Mora Names Former St. John Bosco QB Josh Rosen Starting Quarterback

Written by Ryan Wright
Twitter: @HogManInLA

The trivia question pondering who replaced Brett Hundley under center at UCLA has an answer for now after Bruins head coach Jim Mora Jr. named true freshman Josh Rosen the starter Wednesday night.

Rosen was the No. 1 rated pro-style quarterback in the 2015 recruiting class out of St. John Bosco in nearby Bellflower. Rosen beat out Jerry Neuheisel after the redshirt junior filled in at times for Hundley connecting on 26-of-39 passes for 194 yards with two touchdowns against one pick. Neuheisel showed great poise leading UCLA to a 20-17 come from behind road win over Texas.

The relationship between Mora and Rosen has been documented by local media with the head coach riding the true freshman hard in practice. Mora has been overheard mocking Rosen’s decisions and passes at times telling him he’s making high school plays, paraphrasing.

Mora spoke to the media after Wednesday’s practice making the announcement stating, “We made a decision and we made the decision to go with Josh.” Mora added, “When you recruit the No. 1 ranked quarterback, you hope he lives up to that billing.”

The Bruins head coach added a buffer to UCLA fans with, “He will be playing some really good teams this year. There are going to be some plays that are frustrating and there are going to be some plays that are dumbfounding. But we’re also going to see some great plays.”

Putting a true freshman in control of UCLA’s team is risky but the Bruins are stocked with talent. Entering fall camp UCLA had nine starters back on offense and eight on defense. Helping Rosen on offense is returning starting tailback Paul Perkins and his 1,575 yards with nine touchdowns and all four of Hundley’s top targets from a year ago; Jordan Payton, Devin Fuller, Devin Lucien, and Thomas Duarte.

Rosen has stood out in practice earning the right to be named the starting quarterback. Dropping back in the pocket against top talent, albeit high school talent, is nothing new for this 18-year-old. In high school he led St. John Bosco to a national championship in 2013 and a state runner-up finish in 2014 passing for 8,473 career yards with 90 career touchdowns.

Photo credit: dailybruin.com; Josh Rosen