Football looks to learn from last season, demonstrate preparedness on field

The Bruins are looking for a comeback.

“Just like when you go to a new school, it’s hard to adapt, it’s hard to adjust, but we have a year under our belt,” said senior linebacker Lokeni Toailoa. “The foundation’s been laid, so we kind of graduated from the beginning stuff now we’re on to next level.”

After going 3-9 last season in coach Chip Kelly’s first year with the program, senior linebacker Krys Barnes said UCLA football is moving on from its growing pains and is getting ready to show people a more mature and better prepared Bruin team.

“We’ve got a lot to prove this year to everybody, and to ourselves, and to our program and our alumni, who know that we’re coming out here ready to shock the world,” Barnes said. “And I think we have the mentality to do that this year.”

And it’s not just the linebackers who have found their stride.

Barnes said the entire team has been working this offseason to learn and grow from last season’s mistakes.

“It’s the whole team – the defense, the offense and special teams,” Barnes said. “We came with the mentality of ‘We’re coming to attack you’ this year. Last year we came out and we didn’t really know our assignments that well, and we were waiting to see what was happening. This year we came out with a better football IQ, and we’re communicating better, we’re flying at all levels and we’re in shape, so I think this year’s going to be a much better year for us.”

The 3-9 record in 2018 was the worst for the Bruins since 1989 when the team went 3-7-1. UCLA also finished fifth in the Pac-12 South standings. This season, five Pac-12 teams are ranked and three more received votes, but the Bruins are coming into the season completely shut out of the polls.

Along with being the second year for Kelly in the program, this will also be the second year for many players who were forced into larger roles last year after injuries. One such player is sophomore quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who Kelly said is an example of the team’s growth in the offseason.

“Obviously, it’s the beginning of year two for (Thompson-Robinson), and I think people forget he played as a true freshman,” Kelly said. “Most true freshmen don’t play unless they enroll early – and he didn’t enroll early – and he played in our opening game a year ago, so he literally had three weeks of preseason camp and then was playing in a college football game.”

The Bruins will have a chance to turn their words into reality when they face the Bearcats on the road Thursday evening to open the 2019 season. UCLA also opened its season against Cincinnati last year, losing 26-17.

“No matter who we’re playing or not, our goal every week is to just go 1-0,” Toailoa said. “It just so happens that we’re playing Cincinnati again for week one, so that’s our task – to just be 1-0 this week.”