Jim Mora thinks the key to beating Stanford might be as simple as effort

What struck UCLA coach Jim Mora most when he watched recent tutorials on stopping Stanford wasn’t so much intense defensive pressure or inventive schemes.

It was old-fashioned effort.

“I mean, maybe not perfect all the time,” Mora said of the effort by USC and San Diego State in victories over the Cardinal, “but a maniacal attitude to get to the ball. … That maniacal effort is what won it for those teams.”

It’s the kind of effort that Mora said had been missing at times from the Bruins’ defense last weekend during a 48-45 loss to Memphis. It was absent on a screen pass that went for a 42-yard touchdown in the second quarter. The defenders couldn’t catch receiver Tony Pollard, which served as an unintended metaphor for the Bruins’ failed comeback later in the game.

One issue facing UCLA’s defense was the hesitancy created by players either making their first career starts or slotted into new positions as a result of teammates’ absences. Defensive tackle Chigozie Nnoruka, hybrid defensive end-linebacker Keisean Lucier-South, linebacker Krys Barnes and defensive back Will Lockett were all first-time starters.

“When you lack experience and you’re seeing things for the first time and it’s happening real fast,” Mora said, “those instincts don’t kick in because you’re thinking so much.”

The Bruins allowed nine explosive plays, which Mora defines as runs that go for at least 12 yards or passes that gain 20 yards or more. Their pressure was also largely lacking, generating only two sacks of quarterback Riley Ferguson.

UCLA (2-1) could solve some of its defensive problems against Stanford (1-2) on Saturday at Stanford Stadium with the return of a few mainstays. Mora hopes that linebacker Kenny Young and safety Jaleel Wadood can come back from the head trauma that sidelined them against Memphis.

Linebacker Josh Woods will presumably start after sitting out the first half of the game against the Tigers as punishment for targeting the previous week against Hawaii, and defensive tackle Boss Tagaloa is expected to be at full strength after being limited to a handful of plays against Memphis while recovering from a previous injury.

“Hopefully that shores up the middle of the defense,” Mora said, “and settles us down a little bit.”

The Bruins will face a Stanford offense that has been uncharacteristically inefficient in recent weeks. The Cardinal have juggled their offensive line in a search for consistency, and quarterback Keller Chryst is coming off a two-interception, one-fumble clunker against San Diego State.

Stanford tailback Bryce Love averages 174.7 rushing yards a game, ranking second in major college football, but the Cardinal have had trouble sustaining drives with their boom-or-bust results. Of the 184 rushing yards Love had last week against San Diego State, 151 came on three plays; he averaged only 3.3 yards in his other 10 carries.

Stanford held the ball for only 18 minutes against the Aztecs after converting three of 11 third downs against a defensive effort that Mora and his players intend to emulate.

“We need to go back to hunting and playing the way we play,” Woods said. “I tell [my teammates] that’s something you can control. Even if you don’t understand what you’re doing or you’re lost in the funk, just go 110% to the ball and things like that will erase themselves.”

Earning his stripes

A week after he was ejected because of that contested targeting penalty, Woods saw things from the referees’ perspective.

He watched the first half of the Bruins’ game against Memphis from the referees’ locker room inside Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium because he was ineligible to play before halftime. Woods went there after discovering that the visitors’ locker room did not have a television.

He returned to make four tackles in the second half after combining what he learned from the broadcast with tips from his teammates once he returned to UCLA’s locker room.

Woods has since given advice to defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa, who must sit out the first half of the Stanford game after being penalized for targeting in the second half against Memphis.

“I just said, ‘When you come out in the second half, come out hungry,’” Woods said. “That’s all you can do.”

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