Wednesday, September 3, 2014
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UCLA OL coach Adrian Klemm has choice words for his line's performance against Virginia
When UCLA offensive line coach Adrian Klemm was asked about the play of his guys during the 28-20 win against Virginia on Saturday, he didn’t mince words.
“That’s probably one of the sh---iest performances I’ve been apart of as a player or coach,” he said.
Klemm has been UCLA’s offensive line coach since 2011. He's coached in the college game since 2008. And before that, he was an offensive lineman in the NFL for seven seasons. So, for him to call out last week’s performance the way he did really speaks to just how bad UCLA was.
Virginia had five sacks, a bunch of quarterback hurries and held the UCLA offense to just one touchdown. The running game had 116 yards, but just 3.0 yards per carry. Quarterback Brett Hundley had 39 of those yards and the touchdown. If it weren't for three defensive scores in the first half, UCLA would have lost the game.
“The fact of the matter is, you’re here for a reason, just like I’m here for a reason,” Klemm said. “I take a tremendous amount of pride in what I do and the product I put out there. And they’re a reflection of me.
“When people get all annoyed with our play calling and everything, well what do you want to call when it’s third-and-long frickin’ 20 times in a game? Like I said, it all falls back on our shoulders just like this game. If we’re rolling, it’s because of us. We’re overworked and often underappreciated, but the thing of the matter is, if they’re not talking about us, it’s a good thing. And they were talking about us too often last week.”
UCLA was missing starting center Jake Brendel, who had started 27 straight games but strained his MCL during training camp a couple weeks ago. Sophomore Scott Quessenberry struggled in his first game at center. The Bruins also stared true freshman Najee Toran at right guard. And the inexperience showed, though Klemm wasn’t ready to use that as an excuse. He said his linemen prepared hard for the game and looked strong in practice. He also noted that on film his guys watched Virginia stunt and blitz on nearly every down and they didn’t see even half of that last Saturday.
“I knew we’d struggle a little bit,” Klemm said. “There were some changes at some key positions. I knew we’d struggle a little bit but I didn’t think it would be to that degree. There are some plays we ran well, but overall, it wasn’t a good job by any means and it starts with just being a little more focused. It wasn’t so much from a physical aspect, but from a mental aspect. When things went downhill it all just started snowballing.”
UCLA will have a chance to get its offense back on track against a Memphis team that beat Austin Peay 63-0 in its season opener, but hasn’t had a winning season since 2007 and hasn’t had more than four wins in any of the past five seasons. But that game might not be a good gauge to determine whether the offensive line has improved enough to face the likes of Texas on Sept. 13 or a tough conference slate that begins with Arizona State on Sept. 25.
“There are no excuses, we just need to get better,” Klemm said. “No matter who’s in there or what our situation is, the fact of the matter is everybody here is on scholarship and they’re getting paid to play. And when their time comes and their number’s called they have to perform at a certain level, and that’s the expectation if you’re going to be out here every single day.”
For more UCLA news, visit BruinSportsReport.com.
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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @YahooDrSaturday
And don’t forget to keep up with all of Graham’s thoughts, witty comments and college football discussions on Facebook
From Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo Sports - UCLA OL coach Adrian Klemm has choice words for his line's performance against Virginia
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Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Wisconsin QB Joel Stave isn't hurt, he's just not mentally ready to play
Wisconsin quarterback Joel Stave isn’t hurt.
Forget the statement the school issued Tuesday that said Stave would miss time due to an injury to his throwing shoulder, coach Gary Andersen and Stave insist an injury isn’t the issue; Stave is the issue.
Stave is dealing with confidence issues that are causing him to second-guess even the simplest of throws. He doesn’t know what caused this mental issue and he’s not exactly sure how to get rid of it. All he knows is that it’s effecting his play and Andersen thought it was best for him to step away for awhile.
One reporter even asked Stave if he thought he had the “yips,” which is defined as a loss of fine motor skills without any explanation.
"Maybe on some level," Stave said of the suggestion. "I've heard of that, too. The yips, a golfer who can't hit it straight and stuff like that. I know I can throw the ball. That's something that since I've been a kid, not even just football, I've been good at throwing things. I could throw a baseball. Give me a volleyball, I can chuck it across a gym.
"I've just been good at throwing things since I've been young. It's not a lack of confidence. It's not a lack of preparation or anything like that. It's just a matter of getting back to feeling comfortable and feeling like the ball's coming out the way it should."
Added Stave: "I'll be throwing it good, throwing it good and then all of a sudden I feel like I hang on to it too long. One will sail, one will slip and then you start thinking, 'Oh I've got to hang on to it longer.' That's what happens when you start thinking too much.”
Stave's overthinking could have started when Andersen decided to open up the quarterback competition despite Stave having a pretty decent season a year ago. He threw for 2,494 yards and his 22 touchdowns were second-most in school history behind Russell Wilson. However, he did struggle with inconsistency and Andersen wasn’t pleased about his 13 interceptions.
Andersen said on the Big Ten teleconference that he started noticing the issues during the Badgers’ second scrimmage on Aug. 18. Before that, Stave was leading the competition to be the team’s starter against LSU. However, his mental hangup more or less forced Wisconsin to go with Tanner McEvoy, a player who demonstrated against LSU that he was not ready to lead the team against a big-time opponent.
Stave has not missed practice and is still attending meetings. However, he has not participated in team drills, only individual work.
So, until Stave works through the mental side of the game, Wisconsin is going to have to lean on McEvoy to at least manage the team through Saturday’s game against Western Illinois and perhaps through the rest of the nonconference schedule, which includes Bowling Green and South Florida.
Perhaps there’s some silver lining that it’s not a structural injury considering Stave did injure his AC joint during the Badgers’ bowl game against South Carolina. But, on the flip side, getting over this kind of mental hurdle might prove far more challenging.
And until Andersen can see Stave is ready to be the quarterback he was, he’s not going to play him.
"All I can do is look at Joel and try to help a kid through the process of where he goes and how he's practicing," Andersen said. "But in Joel, we've just got to get him back where he needs to be. So my timeline doesn't really matter by performance or any timeline I'm sitting at. I'm looking right now to say how do we get Joel to say I'm ready to go? That's the timeline I'm looking for right now that's important to me."
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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @YahooDrSaturday
And don’t forget to keep up with all of Graham’s thoughts, witty comments and college football discussions on Facebook
From Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo Sports - Wisconsin QB Joel Stave isn't hurt, he's just not mentally ready to play