{"id":35945,"date":"2021-05-03T22:00:44","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T02:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=35945"},"modified":"2021-05-03T19:38:21","modified_gmt":"2021-05-03T23:38:21","slug":"35945-uclas-experience-begets-expectations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2021\/05\/03\/35945-uclas-experience-begets-expectations\/","title":{"rendered":"UCLA’s Experience Begets Expectations"},"content":{"rendered":"

With experience comes expectations. UCLA returns one of the most experienced teams in the country going into the 2021 season. An ESPN algorithm says the Bruins return the second most production in the country. Head coach Chip Kelly<\/strong> always takes in terms of the immediate. \u201cWe\u2019re just looking to have a great Monday,\u201d would be what we would expect to hear from him. Now, UCLA\u2019s experience creates expectations.<\/p>\n

UCLA’s Experience Begets Expectations<\/h2>\n

Monday, Kelly said that all training camps<\/a> start at the same, \u201cSquare One.\u201d\u00a0 But with 20 starters returning and a wealth of experience at the back-up spots, he says the building process can go faster. \u201cNow, we may be able to go a little faster when we\u2019re building because we have the kids that have experience,\u201d Kelly said.<\/p>\n

One of the specifics that helps is the foundation of the offense, the line. The Bruins return every starter from last season. \u201cContinuity is key, especially up front,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cThe communication part of what goes on on the offensive line is critical. When you have guys that have been with each other for such a long time, that\u2019s always a benefit.\u201d Kelly said it was one thing to have all the starters back, which is rare. But to also have the primary backups returning was a big advantage in getting through camp.<\/p>\n

Lake As A Leader<\/h3>\n

The defense only lost one cog in the machine from last year. Osa Odighizuwa<\/strong> is moving to the Dallas Metroplex area. Experience is a big topic on the defensive side of the ball as well. That includes senior defensive back Quentin Lake<\/strong>. Now in his fifth year, Lake said he wants the secondary to be the backbone of the defense. \u201cWe\u2019re all experienced now, getting into the later years of college and having the experience on the football field,\u201d Lake said. He added that communication will be a fundamental key to eliminating any mistakes.<\/p>\n

He was reluctant to call himself the <\/em>leader of the defensive backfield, despite his five years at UCLA. Lake had no problem acknowledging he is a <\/em>leader, however. \u201cI feel like you shouldn\u2019t really dedicate one person. I\u2019m not going to sat that,\u201d Lake said. \u201cBut in terms of how I hold myself, I hold myself to a high standard. So, I would hope everybody else sees me as a leader. Am I vocal guy? No, because that\u2019s not really how I lead, but I lead with my actions.\u201d<\/p>\n

With regards to being able to move the pace of camp along faster with so much experience, Lake said he definitely sees it on the offense. \u201cI would say the offense is, they\u2019re rolling. Whether it is getting into more tempo situations or you know, whatever you want to call it. I feel like they are at a level that whatever Chip throws at them, they can pick it up real quick and implement that whether we\u2019re going teams, or seven-on-seven.\u201d He said the defense does not have as many new looks right now. \u201cBut I mean anything they throw at us at this point, since we are so experienced, we can pick it up like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blaylock Says He Can See The Difference<\/h3>\n

Lake points to Qwuantrezz Knight<\/strong> and Stephan Blaylock<\/a> as other leaders in the defensive backfield. Blaylock has barely left the field in his three previous years at UCLA. He played in 10 games as a freshman, and then all 12 as a sophomore and all seven last season. He says he can see the difference in this camp. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of older guys out here,\u201d Blaylock said. \u201cA lot of dudes that have been in the program for two-years-plus.\u201d He said there is a quick pace to things, \u201cAnd then we are all on the same page.\u201d He said the result of that is the defense, \u201cLooking good, confident, and just growing every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blaylock also said communication was a big key in the maturation of the defense. He said one of his biggest of-season goals was, \u201cJust helping out the guys around the team just so we can be more connected to one another while we\u2019re out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spring camp is a time for everyone to feel confident about where they are as a team, regardless of how the last season, or the last three ended. Lake said he knows everything that gets done in the Spring has to be used to lay a foundation for the Fall.<\/p>\n

(Main Image courtesy Jevone Moore\/Full Image 360).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With experience comes expectations. UCLA returns one of the most experienced teams in the country going into the 2021 season. An ESPN algorithm says the Bruins return the second most production in the country. Head coach Chip Kelly always takes in terms of the immediate. \u201cWe\u2019re just looking to have a great Monday,\u201d would be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1534,"featured_media":35950,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4],"tags":[2539,4983,4735,7489,7614],"class_list":["post-35945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-pac12","tag-chip-kelly","tag-osa-odighizuwa","tag-quentin-lake","tag-qwuantrezz-knight","tag-spring-football-2021"],"modified_by":"Tony Siracusa, CFB Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1534"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35945\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}