UCLA Expects Near Full Strength for Sun Bowl vs Pitt
PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers have landed in El Paso, Texas are nearing kickoff of the Sun Bowl. While their travel roster has not yet been made public, a sizable portion of the players who could conceivably opt out of the game in anticipation of the coming NFL Draft have done so.
The defense will be missing multiple key starters and there are still some loose ends to tie up - leading receiver Jared Wayne and defensive end Habakkuk Baldonado are just a couple of Pitt's upperclassmen stars that have yet to make official announcements - but it's clear the Panthers will be undermanned. That's especially apparent when comparing them to the Bruins, who expect to be at nearly full strength when they take the field at Sun Bowl Stadium in a few days.
Leading receiver Jake Bobo will play, according to Ben Bolch of the LA Times, and Star quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson is "on track to play", per head coach Chip Kelly, who said he and Thompson-Robinson hadn't talked specifically about playing in the Sun Bowl or not. But as kick-off nears, Thompson-Robinson and leading rusher Zach Charbonnet - the other big fish in UCLA's explosive offense - had practiced and taken the vast majority of first-team reps prior to the team's departure for El Paso.
Charbonnet did take some snaps off during one practice last week, according to Thuc Nyi Nguyen of the LA Times, as Keegan Jones, T.J. Harden and Colson Yankoff took snaps instead.
Reserve defensive lineman Gary Smith III did not practice this week while dealing with an injury and his status for the Sun Bowl is up in the air. Kelly said they won't rule Smith out until later this week but there is little positive momentum there.
Another major personnel question for the Bruins lay in their coaching staff with defensive coordinator Bill McGovern, who had been dealing with a health issue and missed the final five games of the season. He has been back on his feet and coaching for the past week, but a final decision about his status for the game won't be made until UCLA makes it to El Paso.
Kazmeir Allen, a speedy all-purpose back who gained 606 yards and scored six touchdowns over 11 games for the Bruins this year, is one of the few to announce that he would not play.
Placekicker and punter Nicholas Barr-Mira - who made all his extra points and 15 of 21 field goal attempts and averaged 43.7 yards on his 22 punts, is transferring and won't play either. Nine other Bruins have announced they intend to transfer but none were major contributors.
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