With Utah in the rearview mirror and Arizona State still over a week away, the UCLA football team isn't too concerned with preparations for the Sun Devils just yet.
A laid back vibe is the feeling in Westwood this week, as bye week practices took on a different feel. This week's practices have an increased emphasis on development for some of the players less utilized and recuperation for the regulars.
"The experiences that we've had coming off a bye week or in a bye is that you want to be careful with how much you do too soon," said Bruins' head coach Jim Mora. "You just want to keep the focus tight."
With this being Mora's first bye week as a college head coach, he decided to take a page from Cal head coach Jeff Tedford and pay special attention to the scout team this week.
"I should listen to him because he whooped my butt," Mora said. "It's still good to get some work in and what's great about these practices is the ability to get some of the younger guys in that don't get a lot of work in our scheme stuff during the season because they're always doing scout team work.
"It's important to get them work."
Tuesday and Wednesday's practice had a casual air about them, but Thursday, Mora is hoping for more intensity, as the team will do a scrimmage with the scout team and underclassmen.
"It will be good for them to play some real football and not have to go off of a card or a script and not simulate someone else, just be able to go out and play."
The regular cast of characters will be doing more individual workouts this week. Strength and conditioning will get a boost as well, as film will take a back seat. However, the Sun Devils have an impending Thursday night date with Oregon, ranked as high as No. 2 and rated the third-best team in the BCS standings, that isn't likely to go unwatched by the Bruins.
"I just don't want them to get stale thinking about Arizona State too soon," Mora said. "We've planted the seeds in their mind and I'm sure they'll all be watching the game on Thursday night."
Special Teams Cleanups
Another point of emphasis for UCLA this week was special teams. Overall, Mora has been extremely pleased with his special teams unit this season, but with the bobbled punt by Steven Manfro in last Saturday's game against Utah, Mora said there are still small improvements that can be made.
"We've had a couple of plays that make our special teams appear not as good as they are," Mora said. "Our kick return game, when we get a chance to return it, has been decent. There's just a couple of kind of blunders that have really stuck out."
One such blunder is Manfro's. Manfro was lined up at the 20-yard line to field a punt from the Utes' Sean Sellwood. Sellwood got off a 65-yard blast that looked to take a bad hop as Manfro backed up to try and field it instead of letting it go. Manfro bobbled it in the end zone and Utah recovered it for a touchdown.
"It was a sky punt that went right over his head," Mora said. "I know I wouldn't have been athletic enough to field it."
Sellwood is currently the nation's leading punter, with 1,210 yards on 25 punts and averages nearly 50 yards with every attempt. For comparison, UCLA's Jeff Locke is No. 45 in Division I with an average of 41.90 per punt. But it's Locke's precision that has put him amongst the top of the Pac-12.
"I don't think anyone has been as consistent as Jeff Locke in terms of hitting inside the 10 yard line." Mora said.
