They Miss Out on Total Experience

So far freshmen have worn school colors on a practice field, have stayed in a dormitory and have walked a bit, to get an idea that at least there is a UCLA campus.

Sometimes it’s hard to tell, when you’re there on a football scholarship.

“I remember that when I came here, until we started classes I didn’t know there was a campus,” quarterback Cade McNown said, remembering a year ago. “I didn’t know there was anything beyond that stretch of grass over there.”

That stretch of grass was outside the Morgan Center, part of the athletic complex.

“There’s a lot of campus here,” McNown said, laughing.

It’s the same feeling Bruin scholarship freshmen felt Thursday on a day spent in academic orientation.

It’s something that will recede into their memories, overwhelmed by playbooks and by returning players later Thursday night. Because UCLA is on a quarter system, by the time the freshmen have their first college classes, on Sept. 26, some of them will have played two games (at Tennessee and against Northeast Louisiana in the Rose Bowl) and will be hard at work, getting ready for a third, at Michigan on Sept. 28.

*

Some professional sports ties among the Bruin freshmen:

Running back Keith Brown (cousin of former UCLA All-American tackle Jonathan Ogden and NBA player Kevin Duckworth); defensive linemen Josh and Micah Webb (father Jimmy Webb played for the San Francisco 49ers and San Diego Chargers); defensive back Jason Zdenek (cousin of linebacker Clay Matthews of the Atlanta Falcons and Bruce Matthews of the Houston Oilers).

*

Two-a-day drills begin Saturday at Spaulding Field. Work in pads begins Wednesday.