Former five-star recruit Keisean Lucier-South earns praise in first game
Redshirt freshman Keisean Lucier-South (right) earned playing time against Texas A&M. The defensive end stepped up when senior Takk McKinley and Deon Hollins were out with injuries. (Ken Shin/Daily Bruin)
By TuAnh Dam
Sept. 6, 2016 10:45 p.m.
The goosebumps were back.
Keisean Lucier-South hadn’t played a football game in two years, yet the chills were there as he ran onto Kyle Field.
The former five-star recruit out of Orange Lutheran High School redshirted his freshman season, helping the Bruins on the scout team.
When he played his first down of football Saturday against an unranked Texas A&M squad, the defensive end had an immediate impact.
Senior defensive linemen Takk McKinley and Deon Hollins were out with a groin injury and a concussion respectively, giving the underclassman a chance to help his team crawl out of a 24-9 fourth quarter hole.
Lucier-South admitted he was jittery at first, eager to perform in front of 100,443 fans. But he gained confidence with each snap.
“It was new to me,” Lucier-South said. “but after my first play, I just got comfortable with the fast tempo, the pace of the game.”
Coach Jim Mora and defensive coordinator Tom Bradley lauded Lucier-South, who comes in at 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds, drawing comparison between him and former UCLA No. 11 Anthony Barr.
Barr, now playing professionally with the Minnesota Vikings, started his career as a Bruin at 228 pounds. Work in the weight room alongside trainer Sal Alosi helped the eventual first-round pick gain 20 pounds.
“We all want him to be Anthony Barr right now,” Mora said. “But Anthony Barr wasn’t Anthony Barr until he was really a junior or a senior.”
[From Saturday’s game: Rosen regrets performance, promises to improve]
Lucier-South talked to the Butkus Award winner before he signed with UCLA, gleaning advice from the veteran on workout habits and his diet.
“He told me to work on your craft every single day, before practice, after practice, eat a lot of food,” Lucier-South said.
The redshirt freshman stated at a media conference Tuesday morning that he wanted to gain 30 pounds over the next three years, believing that the added weight would help him on the defensive side of the ball.
Until then, the defensive end will rely on the little things to help his team.
“He’s very smart,” Bradley said. “He’s attentive to detail. He has all the attributes to be a really fine football player.”
Mora and Bradley said McKinley’s and Hollins’ injuries were day-to-day, closely monitored by the team doctors and trainers. The coach and coordinator were cautiously optimistic that the seniors would be able to play Saturday in the Bruins’ home opener at the Rose Bowl against the UNLV Running Rebels.
Whether or not they play, Lucier-South will have more years and games to get more goosebumps.
