UCLA FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK: Concussion isn’t only concern for Bruins’ QB Prince
UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel got mixed news in junior quarterback Kevin Prince’s injury report Sunday.
The oft-injured Crespi product cleared his concussion symptoms and will resume the standard protocol, but he also suffered a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder on the same play early in the second quarter of the 38-34 loss at Houston.
On second-and-6 at the UCLA 31-yard line, Prince headed toward the sideline, where he was upended by Houston defender D.J. Hayden.
“The concussion cleared last night, no lingering effects this morning,” Neuheisel said. “There will be a protocol, but that portion of the injury will be fine by Saturday. The question then is the shoulder, and we’ll just have to wait and see.”
It was a disappointing turn of events for Prince, who emerged as the starting quarterback after a heated fall camp battle with Richard Brehaut, although they were expected to split time.
Prince missed three games during his redshirt freshman season because of myriad injuries, and he was sidelined for seven games last year with a knee injury after missing most of fall camp with a back injury.
“It’s very frustrating,” Prince told reporters on Saturday night. “Going through camp, being able to participate the whole time, then to play one quarter and be done with it that quick.”
Brehaut relieved Prince and threw for 264 yards and two touchdowns, rushed for 87 yards and a score and didn’t suffer a sack while bringing the Bruins back from a 31-14
halftime deficit.
Neuheisel also said freshman Brett Hundley would move to No. 2 on the depth chart if Prince couldn’t play.
Off to the races
Returning 1,100-yard rusher Johnathan Franklin got off to a good start with a 128-yard, one-touchdown effort against the Cougars. He also added two catches for 17 yards.
Franklin only got 16 carries, though, despite averaging 8.0 yards a carry, and Neuheisel said the need to pass the ball took precedence.
“It’s a game situation. We held the ball for 22 minutes in the second half, and we’re trying to fight back into the game,” Neuheisel said. “If we’re ahead and chewing clock then we can certainly add more carries. Johnathan is gonna carry somewhere between 20 and 25 in a game.”
Franklin had only four games with 20-plus carries last year despite having the highest individual rushing total for UCLA since Skip Hicks in 1997. He averaged 17.8 carries per game last season.
Bumps and bruises
Neuheisel said senior linebacker Glenn Love has a dislocated shoulder and would be out “a couple of weeks.”
BRUINS’ REPORT CARD
HOUSTON 38, UCLA 34
OVERALL GRADE: D+
QUARTERBACK: B+
Richard Brehaut steps in superbly after Kevin Prince hurt.
RUNNING BACKS: A-
Johnathan Franklin was productive, but got little help.
WIDE RECEIVERS: B-
On-off performance, but Joseph Fauria is a budding star.
OFFENSIVE LINE: C+
Penalties, poor snaps held unit back from higher grade.
DEFENSIVE LINE: D+
Too many stunts caused D-line to be mostly nullified.
LINEBACKERS: D
Missed tackles galore and simply blown out of plays.
SECONDARY: D
Game plan didn’t suit skills, but poor tackling unforgivable.
SPECIAL TEAMS: F
Kai Forbath doesn’t live here anymore.
COACHING: D-
Passive defensive play; offense not prepared for hurry-up.