UCLA’s senior all-purpose back Demetric Felton is ranked seventh in the country in average yards per game (134.3), and had a career-best performance in Saturday’s 27-10 victory over Arizona, rushing for 207 yards with a touchdown, which came a week after he rushed for 167 yards in a loss at Oregon.
But there was a scary moment in Saturday’s game when Felton pulled up on a run late in the fourth quarter and never returned, reaching at his hamstring area.
But the good news came Monday when UCLA coach Chip Kelly told reporters during a conference call that Felton is fine and would be practicing in preparation for the Bruins’ (2-2) road game at Arizona State (0-1) on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Kelly went on to talk about how far Felton has come since switching from wide receiver to running back last year, and spoke of his continuing work ethic as one of the reasons for his constant improvement.
“I think his vision, his ability to keep his shoulders square and make cuts is something he has really worked on and he’s improved on,” Kelly said of Felton. “But like anybody, nobody’s ever arrived. I don’t care if you’re Tom Brady or Peyton Manning at the end of his career, I see Tom out here in the off-season in the middle of April working on fundamentals and where his plant foot goes and where his elbow is and his back hip and elbow working in unison together.
“So, everybody can improve whether you’re Demetric Felton at age 21 or Tom Brady at age 43. So, he (Felton) can improve at all facets and that’s what I love about Felt. He continues to work at all aspects; pass catch, pass routes, vision, cuts, tough cuts, all of the things you have to do to be a great running back he’ll continue to work on.”
WILL THOMPSON-ROBINSON RETURN?
UCLA has been without third-year starting quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson for the previous two games. Several others, including reserve backs Kazmeir Allen, Keegan Jones and Martell Irby, have also been out due to contact tracing.
Though Kelly did not say they would be returning to practice Monday, he did signal that several players would likely return this week after having served a 14 day quarantine, which the Pac-12 mandates if someone comes in close contact with someone who tests positive for the coronavirus. UCLA announced that two players tested positive the week of the Oregon game, so the two-week quarantine should end sometime this week.
“We’re hopeful of that,” Kelly said of players returning.
Redshirt freshman Chase Griffin started at QB in Thompson-Robinson’s absence the past two games and has performed well. Even when Thompson-Robinson returns, Kelly isn’t likely to show his hand on who will start Saturday’s game against the Sun Devils.
WILL ARIZONA STATE BE READY?
If everything goes as planned, UCLA will play a Sun Devils squad that hasn’t played since their season-opening loss to USC, 28-27, on Nov. 7.
Arizona State has had three games canceled due to a coronavirus outbreak within the team, including coach Herm Edwards, who also contracted COVID-19.
The Sun Devils have had games canceled against Cal (Nov. 14), Colorado (Nov. 21) and Utah this past weekend because the Sun Devils still did not have enough scholarship players available for the contest.
Edwards is healthy again, and just returned to practice last week along with most of his team. During a zoom video with reporters, Edwards described the return like the first days of training camp.
“Obviously we went out and had a watered-down version of practice,” Edwards told reporters. “I thought the players for the most part were excited to go back on the grass and participate in some form of getting ready to play football, so that’s kind of where we’re at right now.”
Edwards is hoping their coronavirus issues are behind them, and they can play Saturday and next week’s game against rival Arizona.
“We started something and we have to finish it,” Edwards said last week. “You have to finish things in life, regardless of what it looks like and what it feels like. You can’t quit. You don’t get to tap out.”
Edwards knew before the season what the risks were.
“I told my wife when we first started this deal, ‘You know what, I’m probably going to catch it.’” Edwards said. “I knew exactly what I was walking into and I did everything possible not to do it and I went for eight months — a whole eight months. And then (I did) everything I could do to make sure that I wasn’t going to contract the virus and for God’s sake, I didn’t want to give it to anybody, and it happened.”
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