Aggression Is Rewarded as the Defense Rebounds

After watching UCLA’s defense get ripped apart by Oklahoma State’s ground game to open the season, Coach Karl Dorrell and his defensive assistants decided to be more aggressive against Illinois’ more balanced offense Saturday.

Knowing that an 0-2 start would not be healthy for a program desperately needing a win, they decided to blitz early and often, a tactic that would only work if the Bruin secondary was up to the task in man coverage.

“We knew that we were facing a team that was going to give us more of a test than we had last week,” said junior cornerback Marcus Cassel, who had four tackles, two fumble recoveries and a pass breakup in UCLA’s 35-17 victory. “We kept saying to ourselves that this is going to be our first real game and we had to be ready.”

UCLA’s blitzes didn’t always work. Illinois quarterbacks Jon Beutjer and Brad Bower combined to pass for 248 yards, with most of the big completions coming when the Bruins sent an extra rusher.

That happened on the Illini’s first play from scrimmage. UCLA blitzed cornerback Matt Clark and linebacker Aaron Whittington from the left side and Beutjer completed a 46-yard pass to Kendrick Jones.

But that didn’t stop the Bruins from keeping pressure on. Defensive coordinator Larry Kerr called one different blitz after another and it paid off late in the game.

With UCLA’s defense getting a little tired chasing Bower around, Illinois had cut the lead to 28-17 and had the ball midway through the fourth quarter. On first down, Kerr blitzed Whittington again from the left, and he hurried Bower into a poor pass that was intercepted by safety Chris Horton at the Illinois 15-yard line.

The Bruins scored on the next play to clinch the victory and end a six-game losing streak dating to last season.

“We really tried to mix it around,” Kerr said. “That hurt us a little in terms of execution. We misfired on a couple of blitzes.... But sometimes you live by the sword and you die by the sword. Today I like the sword a little bit more because we lived.”

UCLA doesn’t get a chance to enjoy the victory long because Pacific 10 Conference play starts this week at Washington, a team the Bruins have defeated three consecutive times.

“This was a must win for us because we needed it to erase all of the doubts,” said linebacker Spencer Havner, who had 17 tackles against Illinois, giving him 35 in two games.

“We needed it for confidence, especially for our younger players. We now have something to build on.”

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Safety Jarrad Page, who sat out most of the second half because of leg cramps, had three solo tackles and two forced fumbles. Kenneth Lombard started at defensive tackle, making him the first true freshman to start on the defensive line since Ken Kocher and Anthony Fletcher in the 1999 Rose Bowl.