UCLA Football Practice Report: August 12
The standout moment from Thursday's fall camp session wasn't a highlight reel catch, a new drill or a fresh face's breakout performance.
Instead, it was defensive coordinator Jerry Azzinaro who left the biggest mark on practice.
A few minutes into position drills for UCLA football, something the media couldn't see seemed to set off Azzinaro. He made the entire defense run lines, stopping every few yards to do pushups while he gave them an earful for whatever error they made. The music that blasts over the loudspeakers at Wasserman Football Center was pretty much drowned out by Azzinaro's booming criticism, as the entire team fell silent in response.
"I don't want to hear about being a player-led team if you let sh*t happen, f**k you," Azzinaro yelled.
After practice, linebacker Jordan Genmark Heath didn't say what exactly sparked the punishment and berating from Azzinaro, but said it was necessary in order for them to get their energy up in the dog days of camp.
"Sometimes, they've gotta come on us with hard love," Genmark Heath said. "We have the utmost respect for the coaches, so whatever they say goes. Obviously it's not the best, it's not fun for us to run the field, do up-downs and whatnot, but I think we definitely needed it this morning to wake up."
With 11 sessions down and five to go, there's only so much time the Bruins have left in fall camp before they slide into game-week preparations for the season opener against Hawai'i.
Other main events from Thursday included more kick return drills, a staple from this past week of camp. Striker Qwuantrezz Knight, striker Martel Irby, running back Zach Charbonnet, running back Brittain Brown, receiver Kazmeir Allen, receiver Kyle Philips and cornerback Jay Shaw were fielding uncontested kicks early on, and Allen, Brown, Charbonnet and Knight got chances to return kicks in live drills.
Allen was the first of the group to field one in the full-team drill, and all he needed was one cut before he turned upfield for what would have gone for a touchdown.
Genmark Heath and cornerback Mo Osling III also got their hands on the ball on kickoffs, recovering surprise squib and onside kicks later in the drill.
Nicholas Barr-Mira once again opened things up by kicking field goals from 30, 35, 43 and 48 yards out. The only one he missed was from 43 yards, and it was blocked by the defense. It was pretty much impossible to tell who swatted it down due to all the bodies in the way, but whoever it was got all of it and sent the ball off completely sideways.
Receiver Chase Cota, defensive lineman Quintin Somervillle, running back Keegan Jones and quarterback Parker McQuarrie were all present again Thursday after missing big chunks of the past week. Among those missing were safety Quentin Lake, receiver Delon Hurt, linebacker Kain Medrano, receiver Colson Yankoff and quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson.
Thompson-Robinson could very likely be back at practice Friday, according to the Instagram story he posted Wednesday afternoon.
Should he be "back at it" at Wasserman Football Center, the Bruins' passing game will see a big boost and the fanbase can breathe a sigh of relief for the time being.
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