The much-maligned UCLA defensive line has been victimized
throughout the season by previously unheralded running backs.
The rush defense’s troubles reached a low point during the
Arizona game, with the Wildcats’ senior running backs Mike
Bell and Gilbert Harris rushing for a combined 266 yards and two
touchdowns last Saturday.
This weekend, they will have to avoid lofting Rudy Burgess and
Keegan Herring of the Arizona State Sun Devils into the 200-yard
rushing club. To do this, the Bruins will have to play with more
emotion along the defensive front.
“Last week, we weren’t showing any emotion, and we
ended up getting spanked,” freshman defensive tackle Chase
Moline said.
“We were all kind of slow out there. We were playing hard,
but with no emotion.”
While the Bruins’ primary goal is to stop the run and
force the quarterback, it is an even more important game plan
against a team that focuses on the passing game, like Arizona
State.
If pass-happy ASU gets any kind of running game going, it may be
a recipe for disaster.
“It all starts with controlling the run and making their
offense one-dimensional,” defensive line coach Thurmond Moore
said. “We’ve got to try to recreate a new line of
scrimmage and force them to run east and west.”
The defensive line must create a consistent pass rush, so that
ASU’s freshman quarterback Rudy Carpenter will not feel
comfortable in the pocket and have time to find holes in the UCLA
secondary.
The defense’s front four know that to contain Arizona
State’s offense they must do a better job of getting to the
quarterback than they have done in past weeks. The performance
against the Wildcats seems to have left a sour taste in
everybody’s mouth.
“I can’t really explain it,” defensive end
Justin Hickman said. “We didn’t come out ready to play,
and it just flowed through everyone.”
Hickman, who had three sacks in the emotional comeback against
Stanford, was held in check against Arizona.
He said he has taken it upon himself, as the unit’s
veteran leader, to rally his teammates and put together a solid
game.
“I expect it of myself, and Coach expects it of me,”
Hickman said. “I need to get out there and make plays and set
an example for the rest of the guys.”
Carpenter poses a challenge to the Bruin defensive line, as he
has proved to have a quick release and a keen pocket awareness.
“It’s very important to get a pass rush against
him,” Moline said. “We’ve got to get a lot of
hits on him, so he doesn’t want to get up again.”
Moore added that they need to get it in Carpenter’s head
that whenever he throws, there will be a Bruin defender pressuring
him.
Establishing a pass rush and containing the run have combined to
prove a difficult proposition for this defensive line. Against
Arizona last week, the line appeared to reach rock bottom, as it
accomplished neither.
“We’re working on general fundamentals at this
point,” Moore said. “Just getting off the ball and
getting upfield, creating a new line of scrimmage. We’re just
working on playing hard. We’ve got to try to be successful
against the O-line, and we need to do it as a team, all 11 of
us.”
It all starts with containing the running game, though. Burgess
and Herring are not spectacular running backs, but they do not need
to be. If the Bruins are successful, Moline surmises, the rest
should fall into place.
“It’s very important to stop their running
game,” Moline said. “We’ve got to keep their
quarterback throwing the ball.