Following a UCLA football practice in April, a young boy walked up to Anthony Barr, hoping the linebacker would autograph a picture.
Receiving the enlarged photograph and a Sharpie, the senior outside linebacker proceeded to sign a still image of himself clobbering then-USC quarterback Matt Barkley for a sack in the fourth quarter of last year’s rivalry game.
To UCLA fans young and old, that image resonates as a sudden, symbolic shift in the changing of the guard. After four years of referring to former UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel’s full-page newspaper spread that read, “The football monopoly in Los Angeles is officially over,” the Bruins finally had some force, perhaps Barr’s own, behind that long-awaited comeback. Since that moment and the 38-28 victory it secured last November, even Barr’s teammates said they feel the shift in momentum.
“I think it just symbolized where this team was, how we sort of changed and where we are now,” said redshirt sophomore quarterback Brett Hundley. “It really symbolized not just our mindset, but the season and what we’re trying to accomplish. We’re a new team and we’re a different type of team and we’re really trying to show what we’ve done these past two years.”
In the weeks leading up to the hit and in the months after, Barr’s star rose dramatically. So has his draft stock. For the second week in a row, the senior is ranked No. 2 on the “Big Board,” compiled by ESPN NFL draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. for potential 2014 draftees. The only player listed ahead of him is South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, a player who likewise grew into a legend thanks to one big hit against Michigan last season.
Still, Barr said he didn’t read much into it. To him, the 38-28 win lives on longer than the blow delivered by his shoulder pads.
“I mean, people like to talk about it,” Barr said. “It is what it is – I don’t look much into it. The way we played is more important than the play itself.”
Had the hit occurred in a blowout loss, it would have likely faded away as a sack and a reason for Barkley’s shoulder separation, and little else.
The fact that it played a major part in vaulting UCLA into the Pac-12 title game and tying down UCLA’s first L.A. rivalry game win since 2006 gave it that famous context that a picture only begins to explain.
Injury update
In a teleconference with reporters Sunday night, coach Jim Mora announced sophomore left tackle Simon Goines will miss the remainder of the season with a right fibula fracture.
“Simon had surgery this morning at 8 a.m.,” Mora said Sunday. “I don’t know if it’s identical, but it’s very, very similar to what (redshirt sophomore left tackle) Torian (White) did (at Utah).”
Mora said Goines will be sidelined for eight weeks, leaving him unavailable for any potential bowl games. He left in the second quarter of Saturday night’s game against Arizona State and had to be helped off the field by two athletic trainers, putting no weight on his right leg. In his place, freshman Scott Quessenberry was inserted at left guard while junior Xavier Su’a-Filo was shifted over to replace Goines at left tackle.
Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Tyler Scott will also be out for the year after undergoing surgery to repair a dislocated wrist, Mora said.
He added that redshirt senior wide receiver Grayson Mazzone is out for the remainder of the season as a result of ACL, MCL and meniscus tears sustained during the ASU game, while freshman wide receiver Darren Andrews will be held out of action with a lateral meniscus tear in his knee.
Mora also said sophomore cornerback Fabian Moreau is suffering from a pulled hamstring. He left Saturday’s game and was replaced initially by freshman Priest Willis and later by two safeties, sophomore Randall Goforth and redshirt junior Anthony Jefferson.
“I’m not exactly sure where (Moreau) is,” Mora said. “I don’t know where he’s going to be by Saturday.”