LOS ANGELES ― The UCLA football team had a whole bye week to think about its loss to Utah, a game in which the Bruins only put up one touchdown.
“Bye weeks are tough when you lose the week before,” receiver Josiah Norwood said on Tuesday morning during media availability.
Norwood scored the one touchdown against Utah when he caught a 7-yard pass from Dante Moore toward the end of the fourth quarter. Moore completed 15 of 35 passes in the game for 234 yards and the touchdown, but was also sacked seven times and threw a pick six on UCLA’s first offensive play.
Moore’s spirit appeared unbroken as UCLA began practices this week, effortlessly heaving long passes on Tuesday morning as individual drills got underway. And it’s not just Moore; the Bruins as a group seem to have rebounded with optimism and intention ahead of Saturday’s game against No. 13 Washington State (4-0).
“Sometimes games like that inspire you to go out and just increase your level of play in a way and do it in every aspect that you can,” Norwood said. “Dante came back this week and he really set the tone for how the week was gonna be. He came out swinging the rock, a high-energy guy.”
Head coach Chip Kelly said on Monday morning that this year’s team is one that practices well. For the receivers, according to Norwood, practicing well means focusing on execution, effort and speed. The Bruins had a rigorous preseason conditioning program and even now, high-speed reps keep players ready for the tempo of games.
Mileage and high-speed reps are tracked by the coaching staff. Keith Belton, director of football performance, keeps a watchful eye and runs alongside Norwood and the other receivers after they make a catch to ensure a fast pace is maintained.
It’s similar on defense. After every four plays, the whole defense sprints to the back of the end zone, waits for three plays, then sprints back on the field.
“That trains our conditioning, but it also makes sure we’re mentally prepared, mentally tough,” safety Alex Johnson said. “In the game, there is no break. It’s like full go full speed, especially with this (Washington State) offense. They like to go tempo a lot.”
Norwood dropped a pass that could have been a touchdown against Utah before his touchdown. His attitude from one play to the next is one that UCLA is taking with it into this game week.
“It does no good for me, or for the rest of the team, sitting down there with my head down when I can go out there help my team,” Norwood said. “One of the things that we say here is, ‘So what, now what?’ Like all right, it happened, so what? You’ve got a game to play.”
Former walk-on Alex Johnson was singing along to a Stevie Wonder song that was blasting from the weight room as he began media availability on Tuesday morning. The safety said that he’s been listening to less rap music and more artists like Wonder, Amy Winehouse, John Legend, Jill Scott and Erykah Badu lately.
His mom played them for him growing up, and now he even listens to that music before games.
“Music, in that in that sense, kind of gives me like a nostalgic feel,” Johnson said. “I can go back to when I was a kid eating a PB&J with my mom on a weekend just by listening to a song.”
Johnson, a Loyola High School product, has pulled down two interceptions and four pass deflections this season as part of a defense that has given up an average of three touchdowns per game this season.
