The UCLA football team grasped at the bumper of Utah as it swerved through the Rose Bowl on Saturday night, dragged through the mud on a bumpy ride that never slowed.
Utes quarterback Devon Dampier led an attack that racked up 492 yards of total offense. He flexed his mobile quarterback skill set, which he became known for at New Mexico, evading Bruins’ tackles left and right on the way to a team-high 87 rushing yards. Even his obvious weak spot, the passing game – for which Dampier tossed the same number of touchdowns as interceptions a year ago – hardly showcased a blemish. Dampier completed 84% of passes, going 21 of 25 for 206 yards and two touchdowns.
A 33-point blowout to start the season for the Bruins (0-1) is hardly something to write home about. Even Nico Iamaleava, UCLA’s redshirt sophomore quarterback who had the national media salivating during the college football offseason, got off to a rocky start. He tossed his second-fewest amount of passing yards in a collegiate start, trailing only his College Football Playoff loss to Ohio State last year, the last game he played for Tennessee before transferring to UCLA.
So what did Foster see when he turned on the game film from UCLA’s 43-10 defeat to Utah, as its preparation for the Bruins’ Week 2 trip to face UNLV (2-0) began?
“That we were close,” Foster said Monday.
UCLA’s second-year head coach continued: “I was a little more disappointed right after the game, and then seeing the film, it brought a little more life into me. If we can execute, and there’s a lot of things that we can actually fix.”
Foster noted that UCLA needs to improve its tackling, with attempts that appeared a step behind most Utah skill players Saturday; he believes the team can do so by focusing on fundamentals and the little details.
“If we can do that, that could cut the score in half,” said Foster, whose team conceded the second-most first downs via a carry (20) in the country after Week 1. “But I’m just excited for this next opportunity, you know? I’m glad that – I’m not gonna say I’m glad – but I’m in a better place than I was Saturday night.”
Redshirt freshman Jalen Woods, who started beside redshirt senior JonJon Vaughns at linebacker Saturday on his way to six total tackles, said his unit’s goal is to get one or two steps closer to ballcarriers, making adjustments that could be the difference between a converted tackle and a whiffed attempt.
“I just feel like the details are important, like Coach Foster keeps on saying, because we feel like as a team, we’re right there, like we know that we’re a good team and that we can put our foot forward into this week,” Woods said.
Notes
Defensive lineman Nico Davillier, donning a “C” for “captain” on his jersey, was present at practice, but did not participate. Davillier has not practiced with the team since Aug. 23 – the Rose Bowl walk-through event – and is out for “personal reasons,” Foster said.
On if the 6-foot-4, 255-pound senior will play Saturday against UNLV, Foster said: “That’s still, we’re still trying to figure [that] out.”
Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Carter Shaw worked off to the side for the second consecutive day. Shaw, the son of former Stanford coach David Shaw, was listed as an inactive player Saturday. He had previously been out with a labrum injury suffered last season.
