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In his fourth season at the helm of the UCLA football program, and in the year following his most successful season, Karl Dorrell is still searching for the goal that has eluded him for his entire coaching career: winning the Pac-10. Even last year, when his team went 10-2, UCLA finished third in the Pac-10 behind USC and Oregon. As the prospect for a conference championship becomes more tantalizing, the hunger for it grows stronger.
But this might not be the year.
The Bruins lost their leading passer, their leading rusher and their leading receiver from last year. Their defense, which was last in the Pac-10 in scoring defense last year, has the potential to be even worse this year despite the addition of new defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker.
They also lost much of their linebacker talent from last year with the departures of Spencer Havner, Justin London and Wesley Walker.
But Dorrell is not focusing on that. His goals remain the same.
“I expressed the optimism of the season last year and we nearly accomplished what we were trying to do,” Dorrell said at Pac-10 Media Day last Thursday. “This year is no different – we are very capable of taking a big step.”
The Bruins do have talent. They return most of their receivers from last year, including redshirt senior Junior Taylor, who has recovered from the knee injury that sidelined him for most of last year. They will also benefit from new recruit Terrence Austin, whose speed is expected to be a key addition to the UCLA passing game.
“He’s playing very well,” Taylor said. “He looks really good out there.”
The Bruins also get some very highly rated defensive-line recruits to shore up the unit that last year was extremely thin. Darius Savage and Micah Kia should help to bolster a unit that helped give up 232.8 yards on the ground per game last year, but Dorrell advises not to expect too much too soon from young linemen.
“That’s a tough position to come in and play,” Dorrell said. “There’s so much to learn, it’s tough to see any first-year linemen playing.”
The Bruins will also get defensive tackle Kevin Brown back, as well as end Nikola Dragovic. Brown suffered an ankle injury before the start of last season, and Dragovic tore his ACL against Washington last year. Their return, along with the continued maturation of sophomore Chase Moline and junior Brigham Harwell, should go a long way toward improving the line.
LEWIS, PAGE SIGN: Former tight end Marcedes Lewis has signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Lewis was the 28th pick in the first round of this year’s draft. Last year, Lewis was the recipient of the Mackey Award, given to the nation’s top tight end.
Former safety Jarrad Page, who was drafted in the seventh round of both the NFL draft and the MLB draft, has elected to go with football and signed a three-year contract with the Kansas City Chiefs.
NEW BLUE: The Bruins will be playing with slightly different road jerseys next year.
“I wanted the same blue, to be consistent,” Dorrell said. “So, we did this because we wanted to match the blue of the home jerseys with the away jerseys.”
The home jerseys prior to the change were a darker blue than the away jerseys.
PRACTICE AT IM FIELD: The Bruins will practice for two weeks at the beginning of fall practice on the IM field. Spaulding Field, the Bruins’ normal practice field, has been completely redone. New field turf is being put in and it has also been reseeded. Spaulding Field will not be ready until mid- to late August.
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