WATCH: Chip Kelly on UCLA-Washington Takeaways, DTR's Mindset
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UCLA football coach Chip Kelly spoke to the media ahead of Monday morning's practice session at the Wasserman Football Center. Kelly talked about his main takeaways from watching this film of the Bruins' win over Washington on Friday, the team's mindset now that they have entered the AP and Coaches Polls' Top 25, Dorian Thompson-Robinson's competitive nature and what his greatest abilities are out on the field.
Able to get yards from two penalties on one play?
Yeah, one of them was a live-ball foul and the other was a dead-ball foul.
So you get both?
Yeah, because one play occurred during the play and then the other play occurred after the play. So live ball and a dead ball.
Along with the yards on the play?
Yeah, because – so say I'm on offense and I clip, that's a penalty. Then post-snap, one of our players punches one of their players. That's two separate instances at two separate times, so they enforce both penalties. Cause if not, you could have a penalty and then say 'Alright, after the play, go punch him, whatever you want, cause it doesn't hurt you.' So any dead ball foul is added onto whatever occurred during the play, whether it was positive or negative.
Takeaways from watching tape?
I thought our defense in the first half did an outstanding job against what was the best passing offense in the country. And I really think you can boil it down to those two key turnovers that Blay and JonJon made. They were huge for us, and their ability to capitalize and score points off of those so you can extend the lead. You know, we didn't think we'd go into that game and shut down that offense for the entire game, but you gotta get stops, and I think that's the key to what our defense has done. They created pressure on the quarterback, they made him uncomfortable at times and I think our secondary did a really good job covering, especially in the first half, so we got ourselves a chance to get out. We knew we were gonna have to take their best shot coming back. And then the other thing I was really proud of is how our offense, taking the ball over 3:59 to go in the game, ran the clock out. And to be a good football team, you have to be a good four-minute offense, and when you're a four-minute offense, that means you're winning, and then we gotta finish the game on the offensive side of the ball. And to pick up those three first downs at the end of the game, I thought, was critical. We executed really well on the offensive side, we knew there were some things we thought we could exploit with our route-running, from our outside receivers that I think that gave us a chance to get to 40. There's still a lot of things we gotta clean up, that we gotta get better, but when you play a quality opponent like that and you play with the effort – I thought the energy that our guys had was really good, especially when you have a disruptive week. So we had a practice last Sunday cause we didn't really, we didn't have a day off last week cause of the schedule, playing a Friday night game. So our guys came back and really handled – I thought they handled the week and how the week was structured really well.
Bobo in a rhythm, elevated the past few weeks?
Yeah, I would say he's been in a rhythm every game we've played, so it really just depends on how the defense deploys themself in what they're gonna give us. But he's been like that since the day he got here, he's got a tremendous work ethic, really cares about football, loves playing football. He's one of those guys that's in the building 24/7, he's got a great feel for our quarterbacks – all of them, cause he's worked extremely close with all those guys. But it's, you know, he's a byproduct of the hard work he's putting in. We've been fortunate enough to have him. People decide they want to play certain coverages on him, I think he understands them and can exploit them.
Better equipped to handle being ranked and have a big matchup this week because of experience?
That's the golden question, that's what we're here to find out during this week. That's part of the whole thing. The ranking's good and I think it's good for those guys and they should be proud of that, but after you're ranked, there's really nothing else. You don't get a trophy, you don't get something handed to you, you gotta go back to work. We know we beat Washington last week because of our preparation during the week. We know if we're going to beat Utah, it's going to be because of our preparation during the week. Things don't just happen to you, hope isn't a strategy. You gotta put the work in, so far these guys have done that. So we'll see how the tides have turned a little bit from that standpoint, but we're not the highest-ranked team in this game, we're playing against a higher-ranked team and the defending champs in the conference. So I think that's got everybody's attention.
Extra day of prep – another day of recovery, meetings?
