WATCH: Nicholas Barr-Mira on Recovering Against Cal, Icing Kickers
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UCLA football kicker/punter Nicholas Barr-Mira spoke with reporters following Tuesday morning's practice session at the Wasserman Football Center. Barr-Mira talked about how the Bruins are bouncing back from their loss to USC, what he thinks of the strategy to ice opposing kickers, how the gunners helped him record his best career punt, how big of a test the Cal game is for UCLA's pride and the importance of long snapper Jack Landherr IV's success.
How do you bounce back from the tough losses and find the motivation to finish the season strong?
Right. Um, it’s part of the game and you do it every week whether it’s a win or whether it’s a loss. You get back up and try again the next week. So that’s what it is, that’s what it’s always been about, so that’s what we’re doing this week. We’ve got a good opportunity to go up there and give Cal our best shot, so.
What's been the energy and juice in practice so far?
It’s been good. It’s been good. You know, we came back Sunday night and had a good practice and then, you know, short week, so we’re all just trying to get our legs back under us but we’re excited, man. Um, that’s one thing about this team, we all just love to play football and we love to be out here with each other, so any time we get to do that, we want to take advantage of the opportunity, so it’s been fun.
Shortened week make it easier to move on from last game?
Um, yeah, you could say that, you know, you get the taste out of your mouth, start looking ahead to Cal, see what they’re doing, see what they put on film so just on to the next.
Coach Kelly tried to ice USC's kicker and he made it after missing during the timeout – as a kicker, does icing work on you? How do you push through that?
I don’t think, I don’t know how to, icing is a subjective thing, right? It’s just a coach’s decision and as a kicker, you wait until your opportunity so if the whistle blows you stop, just like any other play, and then you line up again for the next play. If it doesn’t blow, you just go; it’s never really in your head, you’re not thinking about, oh, are they going to call a timeout or not? You’re just waiting for the ball to be snapped and you’re going then. If they blow the whistle, line up and do it again.
Does it give you extra motivation if they try it?
I wouldn’t say that. You know, every kick’s every kick, you just want to make all your opportunities, so.
Is there anything you do to practice that? Any distraction, whether it's noise or something else?
Um, I think any time you kick in practice, you’ve got to give yourself those mental challenges so that when you go out there in the game, none of that matters, you’re just kind of zoned in and if that were to happen then you look at the clock and see how much time they’re going to give you. If it’s 30 seconds, I’ll probably just stay out there, if it’s a longer timeout, I might go to the net. Other than that, it’s just focus on kicking the ball and that’s it.
Ever had a punt downed at the half yard line before?
I had never pinned one at the one. I was very excited, Mo made a great play, he got down there, had some good balance, some good hands, he was really the key factor on that play. I was definitely excited to get them pinned down there. It was fun.
How does a game like this, coming off a loss like that, test the team's pride to finish the season strong?
Sure. You know, I think any time there’s a football game in general it tests your pride and it tests your love for the game and yeah, this loss definitely hurt, right? It was an emotional game, but that’s the nature of the game. There’s going to be those ups and there’s going to be those downs. The key is getting back to the middle and ready to play for the next game and that’s really what it’s all about, the next most important thing. And also I do want to say, Jack Landherr, our long snapper, you guys know him, he hasn’t been up here [in front of reporters] much but he’s a semifinalist for the Mannelly Award. I’ve been so lucky to have Jack, really, as my snapper. He’s made my job 100 times easier. Obviously, he’s up for top-10 long snapper in the country, he’s one of the best on the field and he’s one of my best friends, so deserves a lot of credit that he doesn’t really get and I know that’s kind of the life of a long snapper and how he goes about his business, but just remember that name, remember Jack. He puts in so much work and he really loves this game and he loves his craft, so shout-out to Jack for that.
How long have you been together?
We both came in in 2019 as freshmen, so four years now. Yes, sir.
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