is Josh Smith, injured-but-STYLIN’ Wide Receiver transfer from Colorado.

It doesn’t get any More Real than Morrell Presley.  [But did I just get initiated into somthing?]

i hope Milton Knox turns this town into “Knox-ville.”  That would make Lane Kiffin uncomfortable on two levels.

… but for that to happen, Knox will have to hurdle this guy (Jonathan Franklin)…

… and this guy (Derrick Coleman) too, and that might be one hurdle too steep for Knox to clear.

Kevin Prince called the Offense’s performance “sloppy.”  Can’t say that about his haircut, though.

I would bet a bundle on Brehaut getting plenty of opportunities this year.

And speaking of haircuts, Mike Harris has a pretty cool one.

Hester the Molester will be a beast in the Defensive Backfield this year.

Marlon Pollard made the play of the game — An INT returned for a Touchdown.

Not Mellow Yellow, Donovan Carter could be a Sunshine Superman this year.

A little more Moore before I’m out the door (Rahim).

And now on to the Cheer Shots, starting with the absolutely gorgeous Roxanne, from the Cheer Squad, here with that classic Blue & Gold backdrop.

Roxanne, in addition to being one of the cutest members of the Squad for a long time, also seems to be one of the sweetest.

And Roxanne has gotten EVEN better looking with time — I love her features, and the way her make-up subtly accentuates every perfect angle.

If Maya gets any better looking, they’ll have to re-invent the 1-to-10 Scale to go to 15 or 20.

And she’s as nice as you could possibly imagine — Not a shred of attitude.

You should see what a great rapport she has with the little kid fans — They can sense that her enthusiasm with them is genuine.

And now we come to the lovely Nicolette…

Sometimes, a momentary non-smile reveals yet another facet of someone’s amazing beauty.

Last one for today — But after 33 pics, you’re probably stuffed (just like the Teddy!).

Comments

2 responses to “PISTOL-WHIPPED INTO A FRENZY”

  1. BL Avatar
    BL

    Nice pictures T-H! Great close-ups of the three Bruin ladies!

  2. TomPier Avatar

    great post as usual!