UCLA’s Brett Hundley now ready to face Beavers

This was nearly an anniversary, though no one at UCLA would have rolled out a cake to celebrate wasting a season of quarterback Brett Hundley’s college football eligibility.

The Bruins were preparing to play Oregon State a year ago this week. Hundley, a true freshman, was put on alert. He was going to play.

But he didn’t. The decision to hold him out in what ended as a 6-8 season has had impact. Hundley did not throw away a year while learning on the job. It may have been one of the best calls former UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel made during four years at the top.

“I was going to make my college debut,” Hundley said. “I went into the game thinking I was going to play.”

Instead, Richard Brehaut handled a 27-19 victory over what was a woeful Oregon State team.

“I look back on that and it was huge,” Hundley said. “There was so much to learn. In college, the dudes are bigger and stronger and faster. They can do a lot of damage.”

Hundley knows that all too well now, as he nurses a tender ankle while again preparing to play Oregon State. This time he’s definitely in. But instead of bullying some wide-eyed kid, the Beavers will face a formidable challenge at the Rose Bowl on Saturday.

This is Exhibit A in the case for patience. Hundley, with a year to mature, has completed 67% of his passes while throwing for 827 yards and eight touchdowns in UCLA’s 3-0 start.

It helps that Hundley is running a spread offense that suits his skills rather than last year’s “Pistol,” which dangles quarterbacks like bait. But the bottom line is, “At this time last year, he was not nearly as good a quarterback as he is right now ,” said Kevin Prince, last year’s starter and now a backup. “That year of development really helps.”

UCLA’s roster has other examples. Prince sat out his first year and, though his career has been tattered by injuries, he had three 300-yard passing games as a redshirt freshman in 2009. He passed for 2,050 yards that season and engineered a three-game winning streak in November that got UCLA into a bowl game.

“Getting that year really settles you down,” Prince said. “You get used to the college atmosphere. You get used to traveling with the team and what practice demands and what meetings demand.”

Brehaut appeared in six games, all briefly, as a true freshman in 2009. He completed 11 of 17 passes for 124 yards. His career has been an uneven ride since.

“When I came here, I had it in my head I could make a difference right away,” Brehaut said. “I don’t think I was ready. I don’t think many guys fresh out of high school are ready to make that jump.”

No one will know for sure if Hundley was ready in 2011 — but we almost found out.

Prince was injured in the season-opening loss at Houston. Brehaut struggled in a 27-17 victory over San Jose State. Prince was reinjured in a 49-20 loss to Texas. Meantime, Neuheisel’s job was slipping away.

“We thought Brett was going to play,” Brett Hundley Sr. said. “Coach Neuheisel pulled us aside and talked to us about it. Brett is a team-first guy. At that stage, if they needed him, he would have played.”

Hundley said his son was, “very anxious the first two or three games. He really wanted to get involved.”

Brehaut threw only 11 passes, one a 22-yard touchdown pass, against Oregon State. UCLA built a 21-7 lead, stuck to its running game and held on for the victory.

The season later unraveled in losses to Arizona (48-12), Utah (31-6) and USC (50-0). Neuheisel decided to save Hundley’s year rather than take a desperate stab at saving his job.

“The more the season progressed, the more Brett understood that a redshirt might not be a bad thing,” Hundley Sr. said. “There were 100 things coming at him at 100 mph.”

What difference does a year make? Ask UCLA offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone, who can have Hundley for four seasons instead of three.

“Gosh, to have the same quarterback in the same offense going into my fourth year means my golf game will get better,” Mazzone joked.

Said Prince: “The thing that separates high school from college is the ability to read defenses. It’s a lot more sophisticated. Getting used to that, on every snap, takes time.”

At least a year.

chris.foster@latimes.com

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