Competition between nose tackle, center strengthens team’s foundation

SAN BERNARDINO — Every day in practice, Kenny Clark gets the best competition he could ask for: He faces off against redshirt senior center Jake Brendel.

“Jake’s the best center I’ve played so far,” said Clark, a junior and UCLA’s starting nose tackle for the past year. “You’ve got to bring it with Jake every day.”

And Clark does. On seemingly every play of practice, he’s lined up opposite Brendel.

During one-on-one drills, Brendel is Clark’s partner. During 11-on-11 scrimmages, the two follow almost the exact same substitution patterns.

There’s hardly a moment in practice when Clark faces off against an offensive lineman other than Brendel. And Clark seems to like that.

“It’s a battle,” Clark said. “He makes me better every day.”

Clark and Brendel have grown through their mutual competition. Brendel was named to his second straight Rimington Trophy watch list this summer, and Clark was named to the Bednarik Award watch list for the first time. Those awards are given annually to the nation’s top center and defensive player, respectively.

As for who’s the better of the two, it’s hard to tell. Clark doesn’t get many sacks – he has yet to record a sack in his career – but sacks don’t define his value in coach Jim Mora’s eyes.

“The nose guard, he’s usually the unsung hero of any really good defense,” Mora said. “So often (last year), Kenny would hold a double team and (the offensive linemen) couldn’t get up near the second level.”

That ability hasn’t gone unnoticed by NFL scouts. The website NFLDraftscout has Clark rated No. 3 out of 220 defensive tackles in the 2017 draft class.

“If he adds a pass rush to his toolkit, he’s gonna be unstoppable,” said junior defensive end Eddie Vanderdoes.

And what better way to work on pass rush than by facing Brendel each day? After just four days of fall practice, Vanderdoes has already seen Clark’s pass rush game go to another level.

“I’ve seen a lot of improvement in that so far this fall camp,” Vanderdoes said.

Enough to fluster Brendel and the UCLA offensive line? Not just yet.

“I think one indicator for me of how the offensive line is playing is that Jake Brendel has not lost it yet,” Mora said. “And that’s a good thing.”

With a few more pushes from Clark, maybe Brendel will break. But for now, he’s providing stiff competition, helping UCLA maintain a strong foundation up the middle.