UCLA Bruins Hope for a Healthy Kevin Prince Against Washington State
Folks in Westwood had plenty of reason to be excited after the UCLA Bruins trounced the Texas Longhorns in Austin, 34-12.
However, even triumphs of such magnitude come with some trepidation.
In UCLA's case, it comes in the person of Kevin Prince.
The redshirt sophomore has missed the last few days of practice with a sore knee, an injury that he suffered while hooking the 'Horns and that has led him to have his knee drained twice this week,
Needless to say, this comes as a rather disappointing, if predictable, piece of bad news for Rick Neuheisel's Bruins.
With momentum on UCLA's side after a huge victory, Neuheisel and offensive coordinator Norm Chow had hoped to take advantage of a home date with the hapless Cougars of Washington State.
However, with Prince potentially out for Saturday's game at the Rose Bowl, the Bruins may have to put their plans to open up the playbook on hold for the sake of winning.
Prince's absence in practice has left the bulk of the snaps to true sophomore Richard Brehaut, who hasn't exactly looked sharp this week. After duking it out with Prince for the starting gig before the season and splitting time with the first unit in the summer, Brehaut has seen his opportunities dwindle in the last couple weeks, leaving him rusty and ill-prepared to lead the offense.
Given more time under center, Brehaut should be able to get himself back up to speed, particularly since the Bruins won't need him to be a world-beater against Wazzu.
However, win or lose, the UCLA football team may look back at this week as a monumental moment missed, a shot to show off the offense squandered.
Even if Prince is able to play on Saturday, he may still be limited by his injury, which would once again force the coaching staff to scale back the attack and have the team play conservatively rather than take risks against the Cougs.
Which brings up a more important issue underlying UCLA's chances of success this year and going forward–the health of Kevin Prince.
Prince has shown a propensity for injury ever since his high school playing days at Crespi Carmelite High School in Encino.
And though the Bruins' O-line hasn't done Prince many favors in his two years in Westwood, Bruins fans still can't help but cringe at the thought of their quarterback going down with another sprain, bruise, or tear every time he takes off from the pocket.
If Rick Neuheisel has any hope of getting his guys to play as well the rest of the season as they did against Houston and Texas, he'll need Prince on the field and playing well.
Whether Prince can delivery is still very much up in the air.
