Defensive tackle Seali’i Epenesais is in his fourth year with the UCLA football program, but until last year he and his fellow upperclassmen saw far more fresh faces than normal.
Take UCLA’s defensive coordinator post, for instance. During Epenesa’s freshman year, Chuck Bullough was the signal caller. His second year, it was Joe Tresey at the helm, and after a 6-8 finish and an overhaul of much of UCLA’s football staff, Tresey was likewise shown the door.
From 2010 to the spring of 2012, Epenesa’s early years with the team, it was difficult for the Bruins to establish any sort of defensive identity because of the same offseason wheeling and dealing that had them learning a new system each spring. With Epenesa and the UCLA defense now in their second year under Lou Spanos, who currently boasts the title of defensive coordinator for the nation’s 19th-ranked scoring defense, it appears that trend has gone by the wayside.
“Especially being in this defense going on two years now, it’s helped us a lot,” Epenesa said. “This time we have a whole unit, we have a whole year of experience with this defense and everyone’s more comfortable. You build relationships with the coaches and that’s really helped us, too.”
It’s a defense that has proven relentless against pocket passers, like Utah quarterback Travis Wilson and Cal quarterback Jared Goff, who grossed a combined seven interceptions in UCLA’s two most recent wins.
The effects of the pass rush were particularly noticeable against Goff, whose Bear Raid offense was limited to a meager 215 yards through the air while being tackled for a loss eight times.
“Making him feel less comfortable early and getting him to move to his feet a little bit, I think that maybe influenced him to not play as well,” said senior outside linebacker Anthony Barr. “(Cal wasn’t) much of a running team, but just getting them out of that early and forcing them to throw and just playing tight coverage has worked out for us in these last couple weeks.”
Even with two freshmen– outside linebacker Myles Jack and defensive lineman Eddie Vanderdoes – in the starting lineup on Saturday, the Bruins were able to strap down that coverage in the second half, allowing just 98 passing yards to a team that frequently went to the air in an attempt to get back in the game.
“It’s always evolving and we try to put our best players out there,” said Spanos of his starting 11. “We have some young freshmen in there, but it’s not too big for them. I wouldn’t say it’s the best (combination) because we haven’t seen the future yet.”
Moving on up
The immediate future pits UCLA against No. 13 Stanford, a weekly top-five team that suffered a surprising 27-21loss at Utah. As a result of losses by Stanford, which dropped eight spots in the AP Top 25 rankings, as well as Georgia, a team ranked No. 7 before a loss to then-No. 25 Missouri on Saturday, the Bruins moved up two spots in the rankings to No. 9.
UCLA holds the more favorable ranking, but is not favored to win, currently sitting as a 6.5-point underdog to the defending Rose Bowl champion.
The Bruins have lost five consecutive games to the Cardinal. Two came in the final two weeks of the 2012 regular season, the latter a three-point loss that shattered UCLA’s chance at a Rose Bowl berth. The team has tried to downplay Saturday’s game in Palo Alto as well as the Oct. 26 game against No. 2 Oregon all season, but according to coach Jim Mora, it experienced a noticeable attitude shift immediately following its 37-10 win over Cal.
“I got the feeling in the locker room after the game that there’s a little bit of a heightened sense of what’s coming,” Mora said. “We’re all human and when you get a chance to go play at Stanford, things are going to ramp up a little bit.”