UCLA Football Practice Report: August 4
UCLA football took the field for another session of fall camp Wednesday, this time in full pads for the first time since returning to Wasserman Football Center. In the time practice was open to the media, the drills with the most focus were centered around interceptions and special teams blocking. The interception drill was simple, but seemed to go well, with most linebackers, safeties and defensive backs turning and catching everything thrown their way.
The special teams drill involved beating a man to a pad, then turning back around to make a block. Before switching fields, however, the players had to dive into a flip.
Coach Chip Kelly was lingering around the drill for most of its duration. He was mostly watching and clapping every now and then, until receiver Matt Sykes didn't hold his block on the pad for as long as he was supposed to. Kelly gave him an earful and Sykes took some additional direction from the assistants running the drill.
The defensive line, looking as deep as ever, ran some sled and dummy drills in the northwest corner of the field. Adding USC transfer Jay Toia and Notre Dame transfer Devin Aupiu to the mix as true freshmen gives UCLA some fresh legs and even more bodies to try and replace the do-it-all production of Osa Odighizuwa.
Odua Isibor and Otito Ogbonnia are now the veterans of the group, and they both welcomed the arrival of the two young guns to the locker room and the practice field.
"(Aupiu)'s been a really great addition to our room, always brings a smile to my face, always laughing," Isibor said. "Jay is another great guy, he's hilarious, I am always joking around with him. And he's really smart, really strong, really fast and has great moves on the inside."
There was a brief scary moment in the D-line corner, with the linemen practicing swim moves and a special teams drill going on nearby. Linebackers Shea Pitts and Joquarri Price ran outside of their area a bit, and Pitts wound up getting steamrolled by Datona Jackson as he turned a corner.
Just based off his tweet about the incident, Pitts didn't seem to get seriously injured, but Jackson limped away and was seen grabbing his right leg.
Receiver Chase Cota still spent most of practice on the workout bike beside offensive lineman Josh Carlin. Cota didn't seem to be injured that badly, considering he was going at near-full speed on the bike for long stretches at a time.
There still wasn't any sign of running back Keegan Jones or quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson at Wednesday's practice. In terms of Thompson-Robinson, all Kelly would say was that he was unavailable again, but he may have tipped his hand on the severity of whatever's holding him out.
"With Dorian, that kid works his tail off," Kelly said. "He'll be ready in the drop of an eye."
Butchered idiom aside, Kelly doesn't seem all too concerned about Thompson-Robinson's availability moving forward, or how quickly he'll be able to get back in the groove of things when he does return.
More talk on Belton
Nearly every player and coach who's talked to the media since the start of fall camp has spoken at length about one particular fresh face.
Strength and conditioning coach Keith Belton.
Belton spent four years in the NFL as a fullback and has since moved on to hold coaching positions at Kansas, USC, UNLV, Washington, Baylor, and Wake Forest. One of the words consistently associated with Belton has been energy, and Isibor said his new coach brings that in the form of, among other things, repetitive pump-up music.
"Coach Belton brings energy," Isibor said. "We've been listening to the same DMX track for months now and that energy kinda fills into our bodies at this point, it goes into our minds, so I feel like (Belton)'s done a really good job at this point of allowing us to be productive in that way."
Ogbonnia credited the new strength coach for leveling the team out in terms of production and drive, making sure the highs and lows don't throw the Bruins off in the weight room or on the field.
"I would say consistency, being able to be the same guy every single play, playing with the same level of intensity and same level of drive and work every play," Ogbonnia said. "Getting my wind up, conditioning – I think that's kind of been one of the biggest things I've seen, (Belton)'s really all about that."
Ogbonnia's take on Tokyo
With COVID-19 disrupting schedules and causing delays across all sports, Ogbonnia wasn't able to compete with UCLA track and field this past season.
The defensive lineman said he's putting shot put on hold again this year in order to focus fully on football. That doesn't mean he's retiring – Ogbonnia noted shot putters don't hit their peaks until somewhere between 26 and 28 years old – and it certainly doesn't mean he's forgotten about the sport either.
Shot put is currently in the international spotlight, with its preliminary rounds at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics starting earlier this week.
Ogbonnia said he's pulling for North Dakota State grad and former NCAA champion Payton Otterdhal to take gold Wednesday night, and went on to flex his knowledge of the front-runners to the media as well.
"I like a little bit of the underdog situation, so I guess I’m rooting for Payton Otterdhal," Ogbonnia said. "Obviously Ryan Crouser and (Joe) Kovacs are going to perform well, but I mean, I’m just seeing what (Otterdhal) does."
The men's Olympic shot put final is scheduled to start at 9 p.m. (PST).
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