UCLA finally opened Spring camp Friday morning. Sixth year defensive back Qwuantrezz Knight says the Bruins have a lot of unfinished business. That happens when in your best year in the last years you finished 3-4. Part of UCLA football’s unfinished business was just getting camp underway.
UCLA Football’s Unfinished Business
UCLA is the last Power Five school in the country to get camp started. The Bruins have been working out. But Knight, in a post-practice interview via Zoom, said the players were well past eager to get training camp under way. “We were really anxious just to get out here, knowing everyone else is in Spring training or pretty much done with it. It just left us out of the loop. So, it was high energy. Everyone was ready. We were happy to finally play football.”
As previously noted, the Bruins return the most experienced, most veteran team of the Chip Kelly era. ESPN+ has a formula that has UCLA returning the second most production of any team in the country. Depending on one’s view of the last three years and the potential in 2021, that either provides reason for optimism, or it creates a make-it-or-break-it year for Kelly and his staff.
Knight said the way last season finished, with back-to-back losses to USC and Stanford, was part of the reason for his decision to take the NCAA up on its offer of a free year of eligibility. He joins fellow grad transfers from the 2020 class, Brittain Brown, Paul Grattan, and Obi Eboh as a quartet who came back for the sixth year. “I just feel like we had unfinished business here at UCLA,” Knight said. “We left off on a bad note, losing the last game. I just feel like we’ve got a lot to prove, not only to people around the country but to ourselves.”
Veterans Returning For One More Year
Knight said the team has a sign posted in the locker room at the Wasserman Football Center with the number 15 on it. It represents the total number of points UCLA lost its four games by last season. He said, “We look at that sign every day. That’s our drive.” Knight also said he came back, instead of opting for the NFL because, “There’s things I do well, but there are also things I need to work on. Me coming back gives me a chance to grow.”
Brown, the sixth year running back, figures to be the workhorse in the backfield this season. He spent most of last year as a back-up to Demetric Felton. Brown says the four grad transfers in last year’s class communicated a lot about coming back. “We were definitely in communication with each other,” Brown said via Zoom after practice Friday. “ He said they talked about what they could accomplish as part of the team if they all came back, and then all made the decision around the same time. “I think it was really good to come together and talk about how we could really do something this year.”
Eager To Get To Work
Brown said he liked the delayed start of camp because it allowed the players to get settled in academically after Spring break. But he echoed what Knight said with regards to the eagerness to get on the field. “We’ve been training for a while now. I think everybody has been itching to get back on the field,” Brown said. He added, “Football is only so fun when you are doing all this conditioning and weightlifting and everything. Once you actually get a little more competition going and you’re actually going against the defensive guys and you’ve got guys jawing back and forth, it just makes the game a lot more fun.”
As far as what was on the field, it was pretty standard first day of camp kind of work. Plenty of technique drills and position group work. There were some seven-on-sevens. But those were better seen by the people in Lot 8 overlooking Wasserman for whom security did not enforce the closed practice protocols. The drills took place a good one hundred yards away from where the media was cordoned off.
Two Sides Are Even, For Now
Knight said usually defense would have a slight advantage at the beginning of camp. But with the offense having three-year starter Dorian Thompson-Robinson at quarterback evened it out. “The offense has got to make plays, but you have us and we’re making plays too so it’s pretty competitive as a whole.”
No major personnel announcements came out of the first of camp. Running back Martell Irby quietly was moved to defensive back. UCLA returns running backs Keegan Jones, Kazmeir Allen, and Brown, and added Michigan transfer Zach Charbonnet. There were just not enough carries for more backs. Defensive back Kenny Churchwell is still considered to be in the “opt-out” period after having chosen not to play in the Fall for COVID reasons.
UCLA has yet to put a Spring Scrimmage on the calendar. Unofficially, no decision has been made as to the status of the game.
