Hearts were heavy and emotions were high, but the Bruins still managed to pull out a 20-point victory on the road Saturday. They were also rewarded handsomely for doing so.
In the Week Four AP Top 25 football rankings released Sunday, the Bruins were ranked No. 13, jumping Michigan and Oklahoma, both of whom had tight victories over the weekend.
The ranking is the highest redshirt sophomore Brett Hundley has seen in his two-plus years at UCLA, yet the quarterback said with ten games still to play, it’s just a stop along the way to the final destination.
“It’s a blessing,” Hundley said. “It’s pretty cool, but at the end of the day, we’re trying to be No. 1. Our goal is not met yet, and we’re trying to win the national championship, so we just have to keep winning games and take it from there.”
It’s a feeling that has stuck with much of UCLA’s conference as well. As of Saturday night, there remained seven Pac-12 schools – including UCLA – with undefeated records, with five of the conference’s 12 teams – No. 2 Oregon, No. 5 Stanford, No. 13 UCLA, No. 17 Washington and No. 23 Arizona State – holding top-25 rankings.
Pac-12 Proud
The Mora family has a long Pac-12 history. Coach Jim Mora’s father, Jim E. Mora, was an assistant coach at UCLA, Washington and Colorado, and UCLA’s current coach Mora was a walk-on defensive back for Washington in his college days.
Mora said that seeing so many of the conference’s teams recognized in a national poll evokes a certain sense of intra-conference pride, especially in the midst of non-conference play.
“I think it shows that people are recognizing that there’s some quality football being played in the Pac-12,” Mora said. “I’ve been in this conference since I was a little boy, basically. I like this conference and I’m proud of it.”
What has made Mora more proud of his conference in the past few days, however, is the concern and support offered by a number of Pac-12 schools with his team still mourning the loss of wide receiver Nick Pasquale. He said Oregon’s football team honored No. 36 by sending down a signed poster, with USC holding a moment of silence for Pasquale before its Saturday game against Boston College and Cal also reaching out to Mora to offer its condolences.
The Saturday efforts of the University of Nebraska, a Big Ten school, were likewise recognized by Mora, who lauded the school’s student section cheering for his heartbroken team before kickoff and its football team for sporting blue No. 36 helmet stickers regardless of its red, black and white uniform theme for the week.
Better Late than Never
A common theme for UCLA’s defense over the first two games of the season has been tightening the screws at halftime.
The Bruins have allowed 34 first-half points in their first two contests compared to just seven second-half points. Redshirt junior safety Anthony Jefferson, who had nine tackles in Saturday’s game, said one key to UCLA’s late-game defensive prowess against Nebraska was its offense.
Standing on the sidelines throughout much of the third quarter due to a high-motor UCLA offensive attack that yielded a 28-0 run, Nebraska’s offense had hardly any field time to develop a late-game rhythm.
“I think that was the biggest thing,” said Jefferson of UCLA’s play-calling speed following Saturday’s game. “We just all needed to settle down and in the second half we came out fast, finally got into what we know how to do – fast and up-tempo – and it worked out well.”