What UCLA Coach Chip Kelly Thinks About First Matchup With LSU Football
One of the beauties that UCLA coach Chip Kelly sees in this non-conference matchup with LSU is the lack of commonality or history with this game.
The two programs have never squared off against one another and with no common opponents either, all that's really left for both teams is to study film and see which team has the better gameplan on the field.
"They don't have very intimate knowledge of us because they haven't played anybody that we played," Kelly said. "So everything we do is based off of looking at the tape and the film and trying to project and early in the game, both offensively and defensively. Same on their side."
UCLA is riding high off a week zero win over Hawaii where it rushed for 244 yards en route to a 44-10 score. Because of the dominance of the win, this game has been hyped up all week as a much more even matchup than initially believed and fans of both teams recognize the importance of Saturday's outcome to the season.
As is the thinking of all good teams, the next game is always the most important and that's a message that Ed Orgeron and Kelly have each talked about in recent weeks. LSU has been able to put two weeks of focus on preparing for the Bruins while Kelly and the Bruins have have had a more traditional one week to prepare for the Tigers.
"Every game is the biggest game. Have you ever seen a coach that says we're not going all out in the game? We're going all out," Kelly said. "This is our Super Bowl and it's their Super Bowl because it's the next game on the list. I don't know any coach that will say that this game isn't that important."
Orgeron talked about the need for LSU to put a stop to the UCLA rushing attack, which he admitted was far better than the film the team studied last year. The Tigers have one of the SEC's most dominant defensive lines on paper but this group still needs to go out and prove it.
Making a statement that long gone are the days of defensive breakdowns would be a good opening goal for this unit against the Bruins.
"I do know with Coach O at the top that that's going to be a hard nosed, physical defensive football team because everywhere he's been that's what it's been so that's what we expect," Kelly said.
For UCLA, slowing down the LSU offense, starting with dual threat ability of Max Johnson has been an area of focus for its defense. But facing a new offensive coordinator in Jake Peetz and defensive coordinator in Daronte Jones, it's difficult to look at last season's film and know what to really expect from the purple and gold.
It's part of what makes Saturday evening's game so enticing for both programs and should be a blast to kick off the season.
