Jim Mora didn’t seem to want to give anything away during Sunday’s weekly conference call with UCLA’s beat writers.
The UCLA football coach avoided detailed explanations about any concerns he had with his defense and gave an unspecified “all of the above” response for which areas the unit needed to improve in.
But there was one area he was happy to share his opinion on.
“I know one thing, I’ll take four defensive touchdowns,” Mora said.
Defense hasn’t always been dominant for the Bruins this season, surrendering 451 yards per game, which ranks No. 102 in the nation. Further adding to that mark were the 626 yards UCLA gave up to Arizona State in Thursday’s 62-27 win over the Sun Devils.
However, Mora made it clear those numbers were not the ones he was paying attention to.
“I’ve been coaching defense since I was 22 years old, I played defense four years before that and yards have never been an issue and I doubt that I’ll change now,” Mora said. “Most coaches I know don’t pay attention to yards. Yards don’t matter. Points are what they usually grade you on.”
And in that category, Mora should be a bit more pleased. The Bruins rank No. 63 nationally, allowing 24.8 points per game. But just as importantly, as Mora also alluded to, the defense hasn’t just limited opponents’ scoring, but done some scoring of its own.
The Bruins have forced seven turnovers through four games so far, four of which have been returned for touchdowns. Given the narrow margin of UCLA’s first three wins, creating those momentum-swinging defensive plays has proven to be crucial for the Bruins so far. But is relying on big-play turnovers a sustainable strategy?
“Absolutely,” said redshirt senior linebacker Eric Kendricks, who has an interception returned for a touchdown, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery on the season. “That’s what we harp on as a defense, you know, stripping the ball, getting interceptions, things like that. Those are key to winning games.”
Braced with impact
After injuring his left elbow against Texas, redshirt junior quarterback Brett Hundley took the field against Arizona State sporting three layers of padding including a hefty brace on the elbow.
While his performance didn’t suffer, Hundley said adjusting to the brace, which he described as “bionic,” was a bit more of a challenge than it may have seemed. The added gear on his non-throwing arm affects his weight distribution while throwing and the range of motion of his left arm. Hundley said both factors did affect his throwing against Arizona State as he had to adjust to the new limitations caused by the brace.
As he moves forward and continues practicing and playing with the brace, Hundley admitted that practicing with an adjusted throwing motion could potentially cause issues with his muscle memory, but downplayed the significance.
“It’s a little concern. Not too much,” Hundley said. “Obviously more practice with the brace, the more comfortable I’ll feel with it, but obviously it adds a bigger piece of weight to your arm so it distributes weight a little different. But at the same time, you practice with it, it’ll be fine.”
Hundley said he no longer feels pain in his elbow and the brace is just for precaution, but also was unsure of a time frame of how long he’ll use it.
More Pac-12 honors
For the third week this season, UCLA players were recognized for their performances by the Pac-12. Hundley and junior cornerback/kick returner Ishmael Adams were named the Pac-12 Players of the Week for offense and special teams respectively.
Hundley threw for 355 yards and four touchdowns on 18-for-23 passing, while also running for 72 yards and a score.
Adams earned his second special teams player of the week honor with his 201 kick return yards, including a 100-yard kick return for a touchdown.