Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller
LOS ANGELES -- To quantify how far ahead UCLA's defense is of its offense, halfway through Saturday's scrimmage the score was 9-0.
In favor of the Bruins D, which got a safety and interception return for a TD from linebacker Kyle Bosworth (the bad news being that his brother Korey Bosworth hurt his ankle blocking on the play).
The offense couldn't run a lick. The mix-and-match offensive line couldn't pass block, surrendering eight sacks.
The likely starting quarterback Kevin Craft was 8 of 18 for 93 yards with three interceptions.
So the Bruins optimist walks out Westwood going: Golly, our defense rocks.
The Bruins pessimists? They'll probably go to church Sunday and ask for some divine intervention.
At one point, tailback Kahlil Bell, who played sparingly to rest his formerly injured knee, colorfully berated the offense on the sidelines about playing like pooh in front perhaps 4,000 fans gathered at on-campus Drake Stadium.
Count coach Rick Neuheisel among the optimists, though.
"They're on my team, too," Neuheisel said of the defense, which was dominant inside with tackles Brigham Harwell and Brian Price in complete control of the line of scrimmage, both Bosworth brothers playing well and the secondary grabbing three picks.
The offense scored two touchdowns in the second half of the scrimmage, but the first was kind of a gimme -- a 24-yard drive that included a pass interference penalty and a 14-yard quarterback draw from Craft, who probably benefited from the universal rule that thou shall not blow up your own QB.
Also, Price and Harwell were sipping Gatorade on the sideline at the time.
Craft was outplayed much of the day by redshirt freshman Chris Forcier, who completed 7 of 13 for 71 yards with an interception and fumbled snap.
At one point, Craft had produced just one first down compared to six from Foricer.
But Craft did provide the offense's lone highlight, an eight-play, 68-yard drive in which he went 4-for-4 and tossed a short TD pass to Marcus Everett.
"I thought [Craft] passed the test of not going into the tank because it's not going well," Neuheisel said.
Said offensive coordinator Norm Chow, "All in all, I thought he handled himself well."
So the glass is half-full, darn it.
Neuheisel added that Craft is still ahead in the QB competition and he'd like to pick a starter for the Sept. 1 opener against Tennessee "sometime this week."
"The first couple of series were a little rough," Craft said. "But everybody on offense knows what we have to do and we know how to do it. It's just a matter of going out and executing. I don't think there's any big secret."
As for what Neuheisel saw out of the running game, which produced 48 yards on 18 carries: "Not much -- it was not where it needs to be."
The "official stats"
Quarterback Stats
Kevin Craft -- 8-18 for 93 yards
3 interceptions
14-yard rushing touchdown
3-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Everett
Chris Forcier -- 7-13 for 71 yards
0 touchdowns
1 interception
Receiving Stats
Ryan Graves -- 2 for 13 yards
Nelson Rosario -- 4 for 40 yards
Terrence Austin -- 3 for 40 yards
Antwon Moutra -- 2 for 26 yards
Rushing Stats
Aundre Dean -- 5 for 15 yards
Raymond Carter -- 6 for 1 yard
Johnathan Franklin -- 7 for 32 yards
Defensive Stats
Sacks -- John Hale, Nathaniel Skaggs, Korey Bosworth (2), Justin Mann, David Carter, Chinonso Anyanwu, Datone Jones
Interception -- Rahim Moore, Kyle Bosworth (touchdown), Tony Dye, Alterraun Verner
Safety -- team (1)
Ted Miller has been covering college football since 1997, starting with Auburn and then heading West to Washington and the Pac-10. His columns for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer won first place in 2007 APSE Best Writing contest. The Atlanta native and University of Richmond graduate presently lives with his wife in Scottsdale, Ariz.
