UCLA Football Practice Report: October 4
At this point, UCLA Athletics should have to pay Journey a hefty sum in royalty fees.
Yet again, for the fifth Monday in a row, UCLA football (3-2, 1-1 Pac-12) opened its practice by blasting "Don't Stop Believin'"over the loudspeakers. What started off as a cute little joke has turned into a genuine tradition, and any employees or long-term guests staying next to Wasserman Football Center at the Luskin Conference Center and Hotel are probably sick of hearing the same song over and over again.
The continued reliance on the 1981 power ballad comes following a loss to Arizona State at the Rose Bowl on Saturday, when a win would have sent UCLA further up the rankings and given them control of the Pac-12 South. Instead, getting outscored 18-0 in the second half led to the Bruins' second loss in three weeks, and they'll have to go back to the drawing board this week.
That starts on the practice field, and UCLA was out and running like normal bright and early Monday.
It was a lot of the same in terms of what we've seen from the team in past weeks. It started with some general special teams work, and then kickoff coverage against the scout team.
The scout team kick returners were switched up this time around though, with receiver Bradley Schlom taking the place of defensive back Joshua Swift alongside running back Deshun Murrell.
Positional drills, sled work and interception practice took up most of the rest of the portion of training open to the media.
The cohort of injured players remained mostly the same compared to what we saw last week.
Tight end Mike Martinez and defensive lineman Quintin Somerville were both on knee scooters. Linebacker Kobey Fitzgerald, running back Christian Grubb and defensive lineman Sitiveni Havili-Kaufusi were all held out as well.
Cornerback Mo Osling, who did not practice last week, also spent Monday's practice in the individual training area.
Safeties Quentin Lake and Kenny Churchwell both got dinged up against the Sun Devils and missed most of the second half, but both were active in some capacity in practice. Churchwell did a lot of waiting around in the first few drills, but was in lines with the rest of his teammates waiting to do his reps and eventually rejoined the rest of the defensive backs for more active participation. Lake worked with a trainer and stayed loose on the sidelines for the first two sessions, but soon made his way into drills as well.
There was one new Bruin wearing the yellow scout team player of the week jersey. Quarterback Chase Artopoeus, who has been standing in as opposing teams' quarterbacks since Week 0, joined their ranks Monday wearing No. 15.
The number is likely in honor of UCLA Hall of Famer and All-American John Sciarra, the team's signal-caller from 1972-1976. Sciarra is also a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, as he led the Bruins to an upset win over then-No. 1 Ohio State in the 1976 Rose Bowl and finished his career with more rushing yards than any quarterback in program history.
Or the No. 15 could be for Matt Lynch, for all we know. I guess we'll have to ask Chip Kelly about it before practice Wednesday morning.
Follow Connon on Twitter at @SamConnon
Follow All Bruins on Twitter at @SI_AllBruins
Like All Bruins on Facebook at @SI.AllBruins
Subscribe to All Bruins on YouTube
Read more UCLA stories: UCLA Bruins on Sports Illustrated
Read more UCLA football stories: UCLA Football on Sports Illustrated
