Arizona State Sun Devils preparing to face UCLA’s Brett Hundley
Sep 24, 2014, 4:27 PM | Updated: 4:28 pm
Will he or won’t he?
That’s the biggest question heading into Thursday night’s showdown between the 11th-ranked UCLA Bruins and the 15th-ranked Arizona State Sun Devils in Tempe.
The question is regarding UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley and his availablity for the game. The junior from Chandler High injured his non-throwing elbow in the Bruins’ win over Texas two weeks ago and nobody knows if he’ll be at the controls against ASU.
College football is not the NFL. Coaches and teams don’t really have to give anything resembling accurate information about injuries to their players. That’s where UCLA head coach Jim Mora Jr. comes in. Witness this exchange between Mora and the L.A. media following a Bruins practice earlier this week:
Reporter: Has Brett been able to do things in practice?
Mora: Yeah, he’s been limited (nodding). He’s done a few things. He’s worked a little bit.
Reporter: Is he in pain?
Mora: You’d have to ask him that.
Reporter: We can’t.
Mora: I’m sorry. I haven’t asked him.
Reporter: Is it more of a stability issue?
Mora: I haven’t asked him. I don’t ask him. You could ask our doctors, but I don’t think they’d talk to you either.
Really? You’re the head coach and your best player is dealing with an injury heading into a very important early-season game, and you haven’t asked him if he’s in pain?
Anyway, Mora continued to talk to reporters about the lack of information on Hundley’s status.
“It’s not like anyone is trying to pull anything over on (ASU head coach) Todd Graham, because you’re not going to pull anything over on Todd Graham,” he said. “They’re preparing for UCLA. They’re preparing for schemes and plays and tendencies.
“I’m sure they’re assuming that Brett’s going to play — that’s what I’d be doing and I’m not nearly the coach that Todd Graham is. They’ll be ready regardless.”
So, in masking information about his quarterback, Mora also managed a veiled shot at his counterpart on the other sideline. Or did he? Did Graham take any offense to Mora’s seemingly sarcastic compliment?
“No, not really,” the ASU coach told Doug and Wolf Wednesday on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “I’m focused on winning the football game. This game is not about me or Coach Mora or any of that stuff. It’s about these players and these kids and Sun Devil Nation and us winning a championship, so no, that doesn’t bother me.”
If Hundley can’t play, former walk-on Jerry Neuheisel will quarterback the Bruins. In relief of Hundley, Neuheisel led UCLA to a victory over Texas and garnered Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week honors.
Graham, however, is singularly focused on preparing as if Hundley will play.
“Of course,” he said. “What I’ve said, any week — it doesn’t matter who I was playing — I would prepare for their best quarterback. Nothing against Neuheisel, but Hundley is their best quarterback.
“You’ve got to prepare for the best, and if the best doesn’t play, you adjust on the move. People aren’t going to just wholesale change their offense just because they put a new guy in there.”
We’ll all find out which Bruins quarterback takes the field Thursday night at 7:00. The game will be carried live on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM with Tim Healey, Jeff Van Raaphorst and Doug Franz on the call. Pre-game coverage begins at 5:00 p.m. on ESPN Phoenix 620 AM.
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