UCLA Football Media Day 1: "We are all excited"

"It seems that we will be throwing the ball down the field more. We are all excited about playing the Norvell way."

That’s quarterback Ben Olson’s view of the UCLA offense as Fall Practice finally opened at UCLA today. A series of news conferences in the morning preceded a walk-through in the afternoon as preparations began in earnest for the September 1 opener at Stanford.

If the defense is as good as expected and Kai Forbath can fill most of the void left by Justin Medlock, the offense will be the key to the Bruin season. And the enthusiasm is high throughout the offense after working with new offensive coordinator Jay Norvell. Olson was typical in his praise:

"He wants us to be more aggressive and have a faster tempo – to get in and out of the huddle faster and get up to the line of scrimmage faster. He does not want us to overthink or overanalyze everything, but just get up to the line and play. The terminology did change a little and we are trying to get everything down. He tells us that we have to play at a faster tempo.

"We also will be stronger in the Red Zone this year and have some plays for that area."

Offensive tackle Micah Kia, who is battling Alexsey Lanis and Brian Abraham for the two starting tackle positions, noted "The offense has a little more responsibility this year because our defense stepped up last year and they should be good again this season. The O-line has a lot of confidence even though the scheme is a little different now. We are better prepared and our execution is improving. We are ready to go."

The day began at 8 a.m. with a session with head coach Karl Dorrell. Buried among the carefully-worded answers were several personnel items:

>> Tight end Ryan Moya will redshirt this season as he is recovering slowly from last season’s leg injury which limited him to just the first six games.

>> Offensive guard Tony Lee and defensive lineman Kenneth Lombard will not participate in fall camp due to injuries. Our spy at practice opined that he’d be surprised if either of them ever play for UCLA again. They will not even practice before mid-September.

>> Defensive tackle Chase Moline will miss the first day or two of practice due to migraine headaches.