The Early Words: Football Bowl Notebook

UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel might need to make a spur-of-the-moment shopping trip.
He has some Navy gear to buy.
If the Midshipmen defeat Army on Saturday, the Bruins are headed to the EagleBank Bowl at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., for a Dec. 29 matchup with the 9-3 Temple Owls.

As it stands, the Black Knights are 5-6 and not eligible for the EagleBank Bowl, despite a tie-in. The Mid-Atlantic Conference East Division champions, heading to a bowl for the first time in 30 years, fill the spot vacated by the ACC, which did not have enough bowl-eligible teams to fulfill its tie-ins.

"Although we always support the men and women fighting for our country, on this particular three-hour stint, we're going to be anchor's away," Neuheisel said on Sunday. "We're excited about the opportunity and looking forward to getting into the ball game. We know we need a little bit of help, but we're looking forward to a chance."

UCLA needed a 3-1 finish down the stretch to even give itself a chance, defeating Washington, Washington State and Arizona State before losing to USC to close out the regular season. However, a 6-6 record did nothing to guarantee a postseason bid, with several 7-5 (or better) teams assured spots.

With all of the Bruins' other potential bowl destinations filled, now all the team can do is sit and wait.

"We didn't get the job done during the season so it's kind of our consequence to wait," senior cornerback Alterraun Verner said. "We're fortunate to be put in the position to try to get one, though, and that's all we can ask for. I think we did enough to deserve it, showed enough promise through the course of the year with our youth, and we'll be an exciting team to watch come bowl season."

Though the team has been in limbo for more than a week, unable to practice, the Bruins have been optimistic about their bowl prospects.

"I saw (offensive coordinator Norm Chow) today, too, and he said it looked like we had a really good chance," sophomore wide receiver Taylor Embree said. "We had a meeting with coach Neuheisel last Tuesday, and he just said, 'Focus as if we were going to a bowl.' We're prepared. If we go to one, it won't be a shock. We're ready for a bowl. We want it really bad."

Prince Update
If the Bruins do end up going bowling, UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel is optimistic that redshirt freshman quarterback Kevin Prince will be able to play. Prince suffered a mild AC sprain of his throwing shoulder - considered a slight separation - in the third quarter of UCLA's 28-7 loss to USC on Nov. 28.

"He told me it was getting better when I saw him last week," Neuheisel said. Given some rest, I think he would be ready."