UCLA football hopes to fix special teams lapses…
UCLA football hopes to fix special teams lapses quickly
Oklahoma's Tre Brown takes a kickoff return for 86 yards past UCLA's J.J. Molson (17), Shea Pitts (47) and Jay Shaw (24) in the first quarter of Saturday's game in Norman, Okla. (Sue Ogrocki/The Associated Press)
By Thuc Nhi Nguyen | thnguyen@scng.com | Daily News
PUBLISHED: September 11, 2018 at 3:39 pm | UPDATED: September 11, 2018 at 4:02 pm
LOS ANGELES — Every day, multiple times a day during training camp, UCLA lined up for special teams practice.
Every day, the Bruins worked on punt and kickoff coverage, making whole periods out of the simplest details, like how to dip your shoulder around a blocker and stepping toward a gunner off the line of scrimmage. Chip Kelly offered one-on-one tips to players during some periods.
Then the Bruins (0-2) allowed kickoff returns of 86 and 35 yards and a 66-yard punt return against Oklahoma on Saturday.
The intended advantage of relentlessly focusing on special teams resulted in the Sooners starting drives at their own 35-yard line, an 11-yard advantage over UCLA's average starting field position.
"I think effort, to be honest with you," Kelly said of the reason for the special teams breakdowns. "We've got to get better effort. If not, we're going to find other guys there."
During his four years as Oregon's head coach, Kelly's teams never gave up a single touchdown on a kick or punt return.
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With their special teams struggles Saturday, the Bruins fell to last in the country in kickoff return defense entering this weekend's game against Fresno State (1-1) at the Rose Bowl. J.J. Molson has put six of his nine kickoffs through the end zone for touchbacks, but on the other three, opponents are averaging 52 yards per return. The Bruins also allowed 35 yards on the one kickoff return against Cincinnati.
UCLA ranks 99th in the nation in net punting, earning 34.71 yards per punt.
"I just think a couple of guys missed a couple of assignments and they hit right on the money, had the perfect play for it," said cornerback Nate Meadors, who made the touchdown-saving tackle on Tre Brown's 86-yard kickoff return. "That's all that was. But we fixed that yesterday. It should be fixed for Saturday."
The timing of Brown's long kickoff return was especially crushing for the Bruins, who had just taken a seven-point lead over the then-No. 6 team in the country on the road. The sellout crowd seemed stunned. Then the big play immediately swung momentum back to the Sooners.
"You can't overlook the little things," Meadors said.
UCLA has returned just two kicks for 36 yards. Its last kickoff return touchdown came in 2014 and the team's last special teams touchdown came in 2016 on a blocked punt.
Quarterback Wilton Speight (back) appeared to participate in the same drills during Tuesday's practice as he did Monday. He was still a spectator for any throwing drills that required significant mobility. … Linebacker Elijah Wade was limited to individual conditioning during the viewing period of practice. … Linebacker Leni Toailoa practiced in a yellow jersey. … Linebacker Bo Calvert and offensive lineman Zach Sweeney appeared to practice fully. … Linebacker Jaelan Phillips was dressed in a white jersey, signifying full participation, but he did not partake in some contact drills during the viewing period. While the rest of the defense worked on tackling technique, Phillips did individual conditioning on the sideline with Toailoa.
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Thuc Nhi Nguyen
Thuc Nhi Nguyen has covered UCLA for the Southern California News Group since 2016. A proud Seattle native, she majored in journalism and mathematics at the University of Washington. She likes graphs, animated GIFs and superheroes.
Follow Thuc Nhi Nguyen	@thucnhi21
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