UCLA players ditch practice, upset Neuheisel

Bruins players had just finished stretching when they gathered in a big huddle, worked themselves into a frenzy, then bolted through the gate at Spaulding Field to take the traditional "over the wall" day that ended practice and left coaches a bit stunned.

Neuheisel went to the locker room and met with seniors to"make sure they were all doing it together." He had asked the team not to have an "over the wall" day before spring practice, according to one player who asked not to be identified, promising to "make it up to us later."

The decision to go "over the wall," said to have been organized by seniors, will probably cost the Bruins a day of spring practice, although Neuheisel was going to check with the NCAA whether he could get the day back.

If not, the lost day of practice might come in handy with a new offense and questions about the offensive line. It also left a handful of potential recruits and visiting high school coaches with no practice to observe. This was also a day the team was practicing in full pads in advance of Friday's scrimmage.

Neuheisel, who has already been marking the days until the Bruins' season opener against Tennessee on Sept. 1, grudgingly cited it as a case of college tradition.

Still, Neuheisel said, "I don't want to make too big a deal of it. It is what it is and there are still plenty of days left in spring to get the improvement that we need."

Asked about the players' commitment, Neuheisel said, "I said all along that we're getting great commitment from players and they're working hard. I'm not going to back down from that because they're trying to uphold an old tradition and so forth. I don't know if I would have advised it. But if it happened we're going to try to make it a positive."

The "over the wall" day has been going on at UCLA for more than 30 years, including Bruins teams that Neuheisel played on, though players on those teams actually went over a wall instead of stampeding through an open gate. A year ago, then-head coach Karl Dorrell organized the day himself so it would not disrupt practice.

"Our guys showed good solidarity. It's not what I would have liked to happen today. I remember being a part of teams that did this and still had successful seasons. Hopefully we can benefit in some way from this," Neuheisel said.