UCLA Football Practice Report: August 30
Even coming off a win, it was the same old routine for the Bruins at Monday's practice.
"Bout S**t" by The LOX And DMX – a favorite of strength and conditioning coach Keith Belton – blared over the loudspeakers as UCLA football (1-0) lined up for team stretches. Next up was special teams coverage drills, kickoff walkthroughs and assorted position drills, exactly the sequence of events from the entirety of fall camp and last week's game prep.
If it ain't broke, the Bruins have nothing to fix at the moment.
UCLA opened its season with a 44-10 win over Hawaii (0-1) on Saturday and now faces down an upcoming matchup with No. 16 LSU. The only noticeable change to the routine was how the Bruins swapped out their black scout team jerseys from a week ago for purple ones to imitate the Tigers' uniforms.
Quarterback Chase Artopeous was wearing No. 14, standing in as LSU's starter Max Johnson. Artopeous is 6-foot-1 compared to Johnson's 6-foot-5, meaning the 6-foot-7 Parker McQuarrie or 6-foot-4 Kajiya Hollawayne would have been more comparable Johnson impersonators from a physical standpoint. McQuarrie's scout team jersey did not have a number on it, while Hollawayne wore No. 10 to act as LSU starting wideout Jaray Jenkins.
From the very little we could see of the offense working on the far field, the receivers and tight ends were doing very well running goal line fades.
Receivers Logan Loya, Kazmeir Allen and Chase Cota all showed great body control, twisting, getting the ball at their high point and landing with both feet in. While Cota is that only one who projects to run that route in a game due to the others' lack of size, Allen was a surprise standout regardless. Tight end David Priebe, who recovered linebacker Ale Kaho's blocked punt for a touchdown Saturday, had a nice play where he tipped himself the ball and stayed in bounds.
Tight end Mike Martinez stood out because of his athleticism and catch radius, but he came down awkwardly on one of his touchdown grabs in that drill. He walked it off and continued to participate, so it didn't seem like anything that will impact his playing time or long-term health.
In terms of more notable injury updates, defensive lineman Sitiveni Havili-Kaufusi was once again on the stationary bike to open practice. Defensive lineman Quintin Somerville was still in a boot wandering around the weight room, and running back Christian Grubb was back in the team facilities recovering from his torn achilles.
Receiver Bradley Schlom, who was one of the workout bike regulars throughout all of fall camp, was back returning kicks with the scout team. Receiver-turned-running back Ethan Fernea was also a full participant after limping his way off the field at the Rose Bowl late in the game.
Center Sam Marrazzo was snapping the ball to Griffin as he had in the final few practices leading up to the Hawaii game, and we did not get a status update for him in regards to the LSU game. Freshman center Benjamin Roy was following the offensive line around for drills, but was not wearing his helmet and did not participate.
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