COSTA MESA — DeShaun Foster is plenty aware that there are three weeks left until the season opener at the Rose Bowl. All week long, UCLA’s coach upped the ante by moving week two of fall camp into the midday heat after spending week one practicing in the morning. Through the experience, Foster said he’s seen his team grow, day by day.
On Saturday in Costa Mesa, Foster had the Bruins spend more time on the grass than they had all camp, attempting to recreate a four-quarter experience, linebacker Jalen Woods said.
“Coach Fos, he preached to us that Saturday – because we always have these Saturday practices – want to be more like game-like,” Woods said. “For us to be ready for a game, we need these long practices to make us ready and conditioned for a real game.”
Mikey Matthews, a transfer wide receiver from California, is also up to the challenge, part of which includes getting to know his new teammates.
Escapades have included a beach trip Friday, which included social media action shots of quarterback Henry Hasselbeck spiking a volleyball on the sand and quarterback Luke Duncan blocking another. The team visited Newport Rib Company for barbecue early in fall camp. And back at the hotel, freshman defensive lineman Robert James III – who has a leg injury that’s left him out of action indefinitely and on a scooter – showcased his singing talents during karaoke, Foster said.
But for Matthews, who tallied the fifth-most receiving yards in Berkeley last year, the most impactful bonding has come in the meeting rooms – watching film until 9:30 p.m. with his teammates.
“We’re just real tired – just watching football,” Matthews said. “It can’t get much better than that. Like we go to sleep right after and wake up and meet again. … It sucks in the moment, but like looking back at it from last week, it’s going by fast, so I got to just cherish every moment.”
Matthews said his teammates are football junkies. However, the Mission Viejo High alumnus might be going one step further.
When running back Jaivian Thomas was considering where to transfer to after California, Matthews stepped in – pitching L.A. to the now-potential starting running back. Trips back to Oakland are now a roadtrip featuring the Cal-to-UCLA transfer duo, Matthews said.
Matthews is also getting to know his hotel roommate – walk-on linebacker Brett Barry – through sports video games and team meals.
Foster said there are purposely no to-go boxes at meals. For the second-year Bruins’ coach, with a fall camp away from Westwood, getting to know your brother, teammate, friend, by sitting down for a meal is a priority before game days, just weeks away.
“Those are the real moments,” Foster said.”[Team trips and games are] just kind of fun activities, but you really get to know people when you’re breaking bread with them and just sitting down and actually hearing their story.”
Notes
Near the end of the walkthrough period during the media watching period, safety Key Lawrence – who is likely to be one of the starting safeties in the secondary – collapsed to the grass with what appeared to be a right leg injury.
Lawrence, a redshirt senior transfer from Ole Miss, needed assistance off the field from two staffers, but gingerly placed some weight on his right leg.
In other updates in the secondary, defensive back Robert Stafford III – a redshirt sophomore Miami transfer – made two plays to stymie quarterback Nico Iamaleava on Saturday.
First, he locked down wide receiver Kwazi Gilmer in the end zone, breaking up a pass from Iamaleava. On the following play in walk-throughs, Stafford got a hand to an errant pass in the end zone, a play that could have been an interception had he properly corralled the ball.
On the offensive line, redshirt senior offensive lineman Courtland Ford returned to first-team reps at left tackle during walk-throughs, moving Garrett Digiorgio to right tackle and K.D. Arnold outside of a potential starting five.
