The UCLA defense came into Palo Alto as one of the most highly touted in the conference, with enviable depth at every unit. They expected themselves to thoroughly dominate the Stanford offense, and, despite the 28-point margin of victory, they were clearly not satisfied with their performance.
For cornerback Trey Brown, the game served as a good starting point, but he sees areas where the defense could improve.
“I wish I’d been able to pick a couple off,” Brown said, “but it’s a good start, especially going into someone else’s house.
“We made a couple of minor mistakes that we need to get corrected. We hope not to make any errors. We went out there and put it on them.”
Brown led the defense with four passes deflected and forced the only fumble of the game, which defensive end Bruce Davis recovered.
Brown was also called for a debatable pass-interference call in the second quarter, one that he’s going to review on his own time.
“I’m going to see it on film, but I didn’t agree with it,” Brown said. “You’ve got to just man up and keep making plays after that.”
BACKUPS GET PLAYING TIME: Throughout the game, the UCLA coaching staff went deep into the depth charts, and many Bruins who do not start received significant playing time.
A total of 35 players came off the bench for the Bruins, including redshirt freshman walk-on quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson, but he did not attempt a pass.
Former quarterback Osaar Rasshan got a chance to try out his new position, wide receiver, in a game situation but was not thrown to.
One backup who did get a shot to make an impact was sophomore safety-turned-running back Christian Ramirez. He had five carries for 55 yards, including a 24-yard touchdown late in the game.
VAN INJURED: Cornerback Rodney Van suffered a sprained ankle in the third quarter and did not come back into the game. He was replaced by Alterraun Verner. His injury is not expected to be serious.
NEW PLAY SETS OLSON AS BLOCKER: The Bruins ran a reverse with speedster Terrence Austin leaning on quarterback Ben Olson as the lead blocker that went for a few yards.
“I told him in the huddle, ‘I’m going to run on your coattails,’ and I chased him, and there we went,” Austin said.