Some rap, a little bit of metal and a dash of country mixed in occasionally.
The only thing more varied than the UCLA pump-up playlist is their receiving corps.
Eighteen different players have earned playing time for the Bruins, but no one has been more consistent than junior receiver Darren Andrews.
Despite playing in all five games, Andrews hasn’t started a single one this season. He still leads the team in catches, having racked up 21 for over 300 yards.
Against Arizona (2-3, 0-2 Pac-12), the wide receiver caught a career-high nine passes for 108 yards to help the Bruins (3-2, 1-1 Pac-12) get their first conference win of the season.
[Related: Bruin football runs past the Wildcats 45-24 with strong second-half offense]
At Monday’s press conference, coach Jim Mora described Andrews as dependable and explosive, but said the junior’s real strength is in his game preparation.
“He really cares and he prepares well,”Mora said, “so I think you’re seeing a lot of that paying off with him. You’re seeing a lot of that paying off. I thought he had a really good game on Saturday, and it’s fun to see him step up.”
Andrews is the only player with more than 20 catches this season, six more than the next closest player. He’s also caught two passes in 13 straight games.
But with the Big Three of running backs on the football team – junior Nate Starks, sophomore Soso Jamabo and sophomore Bolu Olurunfunmi – struggling to build consistency on the ground, the wide receiver also earned time running the ball.
In the fourth quarter against the Wildcats, the junior ran 26 yards into the end zone for the first rushing touchdown of his career.
No matter what kind of play is called for him, Andrews said he’s mentally prepared for whatever the coaches throw at him because of the time he’s put in on the practice field.
“Practice, practice, practice,” said Andrews. “I make the plays in practice, so if I make it in practice, I figure I’ll make it in the game.”
Despite Andrews’ big plays, the offense as a whole has struggled to make the necessary plays after losing last season’s top receivers – Jordan Payton and Thomas Duarte – and leading rusher Paul Perkins to the NFL.
Players like redshirt senior wide receiver Kenneth Walker, junior wide receiver Mossi Johnson and Starks have dropped wide open passes they could have converted for crucial points while the running backs struggled to find the open holes against a porous Wildcat defense.
[Related: UCLA football aiming to erase all doubts following Arizona win]
Last week, Mora and offensive coordinator Kennedy Polamalu indicated they would focus on one primary running back with the other two getting a smaller bulk of the carries.
Starks got the starting nod, putting up one touchdown and 83 yards on 17 carries.
Against the worst rushing defense in the Pac-12, the Bruins averaged less than four yards a carry. But redshirt senior offensive lineman Conor McDermott said he was confident that the running backs would hit their stride as the season went on.
“You can always build chemistry with a running back, but we have three to four good backs. We look back to see who we’re blocking for. But they’ll hit the holes and do a great job.”
Coaches, looking for a spark against Arizona, took the opportunity to test out another new face.
Before putting Andrews in on the run game, freshman wide receiver Theo Howard got his turn on the field. The freshman took sophomore quarterback Josh Rosen’s pass, evaded defenders and scored the early third quarter touchdown on just the second catch of his career.
After the game, Howard said Walker coached him to be ready at any moment – a sentiment Andrews shared.
“If anything goes wrong, the next person is up,” Andrews said, “so you’ve just got to be ready.”