Nearly a month after breaking his leg in a game against Washington State, UCLA quarterback Richard Brehaut could return to practice this week, albeit in a limited capacity, coach Rick Neuheisel said today on a radio show.
But Brehaut won’t be anywhere close to starting and Neuheisel said that Kevin Prince will start this Saturday against Utah because of the uncertainty surrounding Brehaut. Prince was the starter at the beginning of the season, but a combination of injuries -- he’s been battling those basically his entire time at UCLA -- and ineffectiveness prompted Neuheisel to bench Prince in favor of Brehaut in September.
“We don’t know that Richard will even be available this week. He just gets to start working out (Tuesday). And we’ll find out exactly where he is with respect to his conditioning and his ability to run and all the different things that go along with the healing of a broken foot,” Neuheisel said.
Right now, Brehaut is listed on the depth chart as “questionable”, meaning he could see some playing time this weekend. Maybe.
“Questionable means that he’s 50-50 and again, I won’t have any answer on that until I see what he’s capable of doing tomorrow,” Neuheisel said. “I know what he tells me is coach, I’ll be ready. Which you love about young people. They’re 10 feet tall and they’re bullet proof, but we’ll wait and see.”
How the quarterback battle at UCLA will resume if/when Brehaut is ready to go again will be interesting to follow. Both quarterbacks have struggled with inconsistencies this season, but Prince has run the ball well in the Bruins’ last two wins over Cal and Arizona State. In a way, it’s been a representation of the kind of season UCLA has been having. On the surface, Neuheisel’s 2011 campaign has been filled with high and low points, yet somehow, the Bruins control their Pac-12 South destiny with a 5-4 overall record.
