For the UCLA football team, it appears that less is quickly becoming more.
As the Bruins approach their nationally televised contest against Tennessee on Saturday, instillation of the game plan is waning, and the fine-tuning is taking over.
After a sluggish Wednesday practice, which coach Rick Neuheisel attributed to throwing too much material at the team, the coach returned to reporters with a wide grin on his face after Thursday’s practice.
“Excellent practice this morning,” Neuheisel said. “Very, very pleased with our focus and attention to detail. I believe that our guys are eager to play, and that’s what you start with. I think we’ve kind of zeroed in on what we need for the game, and you don’t want to do much after that.”
Neuheisel trailed behind players who danced off the field, visibly excited to get on their plane to Knoxville, Tenn.
He said that the biggest difference between week one and week two for his team is a general surge in confidence.
“Playing Division I football is no longer a mystery to a lot of these kids,” Neuheisel said. “They’ve done it now. Their competition will increase. The games will get more important, but they know now they can play.”
ONE SNAP AWAY: UCLA true freshman Richard Brehaut said that he will be the backup quarterback for Kevin Prince this week.
BIG POSSIBILITIES: Senior kick returner and wide receiver Terrence Austin returned one kickoff 65 yards against San Diego State that set up a touchdown in UCLA’s win.
Although the Bruins won that game by 19, Saturday’s matchup is expected to be much closer.
So close that a big play on special teams could be the difference.
“It’s going to be a whole bunch of things going on, and we’re going to need a big play to help us out,” Austin said. “I can’t say that we are going to go down there and be ahead by 50 points. That’s almost impossible to really say.”
REVENGE FACTOR: Some Tennessee fans might consider Saturday a day to seek revenge against a UCLA squad that upset them last year on national television.
Will that give the Volunteers an edge heading into the game?
“I think (the revenge factor) is real in terms of talking about it, but I’m not sure it makes much of a difference after a couple of snaps,” Neuheisel said. “You’re going to get ready to play a game, and you have to have emotion to play the game well. If that helps with emotion, then yeah, it’s a factor. But we have to play with emotion, too. And our program is in a place where we can’t afford to ever play without it.”