Kai Maiava and Josh Smith stepped onto Colorado’s Folsom Field for the first time together as freshmen in the fall of 2007. Four years later, they will take the Rose Bowl field together as UCLA redshirt seniors playing against their former team.
It’s been a long road for the pair of seniors, but it’s finally starting to wind down. Each sought transfers from Colorado for different reasons.
Maiava, a center, only lasted a year in Boulder because the Colorado coaching staff wanted to make him a fullback, something he wasn’t comfortable with. Smith, a wide receiver, left after two seasons to be closer to his hometown of Moorpark.
Saturday’s game against Colorado needs no added fuel for the Bruins ““ UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel got his head coaching start at CU, and UCLA senior wide receiver Taylor Embree’s father, Jon, has since assumed the post ““ but Smith and Maiava are happy to provide it.
“This game is going to be real fun for me,” Maiava said. “There’s always that little rivalry between friends and old teammates.”
“There’s a lot riding on this for me,” Smith added. “A lot of guys want to get the best of me.”
When Smith was looking at where to transfer, he reached out to Maiava, who, at the time, was sitting out a season per NCAA rules.
“We had good chemistry in the past, and we wanted to see how we would do together again,” Smith said.
The pair missed out on playing together last year because Maiava was out with an injury, but that didn’t stop him from helping Smith get comfortable.
“When Josh first came in, I took him under my wing and told him that this was a good choice for him,” Maiava said. “I showed him the ropes, and everybody got along with him just fine.”
Neuheisel said he’s glad both players have chosen his program to end their collegiate football careers with.
“When you take guys from other schools, you always wonder why that’s happening, but with both of those guys, they’ve been terrific for us,” Neuheisel said.
Perhaps the two offensive players are glad they didn’t remain in Boulder. The Buffs have just one conference win in their first season playing in the Pac-12 and haven’t won a road contest in 22 tries.
Colorado quarterback Tyler Hansen thinks that will change this weekend, going so far as to guarantee it after his team beat Arizona last weekend.
Smith and Maiava said they’ve been in contact with their former teammates this week.
“There has definitely (been) smack talk from both sides,” Maiava said. “It’s just funny to me but we’ll see on Saturday who gets the last words. Hopefully it’s us.”
Cracking down on penalties
After the Bruins committed 12 penalties in last week’s loss to Utah, Neuheisel has made cleaner play on the line a focus during practice this week.
“There was some harsh critcism because it cost us,” Neuheisel said. “Our offense is such that it needs to stay in rhythm and to go five yards back causes a lot of problems.”