No, they were off on Saturday. We just went back to our normal week, so we're playing a Saturday game so we start on Sunday – we start on Monday, so it was just a normal day. So all the things that happen when you play a Friday game, you just get Saturday off. So normally they would play a game on Saturday, they would be off, but there was nothing planned. You gotta give them one day off a week, so our one day off last week was Saturday cause we had to practice the Sunday before, so.
Dorian have a chip on his shoulder lately?
No, I think Dorian's had a chip on his shoulder since the day he walked in here. I think that's what drives him and motivates him in everything he does. He's always kinda played like he's had a chip on his shoulder, that's his motivation and that's what drives him, that's the competitor that he is. And that's what you love about him, that he's the ultimate competitor. Whether he's a true freshman or he's a fifth-year senior, I don't think his motivation level has changed at all. He's always been a fiery competitor and that's one of the things you love about him, his competitive nature is awesome. So we love to see that, but that's not something that just all of a sudden he fell into during his fifth year, he's been like that for five years now.
Poise come with increased reps?
Yeah, I think he's grown like anybody. I mean the more experience he gets, he's a byproduct of his experience and the one thing he does a great job of is he always learns from every situation. So he's been in a lot of situations and he's learned a lot of things and I think he continues to get better every time he gets in a new situation. That's a credit to him and the player that he is, he can learn no matter what the situation is. Whether he's a freshman or if he's a fifth-year kid, there's always learning opportunities for him, he takes advantage of those.
Takeaway on Dorian's pass breakup on the near INT?
Yeah, I mean, that's just a type of kid – I said it from the jump, one of his best qualities is his toughness. You know, so a critical point in a game, we had an open receiver and he made the right read and was throwing to a wide open Kaz running underneath. Their D-lineman got a hand up to get the ball tipped, went back to one of the other D-linemen. And for him to separate the ball from him, I think the D-lineman was just as surprised as everybody else that he was getting hit like that, but that was – that's just Dorian, he's gonna compete and play whistle-to-whistle all the time. So sometimes things don't go your way, random acts happen in a game, a strange tipped ball, but just because it was tipped doesn't mean that's the end of it. And that kinda tipifies the type of player he is, the typeof competitor he is.
Kain Medrano's health?
Kain's doing a nice job, we'll continue to monitor him and see where he is. But he's done a great job, he's been really dedicated to his rehabilitation, so we'll see where he ends up this week.
Dorian's hurdles put him at risk for injury?
Yeah, we talk to him about that. He's had as many where he's been tackled than he's made, so he's probably batting .500 on the hurdles. So I think it's a feel, some things you can't take that instinctual thing away from those guys, and they've been key plays for him. But he also has to know his best ability is availability, and we need to keep him on the field, so he's gotta be conscious of that. You see him sliding a little bit more, I think he's learning, and coach Gundy's worked with him a little bit on that where he doesn't have to take the unnecessary hits. We always talk about – our mantra when you have the ball in your hands is 'Touchdown, first down, get down' when you're a quarterback cause you gotta be able to play the next snap. So when he does it and it works, you're excited for him, but he's done it a few times and it hasn't worked and you hope he gets up cause we can't afford to have him get injured.
Stutter step touchdown by Dorian?
That's just – those are the things you see everyday in practice. He's an elusive runner and it was just a really good play on his part to make sure – again, it's the same thing, not taking a hit. He coulda lowered his shoulder to try to get across the goal line, but we always like it better when he's not taking hits.
Gary Smith?
Gary Smith should practice this week, we'll see what we can get out of him.
Dorian's throws under pressure? Adjustments he made after the first drive?
The adjustments that he made?
After the first drive, when he was under pressure three or four times but either made an adjustment or got in a better rhythm after that?
Yeah, I mean, I think he played a really good game and he's been very smart with the ball. I mean, he's third or fourth in the country in completion percentage, thrown 11 touchdowns and one interception, so I think he's making really good decisions in everything he does.
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