UCLA football: Bruins to start Prince, but coach says Brehaut to play
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UCLA will start redshirt freshman Kevin Prince at quarterback against Oregon State on Saturday, Coach Rick Neuheisel said today. Neuheisel also said that freshman Richard Brehaut will get some time.
The decision came after Neuheisel and offensive coordinator Norm Chow met today. Sunday, Neuheisel had said, “We’re going to continue to evaluate our options.” But a quick decision came today, with Brehaut being attached to the plan.
“We studied the tape, and I talked with Norm, and we decided that Kevin would be the starter this week,” Neuheisel said. “But I asked that Richard get some playing time the final five weeks. He has merited getting playing time.”
As for the decision to start Prince, Neuheisel said, “Norm has been in the meetings with those kids, and he believes Kevin is the best bet for us as it stands currently. I don’t disagree.”
Yet Neuheisel said he is locked into using Brehaut during the game. Chow’s philosophy has been against multiple-quarterback situations.
“We have two young quarterbacks, and we’d like to see them both develop,” Neuheisel said. “It’s time Richard gets some chances.”
Prince won the job in the spring. He was clearly UCLA’s best quarterback during training camp in August and helped the Bruins to back-to-back victories. But he suffered a fractured jaw at the end of the Tennessee game while running a naked bootleg in the final two minutes of a game UCLA appeared to have in hand. He missed four weeks.
After struggling against Oregon in his return, Prince threw for 311 yards against California.
In a 27-13 loss to Arizona on Saturday, Prince again struggled. He completed seven of 15 passes for 60 yards before being pulled early in the second half. Kevin Craft came in and completed six of 15 passes for 75 yards, then was replaced by Brehaut, who completed two of three passes.
“Kevin wasn’t sharp on Saturday, we wish he were,” Neuheisel said. “We made a switch, but that doesn’t mean I can’t go back to him. I have full confidence in him. We want all our young quarterbacks to play without fear of a quick hook. But they have to go out and play well.”
-- Chris Foster
chris.foster@lataimes.com
twitter.com/cfosterlatimes