Brett Hundley is a little less sore this season. As a redshirt freshman last year, he took 52 sacks, more than any other quarterback in the country. This year, a stouter UCLA offensive line has allowed eight sacks — good for sixth in the Pac-12 and 42nd nationally.
Now without left tackle Torian White (broken ankle), the Bruins must depend on a pair of first-year players to both maintain Hundley’s protection and sustain UCLA’s top-15 rushing offense. Assistant coach Adrian Klemm won’t publicly commit to a firm starting five, but more likely than not, the right side will consist of true freshmen Alex Redmond and Caleb Benenoch.
“I don’t like to play musical chairs, but the guys are so young,” the offensive line coach said. “They’re continually developing.”
Last week, Klemm joked that Benenoch and Redmond were only a few months removed from “trading Pokemon cards.” A few days ago, offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone said the pair is still on the “Green Eggs and Ham” playbook.
Their enthusiasm, however, fits right in with the rest of the unit. Klemm said that when he took redshirt freshman Conor McDermott out of a recent game for Benenoch, the former was mad for the rest of the night.
“Some coaches would be mad at that, but I’m excited about that,” Klemm said. “That gets me excited about it, because I know he’s hungry. … I’d rather have that than guys who are complacent, or OK with just being the second guy, waiting in the wings until next year.”
After watching film, he hasn’t noticed too many assignment problems from his younger players. More trouble has come in areas such as weight distribution and hand placement, as well as adjusting to unexpected situations. Before a rowdy, sold-out crowd in Salt Lake City, Utah quickly overloaded its pass rush to exploit the two freshmen.
They’re doing their best to catch up.
“Brett has to have confidence in us,” Benenoch said. “We can’t make excuses for, ‘Oh, I’m a true freshman so that mistake is OK.’ It’s not OK. We’ve just go to fix it and move on.”
Million-dollar check
The first big drop has hit UCLA’s fundraising bucket.
Former offensive lineman Andy Meyers and his wife Shannon committed $1 million toward the Bruins’ efforts to build a new football facility west of Spaulding Field. The campus announced its fundraising campaign on Sept. 24, budgeting the project at $50 million.
Part of the new building will be named after the Meyers couple.
“It is an honor for Shannon and I to give back to UCLA,” Andy Meyers said in a statement. “UCLA afforded me not only a great education but access to a great Bruin family in business.”
Currently the CEO of Shangri-La Construction, Meyers was a two-time All-Pac-10 guard and third-team All-American who helped UCLA to 20 straight wins and conference titles in 1997 and 1998.
“Andy knows first-hand what a special place UCLA is,” head coach Jim Mora Jr. said in a statement. “He competed at the highest level, achieved great success and is now showing how much being a Bruin means to him and his family.”
