If there is any confusion about his name, let’s get it out
of the way now. If the first game of the 2006 college football
season is any indication, this young man’s name is going to
be uttered by opposing defensive coordinators.
“I like to go by Alty,” said freshman cornerback
Alterraun Verner, the young man with a special name and, according
to his coaches, special game-changing abilities. “My sister
had a friend whose name is Altran, and my parents changed it around
a little bit and it became my name.”
The 17-year-old led a recharged Bruin defense in UCLA’s
31-10 win over Utah at the Rose Bowl on Saturday. He returned an
interception for a touchdown in the second quarter to give the
Bruins a 14-7 lead, and forced (and recovered) a fumble to ice the
game in the fourth quarter.
On a night in which quarterback Ben Olson showed he’s
capable of picking up where last year’s offense left off,
UCLA’s defensive performance might have been the most
surprising aspect of the season opener.
Of the entire unit, Verner was the one player who symbolized the
Bruins’ hope for a new trend on defense, one with speed and
unchecked aggression. With the score knotted at 7 toward the end of
the first half, the Utes had the ball and momentum. Then Verner
followed the eyes of Utah quarterback Tommy Grady, stepped in front
of a hitch pattern, and returned the pick for a touchdown. It was a
lead the Bruins wouldn’t relinquish.
“He ran a hitch and saw a white jersey, so I baited the
quarterback,” Verner said. ” I locked in on him and it
was a touchdown. It was almost like it was in the matrix or
something.”
Verner’s interception led to a dominant second half for
the Bruins. Their defense contained the Utes’ quarterback
tandem of Brett Ratliff and Tommy Grady to 14 completions on 34
attempts for 175 yards. The Utes amassed only 112 rushing yards out
of a spread option attack, as compared to the 221.4 clip that the
2005 UCLA defense allowed to opposing running backs.
All throughout training camp, first-year defensive coordinator
DeWayne Walker preached to his players the need to have an
aggressive scheme that creates turnovers with plenty of
pressure.
Veteran players had reiterated that last year’s Bruin
defense, which was ranked 113th among 117 Division I-A teams in
total defense, was far too passive to be successful.
After one game, Walker looks prophetic. UCLA’s blitz
packages and stunts stopped Utah from converting on any of its 11
third downs, which is a change from the prevent zone that Larry
Kerr used for most of the previous three seasons under coach Karl
Dorrell.
Walker was quick to point out that this was only the first game,
and there is work to be done.
“(Utah) did a hell of a job over there changing things
up,” Walker said. “They made me have to adjust and work
hard.
“I would have liked our run defense to be a little better,
but it’s a start.”
Utah routinely spread out four wide receiver formations, as
expected from a team that still has current Florida coach Urban
Meyer’s fingerprints on the offense. UCLA countered with more
nickel-and-dime formations, taking linebackers off the field and
replacing them with extra men in the secondary.
That might have made for a hefty rushing total against the
Bruins’ defense of years past, but the Utes got little on the
ground on Saturday night.
“I think it was a good first game,” linebacker
Christian Taylor said. “I don’t think we want to get
too ahead of ourselves. I was most impressed with our performance
in the second half. We wanted to hold them under 300 yards. We
controlled the tempo of the game and stepped up when we needed
to.”
As for the supposedly new attacking UCLA defense? Mission
accomplished, more or less, according to Taylor.
“We ran a lot of stunts,” he said. “We want to
get them in third down and unleash everybody.”