Defense keeps it interesting

With two minutes remaining against Arizona State last week, UCLA linebacker Reggie Carter huddled the defense together, alerting his teammates that they were on pace to hold the Sun Devils to the fewest yards since the Bruins gave up 42 to Arkansas in the 1989 Cotton Bowl.

“It was just something to push the guys to finish,” said Carter, knowing a 34-9 defeat was looming. “With the game lost, some may hang their heads low because it was all over. But we still had something we could accomplish.”

The Bruins (4-7 overall, 3-5 in the Pacific 10 Conference) held the Sun Devils to 122 yards of offense one week after limiting Washington to 135. The strong defensive efforts have given the Bruins a glimmer of hope heading into Saturday’s game against No. 5 USC. The Trojans rank 16th in the nation in total offense.

“Reggie is not a big talker, but when he does talk, they listen,” UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker said. “He’s starting to feel more comfortable in a leadership role. I just think he’s starting to come into his own now.”

Carter, a junior, leads the Bruins with 76 tackles and has played weak-side linebacker after playing in the middle the first two games. Though he would rather play in the middle, he accepted the move after Kyle Bosworth suffered a knee injury Sept. 13 against Brigham Young. Steve Sloan has mostly played in the middle since then.

“If no guy stands out and we play great as a unit, then I’ll take it,” Carter said. “That’s what we’ve been doing the last couple of weeks.”

Lining up

For one of the few times this season, Bruins coaches are not making a change on the starting offensive line.

“I think we’ll be the same [as against Arizona State],” Coach Rick Neuheisel said.

The Bruins have tried 10 starting combinations in their 11 games. The most recent adjustment had junior Micah Kia at left guard last week. Darius Savage had started at left guard before suffering a season-ending knee injury Nov. 15 against Washington.

Against USC, as it was against the Sun Devils, the line is expected to be Kia at left guard, Jeff Baca at left tackle, Micah Reed at center, Nick Ekbatani at right guard and Mike Harris at right tackle.

New tradition?

While the student band performed, UCLA ended its final practice of 2008 with seniors paraded off Spaulding Field on the backs of teammates of their choosing.

“I don’t remember that [tradition] when I was here, but I like it,” said Neuheisel, who played quarterback for UCLA from 1979 to 1983.

“The seniors asked about it. I said, ‘Absolutely, we’ll keep that rolling.’ ”

Etc.

There were no reported injuries from Thursday’s practice. . . . The first 10,000 fans at Saturday’s game will receive player trading cards featuring UCLA’s senior class.

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mark.medina@latimes.com