UCLA football: Prince not victim of illegal hit

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UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel has made reference to the play that cost him his quarterback, calling the tackle by Tennessee’s Dennis Rogan a helmet-to-helmet hit on Kevin Prince.

“He was hit trying to get out of the end zone,” Neuheisel said Sunday night. “It was helmet-to-helmet contact, bang-bang play.” He added that he did not think it warranted a penalty.

Reviews of the replay on youtube.com show that Rogan did not make a helmet-to-helmet hit. He met Prince head-on, wrapped his arms around him and the two collided facemask-to-facemask.

UCLA linebacker Reggie Carter didn’t see anything wrong with the hit, though he admitted to bias.

“I play linebacker, so I hope they never throw that flag,” Carter said. “The hardest part of your equipment is a piece of steel, your facemask. I’m leading with my facemask every time. If you catch me, you catch me. But it didn’t look like it was that bad of a hit.”

-- Chris Foster

chris.foster@latimes.com

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