PASADENA, Calif. — Tempo, tempo, tempo.
UCLA head coach Jim Mora wanted to see how his team would respond to playing on a field that's 120 yards. They covered every inch of it on Saturday. If anyone needed evidence that UCLA was moving a step faster this spring, there was proof in the 145 plays ran Saturday at the Rose Bowl during the spring game.
They moved fast and struck quickly.
Brett Hundley started the game at quarterback in the offense vs. defense format. On his first three drives, he led the Bruins to two touchdowns.
The offense scored on 10 of their first 14 tries.
The six-man quarterback race that began the spring is now down to three, with Jerry Neuheisel as a long shot in the fourth spot.
Spots one through three are still undetermined.
Hundley received the first reps, followed by Richard Brehaut and Kevin Prince. Don't be deceived by the order. There's nothing to take from it according to the coaching staff.
Mora's plan to have a starting quarterback named by the end of spring practice has been derailed until August.
Mid-August. Tentatively August 16 to be exact.
"I want to keep a competitive environment," Mora said. "Quite frankly, I don't know that anyone has just reached out and grabbed it enough for me to make that decision yet."
From now until the beginning of fall camp, it's more focus and preparation on football without instruction from the coaching staff due to NCAA rules. And that includes Brehaut, who says he will not be returning to baseball and will focus solely on football for the remainder of the offseason.
The senior is fine with the competition continuing through the fall.
"All that means is it's great that you played well in spring, but we want to see what you're going to do in this offseason — going to class (and) doing all the things off of the field right to be the starting quarterback at UCLA, so I respect the decision completely," said Brehaut, who finished with four touchdown passes on Saturday unofficially.
Hundley showed what he could do with his arm and his legs. His motto remains his biggest competition is with himself, and he's having a blast while doing it.
"It was fun," Hundley said. "(Offensive coordinator) Coach (Noel) Mazzone told us to just have fun today and that's what we did."
There were plenty of playmakers who flashed for the quarterbacks to target on Saturday.
Wide receiver Jerry Johnson finished with two touchdown receptions, while Tyler Scott, a walk-on wide receiver, caught two touchdowns as well.
Redshirt freshman running back Steven Manfro had a larger crowd to display his talents for, with 13,000 UCLA fans who were on hand that were able to withstand the ongoing renovation at the Rose Bowl.
Manfro dazzled the crowd with numerous explosive plays, including a kickoff return that he took to the house. His lone blemish was an attempt at a backflip in which he couldn't quite stick the landing.
"I guess after running 100 yards, it's tough to complete a backflip," Mora said. "I guess we got to get him in shape."
The Bruins will reconvene for fall camp in early August. They open the season August 30 at Rice.
