UCLA names 18-year old freshman Josh Rosen beginning QB

LOS ANGELES –Rosen was the consensus top quarterback recruit in the 2015 recruiting cycle, last winter, and he registered at UCLA. Almost three weeks he officially won the occupation over Mike Fafaul and redshirt juniors Jerry Neuheisel.

“At the end, it came down to Josh and Jerry,” Mora said. “When you have done it as long as we have done it, at some point it just becomes apparent to you. You get a gut feeling. You have seen enough and you say, ‘You know what? It’s time to make that decision, and let’s go.’ And that’s what we did.”

When camp was broken by UCLA a choice regarding the successor of Brett Hundley failed to seem to be arriving anytime soon.

Mora had said he was still waiting on someone to claim the occupation, and that was before launching into an end-of-training diatribe against Rosen last week where the fourth year coach pointedly told reporters, “you’ll be able to tell all of your readers this is the reason why there is no starter named.”

But Mora said the 18-year old Rosen’s mental equilibrium and steady progress against the Bruins’ defense that was ferocious were crucial variables in your decision. Rosen will soon have the ability to rely on such a defense, a seasoned offensive line, the Pac 12’s leading rusher in running back Paul Perkins last season, as well as a gifted assortment of receivers that are tall.

Yet Mora warned that any first year player will make errors, even one as talented and acclaimed as Rosen.

“There are going to be some plays that are frustrating, there are going to be some plays that are dumbfounding, but there are also going to be some great plays,” Mora said. “We are going to see him develop through the year.”

Rosen faces a job that is significant in replacing Hundley, a three-year starter who establish the UCLA record for career yards and went 3-0 against competing Southern California before leaving for the NFL.

Rosen was told of the decision Wednesday morning, requesting share the news together and to phone his parents, Mora said. After meeting with all the three competitions, Mora failed to make an official statement to the remaining group, saying he wouldn’t do it when making “a substitution at left guard or nose tackle or inside linebacker or corner.”

“I said, ‘Did you know I talked to the quarterbacks?'” Mora said. “He said, ‘Yeah,’ and that was the extent of it.”

The single comments Mora said he received during training was from senior wide receiver Jordan Payton.

“I’ve made it very, very clear that I am a one-quarterback type of coach,” Mora said. “I want to put a guy in that position and support the heck out of him and help him have success and rally around him if he’s struggling. That’s what I will do, that’s what this staff will do, and that’s what this team will do.”