It was like someone had spiked their Gatorade.
Was there a rivalry game coming up that wasn’t listed on the schedule?
Did one of the linebackers just get elected governor?
“It was crazier than I’ve ever seen it here,” freshman middle linebacker Jordan Zumwalt said.
Something was making the UCLA football team go bonkers, but it was just a Tuesday practice, which the team has had dozens of times this fall. The Bruins don’t even have a game for another week and a half, but after every catch, every tackle of this practice, the Bruins were hootin’ and hollerin’.
“I don’t know if it’s the victory or the weather,” coach Rick Neuheisel said to the huddled media braving the sub-60 temperatures on Spaulding Field. “Guys were excited … and we need that energy throughout the rest of our season if we’re going to make it a successful season.”
The Bruins (4-5, 2-4 Pac-10) are coming off their first win in more than a month and it was a doozy. Redshirt senior kicker Kai Forbath nailed the game-winning field goal as time expired on Oregon State on Saturday at the Rose Bowl, which kept UCLA’s postseason hopes alive for another week. Obviously, it has had an emotional impact on the team.
“I don’t know if we would have been like that if we had lost,” Zumwalt said. “Coming back after a win makes practice a lot more fun.”
Zumwalt was a big reason that was possible. Making the first start of his young career against the Beavers, the freshman led the team with nine tackles, while he and his fellow starting linebackers, junior Sean Westgate and redshirt junior Akeem Ayers, each recorded a sack.
“Our linebackers played probably the best game I’ve seen in (my) three years,” redshirt sophomore cornerback Aaron Hester said.
With such a tight contest ““ the teams were tied for all but about 12 minutes of the game ““ those big defensive plays were all the more important. Hester cited Westgate’s takedown of Oregon State quarterback Ryan Katz with less than four minutes to play as particularly critical as it forced a late punt.
The Bruins did not let the Beavers achieve even one first down in their last four possessions.
“If you look at all the games we’ve won, it started with defense,” junior safety Rahim Moore said.
Conversely, in their five losses this season, UCLA has surrendered 38 points per game, a total the Bruin offense has been able to top just once.
A lot of praise for Saturday’s defensive effort was directed at the Bruin freshmen who have gotten more playing time as of late.
“I don’t know if there’s any other team in the country that has four freshmen playing (on defense),” defensive coordinator Chuck Bullough said.
In addition to Zumwalt, freshman defensive tackle Cassius Marsh also made his first start for the Bruins this week. Freshman end Owamagbe Odighizuwa has now started four games and has become a staple of UCLA’s defensive front.
Freshman safety Dietrich Riley had a highlight-reel hit on Oregon State running back Jacquizz Rogers in the second quarter that knocked Rogers helmet off and sent the Rose Bowl crowd into a frenzy.
As a team captain, Moore said he spends a lot of time talking with the younger defenders. He knows what it’s like to get called on early, having started every game since his freshman season opener, and is still impressed by this new crop of tacklers.
“It’s a tough task,” he said. “But those guys are prodigies. They are ahead of their time.”