Break gives redshirts chance to shine

By Scott Bair
Daily Bruin Reporter

For 16 incoming freshmen, this is the longest year of their
lives.

All 16 were stars in high school, and were good enough to become
a part of a long-standing UCLA football tradition.

The 16 came with numerous accolades, and were then told the
worst thing they could possibly hear ““ that they
couldn’t play football games for an entire year.

“This year has been weird because this is the first time
that I haven’t been playing games since I was 8 years
old,” freshman running back Tyler Ebell said.

The redshirt experience is something that most every college
football player goes through. Redshirt players spend their first
year on the scout team, helping to mentally prepare the starters
for the upcoming game.

Being a member of the scout team is a thankless job. They have
to get the starters used to the opposing team’s system
without hurting them in the process.

With UCLA taking a 14-day break between games, the 16, who have
two months of aggression built up, are finally allowed to let it
all hang out during the bye-week.

“The bye-week gives us an opportunity to look at some of
the young kids and give them a chance to play in a regular
scrimmage situation,” UCLA head coach Bob Toledo said.

Once they got into the scrimmage, the freshman potential began
to blossom.

“The scrimmages are fun because they allow you to let
loose with what you’ve been holding on to,” Ebell
said.

Ebell showcased himself as a young Barry Sanders with a couple
of long misdirection runs along with defensive back Matt Clark, who
made an interception to put his name on the map.

“Some of the guys are young and don’t get a lot of
live reps and we want to make sure to keep them involved,”
offensive coordinator Kelly Skipper said. “The main thing for
us is to keep the players involved and evaluate them at the same
time.”

The starters on the other hand, treated the time off as a week
of spring camp.

“We’re going to work on the fundamentals, the little
things that you can’t do during the week when you have to
prepare for the next opponent,” running back DeShaun Foster
said.

The regulars got to play at full speed earlier in
Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s practices to keep their edge,
but turned into cheerleaders during the Tuesday’s scout team
scrimmage.

The coaches and players had fun during the bye-week, but all of
them are itching to get back into a game situation ““
including the ones redshirting.

“I like the extra reps, but I wish we weren’t having
a bye-week so we can get out there and play,” Clark said.
“I hate waiting.”

For Clark, Ebell and the rest of the redshirt 16, the wait to
play in a real UCLA game is long from over, but the bye-week
scrimmages make the delay just a little bit easier.