Sophomore Malcolm Jones carries football team in its time of need
After an unexciting start to his sophomore season, tailback Malcolm Jones, center, got his chance to stand out against Oregon State last weekend. He carried the ball nine times against the Beavers for 38 yards. With Johnathan Franklin hampered by a hip injury sustained against Oregon State, Jones and senior running back Derrick Coleman will lead UCLA’s ground attack against the Stanford Cardinal and Heisman frontrunner Andrew Luck.
By Daily Bruin Staff
Sept. 28, 2011 1:24 a.m.
Malcolm Jones was riding high in the fall of 2009.
As a senior at Oaks Christian High School, he had the Lions off to a 12-0 start as a running back averaging 190 yards per game.
After committing to UCLA to play for coach Rick Neuheisel, he was named the Gatorade National High School Player of the Year to become the first-ever Bruin football commit to win the award.
Meet last week’s version of Malcolm Jones. Through the first three games, he had one carry, a first-down run in the season opener against Houston.
No sign of Jones came in the Bruins’ narrow win over San Jose State or their blowout loss to Texas.
“I thought I would get a couple more carries this year than I did last year,” Jones said last week after a practice. “My time here is going to come eventually. I guess I just have to be patient.”
Thanks to Oregon State defenders Rueben Robinson and Feti Unga, his time came sooner than many expected.
Redshirt junior Johnathan Franklin has had the No. 1 spot on the running back depth chart locked up since early last season, but Franklin took a helmet to his left hip early in the second quarter after getting four consecutive carries to open the game.
Franklin sat on the sideline, helmet in hand, hoping to return, but the coaches and training staff wouldn’t allow it.
Enter Jones. Combined with senior Derrick Coleman, Jones ensured the running game didn’t skip a beat. Jones carried the ball nine times for 38 yards.
He got his first carry on the drive after Franklin left and dragged several Oregon State defenders 7 yards up the field.
“The more carries you get, you get into a rhythm,” Jones said. “The more I kept playing, the better I felt about myself and I felt more confident.”
After UCLA threw the ball only 11 times Saturday, Neuheisel said the team has chosen a running identity after installing the pistol offense last summer.
Now in his fourth year, Neuheisel has said this is his deepest team. It showed at the running back position Saturday.
“It was great,” Neuheisel said of Jones. “Malcolm was ready when needed, just as I said he would be, and he responded. It was neat to see him go in and do that.”
Don’t sleep on Stanford’s D
As efficient as Stanford’s offense under Heisman candidate Andrew Luck has been, its defense has been better.
The Cardinal rank first in the Pac-12 in nearly every statistical category.
“Our defense has played better for longer stretches than our offense, which is encouraging,” Stanford coach David Shaw said.
